The two layers of the underworld are actually overlapped!
This is the reason why Li Tianqing kept performing sword sacrifices but couldn’t find the Heavenly Pond Country.
These two layers of the underworld have some spaces intersected, causing ghosts and spirits to live together.
However, many places do not intersect, they only overlap, like Yin Mountain!
The two found Chen Shi and informed him of this matter.
Chen Shi was amazed. He had already noticed some anomaly in the underworld near Qianyang Mountain, incapable of accommodating the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, where the Yin and Yang conflict used to exist between Qianyang and Yin Mountain. Li Tianqing’s discovery made him realize that the simple Yin-Yang opposition couldn’t explain this phenomenon.
"Perhaps someone can explain this. Come with me!"
Chen Shi took them to the tribe of the Thunder Ape Ghost Clan. After listening to their purpose, the Clan Leader Lei Qu pondered for a moment and said, "According to the poems passed down by our clan, the place where we live is actually the Mortal World."
Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Shao Jing exchanged glances, puzzled.
The Clan Leader Lei Qu said, "The poems talk about when the first life died, the underworld was born. Standing in the underworld, he watched his relatives in the Mortal World weeping in grief; he called out to them, but they couldn’t hear him. Yin and Yang were separated, unable to communicate. When the cataclysm occurred, the Yin Yang Two Realms fused, never to be separated again."
Li Tianqing asked, "What cataclysm?"
Lei Qu said, "The sun extinguished, the moon disappeared. The cataclysm began. Our Ghost Clan chose to forget language for survival and struggled to live in the Yin Mountain area."
Li Tianqing frowned, feeling something was off.
Shao Jing couldn’t help but say, "The sun in our Mortal World sets earlier and earlier, and the nights keep getting longer..."
He paused, unable to continue.
The sun in the Ghost Clan has extinguished, merging the Yin Yang Two Realms into one, never seeing daylight again.
Would the Mortal World experience the same?
Would the sight of the Yin Yang Two Realms blending appear?
A vague uneasiness welled up in their hearts.
Lei Qu said, "The former king, leading the Clan Elders of the Thunder Ape Ghost Clan, ventured out, because rumors spread of an Immortal appearing in Yin Mountain, said to be an Ancestor of the Ghost Clan. He went to seek that Immortal, aiming to uncover the events of that year, but met with misfortune."
He deeply looked into Chen Shi’s eyes and said, "Your Majesty, it seems a force from beyond is preventing those who seek to uncover the truth. The Heavenly Pond Ghost Country has already lost one king to this, there shouldn’t be a second king as well."
Chen Shi thanked him for his kindness.
They said their farewells and came to the capital’s streets.
Chen Shi looked at the various Ghost Clan members on the street, terrifying in appearance from not seeing daylight for years, though possessing Divine Power, their lives were not good.
They might have been of the Divine Race, yet now they’re no different from ghost monsters.
If the same happened in the Mortal World, how many could survive?
At this moment, Li Tianqing queried, "Are there Heaven Listeners here too?"
Chen Shi’s heart moved slightly. A few Heaven Listeners perched on the eaves nearby, ears pointed toward them.
"Heaven Listeners are everywhere, omnipresent! Previously eavesdropping on the former king, now starting to eavesdrop on me..."
Chen Shi paused, thinking, "When the former king died, there were so many Heaven Listeners flying toward the Royal Palace! This means the actions of the former king drew the Heaven Listeners’ attention and focus! The former king went to find the legendary Ghost Clan Immortal! This matter must have alarmed the Heaven Listeners! Perhaps the former king’s death is also connected to these Heaven Listeners."
The former king was extremely powerful, the awakened bloodline strong of the Thunder Ape Ghost Clan, his strength feared no less than the ancestors of the Thirteen Families!
Along with many Clan Elders of the Thunder Ape Ghost Clan, this force couldn’t be underestimated!
The appearance of the Ancient Immortal matters greatly too!
The one responsible for this matter must be no ordinary Heaven Listener!
"In the Heavenly Pond Capital, there’s a big fish." Chen Shi withdrew his gaze, thinking to himself.
Li Tianqing suddenly thought of something and said, "Little Ten, these Heaven Listeners..."
Chen Shi gently shook his head, Li Tianqing understood and did not speak further.
They returned to the Royal Palace. Chen Shi stood before the Royal Hall and looked into the distance to see Heaven Listeners frequently flying and landing, then flying up, then landing again. The Ghost Clan’s citizens seemed accustomed to them, paying no attention.
Shao Jing went about his tasks, while Li Tianqing stayed in the Royal Palace, both observing the patterns of the Heaven Listeners’ flight at the hall’s fore.
For several days, they remained motionless.
"Found it!" Li Tianqing proclaimed first.
His observation was keener and more attentive, first to discern the patterns of Heaven Listeners.
Chen Shi promptly walked outside, speaking deeply, "Since you came to My domain, without My permission, leaving won’t be so easy!"
In the large-belly tribe, a small Yaksha adeptly used a fork to hoist a bundle, heading out. Like it, many small Yakshas worked one day, rested three days. After earning a day’s wages, they went off to indulge, returning for more work after spending their money.
It walked forward with its head down, about to step out of the large-belly tribe when a pair of feet appeared before it, bloodless, with only toe bones.
"Little Yaksha, long time no see."
A voice sounded above him, "Shouldn’t you be working in My Yuan Chen Palace? Why run here? Right, you’ve duped me out of a heap of incense money! Where’s My money?"
The little Yaksha shivered, lifted its head to see King Chen in fur coat and crown, staring at it intently.
The little Yaksha backed away, laughing, "Your Majesty must have mistaken a Yaksha. We little Yakshas all look alike..."