New Times, New Hell

Chapter 10 - Three Lives a Beast

Shang Que’s arrival, along with the crowd following him, caused a stir in the certification office.

Many of the ghosts present had never seen the legendary boss of Luofeng Management. When the Ghost King deliberately hid his aura, he just seemed like a rather good-looking normal ghost.

But they recognized the line of ghosts behind him. Weren’t these the ones that caused a commotion in the morning about not wanting to reincarnate? Didn’t expect them to get caught and brought back so soon.

“You all go over there. Hold your heads and squat. Stay squatting.” Zhen Yi pointed to a stop by the wall as he screamed like a demon at the ghosts behind Yu Zhengdu.

All the ghosts had dejected expressions. They obediently moved next to the wall and squatted. The scene seemed a bit bleak.

Yu Zhengdu could faintly hear the other ghosts’ discussions coming from the direction of the reincarnation hall.

“Fuck, good thing I wasn’t persuaded to escape this morning, otherwise I would be squatting there too now.”

“Everyone already knows the truth, so stop pretending. You didn’t follow him and run because your reincarnation is going to have a good life……”

“Heh heh, I’ve been exposed. This life I spent half my life trying to pay back the mortgage on my house. In my next life I’ll finally be able to reincarnate into a family with a house inheritance. It hasn’t been easy.”

“Ey, I don’t have it so nice. My family in my next life can only help me make the down payment for a house……”

“Can you two stop showing off? In my next life I’ll still be a brick mover, shit!”

……

Yu Zhengdu was confused by their conversation. Meanwhile, Zhen Yi had already brought two chairs over, and told him and Shang Que, “Please sit.”

Yu Zhengdu was just about to sit when Shang Que suddenly forcefully grabbed his arm.

Yu Zhengdu looked at him, bewildered: “?”

Shang Que’s eyes travelled down, signalling for him to look at the chair.

Only to see Yu Zhengdu’s butt had already passed through the chair and was floating in the air.

Yu Zhengdu’s heart skipped a beat. “……What kind of chair is this?”

Upon seeing this Zhen Yi slapped his own forehead. “Ey, look at me. You’re our living human coworker from headquarters right. These paper chairs were mass-ordered by headquarters and then “burned” over. Living people can’t use them.”

This wasn’t Yu Zhengdu’s first time getting surprised. He calmly stood up, patted his arm, and said, “No worries. I’ll just stand.”

Shang Que smiled and lifted a hand to stroke his forehead, then stated, “It’s okay now.”

Yu Zhengdu felt a cold sensation in his forehead. He looked at Shang Que with a perplexed expression. Shang Que stared pointedly at the chair. “Try and sit.”

Yu Zhengdu was still suspicious as he felt the chair, only to find he really could physically feel it. He couldn’t help his excited cheer: “I have finally experienced what it’s like to be a ghost.”

Zhen Yi: = = What’s there to experience.

Shang Que said with a smile, “Employee benefits.”

The two sat, and Zhen Yi started to question the ghosts. He first called over the leader of the escaped ghosts. “Hong Gentou, come out.”

A slightly chubby middle-aged man stood up. Yu Zhengdu glanced at him and felt surprised. This man had a square face and big ears; he seemed honest. His eyes shook with fear. He was the type of person that would go unnoticed in a crowd. It was hard to tell that he was an escaped convict.

Zhen Yi asked sternly, “Why did you escape?”

Hong Gentou squeezed his shoulders together and stammered out, “I, I don’t want to reincarnate……”

Zhen Yi: “Why don’t you want to reincarnate?”

Hong Gentou’s eyes flashed and his voice was displeased. “I’ve already been, been a beast for three lives. It’s never, never ended well. First, first I was a pig, and the butcher cut open my stomach while I was still alive. When he used boiling water to remove the pig hairs, I, I was still conscious……”

Yu Zhengdu imagined the scene as he listened and couldn’t help the full-bodied shivers that hit him.

Hong Gentou continued. “Then, then I was, was a stray dog. I could only eat others’ leftovers everyday, and when I finally, finally managed to grow a little bigger, I was poi-poisoned by dog thieves. But the poison didn’t kill me all at once, I was still alive for a day and a night until they opened my stomach and made me into hot, hot pot……”

This time, Yu Zhengdu noticed that the other ghosts still holding their heads and squatting against the wall were shaking too.

