Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Unpredictable

Spirit-Sealing Academy, Jinling University.

Dean's office.

Dean Liu Guanshan of the Spirit-Sealing Academy was reviewing the faxes on his desk. The content was a summary of the five rounds of court hearings in the imperial capital, compiled by Li Xianzhou, along with a detailed record of this round of exams.

Each student's statement was printed and inserted in the middle, with a handwritten signature at the end, signifying accountability for the content of the statement.

"…"

Liu Guanshan usually didn’t get involved with exam matters, since the students at the Spirit-Sealing Academy were top-quality. Whether public opinion leaned left or right, Spirit-Sealing Academy had always maintained its place at the top. The professors were diligent, and with a vice-dean overseeing the quality of education, his role as the head was mainly administrative, focusing on maintaining the academy’s relationships both nationally and internationally.

The reason he urgently called Li Xianzhou to provide these files today was due to a small guest who would be arriving soon.

"…"

Liu Guanshan pulled out the statement of first-year student Ming Yue and examined it carefully.

The narration was clear, without much emotional tone. It was evident that this was a student with a sharp mind.

Liu Guanshan’s gaze fell on the one ambiguous sentence:

"…Around 12:10 AM on the second day of the exam, I fell into a seismic rift at the Ghost Gate scenic spot in Fengdu, the ghost city."

"Around 12:50 AM, I managed to escape using the underground river."

From 12:10 to 12:50.

There was a span of about 40 minutes, which the student hadn’t elaborated on, and this was inconsistent with the overall style of the statement.

Moreover, the statement didn’t describe the situation with the underground river.

Generally speaking, lower-year students without professional training would provide limited information in their statements. Simply giving a rough outline of the event would be acceptable, but Ming Yue had specifically called the office early in the morning, requesting a one-on-one meeting with the dean to discuss the seismic danger she faced during the exam and to seek advice in person. This made Liu Guanshan somewhat perplexed.

She was a member of the Ming family.

The head of the current Ming family, Ming Ye, wielded unimaginable power. For reasons unknown, he had intervened in the burial of the souls of the entire Jinling city, which was not something to be taken lightly.

As the dean of the Spirit-Sealing Academy, Liu Guanshan had dealings with Ming Ye in matters related to the academy.

After all, the safety of the Yin and Yang affairs for the entire Jinling city was essentially controlled by the Spirit-Sealing Academy and the Ming family.knock knock knock.

The sound of knocking echoed.

"Come in," Liu Guanshan responded, placing a cup of tea on the table in front of him.

Ming Yue opened the door, lowered her head, and greeted, "Good morning, Dean."

Liu Guanshan smiled kindly, "Come in, I just brewed some tea."

Ming Yue sat down awkwardly, her mind holding a big secret. She couldn’t even bring herself to drink the hot Maojian tea in front of her. "Sorry, Dean, for calling so early."

"I apologize."

Liu Guanshan kindly said, "No worries, the dean’s office number is public."

"Now, tell me, what do you want to discuss with the teacher?"

Ming Yue took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself several times:

"Dean, I request that you give me the authority to access the archive room."

Liu Guanshan: "The school's archive room is open."

Ming Yue shook her head. "No, I’m applying to enter our department’s archive room."

Liu Guanshan smiled. "What are you so curious about?"

"The things in the archive room are complicated and boring. Many of the files aren’t even written in standard Chinese. When I was a student here, I didn’t want to go in even once during the four years."

"If you want to study, the library's BC section has enough books to borrow," the dean said, maintaining a deliberately light atmosphere.

Ming Yue felt grateful in her heart. She knew the information she brought would be beneficial to the academy without harm. She took a breath and said, "You’re right, Dean."

"I’m not trying to study by entering the archive room… I’m aware of my current level, and at this point, I wouldn't learn anything even if I went in."

"I just… want to learn about some related historical materials."

"Specifically, about the materials on the history of the Underworld from the end of the last century."Liu Guanshan did not confirm or deny: "The library has a general history of the Underworld."

