Chapter 104 Hook Snake
Zheng Wenjie did not answer but asked: "The underworld has its own laws. Even if you have offended the ferryman, he can't do anything to you. Why do you say it's a dilemma between life and death?"

Shen Cihang shook his head and said, "If that's the case, I wouldn't be afraid of this mere green-faced demon ghost who has just entered the demon sect. There are three locations on Hong Kong Island that have been rowed away by the ferryman, and practitioners are prohibited from entering them."

"Which three places?" Zheng Wenjie asked curiously.

"The banana forest of Yashan, the spring mountain of the New Territories, and the vast blue waters of the South China Sea!" Shen Cihang continued, "Twenty years ago, the ferryman selected these three places and issued an order that any cultivator who sets foot in them without permission will be killed."

Zheng Wenjie leaned back on the sofa and asked in confusion: "Shouldn't it be like this? If he was really so arrogant, Hades couldn't be unaware of it."

"My master also thought the same as the senior. Although there are occasional deaths in these three places, it is normal compared to any other place in Hong Kong Island. So we tacitly agreed to this rule."

Shen Cihang sighed, "But the disciples of Sanqing Mountain said that the ferryman should not interfere in the affairs of the living world. This is the rule set by the Hades. The Hades can tolerate his subordinates doing nothing but evil. They will definitely not agree."

"Later, everyone on Mount Sanqing disappeared overnight. Many seniors used various divination methods but still couldn't figure out what happened!"

Tang Xue said to Shen Cihang with a naive smile on her face, "You are just too weak. I also caught the ferryman of the underworld more than 20 years ago. I tied him to a pillar and hung him for three days!"

The few people who had been listening quietly on the side looked at Tang Xue in surprise. Hua Rong gently pulled the corner of Su Wan'er's clothes, and after Su Wan'er looked back, she signaled to her with her eyes that the wooden box of God had been placed on her knees.

Su Wan'er nodded. She was now completely relieved. With Zheng Wenjie and the confident Tang Xue, she no longer took the green-faced demon to heart.

Su Wan'er couldn't help but count how many gold bars were still in the safe. Compared with Zheng Wenjie and Shen Cihang, the greedy Tang Xue made them feel more confident.

He Yu and the two brothers of the Li family no longer dared to speak at this time. Ghosts were still too far away from them. Although they knew that they really existed, they had never seen ghosts with their own eyes.

If it was just Shen Cihang, they could relax and joke around, but as soon as Zheng Wenjie sat there, even though he didn't do anything, they instinctively became quiet.

"I didn't expect this young lady to have such powerful magic!" Shen Cihang laughed and gave Tang Xue a thumbs up and continued, "The reason why my master didn't intervene was because he thought that it would be impossible for a ferryman to do it so perfectly."

Zheng Wenjie understood: "You are worried that it is the order issued by Pluto."

Shen Cihang nodded solemnly: "Otherwise, the head of Sanqing Mountain is a powerful half-step earthly immortal! According to our Theravada Buddhism, that is the realm of half-step Arhat."

"A mere ferryman can't possibly be a match for Sanqing Mountain, not to mention that the entire family was killed silently without leaving even the slightest trace of their souls."

Zheng Wenjie nodded and immediately resolved Shen Cihang's doubts: "It can't be an order from Hades. These things have little to do with the underworld."

"I've been to that banana forest. It's indeed the place where the previous ferryman kept ghosts, but that banana monster was quite honest."

"The ferryman may have played a role in this matter, but it was definitely not the ferryman who ordered it." Zheng Wenjie tapped his thigh with his middle finger unconsciously and continued, "I am the new ferryman of Hong Kong Island. The previous two are dead. Two ferrymen have died in 30 years, plus the entire sect of Sanqing Mountain. Who is the next one?"

Shen Cihang's brows furrowed tightly. "Since it has nothing to do with the underworld, then this matter must be related to the human world. I will report it to Master and this matter must be investigated thoroughly."

Tang Xue curled her lips and said, "Why don't we just go and take a look? My master has already been to the three places. Banana Grove, Chunshan in the New Territories, and Nanhai."

Zheng Wenjie nodded, looked at Shen Cihang and smiled, "What do you think? Master Shen, why don't you come with me to investigate this matter? After all, two ferrymen have died, and it is not reasonable for me to just stand by and watch."

Shen Cihang turned the Buddhist beads on his wrist and said with a smile: "It would be great if we had a ferryman with us."

After Zheng Wenjie personally admitted that he was the ferryman, Shen Cihang was surprised, but he was confused in his heart. Whether this matter was related to the underworld was just Zheng Wenjie's opinion. He still had to find a way to pass the news to his master.

