Chapter 1 A Clever Plan

"Mother, they are smarter than we thought."

At the same time that Hu Ma and the others entered the underworld, arrived at the Bloodstained Pool, and were having Miss Red Wine cast a spell on Shao Daozi, someone in the depths of the exquisite mansion spoke in a low voice:

"They are smarter than we imagined. They didn't fall for our trap at Meng Hu Pass, and instead of launching a frontal assault during the day, they went straight for the vital point."

There seemed to be a hint of regret in the voice. Li Family Old Madam, who was listening, communicated with him through a bronze mirror.

The Old Madam was the most senior member of the Wuchang Li family, but she was too old to freely enter and exit the underworld, and thus had arrived here.

"If they had really fallen for it and fought a hard battle at Meng Hu Pass, I would have looked down on that group of outsiders, and also on this descendant of the Hu family, upon whom several generations had pinned their hopes."

The Li Family Old Madam, upon hearing that a powerful enemy had reached the Bloodstained Pool, showed no surprise. Instead, she said in a low voice, "The National Preceptor wants to become an immortal, wants the life spirit tablets of those outsiders, believing them to be capable of countering the Tai Sui, and to be their most treasured possessions."

"But I think that the principles those outsiders believe in, the knowledge and wisdom in their minds, are the most important things for us members of the Dao…"

"The Hu family descendant is so promising because the Hu family was the first to cooperate with that group of outsiders, receiving gifts from them, and actually surpassed others, cultivating a power that even the National Preceptor can't subdue."

"Since the Hu family can do it, where are we Li family lacking?"

"Who says we can't steal the knowledge in the minds of these outsiders to break the shackles that restrain the Li family today, and become… living immortals after the change of dynasties?"

"..."

Listening to the Old Madam's instructions, the Li family leader felt a surge of emotion in his heart, and suddenly said in a low voice, "Mother, if we really lose this battle of magic to them…"

"Then the entire Li family will bow its head!"

The Li Family Old Madam's face in the bronze mirror seemed to become exceptionally grim, and she said in a deep voice, "Even if we win, we must hand over everything of the Li family to them."

"You must remember that in this gamble, whether we win or lose, the Li family must stand on their side."

"The difference is that if the Li family wins, then he can't stop us from gaining complete control of the Bloodstained Pool. From then on, the Li family will be as long-lived as the world itself, for thousands of years. As long as this world doesn't end, the Li family will never decline."

"And if we lose…"

"The accumulation of the past twenty years will become a wedding dress for others. The Li family members will still have a way to survive, but they will be no different from those mud-legged peasants…"

"..."

"..."

"When the General of Slaughter descends, a sea of blood and sin arises."

At this time, outside the Bloodstained Pool, Miss Red Wine was holding a silver needle between her fingers, chanting a spell in a low voice, and then sent both needles in, piercing into Shao Daozi's eyes.

Seeing this scene, even Hu Ma and Er Guo Tou's expressions changed drastically.

This world does not have Bai Qi. Even if there were similar figures, they would have long been annihilated in history and not belong to this world. But Miss Red Wine's magic deceived the heavens, which was equivalent to truly bringing Bai Qi, such a figure, into this world.

In this sinful place of the underworld, once her magic succeeded, the Bloodstained Pool would naturally sense it and make the false real.

"Chi!"

At this moment, both needles pierced his eyes.

One yang needle pointed inward, piercing directly into Shao Daozi's mind. This was to deceive himself, to make him believe that he was Bai Qi, the General of Slaughter who left a bloody mark on history in that other world.

The other needle pointed outward, to deceive the underworld, to make this world truly believe that Bai Qi, the killing god full of murderous aura, had descended upon the world.

As the silver needles entered his eyes, murderous intent arose spontaneously.

After seeing the two silver needles enter his eyes, Hu Ma only felt an astonishing murderous aura rising out of nowhere, rolling and surging like a tangible substance, as if illusory mountains were pressing down on him.

He subconsciously wanted to look up to see what Shao Daozi had become, but he heard Miss Red Wine's reminder: "Don't look into his eyes."

Heeding the warning, Hu Ma immediately averted his gaze.

The Killing God Bai Qi was a figure in the history of the other world. Later generations could only learn about him through fragments of ancient books. No one was a witness to what he was really like, what he looked like, and how he killed in a sea of blood, so no one could say for sure.

Shao Daozi was the same. He knew about the Killing God Bai Qi, but he only had a vague impression.

Miss Red Wine deceived him, making him believe that he was the Killing God Bai Qi, which was equivalent to pulling that vague shadow into his body.

This Bai Qi was not that Bai Qi, but had a kind of historical ambiguity and heaviness. The murderous aura on Shao Daozi's body now had a kind of ungrounded violence, and an unreasonable power.

"Only today do I know who I am…"

No one dared to look directly at Shao Daozi at this time, so they didn't know what his expression was like. They only heard him, after a long silence, seem to let out a low sigh, and then turn to look at the Li family's underworld mansion.

When the killing intent descended upon the world, the Bloodstained Pool sensed him, and he naturally sensed the Bloodstained Pool.

