Chapter 183: Why can’t it auto-save drafts?

Chapter 183: Why can't it auto-save drafts?

At the police station a street away from Tongfu Court.

Zhou Xun sat tensely on a chair, narrating the situation to the on-duty officer, "Yes, I was at my friend's house. He claimed to be a friend of my friend, so I let him in. I don't know what happened. I was in the living room, he said he'd check the bedroom, and then he never came out. I called out, felt something was off, and then found him like that."

The station was in chaos. Numerous incidents had occurred that night; most officers were out, and the few remaining were busy collecting evidence.

What's astounding is this man, claiming to be Zhou Xun, brought a suitcase to the station with a corpse inside - a corpse that appeared to have frozen to death! Such an event was unheard of in their policing careers.

The interrogating officer asked incredulously, "So you put him in a suitcase and dragged him here to report? Why didn't you just call 110?"

Zhou Xun hesitated for a moment, "I was afraid he would decompose and stain my friend's floor."

The policeman's astonishment deepened, "So, staining your friend's floor is more concerning than a person dying?"

Without even taking a moment to think, Zhou Xun nodded earnestly, "Yes."

The officer warned, "It'd be in your best interest to tell the truth now. It could lessen your sentence."

Zhou Xun pondered for a bit before clarifying, "It's not that this particular person's death matters less, but not every death has the same weight."

The officer began, "Get the medic—"

"Wait," Zhou Xun suddenly turned, even though there was no window, his gaze seemed to penetrate the wall, focusing on the distant sky beyond, "It seems my friend might not be back anytime soon."

——

Up on the rooftop, the fierce battle was drawing to its conclusion.

The narrow and dark space was littered with the remnants and dismembered parts of ghosts and ghouls. The overpowering negative energy on the rooftop made their dissolution agonizingly slow, turning the place into a scene resembling a corner of hell.

A man stood by the rooftop railing, holding Zhang Yao with one arm, covered in monster blood. The gusty wind tousled Zhang Yao's hair. No more monsters dared to approach, but the silver halo in Zhang Yao's eyes faded, rendering them into a soft shade of grey.

"Did I make the right choice?" Zhang Yao asked, her demeanor calm but her voice tinged with uncertainty as she gazed at the sky portal.

"You did," the man replied.

Zhang Yao offered a feeble smile, "I probably won't leave a body behind after I die."

Breaking free from the man's embrace, she steadied herself against the railing, opened her arms to the raging wind, and said her goodbye, "Farewell."

The young girl closed her eyes amidst the dark night, letting herself fall backward from the city's tallest building.

Without a hint of hesitation, the man followed swiftly, catching and embracing her mid-fall.

"Goodbye."

Their forms began to disintegrate, turning into strands of dark mist, fading bit by bit against the backdrop of the brightly lit skyscrapers of the harbor city.

——

Chi Shen stepped through the "door".

A putrid stench intermingled with the chilling aura of ghosts rushed forth. A gloomy sky blanketed the horizon, and beneath his feet, a viscous river of blood flowed. On either side of the river lay a scorched battlefield littered with carcasses.

Gazing upon this apocalyptic vista, Chi Shen remained remarkably composed. He even gave a slight nod, "Ah, the familiar place and its distinctive scent remain unchanged."

This was the final battleground of the death game. Here, they defeated the Ghost King and finally managed to open the exit.

The ghoulish remains by the riverbank were remnants from that fateful battle. Time stood still in this place, so the corpses neither decomposed nor dissipated into ghostly mists. They just lingered.

Chi Shen followed the blood river upstream. At its head lay an enormous ghostly corpse, severed at the neck. The blood pouring from the wound birthed the river below.

Within the charred soils of the battlefield, numerous lesser ghosts still lurked. Too feeble, they had hidden during the climactic battle, unscathed. The closer Chi Shen approached the river's origin, the more of these spirits appeared. Panicking, they scuttled downstream upon sighting him. Some even cast quick, fearful glances over their shoulders before burrowing back into the scorched earth.

