Chapter 149: Full of Confidence!

"Huh? Who are you..."
Qin Siyao asked with a puzzled look.

Before she could think further, a strange aura seemed to seep into her body from the palm resting on her shoulder... Qin Siyao instantly felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

The person lowered his voice and murmured, "I didn't expect Qin Haishan to send you this time... Although disasters shouldn't be brought upon one's family, but... since you're here, accept your fate..."

Hum—

An aura of eerie malevolence, accompanied by terrifying black Qi invisible to ordinary people, tightly enveloped Qin Siyao.

This terrifying black Qi...

It was the method of haunting by evil ghosts!

This mysterious man intended to replicate the exact same method he used on Qin Haishan years ago and inflict it upon Qin Siyao!

Just at the moment when the man thought he was about to succeed...

Hum!

A subtle vibration sounded!

The mysterious man suddenly felt a buzzing sensation throughout his entire body!

His aura felt as though it had been blocked by something, unable to be channeled any further!

His soul power also felt as if it had been twisted and brought to a sudden halt!

"Huh?!"

He raised his head and was shocked to find... that everything around him had turned black and white!

Every person attending the auction seemed to have become a frozen frame in a black-and-white film!

The next moment...

A lazy figure, yawning lazily, slowly stood up from beside Qin Siyao, and indifferently dropped a sentence: "Withdraw your aura. I'll only say this once."

"Huh?!l"

Terror gripped the man's heart!

The scene was extremely bizarre. Everything else was motionless in black and white, except for... the lazy figure before him, who was in full color, and... standing with his hands in his pockets, squinting his eyes as he looked at him... With a detached expression, examining him in a manner akin to watching a mischievous little brat playing tricks!

Meanwhile... the expressions hidden behind the sunglasses and mask underwent countless changes in a very short span of time...

Finally...

Just as Ling Qiu was growing somewhat impatient and preparing to strike...

Thud!

With a dull sound, the man dropped to one knee, cupped his fists respectfully toward Ling Qiu, and said, "This humble subordinate greets Lord Yama!"

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Ling Qiu narrowed his eyes.

This voice... sounded completely unfamiliar, and the man's aura and state were also entirely unknown to him.

Yet...

The other party actually knew his identity...

Then there was only one possibility...

The man quickly removed his sunglasses and mask, revealing a familiar, weathered face.

This person...

Was none other than Xing Mantang, Chief Constable Xing!!

It seemed he had concealed not only his appearance, but also his voice and aura.

Ling Qiu couldn't help but smile: "I didn't expect... that the one who plagued Qin Haishan with evil ghosts back then was actually you."

Chief Constable Xing cupped his fists and said, "Lord Yama, this subordinate was merely following orders. Please forgive me, My Lord."

Ling Qiu narrowed his eyes: "Whose orders?"

"...The orders of Impermanence."

Ghost soldiers, ghost retainers, ghost constables, and Impermanence...

Ghost soldiers were equivalent to auxiliary police officers, ghost retainers to criminal investigators, ghost constables to police squad leaders, and Impermanence... to the chief of police.

A squad leader taking orders from the chief of police was entirely normal.

"Which Impermanence?"

Ling Qiu frowned.

He was suddenly growing somewhat weary of these netherworld ghost officials... Logically speaking, your duty is to capture ghosts, exterminate ghosts, subdue ghosts, and guide them to reincarnation... Why did it feel like this bunch of people did not attend to proper business day in and day out?

Today they find a mortal to forge a corpse puppet, tomorrow they have evil ghosts haunt mortals...

As the saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will go awry. Through this brief understanding, Ling Qiu knew that Xing Mantang was not a bad person...

The problem lay with his "superior".

"This subordinate does not know... Communications among us ghost officials in the mortal realm rely entirely on this item."

With that, Xing Mantang pulled out a peach-wood tally from his person. It was about the size of a palm, with a ghost-face pattern engraved upon it—a pattern that could only be seen when soul power was focused on the eyes.

This item was called the [Peach Wood Token].

