Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

I have to say, with Xie An interrupting like that, Pu Li’s sorrowful mood completely broke down.

Seeing Ke Xingzhou examining those banners, he wiped his face and sighed, "…How embarrassing. They came by a few days ago to hang these kinds of things, but I didn’t expect the construction team to have gone on holiday already, and yet they still sneaked in to hang them."

After a pause, seeing Ke Xingzhou still staring in that direction, he suddenly felt uneasy inside: "Master, have you noticed something?"

Ke Xingzhou didn’t answer but instead asked, "Do you hang these banners every time you come here?"

Pu Li nodded, "Yes. For a while, the construction team would tear these down every morning. I don’t know where the residents get the persistence to hang several of them every day. The key is, when we try to negotiate with them, no one admits they did it."

Xie An was curious, "Did you ever think about installing surveillance cameras?"

"Installed, of course we did! Several of them!" Pu Li could not allow a naïve question that questioned his intelligence, so he quickly explained, "And they were all installed facing that direction! But for some reason, every time either the power suddenly goes out or someone moves the cameras, so they just miss capturing the culprit’s face. We’ve been troubled for a long time!"

Back then, for this matter, they even sent people to stake out nearby, hoping to catch someone red-handed. But the workers staking out fell asleep and caught nothing.

Considering that the banners are not cheap and that few people would normally do this, the construction team leader even went to several nearby print shops to inquire.

But not only did they get no clues, the residents thought they were trying to shirk responsibility and scolded them again.

All those incidents, thinking about them now still makes him feel heartbroken, and he wiped the corner of his eyes before continuing, "That’s not all. Last time they sneaked in, they even scared a pregnant woman who was out for a walk here! It was the daughter-in-law of that demolition family I mentioned. Her baby was lost because of this. It’s really too much!"

"…" Ke Xingzhou looked at him, hesitant to speak.

Pu Li noticed his expression and suddenly felt a pang in his heart, "W-what’s wrong?"

Ke Xingzhou spoke slowly, "That daughter-in-law’s miscarriage might not have been caused by this."

Pu Li’s sobbing stopped, and he asked blankly, "Why?"

Xie An quickly answered for once, "Are you stupid? What pregnant woman goes for a walk at the construction site late at night?"

Pu Li: "!!"

Right!

He had actually thought about this issue before, but since that family had already been through so much, seeing how miserable the others were, Pu Li didn’t want to say anything.

Besides, didn’t all these things happen because he gave them the bracelet?

Pu Li looked at Ke Xingzhou, wanting to get an answer from him, but Ke Xingzhou ignored him, glanced around, and walked to a spot to stand.

He turned and asked Pu Li, "The one who got a concussion from being hit by a bird—did that incident happen here?"Pu Li was stunned when he heard this: "Yes."

At the time, they were also puzzled about how a perfectly fine resident could have ended up inside the construction site, especially since there was clearly security equipment set up at the entrance.

That bird’s fall was also strange. The person got a concussion from being hit, but the bird seemed fine. When the workers went over to check, it shakily got up and fluttered its wings before flying away.

Ke Xingzhou raised his hand and pointed in a direction: "The car accident happened over there. At 1:38 a.m., the camera you set up still didn’t capture the process."

If the previous sentence had a hint of doubt, this one was stated as a fact.

Pu Li stared blankly at Ke Xingzhou, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine, swallowing hard, and his expression finally changed: "Master, you... you mean..."

One or two times could be coincidences, but so many accidents, all happening at times or places the cameras couldn’t capture, makes one think otherwise.

Pu Li stopped midway, too afraid to continue. His heart was pounding loudly. He glanced around cautiously and realized that, at some unknown time, all the surrounding lights had disappeared.

The old residential buildings in the area scheduled for Phase 2 demolition were pitch dark, even the distant tall buildings had sunk into darkness, casting deep and shallow shadows under the night sky.

At this moment, it felt as if all sources of light in the world had vanished, leaving only the flickering ceiling lamp above them emitting a faint glow.

Pu Li’s scalp tingled, and he instinctively grabbed the arm of the person beside him: "M-m-m-master? What’s going on now?"

