116. Huang Er Transforms into a Malevolent Entity

The path back to the mortal realm truly lay within the Ten Directions Bone-Illuminating Mirror.

The black sun, formed by the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp, shattered the surface of the mirror, and in that instant, countless rays of black light surged toward the path ahead.

Chen Huangpi sat atop the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp. His face was flushed crimson, and he was gasping for air. All around him, shards of the mirror reflected distorted light, yet the headless Yama had vanished without a trace.

"That headless Yama is truly damnable!" The Nine-Nether Divine Lamp’s voice was ferocious, making no effort to hide its murderous intent. "Your neck was already bruised purple and blue from its grip; if it had lasted any longer, you would have surely suffocated!"

"It was me who was about to run out of air," Chen Huangpi wheezed. He had truly been on the brink of death, his eyes rolling back in his head. He still didn't know what other tricks the headless Yama might have had up its sleeve, but thankfully, it was finally over.

"Back to the mortal realm. We must return to the mortal realm at once."

The Soul-Returning Jade was in hand. There was no reason to linger in the Underworld’s Yin Soil any longer.

Ninety percent of the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp’s body had turned pitch black, yet it still managed to maintain a sliver of consciousness. Within the tunnel formed by the fragmented mirror, the black sun continued to ascend, as if the sun that had fallen into the Yin Soil countless ages ago was rising once more to return to the mortal world.

But the mortal world already had its own sun.

Chen Huangpi looked upward. Although all he could see was black light, his third eye flickered. This cyan-black eye possessed a bizarre ability. Though it had been forcibly brought into existence by Chen Huangpi and was still somewhat immature, its mere presence was enough to mark it as a terrifying entity, much like the black smoke itself.

At this moment, within the cyan-black eye, illusory, foam-like scenes flickered. These were fragmented memories recorded by the Ten Directions Bone-Illuminating Mirror over countless years while it hung in the Yama Palace.

Chen Huangpi saw the Yama Palace. He saw the Yama seated upon the dragon throne, his head perfectly intact, surrounded by his ghost attendants. It seemed to be a scene from a long-lost age. The entire palace was shaking. The Yama on the throne seemed to have encountered something unimaginably horrific. Then, filled with rage, he transformed into a streak of ghostly light and charged out, followed closely by his attendants.

Many years passed in the blink of an eye. The Yama returned to the hall with his attendants, but this time, their auras had become chillingly dark, radiating an ominous and obscure gloom. They were mutating into evil specters. The Yama sat rigidly on his throne, his eyes filled with madness and the struggle of a fading soul. He looked up toward the ceiling—the position of the Ten Directions Bone-Illuminating Mirror. But even the powerful mirror could not stop the Yama from succumbing to the corruption.

Chen Huangpi said with pity, "You returned here hoping to use the power of the Ten Directions Bone-Illuminating Mirror, but since it was created by your own hands, how could it possibly protect you?"

Eventually, no one knew how much time had passed. The struggle in the Yama's eyes vanished. He bowed his head and transformed into a different kind of lifeform. The ghost attendants followed suit the moment he turned into a specter, as if the Yama was shielding them even in his corruption.

"With such deep bonds, I cannot believe you betrayed the Sovereign of the Underworld. You must have been forced by circumstance. Perhaps it was that sun that polluted you."

The images in Chen Huangpi’s eyes shifted again. This time, he saw a familiar figure. A man wearing cyan-black Taoist robes, with white hair and beard, held a horsetail whisk. Beside him floated the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp, but its light was not pitch black or sickly green; it shone with the warm, dim yellow glow of an ordinary household oil lamp.

Within that light sat an egg—a gold and black egg. Under the lamp’s glow, Chen Huangpi saw the egg become translucent, faintly revealing a curled-up infant inside, yet it radiated an ominous, deathly chill. The Yama and his attendants in the hall seemed unaware, their faces contorted into masks of malice as they charged out of the hall.

The Taoist stood at the entrance, waving his whisk. The heads of the Yama and his attendants vanished, only to return to their original positions. Having done this, the Taoist turned to the egg and whispered, "Do not fret. These were all your Uncle Yin’s trusted subordinates. Since he is gone, I naturally had to offer some help. Now that I have given them both face and substance, I shall not be modest."

The egg trembled slightly, as if in response. The Taoist smiled and gestured toward the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp. It immediately split off a fragment of itself to hang at the palace gate. Sensing something, the egg began to tremble urgently.

The Taoist quickly said, "I am doing this for your own good, Huang Er. Otherwise, if its light shines on you day and night, you will be polluted before long, and then this cradle of yours won't be very comfortable, will it? Come now, I shall take you to eat something good."

With that, the Taoist left with the egg. Before leaving, he seemed to remember something and turned to the lamp fragment, adding, "The world is changing. I do not expect you to grow 'fine grain' like your brother, so you shall grow some coarse grain here."

