"A while back, there was a piece of trash in Guanzhong County. When he was being hunted down, he tried to run into the police station."
"Heh, how did Guanzhong County produce such a scumbag? Even just thinking about what he did makes feel ashad."
"I secretly had my people set up a ghostly maze for him, got him killed."
Wen Yan was montarily speechless.
"Aren’t you afraid you’ll get found out?"
Lord Zhu straightened up, grinning slyly.
"Found out what?"
It was my people who ’discovered’ it, called up the Scorching Sun Departnt in ti, and even helped them subdue the attacking Ghost."
"That Ghost wasn’t especially vicious, just had his wish fulfilled, so he dissipated in front of the Scorching Sun Departnt."
"What’s it got to do with ? I’m just a good citizen."
Lord Zhu paused, flashing two rows of white teeth.
"As for that scumbag who got killed, he beca a Ghost afterward too."
"What happens among us Ghosts, that’s not under the Scorching Sun Departnt’s jurisdiction."
Wen Yan didn’t even need to ask—he already understood why Guanzhong County had so many Ghosts but the public order was still excellent, hardly any major incidents ever happened.
Any Ghost wanting revenge or justice goes straight to Lord Zhu, and Lord Zhu can always keep everything perfectly presentable. If anything cos up, he’s the first to report it to the Scorching Sun Departnt.
As for what actually happened—well, based on what Wen Yan knew of Guanzhong County’s Scorching Sun Departnt, their chief definitely wouldn’t stir up trouble with Lord Zhu over so dead guy dood for execution.
Maybe both sides just have an unspoken agreent; no one points it out, they keep the balance together.
After all, having dealt with Cai Heizi for a while, Wen Yan more or less understood that Cai Heizi never talked about justice or not—what he wanted was stability, results, that’s it.
And Cai Heizi, as shady as he was, only grew more secure in his position. That’s how Wen Yan knew the Scorching Sun Departnt’s core goal was always just to keep things stable—they didn’t really care about due process or procedural justice.
"Guanzhong County and Nanwu County have been pretty settled lately."
"Nanwu County’s got a Ghost Forbidden Area, and Yu State’s got Tuoba Martial God holding down the fort—Luoyue County’s been more stable, too, because of that."
"These days, things outside the Divine Land are way ssier than here. Folks sneaking in with hidden identities don’t even bother with Nanwu County anymore."
"Europa’s already at each other’s throats—brains smashed out like dog brains."
"On Ah Mi’s side, I heard Evil Spirits are running rampant. Under so churches, they’re leaking out in batches."
"Here, the biggest headache lately seems to be Central Plains County."
"Quite a few Ghosts from Guanzhong County, as soon as they caught wind of the situation, ran over to Central Plains County."
"It’s already packed over there, so it wouldn’t be surprising if sothing blows up soon."
"If you get back, ntion it to the Scorching Sun Departnt."
"Hm?" Wen Yan was montarily stunned—didn’t really get why he had to deliver this kind of news.
"You know, different commanderies compete, and even Scorching Sun Departnts aren’t always on good terms."
"Still, when there’s news to be passed along, you gotta pass it along."
"I just got word today—seems there’s a case of an Evil Ghost killing people in Central Plains County."
"And so lunatic hurt soone and tried to fra a Ghost for it."
"Word is, the murderer actually saw an Evil Ghost attack, but when he talked about it, the Scorching Sun Departnt there hadn’t even heard about the incident yet."
"Either way, the situation doesn’t look too optimistic."
"Also, so Ghosts from neighboring Fusang are smuggling themselves over by sea. They’ve been found, and I doubt it’s the only case."
"There are also reports of so unusual Ghosts showing up, like the Professionals among the living—really dangerous ones."
"You’d better be careful. Pure Yang Energy might not be enough."
"Professionals among the Ghosts?!" Wen Yan was shocked.
"Pretty much. Though to be honest, it’s not entirely confird—I just heard a little through my own channels."
"So what, the real world is even more dangerous than the Netherworld now?"
Lord Zhu considered this, then nodded.
"To so extent, it really is. The Ghost Market has beefed up its guards, and a lot of places have shut their doors for now—waiting out the storm."
"You’d better not let anyone know you’ve been to the Netherworld and co back."
"Rember, no matter who asks, just say you’re a player like everyone else."
"If certain parties find out you went to the Netherworld and made it back, you’re in for serious trouble."
"When you et a Ghost, make sure you figure out who they are first. That makes it easier to know what kind of obsessions they’re clinging to."
"That way you can play it smarter—if you run into soone you can’t handle, at least you’ll know how to keep yourself safe."
Lord Zhu quickly ran through all the recent changes and what Wen Yan needed to watch out for.
Once he was more or less finished, Wen Yan called for the Steward.
Lord Zhu looked at the Steward—who almost seed alive now, but whose clothes still had a faint papery look—and felt a bit sentintal.
"Since you’ve gained Spiritual Intelligence, that’s your good fortune."
"From now on, follow him. As a parting gift, I’ll give you a na—Gu Liang."
"Hope you’ll be loyal and reliable from here on out."
"As for your surna, I won’t overstep."
Wen Yan didn’t decline. After thinking for a bit, he said,
"His surna will be Su."
His vest’s na was Su Yue. Not that he chose to have a vest—the vest was also sothing he used back when he conned people. Obviously, the Netherworld set up that vest on purpose.
Just to make it clear—Wen Yan is Wen Yan, Su Yue is Su Yue.
He knew deep down they were the sa person, but in the Netherworld’s system—
One’s a living bloke in the real world, one’s an NPC in the Netherworld.
The Steward, Su Guliang, finally got a real na. He started looking more and more like an actual person—his face kept morphing until it settled into a plump, friendly-faced middle-aged man, and the papery clothes slowly even took on the texture of real garnts.
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