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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 65 (Part 1)

You Shu remembered that he died of heart failure. Although he was supposed to be an old man with withered skin and gray hair, he still looked like a boy of eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing the same red robe when he got married to his master, standing in a dark and out of sight place. He called out his master’s name loudly, but didn’t get any response, so he had to choose a direction and walk forward.

A bright light appeared in front of him, which increasingly got bigger as he walked forward. It was only when You Shu approached that he realized that it was a door made of some unknown material, looking very grand. He carefully observed the patterns on the door, and found that it was carved with scenes of six reincarnations, eighteen layers of hell, Huangquan Road, Wangxiang Terrace, and Naihe Bridge.

Could this be the gate of hell? He was slightly startled in his heart, but there was no other way out. After thinking for a moment, he concluded that entering the underworld was better than wandering in the endless darkness. Perhaps his master is waiting for him on Naihe bridge. Thinking of this, he immediately stretched out his hand to push, but the door didn’t even budge no matter how hard he tried. 

After trying for about a few quarters of an hour, he was already exhausted and panting heavily. He tried to force his spiritual power and dragon energy into his palms, and pushed again. But the pattern on the door seemed to have some kind of suction force, and it began to frantically absorb the dragon energy in his palm, but automatically eliminated the spiritual power.

The dazzling purple energy flowed along the lines, and the tightly closed door slowly opened inch by inch. When there was only a trace of dragon energy left in You Shu’s body, a gap finally opened in the door that could accommodate a person to pass through. You Shu hurriedly got in and heard a loud bang. The door closed again and the surroundings became dark again. The difference was that there was an additional path with a shimmering light under his feet.

After walking along the road for an unknown amount of time, You Shu finally entered an empty palace. There were blue ghost flames floating around in the palace, illuminating the surroundings, making the whole place look very eerie. Suddenly, a mournful scream sounded in front of him, making his heart grow tense. He immediately fumbled into his sleeve pocket, only to find that all the talismans hidden inside were gone.

That’s right, I am supposed to be a ghost right now. How could I possibly bring over the things from the mortal world? With this in mind, he could only conceal his figure as much as possible to avoid being discovered. As he approached the end of the dimly lit corridor, he stopped for a moment and quickly climbed up the wall, moving along the beam of the room.

He moved very slowly, and after a quarter of an hour, he reached the beam of the main hall and looked down.

This should be a government office. At the top, there was a table with many torture instruments placed on it, and two rows of yamen servants were standing on the left and right at the bottom, holding wooden sticks in their hands. At the open space in the middle, there were several tied-up people kneeling in front of them, with many torture instruments stacked in front of them. 

The scream just now should have been made by the man in the middle. His hands had already been cut off, shedding a lot of blood. His head hung low, as if he had passed out, and there were two tiger claws at his feet for some reason.

“Take it away!” A thunderous voice rang out in the hall, and You Shu realized that there was still a person sitting in the shadows behind the table. This person was wearing a pure black official robe and his face was covered with a black mask covered in red stripes, causing his whole figure to almost blend into the shadows.

He slightly leaned over, exposing himself to the candlelight, and continued, “Let’s interrogate the county magistrate Qian Jin of Fengtai, bring him up.”

Two yamen servants immediately untied the rope of the man on the left and held him forward. The masked official took out a directory and ticked Qian Jin’s name. After confirming his identity, he began to recount his crimes in detail, which were nothing more than bullying the villagers, taking bribes and perverting the law.

Qian Jin had already been scared out of his wits, and confessed to all the crimes. Then the masked official waved his hand and said “peel off the skin”. Immediately, two more yamen servants stood up and cut open the skin on his back with a knife, peeling it off for a while. You Shu looked at it carefully, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. There was a layer of thick black fur under the man’s skin. Could it be a monster?

But suddenly, he heard a yamen servant sneer, “So it’s a reincarnation of a wolf, no wonder it’s so greedy. He’s done a lot of evil in this life, and I’m afraid he won’t even be able to reincarnate as a wolf in the next life!”

“Previously, that person who was reincarnated as a hungry tiger, was even more ruthless than this one!” Another yamen servant spoke up.

“Which of the current corrupt officials today are not the transformed wolves, tigers and leopards? If you do more evil in this life, then you will reincarnate as pigs and dogs in the next life, it’s all due to the cause and effect.

There was a lot of discussion below, and You Shu immediately understood that this place should be similar to the Palace of the Yama King, dedicated to interrogating evil spirits. Those few tied up in the hall will be punished today.

As expected, after peeling the skin, the masked official waved his hand and said, “Take him to the frying pan.”

Amidst a mournful howl of a wolf, a group of people dragged it down. The masked official slapped the gavel and shouted, “Bring Zhao Youshu, magistrate of Suichang County, up for interrogation!”

You Shu suddenly took a deep breath, never expecting himself to be discovered while hiding on the beam. But he soon realized that he had made a mistake. The person below was referring to the Suichang county magistrate, but he had never been a Suichang county magistrate, and there was no such place as Suichang in Xia Qi’s territory. Although he converged quickly, he was still discovered by that official, and before he could react, his shoulder was pierced by a ray of black light.

Like the body, the soul can also be injured and bleed, You Shu has always known this. The destruction of the soul is the true annihilation, and he will never be able to see his master again, who is likely waiting for him in some corner of the world.

With such hope, You Shu could not die no matter what. He jumped onto another beam with the most agile movements, then dipped his finger in the blood on his shoulder, extracted a little dragon energy, and quickly drew an invisibility talisman in the middle of his forehead.

