Chapter 1

On the summit of Mount Tai,

The Bodhisattva, who had been knocked down and climbed back up, was still watering his flowers.

However,

A faint tremor seemed to emanate from the depths of the darkness.

He stopped his movements,

Gently placed the watering can down, and slowly walked into the small temple.

The small temple seemed very empty,

Only the most basic furnishings indicated that this was a temple,

But the emptiness of the offering table gave the temple a sense of great incompleteness.

A temple needs an "image" to be called a temple. When believers enter, they need a sustenance, an object to kowtow to.

The Bodhisattva reached out, picked up a square cloth from the edge of the water tank inside the door, carefully washed the cloth in the water tank, and wrung it dry.

Then,

The Bodhisattva walked to the offering table,

And wiped the offering table very carefully with the cloth.

In fact,

There was no dust on it,

Even if it wasn't cleaned for a long time, there wouldn't be any dust.

But it still needed to be cleaned,

Cleaning,

Was to welcome.

This was also a sense of ritual; the accumulation of complex and elaborate rituals would eventually slowly evolve into a religious atmosphere.

After wiping the offering table clean,

The Bodhisattva, holding the cloth, took two steps back,

Looking at the empty offering table in front of him,

He had a sense of relief.

For so many years, his busyness, his planning, his waiting,

What he was waiting for,

Was nothing more than this day.

Something needed to be placed on the offering table, so that he could kneel on the prayer mat every day with an object to worship.

Some people pursue being the sole sovereign of the world,

But others pursue finding peace of mind;

Different pursuits lead to different understandings of life and all things, so it's impossible to arbitrarily distinguish between superiority and inferiority.

Only by cleaning the house can one invite guests.

The Bodhisattva walked out of the small temple,

The Bodhisattva walked through the flower garden he had planted,

The Bodhisattva stood at the edge of the summit of Mount Tai,

In front of him,

Was a vast sea of clouds,

Beneath his feet,

Was an unfathomable abyss.

The Bodhisattva raised his foot forward,

Walking step by step in the void,

With each step, a lotus bloomed;

Golden lotus flowers bloomed under his feet, creating a magnificent Buddha-light, scattering in all directions.

Walking,

The Bodhisattva stopped,

He put his hands together,

And devoutly recited:

"Amitabha… compassion."

…………

In a secluded valley,

A refined and unique Taoist temple,

Inside the hall,

Nine Attendants opened their eyes together.

In each of their eyes, there was a purple glow flowing.

Not many people knew of their existence;

They were mistakenly thought to be backups raised by the Bodhisattva to replace the Ten Kings of Hell.

If you ignore the fact that the Ten Attendants bloodily washed the Ninth Hall a year and a half ago,

They had actually been very low-key.

Now,

The bell signaling the end of the previous act has already rung,

Now,

It was their turn to take the stage.

The remaining eight Kings of Hell had completely given up.

Their ambition, their duty, their responsibility,

These were already not much,

And these not-much things, after thousands of years of erosion,

And in the past two years,

Had completely fallen apart with the fall of two Kings of Hell.

The nine Attendants walked out of the Taoist temple together,

They were wearing their official robes,

Although they were dressed in fancy clothes, they didn't exude masculine vigor, but a feminine softness that poured down like water.

They didn't mind their attire being ridiculed,

When they replaced the Kings of Hell and stood in that highest position,

The dark crowd below would be proud to wear this attire.

Just like how the people below looked at the end of the Lord era a thousand years ago, and at the Kings of Hell taking the throne.

The Lords, who had been passed down for generations, were gone, just like that, so don't expect these Kings of Hell to be able to gather much support.

The Chief Eunuch stood in front,

In the pond in front of them,

A lotus flower, bloomed brilliantly.

"The time has come."

The Chief Eunuch revealed a smile at the corner of his mouth, and his figure transformed into a blue ray of light, soaring straight into the sky.

Behind him, eight blue lights followed closely.

They flew to Mount Tai together,

And stopped in front of Mount Tai, revealing their figures.

The Bodhisattva was still standing in the void.

"Greetings, Bodhisattva."

The nine Attendants saluted the Bodhisattva together.

Compared to the way the Kings of Hell treated the Bodhisattva before, with a sense of respect mixed with a bit of obsequiousness,

The Ten Attendants seemed much more indifferent.

The saying about being raised was not true.

The relationship between the Ten Attendants and the Bodhisattva was equal.

