Chapter 4 — The Ancestor Turns the Underworld Upside Down

I am not speaking nonsense!

He trembled, pulling a token of underworld currency from his chest and lifting it high above his head with both hands.

This is the payment my son gave me; it bears his soul-seal! You only need to look at it to know it is genuine! I did not know you would object. When my son approached me, he told me this was a family decision. I… I received the payment, so I performed the task.

I took the token, crushing it within my palm. The copper coin was engraved with the markings of the Underworld, and on the back pulsed a faint, lingering soul-breath—that of Te Than. Realizing his deceit had been exposed, he collapsed onto his knees again, utterly dejected. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and spoke.

Mother, A An has a hard life-fate. Even if she were to be reincarnated without a soul, she would still manage to survive. Pure Snow is different. That poor child had a wretched life; her parents died early, and her soul drifted in the City of Wronged Souls for twenty years before we took her in. Since she was small, she has been obedient and sensible, yet she had no one to rely on. We only wanted to help her.

Lau Nhien knelt as well, her eyes brimming with tears. Mother, you do not know how gentle and thoughtful Pure Snow was when we first adopted her. Every day she would serve us tea, knead our shoulders, and massage our backs; she was a hundred times more attentive than A An. We thought… A An already has people to cherish her; she does not lack for a good destiny. But Pure Snow has nothing. She only has us. We have raised her as our own daughter for six years. She is our daughter, too!

I stood still, listening to their pleas.

Are you finished?

The two stared at me, blank-faced, before nodding slowly.

I ask you: that girl possesses the memories of A An. Which of you forced those memories out of her?

Their bodies shuddered, and they exchanged terrified glances, neither daring to speak.

You once told me that only those who commit monstrous, unforgivable sins deserve such cruel punishment. A An is your own flesh and blood. She never committed a single transgression—how could you be so heartless as to lay hands on her?

Te Than let out a cry, slamming his head against the ground. It was me! I know I have wronged A An, but there was truly no other way. If we had not done it, we could not have hidden it from you!

I gazed at him, my expression chilling. Then who tore apart A An’s soul?

This time, Lau Nhien trembled violently. She gasped for air, and finally, she spoke. It was me! I feared you would investigate, so I conspired with the Underworld to scatter the remnants of A An’s soul into the depths of the eighteen levels of hell…

I stared at her, my eyes burning with a crimson rage. Lau Nhien, years ago, when your father committed a crime and was sentenced to just one level of the Ice Hell, you were so heartbroken that you turned against me, accusing me of being cold-hearted in my judgment. A An is your daughter. How could you be cruel enough to tear her apart, leaving her to suffer the agony of all eighteen layers of the purgatory?

Tears streamed down Lau Nhien’s face incessantly. We truly had no other choice. The overseers of the Underworld are too strict. If you had known we were taking A An’s destiny to give to someone else, you would never have allowed it.

Of course I would not have allowed it. My voice was icy. That nine-lifetime fortune was something I obtained in exchange for a thousand years of my own cultivation. By what right did you think you could decide for me?

Te Than and Lau Nhien fell silent. Their faces flushed red—not from shame, but from being backed into a corner, knowing they were in the wrong yet finding no words to justify themselves. I watched them for a long time.

Do you not wish to treat Quach Pure Snow well? Very well then, surrender your own cultivation. The two of you possess a foundation of three hundred years in the ghostly path. Combined, that is enough to purchase a destiny of middling quality. Once you offer it up, she can still be reincarnated into a decent family.

Their faces turned deathly pale. Te Than opened his mouth, unable to produce a sound. He had been sickly since childhood and had barely survived by the grace of heaven; to attain those three hundred years of cultivation, he had suffered twice as much as any ordinary soul. Lau Nhien, too, froze. She had originally been a lowly-ranked guide for the dead, only rising to the third rank through her marriage to Te Than.

Mother… we…

They stammered.

You do not want to, I said, finishing their thought. You only want to steal. To steal from your own daughter.

A wind rose over the Lake of Reincarnation, biting and cold. Everyone looked at Te Than and Lau Nhien, their gazes colder still. The Ten Kings of Hell have judged countless cases, and I have presided over the cycle of rebirth for thousands of years. Not even the most vicious bandits, the most prolific murderers, or the most treacherous oath-breakers have ever been forced to endure the entirety of the eighteen levels of purgatory. Yet, these two—a mother and a father—could be so heartless. I looked at Te Than and Lau Nhien, finding nothing left but utter disappointment.

Do you know how many times A An called out for her parents from the bottom of the Blood Pool? Even at the moment of her final dissolution, she refused to believe that those who struck her down were the two of you.

The bodies of Te Than and Lau Nhien went rigid, as if an invisible hand were crushing their throats. Their mouths remained agape, but they could not utter a sound. Not far away, A An stood in the shadows, tears falling silently.