I become a god in another world

Chapter 743 The Fifth Day of the Third Month
Chapter 743

"Keep your voice down, don't wake anyone," Zhao Fusheng said.
"If a stranger saw you like this, they would be so frightened that they would die on the spot, and even ten doctors couldn't save you."

"..."

Xie Jingsheng was speechless.

He didn't want to become this grotesque, but the reason he was like this was entirely due to the Liu Huacheng Law that Zhao Fusheng controlled.

Xie Jingsheng still felt lingering fear when he thought of how terrifying Liu Huacheng had been before.

This was not the time for arguing, Xie Jingsheng's mouth urged impatiently:
"Then why don't you hurry up and pick up my body?"

After saying that, he added:
"Don't drop anything, not even a fingernail."

Zhao Fusheng nodded:
"Okay." She then called to Kuai Manzhou, "Manzhou, please help."

The child's long hair flew wildly, tucking each finger, eyeball, mouth, and nose into its strands.

The two acted simultaneously, and in no time at all, they had collected Xie Jingsheng's body fragments with the speed of an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

……

As dawn broke, the blood-red mist that had obscured the moonlight dissipated as Liu Huacheng returned to his divine position.

The eerie atmosphere that had enveloped Wan'an County that night dissipated, and many people who had fallen into a deep sleep slowly awoke.

As dawn breaks, it is the perfect time for them to get up, prepare themselves, and head out to work.

'Woof woof woof.'

Someone's dog in the county started barking again, and then the rooster began to crow.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

Urged on by Zhao Fusheng, the three of them slipped out of the courtyard and wandered the streets.

As soon as it got light, the sounds of people getting up could be heard everywhere.

Kuai Manzhou now revealed his ghostly form, and if his hair were still clinging to Xie Jingsheng's mangled body, it would be quite frightening.

After discussing it for a while, Xie Jingsheng summoned the five ghosts he commanded, and emptied an empty basket from the baskets they carried. He then put Xie Jingsheng's mutilated body into the basket, and Zhao Fusheng carried him on his back.

When the group returned to Baoding Lane, it was just dawn.

The three of them were busy all night, but fortunately, everything went smoothly without any major incidents.

With last night's experiment underway, Zhao Fusheng is even more confident about the major battle that may break out on March 5th.

As soon as the gates of the Demon Suppression Bureau opened, the servant who opened the gate saw Zhao Fusheng carrying a large basket and holding Kuai Manzhou's hand, standing outside the Demon Suppression Bureau.

"S-Sir?"

The servant was taken aback and was about to ask a question when Zhao Fusheng took the large basket off his back and handed it to the servant.

"Take this basket into Lord Xie's room. These are his belongings, so don't touch them."

After saying that, he added:

"When Lord Xie 'returns,' have him come to see me."

Although she said this to the servants, she was actually speaking to Xie Jingsheng.

The servant, unaware of the reasoning, remembered it and readily agreed.

A black cloth was draped over the basket, and something was hidden inside. The servant felt that the objects inside the basket seemed to be moving, as if they were alive.

After Zhao Fusheng left, he muttered to himself, "I wonder what Lord Xie has in that basket—"

"Don't worry about it."

As soon as the servant finished speaking, a shout was heard.

The sound seemed to be coming from inside the basket.

He was so frightened that he nearly dropped the large basket in his hand.

Finally, the servant got goosebumps all over his body, barely suppressing the urge to shout "There's a ghost!" He grabbed the large basket and ran like the wind, carrying it into Xie Jingsheng's room. Then, he slammed the door shut and ran away in a flash.

……

Meanwhile, Wan'an County was extremely lively today.

After Zhao Fusheng and Kuai Manzhou had been busy all night, they returned to the Demon Suppression Division, washed up, filled their stomachs, and went back to sleep. Meanwhile, in the streets and alleys of Wan'an County, many people were whispering among themselves.

On Jieyi Road in the east of the city, Pang Dashan, who had slept soundly all night, did not go out to work today. Instead, he vividly recounted his experiences from the previous night to others:
"Last night I encountered a deity. He claimed to be the City God and the Ghost Judge, holding a red book in one hand, saying he wanted to take my life." His face was slightly pale, but he was in high spirits, gesturing wildly.
“But a couple of days ago, I was walking at night and was afraid of being possessed by evil spirits, so Aunt Lin from our courtyard told me to go to the Xu family to invite the door gods back. Just as the City God was about to take my life, the two ghosts on my door came to life and tried to stop the City God.”

He spoke with great enthusiasm, captivating the audience.

"...In the end, the judge didn't take my life. He said I was supposed to live to 65, but I was only 30 this year, so I was still far from my natural death date. After saying that, he left."

"really?"

The onlookers, hands tucked in their sleeves, were filled with suspicion.

Pang Dashan panicked:

"At first I thought it was fake, but when I woke up this morning, I found that my door was gone."

