My Disciple Died Yet Again

"No matter how strong a G.o.d is, one would still have begun as a human pract.i.tioner. No matter how strong one gets, it"s impossible to be stronger than heaven"s will and resist against the Heavenly Dao. But, the "World Favourable Impression" Achievement broke this rule. So…" Zhu Yao glanced at the conversation window, and said with certainty. "Either you"re an existence comparable or even above the Heavenly Dao."

Realmspirit: …

"What is it, is there something wrong with my conjecture?"

Realmspirit: It"s not wrong.

"Then?"

Realmspirit: I suddenly realized your IQ has made its way back home. Congratulations!

"Scram!" Zhu Yao rolled her eyes at him. "Since you"re so powerful, then you should be able to casually deal with those bugs that I fixed, so why do you have to pull me over? Or… is the world that I live in in your control as well?"

Realmspirit: You"re wrong, young maiden.

"Wrong?"

Realmspirit: You should know this right? There are many planes in the spatial void, and there are even more small worlds under each plane, just like the Three Thousand Worlds that you saw. As for you, you were living in another plane.

"Then why did you drag me over?"

Realmspirit: Because we"re friends, young maiden.

"Scram!" You must have plotted this right from the start, right? Otherwise, you wouldn"t have chatted with me for so many years on QQ, before revealing your true intentions.

Realmspirit: Haah, young maiden. In truth, having too much power doesn"t mean it"s a good thing. Putting aside the fact that I have no vacation all year round, I have to work without getting paid. It"s really sad, you know? Occasionally, I will get sick, and I don"t have any medical insurance to speak of, not to mention there isn"t a doctor I can look for. I have to support myself with my own immune system, you know.

"Speak human!"

Realmspirit: This old man can"t fix these bugs, and you"re the only one capable of doing it?

"You can even bend the Heavenly Dao, you"re telling me you can"t fix these little bugs?" Zhu Yao expressed her doubts.

Realmspirit: No one is perfect, young maiden.

"If you"re simply looking for someone to help you protect world peace…" Uh, something seemed strange with what she said? "There"s so many people in the Three Realms, can"t you just pick out someone randomly? Why did you have to go all the way out to trick someone from another plane over?"

Realmspirit: Trick… Young maiden, you"re harming the friendship between us.

"Scram!" Our friendship has long shattered into pieces, alright? "Just why?"

Realmspirit: No one in the Three Realms can do it. They are beings that are born in this world, so they are affected by the Heavenly Dao of this place. Just like Yi Ling"s situation, since she possessed incredible luck, people who were affected by this luck of hers would be unable to escape, and everyone would unconsciously submit to her luck. However, you"re different. You don"t belong in this world in the first place, nor do you belong in the same plane. The Heavenly Dao simply can"t do anything to you.

"From what you"re saying, no one is able to escape from Mary Sue"s cheat?"

Realmspirit: The luck that everyone possesses, carries a purpose given by the Heavenly Dao. The luck present in Yi Ling"s body was to keep the Devil in check in the first place. Yi Ling who carried incredible luck would not encounter any danger next to the Devil. Then, the Devil would suppress his instincts, and his nature as a Devil would have slowly disappeared. This was the goal of the Heavenly Dao.

"From what you"re saying, if I didn"t go to that world, Yan Chi would have fallen in love with Yi Ling?"

Realmspirit: In the beginning, yes. However, luck can be controlled, but one"s heart is difficult to perceive. Not only did Yi Ling"s luck affect the Devil, it had affected others as well. The Devil who could not obtain what he wished for, instead had his nature strengthened, and then brought about the collapse of the world.

"You"re saying, Yi Ling was initially a patch came up by the Heavenly Dao, but not only did it not end up fixing the problem, it turned into a bug instead.

Realmspirit: Young maiden, you"re too clever. I like you.

"But when I saw the Devil, forget about falling in love with Yi Ling, he clearly wanted to kill Yi Ling."

Realmspirit: Everyone"s luck is different. Someone with little luck would be affected by someone else who has more luck. The reason why Yan Chi did not end up loving Yi Ling was because her luck was affected by your World Favourable Impression Achievement. Thus, she no longer carried the incredible luck she once had before. In the end, when you fully activated your World Favourable Impression Achievement, the excess luck within her disappeared, and she was no longer a bug.

"…" Zhu Yao"s expression darkened. "From what you"re saying, since the Heavenly Dao could cause a bug to appear just by casually distributing some luck, wouldn"t I be stuck fixing bugs forever? Just how long more must I patch these brain-crippling bugs? I"m not even someone from your plane, so I don"t have any reason to continue working for you, right?"

Realmspirit: Isn"t this great though, young maiden? The heavens are helping you, in the truest sense.

