I swallowed hard. The Infernal Judges remained silent, as if waiting for us to propose a reasonable solution. Otherwise, they would still want to trap me in Hell as its core, to stabilize Hell, and then handle the problems of the Three Evil Paths themselves.
We can't just keep waiting like this, John Chou.
Lord Quintus spoke gently, then floated over to Lady Meng and continued.
Now, the most severe problem is that the Hell Realm has begun to break free from the power of the Six Paths and is starting to fall on its own.
I looked at Lord Quintus, puzzled. He nodded and said:
Self-descent means the Hell Realm intends to break through the Three Paths' space and return to the place where the Hell Realm first appeared. Although we can't know exactly what the evil spirits inside are planning, they're likely growing in number and organization. Otherwise, they couldn't have accomplished so much in such a short time. Look, the Hell Realm is now far from the other two realms; it's falling, returning to the land where it was born.
I stared at the distant Hell Realm. Just as Lord Quintus said, it's now far from the Animal and Hungry Ghost Realms. I remember the first time I came here, the Three Evil Paths were much closer together.
The methods you suggested before can at most solve the Animal Realm’s problem, but for the Hungry Ghost Realm that wants to consume the Animal Realm, and for the most troublesome Hell Realm, there’s no solution at all.
So I’ve already said, let me use the power of disaster to destroy the Three Paths directly. As long as the Three Paths are destroyed, none of this will happen. Even if the Six Paths of Reincarnation collapse, you wouldn’t want the ghosts from the Three Evil Paths to escape, right? If they do, it’ll have an immeasurable impact on this war, especially fueling the power of Emperor God and the others against you.
Red Hair, visibly irritated, swept his gaze over the Ten Infernal Judges, clearly losing his patience.
There's another way.
Everyone turned to Mona Ouyang, who glanced at me with a sly smile.
You all know my power—it turns everything in dreams into reality. The power I use is called Hell. When I was sent to Hell, you put me through every punishment in every hell, and finally threw me into the Endless Hell, imprinting all of Hell into my eyes. That’s why I can manifest Hell with my power. Though it’s not as strong as the real Hell, it’s effective. Since the Hell Realm wants to return to Hell, why not let me create a fake Hell? With your help, I’ll make a fake Hell to mislead the Hell Realm into entering, then drag it into the dream world. That might buy us some time.
No, Mona Ouyang, you can’t withstand the power of the Hell Realm. If the Hell Realm really enters the dream world, the evil spirits inside will devour everything—even people in the living world.
King of the City immediately refuted Mona Ouyang, and after a moment’s consideration, the other Infernal Judges nodded in agreement.
Of course, this is just a proposal. If you can help me find Three-Eyes, maybe it’ll work. With his power, we can keep creating evil spirits equal to those in the Hell Realm, letting them fight endlessly in the dream world. Dreams are boundless, vast. They’ll never escape, I guarantee it. And if we find my subordinates, that’ll help too—they can contribute. What do you think?
The Ghost Sovereigns all turned to Mona Ouyang. John Chou sneered coldly and said:
You freak, stop scheming. What you’re proposing would just bring disaster to the living world and solve nothing. If anything goes wrong, it’ll only make things worse. So, what’s the other way? You must have sensed something.
John Chou’s gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s. Mona Ouyang gave a helpless smile and then said:
The other way is what Ethan Zhang sensed in the Animal Realm. The thing you gave me before—it carried a power similar to mine, called “fantasy.” Fantasy is a type of dream, but even less realistic, more illusory. So maybe the one who owns this power can really solve some problems.
Mona Ouyang looked at me, then glanced around.
What I’m about to do next, I hope you’ll all leave. It’s private, my last secret. If you all see it, I’m finished.
Mona Ouyang laughed wickedly. Everyone nodded in agreement. Lady Meng waved her hand, and a small bamboo house appeared before us. The door creaked open.
Go inside.
I looked at Mona Ouyang suspiciously, but he grabbed my hand.
Come in with me.
After we entered the bamboo house, everything outside fell into darkness. We couldn’t sense anything. Mona Ouyang looked around and smiled with satisfaction.
This place is secure; nothing will leak out. Tell me honestly, Ethan Zhang, what exactly did you see?
As Mona Ouyang spoke, a tuft of black and white fur appeared in his hand—the fur I had as a panda after entering the Animal Realm. I hadn’t expected John Chou to keep it, and it hadn’t disappeared.
I promised, this...
I was at a loss for words. I’d promised the Beast Lord not to reveal his existence to anyone. I didn’t know why, but it was clear he didn’t want anyone to know.
Fine, forget it, Ethan Zhang. If you won’t talk, you’ll just be Hell’s fodder. We’re here because John Chou said there’s a solution. If not, the Ten Infernal Judges will make you stabilize Hell. Times have changed.
I was deep in thought, conflicted. Mona Ouyang came up to me and patted my shoulder.
If that’s the case, just talk to yourself, pretend I’m not here. Say whatever you want—it won’t break your promise, right? Besides, why are you still so stubborn after all these years? If we really want to know, we have ways. We just don’t want to force you. Hurry up.