Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapter 545: Reincarnation (Part Two)
"I'll take you to be reincarnated!"

These seven short words, when they reached the ears of the siblings, were like a thunderclap, bringing life to all things and adding a touch of color to their previously numb expressions.

"Can you see us?" The siblings looked at the boy in front of them, who looked to be about the same age as them.

"I am a messenger of the underworld, sent to the cycle of reincarnation and imprisoned vengeful ghosts."

Zhong Kui slightly raised his head, the breeze swirling in the cave ruffling the hair on his forehead. His bright and ardent eyes warmed the cold hearts of the siblings.

However, his action seemed very strange to the women nearby.

They couldn't see the wandering spirits of the siblings; in fact, unless the spirits deliberately appeared, ordinary people would hardly be able to see them.

However, in this dark and damp cave, the yang energy in a person's body is weak, which allows the living to see the spirits of the dead.

However, the siblings' souls and bodies were even more fragile, so the women could see the vengeful ghosts that had killed people before, but they couldn't see the siblings in the corner of the cave.

They watched as Zhong Kui reached out his hand, as if pulling something from the darkness, and then slowly walked out of the cave.

"My little benefactor!" Just as Zhong Kui was about to leave, a woman stood up and called out, staring at Zhong Kui's back.

Like the two siblings who were wandering ghosts, her numb eyes regained some of their luster.

The gruesome corpse lying on the ground inside the cave did not frighten her; instead, it filled her with joy and excitement.

If Zhong Kui hadn't completely left, the women might have vented their anger on the corpses.

Zhong Kui stopped and turned back slightly, saying, "Now you are free. Remember... do not do cannibalism. In this world, there is an orderly cycle of reincarnation, good and evil are rewarded accordingly, and fortune and misfortune are all in your own thoughts."

"Perhaps the punishment will not come now, but after death and falling into the underworld, the sins will be returned to you doubly."

"Please take care, everyone!"

After saying this, Zhong Kui went outside. The cold wind outside the cave did not lessen, and the howling wind sounded like ghosts wailing, but all that remained in his heart was a sense of exhilaration.

Li Ping'an waited for Zhong Kui outside the cave, then turned his head and smiled, "You're just going to ignore the women inside? They're young ladies, after all. In this world, it's not easy for them to survive."

Zhong Kui said calmly, "It's not easy for anyone to survive. I can't keep them by my side; it would only be more dangerous for them to follow me."

"I've just observed that there's plenty of firewood around this cave. As for food, we can always find a way if we look carefully."

Zhong Kui was only seven or eight years old, but he spoke as if he were an adult.

"You're so cold-hearted. Aren't you afraid they'll run into bad guys again?"

"Everyone has their own destiny, and that's beyond my control."

Zhong Kui shook his head and said to Li Ping'an, "Let's go. We need to head to Xushui City in Liangzhou tonight."

Li Pingan shrugged and followed behind Zhong Kui.

Having witnessed life and death repeatedly is the best way to temper one's character.

Even though Zhong Kui is not very old, as a messenger of the underworld, he inevitably witnesses many life-and-death situations, so he is inevitably affected to some extent.

Li Ping'an had noticed this phenomenon long ago, but he did not tell Zhong Kui about it.

Xu Shuicheng.

It is a current stronghold of the Underworld in Liangzhou.

In the dead of night, amidst the increasingly heavy snow, Zhong Kui arrived just in time at a dilapidated temple near Xushui City.

The statues inside the temple have been destroyed, and the 'god' inside has long since fled to some unknown place.

As soon as Zhong Kui stepped into the temple, he discovered that there were two groups of people inside.

One group of people was easily identifiable as soldiers of the Liang King's army.

These soldiers were filthy and looked rather disheveled; they must have been deserters who had fled from the battlefield.

The other group was a little harder to identify. They were dressed differently, had bags beside them, and two of them had swords in their hands. If I'm not mistaken, they were probably wandering swordsmen.

The two groups each occupied half of the dilapidated temple. As soon as Zhong Kui stepped into the temple, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Phew...it's just a baby!" A soldier with a sunken face secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As deserters, their greatest fear was being tracked down by the supervising officers, so they remained vigilant at all times.

When he saw that it was just Zhong Kui alone, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his grip on his weapon.

As for the wandering swordsmen nearby, the soldiers were wary of them but not afraid of them, and they kept to themselves.

At this moment, Zhong Kui stood at the temple entrance, like an anomaly.

