Using the MC system to pretend spiritual revival

Chapter 206 Judges of the Underworld, Registrar of Ghost Messengers

"Ahem—!"

Sato tried to call for help, hoping that someone would intervene in this violent law enforcement.

However, the iron chain around his neck, though no longer causing suffocation since he was dead, was tightly lodged in his throat, preventing him from uttering a single word.

My body was constantly shaking and scraping against the ground, and my vision was completely blurred by the jolting.

Sato felt that he was being dragged along the ground at a speed that probably exceeded forty miles per hour.

However, the journey allowed him to temporarily detach himself from the pain of real life, enabling him to think about the current situation relatively calmly.

It was clear that he was dead; he remembered the last thing he saw… He had committed suicide.

That huge pot of bubbling, fragrant seafood soup must have directly scalded the esophagus, stomach, and most of the organs.

A series of acute symptoms, coupled with suffocation, quickly claimed his life.

He then fell and lost consciousness, eventually arriving at a place where everything was red.

Based on the information gleaned from the words of the person who had just dragged him, that place must be the so-called hell.

He didn't know why, but when he opened his eyes, he was there, and it was clear that he had committed a serious crime there.

Thinking of this, Sato couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Having gone through all of this.

Combined with the surrounding scenery he saw, and the simple information that flooded his mind when he saw the "Gate of Hell" plaque, he also understood the meaning of the words.

He finally realized that he had arrived at the legendary underworld of the neighboring great country, the place where people go after they die.

Although there are similar legends in Japan, it seems that the content derived from the main legend is not very credible now.

At least, he didn't see those wooden frames from his country's legends...

The ghost guards escorting him carried iron chains, wore short official robes, and had a large character written on a white background with black characters on their chests that he couldn't understand.

Strangely, he could understand that it was the character "卒" (zu, meaning "soldier").

As a cultural worker, Sato has some knowledge of the relevant legends and knows that the legendary underworld has a social system that corresponds to the real world.

My current situation is probably similar to illegal entry or smuggling, and I've been caught red-handed by the local "government".

Sato knew in his heart that what awaited him was not a good ending.

He tried to struggle, but the ghostly messenger who dragged him was not only tall but also had unreasonable strength.

Even when he desperately clung to a tree trunk as he passed through a grove of trees, it was to no avail; he was still forcibly dragged away.

Along the way, they first passed a barren earthen slope, where they could vaguely see wild animals running around nearby.

After passing through a barren dirt road, we turned a corner and saw what appeared to be a very large bridge spanning the river in the distance.

As the distance increased, the ghostly messenger who had captured him seemed to have switched to a horse or similar mount, dragging him along the way.

Finally, we arrived at yet another towering city gate.

Then, he saw the ghostly messenger who had been dragging him dismount and exchange a few words with a man in armor standing by the city wall, holding a spear.

Sato, whose vision had been blurred by the rapid galloping of the horse, was finally able to stand up unsteadily.

He looked up and saw a plaque hanging on the slightly smaller section of the city wall, with three characters he didn't recognize written on it.

"Fengdu City?"

Sato was puzzled. Before he could dig out where he was from his memories, he felt a tightness around his neck and was almost pulled so hard that he stumbled and fell.

Clearly, the ghost messenger, having completed the handover with the officer in front of the city, had to continue his journey.

Fortunately, Sato was prepared this time and was not dragged to the ground again. Instead, he staggered and caught up with the ghost messengers who had slowed down their pace after entering the city.

Once he was able to walk normally, he had the energy to pay attention to the scenery around him.

After walking for a short distance, I saw a hellish version of bustling traffic.

On the wide streets, people dressed in bright clothes and accompanied by young male and female servants came and went, creating a cacophony of noise.

The densely packed shops on both sides of the street, with all sorts of signs and banners, seemed to be selling various items, attracting many ghosts to stop and talk.

Horse-drawn carriages passed by in the middle of the road.

If it weren't for the pale or ashen faces of the passersby, and their dark or bloodshot eyes, this place would resemble a bustling ancient city.

However, having experienced despair twice and already understanding the truth of his own death, Sato was not so afraid; instead, he felt a sense of novelty.

Soon, the ghost messenger, holding his hand, turned and went into a side street.

As soon as he entered the alley, Sato sensed that something was wrong.

There were very few pedestrians—no, more like ghosts—on this road, and they all seemed to be in a hurry, as if they were avoiding something extremely terrifying.

This made his heart jump.

After walking several hundred more steps, Sato followed the ghost messenger and finally stopped in front of a grand hall.

Six men stood guard on each side of the palace gate, each holding a gun. They were all tall and imposing, dressed in clothing similar to that of ghost messengers.

This time, no one stopped them. The ghost messenger simply took out a token, waved it, and entered smoothly.

As soon as he stepped inside, Sato saw huge carvings, hot-lacquered red pillars spiraling upwards, and an astonishingly high ceiling tens of meters high.

On the murals on both sides, blue-faced, fanged monsters are performing cruel tortures such as being cut in half at the waist, having their tongues pulled out, gouging out their eyes, and even throwing people into millstones to be ground into mincemeat. Moreover, no two scenes are the same.

