Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Two people were talking, when they suddenly heard a ghostly voice shouting "Yan Wang has arrived", the two immediately stopped their conversation and rushed to the gate of the hall, looking out.

  At this time, a black Mercedes-Benz sedan came like an arrow and stopped in front of the Yama Temple gate. A fat man with modern clothes got out of the car, he had a big head and ears, a dark face, round eyes and a wide mouth, looking very frightening.

  Yan Wang is not riding a sedan chair, he actually drives a car to "go to work".

  As soon as he appeared, many people nodded and bowed to him with hypocritical smiles that revealed a mysterious aura.

  "Is this King Yan?" Huo Jucai looked at Lan Jingqiu and asked, "It doesn't look like it. On TV, he's not supposed to be like this, although the appearance is also scary."

  "No, no!"

  He Jucai had just finished speaking when a strange and eerie voice came from behind him, with an affected tone.

  The two of them were startled and stopped staring at Yan Wang, who was standing outside the door talking to other ghosts. They turned their heads to look in the direction of the sound, and they also saw a ghost staring straight at them with its eyes wide open.

  Both parties looked at each other like they were admiring a strange potted plant or appreciating an antique worth a city. Everyone had a look of astonishment, especially Lan Jingqiu and Huo Jucui, who were gaping with their mouths open and staring foolishly at the weird old ghost in front of them.

  This old ghost is indeed strange, this is the first time they have seen a ghost dressed like this in the underworld, with white hair that is very long and tied up into a bun on top of his head, wearing an ancient official uniform, but which dynasty's official uniform it is, neither of them knows much about history so they don't know.

  "Doesn't he look like a madman?" Huo Jucai asked Lan Jingqiu in a low voice.

  Lan Jingqiu didn't respond, he could tell that the ghost in front of him was quite old, and for an elderly ghost, he would definitely show a respectful expression. He wanted to atone for his past sins, this is what he thought as soon as his soul left his body, and this is what he did.

  "This official knows the thoughts of both of you," the old devil suddenly spoke up, saying "This official has been here for many years, and has seen countless people like you who are dumbfounded."

  He finished speaking, shook his head and turned around to leave.

  The two of them stood there in stunned silence, unable to utter a word, and didn't know what to say.

  "Don't be surprised."

  The two of them just watched the old ghost's back as he left, frowning and looking puzzled. At this time, another ghost sneaked up to their side and whispered to them in a low voice. This ghost was dressed similarly to the two of them, wearing "modern attire" that could be proud compared to the old ghost.

  "Are you talking to us?" Huo Jucai looked at this person and said.

  The ghost nodded and said, "Sorry about that, let me introduce myself. My name is Ouyang Qing, I've only been in this underworld for two years, so I don't know much else. But I've heard people talk about the old ghost, they say he's from ancient times, supposedly from the Song Dynasty. His name was Dugu Zhongzhong, and he was sent by the Song Emperor to sign the 'Treaty of Chanyuan' with the Liao State, but unfortunately fell off his horse and died."

  "After so many years, you still haven't reincarnated?" Lan Jingqiu asked.

  "Reincarnation?" said the one who called himself Ouyang Qing, "The elevator of life and death is quota-based. Every day there are so many people dying, it's impossible for everyone to get reincarnated, every day there's only a limited number of spots available, not just anyone can do it."

  "So I think it's impossible for me to be reborn as a human again?" Upon hearing what Ouyang Qing said, Huo Jucai immediately became disheartened. He felt that he hadn't had enough of the colorful life in the mortal world and wanted to be reincarnated into a wealthy family to continue living a life of luxury, with everything at his fingertips. But after hearing about the intense competition for reincarnation, he secretly felt that it was highly likely that he would forever face a dark, difficult, and obscure existence in hell.

  Lan Jingqiu, however, did not think so. He had also seen through everything in the mortal world. Now, for him, whether it was escaping reality or being disappointed with the reality of the mortal world, he just wanted to stay in hell, even if it meant atoning for his own sins.

