Chapter 93: Tomino’s Hell 11
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Zhang Qiudao lit a talisman, but it failed to illuminate the darkness and was extinguished in an instant. “The talisman doesn’t work; there’s no light at all, and we can’t see the path.”
Chen Yang explained, “This is the passage to Avici Hell. There’s no light or fire here, no sight of the heavens.” He formed a hand seal and added, “With the heavenly eye, we can see.”
People often confused the Eighteen Levels of Hell with Avici Hell, but they were fundamentally different. The Eighteen Levels weren’t arranged sequentially but were designated according to the sins committed by spirits in life. Avici Hell, however, was truly terrifying—a place of endless suffering, reserved for those who committed unforgivable atrocities.
Currently, Wei Zhizhi had used the Fengdu pardon token to open a passage from the human world to Avici Hell, turning the entire museum into a gateway. If they didn’t leave before the token’s power faded, they would be trapped here forever. It was clear Wei Zhizhi intended to leave no one alive.
The heavenly eye was located between the brows, and for a Tianshi, opening it was not difficult. However, the duration varied, and the side effects differed.
Zhang Qiudao said, “My heavenly eye can only last two hours. After that, I’ll be too weak to move. We must find Wei Zhizhi quickly and use the Fengdu pardon token to escape the museum.” He paused and added, “I’ll start by looking for Mao Xiaoli.”
As he spoke, Zhang Qiudao glanced back at Chen Yang and Lu Xiuzhi. His brow twitched, and he nearly cursed aloud. With the heavenly eye open, a person’s fortune became visible through colors and their intensity. White, yellow, and purple represented auspicious fortunes. Yellow symbolized radiant gold, while purple signified an enveloping aura of nobility. Chen Yang’s golden light shimmered brightly, with a faint layer of purple surrounding it.
As for Lu Xiuzhi, he was practically a walking deity, enveloped entirely in golden light like a gilded statue, shining like pure 24-karat gold. Usually, such dense golden light meant one of two things: the person was carrying the merits of ten lifetimes and destined to ascend as an immortal, or they weren’t human but a divine being.
Zhang Qiudao remained silent. After all, if the branch office could house the Emperor of Fengdu, another Taoist deity wasn’t exactly shocking. Still, finding Mao Xiaoli seemed far more pressing. He took a step forward to search for her.
Lu Xiuzhi followed, saying, “Ah Xuan is with Mao Xiaoli. I’ll go with you.”
Chen Yang squinted at Lu Xiuzhi, who was like a walking flashlight, dispelling darkness within a three-meter radius and warding off evil. Chen Yang sighed. “I’ll look for Wei Zhizhi.” He pulled a copper coin from his pocket and tossed it to Zhang Qiudao. “This coin will help you find me, and I can use it to locate you.”
Zhang Qiudao caught the ancient coin, the same one that Kui Xuan had retrieved after it was lost. Chen Yang hadn’t strung it back onto his sword. “Got it.” With that, he and Lu Xiuzhi went off to search for Mao Xiaoli and Kou Xuanling.
Chen Yang continued forward, wielding his copper-coin sword to cut down nearby malevolent spirits. When the number of spirits became overwhelming, he grew impatient and took out half of the Fengdu Emperor’s seal, wearing it openly as he walked through the passage.
The malevolent spirits instinctively feared the Emperor of Fengdu, a respect engraved in their very souls. Though they had never seen the emperor, his legend spoke of an extraordinary presence, stern yet not cruel. The young man before them had an exceptional appearance but lacked any real authority. Unfortunately, after centuries of wandering in the dark, the spirits had lost their capacity for rational thought, operating solely on primal fear of the half-seal.
Thus, Chen Yang encountered no resistance; the spirits avoided him like the plague. Looking at the seal in his hand, he muttered to himself, “I didn’t think it would be this effective. If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have wasted so much energy fighting. I could’ve just scared them off.”
He stopped abruptly, his ears catching faint wails. Listening closely, he followed the sound and came across a grisly scene: bloodstains, scattered limbs, and entrails littered the ground. His foot nudged a severed head—it was Wei Jie, his eyes wide open in death.
Looking ahead, he saw Wei Xiaoxiao holding the painting Grotesque. The artwork had sprouted a human head, its bloodied mouth chewing on something. In front of her lay Xu Yue, missing her lower body.
Xu Yue was still alive, barely breathing, but there was no saving her. Across from the painting were Wei Zhizhi and Wei Guangming’s ex-wife, Feng Ping, huddled in a corner, crying hysterically. His prayers had turned to incoherent ramblings, his sanity shattered.
In a short time, the scene had become one of death and despair. Chen Yang sighed and addressed Wei Xiaoxiao. “You’re still human, yet you’ve sided with evil spirits.”
Wei Xiaoxiao’s face was expressionless. “What’s the difference between humans and spirits?” She kicked Xu Yue’s corpse, which had stopped breathing entirely. She answered her own question, “Are they human? Am I human? None of us are.”
After a moment, she looked up and asked, “If I stayed here forever, would you still kill me?”
Chen Yang put the Fengdu Emperor’s seal back around his neck and raised his copper-coin sword. “If you stay in the human world and harm others with that painting, I will.”
Wei Xiaoxiao stared deeply at Chen Yang before turning her head to ask Wei Zhizhi, “What about you?”
“Kill,” Wei Zhizhi replied coldly. She hated the Wei family. Wei Xiaoxiao had never harmed her directly but had always stood by silently. While Wei Xiaoxiao might have wanted to help, she hadn’t, and that indifference during her mother’s suffering was unforgivable. Wei Zhizhi had considered sparing her but changed her mind when she saw Wei Xiaoxiao allow the spirit in the painting to devour her mother.
