The passageway between the first layer and the second layer:
The Future Buddha flew out of the second layer with a group of monks.
“That peacock is very stubborn. Humph! The Lord Buddha already spoke so cordially with it, even offering to make it a buddha. However, it refused. Humph! Its sufferings are of its own doing!”
“The Lord Buddha sent it to the sixteenth layer of hell. One day outside is thirty-two million years in there. Let’s see how long it can endure!”
“Will it eventually die from losing hope and turn into stone?”
“It won’t. If it loses hope, it might as well just join the Spirit Mountain Holy Land. The Lord Buddha is wearing down its pride. It is too arrogant!”
The monks gossiped about this matter, all of them feeling disdain.
“Alright. Quickly get out. The passageway to the eighteen layers of hell will close soon,” the Future Buddha said.
“Yes!” everyone answered.
The group followed the Future Buddha, flying into the first layer of hell.
“Huh? Something’s not right?” The Future Buddha suddenly raised his eyebrows.
His figure flashed and immediately arrived before the Yama Palace’s entrance.
The monks behind rushed over. “Lord Buddha, what’s wrong?”
They saw Bodhisattva Jie Dong, Bodhisattva Di Ting, the ghost king, and countless ghost soldiers all bound up, severely injured.
Fortunately, this place had restorative properties, so their injuries were healing slowly. However, everyone was bound and could not move.
“What happened?” the Future Buddha asked sullenly.
Although the Future Buddha’s eyes were shut, he could see with his mind’s eye, and this sight shocked him.
“It’s Gu Hai! Lord Buddha, it’s Gu Hai!” Bodhisattva Jie Dong called out anxiously.
“Gu Hai?” The Future Buddha frowned slightly.
“Yes. My master captured Gu Hai and had me escort him to you for interrogation. However, we…Lord Buddha, hurry! He seems to be rushing to the heretic Buddhist! Who knows…,” Bodhisattva Jie Dong said worriedly.
“The heretic Buddhist? Lian Sheng?” The Future Buddha’s expression changed.
Whoosh!
The Future Buddha suddenly vanished from this place and arrived at the palace hall that was Bodhisattva Lian Sheng’s prison.
There were many cracks in the palace hall, and Bodhisattva Lian Sheng was missing.
“Where is he? Where is he?” the Future Buddha called out anxiously.
“Who saw what happened? Come out!” the Future Buddha suddenly roared.
Soon, a group of ghost soldiers came over. Some of them had seen what had happened.
“Lord-Lord Buddha, we saw the two of them enter the second layer of hell,” a ghost soldier said softly.
“Oh? Two? Not three?” The Future Buddha’s face sank.
“Per-perhaps I saw wrong. I-I saw two, maybe three,” that ghost said.
The Future Buddha frowned slightly and thought about it. After a while, he realized something.
“Oh no! Kong Xuan?” The Future Buddha’s face darkened.
“Everyone, go back in with me. We have to search every layer. Search! Find Gu Hai!” the Future Buddha roared.
The group of monks said in fear, “Ah! Lord Buddha, the entrance to the eighteen layers of hell will close soon. If we enter at this time—”
“Go search!” the Future Buddha roared.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”
The monks steeled themselves and followed the Future Buddha to the lower layers.
“Gu Hai might not know where Kong Xuan is. Search every layer!” the Future Buddha said anxiously.
Bodhisattva Lian Sheng was the good Gautama’s master. They could never rest in peace if they could not get rid of the good Gautama. They had to find him. That Gu Hai is truly a troublemaker.
The group searched every layer.
However, the search went too slowly.
“Split up and search!” the Future Buddha said anxiously.
The group of monks immediately obeyed, rushing to the various layers.
Soon, a monk reached the sixteenth layer of hell.
Lava soared into the sky. That monk quickly acclimated to this place and looked toward Kong Xuan’s location. Then, he suddenly noticed Gu Hai standing in the sky while holding a coffin.
“Gu Hai?” That monk’s face lit up in delight.
“Gu Hai is here! Lord Buddha, Gu Hai is here!” That monk turned back excitedly and returned to the fifteenth layer of hell.
That monk did not clash head-on with Gu Hai. He did not need to take risks. After all, Bodhisattva Jie Dong and Bodhisattva Di Ting had lost to Gu Hai.
When that monk shouted, a monk at the passageway between the fifteenth and fourteenth layers returned to the fourteenth layer and relayed the information.
The message passed from one to the next and soon reached the Future Buddha.
“He is indeed in the sixteenth layer of hell!” The Future Buddha’s face sank.
Whoosh!
The Future Buddha immediately turned into a beam of light streaking through hell and arrived at Kong Xuan’s location.
“Where is he?” the Future Buddha asked sullenly.
Kong Xuan glanced coldly at the Future Buddha. “Hah!”
“Kong Xuan, where did Gu Hai go?” the Future Buddha asked anxiously.
“Search for yourself!” Kong Xuan retorted coldly, then ignored the Future Buddha.
“Lord Buddha, time is almost up!” a group of monks said anxiously after flying over.
“No. We will leave only after capturing Gu Hai. You all search the sixteenth layer of hell. I’ll go to the seventeenth layer!” The Future Buddha appeared sullen.
Whoosh!
The Future Buddha immediately flew into the seventeenth layer.
——
The seventeenth layer of hell, the lonely hell:
The moment Gu Hai entered, he looked around with misgivings. It was neither hot nor cold, just a vast empty land. However, there was no light, completely pitch black. The only light here came from the two passageways.
