Chapter 1: The Haunted Forest of Demons (Part 1)

  Gua Ge, originally a cucumber spirit, somehow learned a set of flattering and fawning skills during his cultivation process, gained the recognition of a ghost king, and became one of the demon-hunting liaison officers in the Hell's Bounty Office.

  The so-called Demon Hunter Liaison is a special officer responsible for handling demon-hunting affairs, resolving difficult problems for demon hunters, issuing rewards and publishing wanted notices. Although their work seems closely related to that of the demon hunters, in reality they rarely communicate with each other because their workload is extremely heavy. Therefore, if a demon hunter wants to go to the underworld to collect a reward, he must call them in advance, and they will only answer the demon hunter's phone calls at this time. Normally, they will only send text messages to notify the demon hunters under their jurisdiction when issuing important wanted notices.

  But Ding Lingxiu had just taken over his father's class not long ago and had never been to the underworld. The two had never met before, with no intersection at all, and the only connection was that Ding Lingxiu had been introduced to Guage by his father over the phone once before.

  So when Guage suddenly called Ding Lingxiu, he was both surprised and delighted.

  "Hello? Xiao Ding?" On the other end of the phone was Guage's hoarse voice, which was extremely unpleasant to listen to, like the screeching noise made by a rusty saw cutting through an old tree.

  "Brother Gua, how can you still remember me?" Ding Lingxu said excitedly.

  "It's not me who misses you, someone else does." Guage replied with a sarcastic tone.

  "Oh? Someone in the underworld is thinking of me?"

  Ding Lingxiu was taken aback, thinking to himself that something was off. Had he offended the King of Hell? Was the old man thinking of him? And if it was someone he knew who was thinking of him, that was even more impossible. The Ding family had always accumulated virtue and done good deeds, and most of Ding Lingxiu's ancestors had returned to the Sacred Realm after death, with no one in the underworld. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

  Ding Lingxiu swallowed and asked:

  "Brother Gua, am I going to die soon?"

  On the other end of the phone came Guagua's somewhat impatient voice:

  "You're so scared, who do you think you are? Does Yan Wang want your life and still give you a heads up? Do you see any butcher call the pig before slaughtering it?"

  Ding Lingxiu became even more perplexed and hesitated for a moment before asking:

  "What's going on?"

  "Do you remember Da Lao Gui Wang?"

  "Great Ghost King? Old Wang?" As soon as Ding Lingyu heard this name, his whole body was shocked, and the scene of Old Wang punching the Corpse Eating Ghost immediately appeared in his mind. "Of course I remember, how have you been lately, Great Ghost King?"

  "It's going great, it's going great. Last time you helped the Great Power Ghost King retrieve the treasure, he returned and immediately made a big achievement, his official position was also promoted by one level, and soon he may undertake a major project assigned by the Queen Mother of the West. He is now truly prosperous and rising to prominence."

  Ding Lingyu was shocked, he never thought that the bead would be so important. But since it's so important, why did the Great Power Ghost King wait for such a long time to find an opportunity? He could have just taken it by force, although in Ding Lingyu's values, a person's life is far more important than anything else, but facing such an important treasure, does this underworld's evil spirit also have a Bodhisattva heart?

  Ding Lingxiu thought this wasn't good either, so he pretended to be humble and tentatively said to Gua Ge:

  "Congratulations to the great Oni King, actually the Oni King himself can complete the task, I didn't help much."

  Melon brother let out a burst of laughter, his words seeming somewhat jealous of the Great Power Ghost King:

  "Cut, you really think he's all-powerful? The underworld has rules, any Yin messenger is not allowed to arbitrarily take away a mortal's life. He's been waiting because he knows that girl's yangshou hasn't expired, it's just that he didn't expect it would be someone like you who'd create this opportunity for him."

  "Haha, just a coincidence, uh...” Ding Lingyu's wound suddenly throbbed again, and his smile froze on his face.

  "What's wrong? Why did you mention Da Liguwang with such pain?" Guage heard the soft moan from the other end of the phone, Ding Lingxiu.

  "It's nothing, just got a little hurt."

  "Alright, I'll get straight to the point. After Da Liguai returned to the underworld, he applied for a Silver Spirit Badge on your behalf. The application has been approved, so you can come and collect it at your convenience."

  Yinling Badge? As soon as Ding Lingxiao heard these four words, his eyes lit up, and the pain in his body was instantly swept away. His heart burst into bloom. Because this badge is unknown how many demon hunters in the world are dreaming of, and at this moment, it's actually the Demon Hunter Liaison Office of the Underworld Bureau personally calling him to inform him to receive it, which is truly a joyful event.

