513 Finding Meng Po

The mad Judge of Order’s voice cracked across the void like a thousand gavel strikes echoing through the Sixth Layer of the Underworld. “Chaos has festered here long enough! I will force order back upon this forsaken realm, and I swear upon every law I have ever carved… I will start with you meddling worms!”

I floated there in the cold expanse of the Order Layer, the faint hum of the Mighty Duck’s engines still vibrating through my bones from moments ago, and shot a quick glance at my companions. “Just a reminder to everyone here,” I said, voice low but steady, “I’m currently bound against War with a Binding Vow to only duel him. I can’t fight the guy.”

Ru Qiu hovered beside me, pale and still leaking faint demonic qi from his earlier wounds. “I’m still recovering,” he muttered.

Hei Mao cracked his knuckles. “It shouldn’t be that hard. This guy’s only at the Ascended Soul, right?”

Chen Wei stepped forward, sword already half-raised. “Let’s go—”

Gao Fu’s hand shot out, cutting him off. “He possesses a troublesome Origin Art—”

The Judge of Order’s eyes blazed with manic light. “Origin Art: Law & Order.”

The world folded in on itself.

One heartbeat the stars of the outer-space Underworld stretched around us like frozen rivers of light. The next, we stood inside a vast stone courtroom that smelled of dust, ink, and ancient verdicts. The Mighty Duck was gone. The familiar void was gone. Only cold marble floors, towering pillars carved with endless legal codes, and the raised dais before us remained. The Judge sat enthroned behind a massive bench, gavel in hand.

“ORDER! ORDER IN THIS COURT!” he roared, slamming the gavel down again and again until the sound waves themselves pressed against our chests like physical blows.

Alice drifted forward, eyes narrowed. “Tell us everything about this guy.”

Gao Fu turned slightly, voice crisp. “Keeper of the Code, Shi Chang, specializes in stone spells—”

Shi Chang’s hand tightened. The gavel shattered in his grip. An oppressive pressure rolled outward, heavy as the weight of every law ever broken and punished. The air thickened until breathing felt like swallowing gravel.

Gao Fu leaned in close, whispering so only we could hear. “It was said he’s the strongest of the remaining judges of the Underworld, before the Judge of Fools suddenly went missing. At the height of their prime, the Yama Kings—or the Judges—had been Rulers of Laws. However, since the Age of Supremacy, they’ve lost their status along with many Lost Gods.”

I kept the Ophanim active the entire time, golden rings spinning lazily behind my pupils. What I saw through them was… off. The madness in Shi Chang’s aura flickered like a poorly lit lantern. One moment genuine, the next calculated. I thought it was my imagination, but the more I looked, the clearer it became.

“You are not really insane, are you?” I asked aloud.

Shi Chang’s lips curled into something that might have been a smile or a snarl. “Take him back with you.”

He gestured lazily. Stone golems shaped like stern officials in faded robes marched out from the shadows, dragging a chained figure between them. The face was unmistakable with long and equine features twisted in perpetual rage.

“Horse-Face?” asked Hei Mao.

“Yeah, long time no see, you piece of shit,” Horse-Face snarled. He twisted toward Ru Qiu next. “Who is the little runt? You’ve been busy. Alice? Da Wei?”

Ru Qiu’s demonic aura flared so violently the courtroom lamps flickered. “Fuck you!” he roared, voice cracking with pure indignation. “I am the Heavenly Demon, damn it!”

“Enough,” Shi Chang cried, voice booming with final authority. “I care not for the affairs of the Supremes or whatever you have in mind. Now, go.”

Horse-Face lunged against his chains, eyes wild. “Wait! You can’t just dismiss me like some common ghost! I demand what I came for… give it to me, you stone-hearted bastard! Where is she? Tell me where Lady Meng Po is!”

My curiosity burned hotter than ever. The Ophanim had been spinning non-stop; in the last few moments alone I had interrogated this man through over a hundred branching timelines, each one a perfect simulation of possible futures and pasts. Every version of Shi Chang lied with the same calm precision. Tricks within tricks. He would not break easily.

“Shi Chang!” I called out. “You know where Meng Po is, right? If you can be so kind, can you tell us? Also, why are you pretending to be mad?”

He had already begun to turn away, robes swirling like carved granite. I didn’t wait.

“Alice!”

She didn’t hesitate. “Divine Mandate of Proximity!”

Golden chains of pure mandate erupted from her palms, lashing forward and binding her wrist to Shi Chang’s in an unbreakable link. The courtroom trembled.

