The underworld also has a points system.
Upon hearing this, the other person quickly patted her and whispered, "Hey? Why are you being so gossipy, ghost? Lord Guan Nan has long since transcended the Six Paths of Reincarnation, so his appearance and physique will never age. All these ghost messengers are like that, forever retaining the appearance they had at the last moment in their lives. However, I don't really know which gods and immortals are in the underworld. Perhaps the older generation would know?"
389 changed the subject and continued, "And Bai Muyu... I heard she was in love but couldn't have the one she wanted, so she's the strictest head of the underworld's underworld officials, in charge of all kinds of punishments and never showing any mercy. But honestly, I think these two are really a perfect match, one a cold-faced handsome man, the other a cold-blooded beauty."
Number 389 recounted the story vividly, and Gu Lili, listening to her, realized that the other person was clearly a skilled gossipmonger. After some conversation, the two became quite familiar with each other; indeed, gossip was the fastest way to bring two women together.
As they were talking, the aroma of boiled fish wafted over again, making Gu Lili's mouth water. She kept standing on tiptoe to look ahead, but all she could see was a long, winding queue.
"I'm so hungry for it! When can we finally have boiled fish?" Gu Lili said, swallowing hard.
389 stood on tiptoe and looked around: "Boiled fish? Where did you get boiled fish?"
"Can't you smell it? The aroma coming from that pot over there is clearly the smell of boiled fish." Gu Lili gestured towards the large pot in front of her.
"Oh, you mean that? I smell braised pork ribs. Whatever your desire smells like, that's the smell you smell here. That's how we keep queuing here by controlling the smell."
When 389 spoke of this, her face was filled with indifference, as if it had nothing to do with her, or as if she had already accepted the cruel tricks of fate. Ordinary people and ordinary ghosts are all equally powerless.
"Huh? Damn it, this is never going to end. Aren't these officials just making a fool of me? Screw them, let me just disappear into thin air. Why make it seem like I'd love to be reborn? Let me be reborn as a weed. I'd rather just do what I want now and have a good time."
She couldn't bear to eat boiled fish in life, and now she's being tricked by you with boiled fish in death. Her life savings of 30,000 points were swindled out of 10,000 of them. Gu Lili was so angry that she pushed aside the line in front of her and charged headlong toward the Meng Po Bridge, as if she wanted to die with them.
People wearing numbered tags, like zombies, did not resist, but silently returned to their places to queue, much like cattle and horses in reality who are powerless to resist and choose to obey.
Finally, following the increasingly strong smell of boiled fish, Gu Lili walked to the fluorescent green pot. A disheveled old woman was slowly stirring the pot with a long spoon.
"Big brother, how long have you been waiting in line?" Gu Lili asked, looking at number 18 who was at the very front of the line.
Number 18 craned his neck to look at the still empty soup bowl on the table, then turned to look at her: "I don't know, I only remember that I died in the year 2000."
"What the heck?! The year 2000? You've been waiting in line for 25 years??"
Gu Lili looked back at the long, narrow line and exclaimed in disbelief.
"It's almost time to get off work, just wait, I'll serve you soup during work hours."
"???"
The old woman said something to number 18, then turned around and started packing her things, clearly indicating she was about to leave work. Gu Lili, already furious, was completely enraged by the disheveled old woman before her.
"Hey, I'm telling you, with this kind of efficiency, you still want to leave work? You only serve 17 bowls of soup in one shift? No wonder people have been waiting for 25 years. Are you guys messing with us?"
"How dare you! Where did you come from, you scoundrel? You have no manners. In the underworld, you must abide by the rules of the underworld. Do you think you can act as you please in the human world?"
Not to be outdone, Meng Po rolled up her sleeves, stepped forward, bypassed the cauldron, and began to fight Gu Lili.
"I don't understand the rules? I'm dead, what rules do I need to follow? I suffered a lifetime of humiliation up there, and now I have to act like a grandson down here? Bah!"
Meng Po has been brewing soup here for tens of thousands of years, and she has never encountered such a reckless person. Seeing that the other party is not as fearful and respectful to her as other ghosts, Meng Po was so angry that she kept pressing the alarm bell. But the bell kept ringing and no public relations personnel came to the rescue. Meng Po then called the front desk of the underworld, and only a passing ghost told her that the public relations personnel had already gone off duty.
"Come on, everyone in the back, come and get some soup. The sooner you drink it, the sooner you'll be reincarnated."
Seeing that Meng Po couldn't get anyone to come, Gu Lili became even more unscrupulous. She stood on tiptoe and peeked into the pot: "Oh ho, there's still soup here." So she took the initiative to pick up a big ladle and ladled soup for the ghosts in line.
After each ghost finished drinking, she wouldn't forget to give them a piece of advice.
"Do more good deeds and accumulate points. In the next life, we won't be subservient in the underworld."
Thanks to Gu Lili's actions, the number in the queue had increased from 18 to 92. The ferry across the River of Oblivion had also stopped operating. The Bridge of Helplessness was packed like dumplings being dropped into a pot. The ghosts who had finished their soup were pushing and shoving as they jumped off the bridge. They could only swim across the river.
