Chapter 102: Seeking Equilibrium in the Underworld (Part II)

"Will it always be like this?" he gritted his teeth and asked.

"No... once the Hall of Psychopomps is established, it will produce a special kind of talisman paper for the use of underworld envoys. When we harvest souls, we'll stick it on their foreheads, and they won't remember a thing by the time they reach the Ghost Gate Pass," Arthis replied indifferently. "Instead of worrying about the future, you should look at the present."

"These people... they arrive full of fear and trepidation. Once the answers you provide exceed their psychological threshold, aren't you afraid... of being a Yama for only a single day?"

Qin Ye looked down at the dense mass of spirits with a splitting headache. What to do? What should he do now?

The Underworld had absolutely nowhere to house these spirits, and this was only the first batch!

"The Underworld is in ruins and awaiting reconstruction; all newly arrived spirits will participate in the construction work. Rest assured, once the construction is complete, everyone will receive compensation for their labor."

No one spoke below. That was a good sign. Qin Ye breathed a silent sigh of relief. "This compensation will not be in Underworld currency, but in exclusive benefits for every ghost citizen currently building the Underworld. For example, selecting your own residence on the newly built streets, or receiving priority for government assessment positions..."

"Oh..." Arthis laughed with a sigh, already sitting up.

As more incentives were announced, Qin Ye's expression grew increasingly grave. The spirits below were not moved to tears of gratitude; instead, they exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.

"...The Underworld is facing total reconstruction, and various essential buildings need to be built..." he continued in a low voice, his mind racing: Did I say something wrong? Where did I go wrong?

"My Lord." Before he could finish, the middle-aged man with glasses from before stood up straight and asked respectfully, "Does every gate entering the Underworld need to be rebuilt?"

"Yes." Qin Ye could find no reason to lie; he desperately needed manpower right now.

"...Then... do the other lords not do any work?" The middle-aged man adjusted his glasses, his smile becoming even more respectful. "I used to be a civil servant in Laidong City; your words sounded particularly familiar to me."

Qin Ye’s lips twitched. He had never worked in the government, let alone managed people. As a new official taking office, he could only repeat what he remembered. Even though he had lived for so long, the gap between what he saw, what he thought, and what he actually had to do was immense.

"I am the only one at the Ghost Gate Pass. I am responsible for all of this."

"So, it’s just you, then..." The burly man from before stood up with a sinister grin. "Damn it! I was worried for nothing. All that talk about the eighteen levels of hell and the six paths of reincarnation... to hell with it!"

Qin Ye’s gaze flashed, his hand gripping the armrest tightly.

Following the burly man’s words, at least a hundred others stood up, while the rest flickered with hesitation.

"In other words, the Underworld I was terrified of all this time is just an empty shell." The burly man licked his lips viciously. "Old ghost, there are plenty of empty seats next to you... if we sit in them, can we also throw our weight around just like you?"

"Maybe we'll have better performance than him and get promoted faster," a young man with dyed yellow hair added, standing up with his arms crossed and staring at the great hall with excitement.

*Crack... crack...* A muscular man with bulging muscles cracked his neck and stood up as well. "The Underworld is very different from what I imagined. I was scared to death when I first arrived, but it turns out to be a hundred times better than I thought. They even prepared chairs for us, for God's sake."

"What are we waiting for!" the burly man pointed at the hall and shouted. "Don't you see there’s no one else here! Everyone, as long as we sit in those seats, we’ll be the Black and White Impermanence from the TV! What are we afraid of!!"

"That's right, there are over a thousand of us and only one of him. What is there to fear!!" "So many empty chairs, aren't they just waiting for us! Open the door!!" "Move aside! Let me through!!"

The scene descended into chaos instantly.

At least several hundred people stood up, eyes bloodshot, charging toward the great hall. Qin Ye closed his eyes and exhaled. "Where did I go wrong?"

"You were too gentle." Arthis bent her perfect silicone legs, lightly brushing against the main beam. "You completely fail to grasp the mentality of spirits, but it doesn't matter; every underworld envoy has encountered this situation."

"They come down from the mortal world with a sense of trepidation and awe, only to find the Underworld is not what they expected. Furthermore, it is a place without restraint. No laws, no police, no government—just you sitting there like a clay idol in the middle of a wasteland. The desires in their hearts expand exponentially. Coupled with the mentality that the law cannot punish the masses, if one person shouts, a thousand will riot."

"This is a spirit riot. This is still small; if the scale grows, it becomes a spirit rebellion. The most terrifying thing is a spirit mutiny. There have been two mutinies and five rebellions in the history of the Underworld, and riots occur every hundred years. You are far from sitting securely on your throne... you are racing against these spirits. Once a riot cannot be suppressed, well... your time as Yama is over."

"Don't forget... this is just a prelude, a piece of cake. Once the large numbers of spirits from across the country who have sensed the establishment of the new Underworld arrive, if you haven't built the structure of the Underworld yet... then, something truly disastrous will happen..."

