Entering the gate, the interior was dim and hazy, making it impossible to see anything clearly. Even with the qi-sensing technique, the vision was devoid of vitality, and a faint scent of sulfur filled the nostrils.
Following the green-faced fanged creature for several dozen meters, the mist dissipated, and a colossal divine hall suddenly appeared. It towered thirty to forty meters high, its length and width beyond sight, its sheer size in the desert vast and barren, devoid of even a single blade of grass. This, I surmised, must be the first layer of hell.
Inside the hall, two more green-faced fanged beings were present, even larger than the first. I suspected they might be the legendary "Yaksha" tribe. Their heads bore marks where horns appeared to have been sawn off, indeed resembling the iconic Yaksha form.
I explained my purpose. The green-faced fanged beings did not speak our language, yet they understood. They guided us through a large door, revealing a library. However, the bookshelves were terrifyingly immense, reaching twenty meters high and divided into roughly fifty levels. Each level was densely packed with "books." This was a first for Bao Bao, and with a mischievous hand, she secretly pulled one out as we walked. It was a thread-bound book. Upon opening it, the pages were filled with dense, small brushstrokes in traditional characters. Each page seemed to contain the profile of a single individual: their name, a brief description of their life, the time of their death, and a post-mortem summary.
Many pages had large blank spaces, presumably for future additions.
I gave Bao Bao a look, signaling her to return it quickly and not to mess anything up. This was the underworld's registry database, a crucial system. Unlike the mortal world with its computers, where all data for an entire nation could fit onto a large hard drive with room to spare.
Bing Bing carefully slid the register back into place. The leading Yaksha noticed our minor transgression but said nothing. He simply stopped, and after confirming that Bing Bing had returned the registry book, he led us onward.
We rounded several massive bookshelves, and another structure appeared within the hall – a room within a room. This was considered a significant feng shui taboo, but the King of Hell had stated that underworld feng shui was reversed, suggesting this was a prime auspicious location. In reality, it was an ordinary brick and tile house with white walls and green tiles, somewhat reminiscent of Huizhou architecture.
Inside the room, it was an office. Numerous individuals dressed in scholar's robes sat at individual desks, engrossed in writing. Trillions of data points, presumably their task to update daily.
At the far end of the room, an old man with a white beard stood, not participating in the writing, but with his hands clasped behind his back, he inspected the scholars' "assignments" one by one, occasionally pausing to offer guidance to a particular scholar. He was evidently the supervisor.
Black Impermanence stepped forward to greet him and explain our purpose. The white-bearded old man could speak and exchanged pleasantries with us before summoning two scholars, instructing them to find the records of Li Yuanba and Liang Shidu, respectively.
Within this small house, there was also a stable. The two scholars mounted horses and set off, it was unclear how far they would have to travel to retrieve the information.
I took the opportunity to engage the white-bearded old man in conversation, asking for his name. When he revealed it, I was stunned: Cai Lun!
"Are you Cai Lun from the Eastern Han Dynasty, the one who invented paper?" I asked, astonished.
Cai Lun waved his hand dismissively. "Invented is too strong a word; I merely improved the papermaking techniques of the time."
I nodded, thinking to myself that Cai Lun was supposedly a eunuch. How could he have a beard, and such a long one? Was he not a eunuch, or perhaps a fake eunuch? Ancient imperial courts were rife with power struggles, and fake eunuchs emerged throughout every dynasty. Some were for protecting important figures, others for pleasing the emperor's women, especially neglected concubines, who also had such needs, primarily on a spiritual level.
Cai Lun inquired what year I had come from in the Common Era. I replied that I was alive, not deceased, and that the mortal world was currently in the year 2022 CE. Cai Lun was greatly astonished. "A living Yin Messenger? One in a millennium!"