“You were unwilling to dirty your hands, so this official has done it for you.”

So his meaning was that he had killed the man on her behalf?

Jian Chou gazed at him for a long while, naturally able to feel the strange atmosphere of drawn swords and taut bowstrings throughout the entire Prison Bureau.

Who could believe that a companion by one’s side would be such a person who would strike at the slightest disagreement?

Gu Ling’s face had already turned deathly pale, pulled into the old woman’s embrace, while a vegetable cleaver already flickered with faint radiance.

Chen Tingyan’s brows were tightly furrowed to the extreme.

He gripped his folding fan tightly, looking at Zhang Tang, but did not make a move.

The Buddha statue towered above, seeming to gaze down at those below.

In Jian Chou’s eyes, there was also a probing sharpness filled with investigation. The fingers holding the Void Demon Umbrella slowly loosened, and finally, with a very strange tone, she said: “Thank you for your trouble.”

Zhang Tang watched her gaze, finally slowly withdrawing it, but said not another word, only tucking both hands into his sleeves. His five fingers were clean and spotless, not stained with even a trace of filth.

“Time is pressing, we should hurry to find a way out.”

He said this, then turned to look around.

From Chen Tingyan to Gu Ling, not a single person followed him.

Jian Chou just watched Zhang Tang’s retreating figure, her mood somewhat complex: Wang Renjie was indeed a disaster, but such ruthless direct action would easily shake others’ trust in him. Someone like Zhang Tang was probably suited to traveling alone…

Her thoughts moved, but she didn’t spend too much time on it. Soon she looked again at the Buddha statue, only saying: “Lord Zhang speaks truly. Sima Languan hasn’t given us much time…”

They needed to quickly find the path to the next level.

On the deep blue floor, the separated head and body of Wang Renjie had now turned into a mass of black ash, and in the blink of an eye, only tattered clothing remained in place.

Beside Gu Ling, the old woman watched Jian Chou and Zhang Tang who had begun searching for a path, and gradually developed a hint of hesitation and wariness.

“You were unwilling to dirty your hands, so this official has done it for you.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

These two short sentences seemed ordinary on the surface…

But upon careful consideration, they carried a bone-chilling flavor!

The old woman’s palm trembled once.

Gu Ling, who was in her embrace, felt it immediately and looked up with clear, worried eyes: “Grandmother, are you alright?”

“It’s nothing…”

The old woman forced a smile and slowly calmed her emotions.

Not far from them was Chen Tingyan, who hadn’t spoken a word since Zhang Tang made his move.

His gaze withdrew from Zhang Tang and slowly fell on Jian Chou’s retreating figure. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had seen something, yet also as if he had seen nothing at all.

Wang Renjie was a cultivator from the Riyou clan, of the same race as him. Though their relationship wasn’t particularly good, it wasn’t hostile either.

After entering the Eighteen Levels of Hell, Chen Tingyan had indeed entertained murderous thoughts toward this troublesome clansman, but had never found a suitable opportunity to act.

He never expected…

The first to act would be Zhang Tang!

And acting with complete disregard for consequences!

When Wang Renjie hadn’t caused any substantial harm to the group, he had killed someone who “was about to commit a crime but hadn’t yet committed it” as a preventive measure!

His methods—how were they different from condemning someone for the “crime of secret criticism”?!

“Among all evils, lust is the worst; judge by deeds, not by thoughts.”

Yet Zhang Tang was condemning people based on their “thoughts.”

What could be more ruthless than such a harsh official?

This feeling was somewhat strange, yet he should have been very familiar with it.

Wasn’t this exactly Zhang Tang, the harsh official from the Mortal Realm Island?

During this time in the Extreme Realm, he had only seen Zhang Tang communicating with Jian Chou. Though his words were cold and distant, he showed no cruel and ruthless methods, so Chen Tingyan had temporarily forgotten—

How utterly ruthless was this person’s true nature?

And Jian Chou…

Her acquiescence was “Thank you for your trouble.”

Who exactly harbored murderous intent?

Who exactly wanted to kill?

The tightly gripped folding fan was slowly, bit by bit, opened by Chen Tingyan.

In the end, he said nothing more, only saying to the old woman “Let’s look around too,” then chose a direction and went to search.

Jian Chou paid no attention to how the others viewed her.

She simply followed along the wall base, looking all the way. Originally intending to find a passage to the next level, when she saw the content of the surrounding murals and reliefs, her eyelids twitched.

