Chapter 382: Fairy’s Earthly Desires

Inside the Yanluo Hall, dozens of souls knelt on the ground, trembling with fear. Around them, ghost wardens of the Hidden Earth Sect, who had used their cultivation techniques to conceal their yang qi, authoritatively chanted in unison.

That wasn't what terrified the golden-haired, blue-eyed, and faintly translucent souls, though. Rather, in their eyes, the brightly lit hall was shrouded in a chilling, sinister aura, and each ghost warden before them had a green, ghastly face with jutting fangs.

A primal fear rose in them, making any thought of resistance or escape vanish completely. Even if they had once been powerful cultivators during their lifetimes, they were no different from ants under a boot here, easily crushed without a second thought.

It didn't matter what rank one had in life. Once dead, they were nothing more than a wandering soul in the underworld. That was the iron law of the Small Nether Realm.

The wardens forced the first criminal soul forward.

Wang Sheng lowered his head and glanced at his senior sister. Shen Sui'an had said earlier that as long as Fairy Hua Qing was seated at the high seat and holding the Judge's Brush, the rest of the process would become clear in due time.

Blinking, Wang Sheng saw a blank dossier lying in front of his senior sister, on which lines of ancient script began to appear, written from right to left.

Mu Wanxuan lowered her gaze, looked at it for a few moments, then silently placed the dossier in front of Wang Sheng. She raised her head slightly and blinked at her junior brother.

Wang Sheng was responsible for declaring the charges and delivering judgment, while Mu Wanxuan wielded the brush to record the verdict. Their division of roles was clear, their cooperation seamless.

Clearing his throat, Wang Sheng's expression turned a little strange. In his mind, he interpreted the archaic script into plain language. He then firmly read aloud, "Jones Linmes Starch. You participated in plundering the people of the Hua Republic, killed two of our citizens, and slaughtered six hundred fifteen foreign civilians. Elder Ge Qingfeng of Mount Shu executed you.

"You committed heinous crimes. In death, your soul should be scattered into ashes. However, as a warning to all corrupt cultivators, you shall first be cast into the Scissors Hell for three years of torment before your soul is completely obliterated!

"Senior Sis—Your Honor, if you find this judgment acceptable, please mark the sentence."

Mu Wanxuan kept a solemn expression. With her delicate fingers, she lifted the Judge's Brush and drew a single stroke across the dossier.

Solemn chanting echoed throughout the hall, and a burst of piercing laughter followed. A wave of heavenly might then descended. While the soul below struggled to comprehend what was happening, a ring of blood-red light encircled him and formed chains that bound his limbs. Above him appeared a giant pair of crimson scissors.

Two ghost wardens stepped forward, seized the chains from either side, and dragged the criminal out of the hall without ceremony. From the top of the steps, they threw him down. A gray vortex appeared above the Eighteen Levels of Hell, swallowed the criminal soul whole, and vanished.

A second later, a scream rose from the depths of hell, which served as confirmation that the criminal had been cast into the Scissors Hell, where he would suffer for three years before finally being annihilated.

The surveillance drones along the passages surrounding the Eighteen Levels of Hell captured the entire scene clearly. However, the imagery within the Scissors Hell was so gruesome that the feed had to be censored.

Inside the Hall of Reincarnation, Lady Meng still sat in meditation. The corner of her lips curved into the faintest smile, but it soon disappeared, making her look as cold and detached as ever.

It's that simple?

Wang Sheng couldn't help but think of the methods that the Heavenly Court had once employed. If the Heavenly Court was really an extraterrestrial immortal civilization, then it had surely reached the pinnacle of development. Earth's technological civilization could not even dare to imagine setting rules and wielding them with such precision.

If the Dao represents the laws governing the universe, then is the ultimate pursuit of a cultivator to possess the ability to rewrite even the most fundamental of cosmic laws?

Due to his realm's limitations, Wang Sheng could not yet imagine what lay beyond the Golden Immortal Realm. A sudden sentiment simply struck him.

The second criminal soul was brought forward, and two new lines of script appeared upon the dossier.

Wang Sheng resumed reading aloud the charges, estimating a suitable term of punishment, and then selecting at random one of the Eighteen Levels of Hell. At his request, Mu Wanxuan recorded the judgment, and the second criminal soul was thrown into hell.

The process was simple and efficient, but it soon turned dull for his senior sister since the Small Nether Realm had no cellular network.

If not for the fact that only she could wield the Judge's Brush since she was the reincarnation of Fairy Hua Qing and a legitimate celestial immortal, she would have probably handed the role to someone else already.

One after another, criminal souls were cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, swiftly making it lively. A live broadcast of the proceedings was being transmitted across the outer networks. The Special Investigation Unit had built up momentum for several days, stirring great public discussion abroad.

Although freedom of speech was restricted in most foreign lands, and careless words could bring the police to one's door, those in power did not wish to invite trouble by interfering. Instead, they chose to turn a blind eye to the broadcast.

To the outside world, this served as a warning to all future cultivator factions. They could cause as much chaos as they liked in their own lands, but they should never provoke the Hua Republic. Otherwise, they would face vengeance in life and torment in hell after death.