Only then did Xie An notice the change around them and slapped his forehead: "Ghost encounter again."

He quickly reassured Pu Li, "Don’t be afraid, it’s nothing serious."

Pu Li: "?!?"

Wait, hold on, bro, are you speaking Chinese? This doesn’t sound like the tone someone would use when talking about encountering ghosts!!

Actually, when Ke Xingzhou spoke earlier, Pu Li had some premonition, but hearing Xie An describe it so casually just now made it hard for him to accept.

Especially when in the vague darkness before them, several crooked and clearly non-human shapes started to appear.

Pu Li’s throat tightened, and after a while he weakly murmured like a mosquito’s whine: "…Ghosts, so many… ghosts…"

His face turned pale, looking like he might faint any moment. Fortunately, Xie An next to him grabbed him tightly and pinched his arm hard, watching him like facing a great enemy: "Don’t faint! You haven’t paid yet!"

If he fainted now, that would be terrible—what if later he claimed he didn’t see his brother catching ghosts and tried to back out?

Thinking this, Xie An struggled to pry open Pu Li’s tightly shut eyes.

Pu Li: "………"

Xie An was tall and strong, young and trained in dancing, with strength like a bull. No matter how much Pu Li struggled, he couldn’t break free at all and was firmly restrained, his arms and head fixed in front of Xie An, forced to keep his eyes wide open looking forward.

At the same time, Xie An saw a scene that shook him to the core—

Right where the banners had been hung earlier, and at the two spots Ke Xingzhou later pointed out where accidents happened, dense ghostly figures gradually appeared. Here a cluster, there a group, so many that it was impossible to tell how many in total.

The scene was far more spectacular than the four ghost infants last time. Even Xie An shivered, let alone Pu Li, who was experiencing such a thrilling scene for the first time.

Pu Li: "Aaaaaah! So many! So many!!"

Xie An, who wasn’t scared much by ghosts before, immediately started shouting along with him: "Aaaaaah, my ears!"The two of them screamed and struggled, but since Xie An was holding Pu Li’s upper arms tightly, and Pu Li was grabbing Xie An’s shoulders firmly, they couldn’t break apart. They could only cling to each other, wailing miserably like two screaming chickens.

Ke Xingzhou: "..."

He held back for a moment but couldn’t stand it any longer. He pinched their numb nerves and forcefully separated them.

"…Stop screaming. These are all good ghosts; they won’t harm you."

Xie An’s ears hurt the most. Hearing this, he immediately calmed down, rubbing his ears and looking carefully. Indeed, these ghosts before him were very different from the ghost infants he had met earlier. At least their faces were clean, and their souls clear, basically no different from normal people.

But each one had a fierce expression, glaring angrily with wide eyes at them, grumbling while rolling up their sleeves and moving closer.

Xie An was startled. Weren’t good ghosts supposed to be harmless? Why did these good ghosts look so fierce?

He involuntarily took two steps back, and Pu Li next to him was even worse off.

Pu Li didn’t know the difference between good ghosts and fierce ghosts; he only knew a group of ghosts with claws and fangs was rushing at him. Terrified, he screamed loudly, hugging Xie An’s arm with all his limbs: “Ahhh, uncles, aunts, elder sisters, brothers, sisters, brothers... please spare me! I don’t want to die yet!”

As soon as his words ended, the cold wind howling from the ghost shadows suddenly stopped for a moment.

Then came a series of angry curses: “Pah! How rude! Who said we are those harmful fierce ghosts?”

“That’s right! Whose kid is this, talking nonsense? If no one teaches him, I’ll give him a lesson myself!”

Two ghosts who looked quite old rolled up their sleeves, eager to step forward, wanting to slap Pu Li awake.

They were all good ghosts, and having stayed here a long time, they considered themselves experienced and didn’t pay attention to the young man beside them who looked too pretty. They assumed he was an intern Taoist from some temple and ignored him.

