A master of comedy!

Chapter 44 Heaven
On a dark and windy night, in a desolate ancient temple.

In front of the long-abandoned mountain god temple, crows suddenly took flight, as if startled, circling and cawing.

Two figures slowly emerged, as if they had come from another time and space, appearing in front of the mountain god temple without warning.

One was dressed in blue with white hair, and was in good spirits, though he walked with a slight limp; the other was dressed in black with a jade-like face and a handsome figure.

Both the old man and the young man possessed extraordinary bearing, though they appeared somewhat travel-worn and tired.

"Master, are we finally out of the Yin-Yang Path?"

Although it was only the second time Zhou Sheng had walked this magical path, he still looked around in surprise.

After the judge left, his master led him on the Yin-Yang Road for another half an hour, and then pulled him off a cliff.

There was no feeling of weightlessness, nor any broken bones or tendons; instead, in a flash, I found myself in front of this dilapidated mountain god temple.

This should be one of the exits of the Yin-Yang Road, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't see where the Yin-Yang Road connected.

"No need to look. You haven't completed your apprenticeship yet and are not qualified to 'borrow a path' unless someone leads you or you cultivate to the point where your spirit leaves your body. Otherwise, you won't be able to find this path."

Yu Zhensheng rubbed his right leg and said, "Jiangzhou Road is just ahead. Let's go into the temple to rest for the night and continue our journey when it gets light."

"My legs haven't been active in a long time, and they really hurt when I move them suddenly."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Sheng quickly helped his master toward the mountain god temple.

At the same time, they were secretly surprised, because Qinggu County was located in Bingzhou, which was thousands of miles away from Jiangzhou, and they had already arrived in Jiangzhou territory.

Stepping over the decaying threshold, the two entered the temple.

Spiderwebs clung to all sides, weeds grew rampant on the ground, and the clay statue of the god was almost half missing, yet it still glared fiercely, appearing extremely eerie in the night.

Ordinary people would naturally not dare to come to such a desolate mountain temple in the middle of the night. Even if there were no demons or monsters, they would be scared half to death.

But for the master and his apprentice, this meant nothing at all.

Yu Zhensheng sat down anywhere, not minding the dirt, and rested against a pillar while gently rubbing his right leg.

"Master, let me help you."

Zhou Sheng squatted down and massaged the acupoints on his master's right leg. Seeing that his master's complexion had improved, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

From the moment he arrived until now, his master's brows had been furrowed involuntarily. Zhou Sheng knew that his master was enduring the excruciating pain in his legs.

In his previous life, he had seen a similar story in the Taiping Guangji, which said that a ghost official was traveling at night when the reins of his carriage suddenly broke, making it difficult to move forward. He then took out the Book of Life and Death and found that the tendon of a woman nearby should be used as a substitute.

The underworld official ordered his men to pull out the woman's back tendon and use it as a substitute for the reins to continue moving forward.

That night, the woman cried out in pain all night, and died early the next morning.

If a person's tendons, bones, and veins are pulled out by ghosts and gods, they may appear to have no external injuries, but in fact, they are already rotten inside.

My master had his leg tendons pulled out by Yama, yet he can still walk without any problems after all these years. This shows his profound cultivation. However, if we were to fight him, it would be like being pierced by a steel awl or having his flesh cut by a knife.

"Master, what about exploring Yin Mountain—"

Zhou Sheng wanted to learn more about the play that could anger the King of Hell, but before he could finish speaking, his master interrupted him sternly.

"Don't even think about playing this role!"

Yu Zhensheng warned, "If you don't want to follow in my footsteps, then never mention those three words again. It's best to forget them completely, the more thoroughly you forget them!"

"I was distracted at the time, I shouldn't have told you..."

Yu Zhensheng's attitude was more resolute than ever before, and Zhou Sheng even saw a hint of... tension on his face.
Upon hearing those three words, the master's emotions immediately tensed up; it was an almost instinctive reaction.

