Chapter 739 - Ji Hu’s Vow, Primordial Earth Mother, Reaching for the Stars - Part 2

“How fares the mortal world?” Ji Hu asked softly.

He didn’t bow to Yan Yu, nor did he bow to his father, the founding Tang Emperor. His first question was for the living.

“Why don’t you go see for yourself?” Li Yuan chuckled.

“Can I still see it?” Ji Hu murmured, looking down at his hands. Those hands that had once conquered the Nine Provinces, severed the Underworld, and bent the tide of history. And yet now, they were simply a man’s hands.

He didn’t seem to mind. He just smiled and said, “That’s fine too. If I can set foot in this new world again, even as a simple farmer tilling the earth, planting grain.. that would be enough.”

Li Yuan turned to Yan Yu, “Didn’t I tell you? This child is fine.”

Yan Yu looked at Ji Hu. “If you truly wish to be a simple farmer, you’ll have to wait. The Underworld has yet to rebuild the Six Paths of Reincarnation.”

She paused, then continued, “But until then, will you stand guard before the Karma Hall? Judge the spirits who pass through, discern right from wrong, good from evil. Let the righteous find peace, and the wicked meet justice. Once the Six Paths are complete, ghost messengers will escort them to their fates. Rebirth will follow.”

“This...?” Ji Hu looked at Li Yuan.

“You’ve been asleep a long time. Very well, let me tell you how the world has changed.” Li Yuan smiled.

Then he turned to Yan Yu. “That okay with you, Yan Yu?”

She nodded silently and left, taking Zhong Kui, Long Gumeng, and the Black and White Impermanence with her. Together, they returned to the Karma Hall to assist in interrogating the endless stream of spirits.

Ji Hu, meanwhile, walked south with Li Yuan.

They followed a narrow path shrouded in black mist.

“Father, what became of the Great Zhou?” Ji Hu asked.

“Many years have passed. The tides of history have risen and fallen. Now, the Li Clan has risen, along with the Great Tang,” Li Yuan replied.

“The Great Zhou fell...that quickly?” Ji Hu was stunned.

Li Yuan began to recount the story, piece by piece. From the assassination of Crown Prince Ji Yong, to the He Clan’s treason and regicide. From Ying An’s regency, to the uprising that founded the Divine Dominion. From the Li Clan’s rise to power, to the factions of the northern wasteland stirring with ambition. From a new age of transcendants, to the founding of the Tang Dynasty, its light spreading far and wide. From the deposition of the Crown Prince, to his eventual exile to the Swallowcloud Province...

History flowed like a great river, rising and falling, flourishing and fading. One dynasty ascended the stage just as another bowed out. Glory and disgrace alike were no more than illusions, like reflections in water or blossoms in a dream. In the end, one turn of a head and all of it was gone.

When Ji Hu heard about the chaos that ended the Great Zhou, his hand clenched into a fist. But when Li Yuan spoke of how the world had since entered an age of prosperity under the Great Tang, Ji Hu couldn’t help but smile, relieved.

This was the peace he had longed for.

So what if Great Zhou was gone? To awaken in the afterlife and hear that the world had found its footing again, that was enough.

“Father,” Ji Hu said solemnly, “I am willing to stand guard before the Karma Hall.”

Then he paused, glancing at his hands again. “But I am just an ordinary spirit now. I fear I may not be up to the task.”

Li Yuan laughed. “And before you became emperor, were you certain

then

you could do the job? No one is born ready. We learn, we persevere, and we grow stronger. Never give up before you begin.”

Ji Hu fell silent for a moment, then gave a firm nod. “I understand. I’ll give it everything I’ve got. I swear, I won’t let a single spirit be wrongly judged.”

Now that the official matters were settled, father and son finally had time to speak about the rest, everything left unsaid in life.

In the mortal world, too many circumstances had kept them apart. They had never truly met. But here, in death, they could finally have the conversations they were denied in life. They sat and talked for a long, long time.

Spirits did not need to eat. Neither did Li Yuan.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Time passed unnoticed.

Li Yuan told Ji Hu everything he needed to know about the Underworld. He explained how Xie Wei had not actually died but lay in a deep slumber within the Deathless Tomb. He also shared how the descendants of the Ying Clan had mostly already passed through the passage of reincarnation, though a single surviving branch was now settled in the Cloud Capital.

Understanding the full picture, Ji Hu quickly realized just how crucial rebuilding the Underworld was.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“The Soul Furnace destroys the soul and then reforges it. In a way, that’s fair,” Ji Hu mused. “But in times like these, when the world is in decline, we need the souls of the strong to return again and again to the mortal world. Only by their efforts can the world be held aloft. If we can preserve their spirits through rebirth, allowing them to continue their cultivation from life to life...that would be the best outcome.”

Li Yuan blinked in surprise.

Honestly, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

To have strong spirits willingly reincarnate, cultivating through lifetime after lifetime. Not to chase glory, but to strengthen the very fabric of the world through their eventual sacrifice...it was a powerful idea.

Yan Yu had probably thought of it already.

And now, Ji Hu had reached the same insight almost instantly.

This emperor, scarred and ugly though he appeared now, smiled again.

“Gather the righteous souls of the mortal world, the loyal and the true. Let them enter the palace hall, or let them linger in the mountains and rivers, guarding the land.

