The Hidden Myth of Ji Dara

Chapter 39 - The Netherworld [2]

He didn't know how long had passed, but there was a part of him that was saying years had passed, and there was also another newborn instinct that was telling him he had barely been here for an hour; it was this time lag that Sam was still thinking about when he heard a deep voice boom across this massive place that was so large that he couldn't even fathom its ends in every direction;

"Sam?"

"Who amongst all of you is Sam?"

This demon which was about one and half times the size of the demon that just whipped Sam, asked with a deep voice that boomed through this world, causing countless souls to look to him, floating there, in the sky with slacked jaws…

The other demons around also saw this demon and they all stopped whatever it was that they were doing, as they went down on one knee and bowed slightly…

Sam also looked up to the massive demon riding on a floating black patch of clouds;

"Sam?"

The massive demon asked for confirmation after seeing Sam's soul body, and after seeing Sam nod towards him, he waved his hand as black light shot out and wrapped around Sam, who stood there like an idiot, gazing at everything with a lost but extremely curious expression…

Swoosh!

The black patch of cloud moved and vanished into the distance at blinding speed, as Sam and the giant demon left the rest of the souls behind with shock plastered on their faces…

The previously bowing and silent demon then gazed at the souls who have all stopped moving as they were still stunned by the situation, but with just one loud whip and a miserable shriek, they were all pulled back to reality as they all resumed their endless walk…

Sam stood there, quiet and slightly petrified as the black patch of cloud rose higher and higher into the skies within this dimension, and shortly after, Sam began to make out the shape of a massive golden mansion higher up in the sky…

It started out with the size of an ordinary egg, but the more they approach with blistering speed, the more the little mansion magnified in his sight, and before long, the mansion was already three stories tall, as Sam could then full see the mansion in its full glory…

It was massive, sturdy, grand and ancient, with a deep sense of vintage and scholarly aura radiating off it…

It gave no sense of power of any kind as everywhere was silent, calm and peaceful…

The moment they reached its gates, Sam saw the black patch of cloud they were standing on merge into the entire massive patch of cloud the entire mansion was standing on…

He also saw other demons walk to the edge of this massive patch of cloud and then stood there, before the part of the cloud they were standing on detached and then carried them floating downwards just like an elevator…

Palace of The First Order; this was what Sam saw written on the massive gates in front of them…

The massive demon then got to the gates and stretched his palm towards it as the mark on his palm lit up, something which caused the massive gates to glow slightly before swinging open…

They headed straight for the main building, because this mansion looked like it was three mansions merged together into one super-mansion, and the biggest of this three was the one in the middle which Sam felt must be the main building where the strongest or the most respectful person in this area resides…

They entered, and just like he had expected, this place was filled with several souls doing administrative works with several slips of papers, scrolls, and books all over the place…

Both in the shelves, and in the hands of these soul who were fleeting all over the place, as silently and orderly as possible, as the massive demon maneuvered his was up the stairs and to the top floor which seemed to be residential area…

When they reached this floor, Sam saw an open wooden double door with several souls moving to and fro within the room behind it, and it was just like the ground floor, but then, the massive demon went to the door, grabbed the handles and shut it…

Then the demon waited for a while and open the door once again, and Sam had the shock of his life…

The previous view of souls fleeting all over the place had gone, and in its place was now some sort of library…

As Sam tried to wrap his head around the entire scenario, the demon walked in with Sam in tow, and within this place was a quiet study; there were bookshelves all around, and a table and chair right at its center…

A green robed, middle aged man sat at the table flipping through a book;

"Your highness!" The demon gave a curt bow;

"Thanks Valtak, I will take it from here…"

The middle aged man waved his hand dismissively with his face still buried in the book in his hands…

Sam looked towards one of the bookshelves and saw; 'Office of The First Order Supreme Judge', and instantly it dawned on him that the person he was currently standing in the presence of, might as well be the person in charge of everything within this realm;

"But why will the First Order Supreme Judge want to see me?"

Sam tried to understand the situation, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pinpoint one reason why someone on this level would want to see his insignificant self, after all, he was just an ordinary person here and had never been in any kind of acquaintance with the man before...

Sam sneaked a peek at the man seated behind the table as his mind went full throttle, thinking about every possible scenario that might happened here today, but everything was fruitless as he couldn't even predict a possible outcome...

This study was very simple and plain; the bookshelves had an ancient scent to them and the table at the center of the study was a wooden one which had a dragon, a turtle, a tiger and a bird carved at its four corners.

"Is that…?"

Sam looked at these creatures curiously; the turtle was black in color, the dragon jade-green, the bird was flaming-red, while the tiger was white.

"Are those...the four symbols of Feng Shui?!"

Sam remembered Fifth, one of the soldiers in his squad was Asian and he had a knack for ancient traditional creatures, and every time, he would tell the group stories about all these creatures whenever they were on missions, one thing that the entire team were so into, and Sam could still remember him mentioning the 'Four Mystical Beasts of Feng Shui!', and in the blink of an eye Sam had become utterly engrossed in the study of this carvings.

"Hmm!"

The green robed middle aged man raised his brows in surprise as he gazed at Daniel who was glancing at the table with an astonished gaze.

"I never expected him to possess such powerful soul power…"

"Wake up!"

The green robed man spoke in a mysterious but soft tone which jolted Sam out of his wandering state of mind...

His train of thoughts was instantly cut off as he totally regained his senses, only then did he remember that he was still within the study of the First Supreme Judge of the Netherworld Kingdom…

"I'm referred to as 'First Yama King' or the 'First Supreme Judge' but you can just call me King Yama…"

The green robed man softly introduced himself to Sam who was now clear headed. King Yama closed the book he was reading which had a green and grey cover and smiled towards Sam who had a shocked expression on his face...

From his current position the words written on the cover of the book this middle aged man was reading were; [Book of Life and Death.]

"I was just reading about the ending of your past life…" King Yama chuckled in response to Sam's stunned expression...

Daniel was truly terrified indeed;

"The ending of his past life?!"

"Your first life had been full of enacting justice and saving countless lives from different conspiracies of the greedy."

"For one to be willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others is an extremely rare act nowadays"… King Yama sighed in praise.

"King Yama praises me too much, if I had another life, I might decide not to join the military…" Sam gave an honest reply

"Your life was also short-lived, dying before the age of forty, and if one was to add your manner of death-"

King Yama was unable to finish his statement, thus he simply sighed and continued;

"-Ah! Greed does indeed drive humans to great lengths, even a friendship of 18 years wasn't spared in the face of selfish greed…"

King Yama exhaled as he slowly spoke with a detestable expression…

King Yama then picked up the Book of Life and Death and grasped the air, and a golden scepter abruptly appeared in his hands...

Immediately, a blinding golden light burst out of his body and enveloped him. King Yama who was now bathed in golden light then opened a new page and spoke;

"I am a person that never allows anyone to suffer the level of injustice you have suffered in vain, and as a result I will let you reincarnate…"

All of a sudden, words started appearing on the empty page as Sam watched everything unfold in front of him with a stunned expression...

He could instantly tell, that this middle aged man bathed in golden light was doing something extraordinary to his life, but he didn't know what specifically it was that he had done, thus he simply stood there and watched…

Then the moment King Yama finished, Sam asked;

"I believe there are others who accumulated the same merits as me and even more, but why did you pick me?"

"Because… you and I are from the same realm" King Yama replied…