New Times, New Hell

Chapter 101 - Work Inspection

Dream Tour of Fengdu’s world channel furiously got spammed:

【It’s a European! The terrible European has appeared!!】

【Is this a normal European?! This is a European god!!】

【Must be a damned paid actor, right??】

【Ultimate magical weapon!!! What is the Ghost King’s Magical Seal? What are its functions? Please tell everyone, Great European God!!】

【Fuck, the game designer never told anyone that a Ghost King’s Magical Seal exists?!!】

【Ghost King, how many more surprises do you have that I don’t know about.jpg】

【You can also trigger the Ghost King’s friendly feelings? I don’t think anyone has ever done that before? How did the European God do it?】

【Stop asking. If you ask, the answer is “random”, understand?】

At the same time, Yu Zhengdu’s private messages and inbox got flooded. His friends on WeChat sent him strings upon strings of exclamation marks:

【And you said you don’t know how to encounter the Ghost King!!!】

On the other hand, his inbox was full of strangers asking him if he was interested in selling the Magical Seal or not.

Yu Zhengdu:【……】

Yu Zhengdu quickly changed his settings so that he wouldn’t receive any messages from strangers. Then, he looked at Shang Que, speechless: “……Why are you the one in control of the Ghost King?”

Shang Que held his hands out innocently. “Wei Xiao designed it.”

Yu Zhengdu’s expression conveyed his suspicion. “Why would Wei Xiao make such a design?”

As soon as he finished asking this, his WeChat dinged with a notification. Wei Xiao had sent him a message:【I heard you received the Ghost King’s Magical Seal?】

Yu Zhengdu:【I know your guys’ secret now!!】

Wei Xiao:【What?!!!】

Wei Xiao:【Please keep it an absolute secret!! Even the people on the project don’t know about this!】

Yu Zhengdu:【Of course.】

Yu Zhengdu:【But I’m very curious. Why did you make this design?】

Wei Xiao:【I was forced to!】

Yu Zhengdu:【?】

Wei Xiao:【Boss Shang was determined to be invincible in the game. It wasn’t like I could actually make him a special weapon, right……】

Yu Zhengdu:【……】

Wei Xiao:【So if he really wanted to be invincible, he could only become a NPC】

Yu Zhengdu:【……】

Yu Zhengdu:&#k3010;You’ve worked hard, fist salute.jpg&#k3011;

The Ghost King’s friendly feelings and Ghost King’s Magical Seal very quickly ended up on the trending topics list. Double Horn Technology took this opportunity to start another round of promotions. Immediately, the game’s popularity became even greater.

All sorts of posts started showing up on the forum too. Everybody cussed out the evil European while wishing they could instantly sneak themselves into Europe.

Though the official game developers had emphasized the unpredictability of the Ghost King many times, and though netizens had already proven numerous times that encountering the Ghost King was completely random, there were still people who pitifully asked player Autumn Rain Doesn’t Cross the River how he had managed to trigger the Ghost King’s friendly feelings.

Eventually, an extremely resourceful netizen found out what had happened that night after repeated inquiries. They posted the circumstances of the event onto the forum. This caused a new round of angry cussing from netizens.

Heading: Apparently, At the Time, the Ghost King Told the European God: You’re So Good Looking

Building owner: Same as heading.

Floor 1: ?? These days, even NPC’s look at people’s faces?

Floor 2: ?? These days, even NPC’s look at people’s faces?

Floor 3: ?? These days, even NPC’s look at people’s faces?

Floor 4: I hadn’t thought that the good looking Ghost King would be a face-judger?

Floor 5: I hate this world that judges people by their faces

Floor 6: Even the Underworld looks at people’s faces?

Floor 7: So actually how good looking is Autumn Rain Doesn’t Cross the River?

Later on, someone exposed the fact that Autumn Rain Doesn’t Cross the River was actually Senior. The netizens who heard about this all expressed: oh, then he really is very good looking.