Peninsula: I'm being supported by a top idol.

Chapters 159 and 162-163: Hell Messenger Team Building

"Yuna, Oppa's off!"

Cui Shi'an opened the taxi door and got in: "It'll take about twenty minutes to get there."

"Yes~" Shin Yuna's bright voice came from the other end of the phone, with the faint sounds of laughter from a variety show in the background, creating a warm atmosphere: "Oh, by the way, oppa, remember to buy a pack of toilet paper at the convenience store after you get downstairs~ We ran out at home, and I forgot to restock."

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"Understood." Cui Shi'an hung up the phone.

If Liu Zhimin knew that he went to Shen Youna's apartment late at night, she would probably immediately give up the idea of ​​buying a house, or even come and tear her boyfriend apart.

However, his trip was not to have sex with Shen Youna, but to try to find more fragments of memory with arrows.

Of course, in Liu Zhimin's mind, her boyfriend should have already said goodnight to her and was lying obediently on his dormitory bed, ready to drift off to sleep.

Looking at the last message on his phone from Piggy Snake, "Goodnight, don't stay up late~", Cui Shi'an felt a slight pang of guilt, but it was quickly suppressed by his more important goal.

Outside the car window, the neon lights of Seoul flashed by as we gradually approached Oksu-dong.

However, just a few streets from his destination, the urgent and frequent sirens of fire trucks approaching caught his attention.

"Woo-woo-woo"

There was more than one vehicle; judging from the sound, there were at least four or five, speeding toward the same area from different directions.

The taxi driver also curiously stuck his head out to look, muttering, "Holy crap, this commotion—there must be a fire somewhere. Judging by the scale of it, this is no small matter."

After the vehicles had been driving for a while, the traffic ahead slowed down significantly and eventually came to a near standstill.

In the distance, a corner of the night sky was illuminated with an unnatural orange-red hue, and thick smoke billowed upwards.

"It seems we can't get through here, sir," the driver said, pointing to the flashing police lights and the outline of a fire truck at the intersection ahead. "The apartment building over there is on fire, the road is closed, and we might have to take a long detour."

Cui Shi'an glanced at the traffic jam outside the window and the distant flames, realizing that it was probably impossible to get through.

"Then, Master, I'll get off here."

He paid the fare and got out of the car.

A whiff of burnt air and a faint wisp of smoke hit me.

The streets were lined with evacuated residents and onlookers, who were discussing the situation with expressions of fear or worry.

The sounds of sirens, firefighters' shouts, and the crackling of burning buildings mingled together, creating a chaotic scene.

Cui Shi'an walked a few steps against the flow of evacuees toward the fire scene, casually glancing around.

suddenly.

He noticed a group of people who seemed out of place standing in a relatively quiet, shady spot on the side of the street.

There were about six or seven people, all dressed in well-tailored black suits, both men and women, with a cool and silent demeanor, which contrasted sharply with the panicked crowd around them.

They stood there seemingly casually, but their gazes were all subtly directed at certain windows or exits of the burning building.

Among the group of men in black, a girl dressed in an exquisite black tutu, looking like a gothic doll, was kicking pebbles at her feet with her arms crossed and an impatient expression.

When Cui Shi'an saw her, a playful smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

So he walked straight toward the group of people.

Almost the instant he stepped into their perception range, the gazes of the men in black flashed like searchlights.

It all came down to him.

Several people exchanged glances, their lips barely moving as if silently communicating: "This aura is... a ghost?" (The text abruptly shifts to a seemingly unrelated thought: "This aura is... a ghost?")

Only the girl in the black dress, Hera, curled her lip in disdain and rolled her eyes slightly when she saw Choi Si-an, as if to say, "Why are you everywhere?"

At this moment, Cui Shi'an arrived, a friendly smile on his face, and waved to the group of gloomy civil servants: "Hey, envoys, working overtime so late at night? You must be exhausted."

The reactions of these hellish messengers varied.

Several of the younger men looked at him with curiosity and scrutinized him closely.

Some, however, appeared very wary.

The Golden Envoy from Zhonglu District was also there, but he was standing a little further away.

Upon seeing Cui Shi'an, his already ugly, deadpan face turned even blacker, like the bottom of a pot. He snorted coldly, turned around decisively, and faced the back of his head at Cui Shi'an.

