Tang Yuan watched as Old Madam Zhao was frightened unconscious and secretly laughed to herself.
Serves you right. I couldn’t scare you to death, could I?
Of course, none of that showed on her face.
To these ignorant people of ancient times, what had just happened was an enormous shock. Old Madam Zhao had already fainted, yet no one had even noticed. They simply left her lying there on the floor.
Since no one was paying attention to her, Tang Yuan had no intention of reminding them. She wasn’t foolish enough to repay evil with kindness.
“Oh dear, where did my bottle go? I don’t remember putting it away. How did it disappear?”
Tang Yuan pretended to search around.
At that moment, Second Grandpa walked over. He glanced at the little girl’s completely empty hand on the bed, his face filled with astonishment.
“Yuan’er, stop looking. That Black Jade bottle isn’t something from the mortal world. Perhaps it can’t remain in the mortal realm for too long. It’s probably already returned to the underworld.”
Tang Yuan secretly rejoiced.
Well, isn’t Second Grandpa helping me explain it away himself?
The people in the room immediately began discussing what had happened.
They were all several decades old and had heard stories about people encountering evil spirits or ghosts. But no one had ever actually witnessed such a thing.
Who could have imagined that something like this would happen right before their eyes?
This wasn’t child’s play.
This involved someone who could actually communicate with the underworld!
Suddenly, Tang Yuan felt warmth around her left hand.
Grandmother had reached over and taken her hand.
Perhaps because Tang Yuan had lost so much blood, both her hands and feet were ice-cold.
Grandmother’s hand, on the other hand, was dry and warm. Holding it felt incredibly comforting.
“Poor child. You really suffered this time.”
Grandmother gently held her hand.
“Yuan’er, let Grandmother ask you something. When you went to that… place, besides seeing your grandfather, did you see anyone else? Did you see your parents?”
This was exactly what everyone in the room wanted to know.
They all immediately stopped talking and listened carefully.
“Grandmother, I didn’t see them. I heard Grandpa say that they never did anything bad while they were alive. After they died and arrived in the underworld, Grandpa pulled some strings and arranged for Grandma, my parents, and my Great-Grandpa to reincarnate.
“Oh, that’s right! Grandpa also said he found good, prosperous families for all of them. They won’t suffer in their next lives, so everyone can rest assured.”
Everyone’s reaction was immediate.
Good heavens!
This was incredible!
Old Cow Grandpa, sitting at the end of the kang bed, became so excited that his old eyes seemed brighter than the lamp. His whole body trembled with excitement.
“Good! Good! Second Brother, what was that old saying again? Something about having someone in the imperial court…”
Second Grandpa’s eyes also lit up as he casually supplied the answer.
“Having connections in the government makes everything easier.”
“Exactly! That’s it! Having connections in the government makes everything easier!”
Old Cow Grandpa became even more excited.
“Good! Excellent! Our Old Tang family is truly something! We have someone down there! Even if I dropped dead right now, I’d die happy. My brother will look after me down there!”
Seeing Old Cow Grandpa looking as though he was about to faint from excitement, Tang Yuan was completely bewildered.
Wait… that’s not what I intended.
Her original plan had simply been to frighten Eighth Grandpa’s family, the people who were trying to seize her property.
But now, looking around the room, she saw several people with shining eyes, grinning foolishly from ear to ear.
She suddenly felt that the fire she had started might have gotten a little out of hand.
Of course, Eighth Grandpa’s family wasn’t among those excited people.
Apart from Old Madam Zhao, who had already fainted and was completely unconscious, every other member of the family—young and old, sons and daughters-in-law alike—looked as though they had just received the worst news imaginable.
That was the underworld!
Second Brother had become an official there!
That meant he could protect and bless his descendants.
They all came from the same ancestor. Originally, their branch could have benefited from Second Brother’s protection after death.
But now…
They had committed the evil deed of trying to seize his orphaned granddaughter’s property.
The fact that Second Brother didn’t personally come up and drag their souls away was already a blessing.
Protect them?
Forget it!
They were completely doomed!
