Chapter 36

Gotta say, thanks to Xie An’s sudden interruption, Pu Li’s sorrowful mood was completely broken.

Seeing Ke Xingzhou examining the banners, he wiped his face and sighed:

“…Sorry you had to see that. They came by a few days ago and hung these things up too, but I didn’t expect the construction crew to have already gone on holiday—and they still snuck in to hang them.”

He paused. Seeing Ke Xingzhou still staring at that area, he suddenly felt a jolt in his heart:

“Master, did you notice something?”

Ke Xingzhou responded with a question:

“Do they hang these banners every time you come?”

Pu Li nodded:

“Yeah. For a while, the construction crew had to tear them down every morning. No idea where those residents get the perseverance—they hang a few every single day. The worst part is, when we try to negotiate with them, not a single person will admit they did it.”

Xie An was curious:

“Didn’t you think of installing surveillance?”

“We did! Of course we did! Several, in fact!” Pu Li, unwilling to let a naive-sounding question challenge his intelligence, immediately explained,

“And they’re all pointed right in that direction! But somehow, every time something happens, the power just happens to go out, or the camera gets mysteriously repositioned, just barely missing the culprit’s face. We’ve been racking our brains over this for ages!”

Back then, they even assigned someone to stake out the area, hoping to catch the perpetrator red-handed. But by the time the worker fell asleep from waiting too long, still no one was caught.

Considering that banners weren’t cheap and not something most people would bother making, the project manager even went around to nearby print shops to ask questions.

In the end, not only did they get no leads, but the residents accused them of trying to deflect blame—and they got cursed out again.

All those incidents still made Pu Li feel bitter when he thought about them. He couldn’t help but wipe the corner of his eye, then continued:

“And that’s not all. Last time they snuck in, they even scared a pregnant woman who was out for a walk! It was the daughter-in-law of that family refusing to move. That’s how she lost her baby. It’s just too much!”

“…” Ke Xingzhou looked at him, as if he wanted to speak but held back.

Pu Li noticed his expression and felt a sudden pang of unease:

“W-What is it?”

Ke Xingzhou spoke slowly:

“That woman’s miscarriage may not have been caused by this.”

Pu Li’s sobbing paused. He stared blankly and asked:

“Why?”

Xie An, for once, answered before anyone else:

“Are you stupid? What kind of pregnant woman goes for a walk at a construction site in the middle of the night?!”

Pu Li: “!!”

Oh—right!

He had actually considered this before, but that family had already been through a lot at the time. Seeing their miserable state, Pu Li didn’t feel it was appropriate to say anything.

But wasn’t it because he gave them that bracelet that all this started happening?

Pu Li looked to Ke Xingzhou, hoping for some kind of answer. But Ke Xingzhou ignored him, looked around, and walked over to a specific spot.

He turned back to ask Pu Li:

“The one you said got a concussion from being hit by a bird—did that happen here?”Pu Li was stunned for a moment: “Yeah.”

Back then, they found it strange too—why would a normal resident go into the construction site? There were clearly security machines set up at the entrance.

And that bird fell in a really weird way. The person got a concussion from the impact, but the bird was completely fine. When the workers went to check, it staggered up, flapped its wings twice, and flew away.

Ke Xingzhou raised his hand and pointed in another direction: “The car accident happened over there. At 1:38 a.m. Your cameras didn’t capture that incident either.”

If the last sentence still carried a hint of a question, this one was purely declarative.

Pu Li stared blankly at Ke Xingzhou, suddenly feeling a chill crawl up his spine for no reason. He swallowed hard, his expression finally changing: “Master, are you saying…”

One or two incidents might be coincidences, but this many accidents, all conveniently happening at times or in places where the cameras couldn’t catch them—anyone would start to feel suspicious.

Pu Li couldn’t even finish his sentence. His heart pounded in his chest as he looked around, realizing that at some point, all the surrounding lights had gone out.

In the old residential buildings slated for Phase 2 demolition, not a single light remained. Even the tall buildings in the distance had sunk into darkness, casting long and broken shadows across the night.

In that moment, it was as if the entire world had lost its source of light—only the dim, swaying ceiling lamp above their heads still flickered with faint light.

