Chapter 273: The Underworld Emissary's Mistake

The White Yama King looked up at him but didn't speak. But he seemed to be hesitating, weighing his options—trying to make a difficult decision.

After a long while, he said: "You should know... this place is one of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, located within the Celestial Sphere. In a place like this, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is densely gathered, far beyond what the surface world can compare to. If this sovereign truly keeps you here for a month, and you can focus your mind to endure the suffering of the vacuum and cultivate properly, your progress will be thousands of miles a day. Think about it again, do you want to stay?"

But Li Yunxin didn't think at all, and answered without hesitation: "No."

The White Yama King raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Oh? And why is that? Do you know what a great convenience this sovereign is offering you?"

"I don't know about the people before, but I know myself. I will go insane." Li Yunxin said seriously. "For me, my mind is a weapon as important as my body. I refuse any risk in this regard. Furthermore, based on what you just said, so many people have stayed here—and this place can make cultivation progress rapidly—then they all should have become very strong in the end."

"But the problem is that they all walked this path, but none of them succeeded in the end. This shows that this kind of thing is not a decisive factor. So, even if I were to risk going insane to try it here, now is not the time." He thought for a moment. "But... this won't be the only chance, right? I mean, if I change my mind later—"

"That will depend on this sovereign's mood." The White Yama King frowned. After staring at Li Yunxin for a while, he sighed, "Fine. If you don't want to stay, then don't."

"You asked this sovereign about those skeletons just now. I shall let you know now—but once you know, you will truly have no way out. From now on, no one else in this heaven or on this earth can know, and you must guard these words until death. Do you still want to hear?"

Li Yunxin said: "I do."

"Then listen carefully. This sovereign will only say it once and will not explain it again." The White Yama King's expression became solemn, and his speaking speed slowed—this gave Li Yunxin a certain illusion. It was as if he had passed some checkpoint, and now it was time for the official plot reveal.

"You already know the arrangements left by the Painting Saint. You should also know the stories he left behind."

"In the legends of Trapped Sky Mountain... the Primordial Ancient Demon was excavated from underground. You can slowly contemplate the profound meaning of this. And it is said that when the Primordial Ancient Demon appeared, Old Devil Fulu and The Seven Sons worked together to suppress it. You can also slowly contemplate the profound meaning of this. If you want to know more—the fact that the Evil King is currently guarding the Trapped Sky Mountain Bottomless Cave also has a profound meaning."

"This sovereign cannot tell you all these things one by one. But ultimately... those who understand will naturally understand. If you don't understand, then you are not the one who is supposed to understand." After saying all this, the White Yama King stared intently at Li Yunxin: "For example, you—if you understand right now, then this sovereign has chosen the right person. If you don't understand, then you are not the person this sovereign is looking for. But then again..."

He smiled sinisterly: "You are naturally that person. The dozens of people before you, throughout these several thousand years, were all that kind of person. Now that you know these things, what are you truly thinking in your heart?"

Li Yunxin was slightly stunned.

If he hadn't misunderstood... the White Yama King's meaning right now was that after he mentioned the "three profound meanings"—Li Yunxin should "suddenly see the light" and immediately know what these three "profound meanings" meant.

And this "seeing the light" had nothing to do with IQ or EQ. It was more like an "allusion" or "secret code" that had been agreed upon long ago within a certain group of people!

But the problem was...

He didn't understand.

He didn't understand at all right now, and he didn't even have the slightest clue!

His heart skipped a beat—where did things go wrong?

The White Yama King had always told him that he was the chosen, special person. Li Yunxin knew what made him special—he was a traverser!

And he also believed that the White Yama King should know this—this Yama King might not know the essence of a "traverser." But he must have dealt with "traversers" before and knew that he was the same kind of person as them.

Then... being especially accommodating to him, as a "traverser," was precisely for the purpose he stated: to foster his growth so he could work for them.

—To do something that seemed only a traverser could do well.

Up until this moment, Li Yunxin felt that these things were logical. He also believed that he was indeed the person the White Yama King was looking for. He was... the "Son of Destiny" in a sense.

But now, something terrible seemed to have gone awry.

—The "profound meanings" that the "certain kind of person" chosen by the White Yama King should know, he didn't know at all!

What... was this situation?!

This situation was like... he blindly stumbled into a classroom. He saw the twenty-six familiar English letters written on the blackboard. So, he settled down and started listening to the lecture. But after listening for a while, he slowly realized... he seemed to not understand.

After a little while longer, he realized... ah, it wasn't an English classroom. It was a French classroom.

Could it be... that he wasn't the person he was looking for, but was mistaken for that person by an Underworld Emissary's Mistake?