The further along the murals went, the more brutal the punishments became, and the more grotesque and pained the prisoners appeared. After walking about ten steps, Sato could even faintly hear the pitiful screams coming from the murals.

Moreover, ghostly flames burned in the braziers shaped like ghost heads surrounding the palace pillars.

With each one he passed, Sato felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but shrink back to the side.

But as soon as he made a move, the tall ghost soldiers standing on either side of each pillar, with their blue faces and fangs, and their wide, glaring eyes, instantly shot out a pressure-filled gaze.

Sato froze, too afraid to move, and could only grit his teeth and endure the torment as he followed the ghost messenger into the inner hall.

"Dong dong——!"

With a loud thud, the two tall wooden doors, resembling a two-story building, were pushed open.

As soon as he stepped across the threshold, Sato felt an immense pressure bearing down on him, and his body instantly became somewhat unresponsive.

He looked up and saw two rows of yamen runners and ghost messengers holding weapons and clubs standing in the huge hall.

Looking further up, one sees a table resembling a deity, behind which sits a figure dressed in official robes, at least ten meters tall.

Although the specific reason was still unclear, a chilling and eerie aura mixed with divinity swept over them.

Before he knew it, Sato was led to an open space in front of the hall.

The ghost messenger who had led him there suddenly clasped his hands in a fist salute and knelt on one knee.

"Your Honor! The sinner Sato has been brought before us!"

As soon as the sound reached their ears, the atmosphere in the entire hall instantly plummeted to freezing point.

As if telepathically understanding the situation, Sato knelt down with a thud.

He wasn't familiar with the process, so he could only try his best to maintain the correct posture.

Fortunately, he was very familiar with the kneeling posture in Japan.

It seemed that with his kneeling, the oppressive feeling that made his limbs feel numb quickly subsided.

Immediately afterwards, a loud sound like the tolling of a bell came from above.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Sato saw that the huge figure that had been sitting there like a statue of a god had actually started to move.

With a crackling sound, it leaned down and stared intently at him with eyes bigger than its entire body.

Even without looking up, Sato could feel that sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through his soul.

"boom--!!"

Then, with a loud bang, the statue picked up a piece of pitch-black wood, about the size of a stone tablet, from beside the altar and slammed it down on the table.

This action even created a slight wind pressure, causing the robes of those around to flutter loudly.

"Sinner Sato, you should be brought to justice!!"

The sound was so loud that it felt as if he had been shoved into a temple bell and struck twice, leaving him dazed and speechless for a moment.

After waiting a short while, seeing that the people below remained silent, the judge above seemed to be angered and let out a cold snort. "Hmph!! You lowly barbarians from a foreign land! You dare not submit to the law!!"

"From the moment you entered the hall, I saw an overwhelming aura of malice emanating from you!!"

"Don't think that just because the great calamity of heaven and earth has just passed, I can't judge a mere fallen soul like you!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the tall ghost messengers and yamen runners on both sides of the hall all revealed fierce expressions.

It seemed as if it might pounce at any moment and tear Sato, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, to shreds and devour him alive.

Under such immense pressure, Sato seemed to bounce back from rock bottom, suddenly unleashing a burst of strength.

He straightened up and shouted in a trembling voice.

"I'm innocent! I've never done anything wrong in my life, not even killed a chicken! I'm just an ordinary office worker..."

Sato shouted in the cherry blossom language, but obviously, in this place, no one could misunderstand him.

But his explanation seems to have only fueled greater discontent.

"Hmph—!! Stubborn to the end!"

As the judge, who was sitting a dozen meters tall, snorted coldly again, he gestured for a blue-faced clerk dressed in official robes, who appeared to be a civil official, to come out.

The clerk first held the ceremonial gift with both hands and bowed upwards. Then he took out a green booklet from his sleeve and opened it.

He walked slowly to Sato, who was kneeling on the ground, looked at him with disgust, and read aloud.

"Sinner Sato! He has never done any good deeds in his life, living a muddled and mediocre life. He should have returned to the underworld yesterday and been reincarnated into the world of the living!"

"How could he escape death and remain alone in the human world for even a day, and then attempt suicide, thus escaping into the underworld and hell, adding sin upon sin!"

"You should have been thrown into the City of the Wrongfully Dead, where you would suffer the agony of death for a hundred years before being allowed to reincarnate after judgment! But alas, you are burdened with sins, and our investigation has confirmed that your karmic debts have not yet been repaid!"

"You should immediately return to your original place and be reborn into the animal realm to continue to suffer torment and torment until your resentment and evil thoughts dissipate, only then can you be reborn into a normal family!"

"However, considering that the great calamity of heaven and earth has just begun, and that this trip by the Netherworld has wasted manpower, we will first throw you into the eighteenth level of hell to suffer for a hundred years! We will punish you after the situation stabilizes!"

"Sinner Sato, do you understand? Do you confess your sins?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the clerk in official robes closed the book in his hand and looked at the small, kneeling figure again.