Pu Li’s scalp went numb. Instinctively, he grabbed the arm of the person next to him: “M-M-M-Master?! What the hell is going on now?!”

Xie An, startled by his shout, finally noticed the change in their surroundings. He raised a hand and smacked his forehead: “Great, we’ve run into ghosts again.”

Then he added, trying to calm Pu Li down: “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.”

Pu Li: “?!?”

Wait—what?! Brother, are you even speaking Chinese? That tone does not match the situation of running into ghosts!!

To be fair, when Ke Xingzhou first spoke earlier, Pu Li had already had a bad feeling. But hearing it now stated so casually from Xie An’s mouth, he still couldn’t quite accept it.

Especially when, in the blurry shadows ahead, some twisted, clearly inhuman silhouettes began to emerge.

Pu Li’s throat tightened. It took him a long time before he could croak out in a mosquito-like whisper:

“…Ghosts. So many… ghosts…”

His face went pale, looking like he might faint at any moment. Luckily, Xie An grabbed him tightly and pinched his arm hard, staring at him like they were in the middle of a life-or-death situation:

“Don’t faint! You haven’t paid yet!”

If he fainted now, that would be a disaster. What if he later claimed he didn’t see his brother catch the ghosts and tried to weasel out of paying?

Thinking this, Xie An forcefully pried open Pu Li’s tightly shut eyes.

Pu Li: “…………”

Xie An was tall and strong, had danced when he was younger, and had strength to rival an ox. No matter how much Pu Li struggled, he couldn’t escape in the slightest. Instead, he was completely restrained, his arm and head locked in place by Xie An, forced to stare straight ahead with his eyes wide open.

At the same time, Xie An also saw something that made his whole body shiver—

In the exact spots where the banners had hung earlier, and the two places Ke Xingzhou had pointed out where incidents occurred, dense clusters of ghostly figures gradually appeared. Here a pile, there a mass—so many that you couldn’t even begin to count them.

The scene was even more overwhelming than the four ghost infants they had encountered last time. Even Xie An shivered, let alone Pu Li, who was experiencing something like this for the first time.

Pu Li: “Aaaah! So many! So many!!”

Xie An hadn’t been that scared of the ghosts themselves, but with Pu Li screaming like that, he immediately shouted too:

“Aaaahhh my ears!!”The two of them screamed and struggled, but since Xie An was locking up Pu Li’s upper body, and Pu Li was clinging tightly to his shoulder, they couldn’t separate. Instead, they ended up clutching each other and wailing miserably like two squeaky rubber chickens.

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

He tried to hold it in, but eventually lost patience and pinched the pressure points on both of them, forcibly prying them apart.

“…Stop screaming. These are benevolent spirits. They can’t hurt you.”

Xie An mainly had sore ears. Upon hearing that, he immediately calmed down, rubbing his ears and taking a closer look. Sure enough, he noticed that the ghosts in front of him were very different from the ghost infants he’d encountered before. At the very least, their faces were clean, and their souls looked solid—almost indistinguishable from living people.

Except they all had fierce expressions, glaring with bulging eyes, cursing and rolling up their sleeves as they approached.

Xie An jumped in surprise. What happened to “benevolent”? Why did these spirits look so aggressive?

He couldn’t help but take two steps back. As for Pu Li beside him, it went without saying.

Pu Li didn’t know the difference between benevolent and malevolent spirits. All he saw was a swarm of ghosts coming at him, waving their claws. He immediately screamed in terror and grabbed Xie An’s arm with all four limbs: “Aaaah! Uncles, aunties, grannies, grandpas, sisters, brothers… please let me go! I don’t want to die yet!”

As soon as he said that, the gusting ghost wind that had been howling since the spirits appeared suddenly paused.

Then came a string of angry curses:

“Pah! How rude! Who are you calling evil spirits?!”

“Exactly! Whose kid is this, spouting nonsense like that? If no one’s taught you manners, I’ll teach you myself!”

Two ghosts who looked very old rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward, ready to give Pu Li a couple of slaps to “wake him up.”

They were all benevolent spirits and had been lingering in that place for a long time. Thinking their spiritual seniority was well established, they completely ignored the overly handsome young man beside them, assuming he was just some novice Taoist from a temple.

