Chapter 98: Xiaohong, Help!

Chapter 98: Xiaohong, Help!

“Is everything in Fengdu going well during my business trip?”

Once everyone was present, the meeting began.

Everyone was very familiar with the meeting process, there was almost no need for the Great Emperor to waste words.

One by one, they stood up in turn to begin reporting their work.

In Fengdu, no ghost did not know that their Great Emperor was famously a workaholic, someone who wished he could stretch a single day into 24 double-hours.

He had just returned from a business trip and immediately summoned the heads of the Seventy-Two Departments to a meeting, not giving anyone even a moment to prepare.

The department heads who were fully prepared stood tall and confident, while those who were not trembled like leaves, shaking as if they were sieving chaff.

This Great Emperor had a rather bad temper and acted with ruthless efficiency.

Back when he wanted to reform Fengdu, streamline the Seventy-Two Departments, and cut the long-term idle ghost staff, how much opposition had he drawn?

Those old ghosts relied on seniority and some backing in the Heavenly Court, repeatedly obstructing him and acting condescendingly.

The result was—

Heh heh.

The once noisy Fengdu Celestial Capital City was silenced by the Great Emperor, and no old ghost dared to object again.

The Great Emperor made his name in a single purge, leaving all ghosts trembling with fear, worried that this incarnation of the underworld might be a ferocious demon.

But the result was—

Emmm…

He was actually just a straightforward workaholic.

When work was done well, he was very easy to talk to and would even help the Seventy-Two Departments apply for various benefits and privileges.

On the other hand, if work was done poorly, he would become extremely irritable, completely different from his usual self.

While Black and White Impermanence were distracted, the heads of the earlier departments had already finished their reports, including statistics such as how many new lives were born in the mortal world last month, how many deaths occurred, how many lingering souls remained, gender ratios of birth and death, and regional demographic changes. There were over a hundred different statistical categories in total. They compiled these big data points into tables and presented them as clear, simplified charts.

The heads of the Seventy-Two Departments watched attentively at the projection screen, and apart from the reporting voices, there was no other sound in the hall.

“Good, there has been improvement compared to last month.” The Great Emperor nodded with satisfaction and said coldly, “Next!”

“…Your Majesty, regarding this year’s Ghost Festival, the transportation arrangements in Fengdu have been fully prepared…”

“…Your Majesty, this is last month’s financial summary…”

“…Your Majesty…”

Departments reported one after another, and before long it was the turn of Black and White Impermanence’s unit.

The Impermanence Department mainly handled soul guiding and soul retrieval.

Their report included, but was not limited to, how many humans and animals were guided into Fengdu last month, followed by detailed categorization of those souls.

As a department closely cooperating between Fengdu and the mortal realm, they also had to report notable anomalies.

What recent anomalies were there?

Nothing more than the mysterious ghost arm remains, the fake underworld messengers, the mastermind behind Bai Jia, and Pei Ye.

Yes, Pei Ye, as the focus of Black Impermanence’s report this time, even had a separate file dedicated to her.

Black Impermanence handed the file up, and the Great Emperor read it carefully.

“Pei Ye?”

After a long moment, the Great Emperor tapped the words on the document with his fingers and showed a thoughtful expression.

He murmured, “…This name… seems somewhat familiar…”

It felt like he had heard it somewhere before, but upon careful recall, there was no clear memory.

“Black Impermanence, send someone to monitor her. Not a single movement can be missed.”

“Your Majesty, that will be quite difficult.”

I cannot do it.

QAQ

The Great Emperor: “???”

Black Impermanence recalled Pei Ye’s face and could not help shivering.

When Pei Ye fully released her killing intent, Black Impermanence felt she was even more terrifying than when the Great Emperor once purged Fengdu.

Monitor her?

That would probably end badly.

“Why?”

Black Impermanence reported truthfully.

“This person has extremely heavy killing intent. She is not someone ordinary underworld messengers can monitor.”

If she had no intention of committing wrongdoing and only discovered she was being watched, who knew if she would become enraged and cause trouble.

The Great Emperor thought for a moment and temporarily set the matter aside.

The meeting topic shifted to the extremely sinister ghost arm remains and the case of Bai Jia’s death caused by a fake underworld messenger.

After the Great Emperor returned from his business trip, the Seventy-Two Departments tightened their nerves and entered a state of frantic work.

The old ghosts were all busy beyond measure, while Pei Ye remained leisurely and relaxed.

Sticking to her principle of doing what she said she would, she once again visited that barbecue restaurant.

With an empty stomach, she ate to her heart’s content in a whirlwind of activity.

Burp.

Self-service barbecue restaurant manager: “……”

Twice, and it already left him with psychological trauma.

Even a starving ghost reborn would not eat this much.

The manager cursed inwardly, every possible insult condensed into one single “MMP”.

Not satisfied with just thinking it, he shouted at the staff and cashier.

“Remember her face. Next time she comes, tell her there are no seats and refuse service!”

Running a physical business was not easy. If an all-you-can-eat place encountered such a big eater and she got addicted and came every day, they would go bankrupt!

Fortunately, Pei Ye was not that extreme.

She only treated the buffet barbecue as a novelty. In the end, she switched back to her usual Sha County meals.

Using the Break Through the Dimensional Wall APP, she opened Fengdu Travel and called an underworld taxi.

As Ghost Festival approached, traffic in the ghost roads was much heavier than usual.

The driver who accepted this order was a woman. She looked quite ordinary, had few expressions, and gave off a cold, aloof impression.

Her clothing style was conservative and intellectual. She wore sneakers, while a pair of black leather high heels sat beside her in the car.

“This is my first time seeing a female driver.”

Pei Ye initiated conversation.

It was not that she liked chatting, but because conversation was also a way to gather information.

This female driver had been running taxis between Fengdu and the mortal world for many years and had seen all kinds of strange incidents. Talking more with her could broaden experience.

Following the principle of customer first, the female driver casually chatted while driving steadily.

“No choice. Fengdu requires more than ten years of actual driving experience before you can register as a taxi driver.”

Although the proportion of women obtaining driving licenses had increased year by year, most family cars were still driven by men.

Fengdu required actual driving experience rather than time since obtaining a license, so naturally there were fewer female drivers.

At that moment, a familiar BGM rang inside the car.

“Even if I die, I still love you!!!”

“Only if it’s intense enough is it satisfying—”

Pei Ye glanced at the caller ID and hesitated for half a second before answering.

“Hello, class monitor. What is it?”

The caller ID showed that this call was from dormitory 4021’s class monitor Zhou Huirong, but the voice that came through was Bai Xiaoxiao’s frightened, choking sob.

“Xiao, Xiaohong—help—help me—please, come save me—”

Pei Ye calculated the time. It had already been more than half a month since she last said that the people in dorm 4021 were nearing death.

If her calculation was correct, Zhou Huirong and the others should have encountered fatal danger within three to five days. She did not expect them to survive for more than half a month before calling her.

If the voice on the phone had not sounded so pitiful, she almost would have blurted out, “You’re still not dead?”

Fortunately, she swallowed it back in time.

“Don’t panic. Stay calm and tell me where you are.”

T City, west suburbs, a charred teaching building.

“I, I am… west… west suburbs… the haunted house ruins of Yunan Academy… please, hurry… hurry and come… I am so scared… please hurry…”

Bai Xiaoxiao’s voice was thick with tears, but not loud, clearly indicating she was hiding from something dangerous.