I underestimated the southerners' obsession with bathing.
"Thank you, senior." Tian Baozhu did not refuse the rare kindness shown by Hei Wuchang.
Before she learned how to further develop the hidden space, if she didn't want to carry a rake and climb to the 18th floor every day, it was indeed more realistic for Hei Wuchang to help her put it there.
Hey, whoosh. Tian Baozhu handed the rake in her right hand to Hei Wuchang.
"Be careful, it's a bit heavy—" Before he could finish the word "heavy," Hei Wuchang was pulled down by the weight of the rake, crouching down, on the verge of falling. Tian Baozhu was absolutely certain that Hei Wuchang was weak and fragile.
"Pick it up." Hei Wuchang said word by word while gritting his teeth.
"Then I'll help you pick it up." Tian Baozhu quickly took the rake back into her hand.
After Hei Wuchang took a deep breath, he opened his hidden space, which was almost as wide as a person's height, wide enough to put the rake in. After putting Tian Baozhu in, Hei Wuchang waved his hand and the space closed.
The rake was put into Hei Wuchang's hiding space so smoothly, and Tian Baozhu was extremely envious.
"Senior, do you think my future hidden space can also be like yours, so that it can hold larger things?"
"I don't know about your situation."
Haha, that's right. Even Tian Baozhu herself doesn't understand the mechanism, so how can others answer for her?
They walked up the stairs one after the other, not far apart, but always keeping a distance.
There are eighteen steps on each floor. The material of the steps is not cement. It seems that they are made of various bones mixed together and burned together. Tian Baozhu doesn't dare to think carefully about the ingredients.
Except for the stairs, walls, and ceiling, which are paved with this bone mixture, everything else is made of wood. Perhaps because it is inside, it has not rotted as badly as the wood exposed to the open air. The entire building is new and clean.
As they went up floor by floor, there were fewer and fewer employees walking up the same floor as them. After reaching the tenth floor, they were the only two left.
There was still almost half the distance left. Tian Baozhu looked up and saw the stairs stretching out to the horizon.
※※※
In order to avoid being bored on the road, Tian Baozhu discussed with Hei Wuchang about going to see Meng Po tomorrow while walking.
"Senior, the owner of the farm tool shop said Meng Po left early and is no longer around after finishing her work. Let's go to Naihe Bridge early tomorrow to stake out."
"Can you get up early?"
"Of course. Some crops need to be picked in the middle of the night. I will get up as soon as I am called. I have practiced for so many years. Getting up early is no problem at all!" Tian Baozhu gave a thumbs up as a guarantee.
"Reincarnation, what do you think now?"
Hei Wuchang changed the topic from talking about Meng Po to reincarnation.
Tian Baozhu thought Hei Wuchang's question was strange.
"Of course, the sooner the better, but it's not something that can be done immediately."
"Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the lunar month, when the gates of hell open. It's the day ghosts are reincarnated," said Hei Wuchang.
"If I could be reincarnated tomorrow, I would definitely choose to be reincarnated. But before that, I would definitely have to find my next generation successor like Old Bai Wuchang did."
Weren't they supposed to be discussing finding the seeds? How did they end up talking about reincarnation?
The more she talked, the more real it sounded, as if she could be reincarnated tomorrow.
Tian Baozhu didn't plan to discuss this topic with Hei Wuchang anymore. Even if the gates of hell opened tomorrow, it would not be her turn to reincarnate. Counting the days that had not come would only add to her worries.
She turned to look out the corridor window. Just as the employee had said, the sun didn't fall down, but rather swirled around, a massive sphere rolling slowly to the right, behind the mountains on the distant horizon, toward a sky devoid of light. According to the time, it was dinnertime on Earth.
"Seniors, where do you usually eat? I wonder if Old Bai Wuchang usually cooks for himself? If he still has some food left in the dormitory, I can cook it myself." Tian Baozhu changed the subject to daily life.
"?" Hei Wuchang looked puzzled again, "The underworld doesn't need to eat."
Tian Baozhu was stunned, and three seconds later she seemed to realize something.