"Hoho!" Zhu Yao chuckled. "Don"t use such words to deceive me. You wouldn"t drag someone from another plane and drop her into what evidently seemed like a dead loop for no reason. There"s definitely another reason. Be honest now!"

Realmspirit: Young maiden, if you"re so serious, you won"t look cute, you know?

"Speak the truth."

Realmspirit: Now is still not the time yet, you still have yet to completely understand everything. However, I can guarantee you that you won"t continue fixing bugs for long.

"Is your guarantee of any use?" Zhu Yao rolled her eyes at him. Back then he even made a promise, yet it still turned out the same. There wasn"t any value in his words at all.

Realmspirit: … Come on, we"re friends for so many years, give me some face. Life is so harsh, there are things you can"t tear apart.

"Our friendship ends here."

Realmspirit: … ORZ

"Forget it." Zhu Yao took in a deep breath. If Realmspirit really did not want to talk about it, there wasn"t any use even if she pressed on.

Realmspirit: Oh mighty ancestor Zhu. (╯3╰)

Countless small flowers instantly flooded the QQ screen, and in a flash, the familiar reincarnation loading screen appeared.

Zhu Yao watched the moving loading bar. After a while, she could not help but raise her head and add on.

"Realmspirit, to tell you the truth, I really hope you will always remember the friendship we have, and don"t dupe me too miserably. Though I"m not from your plane, I"m still a regular human being."

After leaving these words, her figure flashed, disappearing amidst the darkness.

Only a conversation window was left hanging high within that s.p.a.ce, and after a moment, it vibrated and disappeared. A moment later, a solemn voice rang out.

"Alright, my friend."

When Zhu Yao opened her eyes again, her vision was still filled with darkness. If not for a few moving black figures in her line of sight, she would have thought that the reincarnation loading screen had hanged!

Rubbing her eyes, just as she was about to clear up her vision, an urging voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

"What are you dilly-dallying for? Hurry and catch up!"

When she turned around, what came in sight was a pale face with fanged teeth. Dressed in white cloth, his hair was dishevelled and his pair of eyes was protruding out. Blood was flowing out from his seven artifices, and his tongue was even stretched all the way down to his chin. He looked extremely like a certain Sadako crawling out from the television.

Zhu Yao took in a cold breath, as several hundreds of horror films instantly surfaced in her mind. A scream instantly pierced through the horizon. "Ghoooost—–!"

Sadako covered her ears and floated several meters away. Her eyes protruded out even more, as though she was furiously glaring at her. After sizing Zhu Yao up for a moment, she said. "Why are you shouting? You sound as though you"re not a ghost yourself."

"Of course not…" Zhu Yao refuted on reflex. When she lowered her head to take a look, what she saw was her two floating feet, and then she screamed out once again. "Ghooooost—–!"

Before her rebirth, Zhu Yao was worried that with Realmspirit"s unreliability, she wondered just what the h.e.l.l she would reincarnate into? Who knew that she would actually reincarnate in h.e.l.l!

She had not actually reincarnated at all, but had turned into an actual ghost!

Zhu Yao felt as though she could hear the sound of her rebirth cheat shattering above her head.

"Why are you s.p.a.cing out again? Hurry and go!" Seeing Zhu Yao had stopped again, Sadako behind her had no choice but to push her. "The door to the Underworld is about to close, you won"t make it if you s.p.a.ce out again. Hurry and catch up to the group."

Zhu Yao was stunned for a moment. Raising her head, she saw a long queue ahead of her. There were several ghosts who looked like Sadako, with dishevelled hair and dressed in white cloths, and they were standing in a queue in an orderly manner. Not far ahead, a pitch-black door, that was huge to the extent of touching the skyline itself, was presently wide open. The door itself was floating above ground, surrounded by fog in all directions. On the other side of the door was pitch-black, and it unknowingly carried an attractive force, urging Zhu Yao to approach it.

Following her heart, she floated to the front and followed the group up ahead.

Zhu Yao curiously stared at the door. That"s the entrance to the Underworld? Did I really turn into a ghost?

Suddenly, a noise sounded beneath her feet, as though something had rolled over to her side.

"Haah, little missy, I dropped something. Mind helping me pick it up?" The ghost in front suddenly voiced out.

"Ou." Zhu Yao bent her waist on reflex, and picked up the round pearl-like object beneath her feet. After taking a look, she realized a pale white eyeball was in her hands. Zhu Yao"s hands trembled, and with her hand raised, she threw it away.

With a swoosh, that eyeball disappeared from sight.

"My eye!" That ghost screamed out. He then left the group and chased after his eyeball.

Zhu Yao: "…"

Just what in the world is this place? Why are there even people throwing their eyeb.a.l.l.s around to play?

"Little missy, good throw!" Sadako behind her came forward, and said with an excited look. "I felt that ghost was an eyesore the entire time. Just because he was a death-by-falling ghost, he would throw around his eyes and ears to play. Hmph! So what if he had his limbs broken and shattered? When I die in my next lifetime, I will definitely fall and have my body broken even worse than him."