Who knew that the moment they brushed past Ke Xingzhou, an unbearable sharp pain suddenly shot through their souls, and the two ghosts shouted: “Aaaah, it hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”

“Unbelievable! Do you, little Taoist, understand the rules? I am a good ghost! If you hurt me, you’ll be cursed by heaven!”

Xie An didn’t wait for Ke Xingzhou to be scolded. He took a step forward: “You’re the one who should be cursed! What good ghost acts like you, hitting and scolding people? I think you’re evil ghosts! Brother, get them!”

The good ghosts around were already angry that a little Taoist dared to hurt their comrades. Hearing Xie An say that Ke Xingzhou should control them, they became furious and surrounded them.

“Hey, kid, who are you calling evil ghosts? Such a young age and so rude! Where are your parents? No manners at all!”

“It’s you guys who barged into our new home without saying hello. We are good ghosts and can’t hurt you. Why are you shouting to fight us? Young ones, don’t talk nonsense!”

The good ghosts were so angry that their whole souls trembled, their faces fierce and ugly, very scary, definitely not human-looking.

Pu Li, whose upper arms were locked by Xie An and forced to face the onslaught: “...Ahhhh! Master! Master! Help me, Master!”

He struggled wildly, turning his head trying to find Ke Xingzhou’s protection, only to face a sneaky good ghost suddenly emerging from the side. It opened its mouth wide, revealing a long tongue and two rows of old, yellow, smoke-stained teeth with missing parts, right in front of his face.

Pu Li: "........"

His cry for help abruptly stopped. His eyes rolled upward, and his whole body went limp.

Xie An was still arguing with those two old-fashioned good ghosts when suddenly he felt his hands heavy—Pu Li’s body slid down completely.

He was shocked: “What’s going on? How did he faint so suddenly? Pu Li! Pu Li, wake up!”Even Ke Xingzhou let go, throwing the two old ghosts who had tried to attack Pu Li aside, then quickly crouched down to check Pu Li’s breath.

But before he could find anything, two strong gusts of wind suddenly blew past his ears.

Xie An finally released his grip on Pu Li’s hands, straddled him, and slapped his face twice, causing Pu Li’s pale face to clearly show two handprints.

Pu Li didn’t wake up.

Xie An immediately got angry: “You still dare to say you’re good ghosts? Someone’s already been harmed by you!!”

Pu Li: "..."

Ke Xingzhou: "..."

The good ghosts were stunned by the words and instinctively stopped all their actions. Seeing that even after Xie An’s slaps Pu Li didn’t wake, their expressions visibly became uneasy.

Although the probability was small, there had been cases before of living people dying from fright caused by ghosts, especially those with heart problems.

The punishment for good ghosts harming people was very severe! If they became evil ghosts, not only would they lose their priority for reincarnation, but their descendants wouldn’t even be able to apply for civil servant positions in the underworld!

The previously arrogant good ghosts suddenly showed panic, their souls no longer trembling, their special effects gone, and they all crowded around to check Pu Li’s condition.

“What’s going on? How did he suddenly faint? Whoever did it, step forward and admit it quickly, don’t mess up my grandson’s chance of passing the trainee spirit official exam this year!”

“Only your grandson is successful? My great-granddaughter is already a trainee judge! She works in an office, very respectable! Our family has waited years to get a civil servant. If she finds out you’ve done bad things in the living world, I won’t be able to protect you!”

The ghosts started blaming each other, tossing the black blame around—

“Civil servant exams, big deal! My grandson is a civil servant in the living world too! Isn’t he better than your useless grandson who hasn’t passed after all these years? I think it’s you guys, seeing my grandson getting old, trying to remove your family’s useless kid as competition early!”

“That’s hilarious! You don’t need me to get rid of him! Last time under those red banners, you were shouting with that broken voice, scaring a pregnant woman into a miscarriage—don’t I need to remind you? If everyone hadn’t covered for you, you’d be on the judge’s blacklist by now!”

“Huh? Are you any better? Last week you threw that foot binding cloth you’d worn for hundreds of years and smoked out a big bird flying perfectly fine! I remember it even hit someone! If I hadn’t cushioned the fall, both person and bird would be dead! That would all be recorded in your life and death ledger!”

