Through Bai Feng’s detailed explanation, Shui Miao learned that the underworld, much like the mortal realm, operates under a vast and complex management system. It is not a chaotic, ungoverned space but rather a well-structured domain with various departments, each having its own system and division of labor. The efficiency of these departments is no less than that of their counterparts in the mortal world.
For instance, when a person dies after fulfilling their natural lifespan, their soul will see six colored lights. These lights represent the six paths of reincarnation: the Deva path, Human path, Hungry Ghost path, Animal path, Hell path, and Asura path. Depending on an individual’s life experiences and temperament, the soul will automatically choose one of these paths. With the exception of enlightened beings such as Bodhisattvas and highly cultivated individuals who have transcended the three realms, all other souls must undergo the cycle of reincarnation—a process that is irreversible.
However, some cultivators who have performed meritorious deeds and brought benefit to their communities can use their accumulated virtue to exchange for more time to continue their spiritual cultivation. For example, Bai Feng and the thousand-year-old female ghost, Lady Bai, regularly perform good deeds to accumulate virtue, thereby extending their time for soul cultivation. Their methods, however, differ. Lady Bai chooses to save starving people during severe droughts to accumulate virtue, while Bai Feng communicates with mortals, encouraging them to do good deeds in the name of an immortal lady. In this arrangement, Bai Feng gains virtue, while the mortal, Mapo, receives monetary rewards.
Nowadays, due to various reasons, many people die before their natural lifespan ends. As a result, their souls remain in the mortal world.
The presence of many souls lingering in the mortal realm often leads to trouble, as some malevolent ghosts may harm living people.
To manage this, the underworld has established City Gods and Earth Gods in various regions, assigning ghost officials to oversee these souls and maintain order across the three realms.
Among these officials are specialized ghost handlers responsible for house purification matters.
To streamline operations, these spectral overseers choose appropriate humans and assess their determination, instilling fear and making them cognizant of their directives, ensuring they comply and execute their duties dutifully. Naturally, these individuals can receive some financial compensation for assisting in the purification of homes, but the sum must not be exorbitant. If they demand too much, the ghost handlers will mete out punishment.
Naturally, there are also greedy ghost handlers.
However, greed among ghost handlers, once discovered, comes at the cost of soul annihilation.
Often, such mortals are referred to as spirit mediums, or sometimes as great immortals or immortal ladies.
Genuine spirit mediums can see spirits and ghosts, and they are accompanied by ghost horses—hybrid ghost officials that are part human and part horse, known for their incredible speed. These ghost horses travel between the mortal and spiritual realms, facilitating communication between spirit mediums and ghost handlers. Therefore, during house purification rituals, spirit mediums are actually quite idle. Those who put on exaggerated performances, singing and dancing, even reciting stories from the Investiture of the Gods, are not summoning powerful deities but rather ghost handlers, ghost officials, and ghost horses. The singing and dancing are merely for show to impress the living.
After the house purification is complete, the ghost handler will draw a talisman for the household, which serves as the equivalent of a property deed in the mortal world.
In other words, to purify a house, one only needs to invite a ghost handler to draw a talisman.
However, if the invitation does not come from a designated spirit medium or without offering some benefits, it is not easy to invite a ghost handler.
At the very least, one must prepare a feast and invite the ghost handler for a drink.
After explaining the truth about house purification to Shui Miao, Bai Feng said, “I am quite familiar with this matter and know where the ghost handlers reside. Let me invite one. But if you wish to come along, I can take you with me.”
“I’d like to go together. I want to familiarize myself with the environment,” Shui Miao naturally wanted to see it for himself.
“Alright then.”
Bai Feng took Shui Miao’s hand and descended into the ground. Instantly, everything turned dark, and Shui Miao could see nothing. Then, he heard Bai Feng’s voice beside him: “Every place has a ghost domain. If you want to go to the ghost domain in the future, first descend underground, then calm your mind and sense where the Yin energy is strongest. Fly in that direction, and you will surely find it.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shui Miao felt a rushing sound in his ears, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at an underground city!
Yes, it was an underground city—a vast, gray expanse filled with streets, structures, and ghosts everywhere.
“This is the ghost domain. It is a place where many wealthy ghosts come for entertainment and to conduct business. The ghost handlers are here,” Bai Feng explained as she led Shui Miao into the ghost domain. A group of minor ghosts guarding the gate, upon seeing two powerful beings, quickly scattered in fear. Bai Feng smoothly brought Shui Miao to a bustling street filled with crowds—taverns, brothels, opera houses, and everything one could imagine. “This street opens to the public on days ending with the number seven. Some living people with weak Yang energy see ghost markets at night—these are actually such streets. However, ordinary ghost markets are not as prosperous as this one in the city.”