“Once the entrance is closed, I will be locked here for sixty-odd million years with only darkness to accompany me? Sixty-odd million? It is indeed lonely.” Some horror flashed in Gu Hai’s eyes.
Gu Hai used the Samādhi True Flame to illuminate his surroundings and saw the ground below. Many statues stood there. People had been sent here in the past. However, they eventually lost hope from the loneliness and turned into stone.
The Future Buddha is giving chase?
I will have to wait for some time in the seventeenth layer of hell?
Gu Hai smiled bitterly. There’s no hiding here.
This place is so empty. Everything can be seen clearly as long as there is light to illuminate this world. When the Future Buddha gets here, there will be no place for me to hide.
The eighteenth layer of hell?
After some silence, Gu Hai stepped into the eighteenth layer of hell.
The eighteenth layer of hell, the boundless hell:
This place seemed like the cosmos, boundless without end. There were countless stars and planets. Although the stars illuminated it, the planets provided places to hide.
Whoosh!
Gu Hai immediately took cover behind a planet.
At this time, the Future Buddha had just entered the seventeenth layer of hell.
The Future Buddha did not need light to search for people. He could use his mind’s eye, which was even clearer.
He swept through the place with his mind’s eye but did not see anyone.
“That’s impossible. Did Gu Hai go to the eighteenth layer?” The Future Buddha felt a chill in his heart.
The Future Buddha did not dare tread lightly in the eighteenth layer of hell.
While he could use his mind’s eye to survey the seventeenth layer of hell, the eighteenth layer was a boundless hell—so vast that even his mind’s eye could not see everything.
After some silence, the Future Buddha entered the eighteenth layer of hell.
Once he entered, he felt a chill in his heart. He saw the boundless infinity with his mind’s eye and had no idea how to find Gu Hai. He did not even dare venture too deeply into the eighteenth layer. It would be bad if he got lost and could not find his way back.
Rumble…!
Suddenly, the passageway between the seventeenth and eighteenth layers of hell started shrinking.
“Oh no!” The Future Buddha’s expression changed.
Whoosh!
The Future Buddha turned around and returned to the seventeenth layer, then the sixteenth layer.
At this moment, the monks in the sixteenth layer felt incredibly anxious.
“Oh no! Oh no! It is about to close. What should we do?” the monks said anxiously.
Whoosh!
The Future Buddha suddenly appeared.
“Lord Buddha, it is good that you returned. Did you find Gu Hai?” the monks asked anxiously.
“Are you sure you saw Gu Hai earlier?” the Future Buddha asked seriously.
“Yes! He definitely entered the seventeenth layer of hell!” that monk answered with certainty.
“He is not in the seventeenth layer?” a monk asked in confusion.
The Future Buddha showed a sullen expression. “He entered the eighteenth layer of hell.”
“The eighteenth layer?” The pupils of the nearby Kong Xuan constricted.
“The entrance is closing now. What should we do?” the monks asked anxiously.
“Let’s return to the first layer of hell first. Let’s go quickly!” The Future Buddha flung out his sleeve.
Whoosh!
He picked up all the monks and turned into a beam of light shooting through the various layers of hell and returning to the first layer.
Boom!
The moment the Future Buddha flew into the first layer, the passageway leading to the second layer fully closed.
Bang!
The Future Buddha landed at the entrance of Yama Palace.
By now, Bodhisattva Jie Dong and Bodhisattva Di Ting had fully recovered.
“Lord Buddha, did you find that bastard Gu Hai?” Bodhisattva Di Ting asked.
“Gu Hai went to the eighteenth layer of hell,” the Future Buddha replied sullenly.
“That can’t be, right? Is he seeking death?” everyone said in shock.
“After the entrances are closed, he will have to wait one hundred thirty million years,” Bodhisattva Jie Dong said as his eyelids twitched.
“Won’t he turn into stone by the next time the entrances open again?” Bodhisattva Di Ting asked with misgivings.
“Keep watch. If he is alive, we have to see him. If he is dead, we must see his corpse!” the Future Buddha said sullenly.
“Yes!”
——
The sixteenth layer of hell:
Kong Xuan narrowed its eyes at the vanishing entrance.
“The eighteenth layer of hell? Haha! Gu Hai, you are truly daring. One hundred thirty million years? Hahahahaha! You are dead for sure. No one can survive that!” Kong Xuan said with a ferocious, cold smile.
Rumble…!
Kong Xuan flapped its wings before slowly closing its eyes, accumulating Essence to grow. Its cultivation had not regressed but strengthened over the past thirty-two million years because Essence accumulated over time. A Middle Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator cultivated Essence, and an Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator cultivated energy. However, accumulations of Essence could be refined into energy to power an Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator.
Although this was an excellent place for cultivating, the bloodthirst here was terrible. Even a ferocious person like Kong Xuan barely managed to suppress these feelings of frustration, cultivating while locked up. However, the bloodthirst also accumulated, causing Kong Xuan’s demonic nature to intensify and produce a powerful black aura.
Kong Xuan waited patiently.
——
In the eighteenth layer of hell, Gu Hai sighed softly as he watched the distant entrance closed.
“For the eighteenth layer of hell, one day outside is one hundred thirty million years here? Hah! I hope my thoughts are right and I don’t go crazy here,” Gu Hai said with a bitter smile.