Wei Xiaoxiao suddenly smiled and muttered something incomprehensible before vanishing into the darkness. Wei Zhizhi chased after her but was stopped by Chen Yang.
“I won’t stop you from seeking revenge,” Chen Yang said calmly. “But you need to give me the Fengdu pardon token.”
Wei Zhizhi pursed her lips and glared at Chen Yang, a trace of grievance flickering in her beautiful eyes. “I like you a lot. Won’t you stay with me?”
Chen Yang shook his head. “Sorry.”
Wei Zhizhi asked, “Will you save Wei Ning?”
“I will save him, and Qi Yin too.”
“No, I forbid it. I can spare Ning Ning, but not Qi Yin. She stood by and did nothing—she’s guilty!”
Chen Yang replied calmly, “Her guilt will be repaid in due time, but it’s not your place to punish her. Zhizhi, the people directly responsible for your death were Wei Guangming and Wei Jie. Those who abused and despised you were Wei Mianmian. The ones who had the power to save you but chose indifference were Feng Ping and Xu Yue. As for Qi Yin and Wei Ning, they couldn’t save you. Qi Yin’s weakness contributed to your death—that’s her crime—but it doesn’t warrant her death. The Fengdu Pardon Token lists everyone’s sins clearly. You know Qi Yin’s crime isn’t punishable by death.”
If not for Chen Yang’s intervention, Wei Zhizhi would have killed Qi Yin on the spot.
Wei Zhizhi held back her tears. Chen Yang saw this and sighed, his heart softening. He understood the abuse Wei Zhizhi endured from birth. Though she was older than Wei Ning, she looked younger due to her frailty. Even so, Chen Yang didn’t blame her for trying to drag them all down with her.
Sniffling, Wei Zhizhi choked out her complaint. “I—I don’t like her. She loves Ning Ning but doesn’t love me. I know she didn’t love me, even when she thought I was her daughter.”
“If she didn’t love you, she wouldn’t have prepared your meals and clothes every day. She wouldn’t have carried you back to your room to sleep or bowed and apologized on your behalf. Qi Yin isn’t a good person—she’s selfish, cowardly, greedy, and afraid of Wei Guangming while clinging to his wealth. Her cowardice made her powerless to rescue you from your abuse.”
Still, Chen Yang continued, “You can’t deny that she tried to be a good mother. When she acted as your mother, she at least fulfilled her responsibilities.” He crouched down and gently reassured Wei Zhizhi. “You and Ning Ning got along well when you were alive, didn’t you?”
“Ning Ning was the only one who called me sister and secretly gave me food.”
“He was only three at the time and hadn’t yet consumed the relic. Without Qi Yin’s instruction, how would he have known to do that?”
Wei Zhizhi froze, then snapped back angrily, “That was just her guilty conscience trying to comfort herself!” Despite her tight expression, the murderous intent in her eyes faded. She pouted for a long time, still upset. She admired Chen Yang’s kindness—a gentleness she never received from her biological mother. That selfish desire to keep Chen Yang close only deepened.
“When my mom came back after the divorce and found me being abused, she tried to take me away, but she was killed. I was killed too, stuffed inside a grandfather clock. Wei Guangming turned my corpse into a vengeful doll and placed it in the collection room, which is full of malicious ghosts. One of them was Tomino. He was also killed by his father, stuffed into human skin, and murdered many people. Later, he asked me to consume him, so I broke free of the restraints.”
Chen Yang recalled the museum’s past as a mansion notorious for killings.
Wei Zhizhi continued, “They recited Tomino’s poem and were killed. A monk suppressed their spirits in the walls using a relic to seal Toomino.” Wei Guangming, realizing she had broken free from his secret techniques, attempted to consume the relic himself. Wei Zhizhi beat him to it by having Wei Ning swallow it instead.
She clutched her only treasure—a ragged, ugly clown doll—tightly and angrily tossed the Fengdu Pardon Token at Chen Yang. With her back to him, she shouted, “Chen Xiaoyang, you’re so annoying!”
The token was a small, black plaque that no one would glance at if it were lying by the roadside. Yet it held the power to open the passage between the mortal realm and the deepest levels of hell.
Wei Zhizhi rubbed her nose furiously, trying to suppress her emotions. “If only you were my brother. I want to keep you here. But…” She couldn’t bear to finish the thought. Using the Fengdu Pardon Token to avenge herself had stained her with karmic debt. She would fall into the endless depths of hell until her sins were redeemed.
Chen Yang gently embraced her small frame and said, “Thank you, Zhizhi.”
Author’s Note:
Tomorrow is the final chapter. Probably two more sections, plus a few extras, and it’ll be finished. The stories of Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoli, as well as Kou Xuanling and Lu Xiuzhi, will be explored in the extras, hhhh, so I won’t go into too much detail here.
I don’t really want to write the specifics of Wei Zhizhi’s abuse or Wei Xiaoxiao’s exploitation—it feels too depressing. From what happened before, like Wei Xiaoxiao almost being married off to an old man, you can probably imagine what her life was like. Treated as a commodity, constantly traded away.
In Wei Xiaoxiao’s eyes, at least her mother noticed Wei Zhizhi’s abuse, but no one cared about her. That drove her to madness and distortion.
Wei Zhizhi’s life was truly tragic, and her personality and psyche were deeply twisted as a result.
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