115. Only by Shattering Illusions Can One Behold the True Self-Eerie Immortal Cultivation: I Became the Yellow-Clad Taoist Master(Jade Skies Above the Severed Arm)

A single sword strike.

The scene within the Yama Hall changed drastically. The dog-head guillotine, the shackles, the chains, and even the ghost runners were all pulverized.

No, the ghost runners were not. They had never moved from the beginning, standing on either side, maintaining their original postures. Instead, the floor was littered with scattered tree branches.

Chen Huangpi held the Void-Piercing Divine Sword, gazing warily at the headless corpse of King Yama.

"You don't need to put on an act anymore!" Chen Huangpi said coldly. "My three eyes see it clearly. There is only one evil spirit here—you. The other ghost runners are mere illusions, all fake!"

"No wonder I was trapped by shackles and chains!"

"It turns out it was all my own delusions."

"It was I who was influenced by you; it was I who trapped myself."

The emergence of this third eye allowed him to see through the changes here. The ghost runners had never moved from start to finish; they had always been standing on both sides. The only thing that had changed was this headless Yama. However, it could not leave the dragon throne. It could only indirectly influence Chen Huangpi; in reality, from start to finish, it was Chen Huangpi himself who had been trying to tear off his own head to offer it to the entity.

The headless Yama did not react. It neither trembled nor spoke, as if, having had its secrets exposed by Chen Huangpi, it was suddenly powerless against him.

However... a chill suddenly rose in Chen Huangpi's heart. His dark, cyan-colored eyes stared fixedly at the headless Yama.

"You are also an illusion..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the figure of the headless Yama began to blur and twist, as if a projection of light were shattering. After the Yama's corpse vanished, Chen Huangpi was startled to find himself sitting upon the dragon throne.

Feeling the cold chill beneath him, he looked up and saw the Ten-Direction Bone-Reflecting Mirror suspended overhead, its mercury-like surface shining directly down upon him. The world inside the mirror was reversed. Chen Huangpi saw his own reflection, pale-faced, looking down at the real him below in despair.

Behind his reflection in the mirror stood a colossal, headless Yama. At that moment, the headless Yama was reaching out with both hands toward the reflection’s head.

Chen Huangpi said coldly, "My Dao heart is indestructible. What can mere illusions do to me!"

As he spoke, his cyan eyes widened, and ripples surged within his pupils. Yet, Chen Huangpi remained motionless, still seated firmly on the dragon throne. Instead, a massive shadow loomed before him, obscuring the throne and even Chen Huangpi’s own shadow.

"This is also an illusion!" Chen Huangpi gritted his teeth. "My Dao heart cannot be fake, and my will is indestructible. Headless Yama, stop this nonsense. I’m just a mountain boy who never went to school, and you are the King of Yama of the Underworld. How could my head ever fit on your neck? Besides, if you take my head, I’ll take someone else's, and the cycle of vengeance will never end. Please, let's just part ways."

Chen Huangpi felt as if a pair of hands were truly pressed against his neck, exerting force to rip his head off. Looking up at the Ten-Direction Bone-Reflecting Mirror, he saw his reflection’s face flushed with blood, looking utterly wretched, while the headless Yama was gripping its neck, trying to pull it upward.

"Let me down!" Chen Huangpi fought with all his might to leave the dragon throne, but it seemed as if he were fused to it—or rather, the Ten-Direction Bone-Reflecting Mirror was suppressing him, making it impossible to escape.

In a trance, memories of the Evil Daoist surfaced in Chen Huangpi’s mind. The Evil Daoist had told him that when the false is treated as true, the true becomes false. It was precisely because of this that the Evil Daoist had managed to obtain a drop of his blood. Although he did not know the true utility of his blood, this situation made Chen Huangpi realize that if the head of his reflection in the mirror were torn off, he might share the same fate.

More importantly, he felt a terrifying, unspoken dread: Was he inside the mirror, or outside of it?

"Damn it, have I gone insane like Huang Er? I can't even tell truth from falsehood anymore."

Just then, Chen Huangpi saw a cold, black light erupt from the mirror. The light was blinding, instantly consuming the entire surface.

"I am the Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp! Chen Huangpi, I’ve come to save you!!"

It was Huang Er’s voice, but it had become incredibly sinister, filled with a suppressed, extreme madness and agony. Chen Huangpi also saw the Soul-Snatching Ghost. Within the lamp light, it pointed at the headless Yama and shouted, "Hurry, it’s trying to steal the Contractor's head! Huang Er, don't let it succeed!"

"KILL!!!"

The Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp surged with killing intent, and terrifying nether-fire lunged at the headless figure as if suicidal. However, the fire, originally a sickly green, had now become an ominous, pitch-black color.

The headless Yama let out a painful wail. The ominous fire did not burn its flesh, nor did it ignite its ceremonial robes; instead, it burned its very essence.

Chen Huangpi’s cyan eye narrowed. He saw the nature of that ominous fire. Within it lay the power of black smoke. Though faint, almost imperceptible, it could not hide from these cyan eyes.

"Huang Er drew out the power of the Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp! But why does it contain the power of black smoke? Is it truly Huang Er’s avatar, and was it polluted by me?"

Chen Huangpi did not know, nor did he understand. He only knew that his master must have been to this Underworld, leaving behind the avatar of the Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp to enlighten the Yin gods. It was even possible that he had brought an egg here, one that had drained the Underworld dry and devoured the nether earth.

Regardless, these things no longer mattered. What mattered was that Chen Huangpi knew whether he was in the mirror or not.

"Huang Er, you've been tricked! A-Gui, quickly warn Huang Er, that’s not me. It’s fake! My true body is in the mirror!"

But the version of him outside the mirror shouted, "Huang Er, A-Gui, you finally came to save me! Hurry and kill this Yama; I know how to get out of this hellhole. Don't be afraid! With me here, no one can hurt you!"

Huang Er’s expression was already somewhat deranged, yet it had not forgotten its duty. It had taken ninety percent of the avatar’s lamp oil. Along with it, the memories and power of countless years flooded its mind, causing it immense agony. It truly felt as if it were becoming an evil spirit, as if it had been polluted.

"Yama, you must die!" Huang Er opened its gaping maw and roared, "I am the Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp! You ghost runners, obey my command! RISE!!!"

As the words fell, the ghost runners on either side of the hall spewed black flames from their severed necks. Immediately after, terrifying auras emerged. The Golden-Topped Heavenly Lamp belonged to the Yang, while the Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp belonged to the Yin. The former was upright and bright; the latter, strange and evil.

With Huang Er’s power surging, it could naturally command these ghost runners. It even had an illusion that if all its avatar’s power returned, wherever its light shone, the countless ghost runners and Yin gods of the Underworld would follow. It was the guiding lamp, and the latter were travelers who had lost their way.

It shone its light upon the headless Yama. The next second, the ghost runners within the Yama Hall appeared instantly within the light.

*BOOM...*

The headless Yama’s body shuddered under the assault of the countless ghost runners. Yet, although its essence was burning, its body remained massive, and it refused to release Chen Huangpi’s neck.

"EXPLODE!" Huang Er roared ferociously.

The ghost runners, as if devoid of self-preservation, charged at the headless Yama and detonated themselves. The lamp light flickered, and all the shockwaves were blocked behind Chen Huangpi. The headless Yama’s body swayed, and it was forced to loosen its grip.

"Good chance!" the Soul-Snatching Ghost cried out excitedly. "Huang Er, save the Contractor!"

"I know!" Huang Er extended its thin, long palm, gripped Chen Huangpi’s shoulder firmly, and used all its strength to drag him bodily from the dragon throne. Then, in the latter’s disbelieving gaze, it opened its blood-stained maw.

*CRUNCH...*

The Soul-Snatching Ghost’s expression changed drastically: "HUANG ER!!!!!"

"It's fake!!" Huang Er sneered. "I am his playmate, but he is also my playmate! If I can't even tell truth from falsehood, why would the Master of the Temple have awakened me?" It used the formal "I" (Wu), but when mentioning the Master of the Temple, it subconsciously switched to the common "I."

"Then where is the Contractor?"

"How would I know?"

Huang Er looked around, but could not see any sign of Chen Huangpi. In other words, the reason it was certain the Chen Huangpi before it was fake was simply that they had spent so much time together that it could tell something was wrong at a glance; it did not mean it knew what was happening here.

"Huang Er, I'm above your head."

Chen Huangpi’s three eyes were rolling back; his neck bones were clicking. If he weren't truly thick-skinned, his head would have been torn off by this headless Yama long ago. The Ten-Direction Bone-Reflecting Mirror could indeed suppress everything, even isolating the ability of the Dog-Raising Sutra to share thoughts. Huang Er could not hear him at all.

Perhaps due to a sudden intuition, Huang Er looked up, but saw only a dense, pitch-black void. It did not see the Ten-Direction Bone-Reflecting Mirror, nor the Chen Huangpi inside the mirror, nor the shadow of the headless Yama pulling at his head.

