Tai'an, Haoli Mountain, and the Great Temple of the Underworld.

It is huge in scale and has many temples.

Legend has it that all those who die in the world will eventually come to Mount Tai for trial, and the temple of the Underworld is also full of incense and overwhelming Taoist temples.

Today is the weather is bright and the weather is clear. The tourists who come to the temple to burn incense and ask for a visa are woven.

Among the crowd was a veteran Taoist, with a thin appearance. He climbed up Haoli Mountain with the bustling crowd and came to the north gate of the temple.

The north gate is the main entrance of the Great Temple of the Underworld. On both sides are the porches of two hideous patron saints. Walking through the porch and then going inside is the Senluo Palace.

There is an incense burner in the courtyard, which is ten feet high and is surrounded by five or six feet. There is a high incense inserted in the incense burner, and the incense will never fade away all year round.

The old Taoist stood in front of the incense burner, silently looked at the incense for a while, and walked up the steps to the gate of Senluo Palace, standing on the steps and looking inside.

I saw a huge statue of the golden god sitting in the middle of Senluo Hall. It was a tall and magnificent figure of the Emperor Taishan, recorded in the Daozang.

The saying of Mount Tai to control ghosts was found in the pre-Qin period. It first appeared in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. However, it was not until the rise of the Taoist sect of the Han Dynasty that the throne of Emperor Dongyue was officially established.

Daozang believed that Mount Tai was the descendant of Emperor Pangu, the Jinhong clan.

After Emperor Zhuanxu passed away from heaven, the gods returned to heaven and ghosts entered the earth. Emperor Dongyue was also incorporated into the Nine Netherworld by later generations, becoming the highest god in the underworld, controlling life and death, longevity, noble and humbleness, controlling the underworld, and taking power to eliminate sins and resolve injustice.

Two people stand on the left and right on the statue of the Emperor of Dongyue, two are civil servants standing on the west side, one holds a pen, one holds a volume of documents; two people stand on the east side, two are military officers dressed in military uniforms, one holds a spear and one holds an axe.

The wall of the hall is painted with ten scenes of hell, arranged with the seventy-five hells and the scenes of punishing sinners. Once you enter this hall, it is like entering the underworld, which is terrifying and respectful.

In the Dharma-Ending Age, there were no miracles, and there were many people who blasphemed the gods, but the Emperor of Dongyue was never despised in the world for this.

Even atheists must think twice when they enter this temple of the underworld, and there will be gods three feet tall.

The old Taoist looked silently for a while, worshipped the statue of the Emperor Dongyue in the middle of the hall, and whispered: "Ghosts and gods are in a dark state, and they think about themselves."

There are two side doors on both sides of Senluo Hall. Traditionally, the left is the supreme. The left leads to the Fengdu Hall, where the palace enshrines the Northern Yin Emperor of Fengdu and the Ghost Emperor of the Five Directions.

The Emperor of Fengdu is the highest god in the underworld, and his status is second only to the Emperor of Dongyue, because the Emperor of Dongyue not only controls ghosts and gods in the underworld, but also controls life and death in the human world, and controls the yin and yang realms.

There are five ghost emperors under the Fengdu Emperor, namely the Eastern Ghost Emperor Cai Yulei and Shen Tu; the Western Ghost Emperor Zhao Wenhe and Wang Zhenren; the Northern Ghost Emperor Zhang Heng and Yang Yun; the Southern Ghost Emperor Du Ziren; the Central Ghost Emperor Zhou Qi and Ji Kang.

The right side door of Senluo Hall leads to the Ten Kings Hall, where the Ten Kings Hall enshrines the Ten Kings and the Four Great Judges.

The underworld's gods are complex and combine the myths and legends of various periods.

The divine nature of the Lord Yan and the judge is not only related to Daozang, but also greatly influenced by Buddhism.

It mainly comes from the theory that Empress Houtu transformed into the six realms of reincarnation. With the six realms of reincarnation, there are a group of gods who are specifically responsible for maintaining the operation of the six realms of reincarnation.

The old Taoist looked at the doors on both sides and walked into the side door leading to the Ten Kings Hall.

After passing the old Taoist in the Ten Kings Palace, he still did not enter, but followed a remote path and continued to walk forward. After walking for almost a quarter of an hour, he came to an old archway.

There are three words written on the archway, "Gate of Ghost".

According to legend, when entering the underworld, you have to pass the gate of ghosts and pass the Huangquan Road, pass through Wangxiangtai, Jinjiling, Wild Dog Slope, Gonggong Pavilion, Reincarnation Hall, Wangchuan River, Naihe Bridge and other thirteen stations in the underworld.

Legends are just legends. As for what kind of scene is in the underworld, only the dead people know it.

The old Taoist stood in front of the gate of hell and looked silently for a while, then turned to a pavilion on the hillside next to him.

