Starting from the folklore forum, making up town objects

Chapter 502 Wang Xingping: You lie down, let your uncle do it.
Zhou Lei arrived at the Yinming region where the assessment was to be conducted. Just as he was wondering what to do, the accompanying patrolling Yin soldiers took out three items to ward off evil spirits.

"Choose."

Zhou Lei paused, looking at the three items.

A rope, a chicken carving, and a sieve.

select?
What to choose?
Zhou Lei felt a chill run down his spine. Fan Chengdong hadn't told him about this step when he came!

Which one should I choose?

Zhou Lei glanced furtively at the patrolling underworld officials, then cautiously asked, "How about you help me choose one, brother?"

"No, you have to choose for yourself."

The inspecting underworld officials had a calm gaze.

Zhou Lei thought for a moment, then reached out and placed his hand on the rope. He glanced at the patrolling underworld official and saw that the official's expression had not changed.

So he continued to move his hand and placed it on the chicken carving, but the other person's expression remained unchanged.

Gritting his teeth, Zhou Lei placed his hand on the last sieve.

Just then, Zhou Lei saw the expression on the Yin Cha's face change, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

Zhou Lei was overjoyed and immediately picked up the sieve.

"I choose him!"

The patrolling underworld official put away the other two, then nodded to Zhou Lei.

"The method of use is to stick it on your face so that you can observe the traces of ghosts. If you encounter a ghost, you can throw this sieve at it. If it covers the ghost, you have a chance to suppress it... Hmm, keep this sticker close to your body. I'm afraid it will be too late to save you."

Zhou Lei put the sticker in his pocket, the words still lingering in his mind.

Are they afraid it won't be enough time to save them?
Why was it too late to save them?

Didn't Fan Chengdong say there was no danger?

Also, what does it mean that if you can cover it up, you have a chance to suppress it?

Is there even a probability involved in this?

Zhou Lei wanted to ask something more, but the patrolling underworld official signaled him to hurry up and take the assessment, otherwise he would be judged as having failed if he exceeded the time limit.

With no other option, Zhou Lei could only take the mesh sieve and walk inside.

In front of us was a village, which looked like a rural area from forty or fifty years ago, with most of the houses still made of adobe bricks.

Upon entering the village, Zhou Lei remembered the method the underworld official had mentioned, and then put the net sieve on his face.

Through the mesh of the sieve, Zhou Lei saw that the place was filled with a special colored aura. At one point, he saw a slightly reddish aura moving in the house closest to him.

After hesitating for a long time, Zhou Lei finally walked over there.

He couldn't just come and do nothing before being taken back; he wouldn't be able to explain that to Fan Chengdong.

Moreover, Fan Chengdong said there would be no danger, and the underworld official had given him something to protect his life, so what was he afraid of?
Just do it!

Isn’t it just a ghost?
He's seen it all before in the mortal world!
Despite having encouraged himself all the way, Zhou Lei ultimately didn't go through the doorway. Instead, he went to the low wall that was about the same height as his head and prepared to climb over it to check the situation.

He first placed the sieve on the top of the wall, then braced himself against the wall with both hands and climbed up.

Fortunately, he had practiced specifically to try and join the Bureau of Investigation. Although he was not accepted in the end, his physical condition was still pretty good.

Clinging to the wall with his head peeking out, Zhou Lei didn't climb over but just watched.

But there was nothing in the yard.

Zhou Lei then realized that he hadn't brought a sieve.

He reached out and looked toward the spot where he had just placed the mesh screen. After steadying himself, he stretched out his right hand and grabbed at the mesh screen.

They managed to catch it, but they couldn't take it with them.

It seems the sieve has gotten caught on something!

Zhou Lei immediately lifted the sieve net upwards.

Sure enough, the sieve was successfully removed.

Before Zhou Lei's smile had faded, he saw the thing that had just hooked the mesh screen.

A hand that's grown onto the wall!
Zhou Lei was so frightened that he let go of the wall and was about to fall off.

But before his body hit the ground, he was grabbed.

They were grabbed by arms that seemed to grow out of the wall!

Before he could cry for help, a hand covered his mouth, and then Zhou Lei was carried from the outer wall to the inner wall by those arms, like cargo, and then fixed there.

At this moment, the doors of the houses that had been silent all opened.

One after another, gaunt figures without arms and drooling from their mouths swayed out.

The light in the eyes of those figures when they saw Zhou Lei almost scared him to death.

He struggled, but the more he struggled, the tighter those arms held him.

When the first person was only half a meter away from him, Zhou Lei gave up.

He closed his eyes, hoping that Fan Chengdong and the underworld messenger from earlier would say that nothing bad would happen.

After closing his eyes for half a minute, Zhou Lei sensed something was wrong.

