Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Just as Chen Zhenhua was about to leave, he found a small hole on the woman's arm, like it had been pricked by a needle.

  "Is she taking drugs?!" Chen Zhenhua looked at the small hole on his arm and muttered to himself, seeing this needle hole, he was even a little surprised.

  Then he pried open the woman's mouth to see if she smoked, thinking that drug addicts all smoke, but smokers don't necessarily take drugs. So smokers should have tar on their teeth. This "drug law" of his was also told by one of his relatives, and that relative was a drug addict.

  However, the woman's teeth were very white, like pearls, and very beautiful. In other words, the woman did not have a smoking habit. He took another look at the woman's right hand, thinking that smokers usually use their right index and middle fingers to hold cigarettes, which would turn yellow from the smoke. But the woman's hands were slender and long, only slightly pale now.

  All these phenomena indicate that women will not smoke, so women are also unlikely to take drugs. However, since she doesn't take drugs, what's the deal with the small holes on her arm? He looked at his arm thoughtfully.

  He then inferred several possibilities from the small holes on the corpse's arm:

  First, the woman may have been sick a few days ago and was given an injection by a nurse. However, the nurse actually gave her an injection in her arm, what kind of disease does this woman have? As for pathological problems, he doesn't know anything at all. So he can only shake his head.

  However, he thought of another possibility. This was the second point of his analysis. He had seen a case in a detective novel where a murderer killed someone by injecting air into their body with an empty syringe. The victim died without any visible signs on the surface, but the air entering the blood vessels caused blood coagulation and thrombosis, leading to a painful death. Therefore, he believed that the woman must have been killed by someone using a syringe to inject air into her body.

  However, he soon overturned this idea of his own, because even if the woman was injected with air to death, how could she make that scream? And why would the murderer choose to take action in the abandoned factory building. He clearly remembered that it was a cry so desolate and terrifying that he would not forget.

  He remained lost in thought, silently pondering until dawn was near, then fearing discovery he hastily escaped from the police station.

  After a sleepless night, he gained nothing and lay in bed resting. He began to realize that cracking the case wasn't so simple after all, and finding clues wasn't an easy task either.

  But this did not make him give up, he thought about finding another breakthrough, in order to find the breakthrough as soon as possible, he continued to flip through his favorite "Sherlock Holmes Detective Collection", hoping to get some clues from the book.

  He admired Holmes' rigorous thinking and his wisdom, but he admired Holmes' patience and serious attitude in finding clues at the scene even more.

  Still go to the scene! He bounced up from bed, saying loudly to himself.

  He made up his mind, brought out the "weapon" he used to sweep the streets and started working. He swept the floor clean, and by dusk, he returned to the dormitory, changed into a black outfit, and quietly went back to the ruins he had visited last night. Since he had been there last night, he was no longer as scared tonight, although the darkness was still so gloomy, the ruins were still so quiet, deathly quiet.

  He went straight to the room where the police found the woman's body, also flashing a flashlight, and being equally cautious.

  But he still found nothing. Just like last night, nothing was gained.

  He was no longer as lucky as he had been last night.

  He had just crouched down to look for clues more carefully, when he heard someone behind him ask loudly who he was. He was so startled that he got up without even turning his head and ran out of the house at high speed. The voice from behind sounded again, and as he ran, he heard someone shouting: "I'm a policeman! You stop for me, or I'll shoot!"

  He could have stood still and explained to the police slowly, but because of fear, he wouldn't think of standing still, and just kept running away frantically. Especially after a deafening gunshot, he ran even faster. The flashlight was lost at some point, and he could only rely on his senses to run wildly in the ruins, without even noticing a metal rod sticking up in front of him.

  Then he crashed into the iron rod, his body was stuck on the iron rod, and the iron rod pierced through his body.

  He didn't run anymore, nor could he run. He was "nailed" to the spot, with blood flowing out of his body from the wound where the iron rod had pierced him. The blood flowed down the iron rod and onto the ground, forming a large puddle in no time. The hot blood also soaked through his clothes, causing his body temperature to drop suddenly.

