Since Meng Po was an official employee of the underworld, of course, she cared about performance metrics. The underworld had annual quotas for the number of souls reincarnated, but in recent years, thanks to advancements in human technology and longer life expectancies, the number of couples wanting children kept rising—yet no one was dying to meet demand. The reincarnation situation had become quite dire, and the underworld was deeply troubled.
Meng Po thought for a moment and then nodded. “You… kind of have a point.”
“Wait a minute!” Fengguang cried out. “You all need to follow proper procedure! My lifespan’s not even up yet!”
Meng Po thought again and then shook her head. “No, no, that won’t work. Lord Yama is too much of a stickler. If he finds out I sent someone off to reincarnate before their time just to hit a performance goal, he’ll definitely ‘invite me for tea’ again. Naihe, let her go.”
Naihe didn’t say anything this time. He simply loosened his hand, and the chain he’d been holding fell away. The restraints binding Fengguang disappeared as well.
Finally free, Fengguang almost wanted to throw her head back and howl with joy. She muttered under her breath, “At least you people still have some professional ethics…”
As she spoke, she shot a glare at the white-haired man in black, only to find him completely ignoring her. Knowing she had no leverage, she forced herself to stay polite and asked Meng Po, “So… how do I get back?”
She was seriously afraid that if she didn’t hurry, someone would roll her body into the morgue!
“How to get back…” Meng Po glanced at Naihe. “Naihe, send her back.”
Naihe turned to leave. “I don’t have time.”
“Hey, you little punk!” Meng Po slammed the table in frustration.
A nearby ghost officer tried to calm her. “Don’t get mad, don’t get mad. You know Naihe isn’t a ghost officer. This time we were short-staffed, and he only agreed to come after a lot of coaxing. Otherwise, he’d still be holed up in his sea of red spider lilies, refusing to come out.”
“Yeah, we practically begged him to make one trip to the human world, and what did he do? He brought back the wrong soul!”
“Well, he can’t remember faces. He’s not a professional. Mistakes happen.”
“Mistakes, my ass! Just look at his attitude!” Meng Po swatted away a junior ghost officer who tried to offer comfort, then turned to Fengguang, who was now standing there, not knowing what to do. “You were brought here by Naihe, so only he can take you out. I’m not planning to send you for reincarnation, so whether or not you make it back to the living world depends on whether you can convince him.”
“…So I have to find him to get back?”
“Well, you could try asking Lord Yama for help…” Meng Po trailed off as she clutched her chest and slumped onto the table. “Ugh, just thinking about that uptight weirdo gives me stomach pain…”
That’s your chest you’re holding, not your stomach!
Fengguang bit her tongue, holding back the urge to say anything. Just from Meng Po’s reaction, she figured Lord Yama was probably even harder to deal with than Naihe. Gritting her teeth, she thought she must’ve burned some serious karma, then turned and chased off in the direction where Naihe had disappeared.
She crossed the redwood bridge and found herself in the middle of an endless sea of red spider lilies. Standing there in the flower field, she looked out over the dusky landscape—under this grey sky, it looked just like a vast ocean of blood.
She spotted a few black butterflies fluttering past. Their wings were half-transparent, giving them a strange, haunting beauty. Just like Naihe himself: even though he kept his sharp edges hidden, he still drew people’s attention without even trying.
Sena Rachma On [QTC] MBDT Chapter 1085