Underworld, City 444, a small teahouse building.
“This underworld tea has been the same awful taste for ten years. Couldn’t any of the cooks try to improve it a little?”
An old man with crane-white hair and a white robe threw the teacup onto the table in disgust. “Back then, at least we had the High Priest’s livestreams to look forward to for some fun, but now? He doesn’t show up anymore except for the occasional prize draw stream. Are they trying to bore us to death?”
Beside him, a young ghost was holding his own head in his arms while feeding himself snacks, chatting with the old man like they were brothers. “Bro, why is the underworld so backward, huh? No milk tea, hot pot, or spicy crayfish. We’re supposed to keep living like this for decades, maybe even centuries? Ugh, when can we reincarnate already!”
At the neighboring table, a ghost from a car crash, missing an arm and a leg, joined in the complaints: “If I can’t reincarnate, at least let me win something in the app lottery! Even a cat’s won something and I haven’t. Don’t you think that’s just insane?”
“Even cats can win a prize?”
“There has to be something shady going on!” As soon as this topic came up, the whole group of ghosts burst into grumbling.
Amid the noise, a soft chuckle came from the elegant window seat. The young man there swirled the tea in his cup lazily and added unhurriedly, “Why can’t a cat win a prize? Ghosts returning from the Animal Path have usually accumulated the least karmic entanglement—of course, their chance of winning would be high.”
Everyone turned toward the voice. The one who spoke was a “ghost” in light-colored long robes, his face hidden behind a mask. His features were hard to make out, but faintly visible within were fair fingertips casually playing with a jade fan—his whole presence was one of quiet dignity.
After the brief moment of being dazzled, one ghost spoke up with dissatisfaction, “Who says the Animal Path is less karmically stained than the Human Path? Plenty of cats and dogs have harmed living things, too! I, on the other hand, lived a whole life doing nothing but good—so why shouldn’t I be the one to win?”
Su Weisheng glanced at him thoughtfully and replied, “Maybe you’re just naturally unlucky. That cat’s a born jackpot magnet.”
The young ghost: “……”
The other ghosts, poked right in their sore spots: “……” Who here isn’t a chronically unlucky soul?
Wounded to the core, the group of ghosts completely lost interest in chatting. Cursing under their breath, they headed home to rest. The teahouse quickly returned to its original quiet state. Su Weisheng leaned back comfortably in his chair, admiring the scenery of the underworld. Until suddenly, the chair next to him scraped across the floor. The young ghost who had argued with him earlier sat down.
“Bro! Bro, I was out of line earlier. Don’t take it personally!” The young ghost held his own head in his hands and leaned closer, blinking his big eyes in a show of sincere friendliness.
Su Weisheng silently glanced at the empty stump of his neck, then at the head on the table that was making exaggerated expressions at him. The sight was offensively jarring. “Can you put your head back on before talking?”
“Yes, yes, of course!” The young ghost cheerfully reattached his head without the slightest embarrassment at Su Weisheng’s distaste. His bottom line was clearly flexible—able to bend and stretch with ease. He explained earnestly, “Bro, my name’s Lu Qi. Sixty-some years ago, I got killed—decapitated by robbers. I wasn’t trying to scare you on purpose. Really, this head just doesn’t stay on that well. Don’t mind me.”
By that calculation, he was probably eighty or ninety years old. Yet he didn’t bother asking how old the masked young man before him was—just kept calling him “Bro” like they were close already.
Seeing Su Weisheng give a slight nod of acknowledgment, Lu Qi shamelessly continued the conversation: “Bro, from the way you talked about the app’s wish-and-lottery system, you really seem to know your stuff. Can you give me a few tips?”
Su Weisheng looked at him with a half-smile, deliberately teasing: “You’re not worried I’m just talking nonsense?”
Lu Qi replied with complete sincerity, “Just from your aura alone, I can tell you’re not an ordinary person.” Then he leaned in closer, lowering his voice in a secretive tone: “If there’s some kind of special channel, I can pay—whatever the cost.”
Su Weisheng shook his head. “Too bad. I don’t have any special access either. What I said earlier was just offhand. I haven’t won anything myself.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Qi sighed in disappointment: “Damn, even you can’t get anything.”
Su Weisheng gave him a curious look. “You’re this desperate to win a prize? Got some lingering wishes to fulfill? If you’ve got the money, why not just save up fragments and exchange them for a guaranteed spot?”
As soon as fragments were mentioned, Lu Qi immediately pounded his chest in regret. “Bro, like you said—I’m just plain unlucky!
Back when I was alive, I went out with a friend on a business trip. The robbers were after him, but guess who got beheaded? Me! Then after I died, the ghost in front of me got sent to City 443, the one behind me went to 445—and I got dumped in the worst of them all: City 444!
Finally, when the wishing-ticket feature got added to the app, I’ve never won a single draw! Just when I was about to collect enough fragments to exchange for a wish ticket, they closed the redemption period! Said I had to wait until the previous batch of winners all fulfilled their wishes before they’d open up a new round!”
