Chapter Ten: Restarting the Investiture of the Gods

Chapter Ten

Fan Bisi’s words left Zhao Fusheng standing in stunned silence. Was this truly an inescapable doom, impossible to break? Had she been reborn only to wait for death with stark clarity? Were the ghosts and monsters truly impossible to kill? Was the only way to rid oneself of a haunting ghost to passively wait for death, allowing it to depart on its own?

Countless questions surged through her mind in succession. Perhaps she would never find the answers, though the higher-ups of the Imperial Demon Suppression Bureau might have begun to unravel some clues. Yet Fan Bisi had made it clear: once her soul was inscribed in the register, she would be under the control of the imperial court, unable to leave Wan’an County unless summoned.

Now that ghostly mists had enveloped Wan’an County and the court had abandoned this place, she was trapped here. It was a deadlock with no solution.

Was she truly destined only to await death?

Her mind was in turmoil, despair tightening its grip. Suddenly, a thought emerged in her sea of consciousness: ghosts cannot be killed, but they can be sent into the cycle of reincarnation; or the Divine Registry could be opened, granting them a divine seat.

The Infernal Divine Registry activates.

Sensing the host is haunted by a ghost of the fiendish rank, but lacking the qualifications for deification.

Would you like to open the Infernal Realm and temporarily confine the fierce ghost within?

What is this? Zhao Fusheng was startled, her thoughts racing as the voice returned: Sensing the host’s will to survive, opening the Infernal Realm—

Opening failed. Host’s merit insufficient.

“…”

Zhao Fusheng clutched the jade book tightly, glancing about with wary eyes.

What is this Divine Registry? What are divine seats?

Just as she was overwhelmed by the sudden intrusion of this consciousness, the voice appeared again: As the commandant of the Demon Suppression Bureau, responsible for the safety of the county, you must uphold your duty and protect the people’s peace.

Uphold justice, rebuild the Infernal Realm.

Open the Divine Registry, enshrine great ghosts, and send hundreds of ghosts into reincarnation!

Zhao Fusheng was shaken beyond words, unable to speak for a long time.

Suddenly, she remembered that yesterday, when she was reborn and her consciousness was muddled, she seemed to hear a voice prompting her: restart the Divine Registry.

It had also urged her to open the eighteen layers of hell.

But at the time, she was at the crucial moment of returning from death, and the subsequent dream and waking events had blurred this memory, causing her to push it aside.

If not for her conversation with Fan Bisi, which mentioned the fierce ghost haunting her, she might never have discovered that her body not only harbored a fierce ghost, but also contained this special existence.

What was the Divine Registry?

As Zhao Fusheng pondered, another scene appeared in her sea of consciousness.

A registry shrouded in black mist unfolded slowly before her mind’s eye. Perhaps because fierce ghosts ran rampant in the Han Dynasty, this registry did not carry the aura of immortality, but instead exuded an eerie and chilling presence.

Blood flowed around its edges, staining the entire registry, and in its center were rows of divine seat names. Yet all those names were sealed by some mysterious force, nothing revealed.

She tried to touch a blank divine seat with her thoughts, and a message echoed in her mind: Merit is required to unlock the first divine seat. Would you like to consume 100 points of merit to unlock the seat?

Yes!

Zhao Fusheng was still ignorant of what this “Divine Registry” was, what “merit” meant, or what a “divine seat” was, but she wished to understand it.

At the moment she chose “yes,” her consciousness seemed guided by some force, attempting to imprint on the lower left divine seat of the registry—but ultimately, the imprint failed.

A message returned: Merit insufficient, unlocking divine seat failed.

Prompt: Complete the first commission of the Demon Suppression Bureau to earn merit.

Note: The Bureau’s duty is to drive away ghosts, investigate cases, and safeguard the people of Wan’an County from harm by fierce ghosts.

Reminder again: Uphold justice, rebuild the Infernal Realm.