As far as the eye could see, most depicted the sufferings of the Six Realms of Reincarnation and the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Here were recorded the names of the Eighteen Levels of Hell they would pass through. Every three levels formed a path. The Ice Hell they were currently in belonged to the “Hell Realm,” while the two levels below were “Burning Desire” and “Solitary Prison.”

The brushwork of each mural seemed quite crude.

However…

Jian Chou saw within them a sense of compassion for all living beings, yet under the backdrop of this deep blue floor, they only gave a sinister and cold feeling of evil corruption.

She saw prayer flags, wooden fish, bodhi trees, and even lotus Buddha platforms, plus monks with halos above their heads…

The more she looked, the tighter her brows furrowed.

When she had turned halfway around, she returned to face the great Buddha.

Jian Chou raised her head, staring at the Buddha eyes that seemed both compassionate and demonic…

She remembered the thousand-zhang giant Buddha in the hidden realm of Qingfeng Nunnery, with countless human heads hanging from it, golden light stretching for miles, imposing and magnificent. Though different in external aura from this Buddha statue, their facial features were remarkably similar!

“This place is clearly the Prison Bureau in hell. The main gate looks no different from mortal world dungeons. Yet the body of this Prison Bureau tower is exactly seven levels…”

Buddhism had the saying “Seven-Level Pagoda,” referring to a seven-story Buddha tower.

Jian Chou’s brows remained unfurrowed, her voice harboring vigilance and suspicion: “The murals in the tower contain Buddhist allusions everywhere. Yet the surrounding carved patterns and paintings, even this Buddha statue, all exude a bloody and fierce aura…”

Everyone heard her voice.

Buddhism had missions and preaching on the Mortal Realm Island, so everyone wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with Buddhism.

Chen Tingyan followed her gaze, and though he frowned slightly upon seeing the skull head held in the Buddha statue’s right hand, he still spoke: “Buddhism believes in the path of reincarnation and should have thoroughly understood the truths of this realm. The appearance of Buddhist symbols here shouldn’t be anything unusual.”

“Not unusual?”

Jian Chou repeated this, but slowly lowered her gaze, raised her hand, and pointed vaguely ahead: “Then look at this—what is it?”

Where she pointed was the lotus platform that the Buddha statue in the hall stood upon.

The others didn’t understand her meaning and looked in the direction she indicated: the lotus platform carved on the front wall contained countless strangely patterned lines. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong…

However, when they focused their attention and observed with their mind’s eye, they were all struck with horror!

Gu Ling’s face turned deathly pale, her entire body trembling with fear, not even daring to scream.

That lotus Buddha platform, where the Buddha statue was positioned, was actually countless corpses interwoven together!

Limbs crossed, heads and feet in chaos, like a mountain of corpses piled up!

Only the surface of the lotus platform had been smoothed over with mud and stone, so only vague shadows could be seen. When they first looked, they hadn’t noticed!

Jian Chou was closest to this Buddha statue.

She hadn’t put away the Void Demon Umbrella. After alerting everyone, she suddenly reached out toward the lotus platform!

The seemingly solid lotus platform was actually penetrated by her hand.

Jian Chou grabbed hold of a shadow in the platform and pulled outward!

“Poof!”

The entire lotus platform was actually broken through by this object, immediately scattering dust everywhere.

“Ah!”

Gu Ling, who had previously held back from screaming, was finally so frightened that she covered her eyes but still couldn’t help crying out!

Even someone as well-traveled as Chen Tingyan felt a chill in his heart looking at what Jian Chou held, ten times colder than when Zhang Tang had severed Wang Renjie’s head!

Even Zhang Tang, upon seeing that thing clearly, couldn’t help but twitch his eyelids and furrow his brows!

What Jian Chou had pulled from the lotus platform was actually a skeleton!

The jagged white bones were covered with mud from the construction of the lotus platform, now dried into clumps. The clothing had deteriorated terribly over the years, with only vague traces visible, seemingly belonging to an elderly person.

At this moment, Jian Chou’s hand was gripping the arm bone of this skeleton!

“Creak, creak…”

Because the skeleton was naturally loose, with Jian Chou holding only this arm while the rest was connected merely by clothing, it swayed constantly.

Everyone present had faces devoid of color, expressions grave as water.

As the person who had personally pulled this skeleton from the lotus platform, Jian Chou’s complexion was naturally no better. That chill that had risen from the soles of her feet penetrated to her heart, making her tremble uncontrollably.

She slowly looked at Chen Tingyan: “Is this still not unusual?”

“…”

Chen Tingyan’s eye corner twitched violently. Looking at Jian Chou’s unhesitating action of gripping the withered bones, he couldn’t help but roar in his heart: Are you even female?!