  "You can't be a human being but you can become an immortal." Ouyang Qing said seeing the dejected look on Huo Jucai's face.

  "How does one become an immortal?" Huo Jucai suddenly regained his spirit and hastily asked.

  Ouyang Qing said: "The Yama Temple holds a selection examination every year, and those who pass the exam can be recruited by the Heavenly Court and may even become immortals. Oh, this year's exam time is approaching, next month it will begin. You see, all these people in the Yama Temple hall are not just rushing to sign up?"

  "What conditions are needed to apply for Tian Ting?" Lan Jingqiu asked.

  Ouyang Qing smiled and said, "As long as there's money, it's fine."

  "What's going on?" asked Huo Jucai.

  "The knowledge in this book, you see, it's just one book, but the exam only tests what's in this book. The text in this book is different from the human world, it's specially used in the underworld, and it's also the only book that Heaven uses to select talents in the underworld. Without this book, even if you were a genius when you were alive, once you arrive at the underworld, you'll still be clueless and ignorant. If you don't understand the special text of the underworld, then you can stay forever in this damp and dark hell." Ouyang Qing said with a smug expression, as if knowing more than others was something to brag about. At the same time, he pulled out several strange-looking books from his pocket, with the words "Underworld Publishing House" on them.

  "Is this the one?! " Huo Jucai looked at the book in his hand and said, "Can I have a copy?"

  "Of course," said Ouyang Qing, "running into you here does give me a 'meeting an old friend in a foreign land' kind of feeling. Here's a book for you."

  Huo Jucai happily accepted the book, constantly saying thank you. Ouyang Qing also smiled and said: "No need to thank me, we're so compatible, no need to be so polite, it's just... hmm, 600,000 silver coins."

  "Sixty thousand silver coins?" Huo Jucai exclaimed, "This book costs sixty thousand silver coins?"

  "Right, at this price, I'm still selling it cheaply?" said Ouyang Qing.

  "It's too expensive." Huo Jucai handed the book over.

  Ouyang Qing wanted to haggle with him some more, but just then Yan Wang walked in and he hastily hid the book in his bosom.

  Others saw Yan Wang and hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects, while Lan Jingqiu and Huo Juzhai stared blankly at Yan Wang, unmoving. The two of them might have already forgotten to pay their respects.

  Yan Wang wore modern clothes, but had disheveled hair and was wearing ancient official boots, looking quite out of place. Seeing that Lan Jingqiu and Huo Juzhai didn't kneel to greet him, he became very angry and shouted at them: "Follow me!" After speaking, he led the way towards a large black lacquer wooden door on the north side of the main hall.

  Lan Jingqiu and Huo Jucui exchanged a glance, both looking quite frightened as they hastily followed behind. But unexpectedly, that old ghost - who was actually a high-ranking official of the Song Dynasty - rushed ahead to walk behind King Yanluo, hastily kneeling down to pay his respects: "Your subordinate greets Your Majesty."

  "It's you again? Du Gu Jing Zhong" Yan Wang turned his head and said to the old ghost.

  "Reporting back to King Yan, it is indeed this humble official!" replied Du Gu Jing.

  "What brings you here?" King Yan asked.

  "Duke, I beg of you, have mercy on me and give me a chance to ascend to the heavenly court and be ranked among the immortals." said Dugu Jin.

  "Opportunities are available to everyone and are equal for all, as long as you are admitted by the heavenly court," said Yan Wang.

  "But I have been dead for many years, and my relatives are no longer around. How can I possibly have money to register?" said Dugu Jinzhong.

  Yan Wang furrowed his brow and said, "These past few days, the Jade Emperor has been convening a meeting of all the gods from various realms, naturally including our underworld as well." He spoke with an air of pride, then continued, "During the meeting, it was brought up that the current quality of heavenly deities is not high, so the old rules for cultivating immortality have been abolished and replaced with a unified examination system. No choice but to rely on yourself now." With that said, he turned around and left.

  The old devil won't give up and is still following behind.

  The four ghosts entered an office room behind the hall.

