Chapter 1 The Bridge of Helplessness

The Bridge of Helplessness, said to connect a living being's past life with their next, and right now, a phantom of the Bridge of Helplessness had appeared before Zhou Ze.

The ghost falcon kowtowed and prostrated itself towards the bridge, trembling with a flattering expression on its face, as if it had known all along that this Bridge of Helplessness would appear here.

Zhou Ze silently watched all of this. Clearly, the Bridge of Helplessness before him came from Hell, and was even connected to the eyes from Hell.

Because of this,

the consciousness within him began to play dead,

not daring to reveal its aura,

for fear of being discovered by the big shots from Hell.

So,

that was the only explanation, right?

"Crack... crack..."

A cracking sound rang out.

At the bridge pier, a glaring crack appeared. Then, the crack began to spread upwards, gradually covering the entire bridge body.

At this moment, the entire Bridge of Helplessness was like a delicate porcelain piece on the verge of collapse.

The ghost falcon kept kowtowing, but unfortunately, it didn't have a physical body, otherwise it would definitely have knocked its forehead bloody to show its piety.

"Pa!"

A crisp cracking sound rang out.

The phantom of the Bridge of Helplessness turned into fragments and began to dissipate.

Along with it, the white mist that originally surrounded the area also dissipated.

Everything came and went in a hurry. The surroundings returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.

But Zhou Ze didn't think what he had just seen was an illusion.

Although the Bridge of Helplessness had disappeared, the ghost falcon was still prostrating there, continuing to kowtow, and appearing even more respectful than before.

"Hiss... hiss... hiss..."

Zhou Ze suddenly noticed a bulge appearing in the flower bed of mud in front of him, as if something inside was pushing outwards, creating a small mound, and was continuing to exert force upwards.

The ghost falcon continued to kneel and worship the rising mound, its three tails wagging non-stop, each tail wrapped with a soul.

"Pa!"

A clod of mud fell away, and a hand stretched out from there. It was a hand covered in mud, gaunt and bony. This hand slowly pressed down on the ground, and then slapped down hard!

"Bang!"

The ground seemed to tremble a few times,

and the surrounding mud splattered out,

raising a cloud of hot white smoke.

When the white smoke dissipated,

what was revealed in the original place

was the figure of a woman.

The woman's legs were crossed,

barely maintaining her balance.

She was wearing a short skirt and a black short-sleeved shirt, but they were all tattered and filthy. She was barefoot, and her hair was matted and solidified together.

The most striking thing was the woman's eyes. In the sunken eye sockets, there was an eerie green glow circulating.

It was difficult to describe the woman as pretty or not, because she had almost become a semi-dried corpse. It was obvious that this corpse had been buried underground for quite some time.

Zhou Ze stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

In his heart,

a surge of agitation suddenly arose.

Huh?

Finally responding to me?

The Bridge of Helplessness had disappeared,

the connection between Hell and the mortal realm here had ended,

so,

the consciousness within him was finally paying him some attention.

Zhou Ze wished he could give it the middle finger right now.

Usually, when it came out, it acted like it could conquer the heavens and the earth, invincible under the sky,

constantly talking about how the Yellow Emperor was in the past, how the Nether Sea was in the past.

But just now, it was cowardly as could be, probably because it was afraid of revealing its identity, so it chickened out.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river.

Lord Tai Mountain and that Mountain-Moving Ape were also giants of Hell back then, but now they were all gone.

The one inside him must have also encountered some trouble, which led to the current situation. Sometimes, it had to tuck its tail between its legs and act like a human, silently hiding in a dark corner licking its wounds.

The phantom of the Bridge of Helplessness just now was more like a passageway. At least for that brief moment, it connected Hell and the mortal realm, as if a soul was sent out from Hell and entered this female corpse underground.

Quite a grand affair, and quite official.

Zhou Ze remembered that when he had walked out of Hell in a daze,

he didn't receive this kind of treatment.

At this moment, Boss Zhou was thinking about whether he should quickly call Lao Zhang.

There was actually a corpse buried under the flower bed in this residential area.

There must have been a murder case.

But then he remembered,

Lao Zhang had already gloriously sacrificed himself.

His soul was still wrapped around the tail of that ghost falcon.

What was the point of calling?

"Are you... a local... ghost official?"

The woman pointed at Zhou Ze and asked.

In her words,

there was a kind of domineering arrogance belonging to someone in a higher position, as if she didn't take Zhou Ze seriously at all.

Zhou Ze nodded.

"I come from the Bridge of Helplessness, acting on the orders of the Bridge of Helplessness, appearing in the mortal realm to investigate a matter."

As she spoke, the woman drew a symbol in front of her with her finger.

A rune appeared and flew towards Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze looked at the rune very carefully,

nodding from time to time,

making "hmm" sounds.

Okay,

actually,

Boss Zhou couldn't understand this thing at all.

If Little Lori was here, she should be able to understand it. After all, she was professionally trained, while Boss Zhou was a back-door relationship hire, so there was indeed a big gap in their basic knowledge.

