The Ghost Insists on Giving Me a Beautiful and Powerful Wife! - Chapter 16.1

Jiang Huaining would have initially sought her out instead of the higher-ranking Lu Qingzhen.

The ghosts in the Underworld are divided into yin officials, yin messengers, and yin generals.

Yin officials have ranks and are blessed with the power of heaven and earth, but Lu Qingzhen is very special.

Lu Qingzhen wasn’t exaggerating her importance when she said she was a crucial bridge between the Underworld and the Four Spirits Shop. The Underworld King himself sealed her as such, saying she was a bridge connecting the Underworld and the Four Spirits Shop. Her Underworld Plaque doesn’t have the power of heaven and earth, but it has the power bestowed by Jiang Huaining and the Underworld King. The power it contains is even stronger than that of some low-ranking yin officials.

Yin messengers and yin generals are of a lower rank than yin officials. Yin messengers manage ghosts in the mortal world, while yin generals manage ghosts in the Underworld.

Yin messengers are divided into three levels, from weakest to strongest: Fate-Severing, Soul-Severing, and Yin-Severing. Yin generals are also divided into three levels: generals, vanguards, and ordinary soldiers.

Yin generals manage far more ghosts than yin messengers, but yin messengers are busier and have a higher casualty rate.

The probability of a ghost riot in the Underworld is not very high, but the mortal world is extremely prone to the emergence of malevolent ghosts. Yin messengers might also encounter Taoist priests who kill them, or even (evil sorcerers) who covet their power. Therefore, yin messengers hold a slightly higher status. Xing Ruoyuan is a Yin-Severing yin messenger, the highest level, and as the name implies, she has the authority to sever a person’s yin-yang path.

According to the rules of the Underworld, Yin-Severing yin messengers guard bustling, populous cities, Soul-Severing yin messengers guard barren, sparsely populated cities, and Fate-Severing yin messengers are assigned as helpers to the first two levels based on a city’s prosperity.

Chong City is prosperous, with a floating population of nearly twenty million, and it has a well-known entrance to the Four Spirits Shop.

Xing Ruoyuan, who governs Chong City, is the most powerful Yin-Severing yin messenger. Of course, her strength is still far below that of an yin official like Lu Qingzhen. Lu Qingzhen could tell that Jiang Huaining’s strength was compromised, but Xing Ruoyuan could not.

However, she had one advantage.

She was a woman of few words.

She barely spoke unless Jiang Huaining asked her a question.

She answered whatever Jiang Huaining asked and never said anything extra.

Due to the special nature of guarding souls, their owners are generally good people who have lived for several lifetimes, people whose soul imprints are left in the Underworld’s Book of Merits. Although yin messengers cannot interfere with the fate of the living, ghost messengers in each region have some understanding of the people in their territory who have guardian souls.

Xing Ruoyuan quickly gave them the answer.

There were two people native to Chong City who had guardian souls, and both of them were closely related to He Meijie: her deceased mother, Tong Weixue, and her stepsister, Tong Sangqian.

This wasn’t right.

Tong Weixue had been dead for twelve years. Even if she had a guardian soul, it should have returned to the Underworld with her.

Of course, there was a reason Xing Ruoyuan included Tong Weixue. She cleared up Yu Ruoyin’s confusion: “Tong Weixue is dead, but her guardian soul is still in the mortal world.”

Yu Ruoyin thought for a moment: “Did that soul go to He Meijie?”

“I don’t know.” Xing Ruoyuan said flatly: “That soul has gone missing.”

Xing Ruoyuan was shrouded in a dense aura of death, and her voice was monotone, without the vivacity of Lu Qingzhen.

More than a yin messenger, she seemed like a paper doll, pale and numb.

It was difficult for Yu Ruoyin to tell from her expression if she was lying. Fortunately, this wasn’t Jiang Huaining’s first time dealing with Xing Ruoyuan.

She understood Xing Ruoyuan well, so she saw through her lie immediately: “You definitely know.”

At Jiang Huaining’s signal, Yu Ruoyin released He Meijie.

He Meijie was trapped in the crimson jade fruit Jiang Huaining called Crimson Yang. She couldn’t hear the outside world, and her memory was still stuck on last night when Jiang Huaining said she would help her ask about the guardian soul.

She had been clamoring to see a yin messenger last night, but when she actually saw one, her soul trembled uncontrollably.

It was a ghost’s instinctive fear of yin messengers.

The moment He Meijie saw the Underworld Plaque on Xing Ruoyuan’s waist, she subconsciously recoiled.

Xing Ruoyuan looked a little surprised when she saw He Meijie: “You…”

Yu Ruoyin and the others had only said they wanted to ask about the soul, so she had only mentioned the two owners of guardian souls. She had forgotten to ask Yu Ruoyin and the others why they wanted to know about the guardian soul. Now, seeing He Meijie, she was a little slow to react.