He said, his face flushed and his neck thick:
“Everyone was here last night. If it weren’t for a battle between gods, with such a commotion, who wouldn’t have woken up? My door is gone, which shows that the two door gods I invited back really did protect me.”

"Unfortunately, my family is poor and the door is not sturdy enough, so the door gods have nowhere to live. I will definitely find some work to do later, save up some money to rebuild the door, and then go to the Xu family to invite the door gods!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone else echoed:
“Last night, when I was half awake, I saw a red light in the room. Indeed, a ghost judge brought a red book into the room.”

As soon as this person finished speaking, the others echoed his sentiments.

That night, everyone had the same dream: under the blood moon, an old man carrying a red book and wearing an official robe walked the streets.

……

The news spread like wildfire throughout Wan'an County in less than half a day.

At the Demon Suppression Division, Magistrate Pang rushed over after finishing his work. Just then, Zhao Fusheng was taking a nap, so he told her about the scene:
"The people in the county are all talking about the judge. Some of the older people knew about the Liu family in their early years and also remembered the rumors in the city, guessing that this City God Ghost Judge is none other than Master Liu."

Back then, the Liu family was the largest household in Wan'an County.

Liu Huacheng's life was quite legendary: from the time he was born, his mother had a strange dream in which he was dressed in an official robe, holding a red book, and walking through the streets of Wan'an County.

Once the dream spread, people said that Liu Huacheng was born extraordinary.

He once served as an official in the capital, but was later demoted and sent back to his hometown. However, he managed the Liu family business so well that it became incredibly wealthy.

Unfortunately, his good fortune didn't last long. The Liu family suffered another major upheaval, and he sold off his property to build the Confucius Temple and the Beggar's Alley, eventually living a life of seclusion.

Forty years ago, the Liu family gradually faded from the sight of the people of Wan'an County.

Forty years later, with the appearance of the 'City God and Ghost Judge' last night, the Liu family, which had disappeared from everyone's memory, was once again remembered by the people of Wan'an County. After listening to Magistrate Pang finish explaining the cause and effect, Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but smile.

"Did you check the household registration list last night, sir?" Magistrate Pang asked, delighted by her appearance.

Zhao Fusheng nodded:
“I’ve tried it; using the laws of ghosts to protect people does indeed work,” she said.

"Tens of thousands of people in Wan'an County are on the list of ghosts. Liu Huacheng cannot take their souls before their natural lifespan ends."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Pang's eyes lit up:
"Your Excellency truly possesses great foresight."

After he finished praising it, he added:
"In this way, Wan'an County will be protected by the divine judge, and the people in the city can sleep soundly without worry."

“But—” Magistrate Pang hesitated for a moment, “It’s just that you’ve gone to a lot of trouble, sir.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fusheng shook his head:
"Everything in the world has its own rules for development."

After confirming that Liu Huacheng killed people based on the roster, and that the vengeful ghosts were bound by the law and unable to act because the lifespans of the deceased on the roster were still alive, Zhao Fusheng planned to wait out the events in Wan'an County and then collect the household registers of the Han Dynasty, recording the names of the existing people into the ghost register.

At that time, the Ghost Register will surely be upgraded again, and Liu Huacheng's rank will be raised again and again.

Moreover, as a soul-reaping judge, it is naturally worshipped by the common people.

In this way, Liu Huacheng, though powerful, is bound by the laws, which will better protect the people.

"At that time, I will not take the ghosts and gods back into the divine realm, but will issue a decree to order the local demon-suppressing departments to build city god temples so that the people can worship the ghosts and gods."

After she finished speaking, Xie Jingsheng, who had rested all morning and finally pieced his body back together, continued:

“This method is feasible. In this way, the future demon-controlling officials will not be responsible for solving ghost cases, but will only need to guide the people in worshipping the gods.”

He was implying something:
"Two generations later, if the world is at peace and evil spirits no longer resurface in large numbers, perhaps those who control ghosts will eventually become just another face in the crowd, becoming products of the times."

As soon as Xie Jingsheng finished speaking, Magistrate Pang's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively looked at Zhao Fusheng.

For this era, the existence of the Demon Suppression Division is indispensable, and the Ghost Tamers are the only force to resist the resurgence of evil spirits.

But to the common people, the Demon Suppression Division was like a giant leech, crawling on the people of the Han Dynasty, sucking the blood of the country and its people, and no one could stop it.

In many impoverished areas, the mere mention of the Demon Suppression Bureau evokes fear.

They would rather die from a ghostly calamity than dare to report the crime lightly.

More than forty years ago, even the extremely wealthy Liu family was wiped out by the headless ghost. If it were an ordinary large or rich family, they would also be doomed if they were afflicted by a ghost. Not to mention poor families—once a ghost was reported, the demon-suppressing officers who came to investigate could drain the entire family dry before the vengeful ghost could even kill anyone.