But the moment they brushed past Ke Xingzhou, an unbearable pain shot through their souls. The two ghosts immediately howled in agony:

“Aaaah! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!”

“Outrageous! You little Taoist, do you even know the rules? I’m a benevolent spirit! If you hurt me, you’ll be punished by the heavens!”

Xie An couldn’t stand hearing Ke Xingzhou insulted. He charged forward: “You’re the one who’ll be punished! What kind of benevolent spirit shows up cursing and trying to slap people? I think you’re nothing but evil spirits! Bro, take them down!”

The surrounding spirits had already been fuming that a young Taoist dared to harm one of their own. Now, hearing Xie An tell Ke Xingzhou to exorcise them, they flew into a rage and surrounded them.

“Hey! Who are you calling evil spirits, kid? What a foul mouth for someone so young! Where are your parents? Ever heard of manners?”

“You barged into our new home without even saying hello. We’re benevolent spirits—we can’t even hurt you. Why are you acting like we’re monsters? Don’t go around making baseless accusations, kid!”

Furious, the spirits began to tremble violently, their expressions fierce and grotesque, looking anything but human.

Pu Li, whose upper body was still locked by Xie An and was forced to face all this directly:

“...Aaaaaah! Master! Master! Help me, Master!”

He struggled wildly, twisting around to look for Ke Xingzhou’s protection—only to come face to face with a spirit sneaking up beside him, mouth wide open, revealing a long tongue and two rows of old, yellowed, tar-stained, chipped teeth.

Pu Li: “…………”

His scream cut off. His eyes rolled upward, and he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Xie An was still arguing with the two condescending spirits when he suddenly felt a weight in his arms—Pu Li’s body had gone limp and was sliding downward.

Startled, he exclaimed: “What happened?! Why did he just faint like that? Pu Li! Pu Li, wake up!”Even Ke Xingzhou let go, tossing aside the two old ghosts who had just tried to attack Pu Li, then quickly crouched down to check Pu Li’s breathing.

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

Xie An had finally released Pu Li’s hands and was straddling him. With a loud smack smack, he slapped Pu Li twice across the face, turning his head to one side. Two faint palm prints immediately appeared on his relatively fair cheeks.

Pu Li didn’t wake up.

Xie An flew into a rage: “And you still dare call yourselves benevolent spirits? Someone just died because of you!!”

Pu Li: “……”

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

The benevolent spirits were stunned by his words and instinctively stopped moving. Seeing how Xie An couldn’t even wake Pu Li with slaps, their expressions visibly grew uneasy.

Though rare, there had been cases of people getting scared to death by ghosts before—especially those with heart conditions.

And the punishment for a benevolent spirit harming someone was severe! If they turned into evil spirits, not only would they lose their priority in the reincarnation queue, but even their descendants would be disqualified from taking civil service exams in the underworld!

The once arrogant spirits now looked panicked. Their souls stopped shaking, all effects ceased, and they hurried over to check on Pu Li.

“What’s going on? How did he just faint like that? Whoever did it, fess up! Don’t ruin my grandson’s shot at the Soul Collector internship this year!”

“Oh please, your grandson? My great-granddaughter’s already an intern judge! Works in an office—very respectable! We haven’t had a civil servant in our family for generations. If she finds out you caused trouble among the living, I won’t be able to cover for you!”

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

“So what if he passed the exam? My grandson’s a civil servant in the living world too! Way better than your deadbeat ghost grandson who’s been failing it for years! I bet it was you—your grandson’s about to step down, and you wanted to eliminate the competition for your useless kid!”

“Don’t make me laugh. You think I need to do that? Last time, under those red banners, you screamed that awful song and scared a pregnant woman into miscarriage. Should I bring that up? If the others hadn’t helped cover it up, you’d already be blacklisted by the Judge!”

“Hah? And you think you’re any better? Wasn’t it you last week who swung that centuries-old foot wrap and knocked a bird right out of the sky? I remember it even hit a person! If I hadn’t caught them both, they’d be dead! That would’ve gone straight on your ledger!”

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

“Pfft, acting like age makes you right. I was over ten years older than you when I died! Why don’t you bring that up, huh?!”