He blinked—realizing the White Yama King was still staring at him. So, he took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. Then he slightly narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "It's like this?"

"It's actually like this?"

Then he slightly spread his hands, looking at the White Yama King: "I... I... I really don't know how to—"

The White Yama King was first stunned by his reaction. Then he slightly frowned: "Your reaction... is rather strange. The people before, when they learned of these things, didn't react like you."

He said this while approaching Li Yunxin suspiciously, scrutinizing him carefully.

Then he narrowed his eyes and walked around him once, stopping behind him.

The hairs on Li Yunxin's body instantly stood up. He wasn't sure—had the White Yama King discovered something?! Had he found out that he hadn't understood his words?!

This terrifying pause lasted for one breath. But Li Yunxin felt that an entire hour had passed!

Then the White Yama King suddenly laughed strangely: "Ha... this should also be your reaction. With your cultivation level right now... what else can you do but this?"

Only then did he slowly walk back in front of Li Yunxin: "So, since you already know these things. You should understand what kind of task you are cooperating with this sovereign to do. You can relax now, right?"

How could Li Yunxin understand what he was referring to? He only regretted that he shouldn't have been so persistent in questioning just now!

But at the moment, he could only nod vaguely: "Alright. I understand. Since I understand... I think I have more things to do. Yama King, let's make a deal—can you let me out immediately? That Yazi and the Evil King might still cause trouble!"

The White Yama King looked at him with a smile: "Do you really want to go out?"

Li Yunxin nodded earnestly, afraid of any further complications.

The White Yama King actually smiled again, and said cheerfully: "Very well. I shall send you out. But you must know, this is the second layer of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, the Vacuum Hell. The layer above it is the first layer—the Rebirth Hell. This sovereign... will let you return from there!"

His tone was strange when he said this, as if he was hiding another meaning in his heart. But Li Yunxin couldn't discern it for the moment—the White Yama King had too many secrets, and he didn't have a single clue. He just felt that... the "Rebirth Hell" mentioned by the White Yama King might be peculiar in some way. However, how could he know where the peculiarity lay?

He could only take a deep breath and was about to say: "Then let's go—"

Everything in front of him suddenly became distorted.

Then he heard...

A voice that was both strange and familiar.

The moment this voice appeared, he felt his mind instantly go numb. A terrible sense of suffocation swept over him like an overwhelming tide, as if his head was being held underwater, unable to breathe, and even his limbs were tightly bound, unable to struggle!

Li Yunxin let out a sharp cry, but the sound was immediately choked back into his throat by a mouthful of water. He struggled to cough the water out of his lungs, but a second mouthful of water poured in, and his lungs couldn't squeeze out a single trace of air, so how could he cough?!

It was this terrible experience of pain that made him suddenly open his eyes!

He woke up!

A swaying field of vision.

A black ceiling covered in cobwebs.

His vision was starting to blacken and flicker with light spots due to extreme lack of oxygen.

A man with a twisted face was holding a watering can, slowly pouring water onto his face—it was then Li Yunxin realized that his mouth and nose were covered by who knows how many layers of towels. The towels were soaked with water and tightly plastered to his face. He couldn't draw any air, experiencing only the suffocating feeling of drowning.

And this man was grinning sinisterly as he slowly poured water onto his face, seemingly thoroughly enjoying the process.

He even took a puff of a cigarette, then blew the smoke from his mouth over.

But Li Yunxin couldn't smell the smoke.

He was currently on the verge of losing consciousness. But strangely, his mind suddenly became incredibly clear.

He convulsively turned his eyeballs, seeing this unfamiliar yet familiar room—it looked like a certain abandoned, unfinished building.

It must be in the suburbs. It was late at night.

A portable flashlight was hung on the concrete wall for illumination.

He was bound to two tables.

His hands and feet were tightly secured by leather straps, making him unable to move.

Two other people were fiercely striking his legs with wooden rods—they were hitting from his toes all the way up to his knees, shattering every inch of bone.

The terrible sense of suffocation and the terrible, intense pain cut into his completely clear consciousness like sharp blades.

This pain and experience...

Were very familiar.

—He... had died from waterboarding.

"Eat me, huh?" The man pouring water on his face glared, his face contorted, and he roared at him, "Eat me?!"

He raised his hand and slammed a fist down fiercely!

But the next moment, the world suddenly went silent. All sounds and pain vanished.

Li Yunxin opened his eyes—seeing Old Daoist Liu standing in front of him, staring at him with a look of panic.

The late summer afternoon sun was shining into the Central Hall of the Ziwei Palace.