112: Chapter 104 The Bodhisattva prepared three cups of tea for the guest who had been waiting for two years.

Diting walked at the very front.

Its claws landed on the scorched rock with extreme lightness, making almost no sound. Pei Duo followed behind it, but the stone surface her boots stepped on changed with every step—initially, it was coarse, scalding-hot crushed scorched stone, but after a dozen steps, it changed to fine-textured blue-black slate; after another dozen steps, there was yet another sensation, cold and smooth, as if it had been meticulously polished by some power.

Xu Mo bent down and crouched, his fingertips hovering above the patterns on the ground without touching them, just quietly scanning the area.

"A Buddhist seal." His voice was kept extremely low. "It's not the original set of seals from Hell, but something added later—specifically used to suppress the sounds of suffering, isolating this entire corridor from the surroundings."

The wailing sounds were indeed receding. They hadn't disappeared, but were pushed outside an invisible barrier, turning into faint murmurs like wind passing through thick walls—audible, but no longer piercing.

Lin Sa's hand did not leave her blade.

Diting glanced back at her, paused for two seconds, its tail swaying slightly twice, and then resumed walking forward.

Lin Sa looked down and met those golden eyes, saying nothing.

She went over the matter in her mind: a dog that had split the web of its own hand now had the right to teach someone how to relax.

And yet, she still slowly loosened her fingers. There was no logic to it, but there was nothing in those eyes—they were clean and clear, as if none of the darkness here could enter them.

Pei Duo caught this scene from the corner of her eye and kept pace.

The corridor suddenly opened up at a corner.

The light shifted from orange-red to a deep hue, as if the scene had changed. In the center of a spacious stone chamber, a copper statue stood on a high platform, nearly four meters tall. The pedestal was densely carved with runes, each line carrying a weight that seemed pressed into the rock; even the surrounding air felt half as heavy as elsewhere, making breathing require effort.

The copper statue was female. She wore an intricate feathered crown, and her hem was embroidered with Feathered Serpent and skull totems.

Aztec patterns—Pei Duo recognized them at a glance.

More accurately, she recognized that face.

The Aztec Queen of the Underworld.

She was the one Pei Fei had mentioned in passing—"throw her to a monk and let them torment each other."

Pei Duo connected the dots in her mind, moving her gaze from the copper statue to the figure standing at its feet.

Dressed in black wide sleeves and standing with hands behind his back, he looked up to study the statue's features, whispering something under his breath. His pronunciation was archaic, every word falling clearly:

"Singing over wine, for how long does life last..."

Xu Mo stopped dead in his tracks.

His lips moved slightly as he swallowed back his first word.

He recognized that profile.

The Grand Tutor. The Northern Emperors Chief Minister's Grand Tutor. Cao Cao was currently standing in the Eighteen Levels of Hell, facing the sealed copper statue of the Aztec Queen of the Underworld, emotionally reciting 'Short Song Style'.

"Green is your collar, long is my heart's yearning."

That voice was unhurried, each word landing like a casual recitation while sitting alone in a courtyard on some afternoon. He looked focused, as if no one else was around, as if this wasn't Hell but a corner of a small courtyard in his manor, with even the roar of the magma serving as a background track for his reading.

Xu Mo's mind rapidly flipped through every known mythological system and underworld record; every piece of information reached out, only to pull itself back. He stood for two seconds, slowly suppressing the urge to analyze.

With some scenes, forced explanations only make things more awkward.

Lin Sa looked down at the wound on the web of her hand that hadn't stopped bleeding, then looked up at that back, her tone flat without a single ripple: "What is he doing?"

Diting crouched by Pei Duo's feet and let out a long breath, its tail sweeping the ground twice with an expression that said it had seen this many times before.

This was clearly already a daily routine.

Cao Cao had excellent hearing.

As the last line of the poem ended, he turned around with his hands behind his back and leisurely glanced at the three of them. His gaze lingered on Pei Duo's face for half a breath longer—three parts playfulness, four parts weariness, and the remaining three parts the nonchalance one has when meeting a junior.

He performed a Han Dynasty salute and said composedly:

"The Eldest Princess has arrived; this old man has been impolite."

He then took the initiative to explain in a steady tone, as if reporting an utterly ordinary task: "The Aztec Queen of the Underworld possesses remarkable magic; the sealing runes must be recited every three days, using sound waves to suppress them and prevent them from loosening."

Having said that, he looked back at the statue's exquisitely carved features with a hint of regret and sighed softly: "It is just a pity that the copper statue is too cold, lacking a bit of spirit."

Lin Sa: "...Is he lamenting that the person he's guarding isn't good-looking enough?"

Xu Mo swallowed his words for the fourth time and slowly turned his gaze to the nearby stone wall, focusing on studying the rock patterns with a pitiable level of seriousness.

Pei Duo gripped the black jade pendant, maintaining an admirable calm on her face, though the corner of her eye twitched.

Cao Cao waved his hand and tilted his chin toward the stone arch behind the copper statue: "The Bodhisattva is inside."

A lotus relief was carved on the stone archway, its edges worn smooth and gentle by years of golden radiance. The three stepped over the threshold, and the heat and wailing vanished at the same moment—

It didn't fade gradually; it was simply gone.

Like crossing a watershed, all that remained in their eardrums was tranquility and the faint scent of sandalwood.

The stone chamber wasn't large. An ever-burning lamp hung in the center, its flame thin and steady, its golden light illuminating the entire chamber as warmly as high noon. On a prayer mat, an elderly man in monk's robes sat cross-legged with lowered eyes, the white jade prayer beads in his hand slowly turning. On the table before him were three cups of hot tea, the steam curling upward—exactly three cups, no more and no less.

