Spirit Reaper - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Bullying My Person? “My person is not for you to toy with…”

“The Hall of Correction? A drum-roll appeal?” Wuyi was speechless. Are they treating me like one of those random spirits outside?

Not wanting to waste breath, she repeated her earlier move: she held up Qin An’s jade pendant. “You might not recognize me, but you should definitely be familiar with this, right?”

The Black and White guards at the entrance froze. They leaned in, sniffing the air around the jade. After a moment, the White Guard looked up, his face breaking into a sincere, albeit creepy, smile. “So it’s the Lord Emissary newly signed by Her Highness Zonglan! Our apologies, our apologies.”

“Old Black and I… well, we both had chronic sinusitis back when we were alive. You understand—couldn’t catch the scent,” he explained, scratching his head. His long tongue flopped around with his movements, looking oddly comical. “We just didn’t pick up your aura right away.”

“So…” Wuyi frowned. “Your way of identifying me is by smelling me? Did Qin An teach you that?”

“Oh, my dear Lord Emissary!” The White Guard recoiled two steps, his stiff smile nearly cracking. “Her Highness’s name isn’t to be spoken so lightly! If she hears you, it’s straight into the boiling oil vat for you…”

He mimicked a throwing motion with his hands. After checking the coast was clear, he leaned in and whispered, “Word is, Her Highness didn’t just sign an Emissary; she actually got married on the side! Only that ‘one’ living in the human world—whose name and face are unknown to us—is allowed to call Her Highness by her full name.”

So, after all that talk, he’s still talking about me. Wuyi felt a trace of secret delight. In Qin An’s world, she actually held a special status.

“Fine, fine,” Wuyi waved her hand. “Your Highness told me to find her. I’ve been delayed enough, so…” She gave him a knowing look.

The White Guard caught the hint immediately. He turned to his partner. “Old Black, you stay on guard. I’ll take the Lord Emissary to see Her Highness.” He bowed slightly, sweeping his soul-calling banner aside. “This way, please.”

Wuyi said nothing but followed the overly eager guard. As they walked through the luxurious, intersecting corridors of the Zonglan Palace, she was surprised to see that there wasn’t just one pair of Black and White Guards; they were everywhere, leading rows of ghosts.

“So ‘Black and White Guard’ is a job title, like ‘Meng Po’?” she asked.

“Exactly,” the guard nodded. “We’re basically the white-collar office workers of the Underworld. My job is just hauling the newly dead back here. If I work for another hundred years or so, I can finally reincarnate as a human.” He sighed. “Didn’t earn enough karma in my past life, so I have to keep grinding after death. A life of a corporate slave, truly.”

“Alright, we’re here.” He stopped before a set of massive, closed iron doors. “Her Highness is inside. Just knock. And please… don’t mention what I said about the oil vat.”

Before he could scurry away, the doors burst open. In the blink of an eye, the White Guard vanished, and Wuyi felt a powerful force snatch her, dragging her inside.

“Ngh…” The pressure slammed into Wuyi, forcing her to her knees. She couldn’t even lift her head.

“So this is Zonglan’s new Emissary? These thin arms and legs… can she really handle those disgusting things?” A coarse, gender-neutral voice boomed from above.

Wuyi could only see a pair of gold-embroidered boots circling her. Between the physical pressure and the mocking tone, her first impression of this person was absolute zero.

“Go back to your seat and let her go,” a mechanical, distorted voice echoed from further away. “If Zonglan comes back and sees you treating her little Emissary like this, you’ll pay for it.”

Exactly! Wuyi agreed internally. Wait until Qin An gets back!

“It’s just a joke…” the coarse voice started. “It’s called a welcome cerem—mph!!“

BOOM—! The sound of something heavy slamming into a wall shook the floor. Simultaneously, the crushing pressure on Wuyi vanished. She slumped to the floor, gasping for air, sweat beading on her forehead.

The main doors swung open with the clatter of armor. A lazy, feminine voice rang out: “Touching my person on my territory? That’s crossing the line. Do it again, and I’ll rip those cockroach whiskers right off your face.”

It was Qin An!

Wuyi snapped her head up. The sight left her dazed. This wasn’t the Qin An of their first meeting—no red wedding dress, no heavy makeup. This Qin An wore shimmering silver armor, her hair pulled into a high, sharp ponytail. Her unpainted face was full of heroic spirit. She looked exactly like a legendary young general from a novel, fierce and bright.

“Still dazing?” Qin An had already reached her. She smiled and reached down, pulling Wuyi to her feet.

“Ten Yama Kings bullying a human freshman? If word gets out, you’ll be the laughingstock of the Underworld,” Qin An said coldly, turning to the other Kings seated around. “Those who know better would say you asked for my help. Those who don’t would think I’m here to pay off a debt with my subordinate.”

“Oh, come now, don’t be like that,” one of them said from behind a massive mask, his tone clearly trying to flatter her. “Number Ten was just playing around. Scaring a kid, that’s all. No malice.”

“Heh. Scaring a kid?” Qin An tightened her grip on Wuyi’s hand. “My person is not for you to toy with or scare.”

“Qin An…” Seeing the tension, Wuyi gently squeezed Qin An’s fingers. “I’m fine. You don’t have to…”

Qin An glanced at her and shook her head helplessly. “You really are too good-natured. With such a soft personality, how will you suppress the truly vicious ones later?”

“I have you, don’t I? You won’t let me die…” Wuyi grinned, her eyes sparkling.

Qin An laughed softly, her voice softening. “You really trust me. But you’d best not pin all your hopes on an injured veteran like me. Alright, enough talk. Everyone is here, let’s get down to business.”

She led Wuyi to a seat and unrolled a massive vellum scroll on the main table. It was covered in dense, ghost-like calligraphy. Wuyi leaned in and realized it was a list of names, genders, and dates of birth/death.

“This is the list of known escapees. The actual number is likely much higher. The surface peace of the Underworld won’t hold much longer,” Qin An said gravely. “The Emissaries in the human world are catching them, but it’s a drop in the bucket. The seal on the Ghost Gate is failing. While Wuyi and I are in the human world, the task of reinforcing the seal falls to you.”

“The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light,” said the King of the Wheel (the one who had been smashed into the wall), now serious. “Playing hide-and-seek isn’t a long-term plan.”

“Who said I was playing hide-and-seek?” Qin An smirked, pulling Wuyi up. “Who is the hunter and who is the prey… that remains to be seen. With her here, I’m not worried about them not coming to us.”

“Me…?” Wuyi pointed at herself, unconvinced. She suddenly felt like Qin An was up to something devious.

“Mhm. You are the most crucial part of my plan.” Qin An’s eyes curved into a smile. She looked gentle, but Wuyi saw the glint of a calculating fox.

“Fine. Just tell me what to do. I’m all yours,” Wuyi shrugged. She didn’t care about being “crucial”; she just wanted to finish the mission and go back to her normal life.

Getting involved with a female ghost… better to keep that in fiction.