"Uh…" Was this really something worth flaunting?

However, Zhu Yao"s shocked little heart finally managed to calm down. Taking a deep breath, she braved herself and looked carefully at the queue of ghosts behind and in front of her. If she hadn"t looked, she wouldn"t have known, however, she was frightened to death the moment she took a peak. It was seemingly hard to even spot a single person who had his or her entire body intact. Forget about those who had broken arms and legs, there were even some who had their stomachs cut open, their appearances looked worse as she looked further on. Using "beyond recognition" was even an understatement.

"Oh right, I was hanged to death. How did you die?" Student Sadako began to start a conversation.

"Uh…" I courted death. "Pained to death."

"Oh…" He inspected Zhu Yao for a moment, then his expression sank, and said with a soft voice. "No wonder you"re so intact."

Hey, hey, hey. What"s with that look of pity?

"Don"t be sad." He patted on Zhu Yao"s shoulders, and said with a stern look. "Try to die more miserably in your next lifetime."

"…" Are you certain you"re not cursing me?

Is dying miserably what"s trending in the Underworld right now?

"It"s almost our turn." Sadako pointed to the front.

Zhu Yao raised her head, and realized that unknowingly, they had already floated to the giant door. The ghosts in front were already entering the door one after another, and their figures disappeared in a blink of an eye.

The Underworld was behind this door?

Zhu Yao suddenly recalled the various ghastly and eerie sceneries she saw on television, and took several deep breaths. After preparing her heart for quite a while, she then braved herself. Gritting her teeth, she followed after the steps of the previous ghost, and stepped through that door. The darkness that filled the openings of the door earlier suddenly fluttered like curtains. Her entire being felt as though it had sunk into quicksand, as she was immediately sucked into it.

Everything instantly turned dark in her line of sight, and a moment later, the scenery in front of her shook. As though the curtains had opened, a street filled with lanterns and bright lights instantly appeared before her eyes.

The street was extremely extravagant. Bright red lanterns were hung high up in the air. Bars, inns, restaurants, and various stores filled the place. Zhu Yao felt as though she had entered an ancient city shown in those television drama shows. The entire place was brightly lit by the fire of the lanterns, and there wasn"t a single eerie and terrifying feel to the place.

On the street, there were even several people raising sparkling plates and loudly shouting.

"Come, come, come! Megalin Hall is taking in disciples! Not restricted by any ghost ranks! Not restricted by looks nor height! You will be a member the moment you join! Deep and profound cultivation techniques will be imparted on site! Famed masters will provide you with guidance and teachings, and resources will be given for free!"

"East Elegance Clan, East Elegance Clan ghost pract.i.tioners! Boundless resources! Managed by famed masters! A great disciple will be nurtured with great resources! East Elegance Clan ghost pract.i.tioners! The price is fair, and no disparity between men and women! Join now and you will even receive a basic cultivation technique. Stay on to enjoy a ghost pract.i.tioner"s extravagant set meal!"

"Seven Star Sect! Seven Star Sect"s training inst.i.tution! Large reservoir of resources! Convenient location! Come for a free trial, and quit without any repercussions if you find us unsatisfactory! Seven Star Sect is your wisest choice! Join the sect now to receive free contribution points, giving you a stable ground to rely on!"

"Riverna Hall…"

Zhu Yao: "…"

Was this really the Underworld? Not the advertising department?

While she was stunned, a man wearing a robe with two big words "Seven Stars" written on it came approaching her. "Eh? Little missy, I see that you have a fine skeleton, and your ophryon is looking dark, you must possess great apt.i.tude. Do you want to join our Seven Stars Sect?"

"…" The h.e.l.l did her ophryon looking dark mean?

"This ghostly friend, she is already a disciple of our Shurluse Clan." She felt a grip on her hand, and was suddenly pulled behind a white robed male ghost.

That Seven Stars Clan disciple looked at the two of them, before leaving with a disappointed expression and continuing with his advertising activities.

The white robed male ghost turned around, and warned her with a stern look. "I"m warning you, you must definitely not listen to the nonsense of these ghosts. All of them are small clans and sects that trick new ghosts into joining them. Some of these clans and sects only have one or two ghosts in total. You definitely mustn"t be deceived."

Zhu Yao looked at this man who had a delicate and handsome look. "You are?" Who are you?

The man was startled for a moment, and then pointed at himself. "I"m the death-by-hanging ghost, the one standing behind you? Did you forget?"

Hanged-to-death ghost! The one who had blood flowing out from his seven artifices?

"After crossing the Door of the Underworld, one"s ghost body will naturally be restored. No wonder you couldn"t recognize me." His face was filled with disappointment and regret. "Haah, as expected, my earlier appearance looked mightier!"