Horse-Face’s body exploded outward. Ghostly titanic form surged into existence. He was towering, skeletal, wreathed in the black flames of the underworld. Massive hands of spectral bone clamped around Shi Chang’s shoulders, lifting the Judge clear off the dais.

“Tell me where Lady Meng Po is!” Horse-Face bellowed, voice shaking the very pillars of Law & Order.

I watched Shi Chang’s expression twist with cold authority as he stared down at us.

“Did you just forget you are in my court of law?” he remarked, voice dripping with judicial menace.

Ah, crap.

I triggered Castling without a second thought. The world blurred, and in an instant I swapped places with Horse-Face. The titanic ghostly form that had been gripping Shi Chang now stood where I had been, while I appeared safely before Shi Chang.

“Hei Mao, put Horse-Face into sleep,” I ordered quickly.

Hei Mao didn’t hesitate. “Divine Word: Rest.”

A wave of soothing power rolled out. Horse-Face’s massive form shuddered once, then collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, shrinking back into his normal size as he fell into a deep, enchanted slumber right there on the courtroom floor.

I turned my gaze to Gu Jie, who hovered nearby. “Gu Jie, swap my destiny with Horse-Face as of this moment.”

“It’s done, Father!” she replied instantly, her small hands weaving fate itself.

Shi Chang’s eyes narrowed. “Amusing, but your funeral… GUILTY!”

I tilted my head. “Of what crime?”

“Direct assault, aggravated assault, contempt of court, assault on a person in authority. Additional criminal charges apply,” he declared without missing a beat. With a flourish, he summoned a new gavel of pure obsidian stone into his hand. “DEATH PENALTY!”

I raised an eyebrow, trying to keep my voice light. “Don’t I get a pass? I mean, I must have diplomatic immunity, right? I’m an Emperor after all.”

“I care not for your worldly and mortal titles,” Shi Chang replied coldly. “King. Emperor. God? They all shall be judged.”

He thumped the gavel down with finality.

Nothing happened.

Not even a single layer of my immortality flickered. The expected wave of absolute judgment simply… failed to manifest. The silence that followed honestly scared me more than any attack ever could. This was supposed to be an OP ability, one that could one-shot anyone who broke his rules inside this courtroom.

“How is that possible?” Shi Chang asked, genuine confusion breaking through his stern mask for the first time.

I allowed myself a small smile. “Hm. You see, just recently I got acquisition of the Ninth Layer. The previous owner even gave me proof of ownership. Isn’t that awesome? Yama King to Yama King, how about we take this conversation somewhere else?”

In the blink of an eye, the others vanished, my entire party, the sleeping Horse-Face, the stone golems, everything. The vast courtroom shrank and warped until only three of us remained: me, Shi Chang, and Alice. The golden chains of her Divine Mandate of Proximity still glowed brightly, tethering her wrist firmly to his.

Shi Chang studied me with new wariness. “What do you want?”

I met his gaze steadily. “Why are you pretending to be mad?”

“That’s none of your business,” he answered flatly.

I closed my eyes and sank deep into the Ophanim. Alternate timelines branched out around me like infinite glowing threads. I tested theory after theory, interrogated a hundred versions of Shi Chang in rapid succession—front, back, and from every angle possible. When I finally opened my eyes again, I already knew the answer. But knowing wasn’t enough. I needed him to admit the truth himself.

So I spoke clearly. “Supreme Void. That’s why you are pretending to be crazy.”

Shi Chang looked genuinely shocked for a split second, but he schooled his features back into calm indifference with impressive speed.

“I don’t understand,” he said, pretending to be the fool.

I pressed on. “Be honest with yourself. I think I know why you are pretending to be insane—an attribute often associated with the Supreme Void. Not long ago, there were ten layers in the Underworld. In a foolish attempt to save the Underworld, a certain Yama King decided to make a deal with the Void, and as a consequence—”

“Enough. I’ve heard enough,” Shi Chang cut in sharply. “We the Ten Judges always saw each other as family. The Eldest didn’t deserve the fate he had been forced through.”

I nodded. “Good news—he’s doing just perfectly fine. Managed to steal my body, and now he’s acting as my double. Right now, he’s the acting commander of my army.”

Shi Chang looked utterly flabbergasted, his stony composure cracking wide open.

I raised my hand and projected the memories I held of Jue Bu directly into his mind. They were clear, vivid recollections of the Judge of Fools in my body, leading the World Council. The confusion on Shi Chang’s face slowly melted away, replaced by something closer to cautious hope.

“I will give you the benefit of the doubt,” he said at last. “Let me meet him.”

I smiled. “Sure.”