Knowing that Shui Miao understood nothing, Bai Feng explained as they walked.
Soon, Shui Miao saw half-human, half-horse ghost horses entering and exiting a large black building. On the plaque above the door were written the words “House Purification Ghost Handler Office.”
“We’re here.”
Bai Feng led Shui Miao into the large building, immediately drawing the attention of a group of ghost handlers sitting at desks and drawing talismans.
Bai Feng coldly clasped her hands in greeting and said, “I have newly arrived in this area and need to arrange house purification for an entire building. Which ghost handler has the time to help me with this?” As she spoke, a large bundle of spirit money suddenly appeared in her hand.
Gift-giving to get things done works not only in the mortal world but also in the underworld.
The ghost handlers, recognizing the visitor’s high cultivation level and seeing the spirit money, greeted her with smiles and asked how many house purification talismans she needed.
Bai Feng blinked and asked for one hundred and fifty talismans.
Without another word, the ghost handlers gathered the talismans and handed them to Bai Feng. In return, she gave them the spirit money, leaving everyone satisfied.
On their way back, Shui Miao asked, “Sister Bai, why were they so accommodating? Is it because of your high cultivation level that they treated you with such respect?”
“Hehe, my cultivation level is part of the reason, but the main factor was the spirit money,” Bai Feng replied with a slight smile. “This spirit money is different from ordinary spirit money. It is high-grade spirit money universally used by ghost officials. I received it as a reward from the underworld for my work at the Water Dragon Ridge Village. One bundle of this is worth thousands of bundles of ordinary spirit money.”
“Wow! So, it’s incredibly valuable?”
Shui Miao was astonished and also felt somewhat embarrassed for causing Sister Bai to spend such valuable currency.
“It’s nothing much. This spirit money isn’t very useful to me, and there’s no point in keeping it,” Bai Feng said. Suddenly, she stopped and pointed toward a large building. “Since we’re not in a hurry to return, let me take you to this Spirit Treasure Pavilion to buy a few things. You don’t have any spiritual treasures, which is quite pitiful. At the very least, you should buy a money bag and a set of clothes for your Earth Soul to wear.”
For example, when people die, if their lifespan has been fulfilled, their souls will see six-colored light. These six colors represent the six paths of reincarnation: the heavenly path, the human path, the hungry ghost path, the animal path, the hell path, and the asura path. Depending on their experiences and inner nature, souls automatically choose their path of reincarnation. Except for Bodhisattvas and highly cultivated cultivators who have transcended the Three Realms, all other souls must undergo reincarnation in the six paths—an irreversible cycle.
However, some cultivators who have performed great deeds and brought blessings to the world can use their merits to prolong their time in the soul cultivation realm. For instance, Bai Feng and the thousand-year-old ghost Bai Niangniang regularly perform good deeds to accumulate merits, thereby extending their cultivation period. Their methods differ: Bai Niangniang chooses to save famine victims during droughts to accumulate merits, while Bai Feng communicates with humans, guiding them to do good deeds in the name of “immortal maidens,” thus earning merits for herself while the humans gain money.
Nowadays, due to various reasons, many people die before their time, causing their souls to remain in the human world.
These lingering souls often cause trouble, and some evil ghosts even harm the living.
Therefore, the underworld established city gods, land deities, and assigned various ghost officials to manage these souls and maintain order across the Three Realms.
Among these organizations, there are special ghost offices dedicated to house blessings and protections.
To manage more efficiently, these ghost offices select suitable humans, test their character, and scare them into understanding their purpose, ensuring they obediently carry out their duties. These humans can receive modest monetary compensation for helping with house blessings, but the amount must not be excessive—otherwise, the ghost office will punish them.
Of course, there are also corrupt ghost offices.
However, for ghost offices, greed can be dangerous—if caught, they may face the ultimate punishment: having their souls destroyed.
Often, these humans are known as mediums, spiritualists, or “immortal maids.”
Authentic mediums can see ghosts and spirits, and usually have “ghost horses” accompanying them. Ghost horses are hybrid ghost officials shaped like human-horse combinations, known for their incredible speed. They run between the underworld and the human world, acting as messengers between mediums and the ghost offices.
