Chapter 107 The Underworld
The two patrolling ghost soldiers noticed the commotion beside them and immediately turned around, crossing their spears in front of them to protect themselves, staring at Zhen Su and looking him up and down.
Shinju's expression remained calm as he cut to the chase: "Brother, are you recruiting soldiers?"
The two men initially thought the newcomer's appearance was rather striking, and as they were pondering this, their expressions changed slightly upon hearing the question, and they loosened their grip on the long pole.
To show that he had no hostility and to make it easier to get closer to him, Shinju took a step forward. However, he was surprised to find that there was a resistance in front of him. When he realized it, the resistance had disappeared into thin air.
Knowing he had most likely run into a demon again, Mayu said to the person beside him, "Sorry."
The two ghost soldiers watched him speak to the floor at his feet, their eyelids twitching, and their gazes couldn't help but shift to the railing not far behind them, where the ghost of the passerby who had been knocked aside by Shinjuku was hanging, looking utterly terrified.
They turned back to look at Masakatsu's figure, and their eyes no longer held a hint of disdain.
Shinju followed their gaze, then quickly looked away, feigning composure, and asked again, "Brothers, do you have any ideas on how to join the army? I really envy you guys, carrying long spears and going around looking so impressive. We poor kids here, no matter what we say, we all envy you."
The Yin soldiers have always been at the bottom of the underworld, doing all the dirty and hard work. Even if the Yin spirits of Fengdu flatter them, it's mostly out of fear, and they often curse them behind their backs. Zhen Su's words were straightforward and simple, but when they looked into his clear and bright golden eyes, they only saw sincerity. It would be a lie to say they weren't comfortable with him.
Before they could respond, the unlucky guy who had been knocked away strolled over and started cursing at Masaya.
Seeing that Masakatsu had no reaction after he finished cursing, he became even angrier. However, he had obviously overheard Masakatsu's conversation with the ghost soldiers. Blinded by rage, he didn't care about offending the ghost soldiers and directly mocked, "What kind of ghost soldier are you if you don't have money?! Look at your poor, penniless appearance, all you can do is talk. You probably can't even afford a single penny, right? Ha, do you think that by saying a few insincere compliments here, the ghost soldiers will let you steal their jobs? If it were that easy, the entire Fengdu would be full of ghost soldiers! There would be no place for a poor wretch like you!"
The ghost soldiers, their brows furrowed beneath their silver helmets. They hadn't originally intended to offer advice to Shinju so readily, as this truly concerned their livelihoods. Even if he spoke kindly, they weren't greenhorns and wouldn't simply reveal their methods to others. However, seeing Shinju's agreeable attitude, they wouldn't make things difficult for him; at most, they would simply dismiss him.
But since this ghost brought this matter to the forefront, they couldn't just take it seriously and dismiss it like that. Otherwise, wouldn't that confirm what the ghost had said?
So the ghost soldiers tilted their heads at Zhen Su and said, "You stay over there, we'll take you over after our shift."
Shinjuku was taken aback at first, then his golden eyes shone brightly in the dim red and green lights around him.
"Thank you both, brothers!!"
The ghost soldiers waved their hands, a slight smile playing on their lips. But when their gazes fell upon the dumbfounded, unlucky fellow beside them, their eyes and brows were filled with impatience, and their spears were pointed at him.
The ghost was so frightened that it slipped and quickly floated away.
Shinju didn't go far, chatting with the two bored underworld soldiers from time to time. By the time they finally took him to the underworld, Shinju had already figured out some of the internal workings of Fengdu and the underworld, and was just short of becoming sworn brothers with them.
"Compared to ghost money, spending money is the real deal here. If you don't have money, it's hard to even get a chance to reincarnate. You'd have to mine in the mountains for a hundred years or so before you'd be old enough to be reincarnated," the ghost soldier said.
Shinju was surprised: "A hundred years?" If this were a mortal, then that would be quite a long time.
"Those were all due to good luck." The ghost soldiers kept quiet about anything else. After thinking for a while, Shinju thought about it and guessed that there must have been some extremely unfair situation. Either the money was taken away by other powerful ghosts, or there were some internal factors on the side of the judge and the king of hell that prevented ghosts from easily reincarnating.
Shinju pretended to be humbly inquiring, and the ghost soldiers were tricked into revealing a lot of information without realizing it, while still wearing smiles on their faces.
Soon, Shinju was led through a gate that was almost identical to the one leading into the underworld. However, this time no gatekeepers came out, and there was no need to show any identification. The underworld soldiers simply grabbed Shinju's arm and successfully led him inside.
Upon entering, Shinju saw a bustling scene with a constant flow of people and ghostly soldiers. Compared to the desolate and cold Fengdu outside, Shinju felt much more at ease encountering such a lively and "human" place.
But for the Yin soldiers who have to face a large group of ghosts every day, returning to the underworld is less crowded, and even somewhat solemn and empty.
The Tenth Office.
The yamen was quite busy today. The ghost soldiers had been waiting for more than half an hour and were almost losing patience and wanted to throw him back to Fengdu. Fortunately, at this time, a ghost official in charge of selection finally freed up his hands and let Zhen Su go over to report.
"What is your name?" the selection officer asked.
The two ghostly soldiers turned their heads to look at him, but they had completely forgotten to ask.
"..." Shinju caught a glimpse of the book being held down by the other party's subordinate out of the corner of his eye. He realized that it might be the Book of Life and Death, or perhaps a list of the souls of Fengdu. He immediately swallowed the real name that was about to come out and said instead, "Li Si."
