New Times, New Hell

Chapter 19 - Inviting the Ghost King

How did he directly borrow a ghost?

Yu Zhengdu wanted to ask Boss, what happened to borrowing power to remove ghosts? How come I can’t remove ghosts but summoned one instead?

But now wasn’t the time to fuss over this. The ghost’s actions didn’t seem to be those of a good ghost. Yu Zhengdu urgently asked:【The important thing now is how do I get this ghost to leave?】

Shang Que:【Since it’s a serving ghost that you’ve summoned, it should obey your commands. If you want him to do something, order him to do it.】

Yu Zhengdu paused, and then became invigorated:【There’s such a good thing?!】

He didn’t know how Shang Que felt. A response came a while later:【You summoned him with my magical seal……】

He didn’t know if he was getting the wrong impression, but Yu Zhengdu thought he could read a bit of indignance from those ellipsis……

At this time, Zhu Yan was kind of starting to panic. He said, “Today’s divination ends here. Let’s send the pen spirit away.”

The other students still weren’t completely satisfied, but Zhu Yan didn’t want to keep fooling around. He pretended he knew what he was doing and stated, “Pen spirit pen spirit, we’re done asking questions. Can you please leave.”

After he finished reading, the three holding the pen simultaneously started to move the pen away from the paper……but found they couldn’t.

Not only this, but the pen started slowly writing again: I just got here, I’m not leaving.

Zhu Yan’s face immediately paled. He said, “Hey, stop it you two. Hurry and send the pen spirit away.”

The other two had just now realized that something was wrong. The color of their faces were just as pale as his. They furiously shook their heads, “It’s not me.”

The pen started moving again. This time, it wrote: It’s me.

Zhu Yan swallowed. He forced his voice not to shake. “You guys, stop fooling around.”

The other two also looked like they were about to cry. “It’s really, really not me.”

The pen wrote: I’m not fooling around.

The students watching now felt scared too. “Hey, stop acting you guys.”

“Enough’s enough. Stop trying to freak us out.”

Zhu Yan was close to crying. “I’m not scaring anyone, it’s those two. I’m not joking, let go you guys!”

As soon as he finished speaking, not only could they still not let go of the pen, but it started slowly moving again……

Zhu Yan and the other two immediately widened their eyes. They looked at each other, and this time, very clearly saw the absolute horror in the others’ eyes.

Zhu Yan couldn’t help trembling. “Did the pen, pen spirit really co-come……”

A sudden chilly sensation arose in everyone’s hearts.

“It came my ass, you guys have a cramp, right.” Yu Zhengdu’s voice suddenly butted in. At the same time, he pressed his hand onto the other three’s hands.

Zhu Yan realized just then that Yu Zhengdu had at some time gotten off his bed and squeezed his way beside them.

“It’ll be fine if you massage it a little.” Yu Zhengdu used the hand on top of theirs to squeeze their hands. He simultaneously read the incantation to himself to strengthen the heart seal.

Zhu Yan wasn’t in the mood to joke around with him. He practically wailed, “That’s not it. We don’t have cramps, I think it’s really the pen spirit……”

Before he finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed. “……Yi?”

In that moment, Yu Zhengdu also let go of their hands. “How about it, is your cramp better now?”

Zhu Yan and the two others thus easily relaxed their hands that were holding the pen. The looks on their faces were: ???????

Zhu Yan still couldn’t believe it. He shook his hand, saying in shock, “Holy shit, really? It really was cramped?”

A classmate next to him was speechless and couldn’t help hitting him on the head. “You guys are really too much. You scared me to death.”

A different student was scornful. “Come off it, they were definitely faking it!”

Yu Zhengdu shook his head, speaking sagely, “Never overdo something.”

Zhu Yan still felt some lingering fear, and hurriedly added, “Don’t say anything about overdoing it, I’m never playing this again.”

Those heartless male classmates could never learn a lesson. Only moments later, they started messing around again, saying they wanted to play Werewolf Kill instead. Yu Zhengdu was speechless for a second before squeezing his way out of the dormroom.