He stopped asking questions and silently memorized the play "Exploring the Underworld".

Thinking about it carefully, from childhood to adulthood, his master taught him almost all the Bao Gong plays, except for "Exploring the Underworld".

He naturally knew what "Exploring the Underworld" was, but his master's version of "Exploring the Underworld" was certainly extraordinary.

That was a play that my master created in a dreamlike state where he merged with the gods, interacting and merging with them. This play directly changed my master's fate.

The judge of the underworld turned pale upon hearing the play, the King of Hell was furious, and the master lost his right leg because of it.

What kind of magic does this play possess?
"You brat, instead of thinking about those unrealistic things, you should think about how to survive the Ghost Festival two months from now?"

"Judge Lu will definitely not let that opportunity slip by."

Even Yu Zhensheng, who is usually carefree and composed, showed a hint of seriousness when this matter was mentioned.

As he frowned in thought, he picked up the kettle and took a sip, when he heard his apprentice's voice in his ear.

"Master, then we have no choice but to strike first and take down Judge Lu!"

"puff!!"

Yu Zhensheng spat out a mouthful of water, looked at his disciple with annoyance, and said, "Then tell me, my all-powerful disciple, how do you plan to take down a judge of the underworld?"

Zhou Sheng said earnestly, "Master, I think that since we can't beat him, we should follow the rules. Doesn't he claim to represent the laws of the underworld? Then let's use the laws of the underworld to kill him!"

A murderous glint appeared in his eyes. Even if the other party was a judge of the underworld or a god of the netherworld, since they had formed a deadly feud, it would be a fight to the death.

"The head-swapping case has killed so many innocent people. If we could find a way to inform the gods of the upper realm about this, and specifically target those who hate evil, such as Guan Yu, Huaguang Ancestor, and Wang Lingguan..."

Zhou Sheng named several great figures in a row, his eyes burning with determination and his words resounding.

"Our lineage of Yin Opera is founded by Lord Ma. Master, do you have any methods to convey to our ancestor?"

Yu Zhensheng shook his head.

"Could we go to a Taoist temple on Longhu Mountain or Maoshan Mountain and ask a Taoist priest to pass on our message?"

Zhou Sheng continued to ask.

Since this world has an underworld, judges, and Yama, it means that there is also a heavenly realm with all sorts of gods and immortals.

If this case could reach the ears of the emperor, then it would be Judge Lu who should be terrified.

To his surprise, Yu Zhensheng shook his head again and sighed softly.

"It's good that you came up with this idea, but unfortunately... it's outdated."

"Outdated?"

Zhou Sheng was taken aback, and for a moment he didn't understand.

Yu Zhensheng slowly raised his eyes, looking through the dilapidated roof at the star-studded night sky and the eternally unchanging bright moon.

"If this method had worked nine hundred years ago, you wouldn't have needed to find any other deities. Just based on His audacity in striking the Huaguang statue with Yin Lightning today, our ancestor would have caused another disturbance in the underworld and scattered His soul!"

"Unfortunately, since Huang Chao declared himself emperor, the gods and Buddhas of heaven have become less and less responsive to the human world, until now..."

"Aside from sensing a trace of divine energy when the Holy Grail was tossed, there was no other response. Even the Taoist priests of Longhu Mountain burning incense and submitting petitions were of no use."

"Legend has it that Zhang Jixian, the 30th Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, once used his unparalleled Taoist skills to forcefully open the Heavenly Gate and peer into the Heavenly Realm, wanting to find out what was going on."

"What's the result?"

Zhou Sheng quickly asked.

Yu Zhensheng sneered and said, "The result was that Celestial Master Xujing died on the same day."

After a pause, he sighed and said, "That was the cultivation of someone who had survived eight heavenly tribulations. He was a grandmaster who was unparalleled throughout history. He didn't even need to use a second sword to kill Judge Lu, yet he passed away at the young age of thirty-six."

"Since then, no one has ever tried to communicate with the heavens again."

……

(End of this chapter)