He was young, and he appeared alone in the middle of the night. Although he had the aura of a living person, he still looked very strange.

At this moment, a woman among the group of wandering martial artists felt pity for Zhong Kui and wanted to invite him to their place.

However, Zhong Kui only glanced at it before walking alone to a corner next to the collapsed statue in the temple and piling up firewood with dry branches he had collected from outside.

He wanted to start a fire, but since most of the dry branches were dampened by the wind and snow, it was really not easy to light them.

Seeing this, a woman who was traveling around nearby kindly picked up a burning stick from their campfire, walked over to Zhong Kui, and handed the stick to him.

"Use ours, otherwise it will take a lot of effort to start a fire."

Zhong Kui looked at the fire stick for a moment, then reached out and took it: "Thank you!"

"You're welcome. If my child were still alive, he would be about your age now."

The woman helped Zhong Kui start the fire as if they were old friends, just like a caring older sister.

"What does your sister do?" Zhong Kui asked casually as he tended to the fire after it was lit.

The woman chuckled and said, "Isn't it obvious? We are peddlers who travel between the countryside. We buy things in the city and take them to remote villages to sell, and then we buy local specialties from the countryside to sell in the city."

Zhong Kui nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

These peddlers, mostly known as itinerant merchants, often traveled between cities and rural areas in groups or alone.

In the secular world, traveling merchants earn more than regular shop owners in the city because they often work part-time delivering mail in addition to selling goods, earning extra income.

However, although the pay is high, this job is not easy and is very dangerous.

In the secular world and the wilderness, evil spirits abound, and one is prone to encountering bandits and robbers; a single misstep could cost one's life.

Therefore, those who can become itinerant merchants are usually people with skills, who are not afraid of ordinary evil spirits and have the ability to protect themselves from robbers.

“It’s not easy to sell goods now, especially for those of us who travel all over the country. Once the war starts, our original routes will be disrupted, and we will have to find a new one.”

"So, a few traveling merchants from Xushui City have gathered together and are planning to find a new route."

Zhong Kui frowned upon hearing this: "With things so chaotic outside, shouldn't we be laying low for a while? Why are you still doing business?"

Ma San Niang glanced at Zhong Kui with amusement: "You child, what will you eat if you don't do business? Will you starve?"

"Tell me the truth, was your family sent you out here for training, with skilled bodyguards following you around?"

Those who travel the world are usually good at judging things, especially itinerant merchants.

When Zhong Kui appeared alone before everyone, she could tell that he was no ordinary person.

Keep in mind that it was nighttime, and at night, evil spirits were most fond of taking the souls of children. Yet Zhong Kui appeared here unharmed, and showed no sign of panic upon seeing them.

These two points alone are enough for Ma San Niang to be certain of Zhong Kui's extraordinary abilities.

"I've always been alone," Zhong Kui replied casually, his gaze sweeping over Ma San Niang's face.

Ma San Niang was taken aback upon hearing this, somewhat finding it hard to believe.

However, judging from Zhong Kui's reaction, it seems that he was not lying.

Since becoming a living underworld messenger, Zhong Kui has indeed always been alone when carrying out his missions. Sometimes, he is the one who handles the things that the underworld messengers cannot deal with during the day.

Of course, Li Ping'an can't be counted, because he's a ghost.

The warmth of the campfire dispelled the chill, and Zhong Kui's face flushed slightly.

After watching for a while, Ma San Niang returned to her own group and mentioned Zhong Kui to her companions, intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhong Kui did not react to this; he simply warmed his body and then slowly closed his eyes.

His action appeared even more peculiar to the people in the temple.

"Oh, pretending!"

A young man among the traveling merchants stared at Zhong Kui and snorted coldly.

He didn't believe Ma San Niang's claim that Zhong Kui was anything special; in his opinion, Zhong Kui's current behavior was all an act.

It's about giving yourself a protective layer of self-confidence in front of outsiders, making them hesitant to mess with you.

In reality, Zhong Kui wasn't faking it.

He closed his eyes to communicate with the underworld.

That's right, this dilapidated temple is the stronghold that the underworld arranged in Luozhou.

Beneath this temple, a path to the underworld has been opened up by Ma Han, the judge of the Underworld Law Division, who has set up a stronghold on the path and stationed some underworld officials there.

Because it is underground, it is difficult for ordinary people to find. Even Zhong Kui has to communicate with the underworld first and tell the underworld officials stationed there that he has arrived.