*BOOM!!*

At that very moment, six or seven hundred people charged up, eyes red and expressions ferocious. But the moment they reached the entrance of the hall, a pale white curtain of light erupted, flowing with incomprehensible ancient script, sealing the door shut.

"Open the door!! Let us in!!" "Since you don't have anyone here, isn't it good that we're here to help!" "Open the door! Let us in! Aren't you afraid we'll report you to your superiors for abuse!!" "You're irresponsible and failing to meet our needs; you'll be dismissed sooner or later!! Open the door!"

Looking at those twisted faces, Qin Ye saw the burning yearning for power on the face of the middle-aged man barely visible in the crowd, the ecstasy over the disappearance of laws on the burly man's face, the impulse for violence on the muscular man's face, and the madness of those who had completely let go of themselves on the faces of the elderly who were being incited.

"With the disappearance of fear and law, the steel wire of human nature has snapped." Qin Ye murmured, nodding thoughtfully. "I've noted that down."

"Don't worry, the Ghost Gate Pass is the facade of the entire Underworld; it cannot be opened without the impact of a million spirits. And as the founder of the new Underworld, you have control over all architecture. But what are you going to do now?" Arthis asked with interest.

Qin Ye smiled and snapped his fingers. With a *pop*, the light curtain in front of the hall door shattered into flying white sparks.

The hundreds of spirits suddenly lost their target and screamed, charging in like a tidal wave. But at the same time, the spirits in the front let out cries of alarm and quickly retreated. With the crowding from both front and back, the entrance became completely jammed.

The noise and screaming suddenly fell into a deathly silence, and then they began to back away in terror.

Because right in front of them, Qin Ye had drawn his Ghost-Head Blade.

The blade was pale, wreathed in ghost fire. He slammed his hand on the table and leaped into the railing in front.

"What to do?" Qin Ye smiled faintly. "You’ve already reminded me of plenty..."

"I really was... too gentle."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Ghost-Head Blade slashed forward.

*SWISH!!* Unlike its use in the mortal world, this slash seemed to resonate with the entire world. The new Underworld emitted a humming sound, and an endless sea of yin energy poured into the blade. A pitch-black blade beam, ten meters high, erupted from the Hall of the Ghost Gate Pass and cut straight through the area in front of the hall.

*CRASH!!* Gravel flew, a chasm several meters deep appeared in an instant, and boundless ghost fire shot into the sky. The spirits directly in the path vanished into nothingness from that single strike.

With one blow, at least a hundred spirits had their souls scattered.

"Oh?" Arthis played with her hair lazily. "When did you figure it out?"

"Early on." Qin Ye walked out with a smile. Wherever he passed, the spirits who had been clamoring moments ago looked at him in disbelief, then turned to look at the deep chasm in the ground, gasping in horror and stepping aside to clear a path.

Dead silence.

Not a sound.

Wherever he went, the ghosts retreated, until he stood before the Square Tripod.

"You kept saying: without the escort of underworld envoys, ghosts retain their mortal intelligence. And the only underworld envoy here... is me, isn't it?" Qin Ye shouldered his blade and surveyed the scene. Not a single ghost dared to meet his gaze; everyone he looked at lowered their heads.

Arthis flew out of the hall. Some saw the strange silicone doll, but no one dared to laugh.

"Remember, the Underworld... is a realm. And you created it; in a sense, you are now the creator god of this realm."

"The essence of your life has begun to transform. But a realm can be strong or weak; how far you can go depends on how the Underworld develops."

"If you have the ability to unify the Underworld globally and launch divine wars against other netherworlds, then... you might truly become comparable to the legendary True Lord, Jesus, or Pangu."

"Here, you are a god, a unique and singular god. No one can hurt you."

Qin Ye nodded; he understood.

It meant: No one can hurt you.

It did not mean: You can rule this world.

As the spirits grew in number, each with their own intelligence, he couldn't kill them all himself. If others organized their own governments, whose Underworld would this be?

*Is it to be like the bitter verse: year after year, weaving gold thread, only to make wedding clothes for others?*

Who truly rules the Underworld!

"There is still so much to learn..." He walked slowly toward them, reaching out to grasp the void. The soul of the middle-aged man with glasses flew toward him, landing directly on his knees before Qin Ye.

"You... what are you doing..." his voice trembled. "I... I will appeal! We... we are now ghost citizens of the Underworld too... we... we have political rights..."

Qin Ye smiled.

Then, he swung his blade!

*Swish...* The blade passed without a trace.

The middle-aged man's figure dissipated like a breeze, and a spark of soul fire drifted into the hall, lighting one of the ancient lamps held by the many Rakshasa and Vajra statues.

"Who's next?" He turned slowly and scanned the crowd. Everyone—from the vicious burly man to the muscular man—was trembling at the lips.

Within five seconds, *thud, thud, thud*... a series of dull sounds echoed as the remaining eight or nine hundred spirits all knelt, touching their foreheads to the ground. Not a word was spoken.

"Who told you that you could bargain with me?"