"…" ORZ Not in the least!

The corner of Zhu Yao"s lips twitched. She looked around, and just as he had said, she was no longer able to see any ghosts with broken parts on their bodies. Thank you, Door to the Underworld!

"Thank you, ghostly senior brother, for your teachings. I wonder what is ghostly senior brother"s esteemed name?" She courteously asked.

The male ghost smiled. "Our encounter is a work of fate, death-by-sickness ghostly little missy, there"s no need to be so polite!"

Death-by-sickness ghostly Zhu Yao: "…"

"There"s no need for any t.i.tles. My surname is Chen, and my name is a single word – Zhen."

Chen Zhen1?

"h.e.l.lo, I"m Huo Yuanjia2!"

"Huo Yuanjia? Your name is really weird."

Not as strange as yours, alright?

Chen Zhen was startled for a moment, and then pa.s.sionately continued a moment later. "Death-by-sickness ghostly little missy, from your looks, you must be a ghost who had just died not too long ago. It"s your first time in the Underworld, right? Come, this big brother shall help you sign up for a certification?"

"Aaah–" Getting a marriage certification on our first meeting? Aren"t we moving too fast?

"What are you gasping for? Hurry and float!" Chen Zhen urged. "Only by getting an identification at the Realm Definition Council Hall can you become a true ghost and freely travel about the Underworld. Otherwise, you"re just a wandering ghost."

So it was to receive an identification.

"Thank you, big brother Chen."

"Death-by-sickness ghostly little missy, no need to be polite!"

"…" Could we not bring up the matter of her dying from sickness?

Zhu Yao had thought that the so-called Realm Definition Council Hall would definitely be a powerful and domineering place. After all, it was the place to receive identifications, so no matter the case, it should be a government-like facility. In the end, Chen Zhen dragged her to a pool at the roadside, and said while pointing at the muddy pool of water. "This is the Realm Definition Council Hall. Place your hand inside the water."

"…" What happened to the promised government facility? The way their identification was made was a little too easy-going, wasn"t it?

Zhu Yao reached out her hand into it with a darkened expression. However, the water in the pool did not give the least bit of wet feeling, it felt as though her fingertips had touched a pile of soft cotton. A moment later, a faint green glow suddenly lighted up at the palm of her hand. A circle slowly appeared, and within the circle was the word "Under".

It"s green." Chen Zhen happily patted on Zhu Yao"s shoulder. "Death-by-sickness ghost, as I thought, we"re really fated!"

"What"s the meaning of this colour?" Zhu Yao retracted her hand, and the glow on her palm slowly dimmed, leaving a green coloured word "Under" the size of a fingernail.

"There"s a total of seven colours. Every ghost who enters the Underworld for the first time will have a certain colour on their identification mark. These colours represent the city they will be living in from then on. Green represents Green City." He reached out his hand, and she saw that there was a similar green mark on his hand. "Coincidentally, there"s an empty s.p.a.ce next to my place, you can live there. We will be neighbours from now on."

So these colours act as identification cards, and one could freely choose their land. I wonder if there"s certificates of ownerships too?

"Big brother Chen, don"t ghosts have to reincarnate? Why do we have to choose places to stay in?"

Chen Zhen turned to look at her with a strange face. "Reincarnate? Why do you have such a terrifying thought? Don"t you want to cultivate into a deity?"

"Ghosts can become deities as well?" You"re kidding me.

"Of course!" Chen Zhen nodded heavily, and dragged her to the seats at the side, looking as though he wanted to chat with her about dreams. "Missy, I know being a death-by-sickness ghost is a little miserable, but you don"t have to let yourself down, you know? As long as you"re able to cultivate a spiritual body, you have hopes of attaining the Heavenly Dao."

"…" What did this have to do with dying from sickness?

But she had really never heard of ghost pract.i.tioners. Putting aside the past cultivation worlds she resided in, even in Divine Realm, she had never seen ghosts ascending into deities.

Chen Zhen saw that she still had that dubious look, so he disseminated to her some of the Underworld"s common sense.

After he was done, Zhu Yao then understood that their so-called cultivation was similar to the deity cultivation she had done. However, the cultivation here was more complicated than what human pract.i.tioners usually do. If ghosts wanted to cultivate, they first must cultivate a spiritual body, then, ascend to the Spiritual Realm and obtain a material body. They will then be able to cultivate into deities for real.

To put it simply, one must first cultivate a body, detach oneself from the ident.i.ty of a ghost, and then ascend into a deity.

"Then why don"t people directly reincarnate and obtain a new body to cultivate? Doesn"t that save a lot of trouble?"