Ming Yue shook her head. "I want to see the Underworld's administrative records and the daily logs of the great underworld deities."

"I know," she continued earnestly, "our department has the most complete records of Yin-Yang affairs in the realm of the Ghost Slayers."

The young girl gazed at the elder with anticipation.

The daily logs of the Underworld were one of the few pieces of evidence left in the human world, designed to prove that the Underworld worked diligently, enforcing the law impartially, and recording events on its own initiative.

It wasn't like the daily logs of ancient human emperors, which recorded everything in great detail, even their meals, bodily functions, and private matters.

The great ghosts of the Underworld do not experience reincarnation, so they don’t need to relieve themselves. Their daily life revolves around labor, maintaining the function of the Underworld and the cycle of reincarnation.

Therefore, the focus of the daily logs wasn't to portray a complete personality, but to serve as a record of public duties.

Every great ghost had their own daily log.

For example, the Death Book, which was overseen by Cui Jue, could not be casually flipped through, but it could be reviewed in detail through the Judge’s daily log (if one could stomach the tedious administrative processes of the Underworld), thereby reconstructing the entire death record (of events that had already occurred).

For instance, the Wuchang ghosts, responsible for guiding souls across the Naihe Bridge, could have their daily work reconstructed by examining the tedious records of their duties, noting the time, place, and details of when certain souls were detained, and so on.

Students were too impatient; few would willingly go through this tedious stuff, preferring to venture into the Underworld themselves rather than read such records.

Liu Guanshan, the dean, remained silent.

"And your reason?" he asked.

Ming Yue spoke seriously: "Because I discovered something—in the process I mentioned this morning, when I spoke to you on the phone, about the incident in the crack in the ground."

Liu Guanshan nodded, signaling her to continue.

Ming Yue quickly recounted the thrilling and dangerous experience of the ground crack incident, focusing particularly on her amusing conversation with the young ghost, which had been quite ridiculous.

After she finished, Liu Guanshan didn’t immediately respond and took a sip of his tea.

"Dean," Ming Yue said eagerly, "please believe me, I can take responsibility for what I said."

"That little ghost is truly waiting for reincarnation."

"Without a causal chain?" Liu Guanshan asked in return.

"I guarantee it!" Ming Yue declared firmly.The student in front of him had sharp, clear eyes. Liu Guanshan looked at her, but in his heart, he connected Ming Family Manor and the suspicious "Reincarnation Pool" that Ming Yue had mentioned.

The collapse of the Reincarnation Pool was a common explanation and result in the human world for the internal strife among the kings of Hell in the 1990s.

This indicated that the old faction, led by the Reincarnation King, had been defeated, and the several kings of Hell had gained the upper hand.

The forces in the Dark Earth were thus redivided.

Of course, this was indeed the case.

However, at this moment, Ming Yue was bringing news that she had witnessed signs of the Reincarnation Pool's resurgence deep in the underground of Fengdu at night.

This certainly raised concerns and suspicions about what this might represent.

The Reincarnation King was not dead.

The kings of Hell were great ghosts—how could they die again?

In fact, after many years of ruling the ghost realm of Jinling, Liu Guanshan deeply suspected that Ming Ye had already found the fallen Reincarnation King, and perhaps long before anyone in the human world, they had secretly conspired together.

Ming Ye: "......"

Heh.

"Moreover," seeing the dean remain silent, Ming Yue quickly added a crucial point: "During the five-round joint trial in the Imperial Capital, the plaintiff present was Wuchang."

Liu Guanshan nodded. "Teacher Li mentioned it in his report. Quite unexpected."

Ming Yue continued, "Senior Lü Xingru from the fourth year said it could be related to searching for signs of the Reincarnation Pool."

Liu Guanshan laughed, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening:

"The Imperial Capital is rich in dragon energy, not dead energy."

"The government of the Imperial Capital also promotes materialism. Whether it’s feng shui or luck, the Reincarnation Pool would not revive in the Imperial Capital."

Ming Yue quickly responded, "Dean, let’s not discuss other matters."