"You can reincarnate and yet you complain? So what if it's slow? I've been simmering this soup for millions of years, never even seen the sun in this world, and you, a scoundrel, still mock me. Today I'll show you..."
Meng Po grew increasingly angry as she spoke, and directly drew a ball of green light from her mind. The light transformed into a sharp blade and stabbed towards Gu Lili. Gu Lili couldn't dodge in time and froze on the spot, but the blade stopped in front of her, suspended in mid-air, as if frozen in place. Even Meng Po was so surprised by this situation that she couldn't finish her sentence.
"How could this be...?" Meng Po exclaimed in shock.
What she just unleashed was her Meng Po essence. Few in the world know that Meng Po also possesses her own magical artifact. Calling it a magical artifact isn't entirely accurate, as it has no fixed form and has always been hidden within her body. Even Meng Po herself doesn't know what it is. It only manifests as defensive shields, weapons, and so on in crucial moments to protect her spirit. However, in the past ten thousand years, this artifact has never failed as it did today.
The surrounding spirits pointed and whispered at Meng Po, seemingly discussing how the ghost messenger's abilities were nothing special. A ruthless glint flashed in Meng Po's eyes as she once again activated her inner power. The sharp blades transformed back into cones of light, surrounding Gu Lili. With just a command from Meng Po, she could pierce and tear her apart.
"Lady Meng Po, this child... she... please forgive her. I have some extra points, I'll give them to you." Number 93, who was standing at the front of the line, staggered over to Meng Po and pleaded.
"What? You know her?" Meng Po asked gloomily, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"No...I don't know her, but she looks about the same age as my granddaughter, and I feel sorry for her. Besides, this old woman doesn't want to be reincarnated. Points are useless to me. Please let her go. Take as many points as you want from me." Number 93 stretched out his hands and clasped them together, pleading with Meng Po.
Upon hearing this, Meng Po picked up the device from the table and scanned the barcode on No. 93. The screen immediately displayed the statistics: 560,000 points.
"Although there is no precedent for this, according to the 'Handbook for the Rebirth of the Dead Souls in the Underworld,' you can use points to tip the ghost messengers. In this case, you can tip me 100,000."
"What? 100,000? I only make 30,000 in my whole life. You're asking for 100,000? Are you robbing me? Bah! You black-hearted cops make money faster."
Gu Lili was stunned by the sudden appearance of Meng Po's original form. When she heard Meng Po ask for 100,000 points from number 93, she was so angry that she forgot her fear. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, turned her head to look at Meng Po with disdain, and mocked her.
"You little brat! Don't be ungrateful! Once my Primal Cone pierces you, your soul will be scattered and you will never be reincarnated." Meng Po glanced at Number 93 out of the corner of her eye. It was clear that getting those 100,000 points was more important than dealing with the bastard in front of her.
"Heh, I'm not afraid. Don't even think about the points in the human world. With such a wicked heart, you deserve to spend your whole life boiling soup here."
"you...."
Meng Po was hit where it hurt by Gu Lili. Over the past thousand years, the original underworld officials have either ascended to immortality or gone into seclusion. Even after the highest official of the underworld, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, went into seclusion, Lord Guan Nan took over to handle business and trivial matters.
Unfortunately, it was her who had too much work and too few points. For thousands of years, no one had been able to replace her in brewing this lousy soup. So her biggest wish was to accumulate enough points to go to heaven and plead with the Heavenly Emperor to take her essence and replace her with Meng Po to brew the soup. She didn't want to become an immortal, nor did she want to go into seclusion. She wanted to go to the mortal world to find someone... But now that Gu Lili had made such a fuss, with so many dead souls watching, if she insisted on letting No. 93 give a reward, it would probably involve the prohibition against deceiving dead souls for rewards in the "Underworld Employee Execution Manual". So it seems that the reward matter can only be abandoned.
"Hmph," Meng Po snorted lightly, "I'll grant your wish."
Meng Po activated the light cones formed from her own essence, piercing Gu Lili's body one by one.
"This is impossible!!" Meng Po exclaimed again.
The moment the countless cones of light pierced Gu Lili, they were absorbed into her body, while her spirit remained completely unharmed.
Meng Po frowned and tried to activate her original essence, but the essence did not respond to her.
"Your opportunity has arrived, go."
A familiar voice reached Meng Po's ears, but she looked around and saw no one speaking. The scene was the same as fifty years ago, when she sat sobbing by the bridge after work, and a voice comforted her, saying that her time had come and she would be free to see the person she wanted to see. She had always thought that this so-called opportunity was simply accumulating enough points to go to heaven and see the saint. Now, it seemed, it was this very opportunity.
Gu Lili glanced at Meng Po, then touched her entire body to make sure she was unharmed, and said, "Huh? What happened? Wait... something got inside my body?"
"Hehe, little thing, it seems you're not so kind-hearted after all. You'll spend the rest of your life here simmering soup for millions of years."
