Chapter 3: No Special Treatment at the SNE Special Agency!
“To report to the Mingzhu: Director Jiang showed no signs of displeasure whatsoever. On the contrary, he seemed perfectly willing to accept.”
Cui Panguan held a thin scroll in his hands. He wore a black gauze cap and a rhinoceros horn belt. As the black mist dissipated, his features were revealed: brows like ink-wash paintings and a face as refined as crown jade.
“You actually believe his words?”
Holding a cinnabar brush, the Mingzhu didn’t even look up at the Judge. With a gentle flick of his hand over the memorials on his desk, all the black scrolls he had finished reviewing rolled up automatically and stacked themselves to the side, waiting for the lower-level ghostly officials to collect them.
Cui Panguan’s expression turned solemn, and he remained silent.
He then heard his Lord Mingzhu speak in a slow, unhurried tone: “Forget it. Let him enjoy himself. A mortal’s life spans but a few short decades. Besides, whether he can even live that long depends on his own fate. He should live a carefree life while he can.”
“Yes.”
Cui Panguan didn’t say much else. The sinful debts of the Jiang family were of that man’s own making. Beyond a sincere feeling of sympathy for Jiang Louqi, his dominant thought was that the man had brought this upon himself—of all the people to offend, he just had to offend the Mingzhu. It was a pity that eighteen generations of his ancestors had foolishly signed a ghostly contract to become Soul Solvers.
A moment later, the Mingzhu looked up and glanced at Cui Panguan standing to his left, gesturing for him to come closer. “Panguan, check the Ledger of Life and Death regarding the case of the Malignant Ghost.”
“Understood.”
Cui Panguan gave his wide sleeves a slight shake, but he felt something was different from usual. His robes felt strangely light today. He searched for a long time but couldn’t find the Ledger of Life and Death. It was clear the book was no longer on his person!
Under the Mingzhu’s cool, dark gaze, the Judge’s brows knitted together. His expression was heavy, and his thin lips were pressed into a cold line. No matter how composed he usually was, he was starting to lose his cool now. “Mingzhu… the Ledger of Life and Death… is gone!”
“What? Gone?”
The Mingzhu’s expression shifted instantly. The civil and military ghostly officials standing obediently on either side dared not breathe a word. The surroundings fell into a deathly silence, and the atmosphere plunged to freezing point. He slammed the cinnabar brush onto the table with a heavy thud and stood up, walking toward Cui Panguan.
“Reporting—”
A commotion erupted outside the main hall. A ghostly general responsible for oversight and patrols rushed in frantically. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, he dropped to his knees, sliding across the floor in a kneeling position until he reached the center. He kowtowed to beg for forgiveness. “Reporting to the Mingzhu! The Rakshasa ghost imprisoned in Avici Hell is missing. He must have escaped!”
The Rakshasa was the number one evil ghost in Hell. Its terrifying nature was first characterized by its cannibalism and cruelty, and secondly by its irresistible, abnormal abilities. They were experts at disguise, and even the Underworld’s ghostly generals and soul-hooking emissaries were wary of them.
The Mingzhu and Cui Panguan looked at each other, their thoughts aligning on the same frequency. The theft of the Ledger and the Rakshasa’s prison break? Was there really such a coincidence in the world?
“Could it be a ghost soldier I accidentally bumped into on my way back to the Hall of Yan Wang? Was the Ledger of Life and Death snatched by the Rakshasa then?” Cui Panguan gripped his sleeves, looking indignant.
The Mingzhu remained silent, squinting his eyes as he looked outward. His deep eyes suddenly flickered a few times, his gaze sharp and cold as he swept it across the crowds of ghosts passing by in the distance. His vision scanned the faces—each filled with complex expressions of fear—one by one. Suddenly, he addressed the ghostly general: “The Avici Hell is under the supervision of Pingdeng Wang. Why did he let the Rakshasa escape?”
“Lord Mingzhu… you should… go see for yourself to understand.”
The ghostly general, a bully who feared the strong, curled up on the ground, terrified that his superior would strangle him. Even though he didn’t know how many years it had been since he died, ghosts could still die!
The Mingzhu frowned. His sleeves snapped back with a sharp crack, scaring the soul right out of the ghostly general on the floor. However, the following Cui Panguan looked kind and gentle, so the general wasn’t as afraid of him.
As they made their way to Avici Hell, a series of earth-shaking booms echoed from ahead, erupting suddenly like heavenly thunder. Within Avici Hell, blood-red light shot into the sky, and the smell of gore was overwhelming. Blood-water surged continuously, and the ground shook violently as if it were about to flip over.
Pingdeng Wang was currently rallying numerous ghostly soldiers and leaders to suppress the evil ghosts inside who were trying to break free. Seeing the Mingzhu and Cui Panguan arrive, he immediately looked as if he’d found a savior, his face drenched in cold sweat. “Brother Qin, hurry and help! This King is about to lose his footing!”
The Mingzhu had no choice but to work tirelessly to repair the cracks in the broken Avici Hell, preventing the evil ghosts within from launching another riot.
“Thanks, brother. Come to my manor later and I’ll treat you to a drink.”
Pingdeng Wang clapped his hands and enthusiastically reached out to put an arm around the Mingzhu’s shoulder, only to be unceremoniously dodged. His hand caught only empty air, and the atmosphere instantly froze. He awkwardly retracted his hand and changed the subject. “Ahem. If the Five Spirit Souls hadn’t been lost, we wouldn’t have to work ourselves to death like this. How peaceful it would be to just sit around, eat, and drink.”
The Mingzhu ignored his “living only for enjoyment” attitude and tossed out a sentence expressionlessly: “The Ledger of Life and Death has been stolen.”