“You little brat, I’m old enough to be your ancestor, how dare you talk to me like that?!”

“Bah! Acting old and wise—when I died, I was over ten years older than you! Why don’t you mention that?”

The more they argued, the angrier they got. Before they knew it, a group of old ghosts whose ages combined totaled over a thousand years were wrestling in a heap.

Ke Xingzhou: "..."

Xie An, who had finally woken Pu Li, was stunned watching the good ghosts fight. He leaned toward Ke Xingzhou and innocently said, “Brother, looks like all the trouble at this construction site before was caused by them!”

Pu Li, stuck under Xie An’s arm, was dazed, cheeks swollen and red, eyes still wide open, blankly watching all this unfold. His mind was completely blank about demolition families or construction projects.

All he wanted now was to go home, sobbing...

—

A bunch of old ghosts with old arms and legs fighting was boring, just punching and kicking each other, making people sleepy watching.

But the old ghosts did have some life experience, and eventually they caught the good ghost who had scared Pu Li unconscious.

This good ghost looked quite young, only in his twenties or so, trembling as he was dragged out, almost about to kowtow to Ke Xingzhou.He just saw it—Ke Xingzhou had caught those two oldest good ghosts barehanded. Even good ghosts aren’t something an ordinary living person can casually lift up, right?

Not to mention Ke Xingzhou had left very heavy injuries on those two old ghosts.

These good ghosts were obviously very honest and obedient; even skilled Taoist priests couldn’t do anything to them. But this young-looking little Taoist was able to harm them—his power was truly terrifying!

So he hadn’t dared to show up earlier. Now, trembling, he came forward to plead for himself: “I didn’t mean to scare him. I just came over to watch the fun; who knew he’d suddenly turn his head this way, sob... I’m just a tenant renting here. I died at the start of the year because I was warming myself in the house and forgot to open a window. My family still thinks I’m working outside. It’s already hard enough not being able to go home for the New Year. Please don’t report me to the underworld…”

He spoke with tears, and since he really didn’t intend to harm anyone, the good ghosts who had just been fighting also began to speak up to persuade.

“It’s New Year’s, let’s show mercy to ghosts. After all, after you come down, he might not even have gotten in line to reincarnate yet. Wouldn’t it be awkward running into each other all the time?”

“Yeah, and your people are fine, aren’t they?”

“A real man with such a small heart—what kind of image is that! If it were in our time, he probably wouldn’t even be able to lift a gun!”

As the old ghosts spoke, they seemed to gradually feel justified, straightening their backs and taking on the role of elders lecturing Pu Li.

Pu Li: “...”

He was too ashamed to raise his head. Facing a group of ghosts older than his grandmother, he didn’t dare say anything and could only apologize with a face full of endurance.

But when he apologized, those old ghosts only grew bolder.

The two old ghosts caught by Ke Xingzhou immediately pointed at their blackened neck collars in complaint: “Look at how your friend grabbed me! This coat was bought by my great-great-granddaughter, it’s this year’s new style! I personally sent her a dream to buy it. Today was the first time I wore it!”

“Exactly, and look at my neck—it was so neat and smooth! I have to go back tonight to send a dream to my son and the others. If they see how black and dirty my neck is, they’ll think I’m unclean and haven’t bathed!”

The surrounding good ghosts all knew each other and quickly joined the chorus of complaints.

There were at least fifty or sixty good ghosts on the construction site. Surrounded by so many ghosts, all spitting and shouting at him, the scene should have been terrifying. But the lively atmosphere of complaint felt so familiar that Pu Li felt like he went through this every New Year, and oddly enough, he wasn’t scared at all.

He even felt embarrassed that he had fainted just now, standing awkwardly among a bunch of old ghosts unable to speak.

The old ghosts were very good at reading the situation. Seeing his expression, they knew they had him under control. Their momentum rose sharply, and their glaring eyes turned toward the remaining two people.

One of them, the young man with a baby face, had argued with them before, but since he looked likable, they decided to let him off for now.

The other one wasn’t so lucky. Although he was also good-looking, he had grabbed the collars of these elders right away. If they let him go, how could they maintain respect in the future?

