When Jiang Liuer disembarked, Liu Jian attempted to follow to see him off, but was promptly declined with polite refusal.
Jiang Liuer staggered unsteadily, his small face slightly flushed, clearly showing signs of having drunk too much.
Even requiring Shou Qing's support to remain upright,
"Brother, as a judge of the underworld with heavy official duties, it's more crucial for you to return and handle your responsibilities promptly. There's no need to see me off—we'll meet again if fate allows,"
Jiang Liuer maintained impeccable courtesy.
Liu Jian, equally intoxicated and swaying, stood on the boat and clasped his hands: "Worthy brother, until our paths cross again."
Thus they parted ways.
After Shou Qing supported Jiang Liuer for a mile, the latter said: "We need to go further."
Five miles later, all traces of drunkenness vanished from Jiang Liuer. His eyes gleamed with clarity.
"That terrified me!"
Jiang Liuer finally released his tension, exhaling deeply: "A judge came demanding the Mourning Staff—that's the highest-ranking official I've ever encountered in my life."
Shou Qing stared in astonishment: "Fellow practitioner, you weren't drunk?"
Jiang Liuer shook his head: "The Vajra Wrath Demon Forging Body Technique renders even potent poisons ineffective, let alone mere wine. That brew wasn't celestial nectar—just mortal liquor."
"Had I not pretended, how could I have shared drinks so cordially? Abbot Faming taught that while sincerity matters, social graces are equally vital."
He recalled Abbot Faming laughing heartily with a constable.
Later, the abbot had confided: "My laughter with him isn't approval—it's deference to his official status. Without flattery, trouble would follow."
Jiang Liuer remembered every lesson.
Hearing this, Shou Qing marveled at Jiang Liuer's shrewdness and Abbot Faming's worldly wisdom.
"Shou Qing, keep supporting me..." Jiang Liuer leaned on the thinner man's shoulders.
Shou Qing frowned: "Weren't you feigning intoxication?"
Jiang Liuer forced a smile: "The stress of drinking with a judge drenched my back in sweat. My legs still feel unsteady."
......
Meanwhile,
A river-crossing vessel sank into the underworld, transforming into a spectral ship.
Liu Jian resumed his true judge's form—ghostly blue skin, protruding fangs, crimson hair bristling, eyes glowing red—more fearsome than any demon.
A hound-shaped yin officer fawned: "Your Honor, shall I brew sobering soup?"
"This official isn't drunk." Liu Jian's speech now crisp, his tongue no longer slurred.
His gaze turned profound: "Had I not pretended drunken camaraderie, who knows if panic might have driven him to summon his mystical mentor?"
That dragon palace artifact, that Buddhist vajra—no ordinary immortal could possess such treasures.
Even the Book of Life and Death couldn't calculate Jiang Liuer's true lifespan...
This deepened Liu Jian's wariness.
Indeed, it chilled him.
Fear gripped him—what if attacking Jiang Liuer summoned some supreme adept, whose whisk-flick might reduce a petty judge to primordial oblivion?
Cold sweat drenched his robes!
"I must report this to the Yama King. The Book must be corrected to prevent a recurrence of that centuries-old catastrophe."
He departed urgently,
Leaving the yin officer gaping.
"That thief has such backing?"
Seeing his superior's caution, the officer nearly wept, the reclaimed Mourning Staff burning in his grasp.
"Should I return this?"
The despairing officer whimpered.
......
Days later, the trio reached a village.
Jiang Liuer found an elder, then with Hu Yuyu and Shou Qing helped harvest rice half a day before inquiring: "Honored elder, could you direct us to Jiangzhou?"
The old man chuckled at their assistance: "Jiangzhou? You stand within its borders."
"We're here!" Jiang Liuer rejoiced.
One month's journey from Golden Light Temple—finally arrived.
Never had he forgotten his purpose:
Avenge his father. Rescue his mother.
The moment had come!
Curious, he asked: "How fares this prefecture's governor?"
The elder shrugged: "How would I know such grand affairs? I don't even know his name."
Jiang Liuer pressed: "What of the people's livelihood here?"
The elder sighed: "Miserable. Farmers kneel to both heaven and tyrants. We thought the new dynasty would improve things—brief respite, then worse."
"Fifteen years of grain taxes—seven-tenths of today's harvest goes to officials. Fish taxes, firewood taxes—countless levies."
"Uneducated, we pay whatever they demand."
Jiang Liuer gaped: "Taxes for gathering firewood?"
The elder nodded: "Officials claim every tree in Jiangzhou belongs to the Tang—not the people. Their logic: our firewood is the empire's, our fish the empire's, our fields the empire's."
Absurdity.
Jiang Liuer remembered his hometown's hardships—difficult, but never this grotesque.
Jiangzhou's strangeness—could its laws differ from the Tang's?
Jiang Liuer declared: "This must be that villain Liu Hong's doing!"
Liu Hong—the murderer of Senior Tang Sanzang's father Chen Guangrui, abductor of his mother Yin Wenjiao, impostor who stole the governorship.
Hu Yuyu puzzled: "Why ask after a villain's governance?"
Jiang Liuer explained: "Had he ruled well wearing my father's face, I might grant him quick death. But since he's doubly damned, cremation's too merciful."
Shou Qing noticed gaunt children playing: "Mercy—they're skin and bones."
Hu Yuyu whispered: "Even man-eating demons would scorn such meager fare."
The elder shrugged: "Survival's enough. Thinness matters not."
After delivering the harvest, they pressed deeper into Jiangzhou.
What followed revealed earlier villages as fortunate—worse horrors unfolded.
In one region, skeletal remains marked villages starved to extinction years prior—no living soul for miles.
Jiang Liuer gathered bones,
Buried them properly.
Another village—plague-stricken, officials loosed bandits to slaughter inhabitants, then killed the bandits as heroes. Now haunted, shunned by all.
Jiang Liuer entered,
Chanted sutras,
Freeing hundreds of trapped souls.
Elsewhere, lush fields yielded bountiful crops—all seized by landlords colluding with officials through murder and deceit.
Jiang Liuer entered,
Four-foot blade in hand.
Today's fury demanded
Karmic severance.
......
