Desolate Era (Book 16 - Book 18)

The judge on his judge’s seat, upon seeing who had entered, was badly shocked. He was just one of countless judges; there was no way he could possibly compare with one of the exalted Yama-Kings.

“Your underling greets you, Yama-King.” The judge hurriedly fell to his knees, and the surrounding demonic soldiers all knelt down as well. As for the ghost who was waiting to be sentenced, he was completely terrified.

“Hurry up and sentence this one,” King Yan instructed.

“Yes, yes!” The judge hurriedly said, “Hurry up and send him to the eighteenth level of Hell.”

Two demonic soldiers immediately dragged the ghost away. The ghost screamed in terror, but was still pulled out of the palace.

“You can leave now. Don’t use this court for anything else today,” King Yan instructed.

“Yes.” Neither the judges nor the demonic soldiers dared say a thing. Although they had many tasks to accomplish, there were many other courts in operation; for one to be paused for a day didn’t mean anything. They gave the youth behind King Yan a curious glance; they could sense that even King Yan wanted to ensure that this youth was taken care of.

This youth most likely had an incredible background! They all obediently retreated.

Soon, only Ning and King Yan were left in the court.

“King Yan, senior, I haven’t overcome my tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal yet. I’ll have to trouble you, senior, to use temporal inversion for me,” Ning said.

“A minor matter,” King Yan said. Although this sort of Immortal technique used up a considerable amount of his energy, in the long run it didn’t matter.

King Yan immediately used the temporal inversion technique.

Whooosh.

The scene before them changed. The departed judges and demonic soldiers quickly returned to the hall, once more beginning to judge the souls of the dead, then the souls before them…

Time continued to flow backwards, faster and faster. In fact, everything turned into a blur. Ning and King Yan just stood there within the court, waiting silently.

The images of the temporal inversion were illusory ones. Even if the figures of the judges or demonic soldiers touched with them, it wouldn’t make any difference at all.

One year. Two years. Three years…

Time continued to flow backwards at high speed.

“This is the day,” King Yan said.

There had been an order to the procession of souls judged that had been recorded within the bamboo scroll. It included information on which judge did the adjudication, when the record was made, and in what order the decision was made. Thus, King Yan knew exactly which court and roughly which day the judgement was made.

The reversed flow of time began to slow down, and the ghosts could be seen clearly once more.

Ning looked carefully at the ghosts; one of them should’ve been his mother.

Suddenly…

King Yan controlled the temporal version, making it come to a sudden halt, because a white-robed woman had just been escorted in by the demonic soldiers…and it was Ning’s mother, Yuchi Snow!

“Mother.” Ning’s eyes stung. He actually wanted to throw himself forward to hug her.

It had been far, far too long…

But Ning knew that these were merely the illusions rendered by a temporal inversion; these were events that had already happened in the past. These were nothing more than illusions; there was no way he could possibly touch his mother.

“Faster, faster!” The two demonic soldiers that brought Yuchi Snow in actually gave her a shove.

Yuchi Snow looked at her surroundings. Not panicking at all, she immediately knelt down. “My respects to you, judge.”





* * *





Book 17, Chapter 4 - Eastflow Snow, Willowriver Chuan


An aura of light suddenly appeared within the court, and within the light appeared many images. There were images of a little girl playing with her elders, of a young maiden fleeing in terror, of the fully grown Yuchi Snow staring into Ji Yichuan’s eyes, of her adventures in the Darknorth Sea, of her birth of Ji Ning, of her teaching Ji Ning footwork techniques…

One image after another.

“Her past life.” Ning stared at the images.

Although a Protocosmic spirit-treasure had been left behind within this miniature cycle of reincarnation that allowed one to view the past lives of countless ghosts, there was no Book of Life and Death. The judge merely gave the images a glance, then wrote with his pen, “Yuchi Snow, of the world of the Grand Xia, Eastisle Commandery, Yuchi clan. Slightly positive karma. Adjudicated to be…” Some thoughts suddenly appeared in the judge’s mind.

Adjudicated to be reborn as a human and be reincarnated to the Wusky world, Flowermont Commandery, Eastflow clan. Her name shall be Eastflow Snow, and she shall live for 200 years.

These thoughts had been naturally generated by the Dao of the Heavens.

Once one took on the position of judge and moved to support the normal functioning of the Six Paths, it could be said that one had become a part of the Dao of the Heavens. However, the judges were fully capable of changing these written decisions…but in doing so, their own karma would be affected. The more ridiculous the changes were, the more major the impact would be on their karmic standing. In fact, there were some judgements that simply couldn’t be written. For example, if this minor judge was to try to forcibly write that Yuchi Snow’s sentence was to suffer a thousand years of punishment in the eighteenth level of Hell, so much sin would accumulate around the judge that he would probably be immediately deposed from his position, even before he finished writing the sentence!

“…To be reborn as a human and be reincarnated to the Wusky world, Flowermont Commandery, Eastflow clan. Her name shall be Eastflow Snow, and she shall live for 200 years!” This judge naturally followed the will of the Dao of the Heavens. He wouldn’t make any changes at all for an ordinary ghost like this.

……

Watching as his mother was sent off, Ning murmured to himself, “It really was the Eastflow clan of the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world. I wasn’t lied to.”

“Do you wish to also see Ji Yichuan?” The nearby King Yan asked.

“Yes. Of course, yes.” Ning nodded, then said, “King Yan, sorry for the trouble.”

“No trouble at all. If I ran into something like this, I’d probably be frantic as well. Still…unless one becomes a Celestial Immortal, one shall forever struggle within the cycle of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. If one is lucky, one might eventually escape, but less than one in a trillion actually do so. The vast majority shall continue to drown within the cycle until the day comes when their soul is destroyed.” King Yan looked at Ning. “You need to accept this.”

Ning nodded gently.

“Come. Let’s go to another court,” King Yan said, leading the way.

……

Yet another court. The court had been a ceaseless bustle of activity, but it all came to a sudden halt. The judge and the demonic soldiers were terrified into hurriedly departing, leaving behind only Ning and King Yan. King Yan once more used a temporal inversion technique, allowing them to view the scenes of the past. They watched as Ji Yichuan was sentenced by the judge.

“Father.” Ning looked at the white-robed Ji Yichuan while listening to the words of the judge. “So he really was sent to the Flowermont Commandery of the Wusky world.”

“I wish to make a trip to the Wusky world,” Ning said.

“Alright. I’ll accompany you on this trip. I imagine that you will want the temporal inversion technique to be used again; I’ll have to do it for you.” King Yan nodded, then advised, “But Ji Ning, you have to be careful. The Wusky world is not like the Grand Xia; its foundations are not as stable or deep as ours. Thus, the Seamless Gate has been even more brazen in that world. We can go investigate matters pertaining to your parents’ reincarnation, but it’s best for you not to intervene in those struggles.”

Ning said softly, “I understand. King Yan, don’t worry; I’m no longer that stupid, hot-headed little kid.”