Hell Emperor.

Chapter 262: Nan Linghe - Judgment
People argued endlessly about Shura Jie's identity, but in the end there was no conclusion. Some said he was Ye Jie, while others said he was not Ye Jie at all.

After arguing for a long time, Li Fei'e's eyes suddenly lit up and he suggested, "If we continue arguing like this, there will be no result in the end. In my opinion, we have to find a way to figure this out."

Xie Xinyu curled her lips and stroked the back of the turtle in her arms from time to time: "Do you think we don't want to? If Brother Jie is still alive, it would be a miracle... But how can we verify this? Go to the Demon Palace to find him?"

Shen Qingge raised his eyes calmly: "The Demon Palace is definitely not a good place. Ordinary ghosts are not qualified to approach it. In my opinion, we should wait patiently. In a few days, my master, Shura Hong, will come to return Youdie. At that time, we will ask her for clarification."

Shen Qingge's proposal made everyone nod their heads repeatedly. It sounded like the most feasible method. Everything would become clear when Shura Hong returned. Her suggestion also made everyone feel more at ease and full of expectations.

However, Li Fei'e didn't think so: "I don't want to wait that long, let's find out now."

After saying that, she quickly ran to Nan Linghe and met Nan Linghe's curious gaze.

Li Fei'e's actions also made everyone turn their attention to Nan Linghe. No one knew what idea she had come up with.

"Why are you all looking at me..." Being stared at by everyone, Nan Linghe suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention. He shrank his neck and said a little stiffly.

Li Fei'e stared into her eyes with a serious face: "Sister He, please tell us, is that Shura Jie really Brother Jie?"

Nan Linghe blinked and muttered, "I, I don't know either..."

Li Fei'e had expected this and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't know, but your choice will tell us the answer."

Hua Xiaomei seemed to realize something, her mouth opened wide, with a hint of surprise in her eyes: "Could it be that you are saying..."

Li Fei'e nodded vigorously: "With Sister He's luck, it shouldn't be difficult to make the right guess, right?"

Everyone suddenly realized what was happening and surrounded Nan Linghe like the moon surrounded by stars. With her being a lucky star, everyone felt like they had found a treasure.

Nan Linghe was still puzzled, his eyes full of confusion: "But, what should I do?"

Xie Xinyu thought about it, then stretched out her fist, with two wooden sticks wrapped in her fist. The lower part of the sticks was covered tightly by her, and the upper part looked exactly the same, without any difference. She slowly said: "Here are two sticks, one long and one short. Sister He, if you draw the short stick, that person is Brother Jie, and if you draw the long stick, that person is not Brother Jie. It's simple, right?"

Li Ba also looked hopeful: "If it was someone else, no matter what lot was drawn, it would not explain the problem, but if it was Sister He, it must be correct!"

Hua Xiaomei rubbed her hands. She looked at Nan Linghe and said solemnly, "Sister He, this matter is about Brother Jie's news. Although it sounds incredible, Meng Junyao said that Brother Jie might still be alive... I don't know how he did it, but only you can tell the truth from the falsehood of this matter. Are you willing to solve our doubts?"

Nan Linghe nodded vigorously, thinking of the past with Ye Jie, a silent warmth spread in her heart: "Of course I am willing! For Brother Jie, I must find the answer to the matter."

Everyone was delighted to hear this. Nan Linghe's answer was so firm, which meant that there was no hidden danger in this matter. Everyone held their breath and watched Nan Linghe's actions intently, not daring to be distracted for a moment.

Nan Linghe stretched out his hand and paused for a moment on the wooden stick to the right of Xie Xinyu's fist, as if he wanted to pull it out, but after thinking about it, he moved his fingers to the side and pulled out the wooden stick to the left.

As she pulled out the wooden stick, everyone exclaimed in surprise for a long time.

"Is that... a short signature?"

"So, Brother Jie is really still alive..."

"Great, Ye Jie...he's still alive!"

The wooden stick in Nan Linghe's hand was only one knuckle long at the bottom, while the wooden stick in Li Fei'e's hand was three knuckles long at the bottom. Nan Linghe drew the short stick, and the meaning of it made everyone cry with joy. After hearing the good news, many people's eyes were filled with tears and they cried out loudly.

