yasinovel Chapter 11 Even the King of Hell has to draw lots!
Chapter 11 Even the King of Hell has to draw lots!
That cry of "Dad" was earth-shattering, causing the mountains and rivers to change color.
At the entire Sanzu Ferry, all the ghosts, including Meng Po, seemed to be under a spell, their souls frozen in place.
The two little devils, who had just gotten up from the ground, had their eyes almost bulging out of their sockets and their mouths agape enough to fit a soul.
The Earl... calls an Eastern ferryman "Dad"?
Chu Jiang's facial muscles twitched slightly.
He looked down at the Western nobleman who was clinging tightly to his leg, snot and tears streaming down his face, the black blood he was spitting out almost smearing onto his trouser leg, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
"Get out of the way! Don't try to claim kinship with strangers. I don't have a son as big as you!"
Chu Jiang kicked him away cleanly and swiftly.
"Father! God the Father!" The count, who had been kicked away, was not angry at all. Instead, he scrambled back towards the count, his eyes burning with fanaticism as if he had seen Satan himself.
"You purified me! You purified the blood curse within me! This was an intractable ailment that even the Seven Lords of Hell couldn't cure!"
He pointed to himself, trembling with excitement.
"I, Count Bruch von Karlstein of the Malkavín clan, one of the thirteen Cain clans, am hereby willing to serve you! You are my only father!"
Chu Jiang picked at his ear.
The name is quite long, but unfortunately, the person doesn't seem to be very bright.
"Alright, alright, stop howling." Chu Jiang waved his hand impatiently. "Want to experience the 'purification' service again?"
Count Bruch nodded frantically, like a chick pecking at rice.
Chu Jiang pointed to the end of the line, where the ghosts had lined up all the way to the corner of the Netherworld Path.
"Go, line up over there."
"Queue...queue?" Count Bruch was stunned.
"Didn't you see the rules here?" Chu Jiang pointed his chin at the stone tablet. "If you want to cut in line, ask the fish in the river if they'll allow it first."
Count Bruch followed his gaze and saw that a piece of the scarred demon's arm had been torn off by a vengeful spirit and was being devoured with relish.
He shivered, and his aristocratic arrogance vanished instantly.
"Yes! I command you, my great Father!"
He gave Chu Jiang an exaggerated chest-touching salute, and then, with his two little devils, slunk to the back of the line and stood obediently.
This scene raised the reverence of all the ghosts in the queue for Chu Jiang to a new level.
Even the devil from the West can be subdued, Lord Chu is amazing!
Watching from the side, Meng Po clicked her tongue in amazement. She walked over to Chu Jiang and whispered, "Brother Chu, your boat has this function?"
"Trade secret." Chu Jiang smiled mysteriously.
After resolving this interlude, his gaze returned to the ragged Taoist priest who had remained silent throughout.
The Taoist priest remained unmoved by any changes in the outside world; his empty eyes were fixed on the Yellow Spring Spirit Boat.
Chu Jiang's Netherworld Eye has been activated once again.
He could see it more clearly now.
The chains binding the Taoist were not physical entities, but rather constituted by a Heavenly Law that he could not comprehend at all. One end of the chains penetrated deep into the core of the Taoist's soul, while the other end disappeared into the void, its connection to some unknown place.
[Danger Level: Extremely High]
The system's cold notification sound echoed in Chu Jiang's mind like an alarm bell.
A head-on confrontation is absolutely out of the question.
Chu Jiang concealed his aura, stepped off the boat, and approached the Taoist priest.
He didn't speak, but simply pointed to the Taoist priest and then to the end of the line.
The meaning is clear: follow the rules.
A barely perceptible ripple seemed to flicker in the Taoist's empty eyes.
He glanced at Chu Jiang, then at the long queue.
To everyone's surprise, he actually turned around, took slow and stiff steps, and walked behind Count Bruch, joining the queue.
Meng Po's eyelids twitched.
She had lived for countless years and this was the first time she had ever seen such a bizarre scene.
A mysterious Taoist priest exuding a dangerous aura and a vampire count from the Western Hell were currently standing in line with a group of wandering ghosts, waiting to board the boat.
"Brother Chu, this ferry crossing of yours is getting more and more interesting."