"For reincarnation, one must cross the River of Forgetfulness." Chen Zhen said. "The River of Forgetfulness is able to wash away the memories of one"s former life, including cultivation and spirit veins. It"s impossible to predict the future, and it"s not certain that you will even have spirit veins, let alone attaining the Heavenly Dao. But ghost pract.i.tioners are different. As long as you"re able to cultivate a spiritual body and ascend to the Spiritual Realm, you will be able to regain your former cultivation. Isn"t that much better than reincarnation?"

So that"s the case, no wonder there were so many ghosts staying in the Underworld. They were taking another gamble. Furthermore, she was now a little curious of that placed called Spiritual Realm.

The place next to Chen Zhen was still empty, so he allowed her to stay there.

When Zhu Yao took a look, she realized the place next to his house was really still empty… an empty plot of land.

An empty plot of land filled with lush green weed!

Flips table! What"s the use of giving me a piece of empty land to live on? Do I have to dig a hole?

Zhu Yao looked at Chen Zhen"s single household manor, and then looked at the empty land in front of her again. The corner of her lips twitched. "… Big brother Chen, a ghost… can"t live here right?"

 "Of course you can. The place is rather big too?" Chen Zhen said kindly.

"There"s not even a room here!"

"Oh right." Chen Zhen scratched his head, and then pa.s.sed her something. "Here, this is for you."

"…" What"s the use of giving me a shovel? Dig a hole and bury myself inside?

"This spot is good." Chen Zhen stomped on the empty land a few times and stopped at a certain spot. Then, he waved her over. "Dig over here then! Dig out a larger portion, it will be more comfortable when you lie down."

He really was thinking of having her burying herself in the ground!

"The sun is about to rise. I"m going home to sleep now, I won"t accompany you any longer." Chen Zhen waved his hands at her. "See you tomorrow, death-by-sickness ghostly little missy."

"… Wait a minute~" First settle problem of my residence first. What happened to the promised love between neighbours? Did it all amount to a shovel?

Chen Zhen however did not turn back, and simply floated back to his own courtyard. Then, he took out a white cloth, tied it to a tree in his courtyard with a dead knot, and after that…

He hanged himself!

Zhu Yao: "…"

Was this… the correct sleeping posture for a death-by-hanging ghost?

What should she do? She suddenly felt that digging a hole and sleeping in it was more normal than that.

Zhu Yao silently picked up the shovel.

Currently, she was just a normal ghost. Even if her mind was filled with cultivation techniques, she was unable to wield them. She had no choice but to shovel out the earth one at a time. The sky was beginning to brighten up. The surroundings which was still a little dark earlier, could now be clearly seen.

Houses were scattered all around. Compared to the city she entered earlier, this place was much quieter. It was most probably because the rest of the ghosts were sleeping, as her surroundings were very silent.

Zhu Yao was curious as to where the sudden source of light came from. Raising her head to take a look, what was hanging in the sky was not sun, but layers of aurora-like lights, and they were constantly dancing in the sky like fluttering ribbons.

She reached out her hand to feel the air for a moment, yet she was unable to sense the last bit of warmth. The lights were just bright, but not sources of heat.

Zhu Yao dug for a total of two hours, before she was able to shovel out an adult-size hole.

Strangely, she was not the least bit tired. She was basically not feeling any fatigue from doing a high-intensive activity. Thus, she decided to finish everything in one go, and put in even more effort into her shovelling. As though she was creating an underground cave, she dug herself a bas.e.m.e.nt. Then on, she added a bed, tables and other household items made with soil. When she was done, an entire day had already pa.s.sed, and the sky had begun to turn dark.

Zhu Yao then floated to her bed and laid down. Initially, she had thought that she wouldn"t feel any fatigue, but a sense of tiredness then a.s.saulted her, and she immediately fell asleep.

This type of sleep was different from a regular sleep as well. She still held onto her consciousness, but was unable to feel anything in her surroundings. It felt as though her entire body was floating in water, experiencing an unbelievably gentle sensation. In her surroundings, there seemed to be white string-like substances floating about, looking a little similar to those auroras she saw in the daytime, however these were even thinner than the auroras. She subconsciously wanted to grab them, but they disappeared in the end.

Suddenly, she felt as though someone was nudging her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Chen Zhen"s eager expression, and he said. "Huo Yuanjia, the sky has turned dark. Let"s go out and scare some people!"

Before Zhu Yao could even react, Chen Zhen had already dragged her out of the Door to the Underworld, and floated to a small farmer"s house nearby. The surroundings were pitch-dark, and that house was the only one dimly lit with an oil lamp. There were movements of human shadows within the house.

"What are we doing here?" As a ghost, going to the mortal realm was never comfortable as the yang energy was too heavy.

"To scare people, of course." He said with a stern expression.

"…" Why do we have to go out to scare people all of a sudden!? "Are there any benefits to scaring people?"