Even Xia Wei was completely stunned when she saw the short lot. The complex emotions of joy and fear completely occupied her heart. She gritted her teeth and shook her head repeatedly: "No... This is impossible! I don't believe this. Master is clearly in front of me... Sister He, please draw again!"

Nan Linghe pursed her lips. She could feel the pain in Xia Wei's heart, so she did as she was told and returned the short lot to Xie Xinyu, asking her to shuffle the order and draw again. This time, the result was still a short lot.

Everyone thought that Xia Wei would believe it this time, but Xia Wei still shook her head stubbornly: "There are only two sticks, which doesn't mean anything at all. Sister Xinyu, please add a few more sticks."

Xie Xinyu had no choice but to do as he was told. He held a handful of sticks in his fist and after a rough count, there were at least a dozen or twenty of them. To accurately draw a short stick among these sticks, it was not something that could be explained by simple luck, but required tremendous luck.

And Nan Linghe has that kind of luck.

As Nan Linghe stretched out her hand, she pulled out the short stick again.

"How could it be... Could it be, could it be..."

Xia Wei was torn. She wanted to believe that her master was still alive, but she was afraid that everything was in vain and would only add to her sadness. She also showed strong suspicion towards Nan Linghe and the others. She scanned them with sharp eyes and asked paranoidly:
"Wait a minute, could it be that you two have colluded to deceive me?"

Hearing this, Nan Linghe lowered his head, looking a little aggrieved.

Li Fei'e couldn't listen any longer, patted Nan Linghe on the back, and defended her: "Xia Wei, listen to what you said, how can you doubt your family like this? When it comes to Brother Jie's affairs, we are no less worried than you, why should we lie to you? How can you say this about Sister He?"

Seeing Nan Linghe pouting and her eyes slightly red, Li Fei'e said angrily: "You should apologize to Sister He." Xia Wei bit her lip hard. Under Li Fei'e's accusation, she also understood her own problems. Seeing Nan Linghe shed tears, her iron-hard heart melted at once. She hurriedly took Nan Linghe's hand and apologized sincerely:
"I'm sorry, Sister He, I shouldn't have doubted you for no reason. It's all my fault. I know you are the kindest person. Please forgive me this time and don't be sad anymore..."

Facing Xia Wei's apology, Nan Linghe bit her teeth lightly and forced a smile: "Sister Xia Wei, I don't mean to blame you... I know you care about Brother Jie very much, we are all the same as you, if he is really still alive, how great it would be..."

At the end, Nan Linghe could no longer suppress the grief in her heart. Her memory seemed to have gone back to the day when Ye Jie's soul passed away. Endless grief filled her heart, and she and Xia Wei hugged each other and cried bitterly.

Everyone was silent, with a faint sadness spreading. Ye Jie's death also made his family incomplete. Now, from Nan Linghe's drawing of lots, a glimmer of hope ignited in everyone's hearts.

After a long while, Xia Wei regained her composure, but her eyes were slightly red. "If... I mean if, Master is still alive, why doesn't he come to find us? Doesn't he... want me anymore?"

Shen Qingge was a little helpless about this: "What are you thinking about? There are many possibilities. We can't jump to conclusions. It's unheard of for the soul to fly away and then come back to life again. I'm afraid even the founder of the Xuannv Sect doesn't know what happened."

After a pause, seeing Xia Wei's sad expression, Shen Qingge comforted her:
"Maybe Ajie is in trouble and doesn't want to reveal his identity. Maybe he has lost his memory and doesn't remember who he is. The situation may be very complicated, but no matter what, he will not abandon you. Have you forgotten? Once upon a time, he used his life to turn into a sword for you. He never regretted it even if his soul burned out. He gave everything to you. Could such a person abandon you?"

After hearing Shen Qingge's words, Xia Wei's expression improved. That's right, why would the master not want her? She must have encountered some trouble.

"Is there anything I can do?" Xia Wei asked hastily. After learning that her master might still be alive, she did not want to delay even a moment and only wanted to reunite with her master.

Shen Qingge shook his head: "You should calm down. Ajie may have his reasons for not wanting to recognize us. Don't ruin his plan because of your momentary impulse."

Xia Wei was unwilling, but still nodded: "Is there nothing we can do?"

"Not really." Shen Qingge thought for a while before speaking, "When Master returns Youdie, we can ask her about Shura Jie... Besides that, do you still remember the Snow Spirit on Mount Baitou?"