The cigar-smoking man from Longshan District, however, had a half-smile on his face and nodded slightly to Cui Shi'an with considerable manners, as if he were meeting an old friend.

Unfortunately, Choi Si-an didn't have a good impression of this guy. He just glanced at him coldly and then looked back at Hera.

"Hey, this incomparably beautiful mermaid princess," he walked up to Hera and asked in a deliberately teasing tone, "didn't you always say that messengers of hell can't just leave their territory? What, out having team building late at night?"

Hera rolled her eyes at him, then lowered her voice, "Team building my foot! This is official business! There's an urgent mission, and the higher-ups have coordinated to send people from several nearby districts to provide support!"

"Support?" Cui Shi'an raised an eyebrow, glanced at the building behind him engulfed in flames and with debris constantly falling, and sighed softly: "Looks like—a lot of people are going to die tonight."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the group of silent, black-clad messengers. He counted, "1, 2, 3—oh my god, seven messengers of hell have arrived. Doesn't that mean we'll have to take at least seven people with us?"

His nonchalant tone made one of the hell messengers, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, frown. He warned in an icy tone, "We are on official business. Unauthorized personnel, please leave immediately and do not obstruct us."

Cui Shi'an ignored him completely, not even glancing at the messenger who had spoken, and instead scanned the faces of the others: "Which of you is the messenger of Hell from the East District? Come out, I have something to ask you."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the several messengers of hell changed slightly.

This was not only because of his almost commanding tone, but also because the identity of "Hell Messenger of the East District" itself seemed to carry a certain unspeakable meaning.

The group exchanged glances, but no one responded, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.

Seeing this, Hera quickly ran forward, gave the other messengers an apologetic smile, and whispered, "Seniors, Mia-nee—he, he's a newly recruited goblin, he doesn't quite know the rules yet, he's a bit—a greenhorn."

Then she pulled Cui Shi'an to a darker corner and asked urgently, "Why are you looking for the envoy from the East District? Do you want to cause trouble?"

Cui Shi'an shrugged, looking innocent: "It's nothing. I just wanted to ask him face to face how he does his job. He doesn't even bother to deal with the wandering ghosts all over the streets of the East District. The public security is so bad, seriously affecting the citizens' living experience."

Upon hearing this, Hera's expression turned somewhat strange. She then looked around warily, leaned closer, and whispered mysteriously, "You're looking for him? You can't find him—the Hellbringer from the East District eloped with someone!"

"Huh?!" Cui Shi'an was startled, and his voice unconsciously rose a little, attracting the attention of the envoys over there.

He quickly covered his mouth, lowered his voice, and exclaimed in disbelief, "Elopement?! A messenger of hell can elope with someone?!"

This completely overturned his understanding of this "rigorous" civil service system.

"Yes!" Hera lowered her voice and carefully explained, "We only found out recently from an internal notice. I heard he ran away two months ago, and the higher-ups are secretly looking for him now. Otherwise, why do you think no one is taking care of the paranormal events in the East District? It's all because the person in charge ran away."

"Why did they elope? Did they start dating someone?" Cui Shi'an's gossip-loving spirit was also ignited.

"Yes!" Hara nodded, her expression complicated. "I heard—he ran away with his wife from when he was alive."

"His wife before his death?!" Cui Shi'an was even more surprised: "Then wouldn't that mean—both of them are—?"

He mouthed the word "ghost".

"I don't know the specifics, but they just ran away." The girl spread her hands, looking helpless. "So recently, the soul transfers in this area have been handled by people from other districts taking turns to fill in. It's exhausting."

"Where did they go?"

"How would I know?" Hara rolled her eyes. "They probably have some clues in Dongdaemun, but they definitely won't tell us small fry. That's why they called so many of us here to share the workload. I guess everyone will take a soul back to report later."

"Couldn't one of you just pack them all up and take them all with you?"

"These days, we're all about personalized, one-on-one service, okay?!" Hera looked at him like he was an idiot. "Do you think the messengers of hell still use that brutal, bondage system from hundreds of years ago? Every soul has to listen to their regrets, complaints, and pleas from their past life, and then we'll advise, comfort, and guide them according to the situation—"

"In short, even if the process goes smoothly, it still takes one or two hours! Especially for accidental deaths like this, many people are in a daze, or have a very strong obsession and simply cannot accept that they are dead, so it takes even longer. Otherwise, why do you think I'm so busy every day?"