Chen Zhen was stunned. He swept a glance at her, and said with a stern look. "As a ghost, if you don"t even know how to scare people, won"t that be extremely embarra.s.sing?"

==!

She didn"t feel that way at all.

"Huo Yuanjia, don"t be sad." He said with an empathizing look. "It"s fine if you don"t know how to scare people, big brother can teach you."

"Hoho…" She didn"t want to learn it in the slightest, alright? "Thank you!"

"Don"t be courteous, we"re neighbours, after all!" He patted on Zhu Yao"s shoulder and then shook his body, returning back to his ghost-like form with blood flowing out from his seven artifices. He then said pridefully. "Today, big brother shall show you what an outstanding ghost really is." After saying that, he confidently floated into the house. "Wait here, this big brother shall demonstrate how a ghost scares people."

"…"

Zhu Yao"s expression darkened, while Chen Zhen had already seeped through the wall to conduct his master plan of scaring people. However, two hours pa.s.sed, yet there was not even a slightest noise in the house, let alone a scream or anything like that.

He couldn"t have been captured, right?

She could not help but feel a little worried. With her present location, she was still a little far away from the house. Stretching out her head, what she could see was merely the blurry shadows moving behind the window. "If only I can see a little more clearly."

"Here!" A tall and skinny ghost suddenly popped out next to her. Blinking his only left eye, he pa.s.sed her a gift. "You can borrow this to take a look."

Zhu Yao was stunned for a moment, and she thought that he was giving her some mystic artifact that could display images or allow her to clearly see objects from afar. When she lowered her head to take a look, a round eyeball was lying in his hand.

"…" Like your eye has any use here!? -Flips table- And can this thing be taken out this easily to play with?

"You don"t want it?" That tall and skinny ghost tilted his head with a disappointed look. Thus, he pressed his hand onto his left eye, and with a plop, he took out his other eye as well. "Fine, I shall lend you both of them."

The corner of Zhu Yao"s lips twitched. It"s not about the number here, hey.

"No… No need." Taking a deep breath, she still decided to take a look on her own.

She floated directly into the house.

There was a woman in the house, and she was currently sitting on the chair, diligently st.i.tching something? Her surroundings were very quiet.

Other than…

Chen Zhen, who was trying his best to do various ghastly faces in front of the woman!

Using both of his arms and legs, he stretched his face which had blood flowing out from all his seven artifices, into various shapes. Square. Circle. Trapezoids of different angles. His face seemed to change every second, and there was never a single repet.i.tion. He was putting so much effort in his performance it was becoming a little moving.

But… that woman did not seem to have any reaction at all! She was seriously knitting the cloth in her hands. She would only raise her head occasionally, and they were to adjust the oil lamp next to her.

She… basically couldn"t see him, right!?

"Death-by-sickness ghostly little missy, just wait a few more moments, I"m just about to scare her." Chen Zhen said with a stern look, as he put in more effort in pulling his face.

This obstinacy, was rather… moving!

Just as Zhu Yao was about to remind him.

A cold wind swept past. The skinny and tall ghost who wanted to lend her his eyeb.a.l.l.s with such pa.s.sionate earlier, was now floating towards the woman as well. The ghastly air surrounding him was dark and sinister, looking as though he was planning to do something big.

Suddenly, in front of the woman, he popped out two of his eyeb.a.l.l.s, and then he threw and caught them within his palms. As though he was doing acrobatics, he began to juggle them one at a time.

Zhu Yao: "…" This truly was… frightening!

==!

"It"s this death-by-falling ghost again?" Chen Zhen glared at the tall and skinny ghost who suddenly appeared, and instantly flared up. He furiously shouted. "Even if you try to steal, it"s no use. I will definitely scare her before you do."

"Hmph! Whoever manages to scare her gets the score." The tall and skinny ghost coldly snorted. Then, he took down one of his ears, and began to juggle the three pieces, putting even more effort into it.

Chen Zhen"s fighting spirit seemed to have ignited as well, as he pulled his face even more desperately. After making the shape of the letter "S", he squeezed out the letter "B" a moment later.

Zhu Yao: "…" Just where did these scaring methods come from?

Did no one notice that the woman was basically unable to see ghosts at all? She must be a normal mortal human, right? So her third eye was basically not awakened, right? No matter how scary you two try to be, it"s no use, hey.

Why did they have to enter undergo such a childish compet.i.tion?

"Speaking of which…" Zhu Yao probed. "Just how many mortals have you two scared off before?"

Ka…

The moment she said these words, it was as though she had pressed on their "stop" b.u.t.tons. The two ghosts stopped at the same time, and their expressions turned awkward.

Zhu Yao suddenly had a bad premonition. "It can"t be… not a single one, right?"

The tall and skinny ghost looked down and counted his eyeb.a.l.l.s.

Chen Zhen squatted at the corner of the wall and drew circles.

