Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  In the center of the conference room, there is a high platform with a case table on it. This may be the only traditional item in the Yama Temple, which is said to have been preserved by the previous Yama King, otherwise it would have been put into the storage room of the 18th layer of hell.

  Yan Wang is wearing ancient attire today, dressed like an emperor of old. This outfit left Lan Jingqiu and the others perplexed. They found a seat and asked the ghost next to them why Yan Wang was dressed this way. According to an old ghost nearby, during the grand assembly held once every ten years, Yan Wang would always dress like this. Yan Wang considered these clothes as formal attire, and only with such dressing did he feel that the meeting had the necessary formality; modern attire was too casual.

  "Everyone!" Yan Wang sat on the platform, shouting loudly. He didn't need a microphone, nor did he need one, because his voice was not only loud but also rough and violent. The ghosts and gods listened to him speak, and they all fell silent. Countless pale faces faced him, countless expressionless faces faced him, and countless dull eyes stared at him.

  He glanced at the dull audience below, paused for a moment, and continued: "Today, I, together with the Underworld and Heaven, held a joint conference to discuss the issue of joint development between the Underworld and Heaven. Recently, the Jade Emperor also convened a meeting with me and various departments of Heaven to discuss ways to clean up the pollution in the mortal world that affects Heaven. So, I say..." He turned around and glanced at the scholar beside him, who looked back at him puzzled before shifting his gaze away.

  "Where's the draft?" Yan Wang seemed to be angry but didn't dare to speak loudly, so he said softly, "The draft I asked you to prepare for me?"

  "What's the draft?" The scholar asked with a bow.

  "What's the use of having a draft for the meeting? Without a draft, what can I discuss at the meeting? How can I speak without referring to the draft?" said Yan Wang.

  "I thought you didn't need a draft," said the judge with a chuckle.

  "Didn't you prepare?" Yan Wang realized they weren't ready, so he got angry and couldn't care about it anymore. He glared at the Xiucai and the Judge, then helplessly looked at everyone and said, "Today's meeting is just for everyone to discuss how to avoid air pollution, go ahead and discuss." After saying a few words, he stood up, unwillingly took another look at the unlucky Xiucai and the secretly laughing Judge, and swiftly left the conference room.

  The meeting, which was originally quite large in scale, ended like this, and the various ghosts and gods looked at each other without a word, then one by one walked out of the conference room.

  Lan Jingqiu and Huo Jucang didn't know where to go or what to do, so they came to Yan Wang's office. They wanted to know if they could return to the world of the living. Lan Jingqiu was still worried about his company, and this place was dark and damp, he didn't want to stay for a second.

  "How have you been lately?" Yan Wang asked Lan Jingqiu directly as soon as he entered his office.

  "Seriously," Lan Jingqiu said, "what is the purpose of teaching us to go to the Yang realm?"

  "Learning human management experience, come back to guide the development of the underworld, even the Heavenly Court has to send immortals to the mortal world?" Yan Wang said.

  "So it was like this," Lan Jingqiu nodded.

  "Right, there are several ghosts who have been making a ruckus, yelling that they were wrongly killed. Have you found out in the world of humans whether there really are people who died unjustly?" Yama asked.

  "Recently, many people have died, but I know a few who were wrongly killed, such as Ruan Jiaoluo and Qin Yin." Chen Zhenhua said on the side.

  "My brother is too," Lu Xiao Ying hastily added.

  "What you're saying," Yama said, gritting his teeth, "death is just death, that's not what we need to study now. We need to develop, you have to complete your task as soon as possible and then come back to help me manage the underworld."

  "We will do our best!"

  After saying these words, they walked out of the office with their arms around each other.

  "Notifying us of a meeting, but until now I still don't know what the King of Hell wants to do? Until now he seems to have said nothing at all." Chen Zhenhua muttered.

  Lan Jingxiu smiled, and in fact Chen Zhenhua was right. They rushed to the underworld, but until now they still didn't know why Yan Wang held a meeting, why he wanted to hold a meeting, or why he summoned them to attend. The reason for attending the meeting had not been figured out even after they left Yan Wang's office.

  Several people thought about these ridiculous questions and walked out of the Yama Temple, but unexpectedly, when they reached the gate, they saw that it was raining outside. The rain was red, like blood, falling from above their heads, forming bubbles on the ground, then rolling along both sides of the road, and finally flowing to a slightly lower place.

  On the road, many ghostly figures dressed in tattered clothes huddled together under the eaves of roadside houses to avoid the rain. Some who couldn't find a place to hide from the rain crawled into broken-down cars by the side of the road that wouldn't budge. Cars that could still run shuttled back and forth on the Huangquan Road and Yinsi Road, their wheels splashing up strings of red water flowers.

  "What a big rain!" Lu Xiaoying stood in front of the Yama Temple gate and said, looking at this rain.

  "Yes," said Qian Xiaohong, "look, those souls are hiding from the rain under the eaves of that house, and the family has closed their doors. It seems they're deliberately driving them away. Is that Yang Hua running with his head covered by his sleeve in the rain?" She said, looking at Lu Xiao Ying.

