Chapter 11 Underworld Regulations: "I would like to hear the details."
"It's a ghost! It's a ghost!"
After the two constables rushed out like madmen, they dared not go home or return to the yamen, feeling as if the ghost was relentlessly chasing after them, and they could not shake it off no matter what they did.
In the middle of the night, the two of them rushed into the inn, shouting "Taoist Master, save us!" They smashed open one of the guest rooms, pounced on the bed, pulled the person sleeping in the blankets out, and hugged his arms tightly on either side.
The Taoist priest, disheveled, was held by two constables to the side of the bed, his arms tightly wrapped around them, barely able to break free. He was completely bewildered: "What are you doing?!"
"There's a ghost! Aaaaaaah..."
"There's a ghost! Aaaaaaah..."
The two constables clung to his arms and howled as if seeking refuge.
The Taoist priest nearly deafened them with his shout, and he yelled back, "No, where did this ghost come from?"
"We saw it with our own eyes, a female ghost dressed in white, with disheveled hair..." Hei Zi said incoherently, "That woman died and became a ghost, following us..."
"Yes, yes, they've been chasing us, they're coming after us! Taoist priest, please cast your spell quickly..."
The Taoist priest looked at the two bailiffs who had gone mad: "..."
The crazed constable kept urging him to cast the spell, but his hands were firmly gripping the Taoist priest's arms: "Cast the spell! Cast the spell now! Cast the spell and make her soul fly away!"
Taoist priest: "Please let me go first."
"Hurry and cast the spell!"
Taoist priest: "Stop squeezing me!"
"Hurry up and cast the spell! Hurry up and cast the spell!"
The Taoist priest snapped, "Then let me go! How am I supposed to cast spells with you holding me like this?!"
The two constables were terrified and wouldn't let go of his grip at all, stammering, "Recite the mantra! Recite the Great Compassion Mantra!"
"Read it quickly, read it now!"
The Taoist priest: "..." I'll chant your damn mantra! What kind of nonsense is this, chanting the Great Compassion Mantra?! That's for monks! I'm a Taoist priest! Don't you have any common sense?!
"Let me go!" The Taoist priest tried to struggle, but four hands gripped him tightly like iron clamps. "Let go, let go, let me go."
"No, we're possessed by a ghost, a female ghost."
The Taoist priest roared inwardly: "I'm the one who's being haunted by ghosts! In the middle of the night, I'm being harassed by two crazy male ghosts, and I can't shake them off!"
"What are you two doing?!" Coming to bother him in the middle of the night, the Taoist priest's ears ached from their howling. Frustrated, he asked, "Where did you go tonight? Where did you see any ghosts?"
After asking the question, the Taoist priest suddenly became alert. These two officials were so frightened, could it be that someone had died again?
The two constables blurted out in unison, "What a hellish place!"
The Taoist priest was startled: "What? Didn't I say we couldn't go in there?!"
Then he heard the two bailiffs rambling on and on, saying that a woman had died and become a ghost, that the magistrate and the bailiffs had all hanged themselves and were hanging from the main beam of the courtroom, and that there were many skeletons and other incoherent ramblings. They were talking at once, and not a single sentence could be put into a coherent sentence.
The Taoist priest grew increasingly alarmed as he listened and quickly interrupted, "Quick, quick, let go! Let me go and take a look. If you don't let go, I won't be polite!"
Immediately afterward, the two constables cried out in pain as the Taoist priest stabbed them in the ribs without any hesitation, and then released them.
The Taoist priest regained his freedom, quickly broke free from the two men, put on his outer robe, grabbed his sword, and rushed out.
The Taoist priest was invited by the yamen officials to Renzu Mountain more than half a month ago to assist in the investigation. Although they hadn't found anything, he was the only Taoist they knew in the city, and currently their only lifeline capable of exorcising evil spirits. They were now using him as a human exorcism talisman. However, he was just a walking talisman and ran away as soon as he was caught. The two yamen runners had no choice but to chase after him for protection.
As a result, they went in a big circle and ended up chasing the Taoist priest back to the Ghost Bureau. The two constables were terrified and rushed up to him, grabbing the Taoist priest again and preventing him from going in.
"There really is a ghost in here, a disheveled female ghost..."
Caught off guard, the Taoist priest was suddenly flanked by them from both sides: "No, I'm going in to see..."
Hei Zi interrupted him urgently before he could finish, "You can't go in..."
The Taoist priest couldn't shake off the two troublesome individuals: "You two stay outside, don't go in. Let go and let me in..."
The constable persisted, "No, we're being haunted by that female ghost! You can't leave! You have to help us exorcise her..."
As the three were struggling, the gate of the Ghost Government Office suddenly creaked open from the inside. The three froze, all six eyes staring intently at the gate.
When Lu Bing and Zhou Yaren carried the unconscious Qin San out, they were startled to see the three people huddled together like conjoined twins outside.
After staring at each other for a while, the two constables suddenly let out a piercing wail: "Boss—!"
Lu Bing was still recovering from the shock and his legs were weak, so he couldn't even carry a little girl. That's why Zhou Yaren carried Qin San out.
As soon as he stepped out the door, he was met with a wail from his two subordinates. Lu Bing's limp legs almost hit the threshold again, but luckily he leaned to the side and grabbed Zhou Yaren's shoulder, leaning against her to keep himself from losing face.
"What are you yelling about!" Lu Bing originally wanted to reprimand them, but his voice was weak and soft, and it didn't have much of an intimidating effect.
