Chapter 196
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Chapter 196: Title
Zhan Yuan suspected the two Underworld big shots were assigning him extra work. The moment the call connected, he whined with theatrical grievance, "Your Honor the Judge, four Yin Chai have arrived claiming you sent them to assist me. Is this true?"
He knew Yin Chai well. During his time in the Underworld, he’d dealt more with ghost soldiers than these soul-reapers, who rarely lingered during their fleeting appearances.
No wonder – each Yin Chai oversaw millions of soul collections while others maintained underworld order. Every one of them qualified as eternally overworked spirits.
Amused laughter crackled through the receiver. "They’re indeed my doing. Problem?"
Zhan Yuan shot a sheepish look at the rigidly-postured emissaries. "Not at all! Just…unexpected. Had to confirm."
Truthfully, the black-clothed Yin Chai could pass for living humans if not for their obsidian uniforms, waist-length hair, and deathly pallor. Their suppressed ghostly energy and absence of breath or heartbeat completed the uncanny imitation.
"Honestly, the mission’s already handled. I tipped off the Special Bureau and they mobilized instantly…Yes yes, clever me. Save the praise."
"They’ll submit reports after compiling data…Case closed. You know their efficiency…What?!"
"Not complaining! Just…no precedent exists." His face tensed at the unseen listener’s demand. "I’ll…try."
Suddenly his features brightened. "Truly? Rest assured, Your Honor the Judge – I’ll give them the grand tour!"
"Make their training period downright luxurious!"
In the Underworld, the judge chuckled. "Remember your actual duties. Handle it."
Special Bureau Headquarters
Zhan Yuan hung up, eyeing his four new shadows. With underworld staffing stretched thin, reassigning four Yin Chai meant quadruple overtime elsewhere. The Judge and Yama wouldn’t act without greater schemes afoot.
"The Judge assigned you to me. Consider me your mortal realm guide." Anticipation warmed his voice – the promised promotion from temp to full public servant glimmered. Civil service positions stayed coveted, alive or dead.
The Yin Chai rose in unison, bowing. "As you command, Lord Zhan Yuan."
"Drop the title. You’re practically ancestral relics." He studied their ageless faces. "You collect souls here often. Must know this realm well."
The black-clothed Yin Chai on the left inclined his head. "We harvest, not observe." Their existence meant endless work – shuttling between deaths, forbidden from earthly distractions. Vacations? Impossible until reinforcements arrived.
"Names?"
After shared glances, the leftmost emissary answered. "Awakening order defines us. I am Yin Twenty-Eight."
"Yin Fifteen."
"Yin Forty-Six."
"Yin Seven."
Zhan Yuan blinked. "No proper names? Mortals need names! What were yours before?"
“Before the Emperor reconstructed the Underworld, we slumbered too long, our memories faded. Existing Yin Chai and ghost soldiers inherited such titles by tradition.”
“…This complicates matters. Have none considered renaming yourselves?”
“Renaming?” The Yin Chai exchanged blank stares.
Zhan Yuan’s mouth twitched, realizing he’d undertaken a formidable task. These entities resembled overgrown children with peculiar naivety – even after a year of Spiritual Energy’s Awakening, they remained as guileless and wooden as during their initial encounter.
The road ahead stretched long indeed.
Exhaling deeply, Zhan Yuan proposed, “Our foremost task shall be bestowing names upon you all. Though I wonder… do underworld envoys require identity registration? Unlikely, given your centuries-long… condition.”
“Enough. Let Special Bureau officials handle bureaucratic woes.” Scratching his temple, he gestured dismissively. “To my residence first. Subsequent plans can wait.”
*
East Sea
Spirit Cultivator Office
“Second Brother! Second Brother!” A snowy puff orbited Ao Ming’s striding form.
The dragon lord absently flipped through newly registered spirit cultivator dossiers. “Persist as you will – my answer remains no.”
“But I’ve reached tier two! Why forbid me?”
“Western dragons exist, they say! Let me parley with them!” Ao Lan, evading his sibling’s deft sidesteps, resorted to clinging koala-like about the elder’s leg.
“Perilous nonsense.” Ao Ming’s glacial tone brooked no argument. “With our sire vanished, your safety falls to me. Shall I explain your maiming to empty air?”
At the elder’s mention, Ao Lan’s face crumpled. “Big Brother would permit it!”