Before Gu Lili could react, Meng Po downed three bowls of Meng Po soup in one go, turned around and ran quickly toward the Naihe Bridge, where she jumped into the River of Oblivion with a splash.
"Why is this person getting so angry? With millions of years of cultivation, how come he only has such a small temper?"
At this moment, Gu Lili was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. Her entire ghost life and her fate through countless lifetimes were about to change.
Meng Po jumped into the River of Oblivion. The soup pot sensed Meng Po's change and let out a mournful cry, which shook the entire underworld. The souls were also shaken and could not stand up.
"Hurry up and retrieve Meng Po!"
"Yes, Your Honor."
Suddenly, several figures appeared; it was the judge on duty that day, accompanied by several public relations officers, who had arrived at the scene of the accident. With a flourish of his pen, the judge rewound the scene that had just unfolded and then hurriedly ordered his men to retrieve Meng Po from the River of Oblivion.
"Lady Meng Po, Lady Meng Po."
Some of the PR staff patted Meng Po's back to help her spit out water, while others anxiously called out to her, trying to help her regain consciousness.
Finally, after a flurry of activity by the PR team, Meng Po slowly opened her eyes: "Who are you? Where is this? Ah..."
After examining Meng Po, the head of the public relations team hurriedly stepped forward to report: "Your Honor, Meng Po drank three bowls of soup and was immersed in the waters of the River of Oblivion. She... she no longer has any memories."
"Is there any way to restore it?" The judge frowned, his eyes wide with anger, revealing a fierce expression.
"My lord, please forgive us. In all the ages, such a thing has never happened before. We... we do not know how to solve it either."
The PR professionals looked at each other, utterly helpless in the face of this bizarre event that could go down in history.
"This matter is of great importance. I will inform Professor Guan Nan before making a decision."
"Bring number 390 and Meng Po over here."
Gu Lili and Meng Po were flanked by the PR team and led towards the Judge, who made hand seals and silently recited a scripture. With a wisp of black mist mixed with lightning, the group vanished before the Bridge of Helplessness.
Once they had regained their footing, they found themselves in front of a French-style manor. Following the judge along the main road into the manor, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the towering trees on both sides of the road. Looking up, they saw a white main house supported by tall pillars standing prominently at the end of the road.
"We've gone abroad? We're in the mortal realm now! The sun! I see the sun!" Gu Lili exclaimed.
"No, the sun is a man-made landscape. This manor was built by Lord Guan Nan during a team building event at the Underworld a while ago. He liked it and had it replicated as a palace after returning to the country."
"Huh? What?! It can be like this??? Shouldn't the underworld be a place of fierce and menacing beings?"
"That happened so many years ago, what era are we living in now?"
The PR person sitting to Gu Lili's right glanced at the PR person on the left who was explaining things to her, then turned to her and said something.
So what? Years ago, when Master Guannan went abroad for a visit and meeting, he immediately took a liking to the pyramid where Anubis is located. When he returned, he had the palace copied in the same style. Recently, the style has been changed again.
Gu Lili was utterly astonished upon hearing this. Had the underworld really gone this mad?
The PR people on both sides then led her all the way to the main house. Inside, the standard European-style building was magnificent, and the giant crystal chandelier on the ceiling of the lobby shone brightly.
"Lord Guan Nan, Meng Po and Number 390 have arrived."
The group walked to the entrance of the reception room. After the PR person opened the door, a man in a suit inside slowly turned around and walked towards Meng Po.
Approaching Meng Po, the man in the suit raised his hand and placed it on her head, but there was no reaction. Meng Po also did not react, because she had fainted from fright after losing her memory and being unable to bear the scene of the underworld. She had only been able to get here with the support of her PR associates.
The man then walked up to Gu Lili. As soon as he raised his hand, the source of Meng Po in Gu Lili's consciousness emanated from her body, forming a light shield that enveloped her.
"Interesting, even the original source of Meng Po would recognize you as the master."
The man in the suit leaned down, looking at Gu Lili with a half-smile, while one of his large hands was repeatedly rubbing against the light shield.
Gu Lili ignored all of this, because she was completely captivated by the charismatic man in the suit in front of her. It turned out that this man was the Guan Nan mentioned by No. 389. No wonder he could be charmed by that black-hearted PR person. He was over 190 cm tall, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. Under his long eyelashes were a pair of deep and indifferent eyes, as bright and dazzling as the sun, moon and stars.
"Meng Po's essence is protecting her. I originally wanted to extract the essence and return it to Meng Po, but now it seems that this only method is also not feasible."
The man in the suit turned to the judge and said.
"Then this..."
"Since things have come to this, let's keep her to make soup. Go and report to Yama, cancel her registration number, erase her birth date and time from the six realms, and let her reside in the underworld forever."
"What about the previous Meng Po?"
"Her current fate is due to the resentment of too many living souls that have accumulated over the millennia at the Bridge of Helplessness. Let's find her a good family to be reincarnated into... If she doesn't have enough points, just deduct them from me."
After giving his instructions, the man in the suit waved his hand, and the judge, having received the decree, disappeared from the house with the former Meng Po.
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