Daoist cultivators would target them. Afterward, they would be cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell. It was truly a complete package.

Mu Wanxuan initially managed to maintain her dignified posture. After all, she had actually put on makeup for once today. Yet after presiding over a hundred trials, she rested her chin in her hand and stared absentmindedly at her junior brother.

She suddenly realized that he was becoming more and more pleasing to the eye.

***

She remembered the day her junior brother first came up the mountain. He had dark skin and was overly sturdy at the time. His expression was simple and honest, too.

As Mu Wanxuan advanced in cultivation, she underwent a dramatic transformation. In a year, she suddenly bloomed into maturity. Her junior brother, on the other hand, remained pretty much the same: dark, sturdy, and seemingly simple-minded.

At the time, she thought he was capable of everything. He always thought of her first, as though they had grown up together. Even then, she already wished to spend all her time with him. She'd even feel restless and uneasy if she spent too long without seeing him. Not even meditation could calm her, and everything would begin to seem dull and joyless.

She naturally grew restless when her junior brother entered seclusion in the Wudang Mountains. When she followed her master down the mountain to help their mistress deal with troublemakers, her master spoke to her about the matter.

Only then did she realize that what she felt was affection between a man and a woman. She had begun to think of her junior brother in ways beyond their martial-sibling bond. The realization confused her, yet it also tempered her Dao Heart, making her cultivation progress at a remarkable pace.

But at the same time, guilt consumed her. She felt impure. Her junior brother respected her as his senior sister, yet she secretly wished he could become her warm, living pillow—someone she could embrace and hold close.

It felt like a betrayal of his trust.

Nevertheless, when Mou Yue told her that her junior brother had emerged from seclusion and descended the mountain, her heart leaped with joy. She persuaded the others to change course so they could meet him. Along the way, she even used her savings, which were meant for collectible figurines, to buy matching mobile phones for her and her junior brother.

They were like the phones for couples in comic books.

She was not good with words or skilled in expressing emotions. When she saw her junior brother from the backseat of the car, she wanted to throw herself into his arms. As if compelled by some strange force, she threw a pile of snacks at him instead.

Later, before the Immortal Dao Conference, her junior brother drove off the persistent Mount Hua disciple. Her heart bloomed with joy, though she forced herself to remain composed on the surface.

During the conference, they often gazed at the stars together. She felt that her junior brother hadn't changed; he still treated her with the same level of respect.

In the battles that followed, her junior brother always used himself to shield her whenever danger arose, never allowing her to be in peril. She could not tell whether that was born from their bond as martial siblings or from something deeper, though.

Martial siblinghood is the closest bond in the world!

Mu Wanxuan repeatedly told herself, using it as a kind of self-hypnosis. She could only lock her secret dream of making him her living pillow deep within her heart.

When turmoil struck the Small Nether Realm, and they ventured inside, she faced three unexpected matters.

The first was her junior brother's forced breakthrough. While she was on the verge of collapse, he descended from the skies on a missile. Afraid that she would die and never again see her living pillow—her junior brother, she nearly burst into tears.

The second was the truth of her own identity.

She was the reincarnation of an immortal. Though she retained no memories of her past life, she no longer knew whether she was truly Mu Wanxuan, the name which her master had given her; or Hua Qing, the immortal she had once been.

If I'm no longer myself, can my love for my junior brother still be called my own?

Mu Wanxuan had immediately wondered at the time. She had even tried to erase the words inscribed on the jade stele, refusing to accept the truth.

From that moment on, she lived in quiet dread. She feared that one day she would change completely into a completely different person—someone who'd push away the person she cherished most.

The third was the moment her junior brother shoved her aside and leaped to his "death."

Unaware of his condition, she endured agonies she could not bear to recall during the three years that Wang Sheng had been in the Earth Qi Seal agonies. When he finally returned, she resolved to confess her feelings and ask if he could be her living pillow.

But when he returned, his initiative bewildered her.

On the cliffs of Mount Pingdu, they embraced. She felt the burning emotions he wished to express. All along the journey, he never released her hand, as if speaking to her through that unbroken touch.

Does he also want me to become his living pillow?

Some truths left unspoken would only breed unease, no matter how deep their unspoken bond.

Finally, just a few hours ago, Wang Sheng popped the question.

Marriage. To become each other's one and only pillow.

Hearing those words from her junior brother utterly flustered her, yet all the emotions she had suppressed for so long surged forth. She was just about to agree when a doubt crept across her heart.

Will Hua Qing also love my junior brother? If I agree, will it break his heart if one day I become Hua Qing again?

***

"

Ahem

, your Honor! Your Honor? Senior Sister, you need to make the check mark."

Mu Wanxuan jolted back to her senses. "Oh!"

She looked at the man before her. His expression was tinged with helplessness, warmth, and gentleness. A sweetness bloomed on her tongue, as if she had tasted honey.

She picked up the Judge's Brush and marked the list. Around them, sinister laughter rang out, while the screams of the condemned echoed from below. Right after, Mu Wanxuan propped her chin on her hand again and stared dazedly at Wang Sheng.

Where was I? Never mind, I can start again from the beginning. My junior brother is taking care of everything anyway. I don't even have to look at the dossiers; I can just draw the marks on all of them.