Oh no, oh no, oh no! Has the Jade Emperor discovered something unusual about that little girl so quickly?
Back when Taibai Jinxing took her away, he had the judge search the Book of Life and Death for Shen Fuxing’s name for three days and three nights, but found nothing.
This Shen Yuanling also shares the surname Shen—there’s an eighty percent chance she’s related to her. The digital version might not even have the record.
Most importantly, he had privately recruited 120,000 employees for the underworld in the Jade Emperor’s name, effectively attributing this karmic debt to the Jade Emperor.
If any problems arise in the future, the Jade Emperor would bear the blame, not him, Yama.
Such duplicity and underhanded schemes not only violate the Heavenly Laws but also secretly manipulate the Jade Emperor.
Either of these offenses alone would be enough to grind his bones to dust, let alone the fact that he’s a repeat offender.
Every year, the Jade Emperor sends his trusted aides, and every year, Yama secretly enriches himself behind the Jade Emperor’s back.
Heavens above! He’s in charge of life and death, not looking to die himself!!
Now that monkey has attained Divine Fruition, ranked as a True Buddha in the West, personally conferred by Tathagata as the Victorious Fighting Buddha, he no longer takes on small jobs like debt-clearing.
Across the vast Three Realms, who should he turn to bear the blame?
Yama had a sudden inspiration and remembered the foolish judge who had just tried to usurp his position and was kicked into the wall by him.
While Celestial Master Zhang was still waiting for news about Shen Fuxing, he quickly gave a look to a ghost attendant, whispered a few words, and quietly instructed him to quickly dig the judge out—it had to be fast!!
That judge was one of the 120,000 employees Yama had privately recruited. He had only recently arrived in the underworld and was still an intern, confused about many things.
Upon hearing Yama say that he would be promoted to a permanent position after completing this task, he was overjoyed, his excitement evident.
He took another Book of Life and Death and, based on the name, Yang Lifespan, and other information provided by the ghost attendant, randomly fabricated some details about their past lives, hastily writing down the names of Shen Yuanling and Shen Fuxing, the grandfather and granddaughter.
The ghost attendant immediately followed Yama’s orders and took this Book of Life and Death to address the urgent matter.
Yama, now holding his lifeline, let out a long sigh and finally relaxed.
“Alright, you don’t need to search anymore.”
“This isn’t needed either. Take it away.”
He first stopped the unlucky judge from searching through over thirty Books of Life and Death for Shen Fuxing’s name, then told the panting ghost attendant to return the computer he had tirelessly fetched.
At this moment, please ignore the ghost attendant’s urge to roll his eyes.
Because he has no pupils, everyone looks like they’re giving him the side-eye.
Celestial Master Zhang wore an ambiguous smile and leisurely asked, “May I ask what this means?”
Yama also put on a smile, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, “It’s like this. Earlier, the judge was careless and missed one Book of Life and Death. The names of Shen Yuanling and Shen Fuxing are both recorded in this book.”
“Oh?” Celestial Master Zhang reached out to take it.
Yama, being cautious, personally flipped to the page with the grandfather and granddaughter.
Sure enough, the ink on it was still fresh.
Those fools! Such a simple task, and they still managed to mess it up. Later, they’ll all be sent to the Eighteen Levels of Hell!
While flipping the pages, Yama deliberately held the Book of Life and Death high, covering the lower half of his face.
He pretended to search through the pages while blowing on the two pages until the ink dried and looked aged. Only then did he hand the book to Celestial Master Zhang.
The moment Celestial Master Zhang received it, instead of first looking at the records about the grandfather and granddaughter, he turned to Yama and asked quietly, “Is Yama nearsighted?”
No wonder everyone around the Jade Emperor is sharp as a tack.
Even such an inconspicuous movement could catch Celestial Master Zhang’s attention.
But Yama, having climbed to his current position, was an old fox. His on-the-spot reactions were nothing to scoff at. “Celestial Master must be amused,” he said. “This king drank quite a bit with Barefoot Immortal earlier and got rather drunk. My head is still spinning, so I’m seeing double.”
Celestial Master Zhang nodded, though it was unclear whether he bought the excuse, and lowered his head to examine the Book of Life and Death.