As he lit the fire, he had already lit the communication talisman. Now, with his eyes closed, he was communicating with the underworld officials in the underworld through the talisman.

"Brothers, I have arrived," Zhong Kui silently said in his heart.

After a moment, several unfamiliar voices entered Zhong Kui's heart.

"Could it be the Yin-Yang Official, Lord Zhong Kui?"

Upon hearing the title "Lord Zhong," even Zhong Kui, who had tempered his character considerably through his travels, couldn't help but blush.

Especially that cry of "Yin Yang Xing Guan" (the official in charge of Yin and Yang) – it really struck a chord with Zhong Kui.

"It is I, esteemed lords!" Zhong Kui said in a fierce voice.

But no matter how fierce he was, the childishness in his voice couldn't be hidden, so it sounded rather strange.

"I've long heard that Lord Zhong, even in his childhood, resolved many troublesome vengeful spirits. He truly possesses extraordinary talent and the makings of a judge!"

Hearing the praise from his fellow underworld officials, Zhong Kui's lips curled up uncontrollably.

This scene looked even stranger to the two groups of people nearby.

"What's he laughing at with his eyes closed? Did he think of something funny?"

"This child is very strange. Could it be that he is actually an old man who has used a rejuvenation spell to turn into a child?"

Just as everyone was discussing this, the temple door was suddenly pushed open by a strong gust of wind, drawing everyone's attention.

"Bang!!"

The already dilapidated wooden door crashed into the walls on both sides and shattered instantly. In the thick darkness, pairs of cold eyes pierced through the crowd inside the temple.

Upon seeing the newcomers, the deserters immediately drew their swords and stood up.

"They're supervising soldiers!"

Upon hearing this, the traveling merchants quietly gathered together, keeping a close eye on the group of people outside the temple.

Supervising soldiers are composed of a group of elite soldiers within the army, specifically tasked with monitoring soldiers' charging and desertion behaviors.

If any soldier is found to be disobeying orders from his superior, the supervising officer even has the right to kill him on the spot.

Therefore, most soldiers were somewhat afraid of the supervising officers.

The leader of the supervising soldiers who appeared outside the door was a burly soldier with a thick beard. His body was full of blood and qi, and his murderous aura was enough to frighten away any little ghosts or evil spirits in the dark night.

After the burly soldier stepped into the temple, his bull-like eyes looked at the deserters inside, and a ferocious smile spread across his face.

"Finally found you!"

Without further ado, the burly soldier waved his hand, and instantly a large number of soldiers poured in, grabbing their swords and spears and charging at the fleeing soldiers.

The deserters, facing life and death, also unleashed tremendous power, fighting alongside the supervising soldiers, and shouts of battle filled the air.

The traveling merchants watching this scene had inscrutable expressions.

Seeing that Zhong Kui was still sitting in the corner with his eyes closed and grinning foolishly, Ma San Niang wanted to go over and bring him to her side.

Just then, the burly Han soldier looked over at them, his fierce eyes like those of a beast ready to devour its prey.

"Anyone who knows there are deserters in our Liang army must not be allowed to live!"

Upon hearing this, the traveling merchants frowned even more deeply, realizing that they had been implicated by the deserters.

However, they were no ordinary people, and they immediately used their methods to resist.

While keeping an eye on Zhong Kui's movements, Ma San Niang grabbed a few scraps of rag dolls from her basket and tossed them forward.

The doll swelled in the wind, quickly expanding into a small giant over two meters tall, and swung its fists at the charging overseer.

"Hmph, what a despicable trick!"

A soldier with a scar near his eye stepped out from behind the burly soldier. His long sword flew out and instantly turned into a rain of swords, slicing the children to pieces.

Seeing this, Ma San Niang's brow twitched, and she shouted to the leader of the traveling merchant caravan, "Brother Nie, this supervising force is probably quite strong."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man in a short shirt named Nie Yuan did not turn his head. He took several large steps forward, his hands and feet wriggling violently, changing at will like rubber, able to stretch and contract.

He raised his extended hands, and in a blur, caught the rain of swords falling from the sky one by one, then flung them back.

The burly soldier also took a step forward, his chest expanding violently as he inhaled, his breath flowing to his palms, and he slammed them out.

"Bang!!"

The battle between the two sides shook the earth, and the dilapidated temple teetered on the brink of collapse.

Zhong Kui, who had been keeping his eyes tightly closed, stopped smiling and slowly opened his eyes.

"My lords, if the newly established stronghold is destroyed, won't the governor be displeased?"

(End of this chapter)