The vision ended. Chen Huangpi was left at a loss. "My master really did bring me to the Yin Soil, but I was still in the egg, so I don't remember," he muttered in disbelief. "So the judge didn't frame me. Perhaps I truly did drain the Yellow Springs and devour the Yin Soil."

"But this fine grain and coarse grain..."

The fine grain was clearly the gods refined by the Golden-Crowned Heavenly Lamp. The coarse grain... perhaps that referred to these Yin gods. But regardless of the type, Chen Huangpi had never eaten them since he could remember. As a child, he ate porridge and offerings. When he grew up, he ate millet grown at the foot of the Pure Immortal Temple, along with some scallions.

*Master must have secretly eaten them himself,* Chen Huangpi thought indignantly. *Master has lost his mind; he loves eating strange things. Last time, he nearly ate the Fox Mountain God, claiming it was good for his vitality! I wonder what a god tastes like, though I doubt it's as good as an offering.*

Just then, Chen Huangpi felt a sudden warmth, as if he had been transported from one place to another. The scenery around him shifted instantly.

"The mortal realm! Huang Er, we've returned!" Chen Huangpi looked up excitedly. A sun hung in the sky, brilliant and dazzling. It grew brighter and brighter, until Chen Huangpi began to feel the heat and his eyes started to sting. It felt as if they were flying directly into the sun.

No, to be precise, they *were* flying into it. The sun, which had been the size of a millstone, grew to the size of a house in the blink of an eye. Chen Huangpi’s heart leaped into his throat.

"Huang Er! Fly downward! Fly downward!"

"It's sucking me in!" the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp roared in agony. "Go down! Go down!"

Chen Huangpi was terrified. Why would the mortal sun want to suck Huang Er in? Could the sun be alive?

The cyan-black eye on Chen Huangpi’s cheek suddenly widened. The pupil rippled, spreading a bizarre fluctuation.

"Ah!!!" Chen Huangpi screamed. The mere act of looking caused his eyes to sting violently, as if he had been blinded, and everything turned to pitch black. The cyan-black eye squeezed shut, and his human eyes lost their color.

Yet he shouted, "I saw it! I saw it!"

"The sun is alive! It has countless buds and tentacles. It looks like an eye... I can't describe it, but it really is an eye, just like the Eye of Tribulation!"

Chen Huangpi could see nothing, and his third eye had vanished. But that one glance had revealed the truth: the sun was a deception. Its essence was a glowing eye, covered in pulsating flesh buds and tentacles, dripping blood as if it had been forcibly torn from a socket. Yet, it was not dead—it was alive. And around the sun, remnants of something resembling flying ships drifted.

During the day, evil spirits rarely appeared. Some cultivators believed they feared the sun and thus attempted to "chase the sun." Chen Huangpi had read of such records in Song Qiuyue’s memories, but he never imagined it was true. Sadly, those cultivators had failed because they did not know the sun was alive.

"Huang Er, are you flying down?" Chen Huangpi asked nervously. "I don't feel as hot anymore. Or maybe I'm just blind and my senses are failing."

"I am flying down," the Nine-Nether Divine Lamp said, its tone strange and uncertain. It had burned through almost all its oil to escape the sun's gravitational pull, and this left it feeling ravenously hungry. It desperately wanted to consume something.

"Huang Er, you're under me, right?" Chen Huangpi’s voice was filled with sorrow. "I'm blind; I can't see anything. Have we returned to the temple? I remember there's a recipe for 'Restoring Sight' in the alchemy room. Take me there; I don't want to be blind."

His master was already old, and he was the only disciple. If he became blind, his master would have to take care of him. Chen Huangpi did not want that.

"Huang Er, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because we aren't in the Ten Thousand Mountains. We are outside; it will take a while to return to the temple."

"Then where are we?"

"I don't know, but it is bustling below. There are many people and many gods. They are all very..."

"Very what?"

"Very lively..."

Chen Huangpi said bitterly, "I love liveliness, but I'm blind now. By the way, Huang Er, why does your voice sound so coarse?"

The Nine-Nether Divine Lamp lowered its voice quickly. "It's the wind; it blew into my throat."

"And why have you grown so many lumps? It’s not comfortable to sit on."

The lamp tried to shift back to its original form but failed. It could only explain, "The sun was too hot. Unlike you with your thick skin, my lamp body was scorched. It’s normal to have a few lumps."

"My head is itching."

"Because we are flying too low. Mosquitoes are biting you."

The Nine-Nether Divine Lamp opened its gaping maw and gnawed fiercely at Chen Huangpi’s head, but no matter how hard it bit, it could not leave a single mark.

"Huang Er, you’ve turned into a specter, haven't you?"

"I have not!"

Chen Huangpi listened to the grinding sound and sighed helplessly. "Huang Er, don't forget—I am the Master!"