Chapter 347: Trail of Heaven Deceiving Pendant - 01

Hearing her husband’s reasoning, Mo Xingyao couldn’t help but roll her eyes. This guy truly had no common sense!

“Fine! Fine! I won’t argue with you over this, but seriously, don’t be surprised when the time comes,” Mo Xingyao warned, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Hahahaha! There’s no way!” Wei Chen continued laughing, which made Mo Xingyao and Dream Butterfly exchange knowing looks.

Seeing that neither of his wives believed him, he couldn’t help but shrug. These days, people would rather believe a lie, and when someone told them the truth, they would treat the truth-teller as a liar.

“Anyway… There’s something I need you two to know. It’s about my duty. To be precise, it’s what I was hired to do.”

His two wives stopped smiling mischievously and turned toward him, ready to listen to what he had to say.

“I was hired by the Lord of the Underworld to reduce the astronomical death rate of this world.”

“Huh?”

The two women paused as they processed his words, then looked at each other as if trying to confirm whether they had heard him correctly.

“You said… the death rate? You’re supposed to reduce the astronomical death rate? And this task came from the Lord of the Underworld?” Mo Xingyao asked, trying to confirm what she had just heard.

“Yes.” He nodded.

Mo Xingyao was stunned.

It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him. This world was full of stories and heaven-defying phenomena, including the proven existence of Heaven’s Chosen, as her husband had demonstrated to the masses.

Moreover, this world had experienced countless calamities, wars, and other major events over millions of years. Countless secret realms had been created to preserve the legacies and histories of the ancient world.

Even today, many scholars were still unable to uncover its lost heritage and history. Not even a quarter of it had been recovered.

The flying arks they used today were themselves remnants of the technological marvels of a bygone age.

The idea that someone could oversee the entire cycle of life and death wasn’t entirely impossible, either.

After all, there were Immortal Emperors, and every hundred thousand years, the War to Seize Heaven took place.

This was the war that determined who would obtain the Heavenly Dao and ascend to become the one and only Immortal Emperor, reigning over the Immortal Realm.

So who was to say that gaining the authority to govern the cycle of life and death was impossible?

But didn’t this mean that the Lord of the Underworld must be… incredibly powerful?

And since it was the Underworld, shouldn’t its ruler rejoice whenever large numbers of people died? After all, the dead would enter the Underworld and help it expand.

Besides, people were born every day. Shouldn’t that make up for the deaths?

“Husband, are you sure your duty is to reduce the number of dead rather than increase it?” Mo Xingyao finally asked the question that had been bothering her.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Wei Chen confirmed it. “Why? You don’t believe me?”

“No… Husband, it’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that… shouldn’t the Underworld rejoice when people die? It’s like people coming to my shop to buy things. If more people came to buy from me, I’d be delighted too.” Mo Xingyao explained her reasoning.

“I see…” Wei Chen nodded, understanding where his wife was coming from.

“But… if too many people came and the shop couldn’t accommodate them all, wouldn’t that cause trouble? After all, the shop has limited space, and its foundation might not be able to support such a large crowd. If the building’s foundation gave way, wouldn’t it be counterproductive for the shop to be destroyed under the sheer weight of all those people?” Wei Chen explained.

“Lord Husband… Does this mean the Underworld Palace is having trouble managing the flow of the dead?” Dream Butterfly asked, having understood the crux of the problem.

“Yeah… I saw it with my own eyes. Newly deceased souls have to queue for months before they can pass through immigration. There’s also a process for refreshing the souls, according to what my boss told me. The more powerful the cultivator who dies, the more trouble they cause. Some of the really powerful ones even try to seize control of the Underworld, forcing my boss to beat them up and put them in their place himself,” Wei Chen said.

The two women listened and gradually began to understand the situation.

“Then… what do you need our help with?” Mo Xingyao asked.

“Nothing much,” Wei Chen began. “You two are my wives, which means our fates are bound together. And as your husband, when you kill someone yourselves, the consequences can reflect on me. I was hired to reduce the number of deaths, not increase them, so…”

Wei Chen spoke slowly, trying to explain the consequences without making it sound as though he were blaming either of them.

However, Dream Butterfly immediately understood the problem. Her face paled.

“I… I’m sorry, Lord Husband. I didn’t know… I didn’t mean to…” Dream Butterfly was shaken.

She remembered that she had killed people before, even after becoming her husband’s wife.

If those actions reflected badly on her husband, caused the Lord of the Underworld to view him unfavorably, and ultimately resulted in him being stripped of his place in the succession, it would be a grave sin on her part.

“Ah! I understand, Yu’er. Don’t worry about it. I’ve already cleared this up with my superior. Besides, you didn’t know, right? So there’s no need to beat yourself up over it.” Wei Chen quickly reassured his distressed wife, who seemed on the verge of tears.

Dream Butterfly nodded, but she couldn’t help making a vow to herself that she would never kill anyone again, lest her actions reflect badly on her husband.

Seeing that Dream Butterfly was still blaming herself, Mo Xingyao tried to help her by asking another question.

“Then can’t we do anything if someone comes looking for trouble?”

Wei Chen smiled.

“Oh, that’s easy. You can just beat the crap out of them. Not killing them doesn’t mean you can’t strike back. Honestly, this rule is pretty loose, and there are plenty of technicalities. You could beat someone half to death and leave them to die, or slice them up and let them bleed to death. Just be careful of last shotting them. That’s the only thing you really need to watch out for.”

Hearing their husband’s explanation, the two women heaved sighs of relief. In this world, being unable to defend themselves would put them in a very dangerous position.

“And honestly…” Wei Chen continued, drawing his wives’ attention.

“I’d rather you kill someone and have my payment deducted than have you tolerate some bullshit and put yourselves in greater danger.”

“And honestly…. If I were hired to look after an ant nest, but one of those ants bit you and gave you a high fever, I’d still pour a whole pot of boiling water into that damn nest. To hell with the consequences!”

Wei Chen spoke solemnly as he looked at his two wives.

This was something he would never compromise on, even if it cost him his life. He had already failed someone he loved once. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again just to protect something as insignificant as his career.

Hearing their husband say this, Mo Xingyao patted her good sister’s hand to reassure her, while Dream Butterfly smiled in understanding.

Their husband truly loved them deeply. He was even willing to sacrifice his own standing for their well-being, and that touched their hearts.

“See? He’s not like those stubborn people who only care about their careers or cultivation,” Mo Xingyao said to Dream Butterfly, who nodded in agreement.

Wei Chen could only smile, though inwardly, he couldn’t help thinking, *I’m not that good of a person. Otherwise, I might not have failed the people I loved in my previous life.*

But what had happened was already in the past. He had vowed never to make the same mistake again.

“By the way… I might have something I need your help with.” Wei Chen quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on his old wounds.

“What is it, Husband?” Mo Xingyao asked.

Wei Chen took a pendant out of his storage ring. It was the same pendant that could conceal someone from the Laws of Heaven and Earth, the very same one that the intruders from the Upper Realm had used to descend into this world and cause trouble.

“This is…” Mo Xingyao frowned as she examined the pendant, finding it strangely familiar.

It was the same pendant that the snake Chu Li had wanted her permission to sell! The Heaven-Deceiving Pendant.

“This thing has started to become a problem for my boss. It’s disrupting the balance between the two realms. We still don’t know who made these pendants, but if you know where someone is selling them, I need you to tell me so I can investigate,” Wei Chen said.

The moment Mo Xingyao heard what Wei Chen said, her face darkened as she remembered who had tried to persuade her to get involved in selling these things.

That damn snake! Chu Li!