The hawk demon knew me inside out, so it didn't react at all when I boasted.
Lin Xi probably only knew I had established contact with the Underworld, not that I could enter it and had dealings with Granny Meng. She gave me a slight, appraising glance.
Chen Ke wore an expression of pure adoration, her little fists clenched at her chest, her face full of admiration.
Even Diana cast a surprised look at me. "You manage affairs in the Underworld too?"
With my hands behind my back, I calmly nodded. "I assist the young Lord Yama, doing my humble best."
"You even know the young Lord Yama!" Chen Ke exclaimed in surprise.
I waved my hand. "Just ordinary friends."
Having finished my display, I followed the last few villager ghosts through the hidden door of the City God Temple. Last time, I was in too much of a hurry to notice, but the three semi-invisible characters on the door read: Ghost Gate Pass.
Cui Pan Guan had already crossed Zhang Xiaomiao's name off the registry. Cui Pan Guan hadn't even asked who instructed him; as soon as I mentioned it, he swiftly made the mark. So, Xiaomiao stood by the group. Seeing me about to enter the Ghost Gate Pass, and with no one she knew outside, she quickly tugged my sleeve and whispered, "Sir, what about me? I'm a little... afraid of those few ladies!"
Ghosts can sense the strength of human magnetic fields, as a ghost's essence is also a magnetic field. This, like physiognomy, falls under the realm of quantum physics.
Two Purple Qi experts and a Great Blue Qi demon – it was natural for Zhang Xiaomiao to feel nervous.
"Then come in with me," I said.
"...I'm a ghost. If I go in, can I still come out?" Zhang Xiaomiao frowned.
"If I can come out, you can come out. Right, Old Cui?"
"Naturally, naturally," the judge said, bowing his head.
"Alright then."
Zhang Xiaomiao followed me into the Ghost Gate Pass. Inside, it was the same as last time, dimly lit and hazy. The villager ghosts didn't know where to go and stood in several lines waiting. In truth, I had also forgotten which direction to go. I had to activate my physiognomy to locate Granny Meng's aura, and then led the group through the mist.
Concurrently, I sent a message via WeChat to the proprietor of "Mister Snow Ice Cream Underworld Branch" to inform them of the situation.
When we reached the Bridge of Helplessness, Granny Meng had already come out from her tea stall and bowed to me. "Greetings, Lord Wu."
"These are the people from Heishanbaozi Village I mentioned to you. They don't need to drink your soup, do they?" I hoped Granny Meng would do me a favor.
Granny Meng paused, leaned closer, and whispered, "Sir, they didn't need it originally. Only ghosts reincarnating need to drink it when they leave me."
Ah, so I had misunderstood. I thought everyone crossing the Bridge of Helplessness had to drink the soup.
However, Granny Meng still generously gave me face. She said coldly to the villagers behind me, "For Lord Wu's sake, I shall not trouble you. You may cross the bridge directly."
"Thank you, Lady Meng!"
"Thank you, Lord Wu!"
Each soul crossing the bridge bowed to us. The common folk of the Republic of China era were quite well-mannered.
I went onto the Bridge of Helplessness. The little train on the other side was still being operated like a seesaw by two ghosts in simple cloth robes. This time, there were many carriages, stretching as far as the eye could see. The villagers boarded one after another. I asked the ghost in the cloth robe driving the train where they would be housed.
A ghost in a cloth robe replied, "Reporting, sir. According to the regulations of the Underworld Official's Mansion, newly deceased ghosts must serve three months of labor in the Underworld City before they can be settled."
"Can that be waived?" I asked.
"This... I'm afraid not, unless..." The ghost in the cloth robe rubbed his thumb and index finger together. "Unless there's enough of this. Lord Wu, please don't misunderstand. I'm not asking you for it, nor are we taking it. It's the overseer at the labor camp who wants this. With this, you can just do a symbolic few days of work and leave."
I nodded. "I understand. If this matter needs to be smoothed over, how much 'this' would be needed?"
I rubbed my fingers together, surprised by the corruption in the Underworld!
The ghost in the cloth robe glanced at the number of villagers, counted on his fingers, and calculated, "At least fifty billion."
"Your inflation rate in the underworld is quite high," I said, patting his shoulder with a laugh. "Alright, I'll arrange this. Thank you for your hard work."
"Lord Wu, the hard work is yours."