Yang Jiaren, who was walking in front, squatted down, scooped up a ladle of ecstasy water, drank it up, and handed the ladle to a soul behind him. He then walked away and continued walking. The envoy asked him what it tasted like, and he said, I can't say for sure. It's neither bitter nor astringent, nor salty nor bland. The Ecstasy Water is clear and transparent, but when you drink it, there is a strong feeling in your mouth, like drinking alcohol. Cold rice soup.
After leaving the Ecstasy Hall, a strong wind blew and clouds rolled in all the way. After walking for a while, I saw a city gate ahead, with a couplet written on it. The first couplet: Humans and ghosts, ghosts, and everyone's ghosts have different paths; the second couplet: Yin and Yang, Yang and Yin, Yin and Yang are forever separated; there is no horizontal mark, only a piece of black. A plaque with three large gilt characters advising Fengdu City was hung in the center of the city gate.
Approaching the gate of the city, the messenger took off the iron chain wrapped around his waist like a belt, tied it on Yang Jiaren again, and said to him, Jiaren, I know you won't run away, why do I have to tie you up again? What about locking? This is the system of Hades. The underworld agents must be chained when escorting the souls of the dead. You must not slack off. If I treat you too leniently and are discovered by other underworld agents and report it to King Yama, I will be punished and will not do the same thing.
Yang Jiaren said, Grandpa Yinchaguan, I understand you very much and thank you very much.
Not to mention, you have also seen that ahead is the eighth station of the underworld, Fengdu City. The messenger looked up at the tall and majestic tower and said in awe.
Yang Jiaren nodded and followed the hooker. When we get here, we can't see the stars, sun and moon when we look up, and we can't see the dust on the ground when we look down. In front of the city gate stood a row of Yin soldiers holding weapons on each side, wearing helmets and looking serious.
The Gou envoy was probably familiar with the Yin soldiers guarding the gate, and nodded to them. A sturdy Yin soldier inside waved his hand and said, "Enter." Yang Jiaren followed the envoy and quietly passed through the city gate. After walking a few steps, there are two more city gates inside. Between the first gate and the second gate, there are two big lights hanging high in the air as if they are floating. However, if you look closely, they don't move at all. One is extremely bright, the other is dim and dark.
The messenger led Yang Jiaren not to walk along the bright lights, but along the dark lights. Yang Jiaren asked quietly, why didn't he go to the light instead of the dark? The hooker yelled, "Don't talk too much when you shouldn't ask." Yang Jiaren lowered his head, showing a very honest look.
Most people alive in the world don't know what the underworld is like. If they do, they will definitely not be able to return to the sun after they come here.
At that moment, the envoy led Yang Jiaren along this dark road and walked through the two gates carved out of white jade. They saw ten city gates arranged side by side, that is, the Hall of the King of Hell, with the first to tenth halls arranged in sequence. There are Yin soldiers guarding the entrance of each hall. The Yin soldiers wore ancient costumes, and some of them were not all ancient costumes, but the uniforms on their upper bodies were of ancient styles.
It is said that the Yin soldiers in the underworld are reincarnated and replaced, just like the soldiers in the iron camp of the Yang world. It is only a matter of time before the soldiers change jobs or demobilize. There are many modern dead people here who have not been reincarnated, but have served as ghost soldiers in various temples for some reasons.
There are Yin soldiers guarding the entrances of each palace. Some carefully check the approval ticket in the soul's hand, and some check the height and size of the soul's head. Everyone is working in an orderly manner, no less than the administrative department in the human world, and even worse. The ghost officers here are all enforcing the law and never engage in malpractice for personal gain. They are as honest as water and as clear-minded as a mirror. Generally, the ghosts who arrive here know in their hearts that they are dead and feel much at peace. They all consciously line up to wait in line for the judgment of the King of Hell in each palace.
