Chapter 1 The Wallet

My sister-in-law's wallet was anonymously mailed back to her by Zhou Ze.

Yup,

With collect payment, of course.

The two thousand yuan that was originally inside was pocketed by Zhou Ze. Anyway, this girl has plenty of pocket money. He figured he'd take it as a reward for finding her wallet. Zhou Ze felt his fee was very reasonable.

Then, the next day, Zhou Ze saw his sister-in-law post a message on her WeChat Moments:

"This thief has such professional ethics, stealing my wallet but mailing back my cards and ID. There are still so many good people in this world."

Zhou Ze looked at this post and was silent for a while.

Oh well, it's better for this silly girl to stay silly. Lucky are the simple-minded.

Bai Yingying secretly sent a USB drive with a heavily edited video to the middle-aged man's sister. His sister went to the police station to report the case that same day, and a few days later, the local police department also posted the news on their official Weibo account.

This incident also caused quite a stir, with many people condemning the girl's shamelessness and ingratitude. However, its popularity was nowhere near as high as when the incident first occurred.

Moreover, the people who were now cursing this girl were probably the same ones who had cursed the teacher as a "beast in human clothing" back then.

In any case, days passed peacefully. Business remained slow, and Bai Yingying became even more addicted to the internet, progressing rapidly. She also began to get hooked on online games, spending a long time each day just reading walkthroughs.

A total internet junkie.

At dusk, as usual, Zhou Ze ate at Xu Qinglang's place, accompanied by Xu Qinglang's newly developed "grass girl juice."

Zhou Ze felt that he was slowly starting to taste the flavors in his meals.

After dinner, Zhou Ze and Xu Qinglang shared a cigarette as usual.

Xu Qinglang, holding his phone, scrolled through Weibo, relaxed and carefree.

Zhou Ze had noticed that Xu Qinglang's restaurant business had been getting quieter and quieter lately, and there were fewer and fewer delivery guys coming in and out. Of course, this wasn't because business was bad or Xu Qinglang's restaurant had a bad reputation, but simply because the man in front of him was getting lazier and lazier.

But according to Xu Qinglang, the problem lay with Zhou Ze.

He worked his butt off from dawn till dusk, while his neighbor sat in the bookstore doing nothing. How could he possibly feel balanced?

Come on, he was a man with over twenty properties!

Why wasn't he as comfortable as that poor ghost next door?

So he should live life to the fullest, enjoy himself, and rest when he needed to.

He had become decadent.

Zhou Ze sighed inwardly.

"Hey, there have been a lot of strange things happening in the Eastern District lately," Xu Qinglang said, exhaling a smoke ring.

The Eastern District was located in the east of Tongcheng City, a bit away from the city center. The Confucian Temple and the City God Temple were both there, and it was usually only lively during festivals, since more people went there to burn incense.

"What's up?" Zhou Ze asked, flicking his cigarette ash.

"Look at this, someone posted on Weibo saying that last night, while passing by the Confucian Temple, they saw some cosplay enthusiasts dressed in ancient costumes. When they went over to say hello, the people suddenly disappeared."

"Here's another one, saying that while taking a walk with their parents in the woods behind Confucian Temple Street after dinner, they saw people there reciting poetry."

"And this one is from a driver who said that while driving past the Confucian Temple, they heard a lot of people crying by the side of the road."

Confucian Temple?

Zhou Ze frowned slightly. This matter seemed to be related to him.

"But these things have made the Confucian Temple popular again. It's said that more people have been going to burn incense lately, saying that it's become more efficacious," Xu Qinglang said with emotion.

"Heh," Zhou Ze thought about his own affairs.

"Logically speaking, that shouldn't be the case. The Confucian Temple is a place for Confucian sages. There shouldn't be any wandering ghosts causing trouble there," Xu Qinglang said.

"There should be some, but someone might have been managing them before," Zhou Ze said.

"Then what about now? What happened to the person managing them?"

"I killed him."

"............" Xu Qinglang.

——————

Helplessly, Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying came to the Confucian Temple after nightfall.

The last time, Zhou Ze had beaten that dwarf elder until his soul dissipated, then dusted off his sleeves and left, without taking away a single cloud.

But combined with the recent events, it was clear that without the dwarf elder's control, those scholar ghosts who had previously acted as the ceremonial guard were starting to become restless and gradually let themselves go.

Zhou Ze was a ghost messenger, and this matter should have been his responsibility in the first place, not to mention that he was the one who killed the dwarf elder. He really should clean up the mess.

"Boss, these ghosts can't really become a big problem. In a couple of months, they'll disappear into thin air. Before, they were just supported by the Confucian Temple's system. As long as they didn't cause trouble, the ghost messengers would turn a blind eye and be too lazy to deal with them.

Now that they've lost their restraints, once they've vented their grievances for a few days, those who should dissipate will dissipate, and those who should go to hell will go to hell."

Bai Yingying had been taught by Madam Bai, so she saw these matters of ghosts and gods more clearly than Zhou Ze.

"I can't rest easy until I see the situation here. It's better to take them all in if I can," Zhou Ze said, tilting his head slightly to look for any lingering scholar ghosts nearby.

Those scholars throughout history who failed to pass the imperial examinations and took their own lives due to setbacks in their studies, many of their souls came to the Confucian Temple with great resentment, and were drawn by the qi (spiritual energy) to become the Confucian Temple's "ceremonial guard."

Of course, there were definitely others mixed in who were just filling the ranks. They definitely weren't all so-called scholars. After all, when the forest gets big, all kinds of birds appear.

These scholars were just reciting poetry and crying. Li Baojia of the Qing Dynasty wrote in the sixth chapter of his "A Brief History of Civilization":

"Scholars rebelling won't succeed in three years. Whether they're doing that or not, you don't need to pay them any attention."