"Three Masters! It's almost dark. What should we do next?" Su Wan'er asked softly.

Shen Cihang stopped spinning the Buddhist beads and looked at Zheng Wenjie with a smile: "Master Ferryman, what do you think we should do next?"

Zheng Wenjie took out the book of secrets from the Hong Kong Coliseum and flipped through it. The date of Li Zhi's death recorded on it had not changed and was still tomorrow.

But it was impossible for Zheng Wenjie to wait for the soul-catcher at Li's house until tomorrow. Through the authority of the Yin Book granted by Hades, Zheng Wenjie began to communicate with the Yin Book with his mind.

After taking back the Yin Book, Zheng Wenjie smiled and said, "I have already instructed the soul-collecting messenger in Hong Kong Island to capture the green-faced demon ghost."

Shen Cihang looked at Zheng Wenjie patting his lower back and the Yin Book appeared in reality, and said with some envy: "As expected of you, Master Ferryman. I have only heard of the mustard seed magic weapon, but never seen it before."

"That's because you are narrow-minded." Tang Xue said casually. She didn't know why she felt uncomfortable when she sensed the fluctuation of magic power from Shen Cihang.

Tang Xue turned her head and raised her eyebrows at Su Wan'er and said proudly: "I said it yesterday! This is just a small matter. Since my master has agreed to help, there will be no problem."

Su Wan'er said gratefully: "Thank you, masters. We...if you have any instructions, our Li family will definitely do our best!"

Tang Xue waved her hand: "We don't need to do that. Just do what you promised to do."

Shen Cihang felt a little uncomfortable after hearing Tang Xue's words, so he could only smile and say, "I was unable to help your son, but I also want to thank the ferryman for removing the demons in my and my master's hearts."

"Oh?" Zheng Wenjie looked at Shen Cihang in confusion.

Shen Cihang smiled and said, "Ever since the incident at Mount Sanqing, my master has been in a daze, ashamed of himself, and has made no progress in the past twenty years."

Zheng Wenjie laughed and looked at Shen Cihang with some interest: "Then your master is right. You are indeed extremely talented. You are not like your master who has a mental block."

"Shame on me!" Shen Cihang said in a low voice with his hands clasped together, and suddenly moved his ears. A gust of cold wind suddenly came from the Li family villa with closed windows and doors.

Li Jia shuddered, patted his fat belly and said, "Why does the villa seem to be full of people?" After saying that, he suddenly covered his mouth, his eyes rolling around. "... Zheng Da... Ferryman, are they coming?" Hua Rong also felt cold all over, unconsciously hugged her arms tightly and stuttered to call Zheng Wenjie.

Tang Xue took out a small box from her pocket, inside of which was a wet silk towel. Tang Xue took out the silk towel and prepared to wipe Zheng Wenjie's eyes, but Zheng Wenjie waved his hand to refuse. After he came out of the underworld, he no longer needed to communicate with spirits through cow's tears, willow leaf water, etc.

Tang Xue didn't care. She wiped her eyes and looked around. The corners of her mouth twitched unconsciously. Li's family said, "I think you should not look at it, so as not to scare you... I have lived for so long, and this is the first time I have seen such a scene."

Su Wan'er and the others looked at each other, and unknowingly moved a little closer together.

Shen Cihang gathered his magical power in his eyes and saw the scene in the living room clearly. His smile froze on his face, and he said with a slight twitch of his mouth: "Master Ferryman... is really majestic."

Zheng Wenjie stood up and saw a group of strange-looking human-shaped soul-catchers in front of him. Although their facial features and limbs were no different from those of humans, their colors and shapes were different. At first glance, they were colorful and exuded a gloomy and weird atmosphere.

The soul-collecting messenger who had seen Zheng Wenjie took two steps forward and bowed to him, saying, "Sir! The green-faced demon has been captured. What should we do with it next?"

Zheng Wenjie glanced at the green-faced demon ghost who was being held down by the soul-locking chain and the soul-catching stick, and said loudly to the soul-catching messengers present: "I called all of you here today, firstly to meet you all, and secondly, Hades sent me here to investigate the cause of death of the last two ferrymen."

Zheng Wenjie glanced at the group of soul-catchers one by one, and was not surprised to see them all lowering their heads and looking obedient. Just holding the Yin Book was enough to suffocate these soul-catchers.

The soul-catchers in each area are assigned by the judge, and the Yin Book held by the ferryman can call and control this group of soul-catchers, just like the jade seals in ancient dynasties.

"Those who know the news, please tell us." Zheng Wenjie said, and waited for a while before a soul-collecting messenger came out and bowed and said, "My lord... I don't know exactly what I know."

