In the Divine Realm.
Zhang Qing looked up at Lü Dongbin, Guan Yu, and Chen Yun sitting at the head of the hall, feeling dizzy.
He looked further down to the two rows below, on the left were Taoist local deities, mountain gods, and river gods, and on the right were Buddhist monks and arhats.
Such an array would be more than sufficient in the Battle of Divine Beings.
And now, just to catch a small corpse solution spirit, so out of such a grand array?
Zhang Qing was almost tempted to curse, thinking to himself, "You son of a bitch, Chen Yun, you're really overestimating me!"
Chen Yun paid no attention to Zhang Qing's condition.
Upon seeing Zhang Qian's and Lin Chen's souls being captured, he quickly stood up and rushed towards them, "Master Zhang, Master Lin, are you alright?"
Zhang Qian also noticed the unprecedentedly powerful lineup, and couldn't help but gulp and stammer, "I... I'm fine."
Lin Chen was even more stunned, and temporarily forgot to respond.
He never thought that Chen Yun was so powerful, calling on so many sacred beings to save him and Zhang Qian at once.
When Lin Chen left the Transcendental Temple, Chen Yun was no different, just an ordinary garden worker.
And now, he can actually summon so many sacred beings?
This made Lin Chen feel extremely unbelievable.
Um, after he was captured, he hadn't had a chance to communicate with Zhang Qian yet, and had no idea that Chen Yun had been taken under the tutelage of Zhongli Quan. For a moment, he wasn't clear on where Chen Yun got such power to summon so many divine beings.
"That's okay, that's okay." Chen Yun couldn't help but sigh in relief, taking hold of the hands of the two, "Please, allow me to invite Master Lü and General Guan to arbitrate for you."
The two of them only just realized what was happening and quickly dropped to their knees.
"Met the Ancestor Lü, met King Guan, met all the sacred beings."
"Met the Ancestor Lü, met King Guan, met all the sacred beings."
Lü Dongbin and Guan Yu naturally recognized the two, nodded slightly, and pointed to the chairs placed a short distance away to indicate that they should sit down.
Zhang Qian and Lin Chen, seeing so many sacred beings present, dared not really sit down.
However, Lü Dongbin and Guan Yu had spoken, and they couldn't really refuse to sit.
In the end, they could only sit with half their buttocks.
At this moment, Lü Dongbin furrowed his brow slightly and looked at Zhang Qing, "Who is the person below, why did you abduct the long worker under my master's tutelage?"
Zhang Qing's courage was about to be shattered, bowing and prostrating himself to reply, "I... I am..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the King of Golden-Scale Carp kicked Zhang Qing in the knee fiercely and glared at him with a fierce look, "Lü Ancestor is asking a question. Why are you still standing?"
Zhang Qing, who was kicked to the ground, dared not show anger and could only bow and kneel on the ground with a mournful face, replying truthfully, "I am Zhang Qing, the leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion of the Taiping Tao in Longxi Commandery. I pay respect to Ancestor Lü, King Guan, and all the sacred beings."
As he spoke, he seemed to have thought of something, and hurriedly appeased Zhang Qing by adding, "I am one of the founders of the Taoist Taiping Path, a descendant of Zhang Bao. We are all part of the same Taoist family. I hope that Ancestor Lü will show mercy and forgive me for whatever mistakes I have made. Please consider it on behalf of my ancestors."
"Hmph!" Lü Dongbin snorted coldly, "Using your ancestors to pressurize me? Don't say you are a descendant of Zhang Bao. Even if Zhang Bao were to be reborn, would he dare stand before me?"
Zhang Qing trembled with fear and dared not speak.
Lü Dongbin squinted his eyes and said, "You dare to bully my disciples? Don't you really think that I, Lü Dongbin, am a pushover from the Eastern Wang Clan?"
Zhang Qing was so scared that he fell to the ground and became paralyzed, too terrified to utter a single word.
Chen Yun watched from the side the whole time. It was his first meaningful contact with Lü Dongbin, and he had always thought of him as having a mild temperament. He hadn't expected that Lü Dongbin was so protective of his disciples, and his style of doing things was completely different from Master Wang Laoyi and Brother Zheng Wenfu in the Transcendental Temple.
Lü Dongbin asked, "Why did you harm Zhang Qian and Lin Chen, who are ordinary people?"
Zhang Qing tried to evade the question and said, "I was just scaring them. I really didn't intend to hurt them."
Guan Yu laughed somewhat sarcastically, "You this soul-eating immortal still dare to argue when you're at the brink of death?"
As he spoke, he turned to Zhang Qian and Lin Chen and said, "You two don't need to be afraid. Today, I and Brother Lü will arbitrate on your behalf. If you have any grievances, please speak up."
Zhang Qing's face turned green, this was a shitty situation, they were all of the same family, now they were judging an outsider like him, even if he did have some thoughts about Zhang Qian and Lin Chen, under these circumstances, he would probably be bullied by them into a pitiable situation.