The Yang Lifespan details matched up: Shen Fuxing had entered the Heavenly Court, while Shen Yuanling had been reincarnated into a well-off mortal family.
After noting the specific location of the latter’s rebirth, Celestial Master Zhang closed the book, stood up, and said, “Now that we’ve found them, this Celestial Master shall return to heaven immediately to report to His Majesty. My apologies for the disturbance, King Yama.”
“Not at all, not at all.” Having sweated through that close call, Yama offered a perfunctory courtesy. “Allow this king to see you out.”
Contrary to expectations, there was no “Celestial Master, please stay.” Celestial Master Zhang showed no hesitation, accepting the escort without a second thought.
After seeing him off with a pleasant expression all the way to the exit of the Underworld, the moment Celestial Master Zhang rode off on his cloud, Yama’s smile vanished completely. He spat disdainfully on the ground, flicked his wide sleeves, and stormed back to his palace, cursing under his breath.
“Damn it all! What a piece of work…”
“Now that you’ve found out where Shen Yuanling was reincarnated, go to Cloud Tower Palace and inform the child,” the Jade Emperor said.
Celestial Master Zhang bowed in acknowledgment and turned to head for Cloud Tower Palace. But the Jade Emperor’s eyes flickered, as if he had thought of something. Setting down the memorial in his hand, he tapped his fingers on the dragon-headed armrest and suddenly called out, “Wait.”
After a moment’s thought, he amended, “Tell the child that her grandfather is in the Heavenly Court, but he’s stationed outside as a Heavenly Soldier.”
“When the opportunity arises, I will not only arrange a meeting for the grandfather and granddaughter but will also transfer Shen Yuanling to Cloud Tower Palace, so they can be together day and night just as they were in the mortal realm.”
Though puzzled, Celestial Master Zhang didn’t ask further. He simply accepted the decree and proceeded to Cloud Tower Palace.
As for the Jade Emperor, this arrangement naturally served his own little scheme.
It was all because of those extra batches of hidden weapons—Dusk of the Dung Beetle—produced and sold to Spirit Mountain. With the claim of being able to instantly defeat Heavenly King Li as their selling point, they had sold out the moment they hit the Western market.
Tathagata had been having a headache of epic proportions lately.
Led by the Victorious Fighting Buddha, the Bodhisattvas and Arhats of Spirit Mountain were settling old scores and grudges left and right.
Even the usually mature and steady Guanyin Bodhisattva had joined the fray, tossing two at Lingji Bodhisattva.
In just two days, Spirit Mountain had been thoroughly marinated in the foul breath of the Giant Spirit God.
Hah! That Tathagata had the nerve to say the immortals of the Heavenly Court weren’t united, that they held too many grudges against each other, and even had the gall to gift a few Buddhist scriptures under the pretext of helping his subordinates cool their tempers.
Look at you—your Spirit Mountain is far worse than my Heavenly Court.
And precisely because the uproar caused by Dusk of the Dung Beetle on Spirit Mountain was so immense, Shen Fuxing’s name had spread far and wide.
Mahakasyapa and Ananda had visited the Heavenly Court several times, claiming they wanted to befriend the genius fairy who invented this hidden weapon, but their true intentions were anything but innocent.
They were trying to poach talent so blatantly that the flying debris practically hit him in the face.
A child like Shen Fuxing—sending her back to be a mortal would be a waste. Keeping her in Cloud Tower Palace wouldn’t cost many resources, but if Spirit Mountain managed to poach her, he’d be in deep trouble.
Fortunately, she had no interest in fame or fortune. Her heart and mind were solely focused on her grandfather.
As long as Shen Yuanling remains a Heavenly Soldier under his command in her eyes, Shen Fuxing will obediently stay in the Heavenly Court to devise strategies for me.
The Jade Emperor smugly stroked his beard, basking in the joy that the Bodhisattvas and Arhats of Spirit Mountain had strong purchasing power—not only gifting him over a hundred thousand Merit but also causing Tathagata to suffer a major setback. He remained completely unaware of the severity of the situation.
At least Nezha still had two pounds of lotus root starch, but Shen Fuxing, with her severe bipolar disorder, had nothing but defiance to her name.