It took half a minute to cover a distance of half a meter?
Slowly, he opened his eyes.

There was nothing in front of me!
Those dozen or so figures vanished without a trace.

Only then did Zhou Lei realize that the arms that had been binding him were gone.

"What's going on? Is it a hallucination?"

"This is so realistic."

Zhou Lei breathed a sigh of relief, leaned against the wall, and slowly slumped to the ground.

Just then, Zhou Lei saw the sieve that had also fallen to the ground.

As he reached out to pick up the sieve, he hesitated.

What if there's another hand below?
Even if he didn't, could he catch a ghost with this thing?

Zhou Lei suddenly remembered the paranormal events he had been searching for, and suddenly he felt that he was really lucky to be alive.

If he had actually found it before, he probably wouldn't be alive now.

Thinking this, Zhou Lei felt dejected and immediately shouted outside.

"Is anyone there? Someone come here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a sedan chair passed through the wall and entered the courtyard.

The patrolling underworld official who had just been there came out.

Seeing this, Zhou Lei breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a great sense of loss. He sat there in a daze.

Seeing Zhou Lei's appearance, the patrolling underworld officials guessed that he was on the verge of collapse and was preparing to give up.

So he went over and prepared to put the sieve away.

But as soon as he picked up the sieve, he realized something was wrong.

Turn it over, and you'll see a hand—no, a ghost—clamped on the back of the sieve!

The patrolling underworld official gave Zhou Lei a strange look.

"Let's go, I'll take you out."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lei got up from the ground and sat in another sedan chair that had been created by the patrolling underworld officials.

Soon, Zhou Lei returned to the square in Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

As soon as he stepped out of the sedan chair, he saw Fan Chengdong.

Under the expectant gaze of the other party, Zhou Lei lowered his head in shame.

"Da Dong, I... I can't do it."

Fan Chengdong was taken aback.

"You didn't pass?"

Seeing Zhou Lei nod, Fan Chengdong looked confused.

If Zhou Lei doesn't pass, then everything he did in front of Chen Xin before was wrong, wasn't it?

Given the relationship between Chen Xin and Zhou Lei, it's impossible for Chen Xin to prevent Zhou Lei from passing the assessment.

But now... could it be that he really guessed wrong?

It wasn't Chen Xin who helped him, but someone else entirely?

If it's not Chen Xin, then who could it be?

Could it be Wu Mengmeng again?

Just as Fan Chengdong was in a daze and Zhou Lei felt increasingly guilty, the patrolling underworld official spoke up. "The second test is over there. Line up to enter."

After saying that, the patrolling underworld official left, leaving the two of them standing there dumbfounded.

"What did he just say?"

Zhou Lei asked blankly.

"He said you need to take the second test... Didn't you say you didn't pass?"

"Yeah, I didn't do anything! How did it get approved?"

Zhou Lei was also confused. Could it be that the first test was that illusion?

Unbeknownst to him, he broke through a sneaky illusion, which is why he passed the test.

While Zhou Lei was lost in thought, Fan Chengdong remembered what Wang Xingping had said earlier, and his eyes lit up.

"Tell me about your entire assessment process, in detail!"

Zhou Lei looked at Fan Chengdong, thought for a moment, and then recounted the entire process of his assessment.

Fan Chengdong smiled after hearing this.

"Okay, that's all for now. Go and take the second test. Remember, you absolutely must remember what happened during the test!"

Zhou Lei seemed to understand something and suddenly had a 'clear' understanding of Fan Chengdong's status in the underworld.

The fact that he could pass the test like that shows how powerful Fan Chengdong is in the underworld!
Zhou Lei immediately headed towards the second test.

after an hour.

Zhou Lei walked out of the room for the second test with a blank look on his face.

Seeing his appearance, Fan Chengdong already had a guess in his mind.

"pass?"

"Yes, I've passed. The underworld officials inside want me to go and report for duty."

Zhou Lei looked at Fan Chengdong and took the initiative to explain the situation. Actually, there wasn't much to say. They had been queuing for more than half an hour, but only took half a minute to get in and out.

Then he was told that he had passed the assessment.

"Haha, okay, from now on we're colleagues."

"Come on, I'll take you to start your job."

Fan Chengdong had a big smile on his face.

Chen Xin, he really was the person behind him!

He's certain, but he won't say it.

Since Chen Xin didn't want anyone to know, he would pretend he didn't know.

But what exactly is Chen Xin's status in the underworld?

Why was he able to send people to the underworld so easily?

Fan Chengdong is no longer the clueless newbie he was at the beginning. Now, he at least knows what the underworld officials can and cannot do.

Even Bai Langyue, the leader of the Yaksha team, couldn't manage to squeeze into the underworld.

