Chapter 58: How to defeat the thief in the heart?
The lady in green flicked her sleeves lightly and put away the Five-horse Army Talisman.
An ancient bronze mirror appeared in the air , its surface rippling like spring water, and a picture appeared, just like a TV in later generations.
Inside was a fat man in official uniform, who was tied to a stone pillar. His whole body was burning with red flames, which burned him to charcoal, then recovered and continued to burn.
This cycle repeats itself, the torture never ends.
The official kept screaming and shouting things like "I admit my mistake" and "Please beg for mercy", but the red flames seemed endless and could not be extinguished even if blood was poured on it.
Li Daoxuan's eyes moved. This should be the fire of karma. The master said that if a person with guilt is contaminated by this fire, he will fight to the death. Only the water of the underworld can extinguish it.
After a while, the official had fainted. Although he was still a soul, he still felt the pain. However, the karmic fire was still burning like a maggot on his heel.
Several ghost officials came over, untied him from the stone pillar, pierced his scapula with a sickle hook, and threw him into a yellow river.
The moment it fell into the water, the red fire of karma was finally extinguished.
But the official let out an even more tragic scream, and he immediately woke up from his coma, his whole body shaking and shivering.
Soon he was frozen into an ice sculpture and sank into the water.
Li Daoxuan was amazed. It seemed that this was the water of the Yellow Spring. His master had said that this water was extremely cold and could even freeze a person's soul. If the dead soul wanted to cross the Yellow Spring, they had to take the soul-ferrying boat. Otherwise, once they fell into the water, they would be frozen into ice and fall into a deep sleep.
The ghost officials dragged the sickle hook and pulled the official up. They broke the ice and ignored the official's pleas for mercy. They continued to tie him to the stone pillar, attracting the Nine Netherworld Fire and continuing to burn him.
The screams continued...
Many people at the banquet were horrified at what they saw. Even if their souls were torn apart, it was better than such torture.
"Everyone, this man was a local tyrant when he was alive. He was extremely greedy and exploited the people. In the year of the great disaster, he resold grain, causing countless people to be separated from their wives and children, and their families to be destroyed. In the end, he was beheaded in the street."
The lady in green recounted the official's life experience with a hint of disgust in her eyes.
"After his death, this person entered my Qingming Realm. I checked his merits in his three lives and found that he was a good person in his previous two lives and had a lot of good deeds. Although he suffered some losses in this life, he can still be reincarnated and become a human being again. He may even serve as a minor official somewhere."
The Green-Robed Lady follows the example of the Lord of Mount Tai and the Emperor of Fengdu and wants to build an orderly underworld. Naturally, she cannot just judge based on her own likes and dislikes, but must also judge based on her hidden virtues.
"Although this person keeps saying that he knows his mistakes, he has actually fallen into the trap of money and is greedy to the core. If he cannot be made to truly repent, he may harm others in his next life."
After a pause, the Green-robed Lady looked at everyone and said, "Do you have any ideas to help him change his greed for money?"
Someone couldn't help but say, "My lady, isn't there Meng Po soup? If you drink it, you can forget your past life experiences, and he will naturally stop being greedy for money."
Fairy Que jumped out and shook her head, saying, "Meng Po is gone, where can I get Meng Po soup? The Meng Po soup in my Qingming Realm now is the Forget Worry Soup brewed by the Queen. Although it can also erase memories, some habits will still remain."
Li Daoxuan understood that the so-called Forget-Your-Worries Soup was just a low-end Meng Po Soup. After the official drank it, his memory would be gone, but his habit of greed for money might remain.
The lady in green clothes said calmly: "Everyone, do you have a solution?"
At the banquet, everyone began to ponder. They all knew that this was the test from Queen Green. Whoever could solve this problem would surely gain the Queen’s favor!
But even the Karma Fire and the Yellow Spring are useless, what else can they do?
After a while, a man said, "My queen, why don't you give him to me? I will refine him into a puppet and he will never be reincarnated!"
Lady in green glanced at him calmly and said nothing.
The man immediately shut up, knowing that the queen was very dissatisfied with this method.
Wang Bo, a disciple of the Chu Ma lineage, said, "My Lady, why do you want to let such a bad guy reincarnate? In my opinion, we should lock him up in the Qingming Realm until he regrets and wakes up!"
The lady in green clothes did not speak. The old woman beside her shook her head and said, "This method takes too long and the effect is uncertain. It is not advisable."
The vixen Aunt Hong offered a suggestion: "My lady, I have a charm spell that can change people's minds. Why don't you let me try it?"
The old woman's eyes lit up, but after thinking for a moment, she shook her head and said, "The charm technique is good, but once you reincarnate, all methods will be broken, unless you cultivate to the level of a nine-tailed celestial fox."
Hearing this, Aunt Hong sighed and was at a loss as to what to do.
The nine-tailed celestial fox is a legend among fox demons. It is said that only the Qingqiu lineage can cultivate it and become comparable to immortals and Buddhas.
For a moment, the scene fell into silence, and no one could offer any advice.
The lady in green looked around, and finally her eyes stopped on a person.
Li Daoxuan was lowering his body, looking down at his feet. He had made up his mind not to speak even if he was beaten to death!
However, a cold voice sounded.
"Li Daoxuan, what do you think?"
Swish, swish, swish!
Everyone looked at Li Daoxuan who was like an ostrich. Some were jealous, some were envious, some were mocking, and some were gloating.
So many people offered suggestions just now, but the empress remained silent. Now she took the initiative to ask questions to Li Daoxuan, which seemed to indicate that she had high hopes for this young Taoist priest who was in the early stage of fasting.
However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. It will be funny when this little Taoist priest can't answer anything.
Under the gaze of everyone, Li Daoxuan stood up with his head held high. It was really weird. He actually felt like he was being called upon by the teacher to answer a question in class.
"Um, this question... I don't know either—"
Just when Li Daoxuan was about to play dumb and get away with it, Lady Green seemed to see through his inner thoughts.
"Tell the truth."
Her voice was calm as she stared at Li Daoxuan quietly, like a calm sea hiding a turbulent undercurrent.
Li Daoxuan's scalp tingled, and under the threat of a ghost fairy's gaze, he had no choice but to tell the truth.
"It is easy to defeat a thief in the mountains, but it is difficult to defeat a thief in one's heart. It is almost impossible to quickly change a person's greedy nature."
Hearing this, Lady Qingyi's eyes dimmed slightly, and she felt a little disappointed.
However, she did not blame Li Daoxuan. After all, even she did not have a good solution to this problem. After all, Li Daoxuan had just stepped into the door of cultivation. What else could he do?
Just as she was about to speak to end the banquet, she heard Li Daoxuan's voice continue.
"It is indeed impossible to make him realize his true intentions, but if he just wants to change his greedy nature, I may have a trick ."
The eyes of Lady in Green moved. She didn't expect that this little Taoist priest actually had a way. Although he hadn't said it yet, looking at his confident look, it was obvious that he was very confident in that method.
"any solution?"
Li Daoxuan smiled slightly and said something shocking.
"Since he wants silver, why don't you give him the silver, Madam? Give him a mountain of gold and silver!"
