I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

The system's hidden function of detecting candidates for the divine position surprised Chung Kau.

In fact, this "high degree of compatibility" only applies to certain special divine positions.

For example, this monk in front of us is a perfect match for the Judge of the Punishment Division, one of the four judges under the Ten Kings of Hell!

Speaking of the judges of the Punishment Department, we must mention the famous Zhong Kui!

Legend has it that Zhong Kui wore a purple robe, his eyes wide open in anger, his lips tightly closed, and he appeared to be a businesslike and unyielding figure.

All ghosts who come to the underworld must first pass through the Mirror of Karma to reflect their good and evil deeds in their previous life.

Those wicked ghosts who committed numerous evil deeds in their previous lives were all dealt with by Zhong Kui.

He will sentence according to the "Four No's and Four No's" principle set by Yama, the King of Hell: "Four No's" are disloyalty, filial impiety, lack of brotherly love, and untrustworthiness; "Four No's" are rudeness, righteousness, lack of integrity, and shamelessness.

Minor offenses are punished lightly, while serious offenses are punished severely. After sentencing, the offenders are handed over to the executioner and escorted to the punishment platform to be tortured.

They are then sent to the eighteenth level of hell to be tormented until their sentence is served, and finally sent to the Hall of Reincarnation, where they will either be reborn as a cow or a horse, or be reborn into a poor family and return to the mortal world.

In his lifetime, Zhong Kui was known for his fierce temperament and his dedication to righting wrongs in the world. He had also studied Taoist magic. After his death, he was dedicated to hunting down evil spirits and was later appointed as the judge of the Department of Punishment, responsible for punishing wicked people.

This crazy monk in front of me is actually so compatible with Zhong Kui.

Zhong Jiu's interest was immediately piqued. Even if he wasn't sure he would actually take him in, he still needed to have a proper chat. He immediately called out to the monk who was about to descend the mountain, "Monk, are you going to Yingtan City?"

The portly monk paused, turning to look at Zhong Jiu with a puzzled expression: "How did you know I was going to Yingtan City?"

Zhong Jiu smiled faintly: "Because I just came from Yingtan City, and I've already dealt with the Wuyin Temple Taoists there."

The monk suddenly turned around, his drunken eyes instantly clearing as he looked Zhong Jiu up and down, his gaze filled with wariness and curiosity: "Monk, I didn't sense the slightest bit of murderous intent from you. Who exactly are you?"

He had clearly guessed Zhong Jiu's purpose in coming.

"It's not that you can't feel it, it's that I don't let you feel it."

Zhong Jiu smiled and casually released a trace of the aura belonging to a righteous god of the underworld.

Sensing this aura, the monk's expression changed slightly. He nodded, his tone becoming serious: "So your strength is so much greater than mine. No wonder I couldn't see through you."

On the mountaintop, where corpses lay strewn everywhere and the stench of blood filled the air, Zhong Jiu and the mad monk simply sat down on the ground and began to chat.

After some conversation, Zhong Jiu learned that the monk's Buddhist name was "Fu Zhu," that he had no fixed abode, traveled around, and was dedicated to handling injustices in the world.

No one knows what he went through in the past, but the murderous aura around him was terrifying, and he showed no mercy when killing evil people.

"Those scum from the Hidden Mist Temple actually dare to dream of becoming gods through incense offerings? They're like toads lusting after swans, utterly ignorant of their own limitations! How dare such vile creatures covet a divine position?"

After listening to Zhong Jiu's account of the events in Yingtan City, Fu Zhu connected the dots and instantly understood, slapping his thigh in anger.

"Monk, I heard that a true god has descended to this area. I've recently encountered some difficulties that I can't resolve, so I came here to try my luck and ask this true god for help."

"Unexpectedly, I ran into this group of shameless thieving Taoist priests as soon as I arrived. After inquiring, I learned about the despicable things they had done, which made me, this monk, furious!"

"These bastards are still unrepentant, daring to speak arrogantly to me, the monk! I've had enough, so I'll just slaughter them all to stop them from harming the people!"

Fu Zhu recounted his ordeal with a face full of indignation.

His experience was similar to Zhong Jiu's. Both of them arrived and found something was wrong. Upon investigation, they became furious. In addition, the Taoists were used to being arrogant and spoke rudely, which completely ignited their murderous intent.

Once they started, they couldn't stop and slaughtered all the Taoist priests in the entire temple!