He focused his energy on guiding the ghost out of the room and found a corner nobody was paying attention to before relaxing. His expression was fatigued. “Ah, I’m so tired.”

Even though the heart seal was easy to use, only having to silently read the incantation, it actually required a huge amount of mental energy.

The fatty was forced out. As soon as he regained his freedom, his expression immediately became savage. “So you’re the one who called me out?”

“That’s right!” Yu Zhengdu stood up a bit straighter. Even though Shang Que said that the ghosts he summoned needed to listen to him, he was still ultimately a novice and felt fear about being alone and face to face with a ghost.

As expected, the fatty wasn’t an obedient ghost. His entire body was pale, almost green, and he had long bangs that covered one eye, making him appear all the more ghastly. Upon hearing Yu Zhengdu’s words, he laughed strangely. “Oh, why did you call me out?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Nothing much. I just wanted to practice.”

He paused for a moment, then asked, “You have to obey my commands, right?”

“Said who?” Fatty rolled his eyes. “If you want me to listen, you have to have the skill to make me.”

His facial features slowly scrunched together on his slightly chubby face. “There’s not a hint of any Daoist ability on you. Did you just use a random ghost summoning spell that you came across? Didn’t anyone tell you that to summon a ghost you also need to know how to control a ghost?”

Yu Zhengdu said “fuck” in his heart: Truly, no one did!

Fatty saw that he was quiet, and thought that this was confirmation for his theory. The smile on his face became even more terrifying.

“Do you know what the price of summoning a ghost without knowing how to control it is?”

“No.” Yu Zhengdu went with the flow and asked, “What’s the price?”

Fatty didn’t imagine that he would turn around and ask him, so hesitated for a moment. Then purposefully acted severe. “Something very serious.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” This ghost seems quite new to the job.

The fatty saw that he had stopped speaking, so thought that he was scared. He immediately smiled, pleased. “But, as long as you listen to my orders, I can consider letting you off.”

Yu Zhengdu: “For example?”

Fatty seemed to have a list of things prepared from a while back, so as soon as Yu Zhengdu asked, he started counting on his fingers the things he wanted. “Prepare a few of the most recent games and the newest Japanese AV model photobooks as offerings for me. Aside from this, you also need to vote for the idols I support; I’m going to supervise the number of votes you cast everyday……”

As he spoke, Yu Zhengdu swiftly messaged his boss.

Yu Zhengdu:【You lied to me! The ghost isn’t listening to me, instead it’s making me listen to it!】

Yu Zhengdu:【What use do I have for this ghost!】

Yu Zhengdu:【There’s something wrong with your heart seal, something really wrong!】

My broke-ass Boss:【……】

Shang Que maintained his use of ellipsis for a long time. Yu Zhengdu didn’t know what he was indecisive about.

The fatty in front of him had already finished listing his requirements. He squinted his eyes at Yu Zhengdu, tone threatening, “Did you take note of that all?”

Yu Zhengdu took a step back, then calmly said, “My boss wants to talk to you.”

Fatty was bewildered. “Your boss?”

At the same time, Yu Zhengdu resolutely pressed at WeChat’s video call function. Shang Que gave him enough face by picking up immediately. “What?”

Yu Zhengdu shoved the phone screen at the fatty. “Boss, you need to control these ghosts!”

Shang Que: “……”

Fatty looked at the handsome man in the video. The question mark above his head grew bigger. “Who are you?”

Shang Que’s face was expressionless through the screen. His voice was light too, but seemed to carry a weight that made one want to tremble. Fatty’s heart suddenly quivered.

He said, “I’m the CEO of Luofeng Management.”

Fatty’s eyes suddenly widened. The disbelief in his voice was obvious. “Boss Sh-Shang?”

He thought it was impossible, but the pressure that seemed to come from everywhere indicated the other’s extraordinary identity. This was the aura only a Ghost King could have.

At this time, the phone in his pocket vibrated.

Fatty trembled as he took out his phone and looked.