As she spoke, she looked Cui Shi'an up and down again. He was dressed quite handsomely, which was unusual for him. He looked much better than before.

She then narrowed her eyes and sized him up: "Why are you still wandering around outside so late? What are you up to?"

Cui Shi'an casually replied, "I'm going to see a friend to discuss something."

"Friends?" Hera's eyes sharpened, as if they could pierce through one's heart. "Hey, I didn't pull you back from the brink of death so you could dress up and mess around with women!"

Looking at her precocious, sharp-tongued demeanor, Cui Shi'an couldn't help but chuckle, teasing her on purpose, "Speaking of which, it seems you can't control me anymore, can you?"

"You—!" Hera puffed out her cheeks in anger, about to retort, when she caught a glimpse of the cigar-smoking man from Yongsan District walking slowly toward them.

Choi Si-an also saw it and raised his hand to signal Hara not to speak.

The man with the cigar walked up to the two of them, first nodding politely to Hara, then fixing his gaze on Choi Si-an, his face still bearing that enigmatic, faint smile: "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. Are you satisfied with the little gift I gave you last time?"

Upon hearing this, Hara, who was standing nearby, immediately frowned and turned sharply to look at Choi Si-an, her eyes filled with questioning and surprise.

What kind of gift? Are you having some kind of private deal?

Choi Si-an remained calm, simply raising his hand and gently patting Hara's shoulder, signaling her to calm down.

Then, he met the cigar man's gaze, his tone calm but carrying a clear sense of distancing: "I say, envoy, I think you've got it wrong. That was spoils of war that I obtained through my own abilities, not a gift from anyone. We'd better both be clear about that."

The cigar-smoking man's smile remained unchanged, even deepening slightly. "Whether it's spoils of war or gifts, as long as you like it and find it useful—feel free to visit Yongsan District often. Perhaps there are even more things that interest you there." He spoke slowly, his gaze lingering meaningfully on Choi Si-an for a moment. "But if you don't come, some things won't be so easy to digest, you know~"

After saying that, he said no more, nodded slightly to the two of them, and then turned and walked back into the group of black-clad messengers, as if he had just come over to say hello.

Cui Shi'an frowned. What was this? A threat?

Upon hearing this, Hera couldn't help but tug at his sleeve, urgently whispering, "What exactly did you do with him? What gift? What spoils? You didn't really make some kind of deal with him, did you?"

I'm warning you, these veteran messengers of hell are all ruthless! Be careful they don't sell you out and then leave you counting the money for them!

Seeing Hara's genuinely anxious expression, Choi Si-an felt a warmth in his heart.

"It's nothing, we just bumped into each other by chance, had a little sparring, and he lost, so he gave me some things as compensation. No need to make a fuss."

"A friendly spar? You lost? You have to pay for it?" Hera looked incredulous.

Seeing that Choi Si-an didn't want to say more, and knowing that now wasn't the time to press for answers, he lowered his voice and solemnly reminded her: "In short, stay away from them! Especially those senior ones! Sometimes, for the sake of performance or other purposes, they might do things that skirt the rules or even break the law. If you get too involved with them, and Dongdaemun holds you accountable, you won't be able to escape it either! Understand?"

Choi Si-an smiled and nodded, then looked back at the group of black-clad envoys with different auras, and then at Hara beside him, teasingly said, "But speaking of which—why do I feel that among this group, your seniority seems to be—particularly low? You were so respectful to them just now."

Upon hearing this, Hera's face fell, and she muttered dejectedly, "I'm just a junior—I've only been in this industry for a few years. Some of them have been doing this for almost a hundred years. Their experience, connections, and methods are far beyond what I can compare to. In front of them, I'm just a nobody, a gofer—"

Before she could finish speaking, "BOOM!!!"

A muffled explosion suddenly rang out at the fire scene!

It appeared that a gas leak or electrical appliance in one of the rooms had ignited, causing a sudden burst of flames. Broken glass and building materials rained down, hitting the onlookers.

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