Could it be that...
Taking three steps at a time, she suddenly ran ahead of Hei Wuchang and rushed up to the eighteenth floor.
Hei Wuchang heard Tian Baozhu ask him from above: "Senior, how do I open this door?"
"Say who you are, then say open the door."
"I am Bai Wuchang, open the door!"
The door of the room with the word "white" engraved on it opened, and Tian Baozhu rushed into the room and saw that it was indeed -
Apart from a bed and a storage cabinet, there is no kitchen or bathroom inside.
There is no need to eat, so there is no kitchen; there is no food cycle, so there is no bathroom; there is no washing space in the room, so there is no need to take a shower...
Tian Baozhu's death shock came for the first time.
I'm dead. All the experiences of my past twenty-two years of living on earth have lost their meaning here...
Hei Wuchang walked slowly down the stairs to the door of his room. What he saw was Tian Baozhu with a gloomy expression, as if she had lost everything.
Tian Baozhu also saw him coming up, and she asked without hope:
"Seniors, if you don't eat, then what about taking a bath?"
"For the underworld, eating and bathing are not essential things. As for washing, there is a public bathroom where you can wash clothes. As for bathing... I didn't use it, but there is a small bathtub in the bathroom."
Tian Baozhu's eyes suddenly lit up. There was one last habit here that was the same as in the human world.
But wait—does it mean public use? Does that mean Hei Wuchang will use it too? It's okay if they bump into each other while washing things, but it would be so awkward if they bump into each other while showering.
However, she still asked Hei Wuchang where the bathroom was. Hei Wuchang silently pointed to the middle of the room facing them. There was a door there with the words "Bathroom" engraved on it.
"Haha, sorry, I was in such a hurry to get here that I didn't pay attention."
"Tomorrow I'll call you, and you'll get up."
"Okay, just call me outside and I'll get up right away."
Tian Baozhu watched Hei Wuchang walk into his own room and close the door.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, Tian Baozhu sometimes felt nervous around this colleague. But he didn't push her over the edge, nor did he get angry with her. Although he didn't talk much, he always responded to important matters. After spending the whole day together, Tian Baozhu's impression of him had improved significantly.
Her new colleague will make a good partner.
?
Tian Baozhu still added a question mark.
Future work and interactions would probably give her the answer. She also went into her room.
※※※
After closing the door and looking around, Tian Baozhu felt like the sky was falling when she first entered the dormitory.
She admitted that she had a little expectation of the office housing of the civil servants in the underworld before opening the door.
Is it because she still uses the customary standards of the human world that causes such a distorted feeling?
She had to change many of her habits one by one.
There was no TV in the room, no cell phone in hand, no need to cook or eat, and she could skip showering. She didn't have to do anything that was supposed to happen at night, so she could only go to bed early.
Tian Baozhu was lying on the bed, still thinking about one thing in her mind: should she take a shower?
When she and her classmates were collecting wild animals in the past, hadn't they also managed to avoid showering at night?
She is dead now, and has no metabolism. She needs to change her living habits. The discomfort will only be temporary. From now on, just sleep, sleep...
Tian Baozhu pulled the quilt over her head and tried to hypnotize herself, but she still tossed and turned. No, that was because she knew the conditions wouldn't allow it. Now that she knew the conditions existed, she couldn't fool herself.
I can give up any habit except taking a bath!
If she didn't shower for a day, it felt like the day hadn't even ended. She underestimated her southern genes, and her obsession with bathing was above all else.
Tian Baozhu estimated the time and it should have been many hours. It was completely dark outside the window. Maybe Hei Wuchang was resting and would not come out again?
She opened the door and watched through the crack for a long time, but no one moved. She tiptoed to the bathroom.
The entire bathroom was constructed entirely of wood, with a bathtub on the left and a sink on the right. Compared to the ancient style of the shops in the ghost market, this staff building felt more in tune with the modern world and more modern. As soon as Tian Baozhu walked in, the rows of round night-shining pearls on the ceiling automatically lit up, providing enough light for her to clearly see inside the bathroom.
