The Judge bowed from afar: "Which great god might this be?"

Those eyes blinked and disappeared shortly afterward.

Little Taotie tilted her head slightly, unsure if what she just saw was an illusion or reality. She actually saw the Elemental Spirits within those membranes, and they had transformed into Spiritual Bodies, each with their own destination.

Little Taotie witnessed the entire process of those who took their own lives being "sentenced." Who would have thought, not killing others but bearing the same sin as murder, for taking one’s own life is still a neglect of life.

If this is true, the rules of the Underworld are far stricter than those of the human world.

Yet, Little Taotie did not resent such strict rules; instead, she felt a vague sense of agreement, believing that life is supreme, and even one’s own life should not be trampled upon or looked down upon lightly.

It is said that to be reincarnated as a human, one must endure numerous hardships, and even be reborn many times on the Animal Path before gaining another chance at human birth.

If in that life as a human, one accumulates Merit, cultivates oneself, and harmonizes family life, there will be blessings, and in the next life, perhaps better opportunities will arise.

But if in that life as a human, one is entangled in sin and commits numerous evil deeds, it will diminish the blessings from past lives, yielding bad karma in this life, eventually losing even the chance of being reborn as a human.

If the sins are lighter, there might still be a chance of reincarnation, but the worst fate is akin to those who are dragged down to endure the harsh tortures of the Underworld. In the Underworld, even the time for such torture is set.

If the karmic burden is too deep, the term becomes indefinite, similar to the sentencing time of criminals in the human world, punished according to their crimes.

Little Taotie touched the top of the Golden Tower: "I hope they can do well and become human in their next life."

This was said to those Spiritual Bodies that didn’t reincarnate as humans and perhaps turned into animals.

In truth, it is very difficult for animals to accumulate virtue because their instincts interfere, prompting them to attack other animals and disregard life, with little consciousness or wisdom. Therefore, after entering the Animal Path, the chance of reincarnating as a human is very slim.

However, there is still a glimmer of hope. If turned into herbivorous animals, perhaps they won’t commit killings in their lifetime. If reincarnated as a cow to help humans plow fields, or as a dog to become a capable police dog, they accumulate Merit. Particularly intelligent police dogs and other high-intelligence animals still have opportunities to do good, greatly increasing their chance of being reborn on the Human Path in the next life.

Little Taotie seemed to gain some enlightenment, nodding her little head in agreement with the mysterious cosmic laws.

Without rules, nothing can form a circle; in the human world, there are laws to govern, and in the Underworld, there are rules as well. In the end, good and evil will have their recompense; it’s not that they’re not repaid, just that the time has not yet come.

"Why can’t they be punished when they do bad things?" Little Taotie murmured to herself.

Her murmurs were carried away by the wind, then brought back by it.

A response came from Lord Judge of the Underworld: "The Six Paths of Reincarnation are all about trials. If evil deeds were stopped as soon as they sprouted, where would there be talk of trials? Without trials, how can one cross them? Without trials, how can we speak of the hardships of the human world and cultivation? Without evil, there is no good, and without good, there is no evil."

Little Taotie tilted her head and inquired in a childish voice, "Is it like Monk Tang obtaining scriptures from the West? With eighty-one trials, must he go through them all to acquire the true scriptures, without missing a single trial? So, the bodhisattvas let their mounts create the difficulties just to make up the numbers?"

"Hahaha..." The Judge let out a hearty laugh, "This understanding, it is also permissible."

Little Taotie mumbled, "Monsters with connections that do bad things can return and continue being the mounts of immortals and bodhisattvas, but those without connections are all killed."