Hell Emperor

After leading the old man to settle down in the underworld and repeatedly warning him not to listen to the rhetoric of other wandering souls, Ye Jie was about to leave when he was suddenly stopped.

"Isn't this Brother Jie? What a coincidence, I happened to come to you for something."

Following the sound, I saw a petite and exquisite female ghost child rushing over quickly. She was about three or four years old, her eyes were full of energy, her pretty face was rosy, and her pair of dimples could no longer suppress the smile in her heart. meaning.

Ye Jie knew that girl, she was the grandson of Gui Cha who was also a Gui Cha with him, but Ye Jie preferred to call her another nickname, Short-lived Grandson.

"Jianming Sun, you smile so happily, it seems that you have gained a lot this time." Ye Jie said casually.

The girl smiled and said: "That's natural. The Hengshan bandits plundered north of the Jinghe River and committed countless murders. The more people he killed, the more wandering souls we sent to reincarnate. However, there was no one on the bridge for a long time. It’s so lively.”

The girl stretched out her hand and wanted to pat Ye Jie on the shoulder, but she couldn't do it because she was too short. She scratched her head and ears anxiously. Seeing this, Ye Jie had to follow the girl's wishes and squat down.

Finally patting Ye Jie's shoulder, the girl laughed: "Come on, Brother Jie, I'll treat you to a drink!"

The two walked together, with the small girl leading the way with cheerful steps, and Gui Chajie, who was as thin and tall as a withered pine tree, followed slowly behind, and soon came to a towering and magnificent restaurant. outside.

There are flocks of orioles in the restaurant, singing and dancing. The diners coming and going are not only the third-level bull-headed horse-faced ones, and the fourth-level black and white impermanence, but if you can climb to the high-rise private room, you can also catch a glimpse of the fifth-level judge.

"Aunt Meng's Wine Country? This is the most upscale restaurant in Hades. You're quite good at choosing a place." Ye Jie said in surprise as he looked at the golden plaque above his head.

In Aunt Meng's wine country, even a pot of ordinary Wangyou wine costs at least a hundred yin virtues, and a meal will cost at least a thousand yin virtues. Drinking here is undoubtedly a good choice for second-level ghosts. Very extravagant behavior.

She found a seat by the window and sat down. The girl struggled to climb onto the seat, her little feet dangling a foot off the ground. Ye Jie tapped the sandalwood-scented wooden table with his slender, dry fingers and said:

"Jianmingsun, you don't go to the Three Treasures Palace for nothing, and you invited me to this high-end restaurant. Are you afraid that you will run into some trouble?"

"No trouble, but a good thing." The girl grinned, "To tell you the truth, I also took advantage of the Hengshan Bandit. After sending more than a hundred wandering souls killed by the Hengshan Bandit into the Well of Reincarnation, my body My moral virtue has exceeded one hundred thousand, which is enough for a sixth-level reincarnation. From today on, I will not do any ghost work and re-enter the reincarnation."

Hearing this, Ye Jie cupped his fists and congratulated: "If you calculate carefully, it has been almost ten years since your soul returned to the underworld. In these ten years, if you lived frugally and worked hard to complete the ghost mission, you could almost save enough. With one hundred thousand virtues, you can be reborn in an Ankang family at the sixth level, so I would like to congratulate you in advance.”

The girl also clasped her fists in return: "Brother Jie, I'd like to lend you some good words. Hehe, a sixth-grade reincarnation can not only reincarnate into an Ankang family, but also randomly obtain a magical power at birth. I don't know that in this reincarnation, I What kind of talents and magical powers will I get? I really hope I can be lucky enough to draw a first-grade talent..."

Ye Jie laughed dumbly: "There are nine levels of talent and magical powers that can be drawn by reincarnation. Although the probability of drawing is random, the hope of a sixth-level reincarnation to obtain a level one talent is really slim. The possibility of being directly reincarnated into an immortal's home is even higher. Drawing a first-level talent is a big deal, but praying for a third- or fourth-level talent is more practical.”

"Don't mention it. Thinking of what happened to me in my last life, I feel itching with hatred."

The girl suddenly raised her mouth with an unconvinced look on her face: "In my last life, I managed to get the third-grade talent 'Ice Muscle and Jade Bone', and I was reincarnated into a spiritual family. However, when I was three years old, I was taken by my parents for an outing. , let the green-haired lion monster catch it and eat it. I get angry when I think of this! That is a third-level talent. With the blessing of the "Ice Muscle and Jade Bone" talent, I can at least reach the fifth level in the human world, and even go one step further and reach the immortal realm. …”

At the end of the sentence, the girl shrugged and sighed: "Now I have nothing. I just hope that when I reincarnate next time, I can get a better talent. If I get the most rubbish ninth-grade talent, I might as well As early as ten years ago, I spent one hundred Yin De and Ninth Grade reincarnation..."

