“Could it be that they’re going to…”
Lu Chen pointed at his own lips.
Xie Qingyi buried her head even lower, her voice barely a whisper: “Mhm~”
Lu Chen sucked in a sharp breath of cold air—especially when he caught a glimpse of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face behind him suddenly wearing expressions of utter shyness.
—Holy crap!
In an instant, a powerful wave of revulsion surged through his entire body, making every hair on his skin stand on end.
Fortunately, the Yin energy that Fan Rusong and Xie Qingyi had channeled into him was sufficient.
After a short while, Lu Chen, having absorbed the Yin power from both of them, felt a chill envelop him from the inside out, and his body temperature dropped significantly.
His entire being then slipped into a wondrous, indescribable state—light and ethereal, as if he were floating on air.
“General, that should be enough!” Fan Rusong and Xie Qingyi’s faces turned even redder.
“Let’s move out!!”
With a grand wave of his hand, Lu Chen took the lead and leaped into the massive cypress tree before him.
The four underworld agents followed close behind.
A ripple spread out like water across a pond.
Then, as Lu Chen burst forth once more—
The scene that suddenly unfolded before his eyes nearly made his jaw drop to the floor.
“Wait… you guys call this place… a ‘street’?”
What lay before him was clearly a sprawling, magnificent city!
Fan Rusong explained, “General, it’s called a ‘street’ in name, but in reality, it’s a small ghost city. Any City God ranked at the prefectural level or above has the power to carve out their own ghost domain. The size of the ghost city directly reflects the depth of the City God’s magical abilities.”
“So you’re saying that our Jiangdu City also has one of these ghost cities?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Alright then.” Lu Chen found it all quite novel and made a mental note to check it out back in Jiangdu when he had the chance.
A ghost city~
Sounds pretty interesting~
Right now, they were standing on a bustling commercial street.
The street’s layout and appearance closely resembled those seen in period dramas, though the overall color palette was much gloomier.
The long street was packed with “pedestrians” jostling shoulder to shoulder, and lanterns hung on both sides, filling the air with a festive atmosphere.
“Oh? Is today some kind of special occasion?”
Noticing the lanterns, Fan Rusong did a quick calculation with her fingers and suddenly tensed up: “General, we’ve really hit a major day.”
“What kind of major day?”
“Today is the once-a-decade City God Assembly. The prefectural City God invites all the City Gods from across the province to gather together and celebrate the grand occasion.”
“What?” Lu Chen’s mind went blank for a moment. “So you’re saying that right now, in this ghost city, there are several dozen City Gods gathered?”
“That’s right!”
“…”
Holy hell. One prefectural City God was already tough enough to deal with. Now they had to add over a dozen prefectural-level City Gods and several dozen county-level City Gods on top of that?
Lu Chen sucked in another cold breath.
Suddenly, those five thousand military merits didn’t seem so appealing at all!
Why is it that whenever it’s my turn, these missions always turn out to be practically SSS-rank in difficulty?
“Forget it, just lead the way. We’re already here—we won’t know unless we try!”
He shook his head helplessly and pointed forward.
Fan Rusong and Xie Qingyi exchanged a knowing glance. Each took one of Lu Chen’s arms, and their bodies lifted into the air, flying toward the Soul Arrest Bureau.
Within this City God ghost domain, their powers were fully unleashed, no longer constrained by the heavenly laws that bound them in the mortal world.
Lu Chen gazed down at the mist-shrouded ghost city below, noticing the throngs of spirits crowding the streets. He couldn’t help but ask, “Why are there so many spirits here in the City God Street? Aren’t they going to be reincarnated?”
Fan Rusong answered, “Some of them are lost souls who missed their chance at rebirth. They can only wait here until their yin lifespan runs out and they naturally dissipate. To prevent them from causing chaos in the living world, the City God keeps them confined here. Others are children born to these spirits in the underworld—these are naturally occurring ghostly beings who, with the right opportunity, might cultivate themselves into ghost immortals. As for the rest, some are servants of the City God’s underlings, while others are delayed here for various reasons. The population is quite diverse, and it would take a while to explain it all.”