“This is how we unite humanity’s strength, not to be saved but to

save ourselves

. When many hands lift the same flame, the fire burns brighter. If every soul works as one, this world can shine again.”

Li Yuan’s eyes lit up.

“You mean...like City Gods?”

“City Gods?” Ji Hu repeated the unfamiliar term, clearly puzzled.

Li Yuan explained, “They govern the affairs of the Underworld in a specific region. Their job is to keep the balance between the worlds of the living and the dead. And they’re sustained by the incense and prayers of the living.”

“Then let it be so, City Gods. If there are officials in the world of the living, then the realm of the dead should have loyal souls guarding each domain,” Ji Hu said. “Let their loyalty be tempered by the same rules that bind the wicked. Make it so that they must return to the Underworld regularly to pass through the Mirror of Karma. That way, even the most righteous cannot stray far from justice.”

He tilted his head back, speaking almost to himself now, as if mapping out a vast and distant future.

“Only those who’ve endured countless tribulations, death, destruction, and dissolution. Those who’ve been through reincarnation not once or twice, but ten times, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times, only they would be worthy of becoming a City God, or holding authority in the Underworld.”

Li Yuan looked at him and couldn’t help but sigh with admiration. “You’d make a fine second-in-command for Yan Yu.”

As the former Human Emperor, Ji Hu of course understood Li Yuan’s relationship with Yan Yu. So hearing her referred to so casually didn’t strike him as odd.

And at this moment, Ji Hu found himself fully aligned with her, her thoughts, her efforts, and her vision. He truly respected her.

Still, there was something in Li Yuan’s tone that made Ji Hu pause.

“Father,” he asked, “do you not approve of all this?”

Li Yuan slowly shook his head. “No, it’s the opposite. Justice for good and evil. A world where heroes and sages live on, driven by honor and sacrifice, reincarnating again and again, pursuing their vows life after life...

that

is the kind of world worthy of being called prosperous. I support you.”

“Come now,” he added, gesturing, “let’s go find Yan Yu.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

“Finished catching up?”

Yan Yu glanced up at the recently arrived Li Yuan and Ji Hu. She was with the other four, still processing souls.

Ji Hu silently walked up behind her and bowed deeply. “Earthmother.”

“Earth Mother?” Yan Yu blinked, caught off guard.

In truth, she had many titles in the Underworld, most of them given by awakened ghosts. The one most commonly used was Empress, but that was just shorthand. The full title was Primordial Empress.

They called her Empress Yuan, the

Primordial Empress

, because for centuries, she had often murmured the name

Yuan

to herself. The ghosts picked up on it and started calling her that.

Ji Hu said, “In the mortal realm, we have emperors and heavens above. The Underworld must have its heavens too. And those heavens should be ruled by the Earth Mother.”

“The Underworld is only in its infancy now. But one day, there will be many loyal souls, many administrators. When that day comes, they must know who rules this realm, whose will they follow.”

“...” Yan Yu fell silent for a moment.

Then Li Yuan repeated to her what he and Ji Hu had just discussed, the concept of City Gods, of choosing loyal souls from the mortal world, of powerful spirits reincarnating over and over to uphold the realm.

Only then did Yan Yu give Ji Hu a proper look. After a pause, she nodded and said, “Very well, then from this day forward, I shall be the Primordial Earth Mother.”

“Ji Hu!” she called.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Ji Hu answered with a respectful bow.

“From this day forth, you will serve with Zhong Kui, Long Gumeng, Black Impermanence, and White Impermanence beside me at the Karma Hall. Together, we will judge the spirits of the mortal world,” Yan Yu said. Then she swept her gaze over the whole group. “I have cultivated soul-refining techniques for hundreds of years in the Underworld. From now on, all of you will learn under me,” Yan Yu said.

“I am unworthy of such an honor...and this responsibility.” Ji Hu bowed low again. Then he added, raising his head, “But these are extraordinary times. And extraordinary times call for extraordinary actions.”

He continued solemnly, "When the Underworld is finally at peace, I’ll walk the human world a thousand times if I must. I’ll use my life to nourish the heavens. Only then will my heart be at ease.”

Hearing him, Zhong Kui and the others stepped forward too, echoing his words, “We’re willing as well.”

Yan Yu could tell instantly that Ji Hu understood her vision, truly and deeply. Li Yuan hadn’t just brought her a helper; he’d brought her someone who

got it

. She smiled and said, “Take your seat.”

Ji Hu bowed and joined Zhong Kui and the others at the side of the Karma Hall. As he looked toward the endless line of spirits stretching into the mist, he felt both deeply anxious and profoundly serious.

He understood that once he sat down here, he might not rise again for countless years.

But if he could devote his soul to restoring order to the world. to strengthening Heaven and Earth. then what did it matter if he sat for a thousand years, ten thousand, or even longer?

One day, when the Underworld was whole again, he would keep his promise and walk among the living, reincarnating again and again, to fulfill his vow.

Yan Yu looked at him and smiled suddenly.

“Li Yuan really pushed hard for you. And he wasn’t wrong. You are excellent. Since I am the Earth Mother, then you shall be King Yama.”

Ji Hu froze, surprised. He stood up respectfully and bowed in thanks. But then, just as quickly, he shook his head.

Yan Yu raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

Ji Hu raised his hand and solemnly declared, “If the world is still weak, I do not deserve to be king.”

Yan Yu looked at him long and hard, then nodded and said, “Then the Underworld shall have no Yama.”