At the same time, in that exquisite and complex Li family mansion, on the corridors, in the courtyards, and beside the lotus ponds, all the maids, servants, and sweepers had also raised their heads, their eyes dull and cold, looking at their faces.

All ten surnames liked to build mansions in the underworld, because the underworld was closer to the origin of this world, and was more conducive to understanding the Dao.

Originally, the Meng family wanted to enter the City of the Wrongfully Dead, but because the City of the Wrongfully Dead was too big, the Meng family couldn't swallow it, so they could only repair a piece of mansion in the City of the Wrongfully Dead. But the Li family was different, and actually wrapped the entire Bloodstained Pool up.

This also led to the fact that members of the Dao in the world could only contact the Bloodstained Pool through the Li family, and even those who held positions in the Bloodstained Pool had to obtain the Li family's permission before entering this place.

But facing the sinister ghosts and Asura Wuchang in the entire mansion, Shao Daozi only slowly turned around and walked straight towards the Li family mansion.

His footsteps were heavy and confident, not taking these lonely souls and wild ghosts seriously at all.

"Whirr..."

It was this step into the Li family's underworld mansion that seemed to poke a hornet's nest. In an instant, the sinister ghosts and evil spirits, and rolling chains, accompanied by the steaming purple energy, all rolled towards Shao Daozi.

Since the Li family had decided to fight with magic, they naturally arranged things to be loosely guarded on the outside but tightly guarded on the inside.

The maids and servants who remained in the underworld mansion, no matter how obedient and gentle they seemed on the surface, were all fierce gods and evil spirits on the inside, full of grievances.

Back then, Di Gua Shao, in Ming Prefecture, obtained a man-eating Demon General and regarded him as a treasure. But in the hands of the Li family, even a paper doll maid had a more ferocious aura than that Demon General.

But at this time, Shao Daozi stepped in, facing the rolling and overwhelming evil aura, the Yin spirits and evil ghosts, and only coldly raised his head and glanced at them, saying, "Get out of the way!"

Rumble!

At this instant, Hu Ma felt as if he heard the sound of weapons and horses, felt the momentum of thousands of troops surging and galloping past him, killing and trampling. In the depths of the Yin mansion, there was actually a vast and terrifying blood energy, like a great river, rolling over.

Gathering around Shao Daozi, it transformed into the appearance of an army, wielding weapons and armor, charging and killing.

In an instant, the evil ghosts and servants who had been killed by the Li family were killed cleanly. Even the exquisite houses were shattered into pieces, collapsing inch by inch, reaching the depths of the houses.

Amidst the broken walls and ruins, a pool of blood with scattered bones appeared. It existed there so strangely, the edge of the pool was full of dense, endless skeletons, and inside, there was a bottomless, rippling pool of blood, from time to time emitting desperate screams, and sounds of sorrowful weeping.

Looking at it, it gave people a very strange feeling. The pool seemed to be a small one, falling there, but also seemed to be infinitely large.

If one looked at it with the corner of their eyes, it was only ten feet in diameter, and one could take it all in at a glance.

But if one looked at it head-on, it would become larger and larger, as if one's entire vision was wrapped up in it, and it still could not be filled. Even if one filled the entire world in it, there would still be some left over.

And beside the pool, there were clearly man-made, two rows of tall white jade steps. At intervals, on the steps, there were figures sitting or lying down.

At the end of the white jade steps, sat a white-faced middle-aged man without a beard, wearing a Yin-Yang robe, with a distant gaze. It was the chief manager of the Wuchang Li family. There seemed to be some surprise in his eyes as he looked at the man who had broken through the Wuchang Yin mansion and was walking towards him.

He was wearing a cloth robe, with a calm expression, and no obvious murderous intent on his body. But as he walked, he naturally aroused the surging of the Bloodstained Pool, and the blood energy around him transformed, with thousands of troops and horses, protecting him.

And the descendant of the Hu family and the other man and woman were all following behind him, craning their necks and looking towards this side.

"The one who came to break the magic is actually not the descendant of the Suppressing Evil Mansion, nor a fierce person who has left his name on the Li family's register of grievances, but such an unknown person?"

The Li family's chief manager also had a strange thought in his heart, but he did not dare to underestimate the man in the black robe. The things that were surging anxiously in his sleeves that were hanging down on both sides

"Let him go!"

But even as this thought stirred in his mind, the Li Family Old Madam's reminder sounded in his ear: "Since it is a battle of magic, there must be a look of a battle of magic."

"Just letting the little ones under your hand go to die meaninglessly is pointless. What we want to fight is originally each other's magic. If we don't let them get close to the Bloodstained Pool, how can we see their magic?"

"Sticking to the rules is what makes it a battle of magic."

"..."

Hearing this reminder, the Li family's grand master also slightly raised his head, nodded and smiled at Hu Ma and the others. The things that were surging anxiously in his sleeves also slowly subsided at this time.

"That is the Bloodstained Pool?"

At this time, Hu Ma also focused his gaze on the pool, his expression slightly solemn.

He only felt an unspeakable pressure facing the pool, as if there were some extremely fierce things inside, and just looking at it would cause one's soul to be corroded.

