Translator: ChuRen/ YuQiChen
“W-w-why are you here?” Meng Xiaoman started stammering.
King Yama tugged at the corner of his mouth, giving a half-smile, half-grimace: “Who did you just call an old fox?”
Meng Xiaoman: ……
King Yama wasn’t letting it go. “And you said shameless too?”
Meng Xiaoman, fighting for her life, quickly explained, “I meant Lord Ghost King.”
“Heh.”
A cold sneer echoed from behind Meng Xiaoman.
Turning around, she saw Sheng Ze with his arms crossed, staring at her coldly.
Meng Xiaoman: QAQ Oh mother, save me.
When the big shots fight, innocent bystanders inevitably get caught in the crossfire.
Chang Wu, Chang Bai, and Wu Pan quietly shrank into a corner, trying their best to minimise their presence.
King Yama’s eyes narrowed slightly as he saw Sheng Ze, straightening up with alertness. His entire aura shifted unconsciously—
Just like a leopard waiting to pounce.
Su Ling’s eyes brightened when he saw King Yama and greeted cheerfully, “Big Brother Gu!”
Meng Xiaoman and the others turned sharply, looking at their own King Yama suspiciously.
King Yama nodded and waved gently, “Xiao Ling, come here.”
Su Ling happily started to run over.
Sheng Ze’s expression shifted slightly. His right hand landed on Su Ling’s shoulder, stopping his forward momentum.
Su Ling looked back, puzzled: ?
King Yama gritted his teeth and pressed harder, “Come here.”
Sheng Ze’s smile deepened provocatively, and the hand on Su Ling’s shoulder gripped tighter.
King Yama stared at that hand, furious: “Take your salty pig hoof1Cantonese slang for a pervert groping someone. Lmao whenever my coworker touches my shoulder or my upper arm, I’ll start screaming get your salty chicken claws off me. In Cantonese, Ham means salty, ham sap lou means pervert off him!”
Sheng Ze laughed even more, disregarding King Yama’s words as he leaned in, resting his chin on Su Ling’s shoulder and then rubbed against him, wearing a look that said, “What are you gonna do about it?”
King Yama’s face darkened, and irritably, he began rolling up his sleeves.
Sheng Ze showed no sign of backing down, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and locking eyes with King Yama with a grim expression.
Su Ling: ???
Meng Xiaoman couldn’t hold it anymore and took out her phone to furiously type—
【Meng Xiaoman, the Most Beautiful in the Universe】: Ahhhhh! Is this the legendary classic scene of two tops fighting over one bottom?
【Chang Family’s Younger Brother】: Haha, Lord Ghost King just finished being jealous, and now a rival appears—feeling a bit sorry for him.
【Chang Family’s Elder Brother】: Clearly, a love triangle is never absent, at worst just fashionably late.
【Meng Xiaoman, the Most Beautiful in the Universe】: But these two are dragging it out way too much! If you’re a man, settle it with fists! Whoever wins gets to carry off the boss.
【I’m Not a Bookworm】: Exciting! Ah, they’re starting to fight!!!
【Amitabha】: What? What are you all talking about?? What exactly happened?!
No ghost paid any attention to Shi Kongzang, far away in the Underworld.
While they gossiped, Sheng Ze and King Yama walked toward each other, closer and closer…
Ah, Sheng Ze and King Yama made a move!
Their hands touched!
They… huh, are they shaking hands?!
The ghosts were dumbfounded, staring at this surprisingly harmonious scene.
King Yama, still maintaining that half-smile half-grimace, half-heartedly began introducing himself: “I am Gu Pingqiu, the closest elder brother to Xiao Ling.”
He emphasised the word “closest.”
Sheng Ze stood gracefully, giving a faux-polite smile: “I am Sheng Ze, Lingling’s only driver.”
He emphasised the word “only.”
King Yama pretended to suddenly understand: “Oh, the driver, pleased to meet you.”
