20demayo Chapter 342 Evil Approaches
Chapter 342 Evil Approaches
The Eighteenth Level of Hell: The Dark Abyss
The pool of magma, steaming with eerie fire, churned with putrid black blood. Iron chains pierced through the shoulder blades of evil spirits, suspending them on a barbed rack. Copper snakes burrowed into their eye sockets, gnawing at their brains, while swarms of venomous snakes hissed and flicked their tongues around severed limbs and remains.
The mountain of knives hung upside down, with bits of flesh and bones scattered about. The sound of boiling oil mixed with shrill screams pierced through the blood mist. Countless vengeful spirits floated in the thick sulfurous smoke—they scratched at the walls of the lava pool, their fingernails peeling off and oozing black pus. Every mournful cry formed icicles on the stone wall.
This is the graveyard of sins, where the flames of karma, which even the soup of oblivion cannot extinguish, are constantly gushing forth from the cracks in the abyss.
Only the void at the very center cracked open with golden light, and Shang Yun sat cross-legged above the void, with the golden wheel of merit slowly turning behind him, and scriptures floating around the wheel.
As the golden wheel turned, golden light poured into the lava pool like a torrential downpour. Wherever it touched, the karmic fire hissed and extinguished, revealing the evil spirits cowering at the bottom of the pool.
When the first ray of golden light struck a vengeful spirit nailed to a wall of blood, its distorted face suddenly froze, the illusory image of a golden wheel was reflected in its turbid eyes, and the roar in its throat turned into intermittent repentance.
Shang Yun was already used to it and watched the scene expressionlessly, his thoughts flashing back to the day he fought alongside Son Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo.
Carrick II's "Death Zone" transformed into a black hole that devoured everything. When Shang Yun witnessed countless innocent souls being swept into the darkness, the Golden Wheel of Merit behind him suddenly burst forth with a bright light. How similar were the obsessions of those struggling in the Death Zone to the evil spirits in the hell before his eyes?
After this battle, Shang Yun went into seclusion for more than a month to comprehend the truth, merging Prajna True Qi with the laws of space, and creating "Zen Thoughts: Pure Emptiness and Tranquil Ruins" based on the Golden Wheel, specifically for purifying sinful souls trapped in greed, anger, and ignorance.
Shang Yun clasped his hands together and silently recited the Heart Sutra, and the golden wheel suddenly shone brightly.
Golden lightning bolts darted toward the evil spirits like serpents, and those struck, their eyes glazed over, fell into the desolate void.
In this solidified golden space, greed, anger, and ignorance transformed into a black mist that swirled around them—the general who had slaughtered a village saw the dying eyes of a child before his eyes, while the poisonous woman was forced to relive the excruciating pain of poisoned wine piercing her intestines.
The deeper the obsession, the thicker the fog. Only by confronting sins in endless silence can one erase karmic obstacles.
As the last batch of sinful souls were sucked into the golden wheel, Shang Yun frowned deeply. The black-robed demon at the bottom of the abyss was the one who was "forever condemned" from the deepest part of hell.
The karmic mist on the demon's chest was as thick as ink, and the golden wheel's light was deflected by thirty percent.
"Your obsession is nothing more than the struggle of a trapped beast."
As Shang Yun gave a low shout, the golden wheel unfurled twelve halos, each reflecting fragments of the evil spirit's good deeds in life: a stray dog he saved as a child, a confession he clutched tightly before his death. The black-robed evil spirit collapsed to his knees, golden light seeping from the black mist, before finally transforming into a transparent soul and drifting towards the King of Hell's palace.
Yama, the King of Hell, swept his pen across the Book of Life and Death: "Chen Jiu, the massacrer, shall be ground down to the animal realm to carry scriptures for ten lifetimes; Li, the wicked woman, shall be freed from greed and sentenced to the human realm as a poor woman to repay her debts..."
As Shang Yun watched the souls lining up to cross the Bridge of Helplessness, the golden wheel finally emitted a soft glow.
Shang Yun knew that the karmic fires of hell would never be extinguished, but at least for this moment, in the dark abyss of the eighteenth level, light was growing.
That was a glimmer of light in humanity awakened by the golden wheel, not yet completely swallowed up.
After purifying more than a hundred evil spirits, the golden wheel of merit behind Shang Yun has expanded to about ten feet in size, and the scriptures on the wheel are flowing with warm golden light.
Shang Yun's internal energy surged like a mighty river, yet he closed his eyes and sighed softly.