He was nearly in tears. “I don’t even have some grand wish. I just want to go back to the living world and try some real food! I can’t take this gloomy underworld anymore. I feel like I’m going to fall apart, body and soul!”
Su Weisheng said, “Don’t worry. With an obsession that strong, you’ll definitely get your chance someday.”
Lu Qi looked deeply frustrated. Clearly, he’d long grown immune to such lukewarm words of comfort. He sighed and muttered, “Yeah, fine. I guess I feel a little better knowing it’s not just me. If even someone like you, who clearly used to be some noble with connections and resources, can’t do anything about it, what hope do I have? In the end, everyone suffers equally once they reach the underworld.”
Su Weisheng gave him a quiet glance. That was actually a little awkward. Sure, they were all in the underworld, but… not all ghosts were the same in essence.
As they chatted, the door of the teahouse was pushed open again. A figure in blue stepped inside—like a streak of vitality painted across this dark, sunless world. Everyone in the teahouse instinctively looked up, their eyes lighting up all at once.
The newcomer wore a pale cyan gauze skirt and a bamboo hat that shaded the face. Her figure was unusually tall, far beyond that of an average woman, yet as a soft breeze stirred the thin veil, a fleeting glimpse of a pair of seductive, fox-like eyes passed through—enough to make the whole room collectively draw a sharp breath.
Unfortunately, in the next second, her face was once again completely concealed beneath the hat.
Lu Qi was stunned. “Whose noble lady is that? I’ve never heard of a goddess-tier beauty like her in 444 City before!” Just as he was speaking, the “goddess” began walking toward them.
Lu Qi looked at himself in bewilderment, then at the young girl, then turned back to glance at the youth beside him. That person was calmly eating pastries, completely unmoved by the girl’s charm, and even casually raised a hand and beckoned to her:
“Le’er, come here.”
The “girl” paused slightly in her steps, reached out and tugged the bamboo hat down a little lower, seeming a bit embarrassed. She slowly walked over to stand beside Su Weisheng and handed him the oil paper-wrapped candied hawthorn in her hand, her voice lowered and muffled: “Young Master, the snacks you wanted. I bought them.”
Lu Qi was dumbfounded. “B-Brother, this is your… maid?”
Su Weisheng had originally just been waiting for someone in the teahouse. Now that Yuan Le had returned, he stood up, ready to leave. Hearing this, he looked at Lu Qi, whose face was full of disbelief and doubt, then glanced at Yuan Le, who was dressed in women’s clothing and clearly enduring discomfort. A mischievous idea sparked in him.
He raised a hand and, completely unfazed by others around, pulled the “maid” into his arms. Lifting the veil beneath the bamboo hat, he planted a light kiss on the other’s cheek like a dragonfly skimming the surface, then let the veil fall back down. Turning to Lu Qi with a cheerful smile, he said, “Brother Lu, looks like we’re not quite the same after all. Your time in the underworld might be rather dull, but with Le’er by my side, I’m living quite comfortably.”
Yuan Le had been feeling all kinds of awkward and irritated from having to wear women’s clothing. But that kiss made him freeze completely in place. He stared blankly for a moment and only slowly realized what had just happened. His wife had taken the initiative to flirt with him in public.
Was this… one of the perks of being “Le’er”? Yuan Le’s fox-like eyes immediately curved into a pleased squint, as if he had just discovered a new kind of fun.
Lu Qi was completely stunned: “……”
Damn it, who said that after death all beings were equal?
After dying, the best he could do was use some petty tricks to earn a little money and improve his life. But a noble from the previous dynasty dies and still gets to have a breathtakingly beautiful maid to serve him? How was that even fair!
Su Weisheng stopped once he’d had enough fun. While Lu Qi was still in a daze, he called Yuan Le along and left together.
As they walked out the teahouse doors, Su Weisheng glanced around at the lively crowd and casually asked, “Everything arranged?”
“Using the authority of the Si Ming position to issue a command—very easy. Now, it’s up to your eldest and the others to do their part.”
Under the bamboo hat, Yuan Le lazily replied.
Their trip to the underworld wasn’t just for their honeymoon. They were also there to inspect the current state of the underworld and arrange for Su Laijin and the others to begin preparatory work for training and internal testing.
Su Laijin’s work efficiency was quite high. Not long after the Si Ming’s order went out, they saw ghost messengers pasting announcements about a training school at the city gates. As soon as word got out that something new was happening, the spirits flocked over, surrounding the area until not even water could trickle through.
“What? You just have to graduate from the school, and they’ll assign you a job? You can even go to work in the living world?”
“This tuition fee is insane! Who can afford it?!”
“That’s the point—it’s meant to be unaffordable. Then they dangle the dream in front of you to motivate you to work hard in the underworld to earn money, and hopefully complain less.”
“Is this for real? Do we really get to go to the living world after graduation? We’re already dead—can ghosts and humans really coexist peacefully?”
A bunch of ghosts were noisily debating. Su Weisheng and Yuan Le stood all the way at the back, not in any hurry to go in, simply observing the reactions of the underworld spirits.