We talked for hours inside the shrunken courtroom, the golden chains of Alice’s Divine Mandate of Proximity still linking her to Shi Chang like a constant reminder that escape wasn’t an option. The stone pillars loomed silently around us while we negotiated terms, trading truths and half-truths in the quiet void of the Sixth Layer.

From him I learned the full weight of his situation. He had trapped himself here deliberately, leaning hard into the ‘insanity’ act to maintain control over this layer. It served a dual purpose: it had been designated as the dumping ground for the worst refuse of the Underworld, and more importantly, it functioned as the living cage that held Nidhogg in check. The madness was both shield and key, so that he could continue his research on the Supreme Void on secret, while looking through the matters of his fellow judge, Jue Bu..

I leaned back against the edge of the judge’s bench, arms crossed, and finally steered the conversation toward the question that had brought Horse-Face here in the first place. “Now, about Meng Po. Horse-Face seemed pretty convinced you know where she is.”

Shi Chang’s stony expression didn’t shift much, but a flicker of something ancient and weary passed through his eyes. He let out a slow breath that sounded like grinding gravel.

“I do know,” he admitted at last, voice low and measured. “Supreme Death has her.”

We concluded our long conversation with a firm agreement. Shi Chang promised to hand over his symbol of authority and relinquish ownership of the Sixth Layer once he had met Jue Bu in person. I gave him the go-ahead, sending a quick mental message through our shared connection to let Jue Bu know that an old “family” member would soon be paying him a visit. The stone judge’s eyes lit up with something close to genuine relief when I confirmed the arrangement.

With that settled, I triggered the return. The warped courtroom dissolved around us, and Alice and I reappeared aboard the Mighty Duck’s familiar deck. The ship hummed softly in the cold stellar currents of the Underworld, its engines idling as the rest of the party waited.

I looked at everyone gathered there—Ru Qiu in his ridiculous chibi form, still recovering and looking comically tiny on the deck, Hei Mao lounging against the railing with his usual lazy confidence, Chen Wei carefully checking the edge of his blade, Gao Fu frowning thoughtfully, and Gu Jie hovering nearby with wide curious eyes. Horse-Face had shrunk back into his more manageable humanoid shape, arms crossed and clearly impatient.

“From now on,” I addressed the group, “we’ll continue travelling to the rest of the layers to acquire their symbols. It’s going to be dangerous, so if any of you wish to back off, I will understand.”

A short silence fell over the deck. No one moved. No one spoke up about leaving.

I grinned. “I knew I could rely on you.”

Horse-Face stepped forward, voice rough. “How about Meng Po?”

I met his gaze steadily. “With Supreme Death, apparently.”

Horse-Face grimaced, his long face twisting with clear frustration and worry.

I continued quickly, “I am also looking for Supreme Death. If we combine our forces, we should be able to do better.”

That seemed to calm him down somewhat. He exhaled and asked, “How’s Ox-Head?”

“Back in the Hollowed World,” I replied, “building a dungeon and prison for me.”

An idea sparked in my mind. I turned to Alice. “Alice, can you make it so with your planar spell that we can return to this layer anytime we want?”

She considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Using your Egress on top of my planar spell, while using Nongmin’s recent warp technology, we should be able to make it possible.”

I nodded, already turning the plan over in my head. “I am thinking of setting up shop here.”

Hei Mao sounded genuinely confused. “And what are you gonna sell, master?”

I turned to Ru Qiu with a mischievous grin. “Your face right now is unrecognizable and you still need to recover your strength. You don’t mind playing storekeeper and game master, do you?”

Ru Qiu’s eyes widened in horror. “You are not seriously thinking what I think you are thinking.”

I grinned wider. “Oh, you really get me.”

He sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. “Da Wei, this is insane…”

I pressed on, undeterred. “If we claim this layer—and we’ll claim it eventually—we can make this place the players’ spawnpoint. Then we can choke the Seventh Layer from both sides. However, if there’s something most convenient, it’s Nidhogg and his smaller pocket of graveyard of worlds that allows him to move to different layers and different parts of the Greater Universe. It’s a waste if we don’t use what’s practically screaming at us as the ideal fast travel system.”

Gu Jie voiced out worriedly, “But father, we might really die. It’s like playing with fire.”

Ru Qiu nodded in agreement. “Fast travel sounds nice, but if that fast travel can kill you and will kill you, I think we’ll be better off not doing any fast travel of sorts.”

I waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t be a pussy. I have a plan.”

Alice was glaring at me hard, her voice sharp. “Just so you know, I have a pus—”

I stopped her quickly, raising both hands. “I get it, I get it. I’m sorry, okay?”