Hong Gentou’s tragic life story was still going on. “The third time, I was a mou-mouse. I ate, ate trash in the sewers and never saw daylight. After two years, to get a peanut, I was caught in a mousetrap and was b-burned to death with boiling water……”

Hong Gentou’s appearance was sincere. When he spoke his shoulders were squeezed together; in the end it sounded like he was about to cry. “I got the notification text. In my next life I’m still going to be a beast. This time it’ll be a head of cattle. I saw on the news, people inject, inject water into live cattle. I was scared, I didn’t dare to, to reincarnate……”

This crying and quivering form appeared truly wronged. Everyone watching felt compassion, even Yu Zhengdu couldn’t help but whisper, “Too tragic.”

To his side, Shang Que had one leg crossed over the other. He turned his head to one side and propped his face on his hand. He was expressionless, but after Hong Gentou finished talking, he calmly spoke. “When you killed those people, it didn’t seem like you didn’t dare to kill.”

Zhen Yi slapped the arm of his chair too. “Exactly. You’re just reaping what you sowed.”

Yu Zhengdu looked curiously at Shang Que. Shang Que took out his own phone, pulled up a page, and handed it to him.

Yu Zhengdu looked at what was given to him. It was Hong Gentou’s record in the Life and Death Accounts. He was fine before seeing it, but after seeing it became shocked.

It turned out that before Hong Gentou spent those lives as beasts, he had previously been a serial killer. In life, he had taken five human lives, his victims encompassing men, women, elders, and youth alike. On top of this, his methods of killing were extremely cruel.

His record on the Life and Death Accounts was very simple, only listing the names of the victims. The more Yu Zhengdu looked at it, the more he thought the name Hong Gentou was familiar. In a moment of inspiration, he took out his own phone and typed the characters “Hong” “Gen” Tou” in the search bar. He saw the page refresh and immediately, over ten sites relating to the topic popped up.

All linked to big news platforms in the country, and the headlines were even more astonishing.

【Minan serial killer Hong Gentou is caught……】

【Five victims in seven years, the oldest 76, the youngest only 7. Psychopathic killer Hong Gentou’s life story……】

【The dark cloud that covered Minan City for seven years finally dissipates. Serial killer Hong Gentou sentenced to death after first trial……】

……

Yu Zhengdu finally realized why the name Hong Gentou seemed so familiar.

About a decade ago, this man committed several killings in Minan City. He took five lives in seven years, and in the cruelest ways. Because of his anti-reconnaissance skills and the fact that he looked harmless, he remained free for many years, causing general panic in Minan and its surrounding cities. Later, following the rise in abilities of detectives, he was caught during his last crime.

But in his last crime, the victim was a child only 7 years of age. As soon as the news broke, citizens became enraged. Though Hong Gentou was ultimately sentenced to death, his existence was still a permanent wound in the hearts of Minan City’s residents, to the point that even after several years, people still brought up the case.

When Hong Gentou committed those crimes Yu Zhengdu was still young, so obviously had no memories of it. The reason he would find the name familiar was because as the Internet became more accessible, netizens would constantly dig up old files. Everytime they revisited, they would mention this case, and every time it was mentioned, a good amount of Minan’s citizens would angrily protest, saying that even the death sentence was letting Hong Gentou off easy.

Yu Zhengdu looked at Hong Gentou’s modus operandi again, and felt the same as the netizens: just the death penalty was not enough for this deranged, malignant killer.

Over there, Hong Gentou’s ghost was still trying to explain himself. “I already know I was wrong, please give me another chance to be a human……”

Zhen Yi was unbothered by his pleas, sticking to the rules. “We are a lawful Underworld. How each ghost is reincarnated is calculated by the Life and Death Accounts. It’s not something that can be decided by us.”

Hong Gentou covered his face as his body shook. “I really know what I did was wrong, please, I beg you, forgive me.……”

His pitiful appearance caused the surrounding ghosts to begin a quiet discussion. Many of these ghosts were those of humans who had passed of old age. As their ages increased, their hearts became softer, and they couldn’t bear to see such a tragedy. They tried to speak up for him, saying, “Look at how pitiful he is. He’s already been a beast for several lifetimes, and each life ended in misfortune. How about letting him off a bit easier this lifetime……”

“Exactly. He was poisoned, had his belly opened, and got burned to death by boiling water. He’s suffered enough……”

“I mean he could still be a beast, but he doesn’t necessarily need to die so tragically.”

……

The surrounding voices gave Hong Gentou confidence. He used the hands covering his face to brush away some tears and looked all the more pitiful.

