Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapter 484 Chapter 494: Mountain and Wild Spirits

"you?"

"Join the underworld?"

Old Xie looked at Zhong Kui, who was not even as tall as his chest, with a hint of astonishment in his expression. He could hardly believe that the other party would dare to propose such an idea.

"Do you know that, apart from our Lord, all the underworld soldiers and servants are dead people!"

Old Xie emphasized the last two words, and his expression turned sinister. At this moment, he looked more like the evil spirits that Zhong Kui encountered in the streets and alleys.

"Is it only by becoming a ghost that one can join the underworld?"

Zhong Kui swallowed hard, and a crazy idea immediately popped into his mind.

He wanted to become stronger, avenge his parents, and survive in this world with his younger sister, even if it meant becoming a ghost.

Old Xie noticed the change in Zhong Kui's expression and frowned slightly.

"Hey, you don't really want to end your life on the spot and become a ghost, do you? We in the underworld don't have anyone as old as you who became a ghost official."

As he spoke, Old Xie seemed to recall something, and rested his chin on his hand in deep thought, saying, "Wait... it seems there is one!"

He thought of Lord Li Ping'an from the Prefect's household, who seemed to be younger than the child in front of him.

Although that underworld official did not hold any official position in the underworld, in terms of status, he was much higher than the two judges of the Underworld Law Division and the Judgment Division, Wang Chao and Ma Han.

I heard that this person was a close confidant who had been by the Lord's side since the beginning, and even addressed the Lord as his son.

Thinking of Li Ping'an, Lao Xie hesitated.

Based on their interactions over this period, he has grown somewhat fond of the young Zhong Kui, but if he were to recommend him himself, the higher-ups in the underworld would likely object.

After all, there is no precedent in the underworld for having living people serve as underworld officials.

Old Xie looked at Zhong Kui and said in a deep voice, "Do you really want to join the underworld? You should know that we deal with ghosts all the time, and not all of them are obedient."

On the contrary, most of them would resist and would not want to be taken back to the underworld by us.

Those powerful and vengeful ghosts will even choose to devour us underworld officials to increase their strength.

"Have you thought it through?"

Old Xie spoke seriously because, in his view, regardless of whether Zhong Kui could ultimately join the underworld, being a messenger in the underworld was an extremely dangerous job.

For example, when Ma Han came to the government office this time, everyone was already prepared to die.

However, Zhong Kui was not affected by Lao Xie's solemnity upon hearing this; his youthful face was filled with determination.

"When I said those words, I never thought I would regret it."

Zhong Kui took his sister's hand: "Only by possessing great power can I protect my family!"

Zhong Kui's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally loud to Lao Xie.

He seemed to be transported back to the time when he joined the army, and his family stood at the door, watching him leave, not turning back into the house for a long time.

"I see!"

Old Xie took a deep breath: "I will recommend you to the adults, but whether you succeed in the end depends on your fate."

Zhong Kui bowed deeply to Lao Xie. Zhong Xiaomei, who was behind him, did not understand why, but she also knelt down and kowtowed twice, just like her brother.

Old Xie sighed when he saw this, and helped the brother and sister up: "You don't need to worship me now. It's not too late to worship me after things are really settled."

As he spoke, he looked troubled, raising his head and pondering how he should bring this up with Lord Mahan later.

I glanced outside; the sky was beginning to lighten slightly, though the crimson full moon still hung in the sky.

This strange phenomenon seems to have come with the goddess Zigu. Wherever Zigu controls, the celestial phenomena will change, becoming an environment more suitable for evil spirits to live in.

"It's about time, let's go!" Old Xie turned to Zhong Kui and his sister and said.

Without saying a word, Zhong Kui immediately carried the little sister on his back and followed behind Lao Xie.

Along the way, Lao Xie told Zhong Kui a lot about the underworld. Zhong Kui and his sister listened with great interest, forgetting what kind of environment they were in.

As soon as Zhong Kui raised his head, he saw a long-tongued evil spirit hanging upside down from a roof beam.

The long-tongued evil spirit had green eyes that greedily stared at Zhong Kui and his sister.

After making eye contact with the other person, Zhong Kui instantly got goosebumps and felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

"call--"

Zhong Kui exhaled and looked elsewhere, only to see that in addition to the long-tongued evil spirit, various other evil spirits emerged around him.

Strangely, these evil spirits did not launch an attack, but simply watched quietly without making a move.