“Little Sister, have you ever seen Lord Yama down there?” Big Cousin Tang Mancang asked.
“Doesn’t he have three heads and six arms? Is he really terrifying?”
Tang Mancang was the eldest son of Great-Grandpa’s family. He was already thirty years old and was the oldest among Tang Yuan’s generation.
“I didn’t see Lord Yama,” Tang Yuan answered.
“And Lord Yama isn’t just one ghost. There are ten of them. Grandpa also told me that Lord Yama isn’t the highest-ranking figure in the underworld.”
Well then.
Since she had already started this act, she might as well take it all the way.
She decided to give them a crash course on the general underworld hierarchy she had learned from the internet in modern times.
“What? Lord Yama isn’t the highest?”
Big Cousin was shocked.
“But our ancestors have always talked about Lord Yama. Isn’t he supposed to be the highest?”
“Mhm. Grandpa told me that the highest-ranking deity in the underworld is Empress Houtu. Below her are Emperor Dongyue, Emperor Fengdu, and Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva.
“After them come the Five Ghost Emperors. Grandpa didn’t tell me exactly who the five are. Only after the Five Ghost Emperors come the Ten Yama Kings.”
Tang Yuan paused for breath before continuing.
“The Ten Yama Kings are King Qinguang, King Chujiang, King Songdi, King Wuguan, King Yanluo, King Biancheng, King Taishan, King Dushi, King Pingdeng, and King Zhuanlun.
“Do you remember that Bao Qingtian from the plays? The Yama King in the Ten Halls is none other than Bao Zheng, Lord Bao.”
Everyone in the room was completely stunned by Tang Yuan’s explanation.
“Oh my goodness! There are so many rules and ranks down there!”
“Exactly! And beneath the Ten Yama Kings are the Four Great Judges. There’s Judge Cui, the Yin Official in charge of the Department of Yin Law. My grandfather works under him.
“There is also Judge Zhong, who oversees the Department of Punishment. He’s the Zhong Kui we always hear about in the opera plays.
“I’ve even met him!”
“Really?” Big Cousin rubbed his hands excitedly.
“Little Sister, you’re not making this up, are you? You actually met Zhong Kui? Good heavens, that’s amazing!”
It wasn’t surprising that Big Cousin was envious.
If Tang Yuan had mentioned some unknown underworld official, nobody would have reacted this way.
But Zhong Kui was different.
He was famous!
Even in a remote little village like theirs, everyone had heard the name Zhong Kui.
Imagine someone suddenly claiming to have met a legendary figure who normally only appeared in plays and stories passed down by the older generation.
Of course everyone would be fascinated.
“I really am not lying to you!”
Tang Yuan continued,
“When Grandpa took me out for a walk, we heard an underworld messenger announce that some ghosts at the Bridge of Helplessness were refusing to reincarnate and had started causing trouble.
“So Grandpa took me over to watch.
“From far away, I saw a huge mass of black clouds rolling toward us. Standing inside those black clouds was a man more than three meters tall. He flew straight toward us.
“He had a huge black face, shaped almost like a leopard’s face, and his two enormous eyes were about this big.”
Tang Yuan gestured dramatically as she spoke.
She was describing Zhong Kui based on the image she had seen in the modern television series Judge Zhong Kui.
The people in the room were completely captivated.
“He wore an official’s hat, and some of his hair stuck out like long needles, each strand standing straight up.
“He wore a red cloak and official boots, and there was a long sword hanging from his waist. It was even longer than Big Cousin!
“He looked incredibly fierce and terrifying.
“He flew straight over my head.
“Grandpa told me that the black stuff wasn’t actually clouds. It was Yin energy.”
Everyone listened with their eyes shining.
“And when Zhong Kui arrived at the Bridge of Helplessness, he subdued those troublesome ghosts in the blink of an eye.
“Then guess what happened?”
Tang Yuan widened her eyes dramatically.
“Oh my goodness! He actually ate those little ghosts!”
She gestured with her hands.
“He just stuffed them into his mouth! One bite after another, like he was eating beans!
“Good heavens, it scared me half to death!”