"Hey kid, got a cigarette?"
Liu Sandao tilted his head and looked at me.
I took a cigarette out of the pack and handed it to him.
"Put it on the ground, put it on the ground!"
It was only then that I realized he was still in a spirit state and couldn't touch physical objects at all.
I lit the cigarette and put it on the ground.
Seeing this, Liu Sandao couldn't wait to bend down and take big gulps of sucking.
With each inhale, the cigarette butt would suddenly light up and burn rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The cigarette ash fell in pieces, piling up in a small heap on the ground.
Liu Sandao's expression gradually relaxed, and a glimmer of light returned to his previously dim eyes.
I glanced at the door that was about to be smashed open and said, "Wait a minute, if your souls can't touch the physical body, then why is that chef outside still banging on the door?"
"Who said he crashed into the door? Get me another one, I've been craving this for ages!"
Liu Sandao stared intently at my cigarette pack, his eyes looking like those of a starving ghost.
After smoking three more cigarettes, Liu Sandao finally spoke: "Who said he was banging on the door? It's just a hallucination, ignore it."
After saying that, he added, "But we need to find a way to leave quickly, otherwise we won't be able to leave when the underworld officials come."
"Underworld messengers?"
My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly asked, "You mean, the customers of this processing plant are ghost messengers?"
"Otherwise what?" Liu Sandao asked with a bitter smile, his smile revealing endless bitterness and helplessness.
I was so surprised I couldn't close my mouth, and stammered, "Underworld messengers... Underworld messengers eat souls?"
Liu Sandao shook his head and slowly spoke.
"The underworld officials do not eat souls. Some greedy underworld officials, in order to satisfy their own desires, collude with evil spirits or evil cultivators in the mortal world who have evil intentions and attempt to defy fate."
“These evil spirits or heretical practitioners sacrifice living people or capture weak souls that wander on the edge of Yin and Yang, and use them as ‘tribute’ to the underworld officials so that they can deliver results.”
"The underworld officials know what those people need, so they secretly bring here some souls that haven't had a chance to be reincarnated or can't be reincarnated, like this processing plant."
"Canned goods made from souls are an excellent 'tonic' for some evil spirits who pursue evil magic and attempt to enhance their own cultivation."
"What the underworld officials gain from this is not just money, but even secret leverage that can help them get promoted in the underworld. After all, nobody wants to be a lowly soldier forever, right?"
Who wouldn't want to be an ox-headed demon or a horse-faced demon, a ghost above ghosts?
I was stunned. I thought, "Don't they know about these things? No, no, no one knows?"
"How could I not know?"
Liu Sandao sighed and said, "So these underworld officials are also very clever. They not only process these souls, but also send a large number of souls to the 'labor camp' in the underworld."
“There, the souls are subjected to cruel punishments, toiling day and night to build luxurious palaces in the underworld, and to move mountains of ghost money to create wealth for the nobles of the underworld. All they receive in return is endless pain and torment.”
"So as long as you don't go too far, the underworld officials will just turn a blind eye."
I felt a chill run down my spine.
“This… isn’t this just like northern Myanmar in reality?” I muttered to myself.
What's the difference between the underworld and the world of the living?
Liu Sandao snorted coldly, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.
"The things used in the living world are also used in the underworld. What is above is what is below. In this world, whether it is the living world or the underworld, there are dark corners that cannot be seen in the light. The strong prey on the weak, and people will do anything for profit."
"Those who are high and mighty, who try every means to exploit the lower classes, don't care about fairness and justice."
I sighed softly. It seems that being a ghost isn't so good either.
Living is already difficult enough; we struggle to make a living, experiencing all the joys and sorrows of life.
I never imagined that the underworld would be worse than when I was alive.
Let's not even talk about the eighteen levels of hell after death, where one will suffer cruel tortures.
Even if you are just a wandering ghost, drifting in this gloomy underworld, you must always be on your guard, wary of being targeted by fierce evil spirits and vengeful ghosts, and becoming their "food".
Having barely escaped these calamities, they still had to be wary of wicked cultivators with evil intentions and corrupt underworld officials. Life was simply unbearably dark.
Just then, a gust of cold wind blew by, making me shiver involuntarily.
At first, the wind was just a few wisps, but in an instant it became like a tornado, and the wails of ghosts could be heard in my ears.
It felt like a thousand ghosts were crying in my ear.
Liu Sandao's expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed, "Oh no, the underworld messengers have arrived!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding temperature plummeted.
The already dim light grew even dimmer.
On the floor, black cracks spread out like a spider web.
The air was filled with a damp, rotten smell.
The surrounding scenery became blurred and indistinct under the influence of this yin energy.
As soon as I turned my head, I saw four underworld messengers appear in the four corners of the office.
These four underworld messengers were completely different from those I had seen on my last trip to the Yellow Springs.
They were dressed in long black robes with many white embellishments, which looked like funeral clothes.
He was wearing a tall black hat.
His face was expressionless, and his skin had a bluish-gray hue.
Liu Sandao's eyes widened: "These aren't underworld officials, they're the underworld officials! They're the elite in the underworld responsible for apprehending wanted criminals. They're extremely ruthless. Once they've got their eyes on you, there's no escaping!"
The leader of the underworld officials took a step forward, his voice echoing through the office.
"Liu Sandao, your sins are grave. Come with us to the underworld to be judged!"
After saying that, he gently raised his hand, and a jet-black iron chain appeared out of thin air, instantly wrapping around Liu Sandao's body, tightly binding him, and trying to drag him away.
"Let him go!"
Without hesitation, I rushed forward, wanting to stop Yin Si from taking Liu Sandao away.
"Um?"
The underworld official suddenly glanced in my direction, and an invisible wave of energy instantly knocked me to the ground.
"Yang people, don't meddle in other people's business, or don't blame us for being impolite!"
Just then, one of the underworld officials suddenly turned and glanced at me, then mumbled some strange words to the underworld official who was about to take Liu Sandao away.
I couldn't understand a single word.
Immediately afterwards, the other three underworld officials echoed my sentiments and all turned to look at me.
All I could hear was a buzzing echo.
Is this the Hakka language of ghosts?
I stood to the side, completely bewildered, having no idea what they were talking about.
I couldn't understand it, but Liu Sandao could.
With all his might, he shouted at me, "Run! Run! They said the secret here can't be revealed, and they're taking you with them!"
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