Am I a fool!
If it were that simple, then a whole bunch of fierce ghosts would have tens of thousands of performance points, right?
Why haven't any Yin Messengers been dispatched to apprehend them for so many years?
There must be something fishy going on here!
It's better to get things cleared up.
"Commander Ma, forgive my bluntness, but please don't be angry when you hear this!" I said with a forced smile.
"Go on."
"What is the difficulty in the task of apprehending the fierce ghosts at Heishanbaozi?" I asked.
"Well... the difficulty is whether they are willing to go with you?"
"Didn't you just say that they recently went to the underworld to plead for apprehension... how could they be unwilling to go? Could it be that their plea to the underworld was not just about 'apprehension'? Were there other conditions?" I laid out my doubts openly and honestly.
Ma Jiaojiao clearly hesitated for a moment, perhaps debating whether to tell me the truth.
I wasn't in a hurry and wisely got up, saying, "Please wait a moment, I'll get you a drink."
Zheng Bingbing dared not stay alone with Ma Jiaojiao, so she quickly got up and followed me out of the private room. I saw that her forehead was covered in sweat, and when I touched her, my hand got wet.
"Don't be nervous. You've seen a lot of things, what kind of people haven't you met!" I comforted Bingbing. When she was an athlete, she participated in international competitions year-round.
"I've met many people, but I haven't met ghosts! I've been afraid of ghosts since I was a child!" Zheng Bingbing grinned.
There's nothing I can do about that. It seems she's not a materialist, unlike me. I never believed in ghosts and gods since I was a child, so I wasn't afraid of them... Even though I know these things exist now, I'm still not too scared.
I got Ma Jiaojiao a cup of orange juice, sweet enough that she could probably drink it. When we returned to the private room, she indeed enjoyed it.
"Alright, you can't refuse when you've had someone's hospitality," Ma Jiaojiao said, putting down the orange juice cup. "I can answer your question, but you must not tell anyone that I told you, okay!"
"Don't worry, Commander Ma, I won't even tell our Commander Xie!" I vowed sincerely.
Ma Jiaojiao chuckled, "Alright. I'll tell you, the plea of these twelve hundred fierce ghosts from Heishanbaozi is actually very simple: they want to settle scores with 'Du Lisan', who massacred them, after entering the underworld."
"Revenge for grievances, retribution for hatred. Makes sense," I said.
"That's true, but do you know? This Du Lisan is also a ghost who died unjustly. Although he massacred Heishanbaozi, he was later framed and killed by Marshal Zhang. Moreover, after arriving in the underworld, this 'Third Master' was exempted from the suffering of hell due to his status as a ghost who died unjustly. He gathered his former subordinates who also died at the hands of Marshal Zhang, forming a powerful local force. He is also good at socializing and befriended many officials in the underworld. After more than a hundred years of development, 'Third Master' is now a powerful governor in the underworld, holding a higher position than me. Tell me, how can these scores be settled? If these twelve hundred fierce ghosts are allowed to go to the underworld to settle accounts with 'Third Master', it would be no different than sending them to their deaths. When a ghost dies and becomes a 'Xie', it loses all memories and cannot participate in reincarnation. That is true 'death'. If it were you, could you bear to see them meet such an end?"
I listened, a little confused, and scratched my head, "If we agree, they will 'die', and if we don't agree, they won't go with the Yin Messengers and cannot be apprehended, right?"
"Exactly, so this is a long-standing problem. And we Yin Messengers have undergone professional ethics training, so we absolutely cannot do anything that goes against our conscience, like letting them charge into a stone wall."
Damn it, Yin Messengers have professional ethics?
"If it were ordinary fierce ghosts, we could usually resolve it by fooling them and getting them to go to the City God's Temple obediently. But these fierce ghosts from Heishanbaozi are stubbornly determined. Many waves of Yin Messengers have tried to persuade them to give up their revenge, but they were all cursed away. Alas, people are too burdened by their hearts. It's not good." After a sigh, Ma Jiaojiao finished her orange juice and got up.
"Anyway, that's the situation. You two figure it out."
With that, Ma Jiaojiao flickered and disappeared!