The selection officer stared at Shinju with a strange expression for a while, but couldn't detect anything amiss or any guilty conscience, so he muttered something and went to flip through the Book of Life and Death.
Shinju lowered his eyes slightly, and just then, the selection officer suddenly and swiftly grabbed his hand and pressed it onto the Book of Life and Death, causing the Book of Life and Death to glow brightly red.
When Shinjuku realized he needed to fight back, it was too late. After a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind, he ultimately didn't pull his hand away, but his gaze couldn't help but dart away as he helplessly awaited the other's attack.
The two ghost soldiers were also very surprised. The selection officer was not usually so rough. Could it be that this soul's identity was wrong? They regretted it in their hearts and looked at the selection officer nervously, hoping that this matter would not implicate them.
Then the selection officer said in a trembling voice, "You are not a ghost from this floor at all!"
Upon hearing this, the two ghost soldiers were even more shocked than the True Monk, so frightened that they clung to each other to prevent themselves from collapsing.
Shinjuku was completely confused, but he didn't show any doubt and remained silent.
Seeing his serious expression, the selection officer knew he was right. He immediately pointed at the two ghost soldiers and, barely managing to keep his voice steady, ordered, "Quickly take him back to the Immortal Ghost Realm!"
"Them?! What right do they have?!" The two ghostly soldiers were nearly scared out of their wits, staring wide-eyed at the selection official.
At this moment, a pair of fair hands reached out from the side and obediently extended in front of the two of them without moving.
Faced with Zhen Su's seemingly harmless appearance, the ghost soldiers hesitated, but fear prevailed. They immediately shackled Zhen Su's wrists with black iron chains and took him away.
"What is the Immortal Ghost Layer?" Before entering the area filled with ghost soldiers, Shinju asked the question that had been on his mind.
"You didn't know?!... You, didn't you come up from there?"
Mayuki casually made up a story: "I have no memory... I woke up to find myself in Fengdu..."
Which level of Fengdu?
Fengdu is divided into strata? Masahiro was surprised. "I didn't know... it was the place where we just met."
Upon hearing this, the two ghost soldiers exchanged glances, unsure whether it was to bolster their courage or because Shinju's previous cooperation had lowered their guard again, and thus they finally told Shinju.
Both Fengdu and the Underworld were originally divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. The lower the level, the smaller the area, resembling a funnel. The upper level, Fengdu, housed the souls of those who died in the mortal realm, while the Underworld was also managed by mortal souls. The middle level was a gathering place for the souls of cultivators, generally having no communication with the upper level. Therefore, to the "ghosts" of the upper level, the middle level was mysterious and terrifying. It was rumored that any "celestial ghost" who came to the upper level could undoubtedly control the weather. As for the lower level, what kind of beings were restrained there was basically unknown to the ghosts of the upper level, and even mentioning it was considered taboo.
However, there are very few restrictions on upper-level ghosts going to the middle level; in fact, it seems rather arbitrary, as if they can't wait to throw away a hot potato.
Therefore, when Shinju was brought to the teleportation array that would transport him to the middle level of the so-called Immortal Ghost Level, he did not encounter any obstacles.
"Take care, both of you." Shinju smiled as he walked into the magic circle, turning back to nod.
The ghost soldiers stared at Masatsu's smiling face, unable to recover for a long time. When they realized that Masatsu seemed to intend to go to the middle level, the handsome figure had already disappeared from the center of the magic circle.
.
The realm of immortals and ghosts, the underworld.
The magic circle, which hadn't seen any ghosts for decades, suddenly emitted a golden light. However, due to its remote location and the fact that the magic circle was filled with miscellaneous items, no one noticed Shinju's appearance.
Covered in dust and dirt, Shinjuku emerged from the pile of junk. He glanced around at the dim surroundings, then went back in and rummaged through the junk again. Surprisingly, he found a raincoat and a straw hat, which he put on before leaving.
As far as the eye could see, the number of ghost soldiers he could spot was surprisingly small. The few that were visible were strangely shaped, with fangs and wings, fish heads and human bodies, some flying in the sky, some swimming in the water, and those that walked on two legs were even rarer.
"..." Although there are demon races in the cultivation world, humans and human subspecies still make up the vast majority. Zhen Su sensed that this place was different from others and became more vigilant.
The underworld of the Immortal Ghost Layer is filled with eerie colors. Both the architecture and the ghost soldiers are very different from those of the upper layers, as if one has intruded into the territory of some demon race.
When Shinju entered the government office with black dragons climbing on the eaves, it was in a state of chaos. Ghost soldiers were constantly moving back and forth, and flying boats and bamboo rafts were transporting goods in the air, making people dizzy.
Shinju secretly observed for a long time, then stopped a ghost soldier who was standing tall like a rabbit but not as tall as him at the waist, and asked her, "Are you short of manpower?"
The rabbit-shaped ghost soldier, already in a hurry, was suddenly stopped and was about to lash out. But upon hearing Shinju's words, her red eyes lit up, and she leaped into the air, exclaiming, "How did you know we're short of people?! Come with me right now!!!"
Seeing the other party's enthusiasm and lack of pickiness, Shinjuku hesitated, thinking that what awaited him was probably an extremely difficult and demanding job that no one else dared to take on.
Seeing that the True Monk hesitated, the rabbit-like ghost soldiers became angry and immediately revealed their true form—a giant rabbit about three stories tall, with two heads and four eyes, scarlet compound eyes, thick feet and bristles, and a face full of fangs, completely losing its previous gentle and vulnerable appearance.
"..." That was a miscalculation.
A hurricane suddenly arose, and the giant rabbit snatched up Shinjuku and leaped into the sky.
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