I finally understood why, after John Chou and his companions escaped from Abyssal Hell and entered the world of the living, the Underworld Court didn't send their strongest enforcers to pursue them.
It turns out such a massive upheaval had taken place within the Underworld Court.
"Lady Meng, so you're saying it was because the Underworld Court was too exhausted at the time, which allowed John Chou and his companions to survive peacefully for decades and eventually become Ghost Sovereigns?"
Lady Meng nodded and sighed.
"It's strange, isn't it? Mr. Wraithshade, despite his ominous aura, was actually a good person. It's as if sunlight and darkness coexisted within him. And the Wraith Enforcer—he was the one who guided it across."
I swallowed nervously as Lady Meng continued. In the past, Mr. Wraithshade had visited Ethereal Isle. When he returned, he brought back something called a Wraith Enforcer, and together, they journeyed to the world of the living.
Lady Meng had never seen a being born as a ghost before. She found it odd. When Mr. Wraithshade left, he said these entities had already become aware of the world beyond the isle, and might soon come.
Mr. Wraithshade's words were proven true. Normally, on this Sanzu River, ghosts can't float up because of the influence of the Sanzu Force. Forget flying—just being able to swim in the river is rare enough.
Speaking of which, I've experienced it myself—swimming in the Sanzu River is an agonizing ordeal.
But more than two thousand years ago, far from the Red Spider Lily fields, a group of horned, black-bodied, winged beings flew over. They were the Wraith Enforcers.
The entire Underworld Court was shaken to its core. Lady Meng stepped in to stop them and fought the Wraith King. This confrontation sent shockwaves throughout the Underworld Court.
Lady Meng could only fight the Wraith King to a draw. At the critical moment, the Judges of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Third Tribunals arrived and managed to suppress the Wraith Enforcers. Yet, more and more Wraith Enforcers kept pouring into the Underworld Court.
At the time, King Equality wanted to wipe them out, but King Tai Shan stopped him. He believed these beings could be of use to the Underworld Court. For a long while after, the Ten Judges debated what to do with the Wraith Enforcers.
Among them, the Fifth Judge, King Bao; the Ninth Judge, King Equality; and the Tenth Judge, King Xue, all advocated for expelling the Wraith Enforcers, sending them back, and refusing to use such a double-edged sword.
But several other Judges became deeply interested in these Wraith Enforcers, who were born as ghosts. They were natural Hell Registrars, with exceptional abilities. The ordinary Hell Registrars in the world of the living, who often died on duty, couldn't compare. So, under a 7-to-3 fairness theory, the Wraith Division was established.
There was no doubt about the Wraith Enforcers' abilities, but the three opposing Judges always felt it was inviting disaster. At first, everything was fine. The Wraith Enforcers could speak the language of hell and learned quickly. As ghosts by birth, they even possessed many abilities and techniques that ghosts born from humans could not use.
But soon, things began to change. The Wraith Enforcers' greatest pleasure was eating humans. When they went out on missions, they always feasted. Back then, because of years of war, most of what they ate were corpses, not living people. Human flesh was a fatal temptation to them, whether rotten or crawling with maggots—they devoured it all.
Many ghost types eat humans to increase their power, consuming both flesh and soul. But Wraith Enforcers were different—they ate the living, tearing out the soul and consuming only the flesh.
The Underworld Court turned a blind eye to the Wraith Enforcers' cannibalism, because a single Wraith Enforcer was as efficient as a hundred Hell Registrars. This was an enormous benefit. Eating a few people each time was no big deal to the Underworld Court, so they allowed it.
The only job the Wraith Enforcers refused was torturing ghosts in hell—they had no interest in it. They only liked going to the world of the living, taking care of business, and eating people while they were there.
Strangely enough, aside from eating humans, the Wraith Enforcers needed almost nothing else. Even in the underworld, money meant nothing to them—it was just worthless paper. They didn't socialize with other ghost types either, operating more like a strict military legion. Their relationship with the Underworld Court was one of cooperation, not hierarchy.
"Back then, I tried my best to persuade them. These ghost-born beings, who lack human weaknesses, would eventually cause trouble. But aside from those three Judges, no one listened to me. Of the four Chief Wardens, the only one who could speak up, Zhong Kui, was busy dealing with problems caused by Yuna Ji and couldn't spare any attention."
Helpless, Lady Meng could only go alone to a place called the Sanctum of Hell.
"Sanctum of Hell? What is that?"
"It's the domain in hell where the Saint of the Underworld resides. Though not a god, he surpasses gods in power."
I swallowed, recalling that Buddhist vow: 'Hell will not be empty, and I shall not become a Buddha.'
"That lord simply said, 'Let everything be decided freely, you needn't worry.' So I returned. But in the end, everything exploded."
More and more Wraith Enforcers came from the horizon beyond the Red Spider Lily fields—an endless stream. In the world of the living, they didn't fight with other ghosts, but faithfully carried out their job of escorting prisoners. At one point, even the Underworld Denizens became obsolete. The Wraith Enforcers only needed to open their mouths to swallow wandering souls whole and return them to the Underworld Court, unharmed.
In terms of efficiency, they were much faster than the Underworld Denizens.
Some Judges even began to propose abolishing the Underworld Denizens, because the Wraith Enforcers did their job almost perfectly. Even the weakest Wraith Enforcer could bring back more than a dozen souls at a time.
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Years of war in the world of the living left the land covered in bones and misery. Countless ghosts were brought back to the Underworld Court by the Wraith Enforcers.
Originally, it took at least one or two Hell Registrars to escort a single soul back, with two being the safest option. This was because some practitioners in the world of the living could use spells to summon ghosts back, even after they'd been taken. These techniques could even resurrect the dead, severely disrupting the rules.
But souls swallowed by the Wraith Enforcers couldn't return, unless the Wraith Enforcer was killed. Even among humans, heretics began to appear—masked individuals who had far outlived their natural lifespan by stealing others' life force.
"The Immortality Society?"
I looked at Lady Meng in surprise, and she nodded.
"In the end, the Wraith Legion was incited by the Immortality Society."
Members of the Immortality Society began interacting with the Wraith Enforcers. Rather than being suppressed, why not overthrow the Underworld Court? That way, they could eat humans whenever they pleased—as long as the souls were brought back after death, a new order could be created. Souls would be endlessly recycled into humanity, increasing the population, and the Wraith Enforcers could feast as they wished.
Inevitably, rebellion broke out. The Wraith Enforcers launched a full-scale war. The Hell Registrars were no match for them, and the Wraith Enforcers easily stormed the Hall of Judges, turning hell upside down.
It was only then that the Judges, who had sought to use the Wraith Enforcers for their own ends, finally woke up—and were furious.