The shouting escalated, and before anyone knew it, they’d started fighting. A group of ghosts whose combined age easily reached a millennium ended up brawling in a messy scuffle.

Ke Xingzhou: “……”

Xie An finally managed to slap Pu Li awake. Now, watching the so-called benevolent spirits throw punches, he stood there dumbfounded, then leaned toward Ke Xingzhou and innocently asked, “Bro, looks like everything that happened on this construction site was their doing, huh!”

Stuffed under his arm, Pu Li looked blank, his cheeks swollen and red, eyes still wide open as he stared at the chaotic scene before him. All thoughts of demolition disputes and construction projects had long since vanished from his mind.

He just wanted to go home. Wuwuwu…

--

A bunch of rickety old ghosts didn’t have much skill when it came to fighting—just flailing fists and kicks that made everyone sleepy.

But these old ghosts did have some life experience, and in the end, they managed to single out the spirit responsible for scaring Pu Li into unconsciousness.

This particular ghost actually looked quite young, in his twenties at most. Trembling, he was dragged out and practically collapsed to his knees in front of Ke Xingzhou.He had seen it clearly just now—Ke Xingzhou had grabbed the two oldest benevolent spirits with his bare hands. Even benevolent spirits weren’t something an ordinary living person could just pick up like that!

Not to mention, Ke Xingzhou had left serious injuries on those two old ghosts.

They, the benevolent spirits, had always behaved themselves and followed the rules. Even highly skilled Taoist priests couldn’t do anything to them. But this young-looking Taoist was actually able to harm them—his abilities were truly terrifying!

That was why he hadn’t dared to show himself just now. Even now, he only stepped forward trembling, trying to defend himself: “I didn’t mean to scare him. I just came to join the fun… How was I supposed to know he’d suddenly turn around—waaah… I’m just a tenant who rented a place here. I died at the beginning of the year because I forgot to open the window while heating the room. Even now, my family thinks I’m still working away from home. Not being able to go home for the New Year is already painful enough… Please, don’t report me to the underworld authorities…”

Tears streamed down his face as he spoke, and since he genuinely didn’t seem to have intended any harm, the other benevolent spirits, who had just been brawling, started trying to mediate.

“It’s New Year’s—spare the ghost if you can. Who knows, by the time you die and come down here, he might still be waiting in line for reincarnation. It’d be awkward running into each other then.”

“Yeah, and the guy didn’t even get hurt or anything!”

“What kind of man is so cowardly? In our day, you wouldn’t even have the strength to lift a rifle!”

The old ghosts, feeling more and more justified as they spoke, straightened their backs and took on the tone of elders as they began lecturing Pu Li.

Pu Li: “……”

He couldn’t even lift his head under the scolding. Facing ghosts older than his own grandmother, he didn’t dare say anything and could only apologize with a face full of silent endurance.

But the moment he apologized, the old ghosts took it as a cue to push further.

The two who had been grabbed by Ke Xingzhou immediately pointed at the backs of their necks and complained: “Look what your friend did to me! This outfit was a new model my great-great-great-granddaughter bought for me! I specifically appeared in her dream to tell her to get it. Today was my first time wearing it!”

“Exactly! And my neck—look how messed up it is! It used to be nice and smooth! I have to appear in my son’s dream tonight, and if they see this blackened mess, they’ll think I’ve gone unhygienic in the afterlife, like I haven’t even bathed!”

All the surrounding spirits knew each other, and soon they too joined in the complaints.

There were at least fifty or sixty benevolent spirits at this construction site. Surrounded by such a large group of ghosts all yelling at him and spitting as they spoke, it should’ve been terrifying—but the bustling, accusatory atmosphere felt strangely familiar. Pu Li felt like he went through this every year during the Lunar New Year, and for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to be scared anymore.

In fact, he even started feeling that fainting from fright earlier was genuinely embarrassing, and now he stood awkwardly in the middle of a bunch of old ghosts, too ashamed to speak.

The old ghosts were quick to read the situation. One glance at his face and they knew he’d been fully cowed. Emboldened, their glowing eyes turned toward the other two people.

The baby-faced young man, though he had argued with them earlier, was at least cute-looking—they could let him off for now.

But the other one? That wouldn't do. Handsome or not, he had grabbed the collars on the back of their necks. If they let that slide, what kind of example would that set?

