Dark Blue Frost - Chapter 10
Chapter 10:Little Senior Brother
A faint and indistinct path stretched into the distance, guided by the shrouding mist.
From afar, it looked somewhat rugged. Qingxuan followed behind Qianse, stepping deeply then shallowly, each footfall uncertain.
The surroundings felt unusually empty.
From some unknown place came a faint singing—low, lingering, soft, slow, and sorrowful.
It carried a helpless grief, a kind of unspoken sadness that, drifting on the wind, seemed illusory and unreal.
Yet it was precisely this singing that, when one least expected it, seized the heart.
It stirred up the pain buried deepest in one’s soul, surging forth in memory, bringing forth a sadness that could not be severed.
“Qingxuan, silently recite the Release Life Incantation along the way,” came Qianse’s voice from within the mist.
Both her figure and her voice felt ethereal.
Though they were only a few steps apart, her voice sounded as if it came from a great distance.
“This is the Road to the Yellow Springs. You carry yang energy on your body. If you’re bewitched by the songs of the demons and wraiths here, your soul will lose its way and wander here forever, never able to return to the realm of the living.”
Qingxuan’s heart gave a jolt.
He immediately began to silently recite the Release Life Incantation, closely following Qianse’s steps, not daring to slacken for a moment.
To say he wasn’t afraid would be lying.
A living person venturing into a place where spirits gather, it was already commendable that he could maintain a calm appearance.
How could his heart not be pounding in terror?
Still, with his master by his side, always offering reminders and guidance, he should be safe.
It was at this moment that Qingxuan suddenly realized the painstaking effort his master had put into him—
When he had first arrived at Mount Yan, his master would shut herself in her room daily to copy scriptures, yet still made him recite Daoist scriptures and annotations from the Xuan Sect every few days.
If she caught him slacking, she wouldn’t hesitate to punish him with hundreds of copyings.
Back then, he had grumbled to a few of the martial uncles, but they had only smiled and urged him to work harder.
Only now did he understand that those scriptures and incantations he had memorized until he could recite them backward were not just for show.
They were to be used at critical moments like this.
Forgetting even one could have disastrous consequences.
How could he ever again allow himself to grow lazy?
Looking at Qianse’s figure ahead, he suddenly felt a touch of emotion.
So, during those years atop Mount Yan, although his master had rarely spoken to him, she had never truly neglected him!
At the end of the Road to the Yellow Springs lay the River of Three Crossings.
Against the backdrop of the blazing red blossoms of the Netherworld Flower on the riverbank, the pitch-black water looked even more tranquil, so quiet there wasn’t even the sound of a ripple.
Yet it harbored an eerie danger that made one’s skin crawl.
From afar, a small flat-bottomed boat drifted toward them.
The boatman who rowed it revealed a strange expression when he saw Qingxuan, clearly startled.
Qingxuan assumed it was because the man had never seen a living person so boldly enter the Ninefold Purgatory of the Netherworld in the flesh.
He pretended not to notice the shocked gaze, and after boarding the boat, kept his eyes on the still surface of the river.
Even from within the river came the faint, drifting sound of song.
Beneath the surface, there seemed to be things swaying in the water.
Qingxuan focused his gaze and saw countless water ghosts floating beneath the surface.
His back went stiff, and he stood upright, no longer daring to let his curiosity lead his eyes astray.
After crossing the River of Three Crossings and stepping off the ferry, Qingxuan came upon the Stone of Three Lifetimes, which recorded one’s past, present, and future lives.
He was tempted to see what he had been in a past life, but seeing Qianse walk on silently with light footsteps, he quickly gave up the thought and jogged after her.
Along the way, he saw the Old Woman Who Strips Clothes and the Old Man Who Hangs Robes beneath the Collar-Taking Tree.
They judged a soul’s karma by stripping the garments from the dead.
He saw countless fresh spirits sobbing with shattered hearts before the Terrace of Longing for Home.
It was clearly a long road, yet somehow it felt like no time had passed.
When they arrived at the first court of the Nine level of Hell, Dark Nether Hall, they were greeted by the True Lord Miaoguang, dressed in full ceremonial garb, personally welcoming them at the great gates with great respect.
“The Immortal Venerable seeks an audience with the Lord Yama of the Netherworld, why take this path?”
Upon seeing Qianse, True Lord Miaoguang immediately offered a respectful salute, and after finishing, kept his head bowed with great humility.
“This path is full of deathly things. I fear they may dirty your shoes, Immortal Venerable.”
“My disciple’s cultivation is shallow. This is the only road he can take,” Qianse replied, unmoved by Miaoguang’s respectful manner.
Her expression remained polite yet distant.
“It has been long since my last visit. I wonder how the Lord Yama of the Netherworld fares these days?”
At the mention of Lord Yama, Miaoguang’s face turned bitter.