“It’s just a title,” Sheng Ze said modestly, “Mainly just a pretext so I can always stay by Lingling’s side. Not like an elder brother, honoured to meet you.”
King Yama’s smile grew even more forced: “It’s just a nominal relationship, really no blood ties. Mostly because I’m very close to Xiao Ling.”
The surrounding ghosts glanced nervously between the two, caught in an atmosphere thick with tension, biting their hands anxiously.
Su Ling couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted out, “Have you two taken the wrong medicine? Why are you both acting so snarky today?”
King Yama was the first to release his grip, speaking calmly, “I saw Brother Sheng has an extraordinary physique and seems especially skilled at driving, so I couldn’t help but want to chat with him.”
The Ghost King nodded in agreement and added, “Your elder brother has delicate features, clearly no ordinary person. I also wanted to seek his advice.”
King Yama smiled, “If that’s the case, how about the two of us meet alone in the conference room?”
The Ghost King readily agreed, “Would be my pleasure.”
Su Ling blinked in confusion, and before he knew it, the two were on friendly terms, calling each other “brother”, and had gone into the only conference room in the company, locking the door behind them.
Meng Xiaoman: “I bet a pack of spicy sticks the meeting won’t last more than three seconds.”
“Three seconds?” Chang Bai shook his head, “Won’t even last that long.”
Su Ling was utterly baffled.
Sure enough, in less than three seconds, an earth-shattering explosion erupted from the direction of the conference room. When Su Ling looked back, the entire room was reduced to dust — only bare concrete mixed with steel rebar remained, scattered by the wind.
Chang Wu picked up his stopwatch and pointed to the “2.03” on the screen: “Two seconds.”
Chang Bai shrugged helplessly at Meng Xiaoman, “See, I told you.”
Su Ling: …!
King Yama and Sheng Ze stood there, covered in dust, their faces grimy, each still gripping the other’s vital spot tightly.
When they sensed Su Ling’s gaze, they exchanged a look and complained in unison, “He hit me!”
Then again, exchanging looks, they both said at once, “It’s all his fault!”
Su Ling: “Heh heh.”
Su Ling smiled, and the two didn’t dare fight anymore.
King Yama tried to negotiate with Sheng Ze: “On three, let’s both let go.”
Sheng Ze replied bluntly, “Fine!”
“One, two, three!”
They still tightly gripped each other, refusing to let go.
King Yama & Sheng Ze: Treacherous!
Su Ling: …
Awkwardly locking eyes for a long moment, King Yama, with a good-natured manner, spoke again, “Let’s forget the earlier unpleasantness. I’ll count one, two, three again—this time, really let go.”
Sheng Ze nodded, “Alright.”
“One, two, three!”
King Yama & Sheng Ze: Heh, knew it!
Meng Xiaoman shook her head, slowly sitting back down, thinking these two big shots in the Underworld—one is three years old, the other five—are completely unbearable.
Chang Bai yawned without enthusiasm, waving to his brother as he walked away, “No point waiting. Those two won’t settle this anytime soon.”
King Yama and Sheng Ze clearly being despised: …
Sheng Ze’s ice-cold face sneered, “What good employees you raised.”
King Yama nodded in agreement and sighed, “They really need a proper scolding.”
Seeing the same thought in each other’s eyes, they tacitly loosened their grip, each stepping aside, and began using sharp tongues to teach Meng Xiaoman and the others how to be ghosts.
—A common enemy is the best way to end internal strife. Truly, the wise do not deceive!
Amidst the company’s eerie wailing and howling, Su Ling calmly held a cup of goji berry tea and spoke peacefully, “Are you done fighting?”
Sheng Ze and King Yama froze simultaneously.
Su Ling smiled gently, “Since you’re done, can you explain why you tore the conference room apart?”
Both Sheng Ze and King Yama turned their backs to him, not daring to look at him.
—If Su Ling got angry, it would be better, but with him this calm, it’s like a level-12 volcanic eruption about to happen!
“Doing something but not admitting it? Hm?” Su Ling asked politely yet warmly.
