The sky was as gloomy as a boundless lead-iron plate, threatening to crash down at any moment. Gusts of fierce wind howled past, and withered branches twisted painfully and creaked in the wind, as if letting out desperate wails.
But this wind could not stir the thick mist within this Yellow Springs Domain.
It was as if the mist had been tightly bound by thousands of ghostly ropes that had emerged from the Underworld, preventing it from moving an inch.
And beneath the layers of thick mist, the lands of the Yellow Springs Domain, cut into pieces by the freely flowing, turbid yellow rivers, presented a murky green color, like that of a corpse.
On this murky green land, amidst the vast ruins formed by collapsed buildings, hundreds and thousands of spider webs, as large as rows of interconnected buildings, were spread out, layer upon layer, here and there.
And on these white spider webs, hundreds and thousands of grey insects were suspended and stuck.
What was horrifying was that the heads of these insects actually had human faces, including men, women, old, and young.
Even more terrifying was that all these human faces were crying like babies, or cackling with laughter, or shaking their heads and playing incessantly.
At the same time, thousands of strangely shaped ghostly beings formed teams, slowly walking in rows beneath the massive spider webs, some bowing their heads and hunching their backs, weeping and growling, others raising their heads and puffing out their chests, cackling and howling.
Thus, human-faced insects hung in mid-air, and twisted evil spirits walked on the ground, constantly crying, screaming, roaring, and laughing, making this Yellow Springs ghostly land appear incredibly bizarre, almost as terrifying and boundless as the end of all living beings' nightmares.
And in this bizarre and terrifying place, in a small corner formed by piled-up collapsed houses, two Demon Slayer Commandants, dressed in double-breasted leather coats, were despondently exchanging their last words.
"Gao Guang," a short, stout Demon Slayer Commandant leaned against a broken wall and said dejectedly, "You know, us two mere Wood Rank Commandants, just on a small errand to eliminate a minor ghost, actually ended up in the Yellow Springs Domain. What terrible luck!"
"What can we do?" Gao Guang, sitting opposite the stout Commandant, tall and thin, and also leaning against a broken wall, sighed in a muffled voice, "Xu Shuo, this is fate, it's destined. Lord Yama has decided that we brothers are to die here."
The reason for their despondency was that they had already tried to escape this Yellow Springs Domain earlier.
But there were simply too many ghostly beings in this eerie and evil place, and from time to time, Fierce Soul-level ghostly beings would suddenly emerge from some corner.
This was far too dangerous.
One must know that their martial Dao skills were only at the Qi Circulation level, and their magical arts were barely at the first realm.
If it was just to eliminate a lost soul-level ghostly being or weaker minor ghosts and monsters, their skill level would be more than enough.
But if they encountered a Fierce Soul-level ghostly being, they could only close their eyes and wait for death or take their own lives beforehand.
What was even more critical was that the Qi concealment talismans they carried were now mostly depleted.
So, once all the talismans were used up, the two of them could only sit and wait for the surrounding ghosts to come sniffing out their Qi and devour them alive.
But just as Xu Shuo and Gao Guang fell into despair, outside the small ruins where they were, a silver-black sedan chair, carried leisurely by four burly figures wearing face-covering cloaks, slowly appeared from within the boundless thick mist.
As the black sedan chair moved, the numerous dark green jade pendants hanging from its edges constantly emitted ethereal and faint tinkling sounds with the slight swaying of the giant sedan chair.
Ding~ Ding~ Ding~ Ding~
And Xu Shuo and Gao Guang, hiding in the ruins, clearly saw that groups upon groups of howling and growling evil spirits on the murky green land in the distance, under the crisp and ethereal tinkling sounds, instantly Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, turning into nothingness, as if they had never existed.
At the same time, the thousands of human faces hanging on the giant spider webs also suddenly transformed under the tinkling sounds emitted by the black sedan chair as it passed, reverting to human forms, and wrapped in clusters of hazy light spheres that appeared out of thin air, they soared through the thick mist like shooting stars and flew away.
These various sights strongly suggested to Xu Shuo and Gao Guang that the one seated within that silver-black sedan chair was none other than Yama, the Son of Heaven in the Underworld.
It was this Underworld Son of Heaven who had acted to take away the thousands of evil souls and Fierce Soul-level beings from the Yellow Springs ghostly land! And it was this Underworld Son of Heaven who had acted to rescue the citizens of Peach Blossom City who had been twisted into human faces by the Yellow Springs Domain!
"Lord Yama—this is Lord Yama, isn't it?!" Xu Shuo slowly stood up, looking at the silver-black sedan chair that had unknowingly approached the outside of the ruins, and said in a daze, "Have we—have we already died? Otherwise, how could we see Lord Yama?"
"Perhaps, perhaps we brothers are about to die," Gao Guang mumbled in a daze beside him. "Look, Yama is even coming to pick us up in a sedan chair. The four black-clad figures carrying Lord Yama's sedan chair, whose faces can't be seen, perhaps, perhaps they are Ox-Head, Horse-Face, and the Black and White Impermanence."
Upon hearing this, Xu Shuo immediately trembled with fear and excitement, saying, "For Yama to personally come and pick us up, this, this, this, don't just stand there foolishly, we have to hurry and greet him!"
As he spoke, he shakily walked step by step towards the black sedan chair.
Gao Guang, seeing his old friend walk away, subconsciously not daring to be left alone, also involuntarily followed suit.
And upon reaching the black sedan chair, the two of them very naturally knelt down with a thud, shouting "Lord Yama" while preparing to kowtow.
But at this moment, Li Hai's displeased voice came from within the giant sedan chair:
"Gao Guang, Xu Shuo, what are you two doing? Why are you kneeling so properly? Stand up!"
As Li Hai's voice rang out, the two unfortunate brothers trembled and uncontrollably stood up, then simultaneously widened their eyes and exclaimed in shock:
"Young Military Supervisor?!"
Clearly, they had heard Li Hai's voice before and remembered it by heart, so they recognized it instantly.
"Hmm?" Li Hai's questioning voice came from the giant sedan chair, "You seem to have seen me, heard me speak?"
"Yes, Young Military Supervisor," Xu Shuo bowed and cupped his hands respectfully, "Your subordinate previously saw an image of your grand inauguration ceremony held in Central Capital a month ago through the shadow talisman issued by the higher-ups at the outpost, so I recognize your voice and your appearance."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Guang immediately added, "The higher-ups required all Commandants of all ranks, provinces, cities, and regions throughout Great Jing to observe your grand inauguration ceremony, and to write a Experience of at least two thousand five hundred characters based on your speech at the ceremony.
Because our literary talent is truly ordinary, in order to write that reflection well, we watched your speech more than a dozen times, almost memorizing it, so we have a very deep impression of your voice."
