It was like day and night—apart from their golden eyes, it was impossible to tell any other color. The Daywalker’s body shimmered like daylight, somewhat translucent, while the Nightwalker was as dark as the night sky, speckled with tiny points of silvery light. Both of them held a red chain in their hands.
"Hey, you two, slow down! You’re going to wear me out."
"Order from Third Palace Yama: No stopping allowed."
Daywalker turned his head and looked behind, though the person hadn’t appeared yet—a cheerful voice had already come from Wu Zheng. From the sound, there was no hint of gloom, even though he’d been imprisoned in hell for so long. His voice was still so lively.
At last, I saw him—a man in white, hair tied back, clean and fair-skinned, in his thirties, handsome, walking out with a smile. Unlike other souls, he wasn’t lifeless at all; on the contrary, he was full of energy.
Wu Zheng had red lips and white teeth, with a pair of very alluring eyes. His gaze sometimes carried a hint of seduction and a touch of mischief, yet he still seemed righteous overall.
"Wow, beautiful ladies! Haha, how many years has it been since I’ve seen any?"
Wu Zheng lunged at us like a hungry wolf, arms outstretched. His gaze kept wandering over Xie Wanyun and Mu Yun, especially lingering on their chests. He stared so intently that drool actually started to drip from his mouth.
"This guy is even worse than my cousin."
I muttered to myself. The image I’d just had of him instantly collapsed in my mind. With a clank, the chain reached its end and Wu Zheng fell to the ground, then looked at Xie Wanyun and Mu Yun with hope.
"Ladies, may I touch your chests?"
Suddenly, two dainty feet simultaneously kicked Wu Zheng in the face. He cried out and flew backwards.
"This guy is a match for that old pervert Lan Miu."
Hearing Lan Yin say that, I couldn’t help but mutter to myself: they’re two of a kind. I remembered the 128GB hard drive that Lan Qinmo specially brought back for Lan Yin, and how Lan Yin and my cousin hit it off immediately and even hung out together.
"Qingyuan—ugh, forget it. My perversion isn’t real, I’ve quit lately. It was all cultivated by that old man Lan Miu. I can’t explain it all now, but when there’s time, I’ll tell you how Lan Miu taught me this stuff, and how I picked up these habits."
"Filthy scoundrel. You, Lan Miu, and Lan Yin—do you think you’re any better?"
Mu Yun muttered with a look of disgust at Lan Yin, then glanced at Wu Zheng on the ground, clutching his bruised cheek, and spat.
"Enough, stop fooling around. Now we need to unlock the chain. Wu Zheng, you’ll be escorted back by the Ten Guides."
Fan Wujiu spoke up first, and I nodded at him before walking over.
Two clanking sounds rang out. Wu Zheng cheered and ran over, his eyes still fixed on Xie Wanyun and Mu Yun.
The two women eyed Wu Zheng warily. Suddenly, Duan Tianyou stepped forward and, with a swish, drew his Dragon Chant sword.
"If you mess around again, I'll cut off your hands and feet right now."
Wu Zheng immediately stopped and muttered something under his breath.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway. That slut Dushaxing must have called you here to trade for me. I’ll enjoy myself when I get back."
"Wu Zheng, in your previous life, you were at least a learned scholar—how could you..."
Xie Bian couldn’t stand it anymore and was about to speak when Wu Zheng spat.
"Never heard the saying? At the root of human nature is desire. What’s so shameful about a man wanting a woman, huh?"
I let out a sound of surprise and couldn’t help but mutter.
"Isn’t it supposed to be 'at the root of human nature is goodness'? How did you..."
"Hey, weakest kid here, it’s not your place to butt in. Shut up. This is my own saying—got a problem with that? Let’s get moving, I want to go back and have some fun with women."
I clenched my fists, killing intent already leaking from my hands. I really wanted to beat Wu Zheng up.
"Alright, the handover is done. Time for us brothers to head back."
As Nightwalker spoke, Daywalker turned as well, looking ready to leave. Wu Zheng made a grabbing motion with both hands, moving gently, muttering something with his eyes closed, as if savoring a pleasure.
Suddenly, I remembered what Dushaxing had told me and called out.
"Wait!"
Both Daywalker and Nightwalker turned to glare at me. I hurried over, and as I passed Wu Zheng, I looked at him in surprise, then gave an awkward smile. I heard what he was saying, then spat.
"Dirty old pervert. You’ll die from your own lust one day."
"To die under a peony, even as a ghost, is a romantic end, kid. You don’t get it, do you?"