【Sun Guofeng, our company has received a citizen’s report detailing your refusal to comply with the laws governing serving ghosts, purposeful causing of trouble, and intimidating our company’s employees. Please immediately stop your wrongdoings and follow the rules of being a ghost, or we will promptly send out an employee to arrest you for further punishment. -Luofeng Life Management Consulting Co. Ltd.】

Sun Guofeng: ????????

The terror in his eyes turned into confusion. “Who reported me? When did I intimidate an employee of Luofeng?”

Yu Zhengdu lifted his chin and puffed out his chest, “Me, I reported you!”

In the phone screen, Shang Que expressionlessly stated, “He’s our company’s employee.”

Sun Guofeng immediately burst out, “H-h-he, he’s a living person though!”

Yu Zhengdu: “I was so outstanding that they specially hired me!”

Shang Que: “Do you know what the consequences of intimidating our company’s employees are?”

Sun Guofeng’s entire ghostly being melted onto the floor. He held his head and pleaded, “I was wrong, don’t arrest me——”

His voice was full of regret. “It’s just that I finally got summoned for once and couldn’t help wanting to scare some people. Actually I’m not very brave at all, I wouldn’t ever dare to harm anyone——”

Yu Zhengdu looked at him speechlessly. “Then do you still want the games?”

“No.” Sun Guofeng shook his head vigorously. “I don’t want the photobooks anymore either, or the voting. I don’t want anything.”

Sun Guofeng pleaded with teary eyes, “Please don’t report me!”

Yu Zhengdu placed his hands on his hips. “That depends on how you act.”

Sun Guofeng suddenly rushed over and held onto his thigh. “From now on I’m your serving ghost. However you want me to act, I’ll act that way. I’ll listen to everything you say!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……Okay.”

He worked hard to try and pull his leg out from the other’s grasp first.

Yu Zhengdu had nothing he needed to be done, so simply warned Sun Guofeng and told him not to scare people anymore, then finally let him go.

After watching Sun Guofeng disappear, Yu Zhengdu finally stretched his back. He shook his head and sighed, “Boss is really too unreliable!”

Boss’s voice came out of the phone. “Is that so?”

Yu Zhengdu raised his phone to look, only to see Boss was staring at him through the phone screen. His dark, black eyes were very clearly unhappy.

Yu Zhengdu: “……How come you still haven’t hung up?”

Shang Que calmly stared at him, silent.

Yu Zhengdu: “……” This again, it’s time to decipher Boss’s gaze again.

Why didn’t Boss understand, their teamwork really wasn’t that good yet……

Even though this was the case, Yu Zhengdu could still tell that he wasn’t happy. At a time like this, if he straight out said he couldn’t understand what Boss was trying to express, he would probably have to become a chicken in the next life.

Yu Zhengdu didn’t dare to say anything directly, so could only act like nothing had happened and stared back at Boss. The two of them gazed at each other silently through the phone screen.

After another short while, Shang Que finally gave up and furrowed his brows. He was very displeased. “Why haven’t you apologized yet?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Ah?”

Shang Que’s voice was full of accusation. “I didn’t hang up because I was watching the ghost to make sure he wouldn’t bully you. But you said I’m unreliable!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

After hearing this, it seemed he was reliable, but it just felt weird.

Yu Zhengdu scratched his head. “Sorry, don’t be angry ah……”

Shang Que hrmph’d reluctantly.

Coincidentally, a classmate was passing by and heard this last sentence. He immediately teased, “Yo, Zhengdu, kneeling on the keyboard to your girlfriend?”

“Where would a single dog get a girlfriend from.” Yu Zhengdu turned around to answer, “I’m video chatting with my boss.”

That student’s expression immediately became complex. His mouth twitched. “Your relationship with your boss is really so good, video chatting him in the middle of the night to apologize……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

In the screen, Shang Que asked, “What’s kneeling on the keyboard?”

***

The business of selling jade continued smoothly, and the company’s finances became less tight. Thus, when Boss occasionally spent some money on his games, everyone decided to turn a blind eye.

Yu Zhengdu split his time between continuing the development of the Life and Death Accounts and perfecting the programming for the “Underworld Energy Detector”. After testing it out a few times on Li Tiantian’s friends, the final results were quite satisfactory.

