The Yama King continued furiously: “For every angling shop opened because of your promotions and publicity, you bear fifty percent of the corresponding karmic burden under the Nether Laws, with the shop owner bearing the other half. If an owner expands to open a second branch, your share falls to thirty percent, while the owner takes seventy percent. Those shops promoting killing would never have existed without your persuasive influence. The netherworld never arbitrarily assigns evil karma; we only attribute these debts to you because your advertising directly led to their establishment.”
“Senior officials of the netherworld all build their standing upon observing the precepts. Those who uphold the precepts radiate bodily auras. The purer one’s virtuous observance, the higher their rank ought to be. You were destined to live a life of immense wealth, robust health and a flourishing family. In one of your past lives, you were a man of great goodness who amassed tremendous blessing rewards through generous giving. The retribution of that virtuous karma was meant to ripen in this lifetime. You would have prospered in any trade you chose, gained extensive connections, and owned twice the fortune you accumulated. Sadly, you took up angling from an early age. After finishing your studies, you went into wholesale dried seafood trading. Every penny you earned from that trade came as eroded portions of your accumulated blessing rewards.
“Your wholesale seafood business swiftly depleted half your blessing rewards for this lifetime. The netherworld repeatedly sent warning dreams: visions of sea creatures devouring and chasing you across the ocean. These dreams urged you to stop your ways, switch to an honest livelihood, and cease squandering your blessings to build up killing karma. Yet you never reflected on your deeds or felt remorse. Instead, you fed your arrogance, greed and craving. Not only did you neglect to practice goodness and accumulate virtue, but you also expanded your angling tackle shops and indirectly fuelled the growth of angling restaurants in the mortal realm. Under the Nether Laws, you must repay this heavy karmic debt through prolonged suffering in hell.
“Had you taken up legitimate trades on earth and avoided grave transgressions, you could still be living a happy life even without specially practicing goodness, cultivating Dao or accumulating blessings. You would never have fallen into hell to endure boundless agony.”
The Nether Sovereign Yama King called: “Solitary Soul Yaksha!”
The Solitary Soul Yaksha answered: “Here!”
The Yama King ordered: “Take him away immediately to the Solitary Souls Angling Fish in the Sword‑Sea Hell to undergo punishments and settle his karmic debts!”
The condemned soul wept bitterly: “Wuu… wuu… wuu… I deeply regret my insatiable greed. I craved ever greater wealth but chose the wrong path. Young lady, please record every word I have told you. I hope my friends will read this, mend their ways, and abandon angling and tackle shop businesses.”
“I beg you! If you publish my story, my acquaintances will recognize me from my family affairs and past thoughts. They will know this account is true and reform themselves. If they reform soon and stop the killing involved in angling, that can also shorten my torment in hell. Wuu… wuu… wuu… No one wishes to face endless hellish suffering. Ten thousand years is an unimaginably long stretch of time wuu… wuu… wuu… I yearn desperately to escape this place.”
Ayù: “I know the city you speak of; it is plagued with severe killing karma. So you have such a share of heavy black karma on your back. Writing The Inexorable Nether Laws is my duty, and I shall write down your testimony in full. You ought to recite the Buddha’s name; compassionate Buddha power will shelter you. I shall dedicate the meritorious virtues gained from writing this book to you, wishing you freedom from suffering and peace at the earliest possible time.”