IMMFBCG Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The “Civil Servants” of the Underworld

Ye Xue walked into the Xuan Zhen Temple, holding a black umbrella.

With her presence this time, Chen Su was no longer constrained by the Three Pure Ones and smoothly entered the Taoist temple.

As Ye Xue stepped into the main hall, she noticed that the Xuan Zhen Temple seemed much quieter than usual. Normally, at this time, the sound of Bai Liu cursing while playing games would already be echoing throughout the temple.

Bai Liu was not only bad at games but also often matched with equally incompetent teammates. Ye Xue had once curiously watched him play, and his phone screen hadn’t lit up once; he only stopped after being scolded by Bai Guan Zhu.

However, today was indeed rare; he was surprisingly quiet.

As Ye Xue thought this, she walked in and saw Bai Liu looking haggard, lying on a chair and sighing, his face showing a complete lack of enthusiasm for life. Bai Guan Zhu and Xu Zhou stood nearby, looking both amused and helpless.

What was going on?

Ye Xue found it strange and turned to ask them, “What’s Bai Liu doing?”

Xu Zhou stifled a laugh and explained, “He’s been drafted by the Underworld.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Liu’s eyes darkened even more as he corrected Xu Zhou, “It’s a mistake; that nearsighted ghost messenger got the wrong person…”

“How can you still say that?” Bai Guan Zhu rolled his eyes at his son. “All you do is sleep all day long, and now your soul has been dragged away, and you still don’t realize it. I wonder if you’ll dare to oversleep again!”

Bai Liu felt quite innocent. If that ghost of Impermanence hadn’t been wearing glasses and had recognized the wrong person, would this have happened?

Ye Xue found a seat next to Bai Liu.

Xu Zhou began explaining the events that had unfolded not long ago.

After hearing the whole story, Ye Xue couldn’t help but twitch her lips, feeling a mix of amusement and sympathy.

Generally speaking, those who took on roles like that of Impermanence dealt with the dead, which is why the Underworld initially registered Bai Ziang’s name on the documents.

But unexpectedly, due to a mix-up, the ghost of Impermanence had mistaken the identity, resulting in Bai Liu being registered in the Underworld in place of his father.

Now that the situation was set, even if they wanted to find someone to help him resign from this job, it depended on whether the Underworld agreed. If this dragged on, Bai Liu might disappear without having been able to resign, and after death, he would still have to continue his duties in the Underworld.

Since there was no way to avoid it, he would have to face it head-on.

Bai Liu realized this, which was why he felt so “disillusioned.”

Seeing him in such a state, Ye Xue tried to comfort him, saying, “It’s okay; at least you’ll be a civil servant.”

For ordinary people, becoming a ghost messenger might not be a good thing since they lack the courage to confront ghosts. But for Bai Liu, it was a different matter.

Bai Liu: “…”

Damn it, Master Uncle’s comforting words felt too hollow and utterly unconvincing!

That evening, at the peak of the Yin energy, Ye Xue opened her black umbrella and released Chen Su.

Coincidentally, the accident ghosts were also coming to the temple these days to clean up, so she decided to settle their wages at the same time.

Ye Xue brought out some joss paper and conveniently hung a lantern by the temple to signal. When the accident ghosts saw the lantern’s flickering light and smelled the incense, they would come over.

When the lantern was hung up at the Xuan Zhen Temple, the accident ghost indeed saw it.

However, when he hurried over, he spotted the female ghost standing next to Ye Xue.

In an instant, it felt like a thunderbolt had struck him; he even thought he was about to lose his status as the primary ghost and be abandoned by Ye Shimei.

Just as he was about to wail in despair, Ye Xue stuffed a joss paper into his mouth, abruptly silencing him, “…”

He immediately stopped crying and gulped down the offering, fearing someone would snatch it from him.

Chen Su had never seen anything like this before; she was momentarily stunned and stared at Ye Xue, asking quietly, “Did he starve to death?”

Why did he look even more disheveled than she did, as if he hadn’t eaten in five hundred years?

The accident ghost had sharp ears; upon hearing Chen Su’s words, he became furious and shouted, “A man can be killed but not humiliated! What do you mean, a starving ghost reincarnated? Who are you insulting?! You should know I died in a car accident by looking at me like this!”

