I lay quietly on the bed. It was only 2 p.m., and the light outside was bright, but the sky remained overcast. It looked like it would start snowing again soon. I planned to sleep for a while and then get something to eat. My mood had improved a bit, mostly because that woman from the Nether Syndicate was here. With her around, I was sure I could find a way out. Even if she claimed there was no escape, once I understood everything about this place, I would always think of a solution.
Feeling more relaxed, I quickly fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already dark, and snow was drifting outside. Hungry, I grabbed some leftovers from breakfast to temporarily fill my stomach, then brought out the grill and started a fire.
Before long, I was sitting alone, holding a glass of wine, eating and drinking. Soon, I started to feel tipsy and couldn’t eat any more of the barbecue.
"Do you want to come over and eat with me?"
I shouted loudly. Although I wasn’t sure what that woman really was, she should be drawn by the smell of food. There was no one else here, but I had searched through several hotel kitchens and found all the spices I needed. The food had been marinated, and the flavor was excellent.
I was confident about this—after all, I’d spent over a year grilling in that dark Ring City.
In a daze, the woman appeared before my eyes.
"Whatever grudges or grievances you have, let’s eat first. Besides, I don’t even know your name yet."
I asked, and the woman walked over slowly and sat down before replying.
"Serena Chen."
"As expected, all of you Nether Syndicate people have names like that. So, Serena Chen, which era are you from? The time we’re in now..."
Serena Chen shook her head.
"Which era I’m from doesn’t matter. What matters is that you belong to the Hades Circle, and we’re from the Nether Syndicate. That’s all you need to know. We are mortal enemies."
I immediately stared unhappily at Serena Chen. She smiled.
"Even now, you people from the Hades Circle are still despised by everyone in the Arcane Society!"
I thought about it and realized it was true, so I nodded without hesitation.
"Exactly. It’s not just our sect—other sects feel the same way. They all look down on the Hades Circle. After all, you people are ruthless, always playing both sides, saying one thing to your face and another behind your back. You’re nothing but the Underworld Court’s lapdogs!"
I frowned.
"If you want to argue, count me out. If you want to eat, make it yourself."
With that, I got up angrily and left. This woman was acting like she was going through menopause—always looking for a fight as soon as she opened her mouth.
Honestly, I really wanted to ask her what I’d done to offend her. The grudges of previous generations in the Hades Circle had nothing to do with me.
After staying in the room for a while, I heard the door open. Serena Chen walked in. I snorted and lay back on the bed, too lazy to pay her any attention.
"Rachel Lan, if you want to know why I hate people from the Hades Circle so much, and why your status in the Arcane Society is even lower than the Ghost Sovereigns, I can tell you."
I glared at Serena Chen, gritting my teeth. I knew what she was talking about—people in the Arcane Society really did hate those of us from the Hades Circle. Once, when I was out on a mission with the Ghost Burial Squad, we ran into trouble. A Taoist priest came to help, but as soon as he found out I was from the Hades Circle, he left, saying he didn’t want to help us.
"Go ahead, say whatever you want. Nothing surprises me anymore. The situation outside is nothing like what you know."
Serena Chen began to speak.
Long ago, the Hades Circle, which evolved from the Four Symbols Sect, was a new sect in the Arcane Society. At first, the Hades Circle’s job was soul collection, and people in the Arcane Society had a good opinion of them. After all, collecting souls helped maintain peace in the living world—especially after the wars, when countless lonely, vengeful ghosts roamed unchecked, causing headaches for many in the Arcane Society.
But the rise of the Hades Circle effectively curbed the number of lonely, vengeful ghosts. However, the good times didn’t last. Attacks on practitioners by ghosts became increasingly common.
At the time, Serena Chen received an order from the second-generation sect master to join forces with Taoists and Buddhist monks to investigate. The attacks were happening too frequently, and some ghosts even knew the techniques of the deceased practitioners, making it easy to kill them.
It was highly unusual at the time, and no Ghost Sovereigns had appeared. Most practitioners believed these were high-level Green Wraiths, who needed powerful practitioners’ bodies and souls to break through their limits.
During the investigation, Serena Chen and her fellow disciples were attacked. Her senior brother died—they were overwhelmed by zombies and evil spirits.