Although He Meijie didn’t know her, she knew He Meijie.

She quickly stepped forward and grabbed He Meijie, who was about to hide behind Yu Ruoyin: “You… when did you die?”

He Meijie was clutched by the wrist and yelled in a panic: “You’re the yin messenger! Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?!”

“I…” A rare change appeared on Xing Ruoyuan’s face. She rubbed the Underworld Plaque on her waist: “This shouldn’t be. I checked your lifespan; you were supposed to live to seventy.”

“Seventy!”

He Meijie and Yu Ruoyin exclaimed in unison. Yu Ruoyin was surprised, while He Meijie was furious.

The scar in the middle of her face split open again, the flesh turning over to expose the white bone. A monstrous resentment enveloped her, her face gradually distorted, and her hair flew without wind: “Tong Sangqian, it was you, you harmed me!”

He Meijie still pinned the blame on Tong Sangqian, wishing she could tear her to pieces.

Yu Ruoyin didn’t know if Tong Sangqian was afraid, but she was a little scared.

He Meijie’s appearance was too twisted and hideous at the moment. The smell of rotten flesh drilled into her nostrils, making her feel sick to her stomach.

Jiang Huaining naturally saw Yu Ruoyin’s reaction. She gently blew a breath towards Yu Ruoyin, and a cold fragrance replaced the stench, suppressing the churning in her stomach.

Yu Ruoyin subconsciously looked at Jiang Huaining, but Jiang Huaining had already withdrawn her gaze and fixed it on the out-of-control He Meijie. Just as she was about to act, the silent Xing Ruoyuan slapped He Meijie’s head a few times, forcefully knocking her split skull back into place.

The skin on Xing Ruoyuan’s pale face quivered, and half of her body suddenly elongated, transforming into a black beast.

The black beast was tall and mighty, with sharp claws and fangs, its fur was black and spiky like thorns, and it had five heads. It felt like a single strike could kill He Meijie.

He Meijie was intimidated, and the resentment that covered her body slowly dissipated.

Yu Ruoyin was also frightened by the black beast. She gripped Jiang Huaining’s hand tighter: “What is that?”

“A Phantom Zang Beast, a method granted to a yin messenger by their Underworld Plaque. The more heads it has, the stronger its power.”

Xing Ruoyuan had five heads, so her strength must be excellent even among Yin-Severing yin messengers.

Xing Ruoyuan was more lenient with He Meijie than a yin messenger usually would be with a ghost. After frightening He Meijie, she transformed back, her indifferent expression changing slightly: “Don’t fall into hatred again. If you become a malevolent ghost, you’ll have to go to hell.”

Now it wasn’t just Jiang Huaining who thought Xing Ruoyuan was lying; Yu Ruoyin did too.

She was clearly different towards He Meijie, so how could she not know if Tong Weixue’s guardian soul was on He Meijie?

Yu Ruoyin secretly pointed at Xing Ruoyuan: “Aunt Ning, she’s lying.”

Jiang Huaining saw it more clearly than her. She wasn’t surprised by Xing Ruoyuan’s reactions: “She isn’t saying it because the transfer of a guardian soul is against the rules.”

“Then why didn’t she just cover up the fact that Tong Weixue’s guardian soul was still around?”

“Ah Zhen won’t help her lie to me.”

Whether a guardian soul has dissipated or returned cannot be hidden from the Underworld’s yin officials. This is why Xing Ruoyuan had to reveal that Tong Weixue’s guardian soul hadn’t disappeared or returned to the Underworld. Her answer had to be consistent with the information Lu Qingzhen knew, but she couldn’t admit to knowing the whereabouts of the guardian soul.

Yu Ruoyin understood, but her mind was even more muddled: “Then wouldn’t it have been better for her to pretend she didn’t know He Meijie?”

“There’s no need.” Xing Ruoyuan turned around, her reddish-brown pupils reflecting Yu Ruoyin and Jiang Huaining’s figures. She respectfully bowed to Jiang Huaining: “I lied because I promised Tong Weixue that I wouldn’t send her guardian soul back to the Underworld, but would leave it to protect her daughter. Now that her daughter is dead, there’s no need for me to hide the whereabouts of the guardian soul anymore.”

“Can you talk about Tong Weixue now?”

Xing Ruoyuan looked deeply at He Meijie’s ghost and then nodded: “Her mother used all of her merit to trade for her life, but who would have thought…”

In fact, Xing Ruoyuan was not afraid of the exposure of her hiding the guardian soul. This matter was originally permitted by the Underworld King. She lied and concealed it from Jiang Huaining and the others because the Underworld King had instructed her that the fewer people who knew about this, the better, otherwise if everyone did this, it would be a trouble for the Underworld.

The rules of the Underworld always gave special care to souls with high merit.

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