In the pavilion was a slim-looking Taoist priest with a pale face, and a chessboard was placed in front of him, and there was an endgame on it.

The endgame is called, humans and ghosts are different from each other, and yin and yang are sighing.

The old Taoist walked into the pavilion and bowed to the black-robed Taoist priest and sat opposite him.

The Taoist priest in black robe did not raise his eyebrows. After the old Taoist sat down, he reached out to him and said, "Please."

The world is hard to predict, and things in the world are like chess.

When Taoist masters fight, they mostly decide on the chess game.

Legend has it that for whom the ancient Haotian and the Human Emperor were also determined by the victory or defeat. The sky was used as the chessboard and the stars were used as the chessboard, and the lives were planned.

The old Taoist held a black man and thought for a long time finally fell.

As soon as a son fell, a wind blew in the pavilion.

The Taoist priest in black robe followed, and the wind turned colder.

As the two of them made a move one after another, the cold wind blew and the temperature in the pavilion was also falling.

And above the pavilion, there were already winds and clouds and thunder.

In the end, it was the turn of the black-robed Taoist priest to make a move, but he had nowhere to fall. So he abandoned his son and admitted defeat.

"In the Dharma-Ending Age, the three realms are orderly. Yin and Yang are separated, and humans and ghosts are different. Why do you have to cross the boundary?" The Taoist priest in black robe sighed and asked.

"I want to meet an old friend." said the old Taoist.

"Why don't you go to the Ten Kings Palace to ask about the Three Secrets, Six Cases, Seventy-Five Cases?" asked the Taoist priest in black robe.

"My old friend is not within the jurisdiction of the Ten Kings Hall."

"The Ten Kings Palace cannot control it. You can go to the Fengdu Palace."

"The Emperor of Beiyin ruled all ghosts, but I, an old friend, were not under his jurisdiction."

After hearing what the old Taoist said, the black-robed Taoist priest frowned higher and higher. He thought hard but failed and asked directly: "I don't know who the fellow Taoist is going to meet and where he lives."

"The man I want to see is neither a god nor a ghost, and is in the northern polar sea."

When he heard the word "Minghai" and the Taoist priest in black robe immediately changed his face.

Now there are few references to the Nether Sea in the description of the Underworld, which originated from myths and legends before the pre-Qin period.

According to the Shanhai Sutra, there is a River Styx in the underworld. After death, people's souls enter the underworld and float and sink in the River Styx. According to the sins and merits of life, special ferrymen are guided to various places.

I still have a day to go to the shore of the River Styx, and once I follow the River Styx into the Sea of ​​the Sea, all I have to wait for is endless sinking, and there is no end.

After a long silence, the Taoist priest from the black robe sighed and said, "The underworld is no longer what it was before. The ancient road of the Styx has declined, and the sea of ​​the Nether has become a legend. Even if a fellow Taoist goes to the underworld, he may not be able to find the sea of ​​the Nether."

"I would like to ask fellow Taoists to give me the way."

"Well, since you have won me, I am willing to accept the loss. I can give you a guide. However, this matter must not be mentioned to others. No matter what you do in the underworld, it cannot affect the cause and effect of the human world."

"Fellow Taoist, please rest assured. I'm just sending a message to my old friend this time."

"So, fellow Taoist please go on the road."

After saying that, the Taoist priest in black robe stretched out a finger and pointed it at the gate of ghosts.

The old Taoist Mai followed the Taoist's fingers and strode towards the gates of hell.

After taking one step, he appeared again in the Nine Netherworld Land.

The sky is dark and the wind is shaking.

The old Taoist did not go to the ordinary Thirteen Stations of the Yinsi, but appeared directly on the Ancient Road of the Styx.

The Styx River is full of fishy winds, and countless resentful ghosts are floating and sank.

The river is clear and cold, and snakes and insects are everywhere.

The old Taoist took out a compass from his arms, recited a few spells, and threw the compass into the water.

The compass does not sink into the water, and the resentful ghosts in the river avoid it.

The next moment, the old Taoist jumped into the river, stepped on the compass, and flowed eastward along the water of the Styx.

I don’t know how long I drifted in the dark, but finally came to the Nether Sea.

The dark sea is vast and endless, connecting the Qi of Gui Water in the world and connecting the three realms. According to legend, even the water of the Tianhe River eventually flows into here.

In the middle of the Nether Sea, there is a mysterious sea eye vortex called Guixu.

The old Taoist found a clearing land and went ashore. He climbed a cliff beside Shanghai. Facing the fishy storm, he shouted at Qingming's vast and unstoppable Minghai: "Nineth day of the lunar month, don't use the hidden dragon!"

(It is not difficult to guess the identity of the old Taoist, it is Lao Hu. So who did he go to the underworld to meet? Did he guess it?)
Chapter completed!