However, faced with Jian Chou’s question, he truly couldn’t speak.

Looking more carefully at the withered bones, he gripped his folding fan tightly, forcibly suppressing that hair-raising feeling, and directed his gaze to the lotus platform.

Because Jian Chou had forcefully pulled a skeleton from it, the complete lotus platform now had a large hole broken through it, and what had been unclear before became distinct.

Inside, layer upon layer, were some skulls, some limbs, or fragments of clothing, all overlapping together.

Shocking to behold!

Who could have imagined that this solemn Buddha statue stood and trod upon countless corpses!

When ghost cultivators of the Extreme Realm died, they would truly dissipate from heaven and earth forever. Unless they were cultivators above the Golden Body stage, who could leave behind corpses?

What were the identities of these skeletons?

Chen Tingyan thought of many things at once, his mind becoming somewhat unclear.

He felt his throat was dry, his horrified gaze unable to withdraw from the lotus platform, his voice carrying shocked bewilderment: “…Is it an evil Buddha…”

“…”

Complete silence fell, and for a moment no one spoke.

Only outside the Buddha tower, sounds of conflict could be heard, presumably another battle had begun outside.

Yet they were all unable to care, not even finding it important.

The old woman tightly held Gu Ling in her arms, looking at this Buddha statue and at the tragic scene of skeletons strewn across the lotus platform, tears actually welling up in her eyes.

“Don’t look anymore.”

Her voice was hoarse as she slowly covered Gu Ling’s wide-staring eyes with her wrinkled palms.

“This is not Buddha, only a heretical sect borrowing Buddhist appearance.”

The one who responded was actually the old woman.

In their shock, everyone was momentarily surprised and turned to look at her.

She only stared at the Buddha statue, her words carrying undisguised mockery: “Since the Battle of Yin-Yang Realms, the relationship between the Extreme Realm and Buddhism has been very close. Buddhism believes in reincarnation and transmigration, and even now transcends the other sects of Nineteen Continents, able to enter reincarnation. Among the seventy-two cities of the Underworld, thirty-six are occupied by Buddhist believers.”

The Battle of Yin-Yang Realms!

Jian Chou, who was slowly placing the skeleton on the ground, suddenly froze.

She turned to look at the old woman, her gaze instantly changing, momentarily filled with shock and suspicion, only the chill in her heart gradually intensifying.

Actually, among all these people, this old woman was the most mysterious to them.

She appeared completely ordinary, even ugly.

Yet she was chosen by the King of All Cities and trusted by Gu Ling. Throughout the journey, she had said almost nothing, but now, upon opening her mouth, she spoke of “Extreme Realm,” “Buddhism,” “Battle of Yin-Yang Realms”!

“Within Buddhism, there are extremely many branches…”

The old woman seemed oblivious to everyone’s probing and suspicious gazes, only narrating word by word in that aged voice.

“After the Battle of Yin-Yang Realms, Buddhism in the Nineteen Continents migrated north to the Northern Region. The two largest branches split and established separate sects, becoming the Western Sea Chan School and the Snowy Region Esoteric School of Buddhism, located on the eastern and western sides of the Nineteen Continents mainland respectively. What you see now is an Esoteric School Buddha.”

Jian Chou had read many travelogues and texts from the Nineteen Continents in the Sutra Repository at Yashan, and had some understanding of the Western Sea Chan School.

The Western Sea Chan School was not far from the Buddhism she knew on the Mortal Realm Island, and had some similarity to secular Daoism. It emphasized “seeing one’s nature to become Buddha,” seeking to thoroughly see one’s “heart-nature,” so it was also called the “Buddha Heart School.”

In contrast, there were very few records about the Snowy Region Esoteric School.

The Esoteric School was at the highest peaks of the Northern Region’s extremely high ice plains and snow regions, rarely in contact with the outside world, thus extremely mysterious. Legend had it that at the very top of their sect was a snowy region sacred lake, clear and lofty, reflecting the closest sky above the Nineteen Continents.

It seemed the Snowy Region Esoteric School should be a place that inspired yearning.

Yet this old woman spoke with such certainty, even mockery, calling this Buddha statue an “Esoteric School Buddha.”

Just hearing someone mention the “Western Sea Chan School” and “Snowy Region Esoteric School,” Jian Chou already felt like she was in a dream.

Since entering the Extreme Realm, she had been in the City of Unjust Deaths, closely connected to the Mortal Realm Island, rarely hearing anyone speak of “thirty-six of the seventy-two cities of the Underworld being occupied by Buddhist reincarnation.”