"Of course I remember! We are going to send her to the East China Sea to find the witch of the Witch God Temple... Wait, you mean..."

At the end, Xia Wei seemed to have thought of something, and her pretty face showed a bit of surprise.

A gleam of wisdom flashed across Shen Qingge's cold eyes. "I heard that the witches have a way to contact any soul in the underworld. No matter how far away they are, or what kind of enchantment arrays exist, they can't be stumped... If a witch can help, maybe we can contact Ajie and ask him the truth without alerting him."

Shen Qingge's words were like a wake-up call to everyone. Whether it was Xia Wei or other family members, they were all overjoyed at this moment, as if they had already seen the day when they would reunite with Ye Jie.

"Great... Let's go to the East China Sea now!" Xia Wei clenched her fists, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and urged everyone to set off.

Li Fei'e's mouth twitched, and she couldn't help but remind him, "The East China Sea is not that easy to get to. It's at least a thousand miles away from here. We have to pass through Goguryeo, Aolai and other places before we can get there. Besides, the East China Sea is vast, and it's not easy to find the erratic witch overseas."

Xia Wei nodded. No matter how far the journey was, she would not be stumped. "What are we waiting for? Let's get going quickly. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can get the answer!"

Everyone could hear Xia Wei's full enthusiasm in her words.

Looking at Xia Wei, Nan Linghe smiled calmly. After learning the news about Ye Jie, Xia Wei's aura was completely renewed and the haze in her heart was swept away. The familiar sister Xia Wei was finally back.

On the side, Xie Xinyu was still sorting out the lots she had just drawn.

With the ability of Yinan Linghe, let alone drawing a short stick from a dozen or twenty long sticks, even if he drew one from thousands of long sticks, he would definitely not make a mistake.

Thinking of this, Xie Xinyu couldn't help but feel a little emotional. The more he got along with Nan Linghe, the more he could feel the power of her innate magical powers. Compared with her, his own innate magical powers seemed unremarkable.

Xie Xinyu tripped due to her absent-mindedness, and the sticks in her hand fell to the ground, which made her a little annoyed. At this time, she saw a familiar figure approaching. Nan Linghe squatted down and said innocently, "Sister Xinyu, let me help you clean it up."

Xie Xinyu raised the corner of her mouth, looked at Nan Linghe carefully, and couldn't help but said: "With your ability, it should be more than this, right?"

Nan Linghe tilted his head, his eyes showing some confusion: "What does that mean?"

Xie Xinyu said seriously: "Drawing lots is just a way to use luck. Your luck is so good, even if you change to drawing lots or other methods, there will be no mistakes, and the answer should be the same."

"So what?" Nan Linghe blinked.

Xie Xinyu was quite helpless: "So, you don't need these external methods at all. You only need to feel the difference between good and bad in your heart, and you can get the answer. You just need to calm your mind. The correct answer will make you happy and peaceful, and the wrong answer will make you uneasy. The difference is obvious. You can also simply understand it as not drawing lots in the outside world, but drawing lots in your heart."

After a pause, Xie Xinyu continued, "After years of training, you can tell the truth from the falsehood of any question at a glance. Even if you change the question to something else, such as good or bad luck, the answer you get will be completely correct. I remember that the auspicious beast Di Ting has the power of a lucky star entering the fate. No matter what you ask it, it can give the most correct answer. Have you ever seen it draw lots?"

Nan Linghe finally understood and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Are you saying that you want Di Ting to draw lots as well?"

Xie Xinyu didn't catch her breath, she just felt that she was about to be completely defeated by Nan Linghe, she said in a sad voice: "You don't understand what I mean at all. What I mean is that your use of the lucky star entering your life is far from reaching the limit... If you can use this innate magical power to the extreme, you can do many unimaginable things."

Nan Linghe smiled faintly, her pretty face showing a sense of contentment: "Why do so many things? Anyway, my family is by my side, I will do whatever they ask me to do. The only thing I want to do is to find Brother Jie... Besides, with Xia Wei here, those unimaginable things will not be a problem for no one to do them!"

Xie Xinyu was deeply moved by Nan Linghe's peaceful and indifferent attitude towards the world. If it were her, with such top-level talent and magical power, she would definitely squeeze the power of fortune into her life to the extreme and collect all the treasures that passed by along the way.

(End of this chapter)