Chapter Ninety-Four: The Bizarre Stone Forest

In turbulent times, the common people suffer, yet who could have imagined that even in this prosperous era, the common people remain the ones who suffer the most. Especially within this Great Tang, despite the apparent benevolence shown toward the common folk, the underlying exploitation of the people has fundamentally remained unchanged.

Analyzing this from the grand perspective of historical trends, Li Zisheng understood it all too well. As the saying goes: whether the state rises, the people suffer; whether it falls, the people suffer. In the end, disaster invariably falls upon the common people.

After letting out a sigh, Li Zisheng began to carefully observe the twenty-four large iron pillars before him. The arrangement of these twenty-four pillars was distinctly bizarre.

Within this square plaza, the iron pillars were positioned to form a massive circle—a circle whose configuration he seemed to recall having seen in ancient texts.

Observing the pillars closely, Li Zisheng was astonished to discover that a large character was engraved upon each and every one of them.

They were: Ren, Zi, Gui; Chou, Gen, Yin; Jia, Mao, Yi; Chen, Xun, Si; Bing, Wu, Ding; Wei, Kun, Shen; Geng, You, Xin; Xu, Qian, Hai.

Furthermore, every group of three iron pillars was virtually identical, suggesting that they were categorized in sets of three.

Studying the twenty-four characters intently, a sudden realization dawned upon Li Zisheng: this must be related to metaphysics.

Racking his brain through the books he had read, he found these twenty-four characters painfully familiar. He had definitely seen them somewhere before—without a doubt.

Li Zisheng silently chanted the twenty-four characters in his mind, thinking and reciting them simultaneously.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he instantly remembered where he had seen them.

"The Heavenly Fate Sacrifice! Yes, exactly, the Heavenly Fate Sacrifice."

He had encountered these twenty-four iron pillars within the records of the Heavenly Fate Sacrifice, and the characters inscribed upon them matched these precisely. Li Zisheng did not immediately pull out the manual of the Heavenly Fate Sacrifice he had concealed on his person; Yanhong, the Master of the White Tiger Hall, was both ruthless and extraordinarily meticulous, and he could not afford to expose himself under any circumstances.

Li Zisheng circled the twenty-four iron pillars several times, forcibly committing the precise positioning of each pillar to memory.

Without lingering further, he took Bazhi and continued to stroll around the White Tiger Hall.

"Reporting to the Hall Master, that Li Zisheng lingered by the Branding Grounds for quite a long time, staring fixedly at the branding pillars."

"Oh? You say he lingered at the Branding Grounds? That young fellow Li Zisheng is rather extraordinary to be able to remain there for so long. That Branding Grounds is an execution site left behind by the predecessors of the White Tiger Hall of the Sanweiju. It was forged in imitation of the branding punishments of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Ever since its establishment, the blood and flesh of countless individuals have stained those pillars, sinking deep into the iron itself. Ordinary people find the mere stench of the place unbearable, and even seasoned experts feel a sense of discomfort after prolonged exposure. Yet Li Zisheng lingered there for so long—this speaks volumes about his extraordinary nature. As expected of a scion from a prominent family, his knowledge is truly vast."

Li Zisheng remained completely unaware that his standing in Yanhong's eyes had risen yet another notch.

Passing through the Branding Grounds, the two of them arrived at an area resembling a prison cell, though it bore a bizarre and peculiar name: the Nineteenth Level of Hell.

Li Zisheng knew that the concept of the Eighteen Levels of Hell originated in Buddhism and was later adopted by Daoism. But what on earth was this Nineteenth Level of Hell?

Seeing Li Zisheng's inclination to enter the Nineteenth Level of Hell, Bazhi anxiously grabbed the hem of his robe from behind.

"Young Master, this place is entirely too terrifying! It is clearly underground, yet one can feel chilly drafts howling through like a gloomy, ghostly hall. Even the illumination is an eerie shade of green—it is simply too dreadful. Let's turn back quickly and stop wandering around. Remaining in a place like this will shorten one's lifespan!"

Looking utterly terrified, the grown man shrank behind Li Zisheng, clutching his garments tightly to prevent him from taking another step forward.

However, whether they entered or not was ultimately of little consequence. The reason Li Zisheng had wanted to enter was due to the clues gathered earlier from the twenty-four iron pillars; the White Tiger Hall was highly likely to be connected to the mysterious Heavenly Fate Sacrifice, prompting him to venture into the Nineteenth Level of Hell to investigate.

However, entering or not entering made little difference. As for this Nineteenth Level of Hell, he only needed to know what the nineteen levels consisted of. As for what lay inside, Li Zisheng could easily imagine the sort of horrifying scenes awaiting them without even having to think about it. He simply had no stomach to witness the horrors within. If it truly matched his expectations, then missing out on the tour was no great loss.

Turning around, Li Zisheng retraced his steps and departed from the Nineteenth Level of Hell.

Upon learning that Li Zisheng had turned back, Yanhong felt a twinge of disappointment. The Nineteenth Level of Hell was her own original creation, conceived based on Buddhist scriptures. Designed to intimidate all directions, anyone who learned of its existence turned pale with fright—this was her greatest amusement. Whenever others reacted with terror upon hearing of her Nineteenth Level of Hell, she experienced her greatest joy.

She resolved that at the next opportunity, she must let Li Zisheng witness her Nineteenth Level of Hell. If she could use this chance to let Grand Tutor Zhang learn of it and have her original creation promoted within the imperial court, that would be a magnificent achievement.

Yanhong made up her mind to find a chance to brief Li Zisheng on the details of the Nineteenth Level of Hell and enlist his help to speak on her behalf, so that her ambitions could be realized on a broader scale.

Having left the Nineteenth Level of Hell, Li Zisheng continued his stroll.

They arrived at a stone forest. While stone forests were common enough, an underground stone forest was anything but ordinary. This stone forest was arranged with meticulous precision, and every single boulder forming it was extraordinarily heavy. Li Zisheng had no idea how these massive stones had been transported down here, but his evaluation of the power and wisdom of the Sanweiju reached a higher level.

The construction of this stone forest was remarkably unique. Once pieced together, the countless boulders vaguely resembled a Karst landform, complete with peak forests, isolated peaks, residual hills, rolling knolls, and stone buds. The expanse of the stone forest was vast, leaving Li Zisheng full of admiration. To have carved out an entirely new stone forest landscape deep underground was nothing short of miraculous workmanship—a feat of engineering difficult to replicate even in modern times.

Yet one detail struck Li Zisheng as rather odd: both the twenty-four iron pillars in the front and the Nineteenth Level of Hell in the back were unmistakably places of punishment. But this stone forest served no special purpose whatsoever, let alone any punitive function. To occupy such a sprawling underground world—wasting an immense amount of human and material resources without using it for punishment—seemed somewhat peculiar.