**Chapter 488: Uninvited Guests, The Best Quality**
Inside the Convenience Store, Xia Dongqing, wearing a floral apron around his waist, quietly cooked Oden. From time to time, he would look up at the man in black playing on his mobile phone nearby.
"Zhao Li! What's wrong with you lately? Does the Underworld have no business? You've been staying in the store for days!"
"Leave me alone, I'm annoyed. I'm almost unemployed lately, my Xiao Qi!"
Zhao Li touched his new iPhone, his face full of sorrow, like a resentful woman confined to her chambers.
Not long ago, he received definite intelligence that Steve Jobs had already developed the iPhone 7 down below. He wanted to save money to buy a new mobile phone, and he finally saved enough! Unexpectedly, their group of soul ferrymen couldn't return to the Underworld. What's going on? Is the Underworld laying off staff recently, and are all their ghost messengers going to be unemployed?! But even if there were layoffs, it shouldn't affect him. Who doesn't know that Zhao Li has connections at the top? Who doesn't know that Zhao Li has performed meritorious deeds and shed blood for the Underworld?
"Zhao Li, I've always wondered about one thing. With so many ghosts in this World, can you soul ferrymen collect them all by yourselves?!"
It was past midnight, and there were no guests in the Convenience Store. Xia Dongqing grabbed a bucket of instant noodles, prepared it for himself, and brought it over to Zhao Li. While slurping his noodles, he gossiped,
"What the hell do you know!" Zhao Li glared at him irritably! "Deep within the Underworld are the Six Paths of Reincarnation. If you've seen them, you'd know they are six super massive vortexes. They emit a gravitational force field that pulls the spirits of the dead in the World to reincarnate!"
"However, the Six Paths of Reincarnation are like a computer, they only operate rigidly according to their software. The gravity of those six great vortexes is only useful for those who die of old age. As for ghosts who die violently, or those who commit suicide or are murdered, it still requires us soul ferrymen to guide them before they can reincarnate!"
"Do you understand? We soul ferrymen accumulate immeasurable merit, alright? Without us, who knows how many ghosts would be wandering in this World!"
"Just imagine, the moment you open your eyes, there are dozens of ghosts hanging from the ceiling. When you poop, there's a ghost head confronting you in the toilet!"
Zhao Li looked at his Underworld mobile phone, which had no signal. Having nothing else to do, he deliberately started trying to scare Xia Dongqing.
"Ew! Don't scare me!" Xia Dongqing was so frightened by Zhao Li's words that even the noodles on his fork suddenly didn't taste good anymore!
"Coward! What's there to be afraid of ghosts?! Compared to ghosts, the human heart is the most terrifying thing!" Zhao Li patted Xia Dongqing's shoulder and said with the tone of someone who had seen it all.
"Human heart... I don't have many friends, and no one is trying to harm me. Why don't you tell me more about the Six Paths of Reincarnation instead!" Xia Dongqing shook his head, forked up another spoonful of noodles, and looked at Zhao Li expectantly.
When Zhao Li heard Xia Dongqing say that no one was trying to harm him, a hint of apology flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly concealed.
"The Six Paths of Reincarnation is a concept from Buddhist scripture. The so-called cycle of samsara means 'leaving this aggregate and entering another aggregate'."
"Sentient beings in the World experience karmic retribution due to the good and bad deeds they perform. This karmic retribution has six destinations, known as the Six Paths."
"The Six Paths are divided by the Buddha based on the magnitude of the blessing received by the karmic body."
"They are: Heavenly Realm (spontaneous birth), Human Realm, Animal Realm, Asura Demonic Path, Hungry Ghost Realm, and Hell Realm."
"The so-called Six Paths of Reincarnation, according to one's karma/causality from their life, will naturally lead them into different paths."
"The Six Paths are divided into the Three Good Paths and the Three Evil Paths."
"Three Good Paths: Heavenly Realm, Human Realm, Asura Path."
"Three Evil Paths: Hungry Ghost Realm, Animal Realm, Hell Realm. Reincarnation constantly cycles between the Heavenly Realm and the Hell Realm, purely based on the good and evil deeds performed in life."
Zhao Li sighed, "However, that is merely the saying in Buddhist scripture. All things in the World, after death, are guided by the Six Paths of Reincarnation, their spiritual intelligence is washed away, leaving only the initial trace of spiritual light, and they are reborn. There is no distinction between good and evil; everything follows fate!"
Xia Dongqing looked at Zhao Li, feeling inexplicably that he possessed a sense of detachment from the mortal world, like a monk!
"What about your Underworld? It sounds like you're just bystanders?"
