Bubble, bubble—a soup of indeterminate color frothed and simmered. An old woman with hair as white as snow stirred it rhythmically. Sensing someone’s arrival, she abruptly looked up!
Every inch of her skin was etched with wrinkles, her eyelids drooping low. By all appearances, she should have been terrifying, yet one only needed to gaze into her eyes.
Within them seemed to converge the timeless weight of eons and a compassionate, sorrowful love for all living things.
She must be some ancient deity, everyone thought in unison.
The System let out a sigh of relief, plopping down like a wobbling jelly. This image was too complex—its CPU was nearly fried.
That damn client—Ling Xiao gently helped the System up, sweet-talking it until it was utterly disoriented.
The old woman grinned, revealing her toothless mouth:
“Ox-Head and Horse-Face, why aren’t you two guarding the gates? What brings you to this old woman’s place? Be careful, or you’ll be reassigned to guard the River Lethe again.”
Wang Fu smiled gracefully.
Her tone was so familiar—this ancient deity clearly had a good relationship with Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
The two deities exchanged a knowing smile and bowed, saying, “We pay our respects to Lady Meng Po.” Horse-Face pointed at the group and explained:
“We’re here on official business. Please don’t report us.”
“Hahaha, you two lazybones! The River Lethe, with its myriad worldly desires and passions, is the most beneficial place for Ghost-Gods to cultivate. Even the celestial immortals of the Heavenly Court would beg for such an opportunity.”
Meng Po scolded them lightly but let their dereliction of duty slide—she clearly had the authority to do so.
It seemed this ancient deity held an extremely high status in the underworld. Li Yue kept his head lowered, using the corner of his eye to memorize her appearance.
“And who are these?” Meng Po scrutinized each of them one by one, her gaze feeling like needles pricking their skin.
Horse-Face stepped forward, blocking most of their bodies, and answered with a bitter smile:
“They are the mortal connections of Her Highness, the Mount Tai Goddess. They accompanied her here this time.”
Mount Tai Goddess!
Li Yue could no longer keep his composure. He looked up, utterly shocked.
Mount Tai, the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains, had held an immensely significant position in the land of China since ancient times!
As the Emperor, Li Yue was even more deeply shaken. The Fengshan sacrifices at Mount Tai were rituals reserved exclusively for sovereigns, performed only by wise and virtuous rulers.
Could his aunt truly hold such a status? They had already imagined her identity to be lofty enough—a disciple of an underworld deity.
But from previous information, Ling Xiao shouldn’t have yet become an immortal deity, which was why she had descended to the mortal realm to temper her yin energy.
With this doubt lingering, Li Yue and the others held their breath and listened intently, unwilling to miss a single word.
“Hmm? This old woman remembers that just the other day, wailing ghosts retreated in fear—likely because the Mount Tai Prefectural Lord was traveling. Since he’s not here, why has the Goddess returned?”
“As you say, Your Majesty, the Prefectural Lord is immensely powerful and dotes most on the Goddess he raised since childhood. Naturally, he has his ways.”
Horse-Face replied with respectful caution.
Another piece of information: his aunt’s master was titled the Mount Tai Prefectural Lord. This was likely the origin of the title “Mount Tai Goddess.”
With such a powerful and influential elder doting on her, no wonder his aunt was so…
Li Yue’s heart felt light, as if floating to the heavens. Having experienced life as both a prince and a crown prince, he was well-versed in the ways of being a privileged heir.
Now, knowing that his own backer was also a privileged heir, he felt an odd sense of familiarity.
Meng Po nodded and asked no more, lowering her head to stir the soup once again.
Horse-Face grinned, glancing around before gossiping, “Her Highness the Goddess has made significant progress since returning from the mortal realm—she didn’t even start hitting people as soon as she arrived. The Prefectural Lord truly has his methods.”
“That is a great deity who has existed since ancient times. The Goddess is regarded as his own daughter, so how could he not be concerned?”
The trembling old woman sighed:
“Although the Goddess possesses exceptional talent, she was born with a lingering resentment around her soul. Otherwise, the Underworld Dynasty wouldn’t have faced so many calamities and tribulations. The other day, they all went off to be reincarnated.”
That matches up perfectly. Li Yue chuckled to himself, feeling quite pleased. After all, he and his aunt shared the intimacy of having shared a bed.
Once in the underworld, with the previous Taizu, Taizong, and all those relatives having fled, having his aunt’s backing would surely bring him boundless joy.