His two subordinates were so scared that they ran away faster than wild horses, thinking they had been frightened away. But to his surprise, they came back and even brought reinforcements, which was completely unexpected.
Looking at his two subordinates who were holding up the Taoist priest, Lu Bing was deeply moved: "You two went to the inn to invite Taoist Priest Fang to help?!"
The expressions on the two constables' faces froze instantly, and they seemed to have a chicken bone stuck in their throats, managing to utter only a "...um..." after a long while.
Master Fang: "..." You two have the nerve! Did you invite me here to help? You two are clearly just holding me back from going in! Let go of me now!
But in Lu Bing's eyes, it looked as if his subordinates had forcibly dragged Master Fang over. Looking at Master Fang's face, he was extremely unwilling, and even struggled angrily, saying, "Let go, let go, let go of me!"
So the two constables slowly released him, but still clung tightly to him.
Master Fang stepped forward, and they followed closely behind.
Master Fang, struggling to maintain the precarious composure of a cultivator, asked, "Officer Lu, what exactly happened? What's going on here? How did you get out of here? And what happened to this girl...?"
“This girl rushed into the Ghost Bureau with a kitchen knife in the middle of the night to seek revenge on the murderer. We went in to drag her out, but then,” Lu Bing paused, still shaken, “we encountered something strange, and the girl fainted from fright.”
"What strange thing is this?"
"It's a long story. There's a woman inside who just died. You can go in and carry the body out."
The two constables were so frightened that they lost their footing and knelt down before Lu Bing, as if their legs had been broken by their boss's words, their bones snapped in half, and they knelt down perfectly straight.
Who would dare go into that godforsaken place? They would never go back, even if you killed them.
Master Fang was standing in the middle when he was suddenly forced to kneel down on both sides, catching him completely off guard.
Lu Bing realized that his words were inappropriate. After what had just happened, they wouldn't dare to go in even if they had a hundred lives. So he waved his hand helplessly and said, "Forget it, let's talk about it after dawn. Lock the gate first."
"Wait, let me go in and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yaren asked, "Does this Taoist priest wish to go in?"
"I need to go in and check if the formation inside has been damaged."
Zhou Yaren pressed further, "Did you set up the rune array inside?"
Master Fang shook his head: "No, my cultivation is shallow. Back then, I was just a novice who had just entered the Ancestral Mountain of Humanity. This formation was set up by the leader of the Taihang Sect. I was just entrusted to look after this formation here to prevent any mishaps."
Zhou Yaren: "Are you cultivating on Mount Renzu?"
"Yes." Master Fang maintained eye contact with him as he spoke, but noticed his gaze was unusually empty and unfocused. Suspicious, he hesitated to speak offensively. During the pause, he heard the other man speak again:
"Since you are the Taoist priest of Renzu Mountain, then I will speak frankly. Did the Taihang Taoist set up this formation to suppress those prisoners buried beneath the death row?"
Master Fang's expression suddenly changed: "This...this...you...you...you all..."
Zhou Yaren remained calm and composed: "We accidentally dug up some corpses wearing shackles in the death row just now. I presume Master Fang knows about this?"
Master Fang was no longer calm: "What else are you doing?!"
"I didn't do anything."
Master Fang clearly didn't believe it; he thought, "Why are you all so scared if I haven't done anything?"
Although Officer Lu appeared unharmed, his face was deathly pale, clearly terrified, not to mention the two kneeling beside him.
He was absolutely terrified. He rushed into his guest room and had a fit of rage. The girl in the other man's arms was also scared unconscious.
Among the group, the man in blue in front of them remained calm and spoke clearly, clearly showing that he was a man of great talent.
Zhou Yaren said, "But a woman sacrificed her life in court, and her blood may have altered the talisman array set up on the Taihang Road, causing a wisp of Yin energy to leak out."
Master Fang was shocked and rushed to the gate, saying, "Something's wrong."
Zhou Yaren stepped forward, blocking the other party's path: "Daoist Master."
Master Fang got anxious: "Don't block my way."
Zhou Yaren stood her ground, her tone becoming increasingly aggressive: "Daoist Master, those detained here are all people who died unjustly. The Bei Qu government office has already moved; does this ghostly office intend to remain here forever?!"
It has always kept those who died unjustly in check.
Master Fang was intimidated by the other party's cold and stern aura. Was this person speaking out for those who died unjustly?
Master Fang's expression turned solemn, and he said sternly, "According to the laws of the underworld, those who die in government offices are detained by the officials, and their souls cannot leave unless the walls and houses collapse."
During the standoff, Zhou Yaren frowned slightly: "So many people."
Master Fang sighed: "I know, but this place is not as simple as you think."
Zhou Yaren: "I would like to hear the details."
"What a load of crap," Master Fang opened his mouth, but seeing the other party's eager-to-listen attitude, he knew that some things, even if he tried to hide them, would probably not be concealed. The other party had already gotten to the bottom of things, so he said helplessly, "To tell you the truth, this place used to be—the prison of the Qin Dynasty."
Zhou Yaren was taken aback, suddenly remembering the Qin coin she had just dug out of the mass grave.
"Do the math yourself. From the Qin Dynasty to now, the injustices here have been going on for at least a thousand years," Master Fang stated directly, without needing him to elaborate. "This is already the safest method."
Zhou Yaren remained silent and did not block Fang Daoist's path, allowing him to enter the Ghost Office alone to examine the formation.
After a long pause, he muttered to himself with a mocking tone: Is this really a safe bet?!
A note from the author:
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