Upon seeing this Zhen Yi waved his hand at the surrounding ghosts. “Why are you all butting in, hurry and go reincarnate.”

When those old ghosts were alive, people had to give them priority during seating. They never imagined that in death, this privilege would disappear too. After hearing his words, they were quite displeased, but didn’t dare rebuke Hell’s workers. Yet, they also couldn’t help complaining behind their backs.

Even though Zhen Yi didn’t care for those people, being the target of their pointing fingers still irritated him. He was just about to start yelling again, when Yu Zhengdu suddenly opened his mouth to coldly say, “You guys aren’t the victims. What makes you think you have the ability to forgive this monster in the victims’ stead?”

The old ghosts who previously spoke up for him all looked over, only to see a delicate-looking young man had stood up. He looked at them expressionlessly, “His victims will never get a second chance, how come he should get a lesser punishment just because he knows he was wrong?”

Those old ghosts had spoken incessantly because they were elders. Now that they were being questioned by Yu Zhengdu, they all shut up. But some were still unimpressed, and after seeing that Yu Zhengdu was so young, started pulling age rank. “Young man, how could you say that. Don’t you understand that you should forgive people when possible?”

Yu Zhengdu rolled his eyes. He was just about to speak again when Shang Que stood up and contemplated their surroundings. He lightly declared, “In Hell, there is no such thing as forgiving people when possible.”

As soon as he spoke, everyone around felt the pressure he placed upon them. In an instant, nobody else dared to speak. The scene was silent.

“The mistakes you make when alive must be paid off in death. Even if you admit your mistakes and regret your actions, there’s no use. Your wrongs and rights, merits and demerits, are all decided in life. There is no compassion in the Underworld.” Shang Que’s eyes were dark and deep; nothing was reflected in them. In this manner, he surveyed all directions. “This is karma.”

Their surroundings remained quiet. Not even the sound of the wind could be heard. Shang Que’s words about Hell’s inviolability caused all the ghosts to panic, an unexplainable pressure rising in their chests.

“Papapapa——” Sudden applause broke the suffocating silence. Yu Zhengdu loudly supported his boss, “Boss is right!”

All the other ghosts regained their bearings and hurried to clap too, “Exactly, exactly!”

Hong Gentou saw that pretending to be pitiful was useless, so he immediately relaxed his previously shivering shoulders. He stood up straight and a spiteful expression replaced the previous sincerity on his face. Even his eyes dimmed quite a bit as he spoke through clenched teeth, “I did kill people, but I’ve also been a beast for so many lifetimes. Each time I’ve died a tragic death. Even if it was to make up for my debts, this should be enough.”

His sudden hostile appearance caused all the ghosts present to become surprised. Yu Zhengdu let a long “tsk——” escape himself, coldly stating, “I knew it. A revengeful personality could never know to repent for their sins.”

The old ghosts who had previously spoken up for Hong Gentou were now all embarrassed. They turned their heads away to avoid eye contact with Yu Zhengdu.

Hong Gentou was especially bitter about this person who had been ruining his plan since the beginning. After seeing that playing the victim wasn’t working, he decided that he had nothing to lose. He growled angrily and jumped up to leap towards Yu Zhengdu. At the same time, the expression on his face twisted and he bellowed, “Either way I’m going to be a beast. Then it doesn’t matter if I kill one more.”

His grey-white face suddenly exploded in the air; he had seemingly managed to suddenly grow an innumerous amount of fur. His mouth was opened very wide, showcasing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Upon seeing this Zhen Yi screamed loudly, “Fuck, he’s become a malicious ghost.”

Yu Zhengdu was scared too, so he grabbed onto Shang Que’s shoulders and hid behind him. At the same time, he yelled, “Fuck—— Isn’t this ghost a little too ugly!”

Hong Gentou’s twisted appearance scared the surrounding ghosts so much they started running in every which direction, all shouting:

“Aaaaaah, a malicious ghost!!! It’s a malicious ghost!!!”

“Save me, my biggest fear are malicious ghosts!!!”

“Is it my turn to reincarnate yet, hurry up so I can leave!”

“It grew fur, it actually grew fur. I’ve been dead 30 years and this is my first time seeing one with fur——”

“My goodness, let me die again——”

……

Yu Zhengdu: = =

No way. There wasn’t anything wrong with him, a living person, being scared, but couldn’t any of these ghosts have some ghostly dignity?