Chu Jiang didn't respond; he sensed that things weren't that simple.
However, since the other party was willing to follow the rules, he was happy to have some peace and quiet.
He cleared his throat and shouted to the crowd, "Alright, alright, what are you all watching? Line up, let's get started! Next one, the one whose number is called, come up!"
The line began to move slowly.
The ferry business on the Chu River is booming again.
Just as he had seen off three or four ghosts and was about to call for the next one, an old man who looked frail and had a face full of wrinkles walked out of the line.
He was wearing a faded gray long gown and leaning on an ordinary wooden cane, looking like a nouveau riche from the countryside.
"Lord Chu, Lord Chu!" The old man squeezed to the side of the boat, his face beaming with smiles. "May I ask you something?"
"Speak," Chu Jiang said succinctly.
"Look, I... I came in such a hurry that I forgot to bring any ghost money." The old man rubbed his hands, looking embarrassed. "Could you please do me a favor and get me across first? Once I get there and settle in, I'll definitely make it up to you double, no, ten times!"
Chu Jiang glanced at him.
"Forgot to bring it?"
"Yes, yes, people get old and their memory doesn't go as far as it should be." The old man nodded repeatedly.
"That's good. You can go back the way you came and get it." Chu-Jiang waved his hand, as if shooing away a fly. "Next!"
The old man's smile froze on his face.
"Oh, Lord Chu, please stop!" he cried, grabbing the gunwale. "I'm really in a hurry! Please make an exception for me! I'm not an ordinary person..."
"Stop." Chu Jiang interrupted him, looking at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.
"No matter how special you are, can you be as special as that Judge Cui from before?"
Chu Jiang pointed to the crack in the sky that had not yet fully closed.
"Even the Chief Judge, who's on my ship, received benefits and a token as a ticket. Who do you think you are?"
The old man was choked and speechless.
Chu Jiang stood up, put his hands behind his back, and began his on-site teaching.
"Grandpa, let me explain the law to you. In our underworld, we now emphasize fairness, impartiality, and transparency!"
"At my ferry crossing, I've established rules, and those rules are ironclad! Even the Emperor himself has to take a number and wait in line!"
He tapped on the words on the stone tablet.
"What do you call this behavior? You're trying to dine and dash, understand? Disrupting market order and affecting the business environment of our underworld is a serious matter!"
The surrounding ghosts nodded in agreement, and some even clapped.
The old man was stunned by what he said, his face turning pale and then red.
In all his years of life, this was the first time he had been lectured like this by a mere brat.
"You...you young man, how dare you speak like that?" The old man was so angry his mustache stood on end. "I..."
"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean, '?' Chu Jiang didn't give him a chance to speak. Even if you were the King of Hell himself, if you didn't have money today, you'd still have to stand in line here obediently! There are no special privileges in the underworld; you have to start from this ferry crossing of the three paths!"
The voice just fell.
The old man suddenly stopped being angry and instead smiled.
"Good! So the underworld has no special privileges!"
His laughter wasn't loud, but it carried an inexplicable air of authority, instantly spreading throughout the entire Nether River.
All the ghosts, including Meng Po and the vampire count, felt their souls sink, and a sense of awe from the depths of their souls arose spontaneously.
The old man's trembling body slowly straightened up.
His faded gray cloth robe transformed in a burst of light into a black dragon king robe embroidered with mountains, rivers, the sun, moon, and stars.
The commoner's hair bun on his head transformed into a majestic and solemn twelve-tassel crown.
An aura even heavier and more majestic than that of Judge Cui, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami crashing, instantly enveloped the entire ferry crossing.
That was not simply a suppression of power, but an absolute domination from the level of life itself.
All the ghosts, including the two little devils, were uncontrollably kneeling on the ground, unable to even lift their heads.
Only Chu Jiang and the mysterious Taoist priest at the end of the line remained standing.
"Welcome, Your Highness King Qin Guang."
Meng Po bowed slightly, her voice filled with utmost respect.
King Qin Guang! Lord of the First Court of the Ten Kings of Hell, in charge of life and death in the human world, and governing good and bad fortune in the underworld!
Chu Jiang's heart skipped a beat.
Good heavens, did I... curse him in front of the King of Hell?