Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 174: Yin and Yang Reversed

Wukong was wrapped inside, carefully examining the material of the Hun Tian Ling. It seemed to be mixed with gold and silver threads. Gold fears fire the most, so he decided to test it by setting it on fire. With a thought, a green flame shot from his fingertip and touched the Hun Tian Ling. Yet, when the flame touched it, not the slightest change in color occurred.

Nezha, who was controlling the Hun Tian Ling, naturally knew that Wukong was up to no good inside. He sneered to himself, “Although this Hun Tian Ling was created later, it isn’t made from any of the five elements—how could you possibly break it?”

Seeing that his fire attack failed, Wukong stopped trying. He knew the Hun Tian Ling was only meant for binding people, so he wasn’t in a hurry to escape and waited inside for the right opportunity.

The Tower-Bearing Heavenly King wasn’t expecting Wukong to be captured so easily. Overjoyed, he thought, “I’ve tried many times to conquer Flower-Fruit Mountain, and today I finally achieve something!”

“Child, control the Hun Tian Ling well—don’t let that demon monkey escape!” Li Jing said.

Nezha replied, “Dad, don’t worry. This Hun Tian Ling has trapped countless gods and monsters—how could anyone escape?”

“Good! Then capture that demon monkey and bring him back to the Heavenly Court. This time, I’ll ensure you get top credit for it!”

Nezha then used his magical artifact to recall the Hun Tian Ling. Wukong felt the Hun Tian Ling move, so he immediately used the Thousand-Pound Weight technique. Holding the Ruyi Tianji Stick in his hand, he drove it downward like a drill, causing the Hun Tian Ling to plummet like a kite with a cut string.

Nezha had never encountered such a strange situation. He urgently tried to recall the Hun Tian Ling, but to no avail. Panicked, he chased after it. The Heavenly King Li didn’t know what was happening but assumed someone was helping Wukong. Shouting, “Who dares interfere while the Heavenly Court captures a demon?” he rushed after them along with the Four Golden Immortals and the Twenty-Eight Stars.

The Hun Tian Ling, carrying Wukong, streaked through the sky like a meteor, falling faster and faster. Wukong changed his size inside—whether he became as small as a jujube seed or as tall as a hundred zhang—the Hun Tian Ling adjusted to his shape.

Realizing the Hun Tian Ling was falling faster and growing hotter, Wukong transformed the Ruyi Tianji Stick into a drill bit and drove it downward.

They had started from a very high place, and this fall lasted nearly half a quarter of an hour.

Nezha was extremely anxious. The Hun Tian Ling was his life artifact—he absolutely couldn’t lose it.

Piercing through the clouds, they could faintly see Wukong falling toward an abyss on the ground. Nezha was shocked—was it that place? The abyss seemed bottomless. Nezha quickly recited a spell, and the Hun Tian Ling peeled away layer by layer from Wukong’s body, flying back into his hands like a dragon.

Wukong broke free from his bonds in an instant, but he couldn’t control his momentum and plunged headfirst into the abyss. Li Jing caught up from behind and saw Nezha standing alone on the clouds holding the Hun Tian Ling. He asked urgently, “How did that demon monkey get away?” Nezha replied, “I don’t know what magic the demon monkey used, but the Hun Tian Ling no longer obeys me.” Li Jing looked down and his expression changed drastically. “Jiuyou!” Nezha nodded. “It is indeed Jiuyou.” Li Jing said, “You stay here with the celestial beings to defend this place. I’ll return to the Heavenly Court right away!” Once free from the Hun Tian Ling, Wukong was at liberty. His plan was essentially a gamble—a bet on Nezha’s inability to wield the Ruyi Tianji Stick. Since even he couldn’t lift it back then, and Nezha’s cultivation was far inferior to his own, it was highly likely Nezha would be powerless. Sure enough, when the heavy weight was used, Nezha had no choice but to withdraw his magical weapon. Wukong opened his eyes and saw the cliffs rushing past on both sides. He quickly stopped his descent. Looking around, he realized they were near the bottom of the abyss, and he could already hear the sound of water flowing inside. Looking up, there was only a sliver of sky, with faint light shining through. By the time he stood there, very little light remained. If it weren’t for his mastery of the Xuan Kong magic, it would have been completely dark. The abyss was extremely wide, with the cliffs on either side separated by at least a thousand feet. There was only a thin strip of sky above, indicating its great depth, comparable to the height of the heavens. Wukong looked around but saw no one or anything. Everything was pitch black—the cliffs were dark, and black trees with twisted branches grew on them, resembling the horns of a demon king. Looking down, he heard the sound of water flowing at the bottom of the abyss. The water and rocks were black, with not even a hint of light. Finding this place strange, Wukong decided to explore further. Not knowing the direction, he flew in the direction from which the water came. After flying for at least dozens of miles, he finally reached the source of the water and saw a huge cave on the cliff, from which the black water flowed. Wukong, being skilled and bold, entered the cave directly. After walking for a while, he heard voices. A few steps further, he saw a huge black square stone standing in the cave. The moment he saw this stone, his head buzzed, and scenes from the past flashed through his mind like a carousel—events that must have happened tens of thousands of years ago… At the end of the Yama Palace stood a huge black square stone called the Youming Wo Shi. Directly to the east of the Wo Shi was the entrance from the underworld to the human world—the “Rebirth Gate.” Countless souls of gods, demons, and mortals came and went through here, being reborn into the world. In front of the Rebirth Gate lay another bottomless abyss, with sixNaihe bridges spanning it, made of gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, and plank.