As he ranted, Ye Xue stuffed another joss paper into his mouth, retorting, “You can’t even keep your mouth shut while eating.”

Chen Su couldn’t even be bothered to respond to him; she stood beside Ye Xue, smiling modestly, and only started to enjoy the incense when Ye Xue called her name.

The two ghosts enjoyed their offerings at the incense pile.

As they were eating, the accident ghost suddenly paused, raising his head from the pile of incense and sniffing the air curiously. “Is that the scent of a living soul?”

Ye Xue was taken aback. “A living soul?”

She seemed to recall something, turning her head to look ahead as she picked up the lantern to illuminate her path and walked toward the dim area not far away.

Standing ahead was a young man with black hair, dressed in black casual clothes, blending almost seamlessly into the darkness.

Surrounding him were restless, predatory spirits.

Only when the candlelight shone over did it bring a glimmer of brightness to the surrounding pitch-black environment.

The black-haired young man had been standing still, his expression cold as he gazed at the surrounding spirits. When he sensed the light from the candle, he slightly turned his head, meeting Ye Xue’s gaze.

His initially indifferent expression revealed a hint of surprise as if he hadn’t expected to encounter Ye Xue.

He pursed his lips, wanting to call out to her, but Ye Xue exclaimed in surprise, “Yu Qi?”

Remembering what he had said earlier, she realized, “You’ve left your body again?”

Yu Qi’s dark eyes gained a bit of warmth, and he nodded slightly. “Yes.” After a moment’s thought, perhaps worried his answer sounded too cold, he added, “I returned home to rest for a while, but when I woke up, my soul had already left my body.”

When his soul had first exited, Yu Qi had prepared to spend time in the darkness. Unexpectedly, as he drifted around this time, despite the unfamiliar scenery, he was no longer surrounded by darkness but by a myriad of buildings and familiar faces.

Being forcibly awakened from a deep sleep sounded quite pitiful.

Ye Xue’s eyes filled with sympathy as she noticed the group of oblivious spirits still surrounding Yu Qi. She shook the lantern and shooed them away, saying, “Go away, don’t make me hit someone!”

The spirits, afraid of being hit, unwillingly glared at the “Tang Seng meat” Yu Qi, who seemed to radiate an enticing fragrance and turned to flee.

Seeing that Yu Qi appeared somewhat awkward, unsure of where to place his hands and feet, she said to him, “Wait a moment.”

Ye Xue turned and went into the temple to fetch two stools, handing one to him. “Sit down; wait until your soul calls you back.”

As she spoke, she already sat down herself.

Yu Qi glanced at the distance between the stools and moved closer to hers. He then looked up at Ye Xue and obediently took a seat.

However, with his long legs and arms, sitting on the small stool felt rather cramped.

Ye Xue couldn’t help but find his flustered expression amusing, laughing out loud.

Yu Qi silently gazed at her, and Ye Xue felt as if she were teasing a “good student.” She cleared her throat and changed the subject, asking seriously, “Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”

Living souls could eat food as well.

However, anything that had been consumed by living souls would taste bland and waxy to others.

This was because the essence of the food would have been absorbed, leaving only an empty shell behind.

Ye Xue meant to offer him a late-night snack, but Yu Qi seemed to misunderstand her words. He instinctively glanced toward the incense pile, where two ghosts were devouring food, then turned back to her, showing hesitation as if he were uncertain whether to nod.

Ye Xue caught his gaze. “…No, I meant real food.”

Looking into the young man’s dark eyes, she asked with a hint of amusement, “Why would I let a living person eat incense? Do you think I want to mess with you?”

Ye Xue had only intended to joke, but unexpectedly, her question left Yu Qi at a loss, as if he had done something wrong. His lips moved as if he wanted to explain something to Ye Xue.

Seeing that he had taken her words seriously, Ye Xue quickly clarified, “I was just joking.”

Yu Qi then looked up at her, and Ye Xue, smiling brightly, asked again, “So, do you want to eat?”

The sparkle in her eyes was as dazzling as the stars in the night sky.

Yu Qi awkwardly turned his face away and then nodded very seriously, whispering, “Yes, I want to eat.”

From a distance, the accident ghost listened to their conversation, and as he did, his expression grew strange.

