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

The first condition given by the system for promotion to the fifth-rank judge was just the basic requirement; the second condition, "great order in Guiling City," was what truly stumped him.

Achieving great order is not as simple as just talking about it; it requires tangible political achievements.

The City God is the guardian deity of a city, but his duties go far beyond simply catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits.

For example, in judicial proceedings, if there are wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice, or injustices, the City God must intervene; he must also punish evil and promote good, and ward off disasters; if there are natural disasters and poor harvests, the City God must also find a way to solve them.

To put it simply, the City God is like the county magistrate in ancient times. He has to take charge of everything, from natural disasters and man-made calamities to trivial matters. Only when everything is in order and the people live in peace and prosperity can the standard of "great order" be achieved.

This is why ancient officials would stay overnight at the City God Temple before taking office, so that they could communicate with the City God in their dreams.

If there is a wrongful conviction or a sordid affair, the City God will appear in a dream to inform the people; if officials also abuse their power and bend the law, and the people have nowhere else to turn, they can also come to the City God Temple to file a complaint and ask the gods to make a decision.

Zhong Jiu frowned: "Aren't the people of Guiling City doing quite well? Hasn't this met the standard for major governance?"

He immediately summoned the head of the Yin-Yang Bureau for questioning. After listening, he realized that he had oversimplified things. Guiling City was still a long way from achieving "great order".

First of all, the departments such as the Department of Rewarding Good Deeds, the Department of Punishing Evil, the Department of Sushi, and the Department of Promoting Prosperity have only been established for a short time and are not yet fully operational.

Managing the rewards, punishments, blessings, and fortunes of hundreds of thousands of people is an astonishing workload; even a deity would have to sort it out slowly.

Secondly, agriculture in Guiling City is a major problem.

Previously, due to the rampant evil spirits, the towns and villages were all deserted, and the people were all crowded in the city. The land outside the city had long been barren and overgrown with weeds.

"I see. Being the City God is no easy task. Exorcising ghosts is just a side job; the main job is actually being a 'local official'?"

Zhong Jiu took a deep breath and finally realized his responsibilities.

In the following days, the City God Temple went into full-speed operation mode!

In the past, there was no underworld, so all the work had to be built from scratch. The heads, assistants, and soul messengers of each department were all so busy that they didn't even have time to catch their breath.

Chung Kau was also busy; he personally wrote "A Letter to Encourage Farmers," affixed the City God's official seal, and promised the people: "In the next three years, Guiling City will surely enjoy favorable weather, abundant harvests, and full granaries!"

After finishing writing it, he handed the "Letter of Encouragement to Farmers" to the Yin-Yang Bureau, instructing them to implement it immediately and to send messages through dreams to government officials and returning farmers to spread the message.

"The City God said! It's safe outside now, we can go home and farm!"

"Great! I've long since grown tired of living in those cramped city apartments; it's so much more comfortable living in a small courtyard in the village!"

"Let's go! Let's hurry back and check, my few acres of land have probably turned into grassland!"

……

The City God's Palace held immense prestige among the people. As soon as the news spread, the villagers in the towns and villages were overjoyed and packed their belongings to rush back to their hometowns in the countryside.

The authorities also actively cooperated and made every effort to implement the return-to-hometown arrangements. The people's peaceful and prosperous lives are their core political achievement, so they naturally did not neglect it.

When people return to their hometowns, the biggest concern is still the potential for ghosts or spirits.

Although Chung Kau terrified the evil spirits last time and dared not approach Guiling City again, there's no guarantee that some fearless bastards might still emerge.

However, Chung Kau was prepared for this.

During this period, his Soul-Slaying Banner has absorbed thousands of yin spirits. These yin spirits are of good quality; they are either good spirits that have recently died or old spirits that have accumulated good karma and have not been corrupted into evil ghosts by resentment.

Zhong Jiu organized these spirits into a Soul Army and handed them over to General Shackles to lead, patrolling day and night in the outskirts of Guiling City;

The day-roaming gods and night-roaming gods didn't rest either. They were naturally good at investigation, and as long as any ghosts dared to approach the territory of Guiling City, they could definitely detect them immediately.

The Inspectorate's manpower has long been replenished, and the team of more than 100 people is full of elites. They are specially assigned to patrol remote areas. Once they find ghosts, they will kill them without mercy!

With these three measures combined, the area surrounding Guiling City has become an impregnable fortress. Not to mention evil spirits, even a single malevolent being cannot set foot inside!