"Don't look at them, just treat them like air!" Old Xie glanced around with a cold face and snorted.

Zhong Kui nodded upon hearing this, and carrying his little sister on his back, he quickly followed behind Lao Xie.

Zhong Kui finally breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the street that had been watched by numerous evil spirits.

Why don't those evil spirits harm us?

Old Xie kept his eyes fixed ahead: "The lord has already sent a message to me saying that the Goddess Zigu will not hinder our underworld from apprehending the souls of the dead in Qili Mansion."

“But my little sister and I are both human…” Zhong Kui opened his mouth slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Old Xie laughed heartily and said, "So what?"

"When we in the underworld do things, if we say you are a wandering soul, then you are a wandering soul. You can be a human or a wandering soul. The most important thing is to stay by our side, understand?"

Zhong Kui nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

He looked back at the street surrounded by evil spirits, and saw that the evil spirits were still standing there, and immediately followed his gaze.

Zhong Kui was so frightened that he quickly turned his head away, not daring to look anymore, his heart pounding.

The younger sister sensed her brother's nervousness and, imitating her mother, gently stroked Zhong Kui's head with her little hand.

And so, Lao Xie led Zhong Kui and his sister to the gate of Qili Prefecture. At this time, a lot of ghost soldiers and servants had already gathered there. Coincidentally, these ghost soldiers and servants were also accompanied by many people like Zhong Kui and his sister who had survived by chance.

Zhong Kui counted them carefully; there were probably three or four hundred people.

A city that could hold hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, yet only a handful survived in the end. Zhong Kui felt a pang of sorrow.

After seeing his parents' bodies, he seemed to grow up in an instant and suddenly understand many things.

He followed behind Lao Xie and came to the side of the majestic general who had suddenly appeared and crushed the headless evil spirit's head.

"My lord!" Old Xie respectfully clasped his hands in greeting to Ma Han and explained that Zhong Kui wanted to join the underworld.

Upon hearing this, Ma Han raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhong Kui with surprise.

"You want to join the underworld?"

Upon hearing this, the other underworld officials beside him immediately turned their gazes towards Zhong Kui, sizing him up with slight smiles. "This kid isn't even as tall as my chest, and he's already trying to steal our jobs?"

"This is terrible! Could it be that we're about to have a second junior underworld official?"

"Shh! Aren't you afraid that Lord Li's spies will overhear you? Even the director won't be able to save you then!"

……

The voices of these ghostly soldiers and messengers did not hide from Zhong Kui; on the contrary, they grew louder and louder until they finally quieted down under Ma Han's stern gaze.

"Kid, have you thought this through?"

"First, I need to tell you that this path may make you stronger, but it is not easy."

Mahan gazed at the short boy with admiration in his eyes.

He admired the boy's courage and decisiveness, and guessed that if he were the boy's age, he would probably be so ashamed that he would do whatever others told him to do.

Zhong Kui was only eight years old, yet he had the courage to draw his sword against evil spirits and made the decision to join the underworld.

Although the sword was just an ordinary peach wood sword, Mahan admired him greatly for his actions and decisions.

"I'm not afraid!"

Zhong Kui put his sister down, his back straight, his voice trembling slightly but very firm.

Ma Han smiled and said, "I will pass on your story. As for whether you, a living person, can become a member of the Underworld, that will probably have to be decided by the Lord of the Underworld himself."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Kui's eyes inexplicably brightened, and everyone noticed his expression.

Ma Han didn't say anything more, turned his head to look in the direction of the Qili Prefecture City Lord's Mansion, and the smile on his face disappeared.

As Lin Beixuan had predicted, Zigu Goddess chose to back down after the night.

But the struggle between the underworld and the Goddess Zigu has probably only just begun. Qili Prefecture is the outpost of Xuanzhou. If even the outpost is lost, the destruction of the remaining cities of Xuanzhou is not far off. In the future, even more people may die in Xuanzhou.

At that time, there will be widespread suffering and scenes like today will likely occur frequently. The forces of the underworld and Zigu will continue to clash until one side completely ceases contact.

"Pass down the order: return to the Underworld!" Ma Han said, withdrawing his gaze.

Old Xie gave the order and quickly relayed it to all places. After everyone was called and gathered, a group of ghost soldiers and messengers, along with countless dead souls and hundreds of living people, left Qili Mansion.

Zigu watched Ma Han and the others leave, her long, beautiful eyes devoid of any emotion.