  Yan Wang's office still retains the layout of an ancient government office, with a large pile of books of life and death on his desk. A bald and ugly ghost with a package on his head is busy in the office, with a pair of triangular eyes deeply sunken into his eye sockets, a long eagle nose hanging from his face, and thin lips tightly wrapped around his protruding teeth. The ugly ghost is sorting through the books of life and death on Yan Wang's desk, carefully separating people from different regions so that he can check whose lifespan has come to an end.

  Yan Wang sat in his chair, pretending to be very serious about his work, with his disheveled yellow hair making a great effort to show the characteristics of the ghosts and monsters of the underworld. He lowered his head as if he had already forgotten that three unlucky souls were standing in front of his desk, especially that old ghost who still maintained the demeanor of an official from the Song Dynasty - if you wanted to understand the customs of ancient people, he was the real deal.

  "King Yan," Lan Jingqiu stood still for half a day, finally breaking the awkward situation. He asked tentatively, "You called us two to your mansion, what's the reason?"

  "Arriving at this point without a word, what does this mean?" The old ghost also puckered his mouth and quietly grunted.

  "Ah," said Yan Wang, looking up like a boss with scrutinizing eyes at the job applicant in front of him. After a moment, he burst out laughing and said, "I've been in charge of the underworld for over a hundred years. The previous one was still set up as a government office. Now that more modern people are dying, this underworld has also kept pace with the times and changed to this form of office work. To be honest, I'm still not quite used to it."

  "Congratulations, King Yan. You will get used to it sooner or later. But may I ask, why did you hint for us to come here in the hall?" Huo Jucai took a step forward and asked, his left hand covering his forehead, which was still bleeding from the car accident.

  "Your Highness, you asked us to come earlier, but I don't know why," said Lao Gui.

  "They were the ones I called in." Yan Wang leaned back in his chair, this movement was just like Lan Jingqiu leaning back in the "boss's chair" looking at the general manager in front of him. Then he looked at Lao Gui and said, "You came in on your own accord."

  "This is true," said the old ghost, "I want to go to Heaven and one day be among the immortals, but now Heaven has changed to an examination system. The content of the exam is completely different from the imperial examinations in my lifetime, what can I do?"

  "What can you do?" Yama asked.

  "Recite poetry and make couplets!" said the old ghost.

  "Reciting poetry and making couplets? Hmm, that's not bad, but it's no longer applicable. You'd better go back and review the special materials for the underworld again. After taking the exam over a hundred times, it's still useless, is it really true that book learning is useless?" Yan Wang coldly laughed and waved his hand to dismiss the old ghost.

  "What about us?" Lan Jingqiu asked.

  "Yan Wang said, 'Lan Jingqiu, you were evil and cruel in your past life, with no regard for human decency. I sentence you to be boiled in oil for half a day. Hopefully, after this punishment, you will change your ways and perhaps one day be reborn as a human being, able to start anew. As for you, Huo Jucui, you were lazy and gluttonous in your past life, relying on your family's wealth to act arrogantly. I sentence you to hard labor for three days. Another arrangement will be made for you later.' Yan Wang looked at the Book of Life and Death, meting out punishments one by one. When Lan Jingqiu heard her own punishment, she felt calm in her heart, let out a bitter laugh, and turned to leave."

  Huo Jucai also smiled and thought, isn't it just three days of hard work?

  But unexpectedly, the three-day hard work was not simple. It was to move the ice blocks as high as the Elephant Mountain in the first layer of the eighteen layers of hell to the last layer with bare hands. The place is no longer used to punish the wicked who come to the underworld, but has been changed into a storage room. He Zhongcai wants to move these ice blocks there, and he is the only one doing it. In these three days, he will be working every minute and every second, and cannot rely on external forces.

  Despite this, the two of them each received their punishment. Later they heard that this time they could have been exempted from punishment, just because they met Yan Wang without paying respects, Yan Wang felt very embarrassed, so he wanted to find an excuse to torment them.

  Just as they were about to be executed, the examination that had reached the heavenly court was proceeding with great fanfare.