But he thought that the fake document business shouldn't be powerful enough to run a branch office from the mortal realm to Hell, and besides, the other party was showing it to him so openly,

it should,

be real, right?

The rune disappeared, and the other party's body trembled slightly. She glanced at her dirty body with some dissatisfaction, and then reached her hand to the back of her body.

"Pfft!"

Something was pulled out by her.

Looking at it in front of her,

it was actually a pair of rusty scissors with bloodstains on them.

"Pa!"

The scissors were casually thrown on the ground.

This should be the murder weapon, right?

The murder weapon that killed the owner of this corpse?

The woman bent over again,

and began to retch continuously.

A mass of black stuff was vomited out.

It should be the food residue from her stomach.

At this time, these things were emitting a stench that normal people could hardly imagine.

Zhou Ze knew that the food residue remaining in the stomach after death that had not been digested was often the favorite of forensic doctors. Forensic doctors believed that this was the most beautiful taste that nature had bestowed upon them.

Because forensic doctors could use these to deduce the time of death and many other useful pieces of information.

After vomiting cleanly,

the woman's lower body was still shaking non-stop.

She glared at her body with some annoyance,

then raised her head,

and looked at Zhou Ze:

"This body is really terrible."

As she spoke,

the woman reached out her hand.

The ghost falcon immediately threw one of the souls from its tail over.

The woman caught it in her hand,

then raised her head and swallowed it. Immediately, she let out a long sigh, as if she felt much better. Her originally emaciated body seemed to become fuller than before, and a hint of vitality appeared on her face.

Zhou Ze had seen many people swallowing souls to replenish themselves. Back then, the official's ghost in the Wen Temple had done the same, and the one inside him would devour the souls of his opponents every time he came out if he had the chance.

Fortunately, this wasn't Lao Zhang's soul. The ghost falcon's three tails were wrapped with three different souls respectively.

Immediately afterwards,

the ghost falcon took another soul, preparing to throw it to the woman.

This was,

Lao Zhang's soul!

"This is my friend."

Zhou Ze pointed at the soul in the ghost falcon's hand and said.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Your friend's soul?"

The ghost falcon hesitated. It didn't know whether it should continue to hand this soul to the woman. It seemed that the woman was willing to compromise for Zhou Ze's sake.

After all,

in the eyes of low-level undead creatures like the ghost falcon,

Zhou Ze and the woman in front of him

were both people from the yamen, existences that it couldn't afford to provoke.

However,

the woman's next sentence seemed very presumptuous and arrogant. She said:

"Since it's your friend's, then it should be even more delicious!"

Zhou Ze's pupils shrank sharply.

As the ghost falcon threw the soul out,

the black mist on Zhou Ze's ten fingers instantly activated, intercepting Lao Zhang's soul mid-air, and then taking it to his side.

Lao Zhang's soul was already very weak, and was continuing to weaken. If this continued, Lao Zhang wouldn't even be able to reincarnate, and might completely dissipate.

He wanted to save him. If he ended up saving him with this result, it wasn't what Zhou Ze wanted to see.

The woman stared at Zhou Ze coldly. "You dare to violate the will of the Bridge of Helplessness?"

"I am a ghost official of the Yin Division, not someone from the Bridge of Helplessness. You used that rune to show your identity, but you have no right to command me."

Zhou Ze said very seriously.

Yes,

if the Yin Division was compared to the ancient imperial court, then the Bridge of Helplessness and some other places were equivalent to the ancient vassal states or princes with fiefs.

The Yin Division nominally had leadership over these places, but they actually each had their own spheres of influence.

Little Lori had told Zhou Ze all of this before.

Therefore,

Zhou Ze, as an imperial official, ahem,

didn't need to be controlled by the Bridge of Helplessness.

But ordinary ghost officials, when facing someone from the Bridge of Helplessness, would probably rush up to lick their boots, regardless of whether it complied with regulations or procedures.

"You... very good."

The woman pointed at Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze was ready to counterattack at any time, but the woman didn't attack Zhou Ze. Instead, she chose to actively walk towards the ghost falcon.

She seemed to be somewhat apprehensive, and also like she needed Zhou Ze's assistance to complete her mission, so she didn't choose to tear up the relationship with Zhou Ze.

The ghost falcon handed over the third soul.

The woman picked up the soul and swallowed it.

For a moment,

a look of enjoyment appeared on her face.

Her body began to become plump, and her original dried-up corpse appearance was no longer present.

The ghost falcon looked at the woman with a flattering expression, like a pug waiting for its master to praise it.

However,

the woman suddenly reached out and grabbed the ghost falcon, lifting it up directly, opening her mouth,

and forcibly stuffing the struggling ghost falcon into her small mouth, and making chewing motions, then swallowing it down somewhat stiffly.

For a moment,

the woman's skin began to regain its moist elasticity and luster.

Even her lips

were tinged with a seductive red.

She was no different

from a living person.

"Hoo... I told you to prepare three souls beforehand for me to enjoy;

Now that one is missing,

I can only make up for it with you."

The woman said with a smile while probing her teeth with her little finger,

making a tooth-picking motion,

and then,

"Belch..."

She let out

a loud,

resonant belch.