“I see.” Lu Chen took it all in as a novel experience.
This was only the second time he had set foot in such an “extraordinary place”—the first being the Dragon King’s underwater palace at the Well Spring.
After flying for a while,
Lu Chen spotted a grand hall looming ahead, half-hidden in the hazy mist.
As they drew closer,
he could make out a plaque hanging above the hall, inscribed with three bold, sweeping characters—[Soul Arrest Bureau].
Of course, Lu Chen couldn’t read the characters.
Fan Rusong told him what they said.
Just then, a clattering sound of chains drifted up from below.
Two lines of spirits were queued up outside the hall.
One line consisted of spirits with heavy shackles on both their hands and feet—that was where the clattering came from.
The other line was much more at ease, with no restraints whatsoever.
The difference was also apparent in the underworld agents escorting them: the shackled ones were guarded by several stern-faced Black Impermanences—clearly evil souls;
the unshackled ones were led by White Impermanences with relatively gentle expressions—likely good-hearted people in their past lives.
As expected, the line of evil souls stretched on for ages, while the line of virtuous souls was sparse, with only a handful of people.
“Fly down and take a look—see if Madam Zheng is here!”
They descended from the clouds and landed quietly.
“Who goes there!”
Several guard imps from the City God Street immediately became alert and quickly surrounded them.
But when they recognized the four underworld agents, they became nervous and trembling: “Ah, so it’s Miss Fan, Miss Xie, and the two Venerable Rakshasas.”
“Step back!” The Ox-Head and Horse-Face, who had been so deferential in front of Lu Chen, now exuded the full authority of underworld divine envoys before these lesser imps.
“Yes, yes, yes! Please forgive us, my lords!” The imps scrambled away as if granted a reprieve.
“General, this way, please!”
Lu Chen nodded and darted over to the line of virtuous souls, frantically scanning the faces.
“What wandering soul dares to cause trouble in the City God Street!”
Suddenly, a sharp shout rang out, and a mourning staff swept toward Lu Chen on a gust of yin wind.
Xie Qingyi reacted swiftly, raising her hand to block the strike.
“Uncle Liu, it’s me!”
“Oh! Miss!” The White Impermanence holding the mourning staff was visibly startled when he saw Xie Qingyi. He looked behind her.
“Miss Fan is here too! And the two Rakshasa brothers!”
Several other Black and White Impermanences in charge of escorting the souls also gathered around, greeting them politely.
After all, Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong were the daughters of the two heads of the Impermanence in the underworld—their status was far from ordinary, so none of them dared to be negligent.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, the Impermanences turned their attention to Lu Chen: “And this gentleman is…?”
Xie Qingyi introduced him solemnly: “Do you all remember the ‘Valiant and Upright General of Virtue’ personally appointed by Lord Yanluo some days ago? This is that very lord!”
The Impermanences straightened up and quickly clasped their fists in salute: “So this is the General’s honored presence! Forgive our poor eyesight!”
Lu Chen waved his hand. He wasn’t in the mood for formalities. He quickly scanned the line again—and his heart sank.
“Madam Zheng isn’t here!”
“Uncle Liu, have you arrested and brought in a soul named Zhang Hui?” Xie Qingyi asked urgently.
“Miss, I just came on shift—I’m not sure. What about you folks?” The White Impermanence called Uncle Liu turned to his colleagues behind him.
“No, we just brought back some souls and arrived not long ago ourselves.”
Fan Rusong’s face changed: “Oh no! She’s probably already been taken inside the Soul Arrest Bureau! General, hurry!”
Without a moment’s delay, they rushed into the main hall of the Soul Arrest Bureau.
After winding through several corridors, they arrived at an inner chamber.
A small plaque hung above, reading: “Duty Judge.”
A judge in a green robe was bent over a desk, reviewing documents.
Seven or eight spirits knelt before him, awaiting their judgments.