How did Chen Xin manage to do that?
With some questions in mind, Fan Chengdong helped Zhou Lei complete the procedures and receive the talisman.

……

Meanwhile, in another part of Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

Wang Xingping had just returned from hunting down ghosts in the underworld with a fellow underworld official from Lingyuan City and had submitted his mission.

After seeing that his Yin Virtue Points had reached two hundred, Wang Xingping told his colleagues and then left the underworld in a Yin-Yang sedan chair.

Wang Xingping's destination was none other than Wangjiagou.

The sedan chair drove directly into his own yard.

After getting out of the sedan chair, Wang Xingping told the accompanying post station member that they still needed to return home, and then headed home.

His target this time was Chen Xin.

The reason for using the Yin-Yang sedan chair was to allow Chen Xin to directly understand the power of the underworld, saving him the trouble of explaining.

He even wanted to drag Chen Xin into the underworld.

Therefore, he didn't even use his own referral slot.

It must be because he has a very good relationship with the bureau chief that he was able to do this. Nowadays, every referral slot is precious.

To secure this spot, Wang Xingping would need to complete as many meritorious tasks related to the underworld as possible, in order to contribute to the Bureau of Investigation's competition for the underworld title later.

Although competing for the title of Underworld is the mission of the entire Bureau of Investigation, different branches have their own ulterior motives.

If the recipient of that title is in your own branch office, will the status of that branch office be elevated accordingly in the future?
Perhaps, one can be promoted from Earthly Fiend to Heavenly Fiend, or even above Heavenly Fiend?
Wang Xingping went straight to Chen Xin's room.

As soon as I entered, I saw Chen Xin lying on the bed reading a book.

"You still have time to read? What, are you planning to sponge off your uncle?"

When Chen Xin saw Wang Xingping, he laughed and said, "My uncle is so capable, if I don't take advantage of him, who will?"

"After all, my uncle didn't find an aunt, let alone have a younger brother or sister."

Chen Xin's teasing made Wang Xingping feel a little embarrassed.

"Is it because I don't want to look? It's because I don't want to! With your uncle's connections, your aunt would be lining up!"

"Alright, we can talk about your aunt's matter later. Why did you resign?"

Wang Xingping's expression was somewhat serious.

"I'm just tired."

Chen Xin said casually.

"Tired? What did you do that makes you tired!"

Wang Xingping frowned as he looked at Chen Xin's attitude.

He didn't like Chen Xin's attitude. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to support Chen Xin, but he knew his current situation. If he wasn't careful, Chen Xin would have to take care of the family.

He can still look after Chen Xin now, but what will happen when no one looks after him?
The Bureau of Polls is not a charity; without connections, unless you are exceptionally capable, you will struggle at the bottom.

He didn't want Chen Xin to do this.

Just as Wang Xingping was thinking about how to explain the pros and cons to Chen Xin, a single sentence from Chen Xin stunned him.

“Uncle, the jobs of agents at the Bureau of Investigation are precarious. Someone has to stay home to take care of the family, right? You’re doing well now, so I’ll stay home. It’s good that I have all these skills, so they won’t go to waste.”

Wang Xingping opened his mouth, but for a moment, he couldn't say anything more.

Yes, he only thought about protecting Chen Xin, but he didn't realize that Chen Xin didn't have to do such a dangerous thing at all.

Wang Xingping sat down in Chen Xin's chair and began to ponder with a furrowed brow.

After a long silence, he made a decision.

Let Chen Xin lie down, and let him go and fight.

Given his current situation, it's much better than sending Chen Xin to the Bureau of Investigation or the Underworld.

With his identity as a member of the Underworld, he only needs to work hard to get more good things for Chen Xin. So what if Chen Xin is in the Bureau of Investigation or not?

As long as Chen Xin can protect this family business, that's enough.

If all else fails, I'll just live with my family in the underworld.

There are quite a few people now residing in the underworld.

With this decision made, Wang Xingping felt relieved.

After talking with Chen Xin, he went to see Chen Xin's maternal grandmother.

He didn't even eat the meal before leaving again in the sedan chair.

Originally, this sedan chair was supposed to take Chen Xin away.

Chen Xin saw all of this and naturally knew how his uncle made his choice.

Fortunately, the number of underworld officials stationed in the underworld has not yet increased to a level that Chen Xin is satisfied with. It would be better to focus more on his uncle and others and improve their status in the underworld.

In this way, when Chen Xin is busy with matters in the Ghost Realm, he won't have to worry about his uncle and the others anymore.

With that thought in mind, Chen Xin also disappeared from the room.

No sooner had Chen Xin left than his grandmother, Mei Huixiang, opened the door: "Chen Xin, your uncle... wait, why are they all running so fast?"

"Am I even going to cook this meal or not?!"

……

(End of this chapter)