The bathtub in the bathroom is similar in style to the long bathtub, but it is smaller and only fits the female body shape. No wonder Hei Wuchang said he didn't need it.
The moment her feet were put into the bathtub full of water, Tian Baozhu couldn't help but cry out - Wow, it's so cold!
The water in the underworld was icy cold. Tian Baozhu didn't know why she could still feel pain even after she died. Perhaps it was to make sure that the ghosts would not forget the pain. Otherwise, the evil people who were judged would not be left with a deep impression of suffering by going through mountains of swords and seas of fire.
Tian Baozhu showered herself a few times before getting out of the tub. Even though it was just a quick wash, she felt a lot more relaxed, both physically and mentally. Just by maintaining a little bit of her life habits, she felt at ease.
After putting on her clothes and walking a few steps, Tian Baozhu felt a pinch on her neck. She took off her clothes and looked at herself, realizing that she had put them on in the wrong direction.
The clothes sold in the underworld had no labels, and the height difference between the front and back collars was not much. She put them on again, finding the correct orientation. When the collar was just below her eyes, she suddenly saw a blurry figure coming in.
Tian Baozhu took a closer look. It was none other than the Black Impermanence. He wasn't wearing the tall hat that usually accompanied his work uniform. Now, he looked like a stranger she had never met before. Without the hat, her eyes were completely focused on his face. He looked to be about 25 or 26 years old, and about 187 cm tall.
There was blood at the corner of Hei Wuchang's mouth, and bloodstains on his body, flowing from his neck to his chest. He pulled his clothes down to his waist, turned on the faucet and washed off the bloodstains with water. His long hair in front was wet because it was hanging down, so he lifted his hair up with one hand.
Just pretend that no one saw each other and they were just using this bathroom normally. After making up her mind, Tian Baozhu planned to walk out quietly.
Obviously, the other party did not have such a tacit understanding with her.
"Who is it?!" Hei Wuchang turned and shouted at the sound. He pulled his hair up with one hand, revealing half of his face. His phoenix eyes stared at her, beautiful yet incomparably cold.
Now that you have spoken, I will not remain silent either.
"Senior, what a coincidence, you're here to wash things too. I'm done, I'll be leaving first."
Seeing that it was Tian Baozhu, Hei Wuchang's cold expression descended, but after a quick glance at her body, he spoke urgently:
"You're like this? Half of your clothes? Pull it off! How disgraceful!"
Tian Baozhu looked back at herself. In order to leave quickly, she hadn't put down all her clothes, only down to her waist. But she was also wearing a sports lining underneath, which covered her key parts well. She asked:
"What's this like?"
"Don't you know that if you expose your skin like this, people will see you and take advantage of you?"
Huh? Now I see more of you than you see of me, right?
Tian Baozhu thought that someone with half her chest exposed was not qualified to teach her.
"The same goes for seniors. Please unify your front first."
Hei Wuchang looked back at himself, quickly pulled up his clothes, turned around and left.
"Hurry up and take off your clothes. If you want to use the bathroom next time, just hang a piece of cloth or your clothes at the door. I won't come in if I know there's someone inside." Hei Wuchang even spoke stiffly.
It seems that Hei Wuchang is not pedantic, but feels that Tian Baozhu is being taken advantage of by him?
He truly cared. Perhaps the values of their time were different from today's, and relationships between men and women were more conservative and less open. He looked about the same age as her, a young man in his mid-twenties. But the "senior" she was calling him might actually be someone from hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
Tian Baozhu chased after him.
"Okay, senior, I understand, but don't mind what happened just now." She didn't want their relationship to become stiff and awkward in the future.
Looking out from the stairs, all that was left was darkness. The underworld had no lights and was not bustling. Tian Baozhu sighed:
"In our world, there are open-air concerts and night markets at night, and people stroll and play along the streets along the river. It will take another year before I can see the fireworks of the human world again."
Hei Wuchang looked at Tian Baozhu's profile meaningfully until Tian Baozhu said good night to him.
"Good night. See you in the morning."
"good evening……"
They both closed the door at the same time.
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