He paused with the joss paper in hand, then nudged Chen Su, his face full of curiosity. “Hey, have you heard this saying?”

Chen Su, busy eating, couldn’t be bothered to engage with him, responding perfunctorily, “What?”

The accident ghost said earnestly, “We should be under the car, not inside it.”

Chen Su: “…” Crazy.

When Ye Xue returned, she stopped along the way to buy some fruit, and now she had more than she could eat.

She spread a piece of paper on the table and arranged various fruits neatly on top. Then she said to Yu Qi, “I bought quite a bit, so feel free to take whatever you want. No need to be polite!”

Hearing this, Yu Qi looked at her, and Ye Xue nodded.

His gaze lingered on the fruits for a moment, and when he saw Ye Xue pick up an apple, he grabbed one as well. However, before he could take a bite, he felt a sudden tug on his soul.

It was a sign that a living soul was returning to its body.

Realizing what was happening, Yu Qi looked up at Ye Xue and said, “I have to go…”

Before he could finish, the surrounding environment suddenly twisted.

When Yu Qi opened his eyes again, he had already returned to the Yu family mansion.

He stared at the dark surroundings, a little dazed.

In the past, he had always hoped for the time of his soul’s return to be a bit earlier, so he could spend more time alone in the quiet house.

Now, however, Yu Qi felt that this time was too short, to the extent that he hadn’t had the chance to exchange a few words with Ye Xue.

Yu Qi pondered absently, gazing at the dark room, and reached out to turn on the light. But when he looked down, he was startled to see the apple in his hand.

He didn’t know what method Ye Xue had used, but it had somehow come back with him.

Yu Qi pinched the bridge of his nose and smiled softly, carefully placing the apple in a safe spot.

As the candle was nearly burned out, Ye Xue reminded them, “It’s almost dawn; you should all head back.”

Chen Su reluctantly set down the joss paper.

After finishing this meal, she didn’t know how long it would be before she could eat her fill again.

Ye Xue thought of how Chen Su had been repeatedly summoned by the underworld’s aura these past few days and said to her, “You should stay near the Xuan Zhen Temple for now.” This was to prevent her from being drawn away by unknown forces the moment she left.

Chen Su’s expression changed instantly from sadness to joy, and she looked up at Ye Xue with excitement.

Meeting her expectant gaze, Ye Xue had to remind her, “But you need to be careful; don’t let the people from other temples find out.”

Chen Su nodded eagerly. “Okay! You can count on me!”

After sharing a meal, the accident ghost became less resistant to Chen Su joining them.

But more importantly, Ye Xue hadn’t mentioned anything about wanting him to leave. It seemed Chen Su would just be staying nearby to help eat, which didn’t affect his position at the Xuan Zhen Temple at all.

He had also heard that things had been tough for the other ghosts lately.

So the accident ghost turned to look at Chen Su, and after thinking for a moment, he reluctantly nodded. “Alright, from now on, you’re my little brother…”

Before Chen Su could respond, Ye Xue shot him a glance. Noticing her gaze, the accident ghost wisely corrected himself, saying, “That’s not right. We’re all little brothers of Daoist Ye. We’ll work hard together for the boss’s cause! Sister… right?”

Saying this, the accident ghost smiled ingratiatingly at Ye Xue.

Ye Xue couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

As she was about to tell them to head back since dawn was approaching, Chen Su suddenly looked at the fruit on the ground and seriously asked, “Daoist, can I eat one?”

The female ghost gazed at the fruits, a hint of nostalgia in her eyes, and spoke softly, “I haven’t had fresh fruit in many years.”

Ye Xue couldn’t refuse such a small request, so she nodded and said, “Go ahead, it’s fine.”

The next day, Bai Liu woke up from a nightmare filled with countless ghosts pressing down on him. Yawning, he checked the time and realized it was only five-thirty, and it wasn’t fully light yet.

Half-awake, he got up in the dark to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he turned to light incense for the ancestor, he happened to notice a pile of fruit on the nearby table.

He casually picked one up, wiped it on his clothes, and took a big bite.

Immediately, Bai Liu’s expression changed, and he spat out the fruit, exclaiming, “Ugh, ugh, ugh!”

What was this? It had no flavor at all and was worse than the joss paper candles eaten by ghosts.