Suddenly, someone squeezed out from the crowd. The moment he saw them, his eyes lit up. “Bro! Brobrobro! We meet again! Did you sign up for this golden opportunity?” Lu Qi reattached his head to his neck and excitedly ran over to Su Weisheng. Eager to graduate, he was already working on building alliances and making friends even before entering the school.
Su Weisheng naturally hadn’t signed up. He smiled lazily and replied offhandedly, “No money, didn’t register. Wanna lend me some tuition?”
“No problem!” Lu Qi generously pulled out a silver note. “No need to pay it back—just look out for me a bit when the time comes.”
He paused for a moment, then glanced at the “maid” beside Su Weisheng and added a word of advice: “But if we really get to graduate and go to the living world, we’ll definitely need to start acting more like modern people. Rui Empire’s been gone for a hundred and fifty years already. These feudal habits of having someone serve you—those’ll have to go. Otherwise, it’ll be way too easy to blow your cover…”
This was heartfelt, genuine advice straight from the soul.
Su Weisheng held back a laugh, turned his head toward the former Rui Empire’s monarch, Yuan Le, and teased, “Le’er, did you hear that? Rui Empire is gone. It’s been dead for a hundred and fifty years.”
The maid Le’er couldn’t care less whether the Rui Empire had fallen or not. The moment he heard Lu Qi trying to persuade Su Weisheng to break his habit of being waited on, he let out a dramatic “ying” and threw herself straight into Su Weisheng’s arms.
“Young Master, you can’t abandon Le’er!”
This body of his was Yuan Le’s youthful form, only half a head shorter than the young Su Weisheng. Throwing himself into the other’s arms didn’t look awkward, but it definitely didn’t come off as a dainty little bird seeking protection.
Hmm… more like a big bird clinging to someone.
And yet Le’er didn’t think anything was wrong. Relying on the fact that he was now just maid Le’er and didn’t need to care about pride, he clung to Su Weisheng and shamelessly rubbed against him, acting cutesy and refusing to let go.
Lu Qi had kindly come over to befriend a fellow classmate, only to be mercilessly force-fed dog food. He fell silent.
Su Weisheng patted the maid in his arms on the shoulder and sighed, coaxing him, “All right, all right. Wherever I go, I’ll bring Le’er along. Even when we go to work, I lay bricks, you mix cement. How’s that?”
Le’er’s fox-like eyes shimmered with emotion. “Young Master, you treat me so well.”
Lu Qi: “……” This bizarre young master-and-maid duo was clearly beyond saving.
Because the maid absolutely refused to leave her young master, the three of them had no choice but to go sign up together.
This training school had a very high bar for entry. Besides the steep tuition, applicants also had to pass a pre-enrollment test assessing their worldview, thinking patterns, and reaction skills. The goal was to ensure the ghost was a moldable candidate—someone who could blend into the human world without being noticed, and more importantly, without disrupting the order of the living realm.
So while they waited at the back of the line, they watched as one of the examiners asked the ghost at the front with a stern face: “After arriving in the human world, you encounter the reincarnation of your former lover. But now, that person already has a true love and is even preparing to get married. What would you do?”
The first ghost’s eyes were full of determination, answering without the slightest hesitation: “I would tell her the story of our past love and let her choose for herself.”
The examiner frowned.
The second ghost pondered for a moment before slowly replying: “I would give them my blessings.”
The examiner’s eyes held a scrutinizing look.
The third ghost gnashed his teeth: “I must win him back!”
The examiner shook his head.
Soon, the question made its way to the last row.
Seeing that the examiner’s expression hadn’t relaxed at all in response to anyone’s answer, Lu Qi also grew nervous. He stammered, “M-My wife hasn’t reincarnated yet…”
The examiner shook his head, clearly dissatisfied with this evasive, opportunistic answer.
Feeling dejected, Lu Qi turned and asked Su Weisheng, “Bro, what about you? What would you do?”
The examiner also looked at Su Weisheng, waiting for the last student’s answer, as if hoping this one might finally surprise him.
Su Weisheng paused briefly in thought, then turned to glance at Le’er.
What if Le’er forgot him and went on to fall in love with someone else? Of course, he knew that was impossible. But since the examiner had proposed the hypothetical, he would follow through with it.
Su Weisheng said, “I would first find him and tell him everything about our past. Then I’d let him decide who he wants to be with.”
The surrounding ghosts looked disappointed.
The examiner also shook his head. How was that any different from the first ghost’s answer?
Then—
Su Weisheng slowly added, “If he doesn’t know what’s good for him and insists on choosing someone else, I’ll just kill him. Let him reincarnate again. If he still picks wrong, I’ll kill him again. And again. Eventually, he’ll give the right answer in some lifetime.”
The ghosts: ???
The examiner: ???
Holy crap! At first, we thought you were some kind of living bodhisattva—Turns out you’re the living King of Hell!
![President Huo Wants Me to Restore His Reputation [Entertainment Circle]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/03-cd6f642.jpg "President Huo Wants Me to Restore His Reputation [Entertainment Circle]")
He really is the King of Hell, now, technically 🤣🤣🤣