  He felt his head spinning, his eyes becoming even more blurred, his throat parched and unable to make a sound. He also felt his heartbeat slowing down, breathing becoming very difficult, limbs weak, hearing somewhat muffled, and the self-proclaimed policeman beside him shouting at him was not heard clearly by him. All he could vaguely see was the policeman taking out his phone, seemingly calling 120 emergency services. Finally, he lost consciousness.

  His body grew colder and colder until he knew nothing at all.

  But just as he felt nothing, his eyes suddenly cleared up. He saw two strange and ugly men, one black and one white, floating towards him with their feet off the ground, moving very lightly. The two men beckoned to him, smiled mysteriously, then wore white robes - he thought that Bai Wuchang was wearing a robe - approached him, stretched out his bloodless hand and pulled him away without saying a word.

  "Do I know you?" Chen Zhenhua frowned and asked, he never spoke to strangers, as his mother had said, let alone followed a stranger.

  "Hmm," Bai Wuchang still smiled, although his smile was still quite frightening and ugly, but he smiled nonetheless. After smiling, he said, "You and I didn't know each other before, if we did, you'd be in trouble. But now that we do know each other... My name is Bai Wuchang, this black ghost is my partner, we've worked together for many years, everyone calls him Hei Wuchang."

  "Hei Bai Wu Chang?" Chen Zhenhua heard this name and was immediately stunned, stuttering to say, "That means I'm already dead?"

  "To be exact, what you said is right, otherwise we wouldn't have come to find you. You don't know, we're not willing to go on a business trip now either, the travel expenses from two years ago haven't been reimbursed yet, it's not easy for us either." Hei Wuchang said. As he spoke, he lifted his legs up, revealing those tattered and deformed leather shoes with holes in the soles, which were allegedly pulled off the feet of a person who had died a long time ago. By lifting his feet like this, it was as if he was saying, "Look, my shoes are broken and I don't even have money to buy new ones."

  Hearing that he had died, Chen Zhenhua was first terrified, but soon became calm. He sighed and buried his head very low, feeling heartbroken.

  He was heartbroken, not because his death would bring unbearable pain to his parents, but because he had a regret that perhaps the truth about the girl's death might never be found.

  Helpless, he thought it was impossible to say no, and he could only follow Hei Bai Wu Chang with deep regret.

  They floated in the air for a long time, following Hei Bai Wu Chang's back. He knew they were heading to the Underworld, but after floating for so long, they still hadn't arrived, and he was getting a bit impatient.

  They floated like this for a long time, and it wasn't until much later that Chen Zhenhua saw a cloud of black smoke rising up in the distance ahead, just like the smoke from burning garbage in their village. Seeing this smoke, he thought to himself that they had finally arrived at the underworld.

  Those two ghosts led him in the direction of the dark fog, through the smoke and then down to the ground until they reached a small path paved with cobblestones.

  As Chen Zhenhua walked on the small path for a while, he heard the sound of "gurgling" water and knew that Naihe Bridge was just ahead.

  At this time, the three souls quickened their pace and soon arrived at Naihe Bridge. They saw new ghosts and those who sold Meng Po's soup hurried out to solicit business, each pulling towards their own door like they did with Lan Jingqiu last time. Each one shouted that their Meng Po's soup was the most authentic. Among these ghostly vendors of Meng Po's soup, some were still dressed up as beautiful young girls. They let out silvery laughter towards the new ghosts arriving at the gate of the underworld, just like the orioles and swallows in a brothel on earth. Their sole purpose was to sell a bowl of Meng Po's soup.

  "Ah, every time I come here, it causes some trouble." Bai Wuchang sighed and said.

  While the vendors selling Meng Po's soup were making a ruckus to attract business, Hei Bai Wu Xiang was swept aside and could only helplessly watch as they brought in new ghosts to suffer.

  Chen Zhenhua reluctantly bought a bowl of so-called Meng Po soup and drank it, only then did the vendors let him go. Hei Bai Wu Chang walked over, and the three continued on their way.