If it weren't for the fact that, at the end of ancient times, the Lord of Hell risked his own fall to forcibly stop all of this,

Perhaps,

Next,

There wouldn't have been the Lord era, nor the King of Hell era, in this Hell,

Hell,

Would have been, from beginning to end,

Their era.

The Bodhisattva was silent,

Just looked up,

At the sky.

The sky of Hell wasn't much to look at, but today, he really wanted to look, really, really wanted to...

Eight Attendants flew away to their respective targets.

The Chief Eunuch stayed in place, standing beside the Bodhisattva.

A year and a half ago, the Chief Eunuch was chased all over Hell by Ying Gou, fleeing in panic like a dog.

Now,

He really looked like a human.

The one who laughs last laughs best.

The Chief Eunuch comforted himself like this.

"He's coming again," the Chief Eunuch said.

The Bodhisattva was silent, continuing to look at the sky very seriously.

"Do you want to keep him here?"

The Chief Eunuch continued to ask.

The Bodhisattva shook his head and said, "No need."

Hearing this, the Chief Eunuch breathed a sigh of relief.

However,

As soon as this breath went down,

His heart was suddenly raised again.

He saw a familiar figure flying over from a distance.

On the city wall of the Underworld Main City, after killing King Chujiang, Zhou Ze didn't delay any longer, nor was he interested in enjoying the afterglow of a King of Hell falling in his hands.

He left the main city directly,

In fact,

He didn't plan to come to Mount Tai,

But Mount Tai was located approximately in the center of Hell.

Going from one corner to the opposite corner, he inevitably had to pass through here.

The Chief Eunuch stood proudly,

But the hand behind his back trembled slightly.

The Bodhisattva finally moved his gaze from the sky and landed on Zhou Ze in front of him.

"The water is almost leaking out. If you don't leave, you really won't be able to leave."

This wasn't concern,

But a threat.

The grace of Ying Gou, everyone present had personally experienced it, but likewise, they were also clear about Ying Gou's current weakness.

Just avoid his sharp edge, and wait until later, if they can find him, they can deal with him calmly.

The Chief Eunuch took a step forward, blocking the Bodhisattva's path.

Like a loyal old dog.

It's just that this old dog's aura was scattered all around, clearly preparing to retreat at any time, and he was doing it very obviously, not afraid of the Bodhisattva seeing it.

Zhou Ze looked at the Chief Eunuch, his feet, in the void, taking a step forward.

The Chief Eunuch's old face stiffened,

And said:

"Must it be like this?"

"The one blocking my way… is you."

Zhou Ze took another step forward.

The Chief Eunuch took a deep breath, silently stepped aside, retreated three steps, and made way.

"This old one admits that, right now, I'm not your opponent, but this old one has lost to you once, and it doesn't mean I'll lose a second time."

The old dog dared not bite, and could only bark.

Zhou Ze, however, looked at the Chief Eunuch with a calm expression,

"It's not just once."

The Chief Eunuch was stunned for a moment, and then fell into depression.

Then,

Zhou Ze walked to the Bodhisattva.

The Bodhisattva was still wearing a mask, and no one knew what kind of face was hidden beneath this mask.

In the end,

Was there any compassion left?

"If hell is not empty, I vow not to become a Buddha";

Then mess up hell, collapse hell, make hell no longer hell, and that would be fine.

"Do you think... you're very smart?"

Zhou Ze asked.

The Bodhisattva remained noncommittal,

After a while,

The Bodhisattva asked in reply:

"What do… you think?"

Zhou Ze took another step forward,

Closing the distance between himself and the Bodhisattva.

In front of the Bodhisattva, a golden glow appeared, forming a barrier. Within the barrier, there was a small world, creating a chasm-like distance.

It could be seen that,

The Bodhisattva was still very wary of Zhou Ze.

After all, not long ago, he had just been punched.

Zhou Ze reached out and took the old mountain ginseng from his shoulder,

Only a small section of the tail of the old mountain ginseng remained, along with a few long root whiskers.

Zhou Ze picked up the old mountain ginseng,

"Crunch,"

And took a bite.

Now only a tiny bit of the old mountain ginseng was left, that little bit that still cherished those few root whiskers.

The Bodhisattva, seeing this,

Seemed to sigh,

And voluntarily dispersed his defensive barrier.

"Bang!"

This punch was the answer.

On this day, another King of Hell fell in Hell.

On this day, the Ten Attendants came out of the mountains and began to take over the entire Underworld.

On this day,

The Bodhisattva,

Was,

Punched,

Twice.