Chapter 523 - 523 (1/2)
The still silence went on for a while.
King Yama was making a face quite different from when he first showed up here. Instead of rage, his expression reflected surprise, conflict, and so on.
Behind Su-hyeun, the portals to the Needle Hell, Starvation Hell, Slumbering Hell, Sand Hell, and Ghostly Hell, among others, had appeared.
All sorts of hells existed indeed. King Yama instantly recalled all of their names as soon he laid his eyes on them.
That shouldn't come as a surprise since they originally belonged to him, to begin with.
”You sure possess a lot of them, don't you?”
All these numerous hells, which were now under Su-hyeun's control, happened to be the ones King Yama lost to Osiris.
”After I killed Osiris, they became mine for some reason. You said there were 1,000 of them, but as it turns out, it's a little more than that.”
”Right. It's one thousand and twenty-two.”
”I'm willing to hand over one hundred of them.”
King Yama's brows quivered.
”Not all of them?”
”Aren't you being too greedy, sir? To think that you'd try to take away all the cards I'm holding in one sitting.”
”But they were mine, to begin with!”
”I'm sure you said the same thing to Osiris in the past.”
Rather obviously, demanding their return one-sidedly since he was the original master wouldn't work here today.
Like Su-hyeun said a minute ago, he and King Yama were not allies. They were neither allies nor enemies, but they simply kept up their ambiguous wariness of each other at all times.
King Yama was much closer to being a neutral party in this case. Meaning he was in no position to demand anything from Su-hyeun one-sidedly.
”One hundred, you said.”
Getting back 100 hells was not a bad offer. Although the remainder did make King Yama feel a bit rueful, he knew that the current situation was different from how it was with Osiris.
For one thing, Su-hyeun didn't care about ruling over hells or the vast army contained within. As long as he had them, they should end up in King Yama's hands sooner or later.
”Looks like I have no choice but to agree to it.”
The initiative this time belonged to Su-hyeun.
He was strong enough to defeat Osiris, so subduing him through brute force was out of the question. Not only that, but Sun Wukong was right next to him, too.
If King Yama refused to take up the offer and created bad blood between him and Su-hyeun, then those 1,000 hells Osiris had stolen away would never return to Yama's possession.
”You made the correct decision.”
”When can I get the remaining hells back from you?”
”It should be when I have other favors to ask of you.”
”Sounds like things will get tiresome for me, then.”
”We'll be in your care, in that case.”
Giii-iiing—
The portals to various hells that appeared near Su-hyeun closed up. At the same time, many small dots of light floated on top of King Yama's large palm.
Their number was exactly 100.
That was the sign that 100 hells currently belonging to Su-hyeun came back to the fold.
”I confirmed it.”
”So, please tell us.”
”I spoke to the Bull Demon King right after he finally ascended. After ridding himself of the lingering attachment over his family, meaning you lot, he directly came to see me.”
”Can you tell us why?”
”He wanted to find someone. The Bull Demon King seemed to be under the impression that the woman he was searching for had reincarnated somewhere and wanted me to locate her. He's probably staying next to her even as we speak.”
There was no need even to ask who that woman was.
Sun Wukong spent practically an eternity with the Bull Demon King, so that was rather obvious to him. Even Su-hyeun had heard directly about the Bull Demon King's history from the latter.
”Where are they?”
”The Path to Reincarnation. That's where those who never committed a crime or finished paying for one must go. Initially, one doesn't linger around there long as it's simply a place you pass through. But that woman chose to stay there for a very long time.”
”Did they finally meet?”
”They did. A destiny like that is practically impossible to come true, yet it happened nevertheless. And it happened after one died, and the other had to ascend to godhood, too. The will of those two managed to change their destiny, it seems.”
”It's a wonderful tale, isn't it?”
Such a fated meeting wouldn't have happened if one of them gave up midway. However, she waited for him patiently, and the Bull Demon King eventually ascended to become a god, allowing them to meet each other again.
”The Path to Reincarnation, huh?” Su-hyeun thought.
”In that case, we shall be on our way.”
”When you find him, say hello for me.”
”Yes, I will.”
Su-hyeun and Sun Wukong left the spot right away.
Neither of them had ever been to the Path to Reincarnation before. That wasn't the living world populated with people or one of the 9,000 hells where the dead could be found.
Even so, the two still headed to the Path to Reincarnation to search for the Bull Demon King.
”You're not thinking of accompanying them?”
”Even if I go with them, there's not much I can do in the end, anyway. It's now up to those two to convince the Bull Demon King.”
Buddha walked out into the open, his hands resting behind his back. His gait was slow and measured, seemingly taking only small steps forward.
Yet he traveled thousands of leagues in a single step to stand next to King Yama.
”The Bull Demon King has stopped caring about the world of the living by now. I should be the same as him, but how unfortunate, it's not possible for me at the moment.”
”Sounds like you expect great things from those two.”
”Subhuti and Odin are both gone. I, too, am a sickly old man now. No one knows where Lord Brahma is, while both Olympus and Asgard are currently left in ruins.”
”It does sound more serious when you put it that way.”
”Without the Bull Demon King, our struggle will be hopeless. He'll become the most important key in deciding the fate of this war that has gone far too long, after all.”
”Doesn't matter which universe it is. It'll come to an end eventually, Buddha.”
”And it's our job to delay that end as long as possible, Yama. But as someone who only stays in your netherworlds, I'm sure you find it hard to understand our position.”
”Indeed, I can't understand you at all,” King Yama scratched his head.
Unaffected by the repeated destruction of various universes, he was someone who waited for the birth of the new universes. As such, this whole thing didn't matter to him in the slightest.
”Even so, I have to say, this universe has been quite amusing so far.”
”Amusing, you say?”
”Guys like Odin and Osiris showed up even though they weren't even Primordial Gods. This universe is remarkably different from the others in the past. Maybe you lot can truly delay the incoming destruction somehow.”
It had been said before already, but the universe repeated the cycle of destruction and rebirth.
The process itself had mainly remained the same since the beginning. King Yama was an existence in full knowledge of this incredibly long history, so he couldn't help but be amused by the events of the current universe.