To the north of the Netherly Prosperous Stone stood a grand hall, under the jurisdiction of the Tenth Hall’s King of Reincarnation. At that moment, the King of Reincarnation was seated in front of the Rebirth Pool, holding a small golden banner and observing intently.

A junior judge approached him with a smile and said, “What ability does this soul have to earn your attention for so long?” Without even looking, the King of Reincarnation replied, “This is the soul of Feng Meng, the greatest archer in the world today. The Jade Emperor personally instructed me to take good care of him. What ability do you think he has?” The junior judge stuck out his tongue and gasped, “Wow, that’s serious.”

The King of Reincarnation added, “Keep a close eye on the Rebirth Pool to prevent any vicious souls from escaping. I will personally take this soul across the bridge.” The judge replied, “Yes, sir.” The junior judge sneered, “This new King of Reincarnation is really an amateur. Which vicious soul would dare cause trouble in the Hall of Yama?”

Holding Feng Meng’s soul-banner, the King of Reincarnation carefully stepped out of the hall and headed toward the golden bridge. When he arrived at the Hall of Separated Souls, he saw several little demons frolicking and joking around. The King of Reincarnation shouted angrily, “Which fools are playing around? I’ll skin you if I catch you!”

The demons immediately fell silent in fear and turned to get to work. Though they pretended to be busy, they were uneasy, fearing the King of Reincarnation would investigate further.

Demon A asked the others in a low voice, “Have we prepared these creatures’ three souls and seven spirits properly?”

They replied, “It will be done soon.”

Demon A said, “Hurry up, so we can send them across the Bridge of Sorrow.”

Demon B asked, “The King of Reincarnation is on the bridge. Shouldn’t we avoid him now?”

Demon A replied, “The time has come. We must send them over.”

Hearing that the time was up, the demons hurriedly packed up the souls they had and sealed each one in a paper banner, then rushed toward the Bridge of Sorrow.

On the Bridge of Sorrow, the King of Reincarnation walked across the golden bridge, holding the golden banner. The demons trembled with fear as they made their way toward the plank bridge. Only Demon B mistakenly stepped onto the jade bridge. Seeing him on the wrong bridge, the other demons didn’t dare call out. Demon A quickly rushed down from the plank bridge, went to the jade bridge, and pulled Demon B back.

By the time the two demons rushed back to the plank bridge, they saw that the Rebirth Gate at the end of the bridge was slowly closing. Once it closed, the process of reincarnation would end. The souls in their hands would not be able to be reborn and would remain as wandering spirits. Demon A and Demon B would also be punished for their negligence by being sent to the Fifth Hall of the Hall of Yama to face a lifetime of punishment under the rule of the King of Yama.

Without hesitation, the two ghosts rushed desperately toward the Rebirth Gates. The smaller ghost was slightly faster and managed to push the paper banner through the gap just in time. The other ghost had only managed to insert a small part of its banner when, with a loud crash, all six Rebirth Gates behind the Six Paths of Suffering closed simultaneously, severing the other ghost’s banner into two pieces!
Seeing this, the other ghost collapsed to the ground. The first ghost took the banner from its hands and examined it carefully. Inside, only two souls and seven spirits remained—the soul governing fate had been torn away!
“Well now, they’re even worse than stray spirits. With just two souls and seven spirits, they can only become walking corpses,” muttered the first ghost.
At that moment, the Chakravartin on the golden bridge had already safely guided Feng Meng’s soul across. Seeing the two ghosts on the plank bridge, one collapsed and the other acted like a fool, he knew something terrible must have happened.
In the first hall of the Yama Palace, King Qin Shou stood with a dark face, holding the banner with only two souls and seven spirits left. After taking a look, he laughed and said, “It’s not a big deal. It’s just an ordinary domestic pig. But since this ghost failed in its duty, it deserves to be punished according to the rules.”
“The Chakravartin agreed, “Of course!”
Outside the Rebirth Gates, countless soul-catching banners fluttered in the wind—some made of gold, some of silver, some of jade—looking quite beautiful. Once they emerged from the Rebirth Gates, they headed to the four great continents in search of hosts. Only one damaged banner drifted aimlessly, like a homeless wanderer or a lone sail in the vast ocean.
Who knows how much time passed, but eventually, that damaged banner attached itself to another banner. The two merged and headed straight for the mortal world.