So naturally, she had developed the habitual understanding of “not discussing the Nineteen Continents in the Extreme Realm”…

Now this old woman spoke of “Nineteen Continents” and “Esoteric and Chan Schools,” making it hard for Jian Chou to believe her own ears.

Buddhist cultivators could enter reincarnation—this point had bothered her extremely since the Red Killing Small Realm.

On the Nine Heavens Tablet, after Jian Chou broke through to Golden Core, the first name on the second level Foundation Establishment tablet was replaced by “Liao Kong” from the Western Sea Chan School.

In her spare time, she had heard her teachers discuss this little monk, all calling him a “three-lifetime virtuous person.”

Wasn’t this someone who had been reincarnated three times and remained human?

Ordinary people from the Mortal Realm Island, like the former owner of her old house, exhausted all schemes and deep calculations, walking on thin ice, step by step in terror, to seek rebirth as human in the next life. Even the most cunning and experienced, how dangerous was their path?

When it came to Buddhism, it was as simple as eating and drinking.

Something extremely difficult to express slowly rose in her heart.

That old house owner should indeed have had strange aspects, but did he know about the various matters within Buddhism’s two schools?

If he knew, what were his thoughts?

Thinking carefully, Jian Chou realized that among that entire house full of books, there wasn’t a single word or phrase involving Buddhist matters.

Strange.

And seemingly deeply taboo.

Jian Chou looked at the towering Buddha statue again, then slowly placed the withered bones in her hands on the ground.

This “senior” should have endured great pain when his life ended, even the entire skeleton gave the impression of being painfully curled up.

Looking at it, Jian Chou frowned.

“Buddhism guides people toward goodness. Though the Esoteric School belongs to the Lesser Vehicle, it is still within Buddhism… This Buddha statue…”

For a moment, she couldn’t find suitable words to describe it.

Jian Chou’s voice paused, then continued: “No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like a virtuous path.”

“The Battle of Yin-Yang Realms, Buddhism’s northern migration—from then on, Buddha ceased to be Buddha. The so-called Snowy Region Demon School has long been a heretical sect borrowing Buddhist appearance. What kind of Buddha is it?!”

Hearing Jian Chou’s question, the old woman couldn’t help but sneer, looking at that giant Buddha with even deeper disgust in her eyes, and even…

Hatred!

Even though everyone had no previous understanding of this old woman, they could now hear the disdain and loathing hidden in her tone, as if the Buddha statue before them was her enemy!

Jian Chou raised her eyes to look at her, and the suspicion in her heart grew like a snowball, larger and larger.

She asked no more questions.

Only seeing this skeleton’s clothing dirty and wrinkled, she somehow felt compassion arise.

She reached out to straighten the skeleton’s clothing, smoothing the wrinkles and covering the exposed white bones, while her heart filled with doubts: “Cultivators in the Extreme Realm have no physical bodies unless they reach the Golden Body realm. Yet the withered bones under this lotus platform truly exist, and in such large numbers. I wonder—”

“Clack.”

Before Jian Chou could finish speaking, there was a clear collision sound that interrupted her.

It was when she was arranging the skeleton’s clothing that something hard fell from the tattered, decayed garments and hit the ground.

Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn by the sound.

It was a broken plaque that seemed to have fallen from the skeleton’s tightly gripped left finger bones, now lying near that hand.

The plaque appeared to be a mysterious black color throughout, with clear fracture marks and sharp edges—it should be just a fragment of something.

There were carved patterns on it, but they were hard to distinguish because of the hardened mud and ash stuck to them.

Jian Chou was startled. For some reason, upon seeing this plaque, she felt an intense sense of familiarity!

Her heart trembled!

Forcing herself to remain calm, she reached out to pick up the plaque and slowly used her thumb to rub it, gradually removing the mud and ash stuck to it.

Bit by bit.

The faint lustrous gleam that had been concealed was revealed.

The originally unclear patterns also slowly exposed the tip of the iceberg…

Auspicious cloud patterns.

Upon seeing this design, Jian Chou’s eyelids jumped.

Her fingers trembled once, nearly unable to hold this small broken plaque steady, only forcing herself to suppress that tremendous panic from her heart!

Rustle, rustle…

The hardened mud and ash continued to fall away.

Jian Chou gradually wore away the mud and ash, and after the auspicious cloud patterns, different lines soon appeared—sparse dots that were scattered stars on a cliff.

Above the stars, there soon appeared a long rope bridge, followed by a smooth blank space.

Jian Chou’s fingers trembled even more, but her movements became faster, constantly peeling away the mud and ash.