He could only shake his head helplessly.
“Things were fairly peaceful, but today… A ghost warden brought back the soul of a rakshasa from a fox demon cultivator. Unexpectedly, that rakshasa ran into the City of Wrongful Death. She should’ve been judged and punished, but instead went mad, shouting she must see someone-or-other. She’s caused such chaos in the Hall of Seven Sins, guarded by the True Lord Zhengdu, that even the dogs and chickens can’t live in peace.”
“When Lord Yama heard of it, he flew into a rage and ordered the Ten Kings of the Underworld to investigate thoroughly. He even plans to cast the rakshasa into the Karmic Fire of Hell, to have her soul scattered into nothingness.”
At this point, he sighed and looked at Qianse with an expression like a man in a snowstorm seeing someone bringing charcoal.
A glimmer of joy showed on his face.
“Now that the Immortal Venerable has come, all will be well. We little ones fear nothing more than Lord Yama in a temper. If you could offer a few words of consolation, our lives would be much easier.”
Qianse neither agreed nor disagreed.
She only cast a sidelong glance at Qingxuan, her eyes hiding a sharpness unnoticed by others.
Seeing him with bowed head and lowered gaze, playing the part of an obedient disciple, she nodded to Miaoguang, who led the way toward the Nether Hall.
Qingxuan knew he should hold his tongue now, but his heart brimmed with curiosity.
He had thought this trip to the Ninefold Purgatory would be fraught with peril, but judging by True Lord Miaoguang’s attitude toward Qianse, he could guess that his master must have some unspeakably deep connection with Lord Yama.
As for that rakshasa about to be thrown into the Karmic Fire of Hell, she could only be the very Gu Huiniang who had fallen into the hands of Hua Wuyan.
It seemed that acquiring the Soul-Summoning Banner wouldn’t be as difficult as he’d imagined…
Perhaps it was because he’d wandered through the mortal realm too long, hearing too many folk tales of King Yama with leopard eyes, lion nose, and a fearsome facenor seen too many of those fierce, snarling depictions of Yama in city god temples and paper effigy shops but when Qingxuan finally saw the Lord Yama of the Netherworld in the Nether Hall, he stood dumbstruck for quite a while, unable to react.
T-this… this is really King Yama?!
Before him stood an extraordinarily handsome man, draped in a floor-length black robe.
His eyes were sharp and penetrating.
There wasn’t a single crease on his face, clearly not someone who smiled often.
At this moment, his brows were tightly knit, his aura lofty and commanding.
A trace of lingering fury remained at the corners of his eyes, his thin lips tightly pressed.
His face was so severe, it only made his coldness seem all the more icy, almost cruel.
Qianse stepped forward, her eyes lowered, and quietly called out, “Little Senior Brother.”
Qingxuan was just about to follow Qianse’s steps into the Nether Hall when he heard how she addressed the Lord Yama.
For a moment, he forgot to move his feet.
No wonder Master could summon ghost envoys and whatnot, so it turns out, this Lord Yama is actually her Little senior brother!
It was only today that he suddenly realized just how incredibly powerful a master he had unwittingly taken on!
Back when he first laid eyes on Qianse, his heart had already been stirred, yet the Lord Yama, Bai Lian, still didn’t look all that pleased.
He deliberately averted his gaze, picking up the wine cup on the desk in front of him as a way to cover up.
“Qianse, your little senior brother thought you’d hardened your heart and would never step foot in my Nether Hall again.”
His tone had a bit of a sour edge.
The handsome expression on his face hadn’t changed in the slightest, just casually making small talk as if he didn’t care.
But the deeper meaning behind his words could only be understood by those who shared long-standing, tacit understanding:
“So, did you run into some tricky trouble today? Need your little senior brother to lend a hand?”
“Today, I didn’t come to ask my little senior brother to take care of any trouble for me.”
Qianse lifted her chin slightly, her voice gentle, soothing like water from an icy spring.
In that moment, her lashes curved ever so faintly, and the chill in her eyes melted into soft, glimmering light, bright as morning stars.
“I heard there was a Rakshasa causing trouble in the Hall of Seven Sins, and she angered you—”
She didn’t finish the latter half of her sentence, only looking calmly at Bai Lian.
Her figure, wrapped in red robes and skirts, appeared all the more slender and delicate within the vast expanse of the Nether Hall.
“So you’ve come to clean up my mess?”
Bai Lian snorted.
The light hidden in his eyes made it hard to guess what he was really thinking.
He cast a glance at Qianse, though faint smile lines had already formed at the corners of his lips, he still put on a serious act.
