Chapter 101: Seeking Equilibrium in the Underworld (Part I)

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Qin Ye was completely stunned.

He glanced at the registration desk stretching hundreds of people long, then looked around at the surrounding darkness, shivering slightly. “Is it still possible to resign now?”

Boom!

Before he finished speaking, a tree beside the shaded path crashed down with a loud noise. Arthas raised a hand, his silicone face breaking into a gentle smile. “What do you think?”

It seemed... not very feasible...

“So... first, I need to find some trustworthy spirits to serve as death examiners?” Qin Ye rubbed his chin and grinned.

At that moment, a series of “thump thump” sounds echoed through the space.

“Oh, your first client has arrived,” Arthas said with interest, watching as rows of spirits curiously surveyed their surroundings and approached along the shaded path. She spoke with a hint of schadenfreude.

Damn it... Qin Ye glanced over, his features contorting in confusion. What on earth was this?

Ghostly flames flickered up from the miasma all around, like fireflies in the night. They settled on the ground, transforming into startled human figures.

Unlike what he had imagined, there was no order at all. One by one, employees in suits, officials carrying briefcases, and more elderly men and women with white hair appeared, all in spirit form. At least a thousand of them, pointing and whispering, some even rummaging through their pockets, bustling about in lively discussion.

Rummaging through what?

Qin Ye helplessly covered his forehead. What else could they be fiddling with except their phones to snap photos for social media?

These spirits showed no fear whatsoever!

This was completely different from his expectations of spirits being escorted by ghostly officers, heads bowed, silently walking toward the gates of the underworld. The blood-red leaves on either side and the fluttering joss paper in the air did nothing to stir anxiety in them. Perhaps, after all, they were a new generation of spirits born under the red banner of the New China?

“Why... why aren’t they afraid?” Qin Ye shook his head in surprise. “Have I failed to create the proper underworld atmosphere?”

Arthas pulled out a hookah pipe from somewhere and took an elegant puff. “To be honest, it’s actually pretty good. But the old underworld was sponsored by the ‘Black Mountain’ Group’s surround sound system, which covered the entire gate and cost tens of millions. The ‘Painted Skin’ Group sponsored the lighting equipment, also worth tens of millions. And the roads were built by ‘Evil Come’ Real Estate…”

Qin Ye massaged his temples in frustration. “I get it... I basically have just a backdrop with no lighting, no sound effects, no extras—no atmosphere of the underworld, right?”

“Not only that.” Her silicone red lips exhaled a faint blue smoke as she glanced at Qin Ye with a flirtatious eye. “Without the suppression of the ghostly officers, how would the spirits know where they are? Those unaware might even think they’re the chosen ones, entering an infinite game.”

“...Have you been reading infinite literature too? Maybe I should limit your internet time...”

“Quiet and listen, Your Majesty. No more nonsense.” She tapped the hookah on Qin Ye’s head, and Arthas gave him a sidelong glance. “The main source of merit points for underworld officials isn’t suppressing evil ghosts, but the ten-year term assessment in a post. Each full term grants a tenth of the merit needed for promotion to the next rank. Understand?”

Qin Ye frowned and nodded.

Arthas didn’t finish, implying that even King Yanluo started as a village official.

He had already accepted the heavy responsibility of rebuilding the underworld, but it had to be done step by step.

First, he had to figure out how to interact with the spirits.

Arthas flickered and floated above the beam. Qin Ye took a deep breath, the miasma exploded around him, transforming him into a soul-capturing form as he flipped and sat upon the chair.

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“How would you handle it?” Arthas’s silicone fingers, painted red, lightly tapped the beam as she smiled softly and murmured, “Spirits without ghostly officers’ suppression can be very unruly...”

Qin Ye sat in the main hall with a pounding heart, watching the crowd approach the gates of the underworld, taking several deep breaths.

“Calm down... calm down!” He clutched his chest. “It’s just pretending to be impressive and routine business, right? I’ve never lost in the art of posturing!”

Twenty minutes, half an hour later, all the spirits reached the hall’s entrance. The three large characters “Gates of Hell” were boldly imprinted before their eyes. Reading the couplets on either side, the spirits’ expressions were incredibly complex.

Some disbelieved, some were delighted, some anxious... Qin Ye quietly absorbed the expressions of the crowd, pondering silently.

His face was calm and composed, but inside he was extremely anxious.

Was this really the kind of business a rookie ghost officer should handle?

The hall was deathly silent, only the endless fluttering of joss paper filled the air. After a long while, murmurs arose below. Finally, an elderly spirit was chosen by the others and slowly approached with the aid of a cane.

Their eyes met, and a chill ran through the old man’s heart.

