Just then, Underworld Judge Cui Jue harrumphed. He slammed the door and sent a ferocious-looking ghostly official to force Jiancheng and Yuanji back. Only then was Zu An free again.

When they were escorted away, Zu An could still hear Jiancheng trying to console Yuanji. “He’s taunting you on purpose. Don’t forget that your wife…”

Unfortunately, he couldn't hear the rest of the words because the ghostly official took them far away.

Sigh, life without cultivation really sucks.

Just then, he arrived in front of a vast and grand hall. A burst of laughter emerged from within. It turned out that the ten great kings of hell - King Qinguang, King Chujiang, Emperor Song, King Wuguan, King Yama, King of Equality, King Mount Tai, King of the City, King Biancheng, and King Reincarnation - had arrived. They bowed in greeting toward Zu An.

Zu An returned the greeting while sizing up the ten kings of Hell. They were all dignified and fierce-looking. An ordinary person would be scared witless from seeing them.

It must be because of this unique storyline that I'm able to see their true appearances, right…

The ten kings said, “Your majesty is the human ruler of the world of the living, and we are the ghostly kings of the underworld. We each have our own important duties to uphold, so why should anyone yield excessively?”

Zu An began to feel more and more amazed. Underworld Judge Cui’s enthusiasm could be explained by his relationship with Wei Zheng. However, weren’t these ten kings of Hell a bit too friendly?

…

They then entered Yama’s palace. After the courtesies were completed, they sat in their respective seats.

Then, King Qinguang asked about the matter of the Jing River Dragon King. Zu An explained the whole story to them.

When the ten kings heard what he said, they bowed and said, “Even before that dragon was born, the Southern Dipper Star's book of death already decreed that he was going to die at the hands of a man, which we were already aware of. But he continued to raise a dispute, and insisted on bringing your majesty down here to have his case investigated before the three courts. We were the ones who sent him into the wheel of reincarnation. Today, we’ve troubled your majesty to come and visit us, and we ask for your understanding for our urgency.”

After saying that, they ordered the underworld judge with the Book of Life and Death, “Hurry and retrieve the book so we can see how much of his majesty’s lifespan is left.” Zu An grew a bit nervous. He knew that the most important time had arrived. If the predestined lifespan of this body ended here, perhaps he would never be able to leave Hell.

Underworld Judge Cui hurriedly went to the office and found the general records of the heavenly fates of the kings of all nations, and began to examine them one by one. He saw that this Tang Emperor was destined to live up to the thirteenth year of the Zhenguan Era. He was shocked and quickly took out a pen to add two strokes above the one (一) character to make it three (三) before presenting the book.

The ten kings gave it a look. When they saw that the second Tang emperor was destined to live for thirty-three years after the start of the era, the kings of Hell asked in surprise, “How many years has it been since your majesty ascended the throne?”

Zu An replied, “Counting today, it has been thirteen years since this emperor took the throne.”

The kings of Hell said, “Your majesty can feel relieved to know that there are still twenty years of your lifespan left. This case has already been cleared, so please return to the world of the living.”

Zu An felt the huge stone weighing down on him leave. He bowed and expressed his gratitude.

Then, Underworld Judge Cui led Zu An away from the manor. They didn’t take the same route; instead, they went through Yin Mountain and passed through the eighteen Hells. The things he saw along the way made even someone like Zu An, who had seen all sorts of things, feel alarmed; let alone the ordinary mortal Li Shimin.

Then, they passed through Tragedy City. Countless evil spirits screamed ‘Li Shimin is here’. All manner of monsters with missing body parts demanded Zu An’s life. Zu An asked Underworld Judge Cui to help them.

The judge was a bit troubled. “Your majesty, those people are the ghosts of the sixty-four places of smoke and dust, the seventy-two areas of bandits, and the leaders of other gangs. Even though they died tragic deaths, they are now completely abandoned, without the ability to reincarnate and no money to go anywhere. They are completely alone and poor, existing as hungry ghosts. Your majesty must give them some money for me to save them.”

However, Zu An didn’t have any money on him. The underworld judge said, “Your majesty, there is someone in the world of the living who has gold and silver here in the underworld. If your majesty can agree to my request, this humble judge can guarantee that I will lend you that money to free these hungry ghosts.”

Zu An asked, “Who is that person?”

The underworld judge said, “He is a native from the Henan province’s capital, Kaifeng. His surname is Xiang, given name Liang. He has thirteen storehouses of gold and silver here. If your majesty borrows from him, you can just return it to him in the world of the living.

Zu An was willing to use his reputation to borrow the money. Thus, he drew up a document to borrow from Xiang Liang's treasury with the underworld judge. On the inside, however, he remained completely calm. Even though his cultivation had completely disappeared, his thoughts remained sharp. Since starting the second phase, he had thought about the related plotlines of Journey to the West day and night. Many blurry details gradually became clear.

If he was remembering correctly, this Xiang Liang hadn’t accepted Li Shimin’s money. As such, the emperor had built a Xiang temple to thank him. Li Shimin was a mortal who would likely be scared witless by these things, but how could Zu An not tell that all of this was a setup waiting for him to walk into?

The underworld judge then said to the vengeful souls, “This money can be divided equally among all of you. Let your Tang Emperor go. It is still far from the end of his life. I am here on the orders of the ten kings of Hell to send him back to the world of the living. I will advise him to hold a Water and Land Assembly. All of you will be delivered to the cycle of reincarnation and freed from the events of your past lives.”