  The so-called Lingtun Badge is a reward given by the Underworld to demon-hunting masters who have made outstanding contributions in capturing and surrendering demons. There are six levels of badges: Copper, Silver, Gold, Jade, Magic Jade, and Exclusive Title. Although there are many levels, most demon-hunting masters can only get the Copper Badge, because the condition for getting it is that the master has accumulated a total of 50 taels of gold in rewards. The conditions for getting the Silver Badge and above are much stricter, requiring the master to have made outstanding contributions to the Underworld's criminal work and be recommended by three or more Yin Messengers. As for the Gold Badge and above, the application conditions are even more stringent, and those who possess an Exclusive Title are as rare as stars in the morning sky, and are truly exceptional figures among demon-hunting masters.

  These spiritual badges are not only a symbol of honor, but also a symbol of the identity of a demon hunter. Moreover, these spiritual badges have different functions according to their level, such as the copper badge can store sunlight and emit dazzling light according to the needs of the demon hunter, which can play a role in lighting; The silver badge has the function of temporarily summoning the gate of the underworld on the basis of the copper badge during the full moon. The gold badge has the function of enhancing the power of the golden attribute demons that have been subdued on the basis of the copper and silver badges.

  Ding Lingxiu heard this good news and excitedly said:

  "Alright, Guage, I'll go pick it up soon."

  "Hmm, right. Just tell me about the demon you've recently caught and I'll check it against the wanted list. That way we can avoid a lot of tedious procedures when you arrive."

  Ding Lingxiu was taken aback for a moment. He thought to himself, after all, he is now a demon hunter with the Silver Spirit Badge, and his treatment is indeed vastly different.

  "Alright, Gua Ge, recently I've subdued three demons and killed one."

  "Killed one?" Guagua on the phone was somewhat surprised, because he knew the style of the Ding family's demon-hunting masters. In normal circumstances, they wouldn't easily kill a demon. "When did your Ding family start emulating the Absolute Sect?"

  "Alas, it's a long story and not what I intended." Ding Lingxiu sighed.

  "Whatever, this has nothing to do with me anyway. Continue, the demon's rank, demonic pattern, name, I'll check against the wanted list."

  What is known as a "yao wen" is something used to distinguish between different types of yao guai, similar to a human ID card. This yao wen can be queried through a spiritual device that displays yao qi, and it is innate, unable to be changed. Ding Ling Xiu took out the xun yao luopan and began to compare the records on it, slowly reading out the names of these several yao mo:

  "Gua Ge, I'm reciting them in chronological order, please record it. The first one is Ren Mian Shu, Yin Wen Kun Zi Wu, Yao Nie level, already subdued, Yuan Shen in the Sacred Domain. The second one is Shi Gui, Yin Wen Gen Xin Liu, Gui Guai level, already subdued, Yuan Shen in the Sacred Domain. The third one is Juan Ti, Yin Wen Xun Chen Yi, Yao Nie elite, already killed. The fourth one is Huang Niu Jing, Yin Wen Kun Chou Er, Yao Nie elite, already subdued."

  Ding Lingxiu finished reading and in her heart she had high expectations for this valuable first bucket of gold in life.

  But just as he finished speaking, a "tsk" sound came from the other end of the phone, which was Guage.

  "Hmm... something's not right. The first two demons were fine, but these last two demons are indeed wanted criminals, yet they should have already been sent back to the underworld and shouldn't be encountered by you. According to the Ghost Records, they were supposed to be in the Black Rope Hell being escorted by the demon catchers."

  Ding Lingxu was also stunned, how could this be possible?

  Are they suppressing the demon? The Black Rope Hell? Could it be that they escaped from there? That's impossible, the Black Rope Hell is managed by Song Emperor Wang, one of the ten Yama Kings with the strictest laws. Not to mention two low-level demons like them, even two ghost kings wouldn't be able to escape from that heavily guarded prison.

  "Impossible, Gua Ge, you must be mistaken!"

  Gua Ge's voice came from the other end of the line, along with the sound of pages turning. After a long silence, Gua Ge finally replied:

  "No mistake, they are indeed the black-rope hell's imprisoned demons."

  This made things even more absurd, as Ding Lingxiu had caught two escaped prisoners, and these two escaped prisoners had not yet been detected by the underworld. This matter was inexplicable no matter what, and Ding Lingxiu didn't know how to respond, but his demon-tracking compass was absolutely infallible; even if the escaped demons and the demons he encountered were of the same kind, their demonic auras would definitely be different.

  Ding Lingxiu suddenly remembered what Master Fangzhang had said about the origins of these two monsters being extraordinary, and couldn't help but feel a bad premonition.