The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 415

Chapter 415: Chapter 411: Yama Hall Chapter 415: Chapter 411: Yama Hall The front hall of the temple housed the Gods of Literature, Martial Arts, and Wealth, the incense was burning lavish, people lined up to offer incense money into the Merit Box. The main hall was dedicated to the City Lord, with equally numerous visitors, just less incense money being offered, but more people sincerely bowing their heads in prayer.

Shen Luo and Lu He directly passed through the main hall and upon reaching the backyard, they found fewer people around.

Shen Luo looked up and saw a great hall standing at the back, with a plaque hanging on the lintel, on a black background were written, in gold lacquer, the three big characters of “Yama Hall”.

In the square in front of the great hall, there were two men and a woman, standing in a group of three people.

Although the three of them were in front of the great hall, they were all keeping some distance from each other, seemingly not familiar with each other.

Among them, a thin young man with a pale but somewhat handsome face, had a slender green longsword slung across his back. He was standing under an old scholar tree in front of the hall, looking up at the lush leaves above.

Not far from him, against the railing in front of the hall, a middle-aged man with a moon-shaped face shield, which covered his left cheek, was standing. He wore half a set of armor that only protected the area around his heart, and a golden long knife was hanging from his waist.

And four or five steps away from him, leaning on the railing was a plump woman dressed in a red gauze skirt. While she was not exceedingly beautiful, her makeup was quite heavy. Yet, her pair of plump breasts was so full that they seemed to be ready to burst out of her dress.

When the two of them, Shen Luo and Lu He, were seen coming in, the young man merely glanced sideways at them before withdrawing his gaze. The armored man and the woman in red, however, took the initiative to walk towards them.

“Oh, new faces have arrived…”.

The woman in red swayed with each step she took, and her breasts quivered three times with each step.

“Greetings to fellow Daoist friends.” Shen Luo took the initiative to greet them with a fist-and-palm salute.

“With one sporting a cold face, one covering half his face, and one too ugly to look at, at last, we get a pretty one. Just taking a few more glances at him already makes this mission worthwhile.” The woman in red lazily eyed Shen Luo up and down, chuckled, and spoke without any reservations.

“Lu He, who might this be?” The armored man returned the salute and asked.

“He's newly recruited by our company, and will be joining us on this mission. His name is Shen Luo. Brother Shen, the one standing under that scholar tree is…” Upon hearing this, Lu He began to introduce Shen Luo to the others.

The young man under the scholar tree was named Lin Qing. He was the first among them to take on missions for the company, though he had not been with them for a long time. He had only completed six missions so far.

The armored man and the woman in red were named Jin Dun and Yun Niang, respectively. Both joined later than Lin Qing, but slightly earlier than Lu He, and had accomplished four missions.

They had crossed paths on these missions, and so were not strangers to each other. However, they were not exactly familiar with each other either, hence Lu He's Introduction to each person was simple and direct.

While they were talking, an old man in a brown robe, who looked like an aged monkey, came over from an archway in the side courtyard. He was holding a dark red gourd of wine and was walking towards them with a floating gait.

As Shen Luo looked over, he saw that the front part of the old man's head was already bald, extending from his ears to the back of his head. The remaining hair was too sparse and also a little disheveled, cascading down his neck.

The old man had quite round cheeks, eyebrows dropping to his ears, a shiny red alcohol-fermented nose, and a long beard that reached all the way down to his chest. His beard appeared wet as if splashed with undried wine. He looked somewhat genial but also somewhat sloppy.

In contrast to Shen Luo's reaction, the other four people immediately rushed over to the old man as soon as they saw him, with respectful salutes on their faces:

“Elder Hu….”

“Old what, old? How many times have I said it? Either call me brother Hu or elder brother Hu, no calling me, old Hu.” The old man waved his gourd and grumbled.

“Elder Hu.”

Shen Luo recognized that this was the Elder Hu Yong mentioned by Lu He and immediately stepped forward to pay his respects.

“Oh? You're the newcomer that Xiuxiu mentioned, what's your name again?” Hu Yong thought for a good while but failed to recall Shen Luo's name.

“The junior's name is Shen Luo,” replied Shen Luo.

“Shen Luo, good, just follow me, and I assure you that you'll return safe and sound,” Hu Yong nodded, tapped Shen Luo with his gourd, and said.

Watching this, Shen Luo could not help feeling worried. Could this old man, who seemed like a drunkard, really lead them to complete the mission? But judging by the expressions of the four others, it seemed they were already used to this.

“Elder, where are we supposed to carry out this mission?” Shen Luo asked.

Upon hearing this, Hu Yong turned, pointed to the great hall behind him, and said, “Right here.”

“Right here?” Shen Luo asked in surprise.

The others also showed expressions of confusion, clearly not understanding as well.

“Don't worry, the place we are going to, indeed has to be accessed from here,” said Hu Yong, taking another swig of his drink and wiping his mouth.

After finishing his drink, he finally sealed the mouth of the gourd and hung it on his waist.

He then stroked his beard, straightened his clothes and ceremonial hat, and walked towards Yama Hall, leading the way.

Seeing this, Shen Luo and the others hurriedly followed.

Before they even entered the hall, a chill wind emerged from inside. Despite it being summer, Shen Luo felt a sudden chill envelop him, giving rise to a sense of eeriness.

Stepping over the threshold into Yama Hall, Shen Luo saw a tall deity statue, with a clean face and crown, sitting upright behind an offering table. Unquestionably, it was the usual portrayal of Lord Yama.

On both sides of his crown were hanging fragrant pouches used as ear protection, he was wearing a long robe with lotus leaf collar, both hands holding a Ruyi board in front of his chest. Although it was a clay statue, it exuded a certain majesty.

On both sides of the Yama statue, there were statues of judges: one had a normal, pale complexion, and the other had a dark face resembling that of an evil ghost. Each held documents and a writing brush in their hands, they were the judges who reward the good and punish the evil, widely known in the worldly lore.

Underneath the judges, there were thin statues wearing tall crowns, one black and one white, representing Black and White Impermanence, and on the other side were Ox Head and Ma Mian.

Shen Luo's gaze lingered a bit longer on the face of Ma Mian. He felt that the clay Ma Mian and the real one he had seen were somewhat different, with the clay figure appearing rather fierce.

On the surrounding walls, there were vivid and colorful murals depicting the various scenes of the eighteen levels of Hell, filled with images of torturous punishments such as disembowelment, mountains of blades, seas of flames, boiling pots, etc.

After looking at it for a while, Shen Luo felt uncomfortable and immediately withdrew his gaze.

At this moment, Hu Yong flipped his hand. Three dark red incense sticks mysteriously appeared in his palm. He lit them with a flick of his finger, and the tips of the incense started to burn with a red glow.

He then used his hands to make a peculiar magic seal, held the incense to Lord Yama and the other deity statues in a respectful bow three times, and then inserted the three sticks of incense into the incense burner.

Afterwards, he stood to the side with his hands clasped behind his back, as if waiting for something.

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