"The thing in the pool is ‘Karma’."

Miss Red Wine explained in a low voice beside Hu Ma: "It is sin and evil, and yet it is not sin and evil. It is a kind of inexplicable and unclear wrong cause and effect in the hearts of people in this world. Karma comes with the body, and debt goes with fate, all of which are this thing."

"Whether in this world or the other world, Karma is the most difficult to eliminate."

"In this world, Lao Jun Mei was the first to take the name of Great Virtuous Teacher, and can be considered to have brought a word ‘Dao’, showing compassion for the common people and saving people from fire and water."

"Tie Guan Yin originally wanted to bring a word ‘Buddha’ over. She believed that the Buddha of the other world had great wisdom, and took severing karmic ties as the foundation to eliminate Karma and resolve disasters, and attain the six roots of purity."

"But later, Tie Guan Yin gave up, because in these twenty years, she understood this world, and also saw the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs in the depths of the underworld, and saw the Bloodstained Pool."

"Compared to the great wisdom of Buddhism, she appreciates the Bloodstained Pool of this world even more."

"There is no Buddha in this world, so no one thinks about eliminating this Karma. There is only one way, which is to stop Karma with killing."

"All the evil obstacles and karmic debts in this world are unpardonable, and only blood can repay them!"

"..."

Listening to this, Hu Ma understood a problem even more, but kept his mouth shut: "Back in Shangjing, when Tie Guan Yin escaped, she seemed to reveal everything, but I could feel that she seemed to be hiding an extraordinary problem."

"Now, looking at her guidance to Miss Red Wine and others, and her behavior of secluding herself in the Twelve Ghost Altars in Shangjing City, I can be even more certain of it."

"..."

While his thoughts were spinning, he saw that Shao Daozi completely ignored the Li family's chief manager on the opposite side of the Bloodstained Pool, just snorted coldly, and then stepped towards the Bloodstained Pool.

On both sides of the Bloodstained Pool were the white jade platforms built by the Li family, on which were all the phantoms of the human execution officials projected into the underworld.

Whether in this world or the other world, the problems faced are almost the same, such as Karma and grievances. It's just that the other world has Buddhist concepts to resolve grievances, but this world has no Buddha, and instead chooses the most direct way to stop Karma with killing.

Since the goal is to stop Karma with killing, the Bloodstained Pool needs human executions. These phantoms are all people who have taken up killing positions in the Bloodstained Pool, and are equal to a part of the Bloodstained Pool. The closer they are, the heavier their killing intent.

And now, Shao Daozi is undoubtedly equal to forcing his way into the Bloodstained Pool and seizing power.

Both sides widened their eyes to watch, and they saw Shao Daozi walking forward with big strides. The phantoms on the white jade platforms on both sides were all startled by the aura on his body, and one by one, they opened their eyes and looked at him in disbelief.

Some were clearly provoked, while others were immediately threatened, silently opening their mouths, as if to reprimand something.

But Shao Daozi put his hands behind his back, not even glancing at them, the killing aura rising from his body was like an invisible giant hand, strangling their throats.

One after another, the shadows, whether shocked or angry, suddenly felt fear as his killing aura rolled over, and they knelt down on the white jade platform, one after another.

Even more, some were so frightened that they fell off the white jade platform and dissipated into nothingness.

"Where did such a figure come from in the human world, to have such a滔天killing intent?" (overwhelmingly monstrous killing intent?)

At the end of the white jade platform, the Li family's chief manager, even though he was mentally prepared, was also frightened by this scene.

Shao Daozi used to hold a low-ranking position in this Bloodstained Pool, and even the Li family's chief manager did not have a deep impression of him. But at this time, he showed an extraordinary domineering aura.

Those who bowed their heads to him represented that they had already admitted that Shao Daozi's killing intent was heavier, and voluntarily gave up their positions and authority in the Bloodstained Pool.

And those who were shocked and fell down were equal to having been forcibly deprived of their positions, and from then on, their human bodies were no longer related to the Bloodstained Pool.

He hesitated several times, but still restrained himself. He saw Shao Daozi approaching the Bloodstained Pool in a crushing manner, with an unstoppable momentum. Now, the shadows on the high platform that were closer to the Bloodstained Pool than him were only three or five.

"Hmm?"

But at this moment, Hu Ma was suddenly startled, and his gaze fell on the three or five figures near the Bloodstained Pool.

The one at the front was like a sculpture, sitting upright and firm. Judging from his posture and aura, it was the God-Given King who was still guarding Meng Hu Pass.

But the one ranked second was someone who surprised Hu Ma.

That person's dress was like that of an old farmer, his face was calm, even with a sense of numbness. Beside him were two broken knife pieces, and his aura was completely different from the others around him.

Was he actually an acquaintance?

Hu Ma recognized him. He was the old farmer who relied on his killing intent to kill to the point where evil spirits followed him and the sky turned dark when he was dealing with Di Gua Shao in Wu Tong Town.

He did not practice the Dao, but was actually here, and even sat in the second-ranked position under the Bloodstained Pool?

(End of chapter)