Diting trotted forward and rested its chin on the old man's knee. The old man lowered his head and gently stroked its back with familiar movements.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva raised his eyes, his gaze falling on the three of them, his eyes deep and calm.

"You've come."

His tone was perfectly flat, like a host whose long-awaited guests had finally arrived at the door.

Xu Mo didn't waste words and spoke directly, his phrasing respectful yet blunt as he asked about the source of the teleportation array.

The prayer beads in Ksitigarbha's hand paused for a beat.

"It was not an accident."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word landed like a pebble thrown into deep water, rippling outward.

"It was this old monk who activated it. As for Diting, it was this old monk who sent it ahead to welcome you."

He invited the three to sit and pushed the teacups forward. There wasn't a hint of apology in his tone, nor any pressure; he was simply stating facts, as if saying the weather was fine today.

Xu Mo and Lin Sa exchanged a glance.

From the moment the array at Yomi Hirasaka lit up, to Diting waiting in the corridor, to this stone chamber prepared with three cups of tea—every step had been arranged in advance. And from the moment the array lit up, he hadn't noticed a single flaw.

Xu Mo slowly exhaled, suppressing that chill in his stomach.

This was the truly chilling part of today: the pieces had already been played, and he didn't even know where the chessboard was.

Ksitigarbha poured tea for the three, his movements slow and lacking any celestial air, like an elderly man.

"I invited the Eldest Princess here because there is one thing I wish to say."

He spoke without beating around the bush.

"The Underworld Son of Heaven has walked a path of establishing authority through killing these past two years; it is true that he can suppress all directions." He paused, the prayer beads in his hand remaining still. "It is just that this old monk has stayed here for a long time and seen too many people who held their blades until only a single breath remained to support them. It is not that they do not know what they are doing; they are simply too busy—so busy they have no time to think about for whom that blade was first drawn."

He looked at Pei Duo, his tone light, as if speaking of something unrelated to her.

"So this old monk wished to invite the Eldest Princess to take a journey. It is not to speak of any principles—but to walk it personally, with your own feet."

Pei Duo held the teacup, her fingertips feeling the warmth of the cup's wall, but she did not speak immediately.

She looked into Ksitigarbha's eyes and remained silent for a while.

This old man, who had guarded Hell for who knows how many thousands of years, was not judging Pei Fei. He was simply quietly carrying a hidden concern for another person that no one had voiced.

Ksitigarbha slowly rose and pushed open the stone door at the back of the chamber.

Behind the door was a long stone staircase extending upward, the light a dim yellow mist, its end invisible.

He stepped aside, his voice flat and light:

"Two years ago, a youth in a hoodie wandered into the dungeon and reached the deepest part of the Eighteenth Layer."

"Here, he looked at every layer and walked through every layer."

"He walked for seven days and seven nights."

"After he finished walking, he sat down here with this old monk."

"Then he tore up the Return Coupon."

Pei Duo's hand paused for a moment.

That pause wasn't intentional. She didn't even notice it herself; her fingertips were just pressed against the rim of the cup, the steam from the tea still rising, while she remained motionless.

Ksitigarbha walked to the stone steps and stepped aside, revealing that endless path:

"The path that child walked, this old monk invites the Eldest Princess to walk it once more."

Pei Duo took the first step.

Ksitigarbha followed at her side, neither rushing her nor speaking. Diting walked at the very back, its pace slowed and tail lowered, as if seeing someone off.

Xu Mo and Lin Sa exchanged a glance and followed.

The sound of footsteps was amplified by the stone path, heavy and rhythmic.

After walking dozens of steps, the layout of the Eighteenth Layer slowly became clear. Cages stood in rows, and magma flowed in the depths, but those imprisoned in the cages were no ordinary souls. Xu Mo scanned the area and discerned several lingering auras of Laws—Aztec, Greek Underworld, and even older things whose origins even he couldn't name, curled up at the bottom of their respective cages, lacking even the strength to raise their heads.

Ksitigarbha did not stop, his tone calm:

"These past two years, whenever the Underworld Son of Heaven conquered a place, he would send his opponents to this level for this old monk to watch over on his behalf."

He paused.

"The Eighteenth Layer was at its fullest when he was at his most ruthless."

Xu Mo turned this sentence over in his mind but did not speak.

Lin Sa slowly pressed her hand onto her hilt, then released it.

A blade was of no use here. But she didn't know where else to put her hand.

Pei Duo said nothing, her gaze sweeping over those cages as she continued upward.

As they ascended, the heat of the magma faded bit by bit, and the stone steps beneath their feet grew wider.

Ksitigarbha walked beside Pei Duo, only speaking again after they had climbed dozens of steps:

"When that child sat down before this old monk, this old monk asked him a question."

Pei Duo did not turn her head, but her pace slowed slightly.

"'Why not go back?'"

Ksitigarbha did not give the answer immediately, turning his head to look at Pei Duo's profile: "Once the Eldest Princess finishes this path, perhaps you will have your own answer."

Pei Duo held that jade pendant and did not move.

Ksitigarbha did not rush her.

Seven days and seven nights.

She went over those words in her mind, imagining the youth in the hoodie walking down layer by layer, seeing everything here, and then sitting down.

And then personally tearing up the path back.

She looked down at the dusty-looking stone in her palm. There was no sensation at all, exactly the same as when she first received it.

She tightened her grip slightly, raised her head, and kept up with the steps ahead.

The outline of the Seventeenth Level emerged from the mist ahead, bit by bit, becoming clear.