Several old ghosts were eager to attack Ke Xingzhou, but then Ke Xingzhou spoke first: “Do you want to handle this by the rules or settle it privately?”

The old ghosts were surprised but quickly thought this young man must have been scared by others’ fates, so he was voluntarily showing weakness.

The two old ghosts Ke Xingzhou caught immediately straightened up.

The old lady ghost modestly said: “We’re not unreasonable ghosts. Handling it by the rules would be too harsh on you. Let’s settle it privately!”

“Since you damaged our clothes, just compensate us accordingly!” the old man ghost snorted. “As for the damage to our souls, you little Taoist seem quite capable. Find some heavenly treasures to help us recover, and we won’t pursue the matter.”

This solution was good.

The surrounding ghosts nodded repeatedly, some even regretting that they hadn’t been caught by Ke Xingzhou earlier, so they could also demand compensation now.The old man and old woman were obviously the leaders among this group of lonely wandering ghosts. Whenever dealing with other ghosts before, as long as these two elderly ghosts were brought up, they basically never lost.

The ghost group immediately looked down on Ke Xingzhou with a superior gaze, waiting for him to apologize.

But unexpectedly, Ke Xingzhou did not compromise as they had imagined. Instead, he searched his pocket, pulled out a talisman, and threw it into the empty air.

“Fragrance dense to permeate heaven and earth, ignite the pure scent to penetrate the underworld. A thousand-mile journey, fragrance requested, flying clouds and running horses come forth... Ke Xingzhou, respectfully summons.”

The talisman floated in midair, then spontaneously ignited without fire. As Ke Xingzhou quietly chanted the spell, it quickly vanished without leaving even a trace of ash.

The good ghosts naturally understood what this meant— a summoning spell!

This kind of spell is usually used to invite immortals to descend and help subdue ghosts and demons, but by slightly modifying the incantation, one can summon other officials from Heaven and Hell.

Simply put, it’s like an employee ID—every ghost official or immortal has their own unique spell code. As long as the spell is recited correctly, they can be contacted.

Whether the summoned immortal or ghost official responds to the requester is another matter.

In recent decades, with the domestic population explosion, both Heaven and Hell have been extremely busy. Summoning spells rarely take effect anymore. Therefore, Taoists who can actually summon ghost officials with such spells are rare. Among the many Taoist temples in the capital, only Qingyun Temple holds a few ghost official spell codes, all tightly controlled by a few senior Taoists who rarely share them.

Could this beautiful young Taoist be a disciple of Qingyun Temple?

Recalling that when they first met, Ke Xingzhou was able to harm their souls with just his bare hands, the good ghosts only now started to feel afraid and couldn’t help but back down.

The old Qing dynasty ghost still tried to save some dignity: “Forget it. Considering your young age, you might not have money. I won’t ask for compensation this time. I have plans to play mahjong with my girlfriends today, time’s running out, so I’ll leave first!”

However, the summoning spell had already been sent out. How could Ke Xingzhou possibly let them leave so easily?

Less than half a minute after the talisman was thrown, a strong cold wind suddenly swept through the site in the dark night, stirring up the fallen leaves that had not been cleaned, tossing them into the air before they fell again.

A figure wearing a black robe, holding the Book of Life and Death, appeared behind the leaves, almost blending into the darkness. The chilling aura on him was everywhere, impossible to ignore.

They had actually really summoned a ghost official!

The good ghosts, seeing that Ke Xingzhou really could summon a ghost official, trembled in their souls. Not to mention seeing Lu Li holding the Book of Life and Death.

This was a magical tool only possessed by judges of the dead!

Even if he was just a trainee judge, having the Book of Life and Death was basically holding their lifeline—the amount of merit they had accumulated, what kind of family they might be born into in the future, and all the benefits and treatment of their descendants were all determined by the Book of Life and Death!

The good ghosts who had just tried to show off to Ke Xingzhou were now completely silenced when facing Lu Li, like mice seeing a cat.