“Alright, I approve your entry into the underworld!”
The judge waved his hand, and seven or eight black tokens flew out, each landing precisely on the chests of the spirits, transforming into pendants.
“Go!”
The surrounding Black and White Impermanences swung their mourning staffs.
The next moment, a hole suddenly opened in the ground, and the spirits, along with the Impermanences, plunged into it and vanished.
The floor then returned to normal.
“Oh no!! They’re fast!” Xie Qingyi cried out in shock.
Lu Chen’s heart tightened as well—had they already been registered and sent to the underworld?
“Next!” the judge called out without even looking up.
Fan Rusong had already rushed to the desk: “Your Honor!”
“Oh, Miss Fan!” The judge looked up, a smile spreading across his face. “What wind brings you here today?”
Fan Rusong put on a smile: “You flatter me, Your Honor. I’d like to ask about a soul—was a woman named Zhang Hui processed just now?”
“Zhang Hui?” The judge flipped through the ledger on his desk.
But strangely, he kept flipping back and forth through the same few pages.
Fan Rusong immediately understood. She discreetly placed a large banknote on the desk.
At the sight of “money,” the judge’s eyes lit up, and his face beamed with delight: “Miss Fan, this… this is too generous of you.” His hands, however, moved quickly—collecting the money while saying, “Let me check… ah yes, the name is here, but she hasn’t been registered yet.”
Lu Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
Xie Qingyi, however, found it strange: “Not yet? That can’t be—we’ve already wasted quite a bit of time on the road.”
“Where is Zhang Hui’s soul now?” Fan Rusong pressed.
The judge gave a sly grin and started flipping through the pages again.
Slap!
Another large banknote landed on the desk.
The judge’s smile grew even brighter: “This Zhang Hui was never sent to our Soul Arrest Bureau at all. She was taken directly to the City God’s palace. Didn’t you notice when you arrived? Today is the once-a-decade City God Assembly! This Zhang Hui is a rare nine-life virtuous person. When the City God learned of her, he personally requested that she be brought to his palace for an audience—so that all the attending prefectural and county City Gods could have a good ‘look’ at her.”
He paused, lowering his voice: “You should know, a nine-life virtuous person is an extraordinary treasure. Every breath she takes emits meritorious virtue.”
She’s practically a priceless artifact!
Naturally, the City God wants to show her off.
Lu Chen: “Then we can just wait here and catch her when she comes out.”
But before he could finish, Xie Qingyi’s face had already turned pale.
“Oh no! We planned for everything except this!”
“What’s wrong?” Lu Chen had just asked.
His hand was grabbed by Fan Rusong, who rushed over and started pulling him out without a word.
As they ran, she sent a telepathic message.
“General, this is terrible! If the City God sees Madam Zheng with his own eyes, there will be no way to save her!”
“Why?”
“Because once the City God personally receives her, he will certainly bestow a jade token upon her! That means her soul will no longer need to go through the Soul Arrest Bureau’s procedures. Instead, the City God’s left and right judges will escort her directly to the underworld! In other words, if we want to retrieve Madam Zheng’s soul, we have to get to her before the City God officially receives her!”
Lu Chen’s pupils contracted sharply: “But the City God already knows about her—what do we do?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it! As long as the City God hasn’t formally summoned her, there’s still a glimmer of hope! General, what do you say? Shall we try?”
“Try! We have to try! Do our best and leave the rest to fate!” Lu Chen said without hesitation.
“Good!”
The four underworld agents were of one mind. They joined forces to summon a thick cloud of black smoke, hoisting Lu Chen onto it and shooting toward the prefectural City God’s palace like arrows loosed from a bow.
Behind them, the judge was still shouting: “Hey! Don’t run off so fast! I haven’t finished! The one escorting that Zhang Hui to the palace is actually both of your fat—huh? Why are you running so fast?!”
He shook his head, cheerfully tucking the two banknotes into his sleeve: “These young ladies from the underworld sure are generous—such big spenders…”
“Alright, alright, next line!”