Ye Jie smiled and shook his head. Beings with third-level talents will become powerful as long as they embark on the path of cultivation. It can be said that there are only a few people like Short-lived Sun who were killed at the age of three and can only work as ghosts. This is also her appearance. The origin of the number.

Ye Jie was about to say a few words of relief when he heard a snap and the maid of the restaurant slapped the menu in front of their table.

"What do you want to eat?"

The world-weary maid with shark teeth and triangular eyes stared at the two of them, almost writing on her face that she should get out as soon as she finished eating. It was strange that such an attitude would attract repeat customers.

"It's broken, why is Guazi on duty today?"

Short-lived Sun scratched his head and whispered in Ye Jie's ear: "In Aunt Meng's wine country, there are seven maids taking turns on duty. I was sure that Sister Lan was on duty today and came here, but I never thought that Guazi would be here. Among the seven maids, Guazi has the worst attitude. However, she is the one with the highest level of cultivation among the maids. She has reached the fifth level of Immortal Realm. She has to take a detour when seeing black and white. She can be said to be invincible to anyone among the true immortals. With the snap of a finger, second-level ghosts like us can be wiped out."

Ye Jie couldn't help but complain: "Why should I be a maid if she is so strong? I should be a judge."

"I also want to hear Sister Lan play a pipa to see you off and ask for a good omen before reincarnation. It seems that there is no chance." Short-lived Sun sighed, "We are also maids in the wine country, but Sister Lan's realm is not melon seeds." She is so tall, but she greets every diner with a smile, listens patiently to the troubles of ghosts who come and go, and plays the pipa with her mysterious music, which is enough to attract applause from the diner. "

"Sister Lan is sick, are you going to eat or not?" Seeing that Short Life Sun dared to compare himself with Sister Lan, Guazi twitched the corner of his mouth and stared at the two of them with the whites of his eyes.

"Let me see..." The girl took the menu and looked through it. "Bring me two pots of Bapin Wangyou wine and some konjac rice. By the way, I hate lion monsters the most. I want to eat the braised lion head. !”

After ordering the food, after Guazi left, Ye Jie continued to talk about the previous topic: "Short-lived grandson, have you ever thought that the reason why you were so short-lived in your previous life was because your surname was too fierce?"

The girl was puzzled: "How do you say this?"

"Hundreds of years ago, a powerful man named Sun broke into the underworld, swept through the ten palaces of Yama with one man and one stick, killed the emperor of the underworld, tampered with the book of life and death, and caused unrest in the three realms. His random sketches on the book of life and death, It also implicated all the people with the same surname as him in the world. Since then, people with the surname Sun have been suppressed by fate, and people with the surname Sun are also implicated, and most of them will not live long. "Ye Jie pointed out.

"I know, you must be talking about the Monkey King, the Monkey King." Nvwa blinked.

Ye Jie nodded: "Now that you know this, have you ever complained about that powerful person? If it weren't for his sketch in the book of life and death, the person surnamed Sun would not have been brought to this point."

After hearing this, the girl laughed loudly: "I have never complained. It is not easy for the Sun family to produce a powerful person who can control the three realms. Of course, my short-lived grandson will benefit from his glory."

Ye Jie didn't say anything anymore, but he heard the girl change the subject and said:

"Brother Jie, thanks to you getting three recommendation orders for me, I was able to successfully become a ghost officer. If I want to get recommendation orders from other ghost officers, I have to work hard for at least ten years. Three is enough Thirty years have been wasted time. I heard from other people that you have been a ghost for at least a decade. How about it? Have you saved enough yin virtue to be reincarnated at the fifth level?"

Seeing the curious look on the girl's face, Ye Jie smiled wryly and waved his hand: "I am afraid that the moral virtue I have accumulated now is less than 10,000."

"How could it be?" The girl covered her mouth and exclaimed, as if remembering something, she glanced at Ye Jie helplessly, "I understand, you are still doing those loss-making businesses."

Guazi brought the wine over, but Ye Jie was silent. Short-lived Sun poured a glass for Ye Jie and another for himself. The rich aroma of wine hit his nostrils, and then he spoke:

"Among the ghosts I know, other ghosts are trying to exploit the evil spirits of wandering souls. You are the only one who will use evil spirits to do loss-making business and help the wandering ghosts fulfill their last wishes before reincarnation."

The girl clapped her fingers and said: "I heard the conversation you just had with the old man's soul. In seven days, you want to take him back to Yang Tuomeng, right? Let me do the calculations for you. You need to use the Shrinking Earth into an Inch. It takes 25 yin virtues to move the stone four times. It takes 100 yin virtues to use it four times. It takes 200 yin virtues to move the green branches through the underworld twice. A cup of yellow spring water that takes him into a dream requires 300 yin virtues. A talisman to keep his soul pure and prevent him from turning into an evil spirit requires three hundred yin virtues. You have tried your best to protect him, so a hundred yin virtues is not an excessive reward, right? Can he use a thousand virtues?"