When the ghosts heard that they could obtain gold, they all backed up in fear.

The underworld judge waved the soul-guiding banner. He then led Zu An out from Tragedy City and onto Pingyang Road. Next, they crossed the Bridge of Helplessness. Beneath the bridge were the surging yellow and blood-red waters of the Naihe Oblivion River.

Zu An looked for Grandmother Meng to see if the two of them really did share any destiny. However, he didn’t see Grandmother Meng at all; he only saw fiendish-looking underworld officials and countless malicious spirits that were submerged in the Naihe Oblivion River, frantically reaching toward him. It was as if they were begging him for help, but they also seemed to want to drag him down. If he were the real Li Shimin, perhaps he would have defecated himself out of fear, but Zu An only thought it was a rather intimate sight. Of course, on the surface, he still pretended to be really scared.

After the Bridge of Helplessness, they finally returned to where the Six Paths of Reincarnation were. When he saw six different-colored vortices swirling in the void, Zu An was surprised. These six paths of reincarnation carried countless profound mysteries and laws. Just standing here could make one feel a trembling and longing from one's very soul.

Underworld Judge Cui explained to Zu An, “These are called the 'Six Paths of Reincarnation’. Those who do good works reincarnate in the Immortal Ascension Path. Those who display loyalty to the end are reincarnated in the Transcendent Noble Path, those with filial piety in the Good Fortune Path, and the fair in the Mortal Return Path. Those who accumulate merit reincarnate in the Riches Reincarnation Path. Those who were malicious fall into the Demonic Depravity Path. Your majesty, please remember to explained all of this to the common people once you return.” Zu An nodded inwardly. The six paths of reincarnation represented the simplest desires of the people, as expected.

Then, Underworld Judge Cui led Zu An to the ‘Transcendent Noble Path’ and pushed him from behind, sending him back into the world of the living.

…

There was plain white silk everywhere in the Imperial Palace. All the imperial concubines and officials were present, weeping. They were about to begin the funeral when the emperor in the casket opened his eyes. Many people screamed in alarm and fled in disarray. Fortunately, Yu Maogong, Wei Zheng, Yuchi Gong, and Qin Shubao were faithful and bold. They managed to get the situation under control.

When they heard that the emperor had indeed died and come back to life, the concubines and officials all rushed over excitedly.

After Zu An’s body recovered a bit, he granted the world a general amnesty and released thousands of exceptional palace maids, granting them freedom. Everyone in the world spoke praises of him.

Then, as per the agreement, he thanked Xiang Liang, whom he had borrowed money from in the underworld. As expected, the other party didn’t accept his money, so he built a Great Xiang Temple in Xiang Liang's honor.

He also held the Water and Land Assembly to help all of the souls who had been killed when he seized power in the past, allowing them to move on. During the Water and Land Assembly, Xuanzang recited scriptures to help the souls find peace. However, the bodhisattva emerged and stated that this was the Hinayana Dharma and that they could not be delivered. Thus, Xuanzang was sent to the Western Paradise to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures.

When he saw the white and pure Xuanzang, Zu An was curious as to whether this person’s flesh could really grant immortality, but he knew just how big of a deal that was. He didn’t want to end up the same way as those countless monsters who had coveted Xuanzang’s flesh, so in the end, he didn’t do anything to overstep any bounds.

After seeing Xuanzang off, Zu An stood atop a watchtower facing west, surveying the scene. Just then, Concubine Yuan Ji brought over a bowl of ginseng soup and advised in a gentle voice, “Your majesty does not need to worry. Xuansang will definitely bring back the scriptures.”

Zu An suddenly turned around to look at her, asking, “How are you so certain?”

Concubine Yuan Ji was stunned. She said with an unnatural smile, “That Xuanzang is a senior monk who has achieved the dao, someone with a firm will. He also has the protection of the bodhisattva, so of course he can succeed.”

“Oh. Since you’ve already achieved your objective, why are you still staying at this emperor’s side?” Zu An stared into her eyes.

Concubine Yuan Ji’s expression changed. “What is your majesty saying? I don’t understand.”

Zu An harrumphed. “I already had my suspicions a long time ago. The Imperial Palace has the protection of heaven’s blessing, so how could the soul of the Jing River Dragon King possibly come in? Yuchi Gong, Qin Shubao, and the others were protecting me, and yet he still managed to come in. That means there could only be two possibilities. The first is that there was someone working from the inside, coordinating with him to let him in.”

In the previous phase, he had been the Jing River Dragon King. At the time, he had wanted to enter the palace, and yet saw that it was protected by the blessing of heavenly dao. That was why he could only use his dream skill, forcing Li Shimin to leave the palace. How could the Jing River Dragon King’s soul come and go as he pleased?

“The second possibility,” Zu An paused for a moment before continuing, “Is that the Jing River Dragon King’s soul never existed to begin with. The one that appeared was someone pretending to be the Jing River Dragon King!”

Concubine Yuan Ji took a step back. “Why is your majesty looking at me? Don’t tell me you are suspecting this concubine?”

Zu An didn’t answer her question; instead, he continued, “Back then, Wei Zheng helped this emperor guard the rear gate; afterward, there were clearly no more ghosts. However, this emperor’s body still grew weaker by the day. Everyone else thought that this emperor was scared badly by the ghost and grew sicker as a result, but I have traversed through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How could a trifling ghost possibly scare me?”