The creature before him was clearly not human: black sclera with white pupils, head full of white hair. Thinking of the words “Gates of Hell” at the entrance, he trembled uncontrollably and knelt with a thud, stammering, “Sir... is this... the Underworld?”

“Yes.” Qin Ye’s voice was flat, echoing throughout the hall. “You are already dead.”

The old man shook all over, crawling forward two steps. When he raised his head, his white hair was disheveled, lips trembling as if struck by a stroke, his voice choked with emotion. “Sir... I am Huang Zhengweng, ranked thirty-fifth on the wealthy list of Huizhou Province. If... if I could be resurrected... I’m willing to pay any price!”

“Yes! Sir! Please have mercy! I don’t want to die!” “Sir! Please show leniency! My daughter is still waiting at home!” “Sir, mercy!”

“Silence!!!” The hall darkened with countless spirits, noisy as a flock of quail. Qin Ye’s head spun from the racket.

The word “Silence” fell, and the crowd instantly quieted.

“Life and death are decreed by fate. The Underworld is no place for bargaining. Do you think this is a marketplace?”

Arthas raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Sir...” a scarred man stepped forward, regret etched across his face. “Is this really the Underworld?”

“What do you think? A divine game?” Qin Ye sneered.

The burly man gritted his teeth and asked, “Is it true that those who sinned in the living world descend into the eighteen levels of hell here, then reincarnate through the six realms?”

Before he finished, everyone gasped and stepped back several paces.

Qin Ye stared coldly but said nothing.

This was a common question, but now it was a tricky one.

He had no one under his command! As the future King Yanluo himself, with unrestrained spirits possessing independent consciousness, with the six realms, the ten great hells, and the eighteen minor hells not yet established, not even knowing where the Book of Life and Death was, and no way to see their earthly merits or faults, where could he possibly send them?

Suddenly, he understood the true meaning of Arthas’s earlier words.

This was a test for a new administrator, a trial of how to govern from scratch.

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“Sir...” The man’s voice trembled with nervousness and desperation, hoarse and broken. “Is that so?”

“The underworld is currently in a special state.” After much thought, Qin Ye decided to tell all the spirits; such matters could not be hidden, especially from over a thousand spirits. Even he lacked the confidence to suppress them all. His voice was solemn. “It is in a state of collapse. You must all work hard to rebuild it.”

Above on the beam, Arthas sighed deeply.

Still too inexperienced.

Indeed, Meng Po had chosen correctly. Qin Ye was the only one with hope to accomplish the heavy task of rebuilding the underworld. But he also had fatal flaws.

Because he had consumed the elixir of immortality, he had never dared to enter high society in the living world. Let alone govern, he had no understanding of how to manage even a village’s affairs.

Just like now, forced to reveal his weaknesses, she already guessed there would be no happy ending today.

“Without ghostly officers escorting, with spirits carrying memories of their previous lives, you are essentially negotiating with a crowd of the living...” She lowered her voice slowly. “Human hearts are the most unpredictable. One person is simple and pure, but ten or a hundred—that is an inscrutable scripture... I hope you remember today’s lesson well.”

“Rebuild? Collapse?” The burly man had just relaxed when a bespectacled middle-aged man exclaimed, “Rebuild... the Underworld is gone? Then where will we live? Do we have to participate in the rebuilding?”

“Sir.” An elderly woman also asked with confusion, “We did no evil in life, yet we must participate in rebuilding?”

“What exactly is going on?” “Isn’t the Underworld supposed to reward good and punish evil? I was just an ordinary citizen!”

“Impudence!” Qin Ye roared, his voice thunderous throughout the hall. Suddenly, he felt like the master of the world in this place.

Flapping sounds—immediately all the spirits knelt like quails. Yet upon closer look, each spirit’s expression was different.

Every spirit shared a common emotion: fear and apprehension. But beneath that fear and anxiety were others. Some looked gleeful, some contemplative, some sneaked glances at Qin Ye, others ground their teeth.

The intense anxiety and fear formed a taut wire. Qin Ye’s task was to keep that wire taut.

“Dare to make noise in the underworld—do you wish to live too long?” His gaze was as cold and sharp as a blade, slowly sweeping over everyone. No one dared raise their head to speak.

At that moment, Arthas’s voice whispered from above, “You can have them cultivate the miasma, level the forests, even construct buildings. Little one, this is just the first batch of spirits. More will come. If left unchecked... something big will happen eventually.”

Qin Ye felt a foreboding chill. “For example?”

Arthas chuckled, “Spirits with no underworld suppression, still carrying their former consciousness, gathering in increasing numbers—what do you think will happen?”

Qin Ye gasped.

Rebellion...

Spirit rebellion!

Especially... when he was the only ghost officer here!

In the worst case, the new underworld could be overthrown, countless spirits pushing him off the throne, the day turning to night!