“What?! The Ledger of Life and Death?!”
Pingdeng Wang’s jaw dropped. He looked at the Mingzhu, then at Cui Panguan, speaking through gritted teeth. “Who stole it? Which death-seeking ghost stole it?!”
Before the other could recover from the shock, the Mingzhu delivered another blow: “The Rakshasa.”
Upon hearing this, Pingdeng Wang felt his head throbbing. He paced around in circles anxiously, muttering incessantly: “How… how could it be that Ghost King? What do we do? If the Ledger falls into his hands, won’t the world fall into chaos? It’s over, it’s all over!”
“What are you panicking for? The Soul-Hooking Pen is still here. He can’t use the Ledger without it.” The Mingzhu rubbed his temples, find the noise in his ears irritating.
Pingdeng Wang sighed in relief, sounding quite disgruntled: “You scared me! You should have said so earlier. We just need to find it and that’s that.”
Cui Panguan, following the principle that a subordinate should pour more cold water after the superior had finished, chimed in: “The Rakshasa should have stepped into the human realm by now. Retrieving the Ledger might not be that easy.”
Pingdeng Wang: “…”
The Mingzhu put his hands behind his back. His tone was indifferent, yet seemed to encompass everything, exuding the aura of a refined gentleman. “It seems it’s time to spend some time in the human realm.”
SNE Special Agency, 7:00 PM.
Jiang Louqi pounded his aching back; it felt like his neck was about to snap from sitting too long. He slumped onto the desk to slack off for a bit, desperately missing the cotton pillows and bed in his apartment.
Although a few customers had come through the door in the two days since opening, none of the commissioned tasks were serious. They were all trivial, petty matters, strange enough to make one’s head spin. For example, someone asked why their cat wouldn’t sleep at night and kept meowing—was it a ghost? The result? It was just a bunch of kittens having a collective brawl over a mate…
Xino Griffith, who had been responsible for that bizarre case, was fuming. As soon as he returned, he pointed a finger at Jiang Louqi’s face and cursed, saying his high intelligence had suffered an unprecedented insult.
Jiang Louqi felt that his own explosive temper had been worn down by these prickly customers and his group of half-wit employees.
“Brother Jiang, what’s wrong? Are you crying?”
Zhou Jiayi had a playful grin as he squatted under the desk to peer up at him. The resulting reflex jump from Jiang Louqi caught the kid off guard, sending him straight onto his backside on the floor.
Su Qian, who was sitting at the computer looking up food, swiveled her chair around. Her long black hair was tied up in a hair tie as she whispered a tease with a smile: “Little Zhou, believe me, even if you cry, he won’t.”
“Who’s crying? Can’t I just lie down and sleep for a bit?”
Jiang Louqi smoothed his slightly messy hair that had been flattened against his forehead. He leaned back in his computer chair, looking exhausted. “Speak if you have something to say, or shut up if you don’t. Don’t disturb my sleep.”
Zhou Jiayi stood up and patted his butt, clutching his rumbling stomach. His bright eyes looked pitiful. “I’m hungry, Brother Jiang! When are we having dinner?”
Jiang Louqi glanced at his watch. It was indeed time to eat. He raised a hand to shoo away the noisy little brat beside him. “Go, go, go. Get lost and find Su Qian to order takeout.”
“Oh yeah! Long live Brother Jiang! This lowly one will get lost right now.”
Zhou Jiayi flashed a peace sign and hopped away, as happy as a child. It really made Jiang Louqi doubt whether this guy was actually a ghost who had been dead for three hundred years…
In the past two days, under Zhou Jiayi’s guidance, Su Qian had become fully capable of using the internet. She was swiping through her phone with great gusto. In the Fox Tribe, she had never seen humans have such fun things. She immediately opened Meituan. “What do you guys want to eat?”
“I don’t have much of an appetite. Just get me some egg fried rice. Not just eggs, though—remember to add peas, carrots, corn, and ham. And some lean pork too. Thanks.”
Jiang Louqi ticked off the items on his fingers, talking incessantly. To maintain a good figure, one had to eat more vegetables—though in reality, it was because he had no money for big fish or meat…
Su Qian rolled her eyes at him. So much for not having an appetite.
Xino Griffith: “Dear Miss Su, please order me a serving of raw beef with blood. No garlic. And don’t you guys eat garlic either; I can’t stand even a tiny bit of the smell.”
Unexpectedly, Jiang Louqi had no intention of coddling him. He decisively brought up another agency rule: “Just because you don’t eat it doesn’t mean others can’t. If you’re afraid of the smell, go eat downstairs by yourself. The SNE Special Agency treats everyone equally. No special treatment allowed!”
If it weren’t for the Yin Merit Shackles restraining him, this vampire Duke would definitely have been the first to go up and punch that guy surnamed Jiang.
Translator’s Note:
We’re starting to see the dynamic between the Underworld higher-ups and our ragtag team at the agency! Here are a few notes on this chapter:
- Avici Hell (无间地狱 – Wujian Diyu): This is the lowest and most painful level of the Eighteen Hells. The term “Wujian” literally means “without interval” or “uninterrupted,” referring to the constant suffering there.
- Rakshasa (罗刹 – Luosha): In Chinese Buddhist and folk mythology, these are man-eating demons. They are known for being extremely fast, strong, and capable of changing their appearance to deceive people.
- Regular Script (楷书 – Kaishu): This is one of the main styles of Chinese calligraphy. It’s known for being very neat and readable—the standard for formal writing. No wonder Jiang Louqi, who isn’t a fan of “old school” things, found it a bit much!
- Meituan (美团): A real-life, massive Chinese shopping platform most famous for its food delivery service. It’s the equivalent of UberEats or DoorDash.
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