Chi Shen also noticed the unusual aura emanating from the source of the river. By all accounts, he had eradicated most of the spirits here before leaving. The powerful ones had been decimated. There shouldn't be such a potent ghostly presence at the river's origin.

The further he ventured, the more concentrated the spectral air became. Chi Shen realized that while he could "see" this thick aura, he was never able to touch it.

Finally, he reached the source of both the ghostly energy and the blood river. From a distance, he could discern two figures standing back to back within the river, but as he drew closer, they vanished.

The ghostly presence within the river intensified. Chi Shen stared at the spot where the two figures had disappeared, pondering for a moment before shifting his gaze to the other side of the river.

On the opposite bank stood the giant head of the corpse, a colossal skull now devoid of flesh, distinct from its still-bleeding torso.

Atop this skull sat a throne forged of bones, and pinned upon it by bone spikes was the corpse of the previous Ghost King whom Chi Shen had slain.

Wen Qin treaded on the bones, steadily ascending the mountainous skull.

Upon seeing Chi Shen approach, he paused before the throne and looked back with a smile.

"I've heard much about you all," Wen Qin spoke deliberately, with a calm demeanor. "While you gained abilities here and vanquished the former king, you don't truly comprehend what this place is, do you?"

Chi Shen surveyed the surroundings and shook his head, "No, I don't."

Wen Qin chuckled, "This is hell, the resting place for lost souls of bygone eras. A millennium ago, it was ruled by the Underworld King. Through the Gate of Reincarnation, the deceased arrived here — malevolent spirits were suppressed, and wandering souls found peace."

He caressed the bone throne and gazed at the blood-red earth, "But then, a rebellion transpired. The Underworld King was slain, and the ghost who killed him became the new monarch of this realm."

"However—"

This time, Wen Qin turned his gaze to Chi Shen, "Using the last of his power, the Underworld King froze time here and initiated a new selection process, seeking a worthy candidate in the mortal realm to rule the netherworld."

"This selection endured for centuries, perhaps even half a millennium. Yet, each chosen one became nothing more than a feast for the Ghost King's appetite. The usurper of hell's throne, naturally, didn't want this selection to continue, so he disrupted the rules here. That's why you, even after slaying him, are unaware that you are to inherit this kingdom."

Chi Shen remained silent, letting him finish. Afterward, he nodded slightly, "Just as I suspected."

After reading the ancient texts of the Zhong family, Chi Shen noticed a growing number of ghosts. He reasonably suspected something was amiss with the ghost-handling agency. Combining Zhang Yao's cryptic words and his own experiences in the Death Game, he surmised the turmoil in Hell was largely as he had deduced.

Wen Qin looked intently into Chi Shen's eyes, "If you had guessed, why didn't you return?"

Chi Shen regarded him as if looking at some mythical creature, "Employees can slack off at work, aiming for no overtime, but being a boss starts at 24/7. Working more doesn't always mean more profit, and working less can lead to unpaid wages for the staff. Do you think being a boss is easy?"

Wen Qin hesitated, seemingly at a loss for words. After a pause, he asked, "Then, why are you here?"

Chi Shen inquired, "Where is Ji Xingchen?"

"Oh?" Wen Qin looked slightly surprised, chuckling, "Didn't you see him on your way here? Seems he didn't want to meet you."

After pondering for a moment, Chi Shen replied, "I understand now."

Wen Qin looked at him with curiosity, "What do you understand?"

"Rules that are broken need to be reforged. The rules of the entire Underworld have been shattered. This requires immense power, but you don't want to use your own strength to mend it, hence you lured Ji Xingchen here," said Chi Shen.

Wen Qin laughed, "No, he came willingly. He knows that by restoring the cycle of reincarnation disrupted by the Ghost King, both malevolent spirits and wandering souls will find their rightful place."

Chi Shen didn't continue down that path but shifted the topic, asking, "Do you know how Zhang Yao's precognitive abilities work?"