"You just said you needed divine help? Tell me, what kind of trouble is it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Jiu's heart skipped a beat. He looked up and asked, his tone inquisitive.

"It's fine to tell you, it's nothing shady anyway!"

Fu Zhu was quite frank, making no attempt to hide anything, and said bluntly, "Do you know that a few days ago, more than a dozen cities were wiped out by those ghosts? After massacring the cities, those bastards just swaggered away!"

Zhong Jiu nodded upon hearing this, a cold smile playing on his lips. He thought to himself, "I was involved in this whole thing, how could I not know?"

The Ghost Army's initial target was thirty-two cities. He first defended Guiling City, and then rushed to the aid of eleven other cities.

Ten cities were saved, but one city arrived too late; the demons had already slaughtered most of it, and only a portion of the citizens could be saved.

Later, the group from Wuyin Temple jumped out to make their presence known. Although their motives were impure, they inadvertently saved Zhongnan City and Yingtan City.

By this calculation, there are as many as eighteen and a half cities that have been slaughtered by ghosts!

Based on a population of 400,000 per city, more than 7 million people died in this disaster!

These numbers are enough to make your scalp crawl!

Although the Yanhuang Kingdom has a large population, it cannot withstand such turmoil. If a few more disasters of this magnitude occur, its resources will be completely depleted!

"When I heard about this, I rushed over from the temple, but I was too late; the evil spirits had already left!"

Fu Zhu became increasingly agitated as he spoke, his eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins. He grabbed the wine gourd and took a large gulp, not caring at all as the wine dripped down his chin.

"The monk couldn't swallow this insult, so he chased after the ghost army through the desolate mountains and wilderness for a full day and night, finally managing to find a clue! I followed the ghost army all the way, until I finally caught up with a place that could terrify anyone!"

At this point, the drunkenness on Fu Zhu's face faded considerably, his expression became serious, and even his breathing became heavier.

"Oh? What kind of place is it that would make even a mad monk like you, who fears neither heaven nor earth, so serious?"

Zhong Jiu became interested and raised an eyebrow to ask further questions.

This monk looks like the kind of guy who'd be willing to take on anything, even if the sky were to fall, yet he has something he's wary of; that's quite rare.

"That's the lair of the Thousand-Eyed Demon—the City of Annihilation!"

Fu Zhu spoke slowly and deliberately, each word carrying a chilling undertone.

The City of Annihilation?

Zhong Jiu raised an eyebrow, secretly pleased.

He had previously heard the old monk Naran say that the Thousand-Eyed Demon had sent out millions of ghost soldiers and thirty-two ghost generals with the aim of using the flesh and blood of millions of people as a foundation and their souls as laborers to build an earth-shattering ghost city.

This matter has been on my mind for a long time, and I have long sent the Day Patrol God and Night Patrol God to inquire about it everywhere, but unfortunately, I still have no clue.

Unexpectedly, we were able to obtain a crucial clue from Fu Zhu!

"That old ghost's lair is tens of thousands of miles away from here, a journey through desolate mountains and treacherous waters, teeming with evil spirits and extremely dangerous! But compared to the City of Annihilation, those dangers are nothing!"

Fu Zhu's eyes were filled with solemnity, but even more so with barely suppressed anger.

"When I arrived, I discovered that the City of Annihilation was almost complete! The city was terrifyingly large, teeming with hundreds of thousands of vengeful ghosts, densely packed together, a sight that sent chills down one's spine!"

"The souls of those ordinary people who were slaughtered were all thrown into the City of Desolation, branded with the mark of eternal slavery, driven by vengeful ghosts to work day and night, without even a chance to catch their breath!"

"I secretly observed from afar, and saw that place was filled with an ominous aura, with dark clouds pressing down overhead! If this ghost city is fully completed, it will likely cause a great catastrophe for all living beings!"

"I, the monk, cautiously investigated for several days, and seized the opportunity to capture a ghost general and interrogate him, finally extracting some information from him. The Thousand-Eyed Demon has gone out and is not in the City of Silent Annihilation; he won't be back anytime soon!"

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If we could take this chance to wipe out this haunted place, we could save many innocent souls! It's a pity that even without the Ghost King, I, this monk, alone, can't crack this tough nut!"

At this point, Fu Zhu sighed heavily, his tone full of helplessness.

This guy is the kind of person who's unyielding and doesn't like asking for favors, so the fact that he's actively seeking help shows just how tricky this matter is.