Even if people didn't die at the time, after the ghostly calamity, the following year they had no rice or money, and the whole family had nowhere to go but to either jump into a well or hang themselves.

Such wrongful convictions and tragedies are no less serious than ghost cases, but ghost cases can be reported, while tragedies perpetrated by the Demon Suppression Bureau have no recourse.

……

Everyone trembled at the mention of the Demon Suppression Division, yet no one dared to voice any objections.

Magistrate Pang's fear of the Demon Suppression Division ran deep in his bones, and when Xie Jingsheng dared to say such things, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng showed no signs of anger, which relieved Magistrate Pang.

He suddenly recalled Zhao Fusheng's various methods, and a thought surged into his mind: Could this be Lord Zhao's purpose?
"The people of the Han Dynasty will have to endure this for the next two generations, but there will always be a future after several decades," Zhao Fusheng said calmly.
"At that time, there will be ghosts in the world, but there will be few ghosts and few ghost tamers. If the Demon Suppression Division still exists, it will fall into the hands of ordinary people. At that time, there will be no more cases like the one in Shangyang County where Zhu Guangling single-handedly caused the deaths of people in many counties."

She remained deeply troubled by the Zhu Guangling case.

Unfortunately, she was too late. She couldn't stop Zhu Guangling's methods or save the people in the city. All she could do was clean up the mess, make the instigator a ghost or god to repay the people's kindness and protect them, and give future generations the opportunity to avoid being exploited by the Demon Suppression Bureau.

However, Zhao Fusheng was, after all, a human being, not a god.

While she was alive, because of her power and status, these decrees were upheld and no one dared to act recklessly.

If she dies, there will always be people who find loopholes to exploit these policies.

However, if she were to die then, these matters would be left for future generations to worry about, and she wouldn't need to worry or be anxious about them in advance.

Xie Jingsheng was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed:
"When Lord Fengdu was alive, he always said he had had enough of life and that living was meaningless."

He was tormented by a vengeful ghost, unable to eat or sleep properly. Living was nothing but torture for him, and he kept saying he wanted to die.

“If he were still alive, and lived another fifty years, he might see a different scene—” He forced a smile, but his expression froze, and he could no longer continue.

Zhao Fusheng then added:
"If he can't see it, you can see it for him."

"..."

Xie Jingsheng was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head.

The group tacitly avoided mentioning the Demon Suppression Division again, and Magistrate Pang tactfully changed the subject:

"My lord, I've been thinking about this a lot these past few days, and I've come up with something."

He said:
"While the people of Wan'an County are petitioning, why not take this opportunity to improve the household registration system? The household registration should be in duplicate, one copy for the government archives and one copy for the individual's family, used to record their place of origin, name, age, land, etc."

Magistrate Pang gave a long and eloquent speech. After listening to him, Zhao Fusheng felt that the method was feasible, but if it were to be implemented, it might not be possible in a short time, and it might take a long time to promote it nationwide.

Before they knew it, half a day had passed in discussion. As dusk approached, the aroma of food wafted from outside. Zhao Fusheng glanced at Magistrate Pang:
"Lord Pang, don't go back to the government office tonight. Stay at the Demon Suppression Division and have a simple meal."

Her words implied a desire to retain him.

As time passed, midnight arrived, marking the fifth day of the third month. The ghost carriage that had left Changping County would then search for Magistrate Pang's whereabouts.

Magistrate Pang already knew about this matter and was fully aware of Zhao Fusheng's attempt to retain him.

He thought for a while and said:

"My lord, please forgive my impudence, but I really cannot have dinner with you tonight."

Magistrate Pang smiled and said, "I also have a wife and children at home. I promised to have dinner with them tonight. After I finish cleaning up, I will immediately rush back to the Demon Suppression Division to welcome the Night Patrol God and all the magistrates of the county."

His expression was resolute, clearly indicating that he had already made up his mind.

Zhao Fusheng didn't press the matter further, but simply reminded him, "You must return to the Demon Suppression Division before midnight."

"Rest assured, sir." After saying this, Magistrate Pang did not linger any longer and hurriedly urged his men to prepare a carriage to return to the county government.

After Magistrate Pang left, Zhao Fusheng quietly waited for time to pass.

The sky gradually darkened, and night fell.

Noises rose within the Demon Suppression Division as servants took turns on duty and then lit lamps for illumination. But as night fell, these sounds gradually disappeared.

At around 23:00 PM, Magistrate Pang arrived at the Demon Suppression Division.

When he returned home, he bid farewell to his family, tidied himself up, changed into a brand new robe, and traveled alone by carriage without his clerk.

　I haven't been feeling well lately, so I'll be taking a day off tomorrow to recharge. Please don't refresh the page.

　　(End of this chapter)