Zhang Qian and Lin Chen cast a glance at Chen Yun.
Chen Yun smiled and nodded, "Master Zhang, Master Lin, if you have any grievances, please speak up."
Zhang Qian and Li Si felt more confident when they heard Chen Yun's words.
To be honest, both Zhang Qian and Li Si harbored an intense hatred for Zhang Qing.
They knew that when Zhang Qing grabbed them, he had clearly said that after Chen Yun arrived, he would perform live dissections on the two of them and let Chen Yun experience the taste of losing dear relatives.
Who is not afraid of death?
Zhang Qian and Lin Chen were somewhat despondent at that moment.
Therefore, they extremely hoped that Chen Yun would appear as late as possible, so that they could live for another two days.
They even hoped that Chen Yun would never appear, not out of fear of death, but because they felt that if Zhang Qing wanted to kill them, he was very likely to also kill Chen Yun.
As men of integrity, Zhang Qian and Lin Chen would rather die for righteousness than see Chen Yun suffer the same fate as them.
Who knew that later, Zhang Qing was suddenly attacked and captured by the monster.
At the same time, they also became "hostages."
This made Zhang Qian and Lin Chen even more despondent. In the hands of human cultivators, the worst that could happen was death, with a chance of rebirth. But if they fell into the hands of monsters, the outcome was uncertain.
Indeed, the actions of the King of Golden-Scale Carp "confirmed" their thoughts.
Their souls were taken out of their bodies.
They had stayed in the Transcendental Temple for four or five years, come into contact with true sacred beings, and knew that there were many demons and monsters hidden in the world.
That's why Zhang Qian and Lin Chen were well aware of the consequences of being captured by a demon. Generally speaking, they would either be eaten or turned into mindless ghost servants by the demon, never to rise again.
Zhang Qian and Lin Chen were completely hopeless.
To their surprise, they were brought to the Temple of the Venerable King and saw Ancestor Lü Dongbin, the elder disciple of the First Ancestor, sitting at the head; Guan Yu, who often played chess under the elm tree at the foot of Mount Zongnan with Zhao Gongming; and... Chen Yun, who was smiling warmly at them.
As Zhang Qian and Lin Chen had been staying in the Transcendental Temple for a long time, Lü Dongbin and Guan Yu were naturally recognized by them.
What they didn't recognize were the two rows of deities seated below, who were literally glowing with divine light.
However, their first reaction upon seeing Chen Yun was that these deities were definitely summoned by Chen Yun to save them.
This means something.
It means they are going to be fine from now on!
From despair to escaping death, and now to have the chance for revenge and to avenge their grievances, their emotions were incredibly excited.
With the opportunity to seek revenge, how could they possibly not tell the truth about everything?
Zhang Qian and Lin Chen immediately rushed forward and prostrated themselves on the ground, reciting everything Zhang Qing had said to them. They even included some "guesses" and "imagination" in their statements. For example, Zhang Qing had originally said he would skin them alive. From Zhang Qian and Lin Chen's mouths came out, it was changed to Zhang Qing wanting to kill them as well as drain their souls out of their bodies to torment them day and night.
These words were so outrageous that they could provoke the anger of both gods and men.
Zhang Qian and Lin Chen's accusations nearly made Zhang Qing faint, thinking, "You guys are so good at fabrication, why don't you write a novel?"
"How dare this scoundrel not be a human being!"
"These are just ordinary people. As a soul-eating immortal, you would resort to such a cunning move?"
"Oh, I can't help but feel my blood boiling. I wish I could slap this soul-eating immortal to death with one hand."
The spirits of the land, mountain gods, monks, and arhats all believed in Zhang Qian and Lin Chen's story, one after another, vehemently censuring Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing was wronged, and he quickly shouted, "Venerable King Guan, Ancestor Lü, it's an injustice! I am innocent! They are slandering me!"
Guan Yu narrowed his eyes and said, "They are just ordinary people. How dare they accuse a soul-eating immortal?"
Zhang Qing was momentarily at a loss for words, and truly didn't know how to respond. Could he say that because you all are one big family, it gave Zhang Qian and Lin Chen the courage to accuse him? Such words would probably make him unable to leave the Temple of the Venerable King alive today.
But he genuinely felt wronged. He had only said that he would skin them alive, never that he would pull their souls out to torment them. These were two completely different things.
As he saw that Zhang Qing didn't say anything, Guan Yu also grew tired of arguing with him. He turned to Lü Dongbin and said, "Brother Lü, as a Buddhist celestial being, I shouldn't interfere in this matter. Perhaps you should handle it?"