The sins I witnessed in Hell that year were far more shocking than the battle against Namek.
Those faces distorted by greed, anger, and ignorance, and those souls imprisoned by obsessions, gave him a deeper understanding of the word "redemption."
Shang Yun finished reciting the last line of the Heart Sutra with his hands clasped together. When he opened his eyes, Yama, the King of Hell, had just finished writing his final judgment.
The stone gate of the bronze platform slowly opened, and Shang Yun subconsciously turned to the side, as if he could still see the warning signs on the road in the mortal world.
This habit was carried from the human world to the underworld.
"Thank you, Lord Yama, for allowing me to cultivate here."
Shang Yun clasped his hands together, and the golden wheel cast a solemn silhouette behind him.
King Yama, bent over his desk, laughed heartily, the Book of Life and Death rolled into a paper tube between his fingers: "You're quite the character, aren't you? Others avoid hell like the plague, but you treat the eighteen levels of hell as a training ground! Speaking of which, I should thank you for helping me clear half of the backlog of cases!"
Shang Yun turned and walked out of the hall, his boots crushing the karmic fire ice crystals that had solidified on the ground.
Looking up at the layers of dark, ethereal mist, the golden wheel suddenly trembled slightly behind him, and golden light flashed in his eyes.
"It's finally here..."
Shang Yun muttered to himself.
The mist in the Yama Palace suddenly surged, the whispers dissipated into the mist, and Shang Yun's figure had disappeared in the direction of the Bridge of Rebirth.
……
The sun shines brightly, and birds sing sweetly amidst the fragrance of flowers.
On Baozi Mountain, at Sun Wukong's home.
After hearing Qiqi's description, the Turtle Demon King recalled what Qiqi had said and burst into laughter, "This is all your fault! Who told you to invite such a tutor? Hahaha, that tutor was really startled!"
Chi-Chi put down the spatula, put the lid on the pot, and said in a low voice with an unhappy expression, "Shh, keep your voice down! Gohan is still doing his homework!"
The Bull Demon King's laughter stopped abruptly, and he hurriedly replied, "Oh, yes, yes..." But he couldn't help but laugh again as soon as he changed his tone, "But that teacher must have been terrified, hahahaha—" Although he tried to lower his voice, he still couldn't hide his loud voice.
Qiqi finally lost her temper and yelled, "Dad! Can't you just be quiet?!"
The Turtle Demon King shuddered and quickly covered his mouth.
In the study, Son Gohan was focused on doing his exercises, pencil in hand, but his expression gradually became serious. His eyes were solemn, and his fingertips unconsciously tightened their grip on the pencil—with a "snap," the lead suddenly broke, but he didn't even notice.
Just then, the phone rang sharply. Son Gohan put down his broken pen, stood up, and picked up the receiver: "Hello?"
"Gohan, have you sensed anything unusual?" Krillin's voice came through the microphone, his tone unusually serious.
Gohan frowned: "Hmm, I can feel it. This energy is very strange, and it's approaching Earth at an extremely fast speed."
"Does this aura... seem somewhat familiar to you?"
Gohan's pupils contracted slightly, and his fingertips instantly gripped the receiver tightly: "It's Frieza."
“Yes, it’s him!” Klin’s voice was filled with disbelief. “But how could he…”
On King Kai's planet, King Kai's expression was grave: "No way? Wasn't Goku already..."
At the summit of Earth's snow-capped mountains, Tianjin Rice and Dumplings gaze solemnly at the sky.
Tien Shinhan said in a deep voice, "There's more than one; there's an even more powerful aura."
In the courtyard of Bulma's house, at the Capsule Corporation.
Everyone sat around the barbecue grill. As Bulma was spreading sauce on the meat, Vegeta suddenly frowned: "What's going on? Didn't Kakarot take care of Frieza?"
Yamcha wiped his hands: "Vegeta, are you sure that aura is Frieza's?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot like you?" Vegeta glanced at him sideways.
Yamcha shrugged: "Vegeta, you..."
After touching the barbecue grill, Bulma straightened up and waved the sauce bottle in front of Vegeta: "Vegeta, this isn't idiot sauce, it's barbecue sauce."
Oolong, his ears drooping, looked dejectedly at Vegeta and Bulma: "I think if the Earth were to be destroyed, Bulma might be the only one to survive..."
Somewhere in Antarctica, a snow-capped mountain collapsed with a deafening roar.
Piccolo leaped out, his face grave: "How is this possible? How could this happen?"