Seeing the girl spreading her fingers, wishing she could even use her toes, and then calculating the final result, Ye Jie smiled: "You made a mistake in your calculations. He has a pair of children, and I may need two bottles of yellow spring water."

Nvwa looked at him helplessly: "Mortals who can show a thousand virtues are all well-known good people from all over the country. Their souls have long been predetermined by third-level ghosts like bull heads and horse faces. Who will get us?" A second-level ghost? You are indeed doing a losing business."

"You can't say that." Ye Jie shook his head slightly, "Perhaps for other ghosts, bringing wandering souls back to the sun to entrust their dreams is just a business. But for those souls who are about to re-enter reincarnation, it is what they see. How can the last hope of a loved one in the past be measured by the amount of moral virtue?"

The girl put her arms on the wooden table and raised her round face with her thin palms: "Hey... Brother Jie, I think you are too kind. As the old saying goes, poor people must be hateful, and those wanderers It is their own fault that their souls have fallen into this fate. Who told them that if they did not practice good deeds during their lifetime, they would not have enough virtue after death? Gui Cha cannot gain virtue by doing good deeds. Helping them is just a matter of affection, and not helping them is their duty. You can't help all the wandering souls in the underworld. Sometimes it's better for you to just let nature take its course and turn a blind eye."

Facing the girl's reminder, Ye Jie just smiled casually: "When I was thirteen years old in my previous life, there was a flood that year, and my parents drowned. A few days later, I dreamed of them. They told me that they I haven’t accumulated any bad virtues in this life. Thanks to the help of a kind-hearted ghost, I can return to the world to pay my respects and see me one last time.”

After a pause, Ye Jie added: "Unfortunately, I still don't know the name of that ghost. However, inspired by him, I have been doing my best to help those wandering souls who are also in difficulty. All I have paid is A little bit of kindness, but what they have accomplished is their lifelong wish.”

The girl stared at Ye Jie and was speechless for a long time. Suddenly she smiled, raised her glass to Ye Jie and said, "What are you talking about? Come on, Brother Jie, I'll toast you."

Ye Jie raised his glass and drank with her.

When he put down the wine glass, he saw the maid Guazi came to the table at some point and was staring at the two of them with a pair of dead fish eyes. She was holding a bucket of fragrant fried rice in one hand and a shiny silver plate in the other hand. There was a huge monster head that was cooked until golden and tender, and the meat was fragrant and oily.

"The corpse-scented konjac fried rice and braised lion's head that you ordered are already ready," Guazi said.

A delicious meal for the two of them cost a total of 1,900 Yin De, which was almost the income of a second-level ghost in two months. After having enough wine and food, the girl patted her belly and burped:

"Regardless of whether Aunt Meng's Wine Country is expensive or not, if I can dine here, sooner or later I will be able to break through the second-level spirit-building realm and enter the third-level ox-horse realm. By then, I can also become a third-level ghost like a bull-headed horse face." Difference……"

Ye Jie also exhaled a breath of turbid air. As the precious ingredients were eaten, he faintly felt that the bottleneck that had troubled him for thirty years was loosened. If he broke through this bottleneck, he would be promoted to the middle stage of the second-level soul-building realm!

Seeing each other off all the way, I walked with my short-lived grandson to the Naihe Bridge. Even though I was very reluctant to leave, it was time to say goodbye.

"Let's say goodbye, Ye Jie... By the way, I recently found a good young man, and I'm going to let him succeed me as a ghost servant. That man will come to see you in a few days." Under the bridge, the girl bit her lip. With tears in her eyes, she said goodbye to Ye Jie reluctantly, "Don't forget to give me your ghost order. After all, it has a thousand virtues."

Seeing that the girl was about to board the Naihe Bridge and was still thinking about the ghost order, Ye Jie couldn't help but raise his slender arm like a dead branch and patted the girl's head.

The girl stood on tiptoes, rubbed against Ye Jie's palm, took a black token with the word "Jie" engraved on it, and jumped onto the bridge.

The bridge is shrouded in purple-red phantom mist, which looks like a colorful dream, or like the sunset glow of fire clouds burning the sky. Through the layers of dense fog, an old woman can be vaguely seen standing in the middle of the bridge with her back bent, waiting for the arrival of the soul of the deceased.

Until the figure of the short-lived grandson completely disappeared in the thick fog, a violent shock suddenly came from Ye Jie's arms.

He reached into his arms and took out a broken page.

The ink was flying, the pen was moving, and a string of brand-new words appeared out of thin air on the remaining pages.

[Bookkeeping of life and death:]

[In the winter of the twelfth year of Zhenguan, the soul holding the Gui Chajie token successfully underwent sixth-level reincarnation. 】

[Second-level ghosts charge one percent toll. 】

[Gui Chajie obtained a thousand virtues. 】

Next to the cold words, bright red cinnabar is used to draw the girl's tearful and expectant smile.

Putting the broken page into his arms again, Ye Jie looked at the other end of the Naihe Bridge shrouded in thick fog and was speechless for a long time.