But Zhou Ze was worried that if other things had also become "free," they might cause some trouble. If something really happened, he would definitely have to bear some responsibility.

But tonight was quiet. Zhou Ze had smoked half a pack of cigarettes, and Bai Yingying simply lay on the grass, squinting her eyes. She couldn't see a single ghost.

Becoming a little impatient, Zhou Ze said,

"Shout a few times and lure those ghosts out."

Bai Yingying rolled her eyes at Zhou Ze, obviously not taking him seriously. After spending so much time together, Bai Yingying had figured out some of Zhou Ze's personality habits, and she dared to hold her ground just right, so that Zhou Ze wouldn't be disgusted.

"The human world is like a dream, let me pour a cup to the river moon, wandering through the old country, it is really the things are no longer what they used to be."

A man's voice came from behind that tree.

Immediately afterward, a man wearing long boots and an official robe walked out. The man had a long beard that symbolized dignity, a square face, and a straight figure. He looked like an official.

No, he looked like someone who had been an official in his past life.

Moreover, he still had a long queue behind his head.

Bai Yingying slowly stood up, looked at the man in front of her, and said in surprise:

"Boss, I was wondering why I haven't seen those scholar ghosts tonight. It turns out he's swallowed them all!"

Zhou Ze could also see that this man looked dignified, but inside his belly, he could see many small points of light, which should be the scholar ghosts he had swallowed.

"Heh, a prime minister's belly can hold a boat. I'm not a prime minister, but I was once a high-ranking official. This belly of mine can still hold these failed scholars from throughout the ages,"

"Alright, you're the one. Go down,"

Zhou Ze prepared to open the gates of hell and capture this guy.

The other party had swallowed quite a few scholar ghosts, and he seemed to be in good spirits, much better than the ordinary ghosts who often came to his bookstore to read.

But he hadn't reached the point where Zhou Ze was afraid of him.

They were all ghosts without physical bodies, which really made a difference.

And he still had his fingernails.

"Are you a local ghost messenger?" The man looked at Zhou Ze and said with reserve, "You are qualified to be on equal footing with this official."

"Oh, such arrogance. The Qing Dynasty is gone?"

Bai Yingying mocked.

"Is it your place to interrupt when men are talking, woman? Step aside!" The man scolded with authority.

Bai Yingying cracked her knuckles, making a series of crisp sounds.

The man looked at Zhou Ze, who was preparing to open the gates of hell on the other side, and said:

"This messenger, this official has a reputation and once led a faction. Even if I am to be sent down, it shouldn't be done so casually, right?

Moreover, this official once met a judge from the underworld in the human world, who said that this official would die on the nineteenth day of the third month of the year of jiashen.

This official was trembling with fear and spent his days in anxiety, and finally made it to that day, but after that day, this official did not die.

This is enough to show that this official has good fortune on his side, even the rules of the underworld do not apply to this official, so, this official advises you not to waste your energy.

After this official finishes touring my old country, if I want to go down, I will naturally go down. Maybe after I go down, I can get a job as an underworld supervisor. If we meet in the future, you will have to kneel down and salute me, respectfully calling me 'Lord.'"

"You're really asking for a beating," Bai Yingying laughed.

"No, it just shows that people in his hometown are simple and honest, otherwise he would have been beaten to death before he grew up."

"How unreasonable, humph, this official is too lazy to argue with you. This official is not lying, if you intend to forcibly escort this official to hell, then be prepared to form a feud.

Even the underworld judge couldn't determine this official's date of death, let alone you, a small ghost messenger?"

Zhou Ze wasn't in a hurry to open the gates of hell. He just thought this person was interesting, and, to be honest, modern ghosts were nothing special, but ancient ghosts,

Were really rare.

People often say that precious cultural relics are records of history, and the person in front of him was a true history repeater.

"You have a queue behind your head, but you're not wearing Qing Dynasty official robes." Zhou Ze looked carefully for a while, and continued, "It should be Ming Dynasty official robes.

No, you just said you were once a high-ranking official, but this Ming Dynasty official robe isn't the kind worn by high-ranking officials, but rather the attire of a low-ranking official."

Hearing this, the man said proudly: "This official served in two dynasties, a censor in the former dynasty and a high-ranking official in the latter dynasty, benefiting the people and earning a great reputation.

As for what clothes this official wears, is it your place to comment?"

Zhou Ze took out his phone, entered "nineteenth day of the third month of the year of jiashen" and searched it up, then smiled:

"That judge didn't lie, you really should have died on the nineteenth day of the third month of the year of jiashen."

"Nonsense, this official did not die on that day, this official ultimately died of old age and was given a beautiful posthumous title!" The man said with disdain.

"You should have died on that day, really," Zhou Ze repeated, then showed a mocking smile on his face, "But you shamelessly didn't die."

"Outrageous!" The man waved his sleeves, "Absurd!"

"Think again about what day the nineteenth day of the third month of the year of jiashen really was, and whether you should have died!"

Zhou Ze raised his voice and scolded.

The man frowned slightly, seeming to be thinking and recalling.

Finally,

Suddenly,

His body trembled and he showed a look of shock.

Then he looked at the Confucian Temple behind him again.

At this moment,

He finally understood why, after his death, when his soul returned to his hometown, he was detained in this Confucian Temple, and spent hundreds of years in a daze with those he called failed scholars!

"This...this...this..."

The man sat down on the ground, dejected.

The nineteenth day of the third month of the year of jiashen,

This day was the day when the Ming Dynasty fell, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on Coal Hill, and hundreds of Ming officials followed their emperor in death.