Open the Divine Registry, enshrine great ghosts, and send hundreds of ghosts into reincarnation!

Zhao Fusheng was so shocked she could not speak, unable to recover for a long moment.

Meanwhile, Fan Bisi and his brother had waited a long time, seeing her holding the jade book but remaining silent.

“Fusheng, Fusheng!”

Fan Bisi could no longer contain himself and called her name loudly, twice.

“Ah…” Zhao Fusheng snapped out of her trance, turning abruptly to look at Fan Bisi.

“You… what did you just say…”

Her mind was a tangled mess: first learning her soul was controlled by a fierce ghost, making her a ghost pawn; then discovering another fierce ghost haunting her; then encountering the Divine Registry. Her demeanor was dazed, utterly different from the shrewd calm she had shown earlier.

Seeing her odd expression and distracted questioning, Fan Bisi frowned.

“I said the imperial court has certain methods to control ghosts—never mind.” He suddenly wiped his face, saying:

“I’ve said everything I needed to. Fusheng, give my brother and me a chance, let us retrieve our soul tokens, we are preparing to join Magistrate Bao’s Demon Suppression Bureau…”

“I…”

He tried to continue, but Zhao Fusheng’s soul once again returned to her sea of consciousness, where the bloodstained, eerie Divine Registry slowly unfolded, with its sealed divine seats.

Her muddled thoughts gradually cleared, and her exceptional will allowed her to accept the reality.

Fan Bisi, seeing her silence, instinctively reached for her wrist. Her wrist was slender and pale, the veins prominent beneath her thin skin—a sign of her impoverished upbringing, leaving her body frail and weak. From Fan Bisi’s perspective, the veins stood out starkly under the skin.

Almost all the common folk of the Han Dynasty were gaunt like this. He ventured,

“Fusheng, give us back our soul tokens. If you ever need help, my brother and I will do our best.”

She seemed to have lost her anchor, allowing him to pull her hand to touch the jade book.

The moment Zhao Fusheng’s fingers touched the book, a halo lit up, and three black silhouettes wrapped in red light appeared.

The shadows vanished, replaced by three names.

The names were arranged in a “pin” formation: Zhao Fusheng’s name in the center, below it the names of Fan Bisi and Fan Wujie.

Sinister red light entwined their names, fierce and ominous.

Fan Bisi, seeing his and his brother’s names, looked elated, pulling Zhao Fusheng’s hand toward those names.

As they were about to touch the names, both brothers smiled, thinking the matter was settled—Fan Bisi exerted himself, intending to “fish” out the names with Zhao Fusheng’s hand, but suddenly felt resistance in his palm.

Zhao Fusheng gripped his hand, pulling it back firmly.

“No.”

Her gaze cleared, growing resolute.

Fan Bisi and Fan Wujie’s expressions shifted from joy to shock; Fan Bisi was furious and agitated.

“You—you—”

“Listen to me: we are members of the Demon Suppression Bureau of Wan’an County. We should not think of escaping at the first sign of trouble, right?” It was as if she had found a glimmer of hope amid despair; her whole demeanor revived, her gaze sharp and shrewd, and as she looked at the Fan brothers, a smile slowly appeared on her face.

For some reason, Fan Bisi felt a chill at her smile, instinctively loosening her wrist and wanting to step back. Zhao Fusheng, however, caught his hand in return.

“How does the saying go?”

“H-how does it go?” He sensed something ominous.

The girl before him was no longer timid or ignorant, but seemed transformed, her smile making his heart tremble.

“We eat the emperor’s grain, we serve the emperor faithfully. As commandant and envoy of the Demon Suppression Bureau of Wan’an County, it is our duty to protect the people here.” Zhao Fusheng’s tone was solemn.

“The Bureau’s duty is to drive away ghosts and investigate cases, safeguarding the people of Wan’an County and upholding justice!”

“…”

“…”

The only response was the identical, speechless expressions of the Fan brothers, staring at her as if she were mad.