"What do you mean, bystanders? If those words reach Acha, you kid will definitely be sent straight down to the Eighteen Levels of Hell! Keep your mouth shut tight, be careful of trouble coming from your mouth!" Zhao Li said while scaring Xia Dongqing and also explaining,
"Our duty in the Underworld is to supplement the Six Paths of Reincarnation, to judge the ghosts who died violently, unjustly, or by suicide, the resentful ghosts, and arrange their reincarnation based on their merit and demerits in life!"
"Wouldn't it be best if the Six Paths of Reincarnation could be more intelligent and automatically absorb the souls who died violently, unjustly, or by suicide!" Xia Dongqing slurped his noodles, deep in thought.
"Best my foot! If souls who died violently were automatically pulled into reincarnation and their memories erased, what need would there be for ferrymen, Meng Po, or Judge? Even the Underworld King wouldn't be needed, everyone would be unemployed!" Zhao Li cursed angrily!
"I remember you said you're unemployed right now?" Xia Dongqing timidly raised his head and retorted.
"That's because a Great Divine Ability User sealed off the sky and earth! The Passage between K'un-Lun, the Underworld, and the Mortal Realm has been isolated! Heavens, Sky Sealing and Earth Locking! Who has such a powerful hand!"
Zhao Li looked up at the Sky. Under his Mind-Penetrating Wisdom Eyes, golden light flashed in his eyes! Boom!! The Great Dao seemed to be roaring and vibrating, as if representing the manifestation and intertwining of endless divine principles and golden chains of order, horizontally separating the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Mortal.
It was as if heaven and earth were collapsing, and the sound of ghosts wailing and gods howling echoed throughout the Universe.
Like a Sky splitting open, the Worlds rooted in the Mortal Realm appeared one after another. A vast Shadow World, like a giant shadow, faintly emerged above heaven and earth.
It was exactly the same as the Mortal Realm below, like a reflection in water! In that Shadow World, it was enveloped in immortal light, with immortal cranes seemingly flying, spirit beasts strolling, and countless exotic flowers and rare herbs transforming into elves running all over the mountains and fields.
A waterfall cascaded down from the Sky for a hundred thousand miles, crashing into a huge lotus pond. In the lotus pond, lotus flowers as large as buckets bloomed, crystal clear and even surpassing immortal blossoms and sacred fruits.
Beneath the lotus flowers, golden carp leaped and played, and dragon energy permeated the air—
Enveloped in streaks of moon essence, the figure of a Flawless Female Emperor manifested.
That figure was as pure as the moon, as distant as the Sky, yet also carried a hint of domineering aura.
Her cold gaze looked towards the sky full of golden chains—
"How dare you interfere with reincarnation! What audacity!!"
A faint, ethereal voice, like thunderclaps, echoed in Zhao Li's ears.
Immediately, this figure extended a white jade-like palm. In just a flash, that fair palm was like the creation of heaven, fiercely striking the golden chains.
Boom! A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering loud sound, the shockwave of which made Zhao Li's scalp tingling.
Along with this loud sound, the golden chains rippled, clanging throughout half the Space!
"My Lord Acha!"
Zhao Li looked at the palm striking the golden chains in the Sky and couldn't help but sigh, "Even this grandaunt has come out, it seems things are really serious!"
"Dongqing! Maybe I really will be unemployed. From now on, I'll rely on you to support me!"
"Rely on me to support you? Don't joke around. My salary for a month isn't even enough to refuel your car twice. If you want me to support you, raise my salary first!" Xia Dongqing gulped down the soup from the instant noodle bucket, and while walking towards the trash can, he gave Zhao Li a look of contempt.
"Raise salary? It's impossible to raise salary in this life. If I raise your salary, what about my Xiao Qi, and my Xiao Ba, Xiao Jiu, Xiao Shi—" Just as the two in the Convenience Store were bickering, the wind chime at the Convenience Store's entrance suddenly rang.
"Ding-a-ling-ling—"
"Dongqing, we have Guests!"
Zhao Li frowned and looked towards the entrance. Amidst the sound of the wind chime, two people dressed in extremely peculiar attire walked into Convenience Store 444.
"Foreigners!"
Zhao Li sized up the two uninvited guests who walked into the store. One was a scruffy, middle-aged white person wearing a brown trench coat. His dark circles were even heavier than his own, clearly a sign of excessive indulgence.
He was holding a black wooden luopan in his hand. Could he be a Feng Shui Master? But in the hundreds of years he had lived, or rather, the thousand years he had been dead, he had never seen a foreign Taoist! When Zhao Li looked at the other fair-skinned, beautiful woman with long legs, he finally confirmed the identity of the two.
"Whoa!" Zhao Li whistled at the pretty girl with twintails carrying a rocket launcher, "Beauty, are you cosplaying Harley Quinn? Gotta say, your outfit is really cool!"
"But your partner's cosplay isn't that great, it doesn't match you at all! Harley Quinn's partner should be the Joker! Or at least Batman! What's with bringing a Constantine? And holding a luopan in his hand, anyone who doesn't know would think you're a Feng Shui Master?"
