Chapter Fifteen: The Imperial Edict

  "Midwife, ugly girl, listen to the order!" Along with the disappearance of the music, a sharp and strange voice came through the thick clouds, and in the depths of the dark clouds, a human figure appeared vaguely.

  Meng Po and Chou Nü's bodies both shook violently as they heard the voice, their faces showing a solemn and terrified expression. Like well-trained warriors, they bent their knees and fell to the ground with a thud, motionless. As the wind blew by, their hair flew wildly in the gray mist.

  "It has been nearly a hundred years since I ascended to the throne, and in this thousand-year period, the world of humans has experienced countless joys and sorrows that are hard to let go of. You two have held great power in the underworld, making significant contributions to the governance of both the underworld and the world above. Although it is said that there are causes in past lives and consequences in future lives, I have decided to adopt a management model similar to that of human society in order to make the underworld more harmonious with the world above. This will involve implementing humane management in the underworld, allowing ghosts who come here to feel like they have returned home, filling the land of the underworld with rich emotions, and ultimately achieving integration between the underworld and the world above.

  After conducting investigations into various types of ghosts, including those who died from accidents, drowning, smoking, car crashes, and exhaustion from womanizing... and listening to opinions from all sides, we have reached a consensus through intense yet united discussions. From now on, projects such as Meng Po's soup and palm reading will be carried out in accordance with the principles of openness, fairness, transparency, and shared benefits. Before being publicly auctioned off, no one is allowed to privately administer Meng Po's soup or perform palm readings on ghosts."

  "Great King, you've cut off my path to life!" The ugly woman let out a miserable cry. Her two eyes, shining like flashlights, rolled upwards and a blinding white light flashed before my eyes. Then the entire sky and earth plunged into darkness. The woman lay on the ground, motionless, like a puddle of mud that couldn't be lifted up.

  "Great King, I, Meng Po, have been diligent and conscientious since your ascension to the throne. Day and night, without distinction between day and night, holidays or workdays, I have implemented the 'white plus black five plus two' work method. Even on the grand festival of July 15th, which occurs only once a year, I personally went to the front lines of work, wholeheartedly thinking of the welfare of the masses of ghosts, worrying about what they worry about, and painstakingly creating the Meng Po soup brand that is renowned throughout the ghost realm and the mortal world. Great King! The Meng Po soup cannot be destroyed in an instant!" Meng Po knocked her head on the ground like a garlic press, quickly and incessantly, her voice mournful and choked with sobs, while the place where she knelt soon spread out fresh red blood, evoking feelings of sympathy and compassion.

  "Gagaga......" The strange sound echoed again, and in the dense cloud-filled sky, a monster with black fish-like horns on its head, all over red body, sunken chest, two legs in a circle, and two cheeks half red and half white appeared.

  "Old woman Meng, you still want to play the trick of pretending to be pitiful in front of me? For a hundred years, you've been using these same old tricks. Do you think that if you can deceive King Yan, you can also deceive me?"

  The monster shook its head, and the tentacles on its head writhed like a group of snakes, twisting its ugly body. At the same time, a surge of black ink-like smoke burst forth. When the smoke dissipated, the monster's flat face suddenly turned deathly pale, and two blue eyeballs protruded from deep eye sockets, as if they were about to fall out, hanging above its low nose bridge.

  "Your Majesty, I beg of you to reconsider the decision made earlier, taking into account my years of diligent service as a midwife. Have mercy on me, an old woman who has worked hard in the underworld without any achievements, but with much hardship. If I lose this position, how can I, a poor and lonely old woman, survive?" Meng Po wept and pleaded.

  "Hum! I'd rather pity you, but you, Meng Po, were once a formidable figure in the underworld, getting whatever you wanted with just a nod. Back then, I was just a lowly servant in front of Yan Wang's palace. Did you ever spare me a glance? I still remember how you had Ghost Slave dig out my eyes because I dared to look at you for an extra second. Have you forgotten? Aren't my missing eyes a gift from you? And now you want me to pity you?"

  The two eyeballs of the corpse king shot out like bullets and bounced onto Meng Po's withered head.