His raised brows made his expression seem unfathomable as he muttered to himself:
“Hmph, that brat Miaoguang is always like this, just loves running his mouth… But I’ll give it to him this time, at least he didn’t try to kiss up and end up kicking the horse’s leg instead… That Rakshasa just a small fry, swallowed the blood and flesh of dozens of living people whole. Messing up the Book of Life and Death is one thing, but she even dared to talk back to Zhengdu right in the main hall, shouting about wanting to see someone named Ziru. I already had Zhao Cheng seize her soul and imprison it. Once the hour passes midnight, she’ll be tossed into the karmic fires of hell…”
“She’s just a newly-dead soul who doesn’t yet understand the rules. Why get so worked up, little senior brother?”
Qianse cut off his rambling.
Even when speaking up for someone else, her tone remained indifferent, as calm and colorless as still water.
“This Rakshasa bears deep resentment because of her wrongful death. And now, with unfulfilled wishes, if you send her off like that and let her soul scatter, I fear it’ll damage your merit—”
“Merit?”
Bai Lian raised his brows in dissatisfaction.
Reclining lazily in his seat, his sharp eyes locked directly onto her.
“Junior sister, do you think I…trapped in this sunless, eternal darkness still give a damn about that kind of nonsense?”
His words were full of disdain.
Clearly, he saw his position as Lord of the Netherworld as no different than being exiled to some godforsaken borderland.
“Little Senior brother has attained the Dao for many years and your powers are vast. Naturally, you wouldn’t care.”
Slowly brewing the words in her mind, seeing that he was holding his breath and listening intently, Qianse lifted her gaze and smiled faintly, calmly meeting his eyes.
Her eyes were as clear as spring water.
“However, my disciple has yet to succeed in his cultivation. How about lending me the soul-calling banner this time? Let him take this opportunity to accumulate some merit and smoothly forge his immortal body. I would, of course, be most grateful.”
“Disciple?”
Bai Lian glanced around in confusion.
Only then did he notice Qingxuan, who stood respectfully by the door with his head lowered.
His expression immediately darkened.
Qingxuan saw Bai Lian’s piercing eyes fixed straight on him, but he didn’t notice the shift in expression.
He quickly plastered on a bright smile and trotted into the hall, using the usual way he addressed other senior uncles:
“Little Uncle-Master—!”
Unfortunately, before the words fully left his mouth, Bai Lian’s cold, cutting rebuke sliced through the air, shattering even his signature smile that usually won people over wherever he went.
“What little uncle-master?!”
Bai Lian’s shout was sharp.
His handsome brows were twisted into a hundred knots, and his slightly narrowed eyes betrayed the fury he was barely holding back.
Perhaps trying to calm himself, he paused for a beat, and then squeezed out his next words one by one through clenched teeth:
“No respect, no rules, no manners! And that ‘little’, do you think you can just casually slap that in front of this Lord Yama’s title?!”
Ah—?!
He’d stepped on a landmine without even realizing it!
Qingxuan was so frightened he didn’t dare move a muscle.
He had no idea what he’d done to offend this little uncle-master he’d just met for the first time.
All he could do was cast a pitiful glance at Qianse, silently begging for help.
Qianse quietly looked at Bai Lian’s faintly ashen face, knowing full well what had triggered his temper, though she couldn’t say it outright.
She merely gave a gentle reminder:
“Little senior brother, your firecracker temper really hasn’t changed one bit. Scaring the junior like this…it’s not very nice.”
Hearing Qianse speak up to smooth things over for Qingxuan, a sharp pang struck Bai Lian’s heart.
His voice turned hoarse, and his expression grew colder, more forbidding by the second.
“Qianse, is this that little mortal boy-toy from the rumors, the one said to be all lovey-dovey with you, stuck to your side like your own shadow?”
He sneered, and when his eyes shifted toward Qingxuan again, the proud look on his face twisted into one of thinly veiled contempt.
His handsome face, already shadowed with anger, took on a mocking light as he deliberately shrugged, those long phoenix eyes narrowing, the gleam in them flickering like starlight through smoke.
“What’s your name?”
Though the term “little mortal boy-toy” sounded anything but pleasant, Qingxuan knew full well he was under someone else’s eaves, how could he dare raise his voice?
He didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
So all he could do was respond with the utmost respect:
“Replying to Master-Uncle—this disciple’s name is Qingxuan.”
“Heh, so after just a few days, you’ve learned how to be all polite and proper?”
Bai Lian let out a cold chuckle, narrowing his eyes.
The corners of his lips curled with barely suppressed fury.
His slow, even tone carried yet another jab, sharp and undisguised:
“Back then, when you kicked up a storm in this very Nether Hall, demanding this Lord of the Netherworld hand over that immortal who accidentally killed you, going on about ‘a life for a life,’ threatening to raise a ruckus all the way up to the Ninth Heaven and ask the Three Pure Ones and Six Sovereigns to judge the matter, you sure had some fire in you, didn’t you?”