In Zhong Jiu's view, everything in Guiling City is progressing steadily in a positive direction, and the dawn of great order is just around the corner.

But at this critical juncture, an official document from the Inspectorate directly enraged him, causing him to explode on the spot!

"Outrageous! This is utterly lawless!"

Zhong Jiu slammed his hand on the table, making the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on it jump. The coldness in his eyes almost froze into icicles.

"Go! Bring that female ghost who filed the complaint to me!"

Zhong Jiu gave the order in a cold voice, his anger almost bursting forth.

The two soul messengers dared not delay, and turned to leave as soon as they received their orders, their footsteps so fast that they stirred up a gust of cold wind.

"Go and fetch Fang Han, the head of the Disciplinary Hall, again!"

Zhong Jiu added another sentence, his voice still chillingly cold.

Before long, Fang Han and the female ghost brought by the soul messenger arrived at the temple one after the other.

"Speak! What injustice is it that warrants you filing this sinister complaint?"

Zhong Jiu's originally pleasant mood had now turned into a complete mess, and even his words were tinged with anger.

The document in his hand was no ordinary document, but a "negative document".

This is the last resort that mortals dare to use when they are driven to desperation and have nowhere else to turn for justice!

Unless one suffers a deep and unbearable injustice and utterly despairs of the mortal world, no one would dare to take this step.

After all, gods rarely interfere in worldly affairs unless the injustice is so great that it angers both heaven and man. Not to mention that filing a complaint against the dead is extremely risky. Whether one is alive or dead, if one makes a false or misleading report and angers the gods, the consequences will be absolutely irreversible!

For a living person to file a complaint against the underworld, they must write the complaint in their own handwriting and undergo a complicated and strict ceremony before they can present their grievance to the City God.

The dead often file complaints against the underworld because they suffered greatly in life and their resentment is hard to quell after death. However, they are afraid of the laws of the underworld and dare not take revenge in private, so they kneel down and beg the gods to intervene.

This cryptic statement is what the female ghost in front of us told us.

She died a horrific death. Not only was her body abandoned in the wilderness, but it also underwent a particularly cruel treatment: her mouth was stuffed with chaff, and her eyes were completely covered with mud.

This is the most insidious method used by the common people, which is to make her unable to see or speak after she dies, so that she will not even have the right to file a complaint!

Anyone else who suffered such treatment would have been filled with resentment and turned into a vengeful ghost, turning against their enemies.

But this female ghost was a devout follower of the City God. She was honest and law-abiding, and even though she suffered a great injustice, she never thought of taking revenge in private. She suppressed her resentment and did not become a vengeful ghost.

Unable to contain her grievances any longer, she painstakingly carved dozens of the character "冤" (meaning "wronged") on a rock in the desolate mountains.

It was these words that were discovered by the patrolling Soul Soldiers of the Inspectorate, who brought her before the Chief Clerk of the Gale Hall. Finally, after being reported up the chain of command, they reached Zhong Jiu's hands.

Judging cases and redressing grievances is the duty of the City God, especially when it comes to such tragic injustices.

How could Chung Kau stand idly by?

What angered him even more was that, just as Guiling City was about to achieve great order, such a despicable thing was still hidden, which was undoubtedly a slap in the face to him, the City God!

"Your Excellency, this female ghost is extremely timid. She only said she wanted to complain to you in person. We asked her repeatedly, but she refused to speak."

Seeing Zhong Jiu's ashen face, Fang Han felt uneasy and quickly bowed in response.

"Fine, since she wants to see me, then let her speak for herself."

Zhong Jiu closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing his anger.

Even the officials of the underworld refused to believe this female ghost, which shows how deep the harm she suffered in her previous life was. Now she is wary of everything and has become extremely sensitive and fragile.

What kind of desperate experience could drive a perfectly good person to this point?

Before long, the female ghost was brought into the hall.

The spirit messenger had already cleaned the mud from her eyes and the chaff from her mouth, so she could see and speak now.

Upon entering the temple and seeing Zhong Jiu seated high on the throne, solemn and dignified, the female ghost knelt down with a thud. The pent-up grievances of many days could no longer be contained, and tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls. She choked out, "City God... I have been wronged! Please, do justice for me!"

Once she started talking, she couldn't stop and poured out her entire ordeal.

(Note: "This game has been wronged; the initial test data was poor. I beg you to do me justice and give it a five-star review!")