Zhu Yao who accidentally guessed it right: "…"

-Flips table!- He hasn"t even scared a single person before! Just where did you find the confidence to say that you"re going to teach me how to scare people!?

"Kuh kuh… Death-by-sickness ghostly little missy." Chen Zhen decided to find back his pride as a big brother. "Scaring people is a profound field of study, it"s not as simple as you think. Furthermore, this woman"s capabilities are too powerful, and her willpower is extremely firm. She won"t be scared so easily."

"…" She simply could not see you two, alright?

"It seems we have to change to another target." Chen Zhen looked around, and his line of sight swept towards the baby who was in the cradle at the side. In an instant, his eyes shone. "Let"s choose him this time then!"

The corner of Zhu Yao"s lips twitched. Where"s your sense of shame? You"re not even letting a child go.

Chen Zhen was already floating eagerly towards the cradle. Strangely, the child in the cradle was actually giggling. Grabbing onto a small wooden horse with one hand, he happily waved his other little hand at Chen Zhen.

An infant"s state of mind was pure and clean, and one could indeed see many things that adults were unable to. Thus, infants being able to see ghosts were not really strange.

Chen Zhen became joyous, as he began to make scary faces in front of the little child with all his might.

Unfortunately, the child did not cry from fright.

The child giggled.

Giggling ever so happily.

Chen Zhen was not disheartened as he changed his tactics. He turned his face pale white and terrifying, and a dark, ghastly air surrounded him. Stretching out of his lips was a long, purple tongue, and it drooped directly down onto the cradle. It stretched longer… and longer…

And then…

It was grabbed by the child.

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…" Chen Zhen bounced up and down from the pain, and only managed to save his own tongue after sparing lots of effort. With a pitiful look, he hid far away.

"Let me!" The tall and skinny one stared straight at the child. Suddenly, he blew out cold air, and slowly, he took out his two eyeb.a.l.l.s, which he then pa.s.sed to the child. With a sinister voice, he said. "I… don"t have eyes."

The child"s little hands waved about, instantly smacking his eyeb.a.l.l.s away.

 "Ah… my eyeb.a.l.l.s." The tall and skinny one instantly broke character, as he turned about and began to find the eyeb.a.l.l.s that rolled off.

"…"

Were they monkeys sent by idiots? Just who was scaring who?

Zhu Yao sighed. Turning around, she looked at the child in the cradle. He seemed to have lost interest in the small wooden horse, and was now playing with the other eyeball which the tall and skinny ghost had dropped.

"Death-by-sickness ghostly little missy, watch out!" Chen Zhen spat out his tongue, and warned her fearfully. "That child is too frightening. You can"t beat him."

Zhu Yao ignored his comments and looked at the child. Then, she immediately reached out her hand and swiped away the eyeball from the child"s hands.

With the sudden disappearance of his toy, the child dazed for a moment. In an instant, a frown appeared on his small face, as he began to bawl, crying ever so sadly.

The child"s cries startled the woman, as she hurriedly carried the child to pacify him.

Just as Zhu Yao was about to return the eyeball to the tall and skinny ghost, she was faced with two worshipping faces when she turned around.

"Death-by-sickness ghostly little missy, how did you do it?" Chen Zhen"s eyes were dyed with a green glow.

"Ah?"

"You scared that child."

"Uh… I didn"t do it on purpose."

"Aaaaaaah!" Chen Zhen twirled around from excitement. "You actually managed to scare someone. I have never managed to scare someone, you know? He even cried from your scare! You"re really too amazing."

"…" Was this really something to be proud of?

"If you continue like this, you will be able to scare even more people at an amazing pace."

"…" I don"t want to scare people in the least, alright? "Speaking of which… Just why must we scare people?"

"To become a ghost officer, of course!" Chen Zhen said with a matter of fact.

"Ghost officer?" The h.e.l.l"s that?

"As long as the people you scare amount to ten, you will be able to become a ghost officer. Only by being a ghost officer can you cultivate a spiritual body."

One could only cultivate a spiritual body after scaring ten people?

Just who came up with this rule? This was a little random, wasn"t it? It"s no wonder Chen Zhen gave her such a sympathizing look when he found out she was merely a ghost who died from sickness. With a ghost who had a body as intact as hers, she definitely wasn"t as frightening as those ghosts who even had their organs spewing out from the stomach.

Weren"t ghost officers in charge of arresting souls? When did they start cultivating as well?

Zhu Yao felt that she needed to rebuild her view of this world.

Looking at the eyeball in her hands, she then looked at the child who was placed back in the cradle. Wasn"t it just ten times?

Reaching out her hand to pa.s.s the eyeball to the child, when she saw that he was reaching out his own hands to receive it, she immediately retracted it back.

The child"s lips creased, just as it was about to bawl again, she immediately pa.s.sed it towards him, and then retracted it back…

And then pa.s.sed it…

And thus she repeated these actions!