A few old ghosts began itching for a confrontation, about to go after Ke Xingzhou—when Ke Xingzhou suddenly spoke first: “Do you want to settle this by the rules, or privately?”

The old ghosts were a little surprised, but soon figured the young man must’ve been frightened by the earlier scene and was backing down.

The two who had been grabbed immediately straightened up.

The old ghost lady said modestly, “We’re not unreasonable spirits. Settling this by official rules would be too harsh—we’ll handle it privately.”

“Since you damaged our clothing, just compensate us according to its value,” the old ghost man snorted. “As for damage to our soul bodies—since you’re a skilled little Taoist, go find us some rare spiritual treasures to help us recover. Then we won’t press charges.”

That proposal sounded just right.

The surrounding ghosts all nodded in agreement. Some even looked regretful—if only Ke Xingzhou had grabbed them earlier, they could’ve been part of the compensation claims too.The old man and old woman were clearly the leaders among this group of wandering ghosts. In the past, whenever they had to deal with other spirits, just invoking the names of these two elder ghosts was usually enough to get whatever they wanted.

All the ghosts now looked at Ke Xingzhou with condescending gazes, waiting for him to apologize.

But Ke Xingzhou did not react the way they expected. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a talisman, and flung it into the air.

“Fragrance rises, stirring heaven and earth; light the incense to pierce the underworld. A thousand-mile plea calls forth the swift one… Ke Xingzhou, respectfully requests.”

The talisman floated midair, then suddenly ignited without fire, burning away completely without leaving a trace of ash as Ke Xingzhou chanted the incantation under his breath.

The benevolent spirits immediately recognized the technique—a Spirit-Summoning Spell!

This type of spell was typically used to call deities down to assist in subduing ghosts and demons. With slight modifications, it could also summon officials from Heaven or the Underworld.

In simple terms, it worked like an ID code. Every ghost officer or deity had their own unique incantation. If you recited the correct one, you could contact them.

However, whether the summoned god or ghost officer would respond was another matter entirely.

In recent decades, with the country’s exploding population, both Heaven and the Underworld had been overwhelmed with work. These summoning spells rarely worked anymore. Very few Taoists could actually use them effectively. In all of the capital’s temples, only a few at Qingyun Temple even possessed a handful of such codes—and they were tightly held by a few old masters who never passed them down lightly.

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

Thinking back to how Ke Xingzhou had managed to harm their soul bodies with just his bare hands, the benevolent spirits finally started to feel afraid. They began to back down.

The old ghost from the Qing dynasty tried to save face: “Fine, considering how young you are—and you probably don’t have much money—I’ll let you off the hook for my part. I’ve got a mahjong date with my sisters today, and I’m almost out of time, so I’ll just go now!”

But since the summoning spell had already been cast, there was no way Ke Xingzhou would let them leave so easily.

Barely half a minute after the talisman was thrown, a strong gust of yin wind swept through the dark night, lifting the uncleared dead leaves from the construction site, tossing them into the air before they fluttered back down.

A figure in black robes, holding the Register of Life and Death, appeared behind the swirling leaves. Almost blending into the darkness, the cold aura emanating from him was palpable and impossible to ignore.

A ghost officer had actually arrived!

The moment the benevolent spirits saw that Ke Xingzhou had truly summoned a ghost officer, their souls began to tremble. And when they saw the Register of Life and Death in Lu Li’s hands, they were even more terrified.

That was a divine instrument possessed only by judges of the underworld!

Even if the person was just an intern judge, possessing the Register of Life and Death meant they effectively held power over the ghosts’ very fates—how much merit they had, what kind of family they’d reincarnate into, and all the blessings and privileges of their future descendants were judged by that book.

The benevolent spirits who had been puffing themselves up in front of Ke Xingzhou now instantly fell silent upon seeing Lu Li—like mice spotting a cat.

The old lady ghost from the Qing dynasty froze, feeling an invisible pressure locking onto her. Her entire ghostly form trembled, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Dozens of ghosts huddled together, shaking with fear, too terrified to speak. Some had even begun silently praying for a better next life.