At this moment, Sato was suddenly awakened by the contemptuous gaze, and looked at the tall, unknown official in front of him with a face full of fear and pleading.

He opened his mouth as if to defend himself, but his lips moved a few times without him being able to utter a single word.

He knew perfectly well why he was burdened with sin.

The so-called escape from death should refer to being attacked by a monster and missing the opportunity to die of gas poisoning along with his wife and daughter.

Furthermore, he was aware that suicide is indeed considered a grave sin in many religions.

At that moment, his mind raced with thoughts, but he painfully discovered that he didn't even know where to begin pleading.

"Since you have nothing to say, let's just drag this out!!"

After another period of silence, the statue, which was over ten meters tall, spoke again, delivering its conclusion with the resounding grandeur of a great bell.

Soon, the clerk holding the booklet led several ghost messengers and dragged the collapsed Sato out of the main hall.

At first it was fine, but gradually, the ghostly figures around became fewer and fewer.

Finally, after winding through the streets, we arrived at a small, deserted place.

At this moment, Sato naturally began to realize that something was wrong, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Are they going to kill me right here? Is this some kind of rash plan?!"

He wanted to run away, but looking at the ghost guards around him, who were dressed in armor, wielding weapons, and were two or three meters tall, he calmed down.

Soon, seemingly noticing his conflicted expression, the clerk holding the booklet turned his gaze and continued speaking loudly.

"Do you still remember your wife and daughters? They returned to the underworld before you, but because of you, they were also tainted by sin."

"If this isn't dealt with, not only will they be unable to be reincarnated, but they'll also have to endure a hundred years in hell to even slightly cleanse themselves of their sins..."

At this point in the conversation, his tone changed.

"However, considering that you were harmed by evil spirits and have some unforeseen circumstances, I can give you a chance to atone for your crimes."

This statement clearly deviates from the usual procedure.

But Sato, who was already terrified and felt like he was going to die again, didn't care about any of that.

The almost desperate look in his eyes instantly brightened with a glimmer of hope.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Sato kowtowed three times on the ground before getting up and asking earnestly.

"Thank you for your guidance! What should I do?"

This decisive statement seemed to have pleased the civil official in front of him.

"Haha~ Not bad~ You know how to seize the moment!"

"Then let me give you a couple more pointers..."

"...Sin is not something that can be easily washed away; a hundred good deeds cannot outweigh the sin of one bad deed."

"But in the judgment after death, doing more good deeds will give you a better life in the City of the Dead, or a better chance after reincarnation."

"To be honest, according to the proper procedure, you and your wife and daughters should be directly reincarnated for a hundred lifetimes, suffering the torment of misery and old age."

The threatening tone paused thereafter.

Whether it was my imagination or not, the tall civil official seemed to be shaking his head and speaking with a seductive tone.

"But now that the world has just recovered, the underworld is short-handed. If we were to bring your country under the jurisdiction of the underworld, it would increase a lot of pressure."

"So before that, we just threw the population directly into the infinitely vast hell to save manpower."

"As for you, it's unrealistic to expect you to do a thousand good deeds right now, but there's one thing... killing the most vicious and wicked people... tsk tsk~ that's a great act of kindness~"

At this point, the tall civil official, stroking his beard, clicked his tongue and then lowered his voice.

"...If you do enough good deeds, although you may not be able to be reincarnated, you can still live a peaceful life in this Youdu City."

Sato was initially confused by these words, but soon the meaning behind them struck him like a thunderbolt.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"...Killing the most vicious and wicked is a great act of kindness. Doing enough good deeds will allow my wife, daughter, Zhuzi, and even myself to continue living in this city..."

His mind raced, but soon a question popped into his head. He didn't care about anything else at the moment and asked directly.

"My lord, are houses expensive in Youdu City? How is the income at work?"

Upon hearing this, the blue-faced clerk, who had been stroking his beard and smiling, was suddenly stunned, but soon burst into laughter.

He then turned to face the ghost messengers around him, and they all burst into wild laughter.

Hahaha—~

"No need to worry~ Souls don't need to eat or drink, why not just give you a house from the Housing Headquarters?"

"If you can truly accomplish this, I'll grant you a position as a gatekeeper at the palace gates. You'll have no worries about food or drink, and you won't have to fret about anything else."

Upon hearing this, Sato knelt down again and kowtowed three times.

"My lord, I am willing to give my life!"

Seeing this, the man released his hand from stroking his beard with satisfaction.

"Haha, very well, go ahead then, don't keep your wife and daughters waiting too long!"

As he spoke, the clerk in official robes waved the booklet in his hand, and Sato felt a blur before his eyes, his consciousness suddenly falling into confusion.

Before he completely lost consciousness, he could still faintly hear the other person's warning.

"Great villains often hold high positions in the Land of Sakura, so dealing with a mere mortal like you won't be easy..."

"...I have recorded your soul in the annals; you are not entirely a mortal. Until you accomplish this task, focus on your work..."

Finally, the sound became increasingly faint and inaudible.

Sato's consciousness also plunged into complete darkness in the next moment.

(End of this chapter)