"What?" Even though Wen Qin didn't grasp his intent, he felt uneasy.

"Zhang Yao told me that in all the futures she sees, either Ji Xingchen or I will persist, but only one can be chosen," Chi Shen said. "The futures she sees are extrapolated from all she observes and feels. This kind of computation can be precise down to atomic states, including factoring in light waves. It's an unimaginable workload for a human brain, which is why she's always frail."

Observing Wen Qin's furrowed brow, Chi Shen continued, "To many, the future appears random. If they had made different choices, a different future would await. But in Zhang Yao's view, there's only one fixed future. Such as an apple will inevitably fall on Newton due to its ripeness or you'll make the choices you did because you weighed the pros and cons. To her, the future is deterministic, based on vast calculations."

Wen Qin's expression turned grave.

"You might wonder why she speaks of multiple futures. Those are hypothetical scenarios she calculates, predicting outcomes if she changes a specific point in time. However, in every future she could discern—even at the cost of her life—she saw that only one between Ji Xingchen and me could exist."

Chi Shen reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. As he lit up the screen, he said, "While I have no interest in becoming the King of Hell, I won't let someone like you, who reduced him to this state, take the throne. To alter the future Zhang Yao foresees, simply create a world beyond her observation."

Although the phone showed no signal, Chi Shen dialed a sequence of numbers and made a call.

"I am but one step away from being king," Wen Qin, realizing the impossibility of a signal here, panicked. He tried to yank out the spurs embedded in the Ghost King, but they didn't budge.

The call connected promptly, and an official-sounding voice echoed in the silent netherworld, "Hello, this is the Department of Life's Retirement. How may I assist you?"

"Open up! We have a task. Location — The Old Abyss."

Chi Shen ended the call.

Beside the Throne of Skulls, a door suddenly appeared. It looked just like an ordinary security door you'd find in any apartment building, with a sign hanging on it: "Retirement from Life Bureau."

The door opened to reveal someone Wen Qin could never have imagined — Yuan Yiping, whom he had seen killed by his ghostly minion in the parking lot!

After Yuan Yiping's death, Wen Qin had been unable to find his soul, yet here it was!

Yuan Yiping seemed momentarily surprised, but he quickly regained composure and stated in a monotone, "Greetings, I am a staff member of the Retirement from Life Bureau. It has been detected that your life has 'retired.' Please come with me to process the necessary procedures. You have the right to refuse, but if you do, we will annihilate you on the spot."

Wen Qin, who had been prepared for a fierce battle, was left utterly befuddled by Yuan Yiping's speech.

Chi Shen said with a hint of pride, "How was it? The welcome greeting I set for them is quite good, isn't it?"

Yuan Yiping glanced over with deadpan eyes and replied flatly, "Indeed, it's quite impressive."

"You don't really expect me to just obediently go with you, do you?" Wen Qin chuckled.

"My apologies," Yuan Yiping said, lifting his hand, and suddenly Wen Qin found himself handcuffed, "The deceased fall under our jurisdiction now, as per the newly established rules."

By then, Wen Qin had regained his composure, looking towards the throne beneath the giant skull, he shouted, "Wen Xingchen!"

The ghostly aura that permeated the source of the Blood River began to rise.

Yet Chi Shen smiled and said, "Hold off on taking him for now. I need to tell him one last thing — why I never told Ji Xingchen about the Retirement from Life Bureau."

Standing atop the source of the Blood, Chi Shen proclaimed, "My soul will bear all suffering, my blood will open the gateway to all worlds, and my bones will pave the road to paradise. Here, the sins of the living will be judged, while kind souls will find peace. This is the final resting place for all souls." As he spoke, endless ghostly aura spilled from him, covering the entire abyss, and half of his flesh began to fall away, revealing a skeletal figure.

This transformation would seem excruciatingly painful, but Chi Shen simply turned calmly to face Wen Qin.

"Witness the birth of the new king," he said with a change of tone, "Father-in-law."