Seeing the entrance of the first palace, King Qin Guang's palace, the hooker untied the iron chain that locked Yang Jiaren, then quickly took out the batch of votes, handed it over to the Yin soldiers guarding the door, and handed over Yang Jiaren's Yin spirit. He then said to Yang Jiaren, "Jiaren, my mission is completed. I have a rest today and will rush to Yangshi early tomorrow morning to escort the newly deceased souls here."
The Yang family wanted to kneel down and bow to him, but the envoy shook his head and said no, no, where is this place? Who am I at the entrance to the palace of King Yama?
Then thank you for taking care of me all the way. Yang Jiaren said gratefully.
I don't know if the hooker heard it, but in the blink of an eye, he disappeared. The Yin soldier sandwiched this batch of votes with other batches of votes and said to Yang Jiaren, why are you standing here? Why don't you go queue up and wait for trial. Yang Jiaren sang a promise and saw a long line of ghosts standing in front of King Qin Guang's hall in the first palace. He followed and stood behind him. He was unsure and a little scared. He didn't know what he would be like once he was judged by the King of Hell. the result of.
After a while, it was Yang Jiaren's turn to be tried. King Guang of Qin sat in the palace and ordered Yang Jiaren to report his name, place of birth and time of death, and he answered them one by one. King Qin Guang looked through the files submitted in advance by the Chenghuang Temple in the Yang family's territory. He knew the cause of his death, but could not find any major fault on his part, so he asked him to report himself and avoid others for doing anything unconscionable during his lifetime. No.
Yang Jiaren said no. King Qin Guang frowned and said sternly, you are not a saint, you cannot be perfect during your lifetime. Think again, you have done nothing to offend your conscience.
Your Majesty, let me think. Yang Jiaren pressed his temples with both hands, lowered his head and meditated, and suddenly said, I remembered that there was something I owed to my conscience, and I still blame myself.
What kind of thing did you do to offend your conscience? King Qin Guang said, standing up from his seat.
I remember when I was teaching in Xiangxu, one day after class, I was preparing lessons indoors. Suddenly a strong wind blew outside, and I didn't care. Then it started pouring rain. A scholar ran in, opened the back door in a hurry, and arrived. I was collecting clothes in the backyard. The clothes that were originally dried were soaked by the rain.
The scholar said angrily to me, "You are so pedantic. It's raining outside and you don't know how to go out to collect your clothes." If you don’t care about other people’s affairs at all, who would care about you? I felt very guilty then and still do today. To say that I have done anything to offend my conscience during my lifetime, this does not matter. For this reason, I am willing to accept the punishment of your Majesty.
Yang Jiaren's words were to the point, and he looked like he was asking for forgiveness.
King Qin Guang thought: This is his fault, but it is not a big crime. It is not necessary to punish him for this, but he is indeed wrong and should be held accountable.
At that moment, King Guang of Qin said sternly, "Yang Xiucai, you don't listen to anything outside the window, and you only read the books of sages." Most of the other scholars have made great achievements in reading the books of saints and sages. The more they read, the more vivid their brains become. But you, the more you read, the more rigid you become. I should have punished you, but I feel deeply guilty for thinking about you. I still blame myself, so I won’t blame you anymore. In my opinion, in your life, you are not a bad person, but you are not a good person either. You are neither good nor bad.
Your Majesty, can a person like me, who is neither good nor bad, be able to keep his body after being reincarnated in the next life? Yang Jiaren asked him something that he was very concerned about.
Even if you keep your body, there will be no blessings, and of course there will be no disasters. Whether you will be blessed or cursed in the future depends entirely on your own actions. Doing good will increase your blessings, and doing evil will bring disaster. After King Guang of Qin explained the cause and effect, he signaled Yang Jiaren to withdraw. Then he told a green-eyed evil spirit that although Yang Jiaren did not have to be tortured in hell, he must go to hell to see how those guilty souls who had done evil and evil hearts suffered in hell.
Honor the decree. The green-eyed man bowed his hands in a salute, and then led Yang Jiaren out through another door of the first hall.