She turned her head to look at the mortal god beside her: "Pass down the order, capture Wenshan Prefecture as quickly as possible."

The mortal god frowned: "But how do we explain this to the Pleiades god?"

Zigu Goddess said calmly, "I will deal with Pleiades God myself. We are in a chaotic world now, with calamity everywhere. Even mortal gods are hiding in seclusion. Does it think that a mere mortal god like itself can escape it?"

"Just like decades ago, they will eventually have to make a choice."

Who says earthly affairs are unrelated to the gods in heaven?
The great gods in the mortal world are already considered gods who can decide the fate of countless lives, but under the overwhelming calamities and smoke, they will eventually be swept up and become a speck of dust under the giant wheel of time.

……

Luozhou.

The massive construction project is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

Those whom Lin Beixuan brought back from Changzhou now have their own ID cards and are able to go to the mission hall to accept missions.

Old Bai then found the Fox Spirit God and frankly revealed his relationship with the White Immortal Clan, saying that if a complete route could be opened for him, he could contact the White Immortal Clan and continuously supply medicinal herbs to Luo Zhou.

Bai Xian, one of the Five Immortals, is based on a hedgehog. They are familiar with plants and trees, and are good at finding and cultivating medicinal herbs.

The location of the Bai Xian clan is Shunzhou.

Shunzhou is mostly mountainous and wild, with abundant climate and water resources. It is also the place with the most spirits and monsters throughout history.

Although there were many spirits, they were jointly governed by several major spirit factions, so they did not have much impact on the people living in Shunzhou, and everyone went about their own business.

The Bai Xian clan is one of the most powerful immortal clans in Shunzhou, and its strength is in no way inferior to that of the Hu Xian clan in Luozhou.

Its clan leader, like the Fox Spirit God, is ranked among the lesser mortal gods and is known as the Medicine God.

In fact, Luozhou is in dire need of medicines, as evidenced by the fact that there isn’t even a single herbal medicine shop in Wangfeng City.

The entire Luozhou was in dire need of reconstruction. The land that had been optimized and restored was basically used to grow grain, and there was no spare land left for growing medicinal herbs.

Moreover, even if there is land available to grow medicinal herbs, they cannot be used directly in a short period of time.

Because medicinal herbs require years to grow, it's impossible to make a herb that should take ten years to grow grow in just a few months.

Moreover, some varieties require even longer growth periods, which also presents challenges.

Therefore, cooperating with the White Fairy Clan became the most important thing for the Fox Spirit God at present.

He greeted Lin Beixuan and then personally led Elder Bai to Shunzhou, intending to carve out a safe and stable route for himself.

After the Fox Spirit God left, Hu Miao took over the management of the affairs in Wangfeng City.

As for Lin Beixuan, he has been dealing with matters concerning the underworld during this period.

The first authority in the Book of Life and Death: Rebirth.

For every soul sent to the Pool of Reincarnation for reincarnation, merit increases by 1, reputation by 1, and luck by 1...

During this time, Lin Beixuan had accumulated a lot of merit and good fortune. He continued to pay attention to the operation of various affairs of the underworld, rewarding or punishing the mountain and wild gods that the dynasty had brought back.

While pondering how to utilize these accumulated resources to accelerate the development of the underworld, they also considered how to utilize these resources to achieve a higher level of development.

During the time he focused all his attention on the underworld, its operation and development increased at an almost exponential rate.

As a result, more and more wild gods knew that the underworld had returned, and seemed even more mysterious and unpredictable than before.

At least in the original underworld, there was no such thing as a hell of punishment.

The various terrifying punishments were many times heavier than the pressure that the underworld had previously placed on the mortal gods.

Deep within the underworld, wisps of black, sinister energy rose from the cracks in the ground, filling the surrounding space and seemingly swallowing up all light.

Do you hear piercing screams and agonizing howls from hell, sending chills down your spine?

Wang Chao was still wearing the judge's robes, but this time he was not accompanied by those wild gods, but by a serpent with eyes that shimmered like silver stars, which had transformed into human form.

The python curiously looked around at the underworld environment, appearing as if it had never seen anything like it before, and said...

"Is this where Brother Wang usually works? It's quite different from what I imagined. It's beautiful, but it lacks a bit of life."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chao couldn't help but roll his eyes and sigh, "This is the Ghost Realm, do you think it's the outside world?"

"When you meet my Lord this time, you must watch your words, otherwise you will not only fail to become a demon god, but you might also have your snake skin peeled off!"

(End of this chapter)