By the time that official dispatched the yamen guards to check, there was no one on the beam, and even the blood from the wound was tightly blocked by You Shu’s outer robe.

“My lord, there’s no one on the beam. Perhaps you heard it wrong. Even ghosts wouldn’t dare to trespass in the Hell of Law and order. Besides, the outside is heavily guarded, so no one can get in.” A yamen guard reported back.

As soon as that masked official thought about it, he put aside his previous doubts and continued to interrogate Zhao Youshu, the magistrate of Suichang County. 

You Shu endured the pain and lay down on the crossbar. But when he looked down, he was stunned. Previously, the man kneeling on the right with disheveled hair had his head lowered, and he couldn’t see his whole face. But now the man leaned back and vigorously pushed his legs forward, exposing his face completely to You Shu’s eyes. 

Not only did this person have the same name as You Shu, but he also had a similar appearance, looking seven or eight points similar. At first glance they look like they were carved out of the same mold.

All kinds of speculations appeared in You Shu’s mind, but he restrained himself and continued to watch.

After confirming the identity of the prisoner, the officials recounted his various crimes as usual, and then ordered the yamen servant to peel off his skin.

As soon as a cut was made, blood flowed down, accompanied by Zhao Youshu’s pig-like screams, “My Lord, please spare this villain, I will never dare repeat my crimes! Yes! As long as you spare the villain this time, this villain will definitely mend his ways and devote himself to the common people after returning home!”

The masked official didn’t respond, but quickly walked to the gallows and peeled off his bloody flesh with his own hand. He exclaimed in surprise, “Hah, how could he be a human in this life? Which of these corrupt officials didn’t escape from the animal path? How could he have mixed in here today?” As he spoke, he walked back to the desk and rummaged through a pile of documents.

You Shu poked his head out a little bit, and saw him find a book of reincarnation. The masked official flipped through a few pages and suddenly said, “It turns out that he is the descendant of the National Teacher of Xia Qi, who is sheltered by the merits and virtues of the National Teacher and Emperor Yuan. That’s why he didn’t reduce to the way of animals and could still serve as an official for generations to come.”

“Damn it, his background is so big!” The yamen servant spat.

Zhao Youshu on the torture rack heaved a sigh of relief, while You Shu on the beam widened his eyes and thought to himself: National Teacher of Xia Qi, isn’t it me you are talking about? Where did my descendants come from? 

However, after a moment of reflection, he realized that this Zhao Youshu should be a descendant of his younger brother. Back then, in order to continue the family’s bloodline, he cured Mrs. Wang’s cold illness, who later gave birth to a legitimate second son. At the time of his death, his younger brother already had children and grandchildren running around his knees, which was enough to keep the blood of the Zhao family alive to this day.

Then again, how many years have passed since Xia Qi? Based on the vastly different clothes worn by these people, I think many generations have passed.

It’s not the first time for You Shu to encounter this kind of situation, so he quickly calmed down, but the people below couldn’t calm down. 

This was the fourth prison of the twenty-four hells—hell of law and order, which only emphasizes the principles of criminal laws and justice, not human interests. But the famous prisoner they met today was a big exception.

“My lord, what should we do now?” A yamen servant asked in a low voice.

“Let me think about it for a moment. Xia Qi’s National Teacher, it is said that there is no mention of his life and death in previous records, he should be a real immortal. While Emperor Yuan has a bigger background.” 

He pointed to the top of his head and continued, “I heard that he is the Suzerain of ten thousand stars and the king of all kings. The two of them were taoist companions, who unified Kyushu and established a prosperous era for five hundred years. Although they have committed many crimes, they have saved hundreds of millions of people, and their merits and virtues are enough to bless their next hundred generations. This Zhao Youshu happened to be within a hundred generations, so it will be difficult to deal with him.”

“Then should we let him go back?” the yamen servant asked again.

“How can I be willing to let this famous master go back like this?” The masked official glanced at the clamoring Zhao Youshu and said decisively, “Take him down and beat him hard, and let him go after a hundred sticks.”

“Okay!” The yamen servant happily agreed.

After such an incident, the masked official seemed to have lost interest, so he put the directory into the official seal and turned around to leave. 

After everyone in the hall retreated, You Shu slid down the pillar and found another way out. He still remembered the previous incident in his mind, always feeling a bit uncomfortable. Have the descendants of his younger brother fallen to such a point because they are sheltered by him and the master? 

Committing evil for generations but still being able to serve as an official for generations will only lead to complete degeneration.

He had been thinking wildly all the way, and unknowingly walked to the execution place. Upon hearing Zhao Youshu’s screams, he immediately hid in a corner.

He saw two yamen servants holding up their sticks and smashing them down, while hurling insults and humiliations. They obviously hated this kind of evil spirits who were sheltered by their ancestors. At first, Zhao Youshu uttered a lot of harsh words, saying that he would go to Lord Yama to complain, but later his voice gradually quieted down.

After beating for a quarter of an hour, the yamen servants still didn’t stop, thinking that the number must have already exceeded a hundred. Suddenly, they heard someone beating a drum in the front hall to cry for justice, so they had no choice but to leave the person behind and go out to investigate.  

After all, he is a descendant of the Zhao family, so You Shu had to take a look. He immediately walked over and brushed away the messy hair around Zhao You Shu’s cheeks, only to see that his eyes were wide open, his body was stiff, and he was already dead.

Upon death, some souls will scatter and disappear completely; some will turn into ghosts and go to the depths of hell. I don’t know whether Zhao Youshu was lucky or not, but he didn’t turn into a ghost, but turned into black smoke and dissipated. You Shu froze for a moment, and when he heard footsteps coming from outside, he immediately made a decision.

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