The voice was sinister, and it seemed capable of reaching the depths of one’s heart. Xiang Shaoyun felt his very soul shivering at the voice. When he looked ahead, a Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva stood before him. The ferocious expression of the bodhisattva was enough to invoke fear in the hearts of cowards.
Xiang Shaoyun, however, was someone with a resolute heart. He knew that he was seeing an illusion, but he did not expose the illusion immediately. Rather, he accepted the trial and answered, “What fault do I have?”
“You are unjust, disloyal, unfilial, and not benevolent. Kneel down and confess your sins!” The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had an enchanting voice that seemed capable of touching one’s soul, causing one to unknowingly recollect everything one had done in life.
Xiang Shaoyun did not resist the influence and allowed the scenes of all he had done to wash over his mind. The bad things he had done during childhood, his enmity with Di Lin, his separation from his father, all he had killed, and many other experiences related to the concepts of benevolence, justice, loyalty, and filial piety. They surfaced in his head, giving him a feeling that he had truly sinned.
He was feeling that way because he was indeed at fault for some of those incidents. Every single incident could be viewed from a different perspective to create a different outlook. For example, his conflict with Di Lin. Although he had always viewed Di Lin as a brother before the betrayal, he had also frequently pranked and lost his temper around Di Lin.
For example, his father. He had made many irrational requests of his father and had never exercised his filial piety as a son. There were also the people he had killed just because of some disagreement between them. In fact, he couldn’t even decide if it was him or the other party at fault for many of these incidents.
“Get on your knees and confess your sins. Otherwise, you will be forever barred from reincarnation!” the solemn voice of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva rang out once again.
At that voice, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, the legendary guardians of the underworld, appeared. With hell chains in their hands, they walked up to Xiang Shaoyun, looking like they were about to capture him.
Abruptly, Xiang Shaoyun roared with laughter. “Hahaha! I, Xiang Shaoyun, can look in the mirror and say that I have never done anything I’m ashamed of! I treat my brothers with righteousness. I treat my parents with filial piety. I judge my enemies fairly based on their deeds. I do not regret anything I have done. Who are you to claim that I’m unjust, disloyal, unfilial, and not benevolent? What a joke! You are the one incapable of separating the fake from the truth. You are unworthy of being a Bodhisattva.”
“Audacious! You dare question the judgment of this bodhisattva? Arrest him!” said the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva furiously.
The Ox-Head and Horse-Face then reached out for Xiang Shaoyun.
With a smile, Xiang Shaoyun lightly pointed at the bodhisattva and roared, “Perish, all who try to affect my mind!”
The jab contained an imposing aura of righteousness, a power he had comprehended during his time at the Righteous Buddhist Sect. So long as he carried a just heart, he would be able to call upon the power of righteousness anywhere to get rid of all evil.
Panic appeared on the ferocious face of the bodhisattva when he sensed the righteous aura. The moment the finger beam touched the bodhisattva, he transformed into a clump of black gas. As he faded, his voice of indignance rang out, “A person like you who can kill even a Bodhisattva has no mercy in the heart. You do not have a righteous heart!”
“If I can feel righteousness in my heart, then it means I have a righteous heart. You are nothing but a trick,” said Xiang Shaoyun resolutely. His righteous aura surged, causing even the Ox-Head and Horse-Face to fade into nothingness.
Then, his surroundings changed. An aura of absolute frost enveloped him as countless ice blasts and blades swarmed Xiang Shaoyun, attempting to kill him then and there.
Eight Hells of Frost!
That was a hell prepared to punish those with great sins, a terrifying hell that tormented one with extreme cold and the suffering of having one’s body break apart from frost. With the righteous aura around him, Xiang Shaoyun walked forward one step at a time. He was surrounded with boundless God Realm frost energy, but the energy was unable to lay any harm on his body.
At the same time, a questioning voice rang out, “Xiang Shaoyun, your hands are dyed red with blood. Kneel down and confess your sins!”
“Xiang Shaoyun, you have violated the laws of cupid, breaking the hearts of many maidens. Do you know your sin!?”
“Xiang Shaoyun, as a father, instead of treasuring your wife and child, you run around inviting trouble. Do you know your sin?”
“Your brothers had perished because you refused to help. Where is your conscience?”
…
One question after another resounded in the depths of his soul, assaulting the weakest side of him relentlessly, convincing him that he had truly sinned.
“The heart is tranquil like ice, remaining calm even when the heavens are collapsing.” Xiang Shaoyun started chanting a calming mantra. His mental state stabilized as he ignored all the questions. However, the righteous aura around his body was destroyed by the cold energy around him. The cold invaded his body, bringing his body to the brink of collapse. Countless icy blades cut into him, causing him to bleed profusely. He suffered intense pain, a pain strong enough to drive someone crazy.
Xiang Shaoyun was confident that after the countless dangers he had experienced, his constitution had long reached an unimaginable level. One could only imagine how dreadful the Eight Hells of Frost was for it to be able to cause him to feel pain.
With every step he took, chunks of ice fell. A thick layer of frost covered his entire body. He ignored everything as he continued stepping forward. He had spent years reaching his current level, taking one step at a time. Nothing could cause his faith to waver, not even something like the Eight Hells of Frost.
The Hell of Bombardment was filled with countless icy tips and blades, torturing one with unmeasurable pain.
The Hell of Blisters assaulted one with an extreme cold that created numerous blisters on one’s body, turning one’s appearance into something truly disgusting.
The Hell of Clenching Teeth caused one’s teeth to clatter constantly from the extreme chill, threatening one with the prospect of death at any moment.
The Hell of Wailing was so cold that it caused one to wail in despair, begging for death to come so that all the suffering would end.
…
With great difficulty, Xiang Shaoyun walked through all eight hells. Toward the end, he had been reduced to an ice skeleton. His god body had been frozen and destroyed. His skin and organs had suffered necrosis. His person looked incomparably miserable.
“Don’t think that you’re without sin just because you have managed to walk out of the eight hells. You are never just in the way you do things. It’s time for you to suffer the Eight Hells of Flame!” the same voice rang out. Xiang Shaoyun’s surroundings changed into one that was filled with fiery heat waves. The suffering was intense, especially for someone like Xiang Shaoyun who had just suffered the Eight Hells of Frost. The intense heat threatened to melt his very bones.
It was unknown if he could also survive the eight hells: Hell of Living, Hell of Black Rope, Hell of Sum, Hell of Cries, Hell of Greater Cries, Hell of Heat, Hell of Greater Heat, Hell of Ceaseless Pain.