"Now is a good opportunity."

"We all know that the priority of reincarnation is higher than that of the Underworld.""The Reincarnation Pool, once it appears, will not retreat. So, if we in the human world find the Reincarnation Pool before the Underworld, what will happen?"

It would form a friendly alliance with the Underworld’s forces that guard the Reincarnation, and then trigger another round of reshuffling within the Underworld's power.

Of course, Liu Guanshan couldn't be bothered with how things would descend into chaos underground.

At the very least, if the Reincarnation Pool were found first, not to mention other matters, the status of human world ghost hunters in the Underworld would surely rise significantly.

If the credit were to go to the Spirit-Sealing Institute for leading the way...

Forget about the sixth, seventh, or tenth rounds of subject evaluations, in the next fifty years, there probably wouldn’t be any ghost hunters who could surpass the Spirit-Sealing Institute.

With that thought in mind, Liu Guanshan felt refreshed.

Not bad.

Liu Guanshan looked at the young student before him. This child is teachable.

Ming Yue blinked at the dean, "Dean, what do you think?"

Liu Guanshan’s mind was racing with calculations, but his mouth still remained silent. After all, many of the items stored in the institute's archive were not suitable for the present world. If the students were loose-lipped, even the professors couldn’t just enter whenever they pleased.

"This news is good enough for the teachers, why do you want to go in and see it yourself?" Liu Guanshan asked curiously, scrutinizing the young girl before him.

Ming Yue pouted, selectively revealing part of the truth:

"Dean, our institute and my family’s Ming Family Manor have quite a deep connection. You... must know some of the business of our family’s righteous manor."

"Every year we deal with many wandering souls, and I’m quite worried about whether the appearance of the Reincarnation Pool will bring some unexpected impact to my family. If it does, will it be good or bad?"

"That’s the reason I want to see the records, to find out." Ming Yue said with a straight face.

Liu Guanshan nodded, showing he understood.

"Then, what made you think to come to the institute’s archive to search for it?"

Ming Yue thought for a moment, "Because of Teacher Li Xianzhou."

"This time, the Chief Judge at the Imperial Capital trial is a zombie, and it shouldn’t have been him."

"Teacher Li investigated the background information of all the rotating Chief Judges at the Spiritual Mediums' Union this year and then chose this judge to petition him, asking him to adjudicate this lawsuit.""Of course, that's not the point." Ming Yue nervously stumbled over her words.

"The point is, Teacher Li said that our institute has a lot of miscellaneous records about the yin and yang, and he looked through them, which is how he found the information about the zombie judge."

"...When I heard this, it reminded me of our institute's archive, which doesn't really stand out." Not just not standing out, it's practically invisible.

Not bad, this child has potential.

She is quick on her feet, always looking for information that might benefit her.

Liu Guanshan was pleased, though his expression remained neutral. "Your reasoning makes a lot of sense."

"If this is indeed the case, it would be a huge benefit to Spirit-Sealing and all the ghost-hunting institutes in the human world."

As he spoke, he opened the drawer on the right, pulled out a strange-looking key. The metal surface of the key had a blood groove.

Liu Guanshan rubbed his finger on the key, drew some blood, and handed it to Ming Yue.

"Go ahead."

"You have six hours."

As Ming Yue walked out of the dean's office, she felt a heavy burden lifted.

Confronting the bigwigs of the academy really stirred up her stomach, making her feel like she might puke from all the tension.

But fortunately, despite her "suspicious intentions," she had actually brought useful information that could benefit Spirit-Sealing.

Was Ming Yue really going to see the records of the Reincarnation Pool?

Of course not.

She already knew perfectly well that the Reincarnation Pool was underground in Fengdu, so what was there left to see?

What she was actually going to check were the records of the Reincarnation King and the relevant historical data of the several current kings of Hell.

She wanted to investigate the records of the souls in the city of unjust deaths from July 14th, twelve years ago.

And she also wanted to check the records to see how her father had "got involved" with the Reincarnation King back in the 1980s.