In the blink of an eye, the blank space disappeared.

What appeared at the end of that smooth area was half of a incomplete seal character—”Jing”! (Scripture)

What an utterly familiar character!

A character deeply engraved in her memory!

It was the thousand-li floating clouds that circled Yashan’s mountainside year-round, the rope bridge that spanned across the Nine-Head River, the cold stars filling the sky seen from the Star-Picking Platform!

It was what could open the Sutra Repository when pressed against the Yashan cliff face; it was what Fudao Shanren wore at his waist, jingling and clanging; it was the proof she had to show to the mountain-protecting formation every time she returned to Yashan!

It was—

Our Yashan Order!

“Clap!”

Her hand couldn’t hold it steady!

The mysterious black order plaque slipped from her fingertips and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces!

As if someone had struck down with a sword from a high peak, or as if an ice field had been split open, deep cracks expanded into a vast chasm, with countless amounts of blood like an ocean surging forth!

Cold.

A coldness that penetrated bone and marrow, carved into the divine soul!

Jian Chou felt nothing, even her five fingers that had been holding the order plaque were rigidly curled, carrying an uncontrollable trembling!

The skeleton was right at her feet, maintaining its painful death posture.

There were countless more skeletons piled on the lotus platform behind her, under the Buddha statue’s feet, as if trapped in an inescapable hellish suffering.

It seemed like miserable wails were rising to the clouds, as if tragic cries were surging through hell!

…

Fragments covered the ground, with several pieces falling near the old woman’s feet.

She frowned and looked, but seemed to have guessed already, showing no great surprise, only external complexity, and sighed bitterly: “The Yashan Order…”

At that instant, Jian Chou suddenly raised her eyes, bloodshot veins already filling her pupils!

Chen Tingyan and the others immediately sensed her abnormality and cried out in alarm, trying to stop her: “Jian Chou!!!”

But how could Jian Chou pay attention?!

The Void Demon Umbrella shook—it was an unprecedented coldness sharp as wind!

“Hsss—”

Due to its swiftness, the air it passed through made a tearing shriek, as if layer upon layer were exploding!

The zhang-long black-gold umbrella blazed with golden fierce flames, burning intensely, with forms of immortals, Buddhas, demons, and ghosts leaping forth, illuminating the entire sinister Prison Bureau!

A jet-black umbrella tip, like the point of a sharp blade, pointed directly at the old woman’s forehead!

“Who exactly are you?!”

The cold, sharp demand was like thunderclap, echoing layer by layer through this seven-story tower!

Jian Chou held the Void Demon Umbrella, her thin lips frozen like ice, with a bloodless blue-purple hue. Her eyes were slightly red, but her pupils held scalding moisture.

She stared at the old woman like this, pointing the Void Demon Umbrella at her forehead.

Such a heaven-defying magical artifact—how fierce was its power?

Before the umbrella tip even arrived, the old woman’s wrinkled forehead was already cracked by its force, with deep white blood seeping out—a shocking sight!

No one dared move again.

Whether it was the old woman being pointed at by the Void Demon Umbrella, Chen Tingyan who was preparing to rush forward, or Gu Ling in the old woman’s arms with a face full of terror and confusion.

Only Zhang Tang, who had been beside Jian Chou from the start, coldly furrowed his brows and slowly reached out, wanting to press on Jian Chou’s shoulder.

“Calm down…”

However, when his palm touched her shoulder, he discovered that her body was in complete rigidity, actually as hard as if made of metal and jade—the state that would appear when tensed to the extreme, even to the point of collapse in the next moment!

Moreover, there was a slight, barely perceptible trembling.

He couldn’t see the expression on Jian Chou’s face, but suddenly realized he had touched upon a different secret of Jian Chou’s…

The light in his eyes grew deep and dark.

His fingers only rested on Jian Chou’s shoulder for a moment before politely and restrainedly withdrawing. Only a blade thin as silver flowed with radiance between the fingers of his other hand.

Never had a moment been more heart-stopping than now.

Jian Chou seemed not to have heard Zhang Tang’s words, nor felt his hand that had just rested on her shoulder, nor seen Chen Tingyan and Gu Ling’s tension and panic.

From beginning to end, her gaze never shifted even half an inch!

Snow-bright, crystal clear.

Like blade and sword, more like the thunder falling from the sky, demanding to force out all truths in heaven and earth, leaving no filth anywhere to hide!

Jian Chou’s voice pressed down, yet was spoken word by word, cold to the bone and blood!

“I ask you—who exactly are you!”