  "What's going on?" Chen Zhenhua asked Bai Wuchang on the road.

  Bai Wuchang shook his head and said, "Are they selling Meng Po's soup?"

  "Isn't Meng Po soup sold by a woman named Meng Po? I heard people say so when I was in the mortal world, why is it different from what's said in legend?" Chen Zhenhua continued to ask.

  "It used to be, but who wants to see others monopolize the business? Such a good deal, everyone wants to do it." Hei Wuchang said.

  "Why don't you come and do this business?" Chen Zhenhua said.

  "We've worked for thousands of years, but our salary is just that little bit. Although the underworld's income is not bad, the King Yamas only know how to take all the money to build their own palaces. They've rebuilt and destroyed the Yellow Spring Road multiple times, making the underworld luxurious, but there are still many homeless and starving ghosts inside. Every time Heaven sends someone down to inspect, they go back saying that life in the underworld is rich and prosperous, and that the leadership of Hell should be rewarded for their hard work. In reality, Heaven has no idea, or even if they do know, they don't care about how difficult our lives are as ghosts on this level. We can't even get reimbursed for travel expenses. And besides, Naihe Bridge has long since become a prime location due to the large flow of ghosts, and the rent is too high, we can't afford to rent a storefront."

  "So many people are selling Meng Po soup, won't there be any fake ones?" Chen Zhenhua turned his head to look at those chattering ghosts who were calling out to sell the soup.

  "Whatever," Hei Wuchang sneered coldly. "Who cares?! Even the King of Hell has invested in stocks. Alright, you'll know soon enough. Let's go."

  They arrived at the Yama Temple, and Hei Bai Wu Chang finally completed their work. Just as they were about to turn around and return to the mortal world to continue doing their disgusting things, they heard a voice coming from the Yama Temple. A man in a suit came out and told Hei Bai Wu Chang that the judge had called them to collect their wages. Moreover, he also brought a piece of great news: they could claim reimbursement for their travel expenses, as long as they kept their expense reports intact.

  "The suit" finished speaking and turned back to look at Chen Zhenhua, smiling as he said: "Yan Wangye asked me to take you to his office?"

  "Yan Wang Ye? Office?" Chen Zhenhua's mouth was agape, he couldn't believe his ears. He thought to himself, isn't Yan Wang the one who wears a crown on his head, dressed in Tang attire and boots, with an evil spirit and a cruel appearance? Doesn't he judge new ghosts in a place that looks like a government office? Why is it called an office, this title seems to be the same as the human world.

  "Yes! Right in the office," said "Suit".

  Chen Zhenhua wanted to ask more questions, but "Western Suit" had already turned around and was about to step into the Yama Temple. So he couldn't say anything else and could only follow behind "Western Suit" as they went in.

  Inside the office of Yan Wang, Lan Jingqiu, Huo Jucui, Dugu Jinzhong and Ouyang Qing were already waiting. They saw Chen Zhenhua enter and several stood up smiling at him.

  Yan Wang first seriously sized up Chen Zhenhua for a long time, and then told them about his request for the few souls to return to the world of the living, hoping that Chen Zhenhua would agree.

  Yan Wang spoke to him in a gentle tone, almost with a pleading intention. Unbeknownst to Chen Zhenhua, he was overjoyed when he heard that he could return to the world of the living, and readily agreed. This seemed to be beyond Yan Wang's and the judge's expectations.

  Then Yan Wang let them get acquainted with each other, and then they returned to their hotel respectively, ready to set off at any time.

  Before departure, Yan Wang agreed to Lan Jingqiu's request and gave him the two door faces at the head of Naihe Bridge, and also wrote a written certificate as evidence.

  The next day, at the head of Naihe Bridge, there was a storefront with a sign hanging from the eaves that read "Jingqiu Auto Repair Shop". Another storefront door was still closed, but an advertisement was posted on the door, which read "Storefront for Rent" in four large characters.