Afterwards, Serena Chen and her injured junior returned to the Nether Syndicate and reported everything to the sect master. With no other choice, the second-generation sect master began his own investigation, but many in the Arcane Society kept dying. The Hades Circle always arrived first to collect souls, but at first, no one paid much attention.
Then one day, a small sect was wiped out by a newly ascended Green Wraith. The Taoists couldn’t tolerate it any longer and took action. Though they paid a price, they captured the Green Wraith, who confessed that someone from the Hades Circle had given him the birth dates and magical details of the sect’s members. That’s what made him want to devour the practitioners and gain strength.
At the time, the sect masters of several major sects gathered, planning to keep things quiet until they had solid evidence before confronting the Hades Circle.
The Hades Circle didn’t just collect souls—they also did many shady things under the orders of the Underworld Court. The Hades Circle held sway over life and death, able to know exactly when someone would die. Many in the Arcane Society couldn’t know their own death dates, especially those with weak magical powers. To figure out their time of death and try to escape it, they had to cozy up to the Hades Circle, who would demand explanations of their techniques or ask for something in exchange.
Many people didn’t approve of this, but there was no other way. The biggest wish of practitioners was to extend their lives—they didn’t want to die, so they made secret deals with the Hades Circle.
When the sects investigated, they found that many of their members had traded with the Hades Circle. Because the Hades Circle could accurately predict death, many practitioners, after learning their time of death, became desperate to extend their lives. Some went astray and started using forbidden arts.
Many sects began to split at this point. Large numbers of practitioners, desperate to extend their lives, started working with ghosts, using their power to create all sorts of forbidden arts, all for the sake of living longer.
When they finally found evidence, the major sects planned to confront the Hades Circle, but disagreements forced them to give up. They finally understood why the Hades Circle had betrayed people in the Arcane Society and let them die. After capturing a regional agent from the Hades Circle and torturing him, he finally revealed part of the reason.
(This chapter isn’t finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading!)
The number of practitioners kept increasing as the sects expanded, constantly recruiting new disciples. This disrupted the balance of Yin and Yang, since most practitioners lived much longer than normal. The Underworld Court was worried about this and wanted to eliminate as many practitioners as possible to keep their numbers in check. After all, their magic did disturb the Yin-Yang balance.
Some practitioners even extended the lives of people in the living world for money. Although this would shorten their own lifespan, they always found ways to extend it again—leaving the Underworld Court powerless to stop them.
Previously, when the Underworld Court tried to arrest practitioners whose lifespans had ended, they sent Hell’s Sentinels. But these soldiers were easily defeated. Only powerful Wraith Generals could subdue practitioners and bring them to the Underworld Court for punishment. But such practitioners kept increasing, so the Underworld Court began having the Hades Circle collect information on sects and practitioners, killing them as soon as their lifespans ended.
The Hades Circle operated in secret, usually enticing powerful evil spirits by telling them about certain practitioners. The evil spirits would naturally want to devour those practitioners to gain power. Sometimes, Underworld Court spies handled it directly.
Everything was exposed. Although the major sects didn’t join forces to confront the Hades Circle, they did reveal the truth. From then on, people in the Arcane Society kept their distance from the Hades Circle and refused to interact with them. After all, it was a matter of life and death.
Some in the Arcane Society even started attacking members of the Hades Circle. Naturally, this angered the Underworld Court, and those practitioners who attacked Hades Circle members were taken away by the Twin Reapers.
After that, the Hades Circle continued to follow orders from the Underworld Court, working in secret.
"Did you know? After the Ghost Sovereigns appeared, the Hades Circle’s biggest clients were the Ghost Sovereigns. They sold huge amounts of information about the Arcane Society, making the Ghost Sovereigns nearly invincible. The Ghost Sovereigns learned many techniques from the Arcane Society. When their power was still weak, the practitioners had planned to unite and wipe them out, but the Hades Circle sabotaged the effort—providing information to the Ghost Sovereigns on one hand, and cooperating with the Underworld Court to attack them on the other. They wanted to lure practitioners into a trap and eliminate some of them. In the end, the practitioners scattered and stopped participating. That’s why the Hades Circle is so hated throughout the Arcane Society."