Ten times!

Mission Complete.

t.i.tle Unlocked: Bad Auntie

As expected, when all ten times were completed, the green "Under" word on her hand released a bright light. Slowly, it turned into the word "Officer", which was white in colour.

She became a ghost officer just like that?

This really was random…

"Huo Yuanjia." Chen Zhen and his little companion was dumbfounded. With trembling hands, he pointed at the child, and then pointed at her. "You, you, you… You actually completed ten scares in a single day, this is unbelievable… You"re a real genius!"

==!

"It"s not even a challenge, alright?" Zhu Yao immediately returned the eyeball to the tall and skinny ghost.

"I have never seen any other ghost do such a thing." Chen Zhen said seriously.

A hint of doubt flashed past Zhu Yao"s mind. Before she could even think this through, several rooster cries suddenly sounded.

"The sun is rising." The tall and skinny ghost yawned. "Let"s hurry and return home to bury ourselves."

After he said that, he floated off.

Chen Zhen dragged Zhu Yao along and followed after him. Along the way, his eyes were sparkling when he looked at her, as though he was a fan who saw his idol.

As they floated to the Door to the Underworld, the "Officer" wording on her hand garnered the attention and awe of various ghosts.

"Wah, you"re a ghost officer. This is my first time seeing one."

"That"s right, that"s right. You managed to scare ten people so quickly, incredible."

"Mighty ghost officer, let"s become friends?"

"How did you do it? Teach me too, I… I can give you a bone to play with."

"Me too! I can let you count my intestines."

"Me too…"

Zhu Yao"s face darkened. I"m not the least bit interested in your bodies, alright!?

Chen Zhen on the other hand a proud look on his face. "All of you scram. Huo Yuanjia is my neighbour, and you people have no part in this. If she wants to play, then of course she will be playing with my body!"

Zhu Yao who plays with bodies: "…"

Zhu Yao fled back home under the pa.s.sionate and intense gazes of the crowd of ghosts.

Before she entered her home, Chen Zhen still pulled onto her with a reluctant look, wanting to invite her to his residence.

"Huo Yuanjia, why don"t you stay at my home today? The tree here is big enough, it can hang lots of ghosts."

"…" Like h.e.l.l I want to be a death-by-hanging ghost!

Zhu Yao rejected Chen Zhen and floated back to her own bas.e.m.e.nt.

Looking down, she studied the "Officer" wording on her hand. Earlier, when she became a ghost officer, she clearly felt a sort of energy flowing out from the word and entering her ghostly body. After paying attention to the sensation, her body seemed to have become more corporeal than before.

Could the word actually aid her in cultivating a spiritual body? Then what"s the correct method of using this ghost officer mark?

She had once asked Chen Zhen about it, but he only had some superficial knowledge of it as well. As he spoke back and forth, he seemed to be only aware that ghost officers could cultivate their spiritual bodies. As to the process and how the cultivation worked, he was not able to elaborate on them.

Not just him, while they were queueing for the Door to the Underworld, she asked the other ghosts as well. Without an exception, all of them were unaware of it.

Zhu Yao faintly sensed that there was something amiss with these ghosts, but she was unable to ascertain it.

After pondering for a moment, she decided to take a look at the Realm Definition Council Hall where she obtained her identification.

When she arrived at the Realm Definition Council Hall, the sky was already bright. The street that initially bustling with activities, was now empty without the sight of a single person. Though this was the Underworld, ghosts never liked to stroll under the daylight in the first place. Adding that she was already here for two days, but she had yet to encounter any bad incidents. The public safety in the Underworld was unexpectedly great, matters such as fights and brawls had never occurred before.

The pool of the Realm Definition Council Hall was by the roadside. Zhu Yao glanced at the reflection on the water surface, and what she saw was the face of a woman of about twenty years old, which she was all too familiar with. Probably because she had turned into a ghost, this was her former appearance in the modern era. However, compared to the first time she saw it when she came to the Underworld, her current body was evidently a little different. Before, it was a see-through illusory figure. However, suddenly, it felt as though someone had dyed her with colours, making her a little clearer than before.

She immediately stretched the hand, which had the "Officer" word written on it, into the pool.

Suddenly, the water surface stirred. Ripples of water marks scattered across, and there seemed to be something slowly rising from within the pool. A moment later, a red light flashed, and a circular formation instantly appeared on the water surface.

A teleportation formation!

Zhu Yao was stunned, as she saw a human head suddenly popping out from the teleportation formation. When he saw Zhu Yao, his eyes brightened and with an excited look, he said. "Finally someone has awakened her spiritual consciousness, I"m about to turn dog-tired from all the work. Hurry, hurry! Newcomer, come with this senior to scare some ghosts!"

"…" Were scares trending in the Underworld?