Chapter 6 – Can’t afford to offend

Translator: ChuRen/ YuQiChen

Seeing that the group had been inside for half an hour and still hadn’t come out, the haunted house owner finally couldn’t sit still.

His haunted house was built together with the amusement park, and in order to cater to children, the equipment inside was not really that scary. It wasn’t complex enough to keep people inside for thirty minutes.

Thinking back to the inexplicably disappearing corpse from some time ago, the owner felt a wave of unease and couldn’t resist closing the entrance temporarily before rushing to the control room.

However, as soon as he looked at the surveillance footage, the owner felt relieved. In the camera feed, the five people were wandering around in a ghost bride’s boudoir, all looking lively and energetic, probably just lost.

The owner leaned back on the couch, feeling at ease, and began to doze off.

…Inside the haunted house.

Su Ling and others who were locked in the stone tomb were gathered around the coffin.

“The Eight-Direction Soul Lock Array, used in Taoism to lock the most ferocious spirits and evil ghosts.” Wu Pan’s fingers gently tapped the surface of the coffin.

A muffled echo sounded from inside the coffin.

“However, this coffin is empty.” Wu Pan smiled and said.

“Well, it’s just a haunted house. At most, it’s just for decoration.” Shi Kongzang replied.

Su Ling remained silent, curiously stepping forward and carefully examining the patterns carved on the coffin. “Is this formation real?”

After receiving Wu Pan’s confirmation, Su Ling couldn’t help but stroke his chin and said thoughtfully, “I didn’t expect it, the haunted house owner seems to know his stuff.”

Wu Pan chuckled and informed everyone, “As far as I know, this formation has been lost for about a hundred years. Even the Taoist priests from Maoshan nowadays don’t know it.”

Su Ling sensed something more in his words and furrowed his brow, “Something’s not right. If even the Maoshan Sect doesn’t know it, how did the haunted house owner find out?”

“That’s not all.” Wu Pan slowly smirked, his smile carrying a hint of coldness. “For this formation to succeed, not only does the one setting it up needs to be well-versed in the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, Yin-Yang, and directions, but they also need to have cultivated for over a thousand years.”

“A thousand years of cultivation? That’s simple. The underworld manages the spirits who have cultivated the way most strictly. When they come to the mortal world, they have to register with their real names, so it’d be easy to check.” Su Ling pondered and spoke.

“No need to check. There’s no such person on the underworld’s list of those who have come to the mortal world.” Wu Pan shook his head firmly.

Su Ling nodded without surprise, showing no doubt towards Wu Pan’s response.

Sheng Ze glanced back and forth between the two and suddenly spoke, asking, “Since this formation has been lost, how did you know about it?”

Judge Wu, who had accidentally shown off in front of the Ghost King: …

Thinking about the identity of the person in front of him, Judge Wu struggled to realize that his disguise might not hold up for much longer.

“Wu Pan has a broad knowledge and a good memory. There are very few things in the mortal world and the underworld that he doesn’t know,” Su Ling, fully focused on the coffin, replied directly for Wu Pan.

“Oh? Have you even seen the underworld’s register of names?” Sheng Ze, with interest, looked at Wu Pan. “I heard that the register of names is classified information of the underworld, not easily seen by ordinary people.”

Wu Pan replied nonchalantly, “…It was a lucky coincidence, just glanced at it briefly.”

Sheng Ze stopped probing further, just smiled warmly at Wu Pan.

Wu Pan’s legs weakened, nearly kneeling on the spot.

‘Oh no, I must have exposed myself.’

“Actually, the way you put it, I find it strange too… Bookworm, how long have you been alive? Last time, we talked about the Ghost King battling the spirits thousands of years ago. Many old spirits have only heard snippets, but you seem to know all the details,” Su Ling wondered.

Sheng Ze raised an eyebrow, his expression more subtle, “The Ghost King battling the spirits, huh…”

Wu Pan: …

Please, boss, stop talking.

“I actually don’t know the specifics of this event. Why don’t you tell me about it?” Sheng Ze gently smiled, flicking his fingers.

Wu Pan, with a grimace, awkwardly chuckled, “I just heard it through the grapevine, yeah, through the grapevine…”

Sheng Ze laughed even more joyfully, “What a coincidence, I’ve never heard of it.”

Wu Pan, looking at that teasing gaze, stood there stiffly, tears welling up.

– That expression is definitely meant to be intimidating!

“Ahem, well, isn’t it said that there are hidden gems in books? Bookworm, since you love reading so much, maybe you read about it in some book,” Shi Kongzang finally couldn’t bear it and spoke up to help his good brother¹like his good friend. Non blood-related brother.

“Eh? But Wu Pan, didn’t you say before that although the Ghost King was powerful, he used underhanded tactics that time, taking advantage of the situation to win unfairly? Is such a secretive piece of gossip also in one of those books?” Su Ling seriously expressed his doubts.

“Heh.” After listening, Sheng Ze chuckled mysteriously.

Wu Pan: … Don’t ask me, I just want to go die again now.

Shi Kongzang glanced back at the two of them, then silently took two steps back, the meaning was clear – Judge, I can’t help you.

“Hey, come over here and look, has this chain been tampered with?” Meng Xiaoman squatting in the corner of the coffin, pointed puzzledly at the connection between the ground and the coffin.

Putting business first, Su Ling immediately became attentive and ran over, squatting down next to Xiaoman to investigate.

“Indeed, there are quite a few scratch marks on the ground,” Su Ling carefully observed and concurred, “It looks like someone had been dragging the chain.”

Watching Su Ling finally run off, Shi Kongzang and Wu Pan breathed a sigh of relief in unison.

Sheng Ze leisurely walked past the two.