"Very well, thank you, Brother Guan," Lü Dongbin replied, his gaze turning cold as he looked at Zhang Qing. He then asked in a calm tone, "Zhang Qing, having achieved your celestial transformation by exorcism, you may not be one of the Five Immortals of Daoism but are still a celestial being. Yet today you dare to harm ordinary people. I ask you, according to the celestial laws decreed by Taishan Laozi, what kind of punishment should be meted upon you?"
Indeed, there are many types of immortals in Taoism, such as those who cultivate to become ghost immortals, human immortals, earth immortals, celestial immortals, and heaven immortals, or those who achieve deification. As long as one becomes an immortal, they are subject to the celestial laws.
Although Zhang Qing is the lowest-level immortal, he is of the same nature as those who achieve deification, just with different powers.
Exactly because of this, Zhang Qing, as an immortal transformed by exorcism, is also considered an immortal. According to the celestial laws, immortals are not allowed to harm ordinary beings.
Many soul-eating immortals may not be as powerful as high-level cultivators or leaders of sects, and even if they harm ordinary beings, it is usually not pursued by anyone, regarded as a situation of turning a blind eye.
However, no matter how turned a blind eye some may be, the fact remains that Zhang Qing, as an immortal transformed by exorcism, is still considered an immortal. Zhang Qing harming ordinary people indeed violates the celestial laws, and now that Lü Dongbin is pursuing this, Zhang Qing will indeed be punished by the celestial laws!
And every penalty for violating the celestial laws is extremely severe. Some immortals who violate the celestial laws will have their divine powers stripped away and be reincarnated. For instance, in "Journey to the West," Zhu Bajie, in his previous life, was the Commander of Heavenly Pavilion, possessing boundless divine power. Why couldn't he still be powerful after being reincarnated? Because his divine power had been stripped away!
Zhang Qing was completely panic-stricken this time and hurriedly kowtowed, begging for mercy, "Gracious Ancestor Lü, spare my life! Spare my life! I will never do such a thing again!"
Lü Dongbin didn't care about mercy. "Oh, if you have any complaints, go and talk to the Underworld Official!"
Soul-eating immortals have such a low status that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Celestial Censorate. Instead, they are generally controlled by the Underworld Censorate.
Zhang Qing cried out in despair, "Venerable Lü, have mercy on me! Pray that you show leniency outside the law! If I am judged by the Underworld, I will definitely be sent to the Abyssal Sea, and it will truly be an eternal punishment. Pray that you show leniency outside the law!"
Lü Dongbin paid no attention to him and turned to the Luohe River Goddess, saying, "Miss Luo, this person was caught by a small demon from your realm. It should be under your jurisdiction, Luohe. Please send him to the Underworld."
The Luohe River Goddess, Luo Pindu, stood up to bow and say, "Following the will of the immortal."
After speaking, Luo Bin stretched out her hand and captured Zhang Qing.
At this moment, Zhang Qing regretted it deeply. He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green.
If he had known that Chen Yun knew how to use "interpersonal relationships," he wouldn't have dared to tackle this iron plate!
However, it's too late now. Zhang Qing has fallen into the "family court" of the other party, and he can only end up with a "beaten and made to admit guilt" and "victimized by humiliation" result.
He almost cried in anger, "Fuck! I've seen people without faces, but I've never seen such a shameless group of family members judging an outsider. What the hell!"
This made Zhang Qing feel incredibly oppressed, but he was completely at a loss for what to do.
It's because the "judgment power" is in the hands of the family members of the "victim."
At this moment, Zhang Qian finally realized a truth: Although he was very capable in combat, it was all for nothing. Power and influence were what mattered in the world.
Then, Luo Bin's figure vanished, an obvious sign that she was escorting Zhang Qing to the Underworld to face judgment.
Only after Luo Bin vanished did Lü Dongbin smile and look at Chen Yun, saying, "Brother Chen, do you feel avenged now?"
Chen Yun quickly stood up to bow and say, "Thank you, Master Lü."
As he spoke, he became curious and asked, "May I ask, Master Lü, is the Abyssal Sea extremely terrifying?"
"Chuckle, Mr. Chen, you don't know the truth." Guan Yu said: "The Abyssal Sea is the eye of the sea. If it is not blocked, the water will keep flowing. If one seals themselves in the Abyssal Sea, it's like being constantly scoured by a whole sea of water at all times. Not only can one not practice cultivation normally, one cannot move, see, hear, or even speak. After years and months of this, can you imagine how lonely it would be?"
This time, Chen Yun understood.
In simpler terms, it's like being locked in a dark cell and subjected to constant torture.
It's already very hard to bear the loneliness of being locked in a small black room, and to be constantly beaten, anyone would find it unbearable.
This kind of punishment can be said to be more terrifying than direct execution.
Because death is the end of all things.
The Abyssal Sea is a harsh punishment that is impossible to survive and impossible to die.
At that moment, Chen Yun felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. The old bastard had come to bother him because of his superior cultivation. However, he did not expect to end up losing and suffering such a terrifying punishment for himself.
(Chapter ends)