Seeing the Emperor’s face lit up with a lecherous grin, Wang Fu shuddered and quietly hid behind the others.
How utterly vulgar.
Meng Po paid them no further mind. Horse-Face, undeterred, began his introduction, patting the bridge:
“To cross the River Lethe, one must take the Bridge of Helplessness. Before souls step onto the Bridge of Helplessness, they must drink the soup brewed by Meng Po—that is Meng Po’s Soup. Those who refuse to drink can only fall into the River Lethe.”
Connecting this with what came before, Wang Fu had a realization. Sure enough, Horse-Face continued:
“Drinking Meng Po’s Soup causes one to completely forget everything from their past life, allowing them to be reincarnated with peace of mind.”
Suddenly, ripples stirred in the river, and a vaguely human-shaped figure with indistinct features emerged. A hoarse voice rasped, “Drink the soup.”
Without a word, Meng Po scooped a ladle of soup and fed it to the figure. In an instant, the ghostly form shed its twisted, blurred appearance, first restoring its hair, then its face, hands, and feet.
Looking bewildered and uneasy, like an innocent child, it stepped onto the Bridge of Helplessness and gradually vanished into the mist.
Li Yue suddenly asked:
“Is this how it is for all mortals after death?”
Unaware and unknowing, unable to retain any love or hatred, sinking through countless cycles of reincarnation.
No one answered, but he already understood the answer.
“Only by breeding discontent and jealousy does one gain the motivation to rise higher. The Emperor’s heart will surely lift me higher and higher.”
Ling Xiao stroked the System idly, as if explaining why she acted this way.
18888 nodded, thinking to himself: Here was a perfectly good Emperor, originally content with fighting enemy nations, governing the people, and being a wise ruler—that was already remarkable enough.
At most, he might have sought some elixirs as death approached. But now, after all this stimulation, who knows how twisted he’ll become.
But he didn’t care. The favorability had long since skyrocketed past fifty points, and the mission could have been concluded long ago.
Everything from here on out was just extra profit. Let the Host have her fun.
Ling Xiao’s downcast eyes gleamed slightly. She simply enjoyed this—a bad habit cultivated long ago that she just couldn’t shake.
She kissed the System and said happily, “My System is the best.”
The jade sphere where 18888 resided turned crimson.
After circling the Bridge of Helplessness, they could clearly see other locations ahead, but Ox-Head and Horse-Face led the group back down.
“Once you cross the Bridge of Helplessness, you are no longer among the living. You cannot proceed further, or the Goddess would be angered, and this old ox couldn’t bear the responsibility.”
Ox-Head wasn’t as enthusiastic as Horse-Face but still did his duty, explaining as they walked:
“Beyond the Bridge of Helplessness lies the Three-Life Stone. There, souls can see the events of their past three lives. This is what is meant by ‘destined for three lifetimes.'”
Li Yue looked back, eager to try. What had his past life been like?
If anyone in the palace was destined for three lifetimes with him, he thought he most hoped it would be Wen Shi…
Like him, the others in the group were also greatly interested in the Three-Life Stone and asked many questions.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face, growing impatient, quickly changed the subject: “After the Three-Life Stone is the Home-Viewing Platform, where spirits take one last look at their hometowns in the mortal world.”
After explaining several famous sites, Horse-Face took over from Ox-Head and enthusiastically recounted various strange tales and unusual events from the underworld.
Li Yue also learned from this how his aunt had transformed into the Mount Tai Goddess.
It was all a matter of fate and circumstance. The Mount Tai Prefectural Lord had attended the Queen Mother’s banquet and returned with a baby girl ghost.
According to Horse-Face, he had raised her as both father and mother, and as she grew older, she caused trouble everywhere, forcing the Prefectural Lord to clean up after her every day.
Seeing the mix of jealousy and envy on Horse-Face’s face, Li Yue added in his heart:
“My aunt is blessed with immense fortune, and Great Jin and I can also rise along with her.”
Suddenly, a golden light flashed across the sky, and the magnificent Nine-Phoenix Carriage appeared!
A clear and melodious phoenix cry rang out as nine enormous and beautiful phoenixes spread their magnificent tails high, outshining all other light.
For a moment, everyone grew tense, fearing that someone had discovered mortals sneaking in.
The carriage’s veil-like curtain was lifted, revealing a tender and adorable little face.