When he reached Wu Pan, he suddenly paused his steps. Sheng Ze lowered his voice, with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, and remarked, “The brotherly bond between you two really is enviable.”

Wu Pan: …

Shi Kongzang: …

Speculating that his disguise had been recognized by the Ghost King was one thing.

Knowing for certain that his disguise had indeed been recognized was another thing.

And being praised by the Ghost King for their “brotherly bond,” was simply dreadful.

Seeing Su Ling and Meng Xiaoman engrossed in their research, Wu Pan figured they wouldn’t pay attention here, so he simply tugged on Shi Kongzang’s sleeve and took a step back, bowing respectfully, “This official pays respects to Lord Ghost King.”

Shi Kongzang’s mouth twitched, following Wu Pan’s lead, he also clasped his hands and humbly said, “I was unaware of Lord Ghost King’s identity earlier, and may have offended unknowingly. I hope for your forgiveness.”

Speaking of which, the Ghost King and the Judge and others actually did not belong to the same system.

The Ghost King was in charge of law enforcement, mainly staying in the Enforcement Hall on normal days; while the Judge, King Yama, and others generally stayed in the main hall of the Underworld, primarily handling administrative matters. Both sides cooperated with each other but did not interfere, rarely meeting – which was also why they didn’t recognize Sheng Ze at first.

However, the Ghost King was the leader of the law enforcement team, while the Judge and King Yama had a higher-ranking administrative position, so in terms of hierarchy, Sheng Ze was one level above them.

Not to mention the Ghost King’s extraordinary combat power… it was best not to provoke him.

“No worries.” Sheng Ze, with a smile, lightly supported Wu Pan’s wrist as a friendly reminder, “I know that the Judge is knowledgeable about everything, but there are some things that the Judge must be cautious about discussing.”

Wu Pan tensed up, quickly responding, “Lord Ghost King, rest assured, we are well aware of what should and should not be said.”

Sheng Ze smiled mischievously, “Oh really? Like taking advantage of a weakness, is that unfair?”

Wu Pan felt like crying, trembling as he emphasized, “J-just a hearsay…”

Sheng Ze widened his curious eyes, full of eagerness for knowledge, “Who did you hear it from?”

Wu Pan swallowed hard, lacking any dignity as he decided to throw another one of his good brothers under the bus, “Bai Wuchang.”

Sheng Ze: “Heh.”

Wu Pan and Shi Kongzang wiped their cold sweat, mentally cursing Bai Wuchang in unison.

“Hey, what are you guys doing standing there?” Su Ling turned around and called out, “Wu Pan, come over here and see if this seal has been broken.”

Wu Pan promptly ran over, urgently distancing himself from the Ghost King who was emitting a dark aura.

Squatting down next to Su Ling and Meng Xiaoman, Wu Pan began to study the floor with extreme seriousness, “Hmm, this, uh, seems like… it’s almost…”

Su Ling gave him a strange look, “Are you okay?”

Wu Pan quietly observed Sheng Ze from the corner of his eye. Seeing that Sheng Ze had no intention of holding him accountable, he breathed a sigh of relief and earnestly examined the traces.

“The seal has indeed been broken.” Wu Pan’s first sentence made Su Ling furrow his brow involuntarily.

“And, it seems like it was broken from the inside.” Wu Pan furrowed his brow, as if talking to himself, “No wonder it was empty inside.”

Su Ling shivered suddenly, a chill running down his spine.

“If the seal is broken, where would the things inside go?” Meng Xiaoman turned back indifferently, moving her fingertip to draw a protective array behind Su Ling.

“I don’t know. But more than that, I’m curious about what was originally sealed in here.” Wu Pan tapped the coffin lid.

“The Soul-Locking Coffin is here, so whatever it is must not have gone far. The Ghost House isn’t that big, let’s search around.” Su Ling stood up, smoothly continuing the conversation.

Meng Xiaoman looked at Su Ling, who seemed unsurprised, her expression somewhat complicated, “Boss, are you doing this on purpose?”

Su Ling widened his eyes, feigning innocence, “Doing what on purpose?”

Meng Xiaoman sighed heavily, “I knew it, I shouldn’t have been tempted by the chance for free play.”

Su Ling looked up at the ceiling, as if ignoring her.

After Su Ling and the others left the stone tomb, there was suddenly the sound of chains dragging on the floor in the corner of the tomb.

A dark figure slowly emerged from the wall, gradually solidifying into a physical form.

The “person” gazed in the direction where Su Ling and the others had left, chuckling to themselves a few times.

Perhaps the laughter was too exaggerated, as the muscles on the “person’s” face seemed unable to support it. With a soft “plop,” they slumped down, their face sagging like soft clay, flowing down their neck.

The dark figure paused, reaching up to their face—casually pulling off their own skin. Then, they opened their mouth wide, tossing the piece of skin inside and chewing on it before swallowing it down.

After finishing, the “person” rubbed their stomach and let out a content belch.

Author’s Note: [Short Skit]

One day, Sheng Ze fell off his horse²his identity was revealed.

Su Ling: Impossible! The Ghost King is clearly ugly and old, extremely scheming and petty, simple-minded but physically strong, especially fond of using force to oppress others. It can’t possibly be you!

Sheng Ze: …Who have you been listening to?

Su Ling (seriously counting on his fingers): Ugly and old was from Bai Wuchang, scheming and petty was from Wu Pan, simple-minded but physically strong was from Shi Kongzang, and using force to oppress was from Xiaoman…

Sheng Ze: Heh.

A few minutes later, all the employees except for the boss and Sheng Ze: *all gone.*

The company closed down, end of story. 🙂

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• 1
  like his good friend. Non blood-related brother ↩︎
• 2
  his identity was revealed ↩︎