Until—

“Peh! Peh peh peh… Who’s so lacking in civic duty they’d leave all these leaves and sand here uncleaned? It all flew into my mouth!”

Everyone: “……”

All the ghosts: “…………”

Lu Li shook his head, pushing back his hood that had blocked his vision, spat out the dirt that had flown into his mouth, and only then looked up to take in the chaotic scene before him.When his gaze fell on the group of ghosts, his eyes lit up at first, but upon noticing the clarity of their soul bodies, that light quickly dimmed again. The ghost instantly returned to his usual half-dead state.

“You dragged me over here in such a rush just to show me this?” Lu Li drifted lazily over to Ke Xingzhou’s side. “These are all benevolent ghosts, aren’t they? They haven’t done anything truly evil or vicious. This doesn’t count as a case!”

Ke Xingzhou gave him a glance and motioned toward the ghosts. “Ask them first why they’re all gathered here.”

Lu Li froze, turned to look at the guilt-ridden ghosts, and counted their number—definitely abnormal.

He straightened his face. “Benevolent ghosts are not allowed to gather in groups while lingering in the mortal realm. The maximum allowed is 50. You’re clearly over the limit. You need to file a group activity application with the Underworld!”

These old ghosts were all swagger and arrogance when dealing with the living, but now that they were facing Lu Li—who didn’t look much older than Ke Xingzhou—they were as meek as quail.

Dozens of ghosts crouched together timidly. The scene looked like a bunch of underage kids caught gaming at an internet café.

At the front, of course, were the two old ghosts Ke Xingzhou had previously caught.

The two of them looked like seasoned offenders, squatting in the corner with their heads cradled in their arms like pros, though their mouths kept moving: “This is a misunderstanding, Judge! We don’t usually gather like this. It’s just that the old houses back home got torn down, and we heard that a lot of construction developers cut corners these days, so we came to inspect the quality!”

“Yeah, yeah! It was spontaneous. We just happened to bump into each other today. It wasn’t an intentional group gathering!”

Only then did Lu Li’s expression ease a little.

However, Xie Xiao’an absolutely refused to let anyone who insulted his brother go unpunished—not even ghosts. So he righteously reported, “They hurt people! That one sang loudly at midnight and caused a pregnant woman to miscarry. That one threw smelly socks and made a bird faint from the stench, which fell and gave a passerby a concussion!”

Pu Li, having gone through what he had earlier, was no longer the same as before. Remembering some incidents from the past few days, his expression turned grave.

He looked at Lu Li, who was dressed in black robes with a cold aura, yet had such a frustrated and overworked look that he seemed like just another wage slave, and hesitated before speaking: “Comrade… I also suspect they were involved in a car accident nearby!”

If it were just illegal gathering, at most it would be a matter of criticism and education—not too serious.

But what Xie An and Pu Li said afterward? That was serious.

Lu Li looked sternly at the old ghosts. “What’s going on? Didn’t you all pass the basic test before being allowed topside? You know you’re not allowed to disturb the order of the mortal world. That’s one of the easiest questions! And now you’re trying to cover it up? Do you realize that hiding a crime adds to the severity of the offense, and all accomplices share the same guilt?!”

The benevolent ghosts shrank back, lowering their heads in shame.

Only that old lady ghost from the Qing Dynasty was unconvinced.

Perhaps after finally freeing her bound feet, she’d found a new sense of self. She argued indignantly, “Okay, I admit the bird incident was my fault—but how was I supposed to know someone would be walking below at that exact moment? The workers were supposed to be on break then! And that car accident? That wasn’t me! I was playing mahjong at the time! Ask Meng Po if you don’t believe me—I was playing with her!”

Lu Li: “…There are 10,086 Meng Pos working in Reincarnation Processing. Which one are you talking about?”

The old lady ghost froze, dumbfounded. “Why are there so many Meng Pos now?”

She had assumed that the bottleneck in reincarnation was due to a shortage of ghost workers. It never occurred to her to ask which Meng Po was in charge—she only remembered the mahjong game.

“…,” Lu Li sighed.

All of this was, naturally, the result of the Underworld expanding its ghost officer workforce.

These benevolent ghosts were still waiting in line for their turn to reincarnate, so they hadn’t yet interacted with any of the reincarnation department’s ghost officers. It made sense they wouldn’t be familiar with all of this.