Therefore, when performing house blessings, mediums often have a relatively easy job. Some of them put on dramatic shows, singing and dancing through entire operas like “Investiture of the Gods,” but in reality, they aren’t summoning any powerful deities—they can’t even contact high-level immortals. What they actually call upon are merely ghost offices, ghost officials, and ghost horses. Their singing and dancing are simply performances for the living.
However, after completing a house blessing, the ghost office will draw a talisman for the household, equivalent to a property deed in the human world.
In other words, to bless a house, one simply needs to have the ghost office draw a talisman.
But if someone who isn’t an appointed medium requests this service without offering a small gift, it’s not easy to get the ghost office’s cooperation.
At the very least, one should prepare a banquet and offer the ghost office a drink.
After finishing her explanation of house blessings, Bai Feng said, “I’m quite familiar with this matter, and I know exactly where the ghost office is. Let me go invite them. But if you want to come along, I don’t mind taking you with me.”
“Let’s go together. I’d like to get familiar with the surroundings,” Shui Miao naturally wanted to see it for himself.
“Alright then.”
Bai Feng grabbed Shui Miao’s hand and dove straight into the ground. Instantly, everything went pitch black, and Shui Miao could see nothing. At that moment, Bai Feng’s voice echoed in his ears, “Each place has its own ghost domain. When you want to go to a ghost domain in the future, first dive underground, then calm your mind and sense where the yin energy is strongest, and fly toward it. You won’t go wrong.”
As soon as her words ended, Shui Miao felt a rushing sound by his ears. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at an underground city!
Indeed, this was the ghost domain—a city stretching as far as the eye could see, filled with streets and buildings, bustling with ghost souls.
“This is the ghost domain, a place where wealthy ghosts enjoy themselves and conduct business. The ghost office is inside,” Bai Feng led Shui Miao straight into the ghost domain. A group of minor ghosts guarding the city gates saw two powerful beings approaching and quickly scattered in fear. Bai Feng smoothly brought Shui Miao into a bustling street filled with shops, restaurants, brothels, and opera houses, all thriving with activity. “This street opens to the living every seventh day. Some living people with weak yang energy may see ghost markets at night—they’re actually parts of these streets. However, ordinary ghost markets aren’t as prosperous as this big city’s ghost market.”
Knowing that Shui Miao knew nothing, Bai Feng explained everything as they walked.
Soon, Shui Miao saw several half-human, half-horse ghost horses entering and exiting a large black building. Above the entrance hung a plaque reading “Ghost Office for House Blessings.”
“We’re here.”
Bai Feng led Shui Miao directly into the grand hall, immediately drawing the attention of a group of ghost officials seated at tables drawing talismans.
Bai Feng coldly bowed to the gathered ghost officials and said, “This humble one has just arrived in your territory and needs to arrange house blessings for a building. I wonder which honorable ghost official has time and would be willing to help me with this small favor?” As she spoke, a large bundle of hell money suddenly appeared in her hand.
Gift-giving to expedite matters works not only in the human world but also in the underworld.
Knowing that the visitor was a powerful cultivator with hell money, the ghost officials all smiled warmly and eagerly asked how many house blessing talismans she needed.
Bai Feng winked and requested one hundred and fifty talismans.
Without hesitation, the ghost officials quickly gathered the talismans and handed them over. Bai Feng gave them the hell money, and everyone was happy.
On the way back, Shui Miao asked, “Big Sister Bai, why were they so accommodating? Is it because of your high cultivation or mainly because of the hell money?”
“Hehe, high cultivation is indeed part of the reason, but the main factor is the hell money,” Bai Feng smiled slightly. “The hell money I have is different from ordinary hell money. Mine is high-grade hell money used by ghost officials. These were awarded to me by the underworld for helping them with matters at the Shuilong Ridge village. One bundle of mine equals thousands of ordinary bundles.”
“Wow! That means it’s extremely valuable?”
Shui Miao was somewhat surprised and a little embarrassed for making Bai Feng spend her money.
“Just a small matter. This hell money isn’t very useful to me anymore. Keeping it serves no purpose.” Bai Feng suddenly stopped walking, pointing at a large building. “Since we’re not in a hurry to return, let me take you to this Spirit Treasure Pavilion to buy a few things. You don’t have any spiritual treasures on you at all—it’s quite embarrassing. At the very least, you should buy a money bag and a set of clothes suitable for a soul walking in the underworld.”
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