The reference to their missing patriarch darkened Ao Ming’s countenance. Snapping his documents shut, he hoisted the clinging youth one-handed. “In his absence, my word binds you.”
“Attend your lectures. I’ll suffer no truancy reports today.”
“Never! Deny me, I’ll desert academia!” The juvenile dragon jutted his chin defiantly mid-suspension.
Ao Ming’s temple pulsed. Recent Mountain and Sea Realm immigrants flooding the Nine Provinces had strained his notorious temper to volcanic limits – now this impertinent whelp badgered him about some human cultivators’ exchange meeting.
“Human affairs demand human participants. Our delegation’s fixed. Apply that dragonborn wit to studies rather than truanting, underachiever.”
“Mortals’ trivial knowledge! Why torment a weak and pitiful juvenile dragon?” Ao Lan wailed.
“You’ll tattle to our sire?” Ao Ming’s grip tightened. “Inform him how I spared you from wallowing with sniveling human spawn?”
“Discard human wisdom if you dare – but what of runic mastery? Here even mortal novices surpass you!”
With indignant screech, Ao Lan shapeshifted – a silvery hatchling squirming free from garments to coil defiantly midair. “I REFUSE!”
Corridor-dwelling spirit cultivators averted eyes, some retreating entirely. None dared witness the Second Highness’s thunderous expression as the little prince rebelled.
“Ao Lan.” Deadly calm laced the elder’s words. “My indulgence spoilt you.” A gesture froze the escapee’s form mid-writhe.
The miniature silver dragon thudded earthward, reverting to a naked, howling snowball.
"I’ll seal your cultivation until you learn to behave properly." Ao Ming, clad in midnight-black robes that contrasted with his youthful appearance, casually dressed his squirming brother with a flick of spiritual energy before scooping the younger dragon under his arm like a wayward package. The elevator doors chimed open to receive them as he added sternly, "Today’s escort duty falls to me personally."
Though freed from the immobilizing spell, Ao Lan remained statue-still against his brother’s side. A tentative probe confirmed his worst fear – the raging river of his spiritual energy had been reduced to stagnant silence. "Second Brother, please!" The younger dragon’s voice climbed an octave in desperation. "Unseal me! If the others find out I’ve been grounded like some hatchling—"
"Pride is wasted on fledglings." Ao Ming’s glacial smirk extinguished the plea as the elevator descended. Emerging into the underground garage, he unceremoniously deposited his cargo in the backseat before guiding the luxury vehicle toward Spiritual Practice University’s campus.
In the decade since Zhongxia’s Awakening of Spiritual Energy, only one institution dared consolidate cultivation studies with mortal academia. The bluntly named Spiritual Practice University dominated spiritual research while maintaining rigorous programs in mathematics, linguistics, and geography. Its experimental feeder schools operated under the same philosophy, welcoming human cultivators, spirit cultivators, and even ghost clan offspring into mixed classrooms.
At the affiliated elementary school’s Class 1-A, the homeroom teacher nearly fumbled her phone when the principal announced Ao Ming’s arrival. Only two beings in the realm qualified as Ao Lan’s guardians, and the brooding dragon now standing in her office radiated enough restrained power to flatten the building. Swallowing nervously, she managed a decorous nod. "Mr. Ao Ming, this is… unexpected."
"My sibling’s latest vanishing act proves ordinary supervision inadequate." The dragon lord nudged his pouting brother forward. "You’ll find him properly chastened – for now." The unspoken threat hung heavier than the wards protecting the school.
"T-teacher." Ao Lan’s greeting emerged muffled, his chin nearly touching his collar.
The educator’s smile turned brittle. She hadn’t even noticed her student’s absence – a humbling reminder of her status as an ordinary person amidst these living forces of nature. "My oversight entirely! Ao Lan’s usually so well-behaved…"
"See that it remains so." Ao Ming’s obsidian gaze shifted to his brother. "You’ll be collected after lessons. No deviations."
As the dragon lord departed in a swirl of dark fabric, the teacher exhaled shakily. "Your Second Brother’s… quite formidable."
"Terrifying," Ao Lan confirmed with the solemnity of one who’d faced celestial tempests. "Actually terrifying."
The teacher patted his shoulder, her palm coming away slightly damp. "Next time you feel like disappearing, do warn me first? Otherwise we’ll be rebuilding the school around his wrath."
Watching her charge slink toward the playground, she dabbed her forehead with a sleeve. Parent-teacher conferences would require hazard pay this term.