After confirming the reliability and accuracy of the program, Yu Zhengdu discussed with Shang Que about selling the luck-changing jade with the Underworld energy detection service as a combo deal. The selling point was using each person’s Underworld energy levels to specifically pair them with the most appropriate jade product.

The first customers were, of course, the friends Wei Xiao had recommended over.

But the promotion for this product didn’t go that smoothly. This was mainly because the Underworld energy detection program sounded very much like a scam, so though Wei Xiao’s friends were rich, they didn’t want to be scammed. Thus, they didn’t display much interest. In the end, it was only Wei Xiao and two others who really had nothing else to do who went and tried it out.

Yu Zhengdu had no expectations for this product, as the money they had made from selling jade was already enough to pay his salary through the end of his contract. As for whether or not it would profit in the future, that didn’t have much to do with him either. So, after finishing up with the program, he turned his attention back to the Life and Death Accounts and no longer paid any mind to it.

A few days later, Yu Zhengdu felt that the atmosphere in the company was strangely more relaxed. His coworkers seemed to spend their days very happy.

When Kang Jin passed by him, humming, he finally couldn’t help himself and asked, “How come you guys have been so happy these past few days?”

“Because it’s almost vacation time.” Kang Jin straightened his wig, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “Qingming Festival is coming up, so we have a 3 day mini vacation to go home. There, we’ll also get some offerings from our families.”

His entire ghostly being seemed especially pleased, “Maybe my family will burn me some new clothes!”

Yu Zhengdu was struck by sudden realization. Even though he also got a break during Qingming, this holiday meant something different to ghosts.

To those in the Underworld, the Qingming Festival was the equivalent of the mortal realm’s Mid-Autumn Festival. It was a day for ghosts who hadn’t reincarnated yet to reunite with their relatives that were still living.

Yu Zhengdu nodded, then paused. He asked again, “What about Boss? What does Boss do during Qingming Festival?”

Kang Jin froze and thought about it. He shook his head, “I don’t know. We’ve never spent Qingming with Boss before.”

Yu Zhengdu: “Is Boss like you guys? Does he have someone to bring him offerings?”

Kang Jin was bewildered, “Probably not; Boss doesn’t have any family. I heard thousands of years ago people did bring him offerings, but who would pay respects to the Ghost King these days?”

Yu Zhengdu oh’d. He waited for Kang Jin to leave before scratching his head and picking his laptop up to knock on the door of Shang Que’s office.

Shang Que was, as expected, racing through his virtual game world again. But as soon as he saw Yu Zhengdu walk in, he immediately exited the game and pretended nothing had happened. With a blank expression on his face, he asked, “Do you need something?”

Yu Zhengdu put down his computer. “Just reporting the progress on the Life and Death Accounts.”

Yu Zhengdu’s reports were typically short and to the point. He quickly finished explaining what was going on in his work, then switched topics. He casually inquired, “Oh right, Boss, do you have anything planned during the Qingming mini vacation?”

Shang Que probably didn’t expect him to ask about this, so paused for a moment before responding, “Sleeping……”

He furrowed his brows. “Why do you ask?”

“Nothing.” Yu Zhengdu briefly hesitated, then tested the water, “I need to go home during Qingming to sweep the tombs……”

Shang Que hrmph’d. “I know, just go. It’s not like I won’t give you those vacation days.”

Yu Zhengdu slowly spat out, “……I wanted to say, the mountain where we sweep the tombs in my hometown is pretty famous. Do you want to go hiking with me?”

Shang Que became noticeably shocked. He lifted his head to look over, his expression complicated. He seemed to be struggling over something.

Yu Zhengdu thought this meant he was unwilling, so realized he might be minding too much business that wasn’t his own. He was just about to say that it was fine to say no, when he heard Shang Que lightly cough and ask, “If I go to your home, how are you going to introduce me to your parents?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Ah?”

Shang Que propped his chin up and asked quite seriously, “I don’t think anyone in the mortal realm brings their boss home with them for Qingming, right?”

Yu Zhengdu lightly laughed, “No no no, a lot of people in the mortal realm want to invite their bosses over for Qingming.”