"Beauty, look at my getup. I was a core member of the Cosplay Community back in the day. Want me to be your partner?"
Zhao Li was flirting with Harley Quinn.
"Spirits of the dead?" Constantine looked at Zhao Li with doubt. As soon as he spoke, Zhao Li's complexion instantly changed drastically.
"Your grandpa is a ghost messenger, a proper soul ferryman! You're the spirits of the dead! Who exactly are you two foreigners, what is your purpose here? Name, age, cup size, home address, spill it all, or don't blame my bullets for having no eyes!"
Zhao Li pulled out his soul-annihilating gun directly from his chest and aimed it at Constantine! Facing the dark muzzle, Constantine merely spread his hands, signaling Zhao Li to look beside him.
"A trick your grandpa hasn't played in years, where is there anyone?" Zhao Li quickly turned his head, and then he saw the dark rocket launcher aimed right at him.
"Hey, sis! That's not real, is it!" Zhao Li looked at Harley Quinn holding the rocket launcher and couldn't help but gulp.
Harley Quinn's face showed her signature smile: "Why don't you try it and see!" With that, Harley Quinn directly pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher.
"Splash!"
Inside a silver-gray egg-shaped nutrient pod, a graceful figure emerged from the viscous nutrient fluid. The woman pushed open the translucent cover plate above her head.
Her naked and agile body leaped out of the nutrient pod. Looking at the silver-white Compartment around her, Diana's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion.
"Where is this?"
Diana looked at the empty Room, walked to the coat rack, picked up the black long dress hanging there, examined it, and put it on. The clothes fit perfectly, as if tailor-made for her.
Just as Diana finished dressing, a holographic projection of a little girl in a red dress was projected in front of her.
"Hello! Ms. Diana! After a data scan, your physical condition is good! The Boss is waiting for you in the Tea Room—"
The smooth silver wall automatically split open to the sides, revealing a long silver-gray Tunnel behind the wall! After the little girl finished speaking, her body flickered and was about to disappear.
"Wait, who are you? Why am I here?"
Diana reached out as if to grab the little girl, but the little girl's holographic projection actually stopped flickering.
"Have you lost your memory? It seems you need a brain scan, or a soul examination—"
The little girl seriously examined Diana. As her gaze swept over, Diana felt a weak electric current pass through her body.
"I am Red Queen. You were severely injured in the combat with Thanos. Our Boss ordered people to rescue you! Do you have any impression?"
"Thanos? Your Boss?" Diana stared blankly at Red Queen before her. The confused memories in her mind instantly surfaced one by one. The last scene she remembered was a large area of purple light striking, and the huge firelight of the spaceship explosion.
She vaguely remembered using her Bracelets of Submission to raise a barrier, but she was still blown away by the powerful purple light.
"Your Boss is Tang Song?" Diana looked suspiciously at the little girl before her.
"Our Boss's surname is indeed Tang. Fortunately, although a large area of your body was exposed to the cosmic vacuum and directly irradiated by numerous rays, your brain did not suffer too much damage?"
The little girl politely answered Diana's questions.
"What was the result of that war? Did we win? How are Wayne and Steve Rogers?" Diana asked anxiously.
"Ms. Diana, since you are here, that explains everything! Thanos and his army have been eliminated by the Boss! As for your friends, they are fine, but you suffered some injuries from the shockwave of the explosion. It's not a big problem! It's just that your body was burned by cosmic rays, plus cryogenic freezing, making you a bit weak, which is why we sent you into the nutrient pod!"
Red Queen casually snapped her fingers, and a virtual projection appeared before Diana. The image clearly showed an ice sculpture suspended in the cosmic vacuum.
"Your body is indeed very strong. An ordinary creature's body exposed directly to cosmic vacuum rays for so long would have its body functions become necrotic long ago, but when we found you, we noticed that your cells still had vitality—"
"Looking at you now, your body has recovered quite well!"
Diana looked at the pale and swollen lump in the ice sculpture, finding it hard to believe that this lump was her.
However, the Bracelets of Submission and the golden armor on the ice lump all reminded her of its identity.
"Thank you for saving me. Oh, right, where are my Bracelets of Submission and weapons?"
"Your things are in the box on your left. Please hurry, the Boss is still waiting for you!" Red Queen bowed slightly and said, "As for the treatment fee, I will send a detailed list to your email!"
"Treatment fee? List?" Diana blinked, looking at Red Queen.
"Yes, madam, our treatment fee is not free. This is something you need to know!"
After re-equipping her Bracelets of Submission and putting away the Sword of Hephaestus, Diana walked straight towards the opened Gate. Passing through the long silver-gray Tunnel, Diana arrived in front of a room door. As soon as she reached it, the silver-gray door opened directly.
"Not bad, you're the one with the best quality among the people who came this time!"
(end of chapter)