The Qing dynasty old lady who wanted to leave froze stiff, feeling herself locked under an invisible oppressive force, trembling as she stood rooted to the spot like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Dozens of ghosts crowded together, trembling with fear, too afraid to speak. Some had even silently begun to pray for their next life.

Until—

“Ptooey! Ptooey ptooey ptooey... Who is so irresponsible, leaving so many fallen leaves and dirt here uncleaned? They’re flying into my mouth!”

Everyone: “...”

The ghosts: “...........”

Lu Li shook his head, pulled down the hood that was blocking his view, spat out the dirt that had flown into his mouth, and then looked up to see the chaotic scene.When his gaze fell on that group of ghosts, his eyes first brightened, then noticed their clear souls. That glimmer instantly dimmed, and the entire ghost returned to its usual half-dead state.

“You were in such a hurry to call me here just to show me this?” Lu Li floated quietly beside Ke Xingzhou. “These are all good ghosts, right? Haven’t done any terribly evil deeds, so no merits or demerits.”

Ke Xingzhou glanced at him and gestured to look at those good ghosts: “You ask them why they’re all gathered here.”

Lu Li was momentarily stunned, then looked back at the guilty-looking good ghosts, counting their number—indeed, it was unreasonable.

He put on a serious face: “Good ghosts are not allowed to gather in groups while lingering in the mortal world. The limit is no more than 50. You clearly exceed that number. You should have submitted an application for this gathering to the Underworld!”

The old ghosts acted very proud when facing living people, but now facing Lu Li, who looked about the same age as Ke Xingzhou, they were as obedient as a group of quails.

Dozens of ghosts huddled together timidly, the scene resembling underage kids caught at an internet cafe.

Naturally, the leaders were the two old ghosts Ke Xingzhou had caught earlier.

The two ghosts looked like habitual offenders, skillfully crouching in the corner holding their heads, constantly protesting: “It’s unjust, honorable Judge. We don’t usually gather. Our old home was demolished, and we heard that many developers cut corners on construction, so we came here to supervise the construction!”

“Yes, yes, it was spontaneous. It just happened that we met today, no deliberate group activity!”

Lu Li’s expression improved slightly.

However, Xie Xiao’an would never allow anyone who insulted his brother to escape punishment—not even ghosts—so righteously reported: “They caused harm! Singing at midnight caused a pregnant woman to miscarry, that one threw smelly socks and stunk passing birds, knocking one into a concussion!”

Pu Li, having gone through a baptism of sorts just now, was clearly no longer the same Pu Li. Remembering recent events, his expression grew serious.

He glanced at Lu Li, who wore a black robe and an aura of coldness but looked like an overworked laborer with a resentful face, hesitated, and said, “Comrade… I also suspect a recent nearby car accident might be related to them!”

Illegal gatherings were one thing—at worst, a matter of reprimand or education, not very serious.

But what Xie An and Pu Li said afterward was far more serious.

Lu Li looked sternly at the old ghosts: “What’s going on? Didn’t you all pass the first test before being sent up here? While in the mortal world, you are not allowed to disturb its order in any way. That’s a free point! You even tried to hide it! Did you know the principal culprit gets one grade added, and accomplices the same penalty?!”

The good ghosts shrank their necks and lowered their heads, guilty.

Only the Qing dynasty old lady was dissatisfied.

Perhaps breaking through her limits after being freed, she argued: “I admit stinking up the birds was my fault, but how was I supposed to know someone would just pass by below? The workers were supposed to be resting anyway! And that car accident wasn’t me—I was playing mahjong at the time! Don’t believe me? Ask Meng Po, I was playing with her!”

Lu Li: “… There are exactly 10,086 Meng Pos in the reincarnation office. Which one do you mean?”

The old lady was stuck, dumbfounded: “Meng Po… so many?”

Now reincarnation is time-limited and numbered. She had thought the strict controls were because there were too few ghost workers, never thinking to ask which Meng Po it was—only remembered the mahjong game.

“…” Lu Li sighed.

All this was naturally the result of the recent expansion of ghost official positions in the Underworld.

These good ghosts were still waiting in line to reincarnate, had not yet contacted ghost officials from the reincarnation office, so it was normal they were unfamiliar with such matters.