Zheng Wenjie noticed that this soul-catcher had been staring at the green-faced demon ghost that was pinned to the ground, and now he jumped out to find out the news about the previous two ferrymen.

"Go ahead." Zheng Wenjie sat back on the sofa and looked at him.

The soul-catcher chuckled awkwardly and said, "My lord, I must confess my guilt first. I was careless for a moment and fell into the trap of this green-faced demon..."

Zheng Wenjie frowned as he looked at the Soul Catcher who suddenly stopped talking and said slowly, "I'm asking about the news of the previous two ferrymen."

"Uh... sir, I also heard it from the mouth of this green-faced demon." said the soul-catcher.

"Let him go!" Zheng Wenjie smiled and stood up. He took two steps and looked at the green-faced demon ghost without the soul-locking chain: "Tell me, what news do you know?"

The only difference between the green-faced ghost and an ordinary ghost is that it has magical powers and its face looks like pieces of hard green flesh.

"Sir! I'll tell you anything as long as you let me go." The green-faced ghost said in a low voice. It was very weak now, and the magic power in its body had been consumed to a tenth when it was captured by a group of soul-catchers.

Zheng Wenjie nodded and turned to walk towards the soul-collecting messenger who was bribed by the green-faced demon ghost, lowered his head and asked: "What about you? Still not going to tell me?"

The soul-catcher was a little scared and knelt on the ground: "Sir! I violated the rules of the underworld. I beg you to have mercy on me and let me go. I will tell you everything!"

Zheng Wenjie sighed, "I don't know whether you are smart or stupid. Only ghosts who have committed the four taboos of wine, sex, money and anger can become soul-catchers. It is normal to make some mistakes. Tell me, what do you know?"

The soul-catcher seemed to be relieved, and his yin energy was much lighter. He quickly said, "This green-faced demon ghost got to know me because of your predecessor's soul-catcher."

Zheng Wenjie interrupted and said, "There's no need to say these. Just tell me what you doubt about the deaths of these two ferrymen."

The soul-catcher patted his head to relax for a while and said loudly: "Sir! I saw this green-faced demon ghost capture a pair of boys and girls and take them to the South China Sea. On that day, the ferryman also appeared in the South China Sea."

Zheng Wenjie looked at him with some disappointment: "Anything else?"

The Soul Catcher hesitated for a while and said, "Sir, I don't know the rest. The ferryman in front of you is very difficult to get close to. He treats Soul Catchers like pigs and dogs. He won't even look at us when he is not useful to us."

"Okay." Zheng Wenjie nodded and stretched out his palm towards the head of the soul-catcher. A wisp of flame shot out and began to wrap around his head.

“Sir! Spare me…” Before he could finish his words, the soul-catcher was burned into a stream of evil energy and dissipated.

Shen Cihang's face changed and he looked at Zheng Wenjie in disbelief. He didn't get any magical power from Zheng Wenjie at all, but with a wave of his hand he made a soul-catcher fly away.

“If you break the rules, you must accept the punishment obediently according to the laws of the underworld! The soul-catcher will be imprisoned for a hundred years at most, but if you want to escape punishment and use information to coerce your superiors, I don’t know about others, but there is only one outcome for me. Do you understand?” Zheng Wenjie said to the group of soul-catchers who filled up the Li family villa.

"Sir! We absolutely dare not!" The soul-catcher summoned by Zheng Wenjie said loudly, and the other soul-catchers also nodded in agreement.

Zheng Wenjie waved his hand to silence them and looked at the green-faced demon ghost: "What about you? Tell me honestly, will you go to the underworld to be judged and punished, or will you die now?"

The green-faced demon ghost struggled to prop up his upper body, looked at the people of the Li family unwillingly, sighed, and the magic power around him slowly dissipated. He gave up his method of cultivation, and the green face returned to normal, but his soul became more transparent.

"The method I practiced was given to me by the great South Sea demon Hook Snake, whom I met by chance. Thirty years ago, it was the Hook Snake that gave me a few treasures and asked me to go to the human world to buy some new and interesting toys for her to play with."

"But one of the spirit beads caught the attention of the soul-catching messenger. He followed me to see the island where the hook snake monster rested above the South China Sea. At that time, he angered the hook snake and was swallowed by it."

Swallowed... The ferryman was swallowed by the hook snake. I'm afraid even Hades can't find out the reason in the underworld, so the judge decided that he was missing.

Zhao Li would also remind himself that Hong Kong Island is now a sinkhole and all the ferrymen are trying to avoid it.

"Hook Snake?" Shen Cihang was a little confused. He seemed to have some impression of this name.

(End of this chapter)