"Get lost. I don’t get it, and I don’t want to."
"Anything else, Zhang Qingyuan?"
Fan Wujiu deliberately asked, and I nodded.
"What if the soul of Wu Zheng they sent is fake? What then?"
Suddenly, a surge of overwhelming ghostly energy rushed toward me. With a whoosh, a black figure blocked my way—it was Hei Wuchang, Fan Wujiu. With a clang, his Mourning Staff rang out, and the ghostly energy attacking me instantly dissipated.
"You dare to doubt Lord Song Emperor? Zhang Qingyuan, are you looking for death?"
I smiled easily, then drew the ghost weapon from my back with a swish.
"Threatening me is useless. This time, I was entrusted with this task—I must bring this guy back. I just need to use Ghost Net to check and I'll know if he's real or not."
Daywalker and Nightwalker grew extremely agitated, glaring at me. Then Hei Wuchang and Bai Wuchang both released their Ghost Nets, enveloping Wu Zheng. After checking him thoroughly, Bai Wuchang spoke.
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"Zhang Qingyuan, this is indeed Wu Zheng. The soul itself has no problems."
I nodded, then released my own Ghost Net. Daywalker and Nightwalker looked furious. Lan Yin walked over to Wu Zheng and slapped him on the head.
"No problem at all, Qingyuan."
I shook my head, then took out the jade that Dushaxing gave me and held it up.
"This is the jade Wu Zheng possessed during his lifetime. My ability, called Coexistence, has now bonded with this item. So, if Wu Zheng's aura doesn’t match the one on this jade, then he’s a fake."
As soon as I finished speaking, Daywalker angrily said:
"How can you prove this is Wu Zheng’s item?"
"It really is mine. It was my token of affection for someone when I was alive. Sadly, by the time I made a name for myself, she’d already married someone else and had the item returned to me. If I’d married that girl back then, I wouldn’t have ended up like this."
But Daywalker and Nightwalker still didn’t seem convinced. Neither side could reach an agreement, and it looked like we were about to argue.
"Everyone, since that’s the case, I’ll go get Judge Cui. The Book of Life and Death in his hands can verify these things."
Leopard Tail shouted, but Daywalker and Nightwalker were clearly unhappy about it.
Then Hei Wuchang, Bai Wuchang, and Yellow Bee all agreed. With no choice, we could only wait another day for Leopard Tail to bring Judge Cui.
Leopard Tail said this and headed into the city gate. We all temporarily dispersed, while Wu Zheng kept muttering those embarrassing things.
"What are you doing?"
I saw Duan Tianyou and Mo Jue find a rope and tightly tie Wu Zheng up, securing him to a pillar. Then they stuffed cloth into his mouth.
"If you speak out of line again, I’ll cut out your tongue."
Duan Tianyou said this, then left with the other guides to eat. I quietly watched Wu Zheng, who looked at me hopefully, wishing I’d let him go.
I ignored Wu Zheng and instead released my Ghost Net to sense.
My Ghost Net slowly pierced into Wu Zheng’s body. I closed my eyes and kept sensing—every aura matched the jade exactly. I started to relax.
"Qingyuan, if you want to find an aura different from the jade, you’ll have to examine his entire soul. A person’s soul is far more complex than you think."
Lan Yin reminded me from the side. I looked at him apologetically.
"Sorry, I..."
"I know, Qingyuan. That woman Dushaxing wouldn’t trust us easily, since those guys have interacted with some ghost officers."
As Lan Yin spoke, I knew he meant the other guides.
I nodded and continued sensing everything about Wu Zheng’s body. My Ghost Net penetrated deeper into the core of his soul—I had to control my strength, or I’d damage Wu Zheng’s soul.
However, at that moment my expression changed. Sure enough, it was a fake. I sensed a tiny fragment in Wu Zheng’s soul containing the power of the Underworld. I’d felt this power before—it was the same as the force released by the small awl that pinned Yin Choujian.
"It’s a fake."
I opened my eyes and looked at Lan Yin with a troubled expression. Lan Yin patted my shoulder.
"Don’t worry, Qingyuan. Tomorrow, when Judge Cui arrives, everything will be settled."
I was a little worried—if that guy is in league with the Underworld’s snakes and rats, what should we do?
"Don’t worry, Qingyuan. Judge Cui is one of the few in the Underworld, aside from the Fifth Palace, who is very fair and upright. He won’t play favorites, not even for the Yama Kings."
I gave a relieved smile, remembering how Yin Choujian once went to Fengdu to steal the Book of Life and Death.