It was used for communication among ghost officials, functioning similarly to an internal communication device restricted to members only.

Superiors transmitted orders, and subordinates reported situations, all through this "Peach Wood Token".

Such an item was very common in the Underworld, so it was only natural for mortal ghost officials to possess one.

If mortal ghost officials constantly used this thing to transmit messages, they indeed would have no need to meet in person.

"My superior ordered me to use the [Jade Statue of Lord Ma] to lure out the Qin family and make a move against them, eliminating future troubles once and for all."

Xing Mantang said earnestly.

Ling Qiu said, "This jade statue... was won at an auction by a mysterious person a year ago. That mysterious person was you, right?"

"Yes."

"Why target the Qin family?"

"Because the Qin family possesses something they ought not to have..."

"Are you referring to the Mountain-God Ma Heritage Jade Pendant?"

"Yes!"

"Then you could have simply seized it. Why harm them?"

"...Because..."

"Speak!"

"Because... the Impermanence Lord above me said... killing people and seizing treasures... is much more fun... Simply seizing the treasure without killing anyone is boring!"

What?

Ling Qiu was stunned upon hearing this!

What kind of reasoning was that!

"Lord Yama, this subordinate dares not utter falsehoods... I understand that such an attitude makes me unworthy of being a mortal ghost official... But as a ghost constable, I am a direct subordinate of this Impermanence Lord, with neither the power nor the ability to refute him; I can only obey. —However, unable to bring myself to directly harm people, I chose the method of ghost haunting. Firstly, it did not strictly defy orders, and secondly, it allowed the Qin family to live a little longer, perhaps long enough to encounter a turning point..."

Ling Qiu knitted his brows slightly.

He understood Xing Mantang's predicament. The rules among ghost officials were extremely strict; daring to defy or disobey carried grave consequences... Death? Pardon him, in this world, there were far too many things... more terrifying than death.

Yet...

A mere Impermanence official regarded human life with such utter contempt.

Seizing treasures and not killing... was boring?

It was hard to imagine...

That such words could come from the mouth of a ghost official.

In the past, if any ghost official under Ling Qiu had dared to utter such words, he would have ensured they were forever denied reincarnation!

Ling Qiu narrowed his eyes...

Gradually, he began to guess...

Some of Ksitigarbha's intentions...

These mortal ghost officials... seemed somewhat complicated.

If a mere Impermanence was this arrogant and cold-blooded, what about the City Gods above the Impermanence? What about the Soul-Detention Envoys and the Judges?

First they wanted to forge mortal corpse puppets, and now they wanted to kill people to seize treasures... Honestly... these were no mortal ghost officials; they were simply a gang of lawless fanatics!

He faintly felt...

Ksitigarbha intended for him... to act as the Yama of the mortal realm?

To re-establish the order of ghost officials in the mortal world?

Pondering for a moment, Ling Qiu changed the subject: "Chief Constable Xing, this Jade Statue of Lord Ma is the other half of the Ghostly Monk in Qin Haishan's possession, isn't it?"

Xing Mantang was startled: "My Lord, you know about... the Ghostly Monk?"

After asking, Xing Mantang let out a bitter laugh. The other party was the former Yama; how could he possibly not know about the Ghostly Monk.

Pausing for a moment, Xing Mantang cupped his fists and said, "Yes. The original heritage jade pendant of Mountain-God Ma was half of the Ghostly Monk, and the other half has always been in the hands of the Impermanence Lord above me. A year ago, he had me use the other half of the Ghostly Monk to lure out Qin Haishan, eliminate him, and then buy the item back under a pseudonym. Now, hearing that Qin Haishan is not dead, and... that people from the Northern Sect Mountain-God Ma seem to be searching for it as well... he sent me to repeat the old trick, and by the way... to uproot the Northern Sect Mountain-God Ma..."

Ling Qiu asked, "In other words, you came this time to wipe out the Northern Sect Mountain-God Ma as well?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"...Ahem... The Impermanence Lord said... the people of the Northern Sect Mountain-God Ma... refuse to submit to discipline... they deserve to die!"