  But in fact, Lu Xiao Ying also saw it. She looked at Yang Hua who was running in the rain with an expressionless face, her heart aching and resentful at the same time. She felt sorry for Yang Hua's miserable state of running in the rain, after all, he was someone she had deeply loved before. What she resented was that Yang Hua not only didn't love her anymore because of seeing her ugly appearance, but also hurt her with his words. Thinking about Yang Hua's heartlessness, she sadly lowered her head.

  "Look," Qian Xiaohong chuckled and said, "look, there's another one running in the rain with a limp. Just look at the way he's running, it's hilarious."

  Out of curiosity, Lu Xiaoying raised her head to look and was shocked to see that the ghost Qian Xiaohong was talking about was actually her brother. Her brother had a disability and had difficulty walking, so he was hiding from the rain and "running around" everywhere.

  Lu Xiao Ying just watched him, watching him run to a group of ghosts, those ghosts drove him away, he ran into the broken car again, and was kicked out by one foot from inside the broken car.

  Lu Xiaoying felt heartbroken, she took a step forward into the rain, grabbed her brother's hand and then brought him back to Yan Wang Temple.

  "Sister," Lu Xiaoping saw someone pulling him, and when he arrived at the gate of Yan Wang's temple, he finally saw clearly that the person pulling him was his own sister. He was also surprised, "Is it you?! Brother is here but didn't think I could still see you." As he spoke, tears flowed out of his eyes.

  "It's me," said Lu Xiao Ying as she looked at her brother, "I'm your sister, I'm so happy to see you."

  "Little sister," said Lu Xiaoping, scanning the majestic Yama Temple with his eyes, "let's not take shelter from the rain here. We are of lowly status, and if we're seen by the ghosts inside the temple, they'll scold us, and who knows, maybe even give us a beating."

  "Don't be afraid, brother," said Lu Xiao Ying. "I'm here, I won't let anyone bully you. By the way, brother, why are you still on the road in the rain? Why don't you stay at home?"

  "Little sister," Lu Xiaoping sighed, "I don't even have a house in the underworld. Think about it, our whole family is dead, who would burn incense money for us? So I came here with not a single penny, no spirit money, how can I buy a house?"

  "How have you been lately?" Lu Xiaoying said.

  "How to pass," Lu Xiaoping sighed, "just barely passing, anyway I'm already dead, it's impossible to starve in the underworld, so death doesn't worry me, only when I'm hungry it's a bit painful - no! It's very painful! Luckily, when people on earth worship their ancestors, they will give some food and water to lonely souls like me, that's how I solve the pain of hunger. I also want to be self-sufficient, but I'm a useless cripple, nobody wants to hire me."

  Lu Xiao Ying looked at her brother, listening seriously to his misfortunes, she almost burst into tears. She didn't speak, nor could she say anything, because as soon as she spoke, she might have cried out loud. So, she could only remain silent, quietly lowering her head. After a long time, she took a deep breath and said: "It's okay now, brother. Now that you've met me, your little sister, you won't go hungry anymore. Come, let me introduce you to my friends."

  Qian Xiaohong and Lan Jingqiu saw Lu Xiaoying rush into the rain and pull back a man, everyone was very surprised, but when they knew that the man was Lu Xiaoying's brother, everyone looked embarrassed again. Several people in their hearts felt a little guilty, because earlier they had seen him in the rain and were secretly laughing.

  Lu Xiaoying brought her brother before everyone, Lan Jingqiu and Dugu Jinzhong hastily stepped forward to shake hands with Lu Xiaoping.

  "Hello," said Lan Jingqiu with a smile.

  "Lu brother, I bid you farewell," Dugu Zhong let go of Lu Xiaoping's hand and instead made a fist with his hands in a salute, saying "I have long admired you, I have long admired you."

  "Long time no see?" Chen Zhenhua furrowed his brow and asked, "Had Mr. Dugu met Big Brother Lu before?"

  "No," said Dugu Zhong, shaking his head, "we have never met before."

  "How do you say 'I've long admired you'?" asked Ouyang Qing at this time.

  "Politeness," said Du Gu Jingzhong.

  Everyone nodded and said in unison: "We've long admired you, we've long admired you."

  Lu Xiaoping saw so many people standing in front of the Yama Temple, and he didn't know what their identities were. He was afraid of offending them, so he hastily accompanied a smile and kept nodding to everyone.

  "You won't have to go hungry again," Lan Jingqiu said, "I'll also arrange a job for you. You can go to my repair shop and manage the accounts. I'll tell the mechanic about it."

  "I have a salary in this underworld," said Lu Xiao Ying. "I'll buy you a house, and you won't have to wander around outside all the time."

  "'Buy a villa,' Qian Xiaohong said, 'it's not enough, I have it here.'"

  "I also have," said Lan Jingqiu. "We can all give you money."

  "Right!" everyone nodded and said.

  Lu Xiaoying's eyes welled up with tears as she said: "Thank you everyone!"

  The rain has stopped, and the Huangquan Road has resumed its bustling scene. Those who were hiding under the eaves to avoid the rain have started drifting around again.

  Without delay, Lu Xiao Ying accompanied by Lan Jing Qiu and others arrived at Yan Wang's palace. They explained the situation of Lu Xiao Ying's brother to Yan Wang, who agreed to sell them the villa at the intersection of Yin Si Road and Huang Quan Road. Because Lu Xiao Ying worked for Yan Wang's palace, he gave an 80% discount on the villa.