Lu Li could tell from the old lady’s cluelessness that there was no point pressing further. Besides, if she really had caused that car crash or the concussion, her soul wouldn’t be this clean. Her innocence could likely be confirmed.By the same logic, the other benevolent ghosts could also be ruled out as suspects.

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

Pu Li, however, was more concerned about something else. “You all said your old houses used to be here before the demolition?”

The old ghosts were no longer afraid when facing the living. At those words, they lifted their chins proudly. “Of course!”

“I was the first to build a multi-story house in this area. Back then, I was the most impressive—our house was a whole floor taller than any of the neighbors!” the old man ghost sighed. “Too bad the next few generations turned out disappointing. From my son’s generation on, they got spoiled and lazy. After decades of freeloading, they’ve ended up with the smallest share of property…”

At this point, the old man ghost was practically in tears. Then he spotted Pu Li and seemed to recall this was the developer in charge of the project—and someone who was very afraid of ghosts.

His arrogance surged again. Just as he was about to threaten the young man into giving his descendants more compensation, Pu Li suddenly looked up at him.

The fear and panic from earlier had vanished from his eyes, replaced with a flicker of anger.

“But you all saw the construction process yourselves. I’m not saying the materials were luxurious, but everything was done according to the contract—there was no cutting corners. And workers were allowed to bring family members, so there were innocent women and children living on-site. You knew that. So why did you still hang those banners at the construction site?”

In fact, what he had told Ke Xingzhou earlier didn’t even cover everything. Many unpleasant things had happened at the construction site.

Like the banner incident—it had scared a number of workers’ children, and Pu Li had already paid a lot out of pocket for medical expenses alone.

He had assumed that with the ghost wardens here, the benevolent ghosts would at least admit their wrongdoing. But the old man ghost instantly flared up: “You can say whatever you want about food, but don’t you go making false accusations! When did we ever hang any banners? Don’t go framing good ghosts!”

Pu Li was completely lost. “It wasn’t you?”

“Of course not!” the old man ghost glared at him furiously. “This is future housing for our descendants. Why would we mess with it? Use your brain—does that sound even remotely possible?”

Pu Li: “……”

First there were the miscarriage and concussion incidents, then tonight’s misunderstanding. Coming from them, that claim was hard to believe.

But at that moment, Ke Xingzhou spoke: “They really weren’t the culprits behind all this.”

Pu Li: “……???”

He felt like he was about to grow a new brain. If none of these incidents were caused by them, then what was actually holding up his construction project all this time?

Ke Xingzhou said, “It still comes down to the same questions—why was a pregnant woman taking a midnight walk at a construction site, how did unauthorized residents sneak in without access permits, and this area is all wide, straight roads—so how did the car accident happen?”

Pu Li was stunned.

Those questions really couldn’t be explained. And if those people hadn’t appeared at the site for no reason, most of these incidents probably wouldn’t have occurred.

Ke Xingzhou’s gaze slowly drifted to the distance—toward a building that hadn’t been fully demolished yet.

“Who did that house originally belong to?”

“Mine, mine,” the old man ghost said warily, watching him closely. “What are you planning? I’m warning you—don’t try anything funny. That land was allocated to me when the village divided plots. It’s fully legal! Even if you bring the Jade Emperor down here, you still have to compensate my great-grandchildren!”

After speaking, he shot a glare at Pu Li and snorted coldly—clearly conveying: “If you dare mess with my house today, I’ll hang banners outside your home every day.”

Pu Li: “…………”

He felt stifled, but he’d been apologizing so much lately that his instinct was to say sorry. Before he could even open his mouth, Ke Xingzhou cut him off.Ke Xingzhou glanced at the old man ghost, then looked at Lu Li. The latter flipped through the copy of the Book of Life and Death in his hand, and the old man ghost’s arrogance instantly deflated quite a bit.

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

After being tormented all night, Pu Li was practically a wreck. Now, he was almost like an idiot, and could only nod blankly in response, “I… I know a little, I guess.”

Then Ke Xingzhou jerked his chin toward the partially demolished house and said, “Tear it down.”

Pu Li immediately straightened up: “!”

Old man ghost: “!!”