Sheng Ze turned around, awkwardly scratched his nose, and pitifully muttered, “It wasn’t me, it was your cousin here—he’s just way too strong. Honestly, I barely fought back. My arm still hurts…”
Su Ling raised an eyebrow, glanced at him, and said nothing.
Sheng Ze, unsure how to read his expression, hesitated a moment, then crossed his arms and whined softly.
Just then, King Yama stepped forward and admitted, “It’s my fault.”
Sheng Ze looked dumbfounded: ?
Meng Xiaoman and the other ghosts: Wow, King Yama just dug a trap for himself! The outcome of the first round is about to be decided! So exciting!
“I didn’t control my strength well and shouldn’t have acted impulsively and fought Brother Sheng. My apologies,” King Yama looked deeply remorseful. “I’ll fix the wall, pay any damages, and make sure the room is restored to its original state.”
Finally, King Yama sighed and summarised, “In short, this time it really was my fault.”
Su Ling walked over, frowning, “Why did you fight?”
King Yama pursed his lips, seeming a bit embarrassed: “We didn’t exactly fight. It was supposed to be just a sparring match, but Brother Sheng’s cultivation is so high that before I knew it…”
Su Ling snorted inside — who would believe that?
Sparring to the point of dislocating each other’s joints?
Nobody would buy that story.
King Yama sneaked a glance at him. Seeing Su Ling’s unfriendly expression, he closed his eyes and finally told the truth: “I don’t like him because you’re close with him.”
Su Ling was dumbfounded, amused but speechless: “That…”
King Yama said with all the justification in the world, “You called me ‘elder brother’ back then, promising to be the closest friends for life. Yet you turned your back on me so quickly!”
Su Ling was momentarily stunned by this ‘How can you be such a scumbag?’ tone and was about to explain when Sheng Ze couldn’t hold back and moved to act again.
Sheng Ze angrily said, “Closest friends? Where did you get that? Who told you? Being a big brother doesn’t mean you get to interfere in your little brother’s private life!”
King Yama immediately looked over at Chang Wu.
Chang Wu had no choice but to speak up, “Of course he can.”
—When it came to Chang Bai’s private life, Chang Wu interfered thoroughly and unapologetically.
Sheng Ze: …You bro-con.
Just as Su Ling’s mood started to improve, his expression instantly turned cold, looking at Sheng Ze with an indifferent glare.
Sheng Ze wisely backed down, conceding: “I won’t say anymore.”
“Too late.” Su Ling angrily threw down his cup of goji berries, fuming, “Who let you develop such bad habits?! Fighting and wrecking the place is bad enough, but destroying company property and still refusing to repent?!”
“Dock your pay! This time, the renovation cost comes out of your salary!” Su Ling barked, “Xiaoman, make a note!”
Sheng Ze didn’t care about money, but losing face in front of King Yama was another matter.
He shot a reluctant glance at King Yama.
Su Ling looked at King Yama, tone softening: “Don’t blame Elder Brother Gu, and don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Sheng Ze: Why?!
It clearly wasn’t his fault alone.
But he had admitted guilt…
Su Ling gave him a cold glance: “Don’t accept it?”
Sheng Ze nodded angrily.
Su Ling playfully tugged at the corner of his mouth: “If you don’t accept it, then endure”
Sheng Ze: …That sounds strangely familiar?
King Yama hid behind Su Ling, smugly giving Sheng Ze a “peace” sign.
…In the chat group:
【Meng Xiaoman, the Most Beautiful in the Universe】: “Don’t accept it, then endure?” That sounds so familiar.
【Chang Family’s Elder Brother】: Heh, that’s the Ghost King’s usual line.
【I’m Not a Bookworm】: Serves him right! Fighting fire with fire, very fair, very satisfying.
【Chang Family’s Younger Brother】: To sum up: in their first showdown, the Ghost King suffered a crushing defeat 🙂
【Amitabha】: What exactly are you all talking about? I want to join! Please let me join! The Underworld is so boring…
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