Seeing the old lady like this, Lu Li knew he wouldn’t get much from her. But if she really caused the car accident and concussion, her soul wouldn’t be so clean—so she could be ruled out as a suspect.By the same logic, the suspicions on the other good ghosts could also be ruled out.

Xie An was dumbfounded: “But they just admitted they did it! And if it wasn’t them, then who else could it be?”

Pu Li was more concerned about another matter: “You said there used to be your old houses here before the demolition?”

The old ghosts were no longer afraid of living people, and upon hearing this, they raised their chins: “Of course!”

“I was the first to build a building here. Back then, we were impressive; all the surrounding buildings were one floor lower than ours!” the old ghost sighed at this point. “But unfortunately, the later generations were disappointing. Since my son’s generation, I spoiled them—they’ve been lazy for decades. Now they can only get the smallest area…”

The old ghost became almost tearful as he spoke and glanced at Pu Li, seemingly realizing this might be the developer boss of the project and that he was very afraid of ghosts.

His arrogance flared up again. Just as he was about to threaten this guy to give more compensation to his descendants, Pu Li suddenly looked up.

The fear and panic in his eyes were gone, replaced by a faint anger.

“But you all saw the construction process. I won’t say the materials were the best, but everything was according to the contract—no cutting corners at all. And workers were allowed to bring their families to live here, which means there were innocent women and children on site. You knew this but still hung that kind of banner at our construction site—why?”

In fact, what he told Ke Xingzhou didn’t cover everything. Many bad things also happened at the site.

For example, the banner incident scared many workers’ children, and he had already spent a lot on medical bills.

He thought with ghost officials here, these good ghosts would admit their mistakes. But the old ghost immediately puffed up, glaring: “We can eat carelessly, but don’t speak recklessly! When did we ever hang a banner? Don’t wrong the good ghosts!”

Pu Li was completely confused: “Then it wasn’t you?”

“Of course not!” The old ghost glared angrily at him. “That’s the future house of our descendants. Why would we mess things up for you? Use your brain; you know that’s impossible!”

Pu Li: “…”

There had been the miscarriage and concussion incidents, and now tonight’s misunderstanding. What they said was really not believable.

But at this moment, Ke Xingzhou spoke: “The real culprit behind these incidents is indeed not them.”

Pu Li: “…???”

Pu Li felt like he was getting smarter—if none of these things were done by them, then what exactly caused the project to be delayed so long?

Ke Xingzhou: “It’s those previous problems—why did a perfectly fine pregnant woman go for a walk at the construction site at midnight, how did residents without access permits sneak in, and this area has wide one-way lanes, so how did the car accident happen?”

Pu Li was stunned.

These questions were indeed unexplainable. And if those people hadn’t inexplicably appeared on the construction site, these things most likely wouldn’t have happened.

Ke Xingzhou’s gaze slowly shifted to a partially demolished house in the distance.

“Whose house was that originally?”

“Mine, mine,” the old ghost said warily, staring at him. “What do you want? I warn you, don’t get any funny ideas. This land was legally and properly allocated to me during the village’s land division. Even if you invite the king of heaven himself, you have to compensate my great-grandchildren!”

After saying this, he glared at Pu Li and snorted coldly, as if to say, “If you dare to mess with my house today, I’ll hang banners outside your door every day.”

Pu Li: “…………”

He felt frustrated but had apologized too many times lately and instinctively wanted to say sorry. Before he could speak, Ke Xingzhou interrupted him.Ke Xingzhou glanced at the old ghost, then looked at Lu Li, who flipped through the copy of the Book of Life and Death in his hand. The old ghost’s arrogance immediately diminished a lot.

Only then did he turn back and continue asking Pu Li, “Do you know how to operate an excavator?”

Pu Li, worn out and barely himself after a night of torment, just blankly nodded at the question: “I… I know a little.”

At that moment, Ke Xingzhou raised his chin and gestured toward the partially demolished house: “Demolish it.”

Pu Li suddenly straightened up: “!”

Old ghost: “!!!”