"Chen Huangpi!" Huang Er’s voice became increasingly deranged, and a terrifying aura emanated from its body. It shook its head and said, "Brother, don't scare me, where are you? I am very strong now; even if you were dragged into the eighteenth level of hell, I could still bring you out! The sky will be dark soon; we cannot delay. I cannot abandon you, and you cannot abandon me. If I'm not by your side, you'll be bullied. This Underworld is too evil; it’s not our home. Let’s go back to the Ten Thousand Mountains, let’s go home, let's go home."

The lamp body of Huang Er trembled and twisted. More than half of it had turned black and was changing rapidly. It was truly on the verge of becoming an evil spirit.

"Huang Er!" the Soul-Snatching Ghost gritted its teeth. "Give me the Soul-Calling Register in the Judge's hand."

As soon as the words were spoken, black flames wrapped around a scroll of the Soul-Calling Register and brought it to the Soul-Snatching Ghost. The latter looked at the scroll, its black and red eyes filled with hesitation, but that hesitation quickly vanished.

"I will sever all ties between myself and the Contractor!"

"If I do not die and can enter this Soul-Calling Register, I will use it to point you to the location of the original Contractor. If I die, you return and carry the Master of the Temple’s corpse to this Underworld. This hellish place has become such a ruin, it might as well be destroyed!"

The Soul-Snatching Ghost charged headlong into the Soul-Calling Register.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The Soul-Snatching Ghost let out a scream of extreme agony. Its body shattered upon hitting the register, as if the latter were its nemesis. In reality, it was. One Soul-Calling Register could only have one Soul-Snatching Ghost. The register bound the ghost, and when Chen Huangpi became the contractor, a pact was automatically formed. Unless Chen Huangpi died, the Soul-Snatching Ghost would forever be driven by him. Now, by attempting to sever the connection and enter a new register—and then sensing where the original was hidden—it was equivalent to breaking the contract. It was equivalent to death.

"It's laughable, really!" the Soul-Snatching Ghost sneered. "Chen Huangpi never once drove me; instead, I always ate and drank off him. I once heard a poem in the human world about the intent of the Golden Terrace and sacrificing one's life for one's lord. I thought the mortals were foolish, but now, I believe it."

"But can those mortals do what I can?"

The Soul-Snatching Ghost did not know if they could, for its head had already shattered. Then its neck, its torso, its palms. Its skeletal body turned to dust in an instant. The Soul-Calling Register fell heavily to the ground, kicking up only a small amount of dust.

Huang Er watched this scene indifferently, then, as if remembering something, took a deep breath of that dust.

At that moment, the Soul-Calling Register emitted a ghostly light, which shone directly toward the top of the hall.

Huang Er looked toward where Chen Huangpi was. Although it still couldn't see anything, it knew Chen Huangpi must be there.

"The Hidden One..."

The black Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp burned. A black sun illuminated the entire Yama Hall, and black light surged out of the hall, covering the entire Ghost Gate Pass region.

And it did not stop there. In the Underworld, in the City of Wrongful Death, the Yin gods had not all left; some remained. They saw the golden gate suddenly transform back into a ghost gate, with pitch-black light erupting from within.

Among the countless tributaries of the Yellow Springs, the ferrymen looked up, seeing the pitch-black light. The ferryman who had previously carried Chen Huangpi smiled bitterly: "I knew it—the oil lamp that Chen Huangpi carried was the Nine-Underworld Divine Lamp!"

"Heaven and earth changed; the sun fell into the Underworld. The Son of Yin and the Yama Kings are all dead, and the Underworld has become an evil spirit."

Ripples spread on the surface of the Yellow Springs. Another ferryman sent a message: "The one who came later personally killed the evil spirit and stabilized the Son of Yin."

Another ferryman added: "That one also brought an egg—a gold and black egg. It drank the Yellow Springs dry and devoured the Underworld. Since then, the Underworld has fallen into silence."

"Say no more. The sky is dark, and that one is about to wake up. He can hear us."

The ferrymen looked up at the sky. Then, they saw the dark, gloomy clouds part. A face, so immense it covered the entire Underworld, slowly opened its eyes. The eyes were dead and hollow, yet as if perceiving something, they suddenly looked toward the City of Wrongful Death, toward the Ghost Gate Pass, and then toward the Yama Hall.

"BREAK!!!"

The sound of a mirror shattering rang out. A black sun crashed headlong into the Ten-Direction Bone-Reflecting Mirror.

Then, all light vanished.

The Son of Yin looked toward the past. He was dead, yet instinctively felt something attracting him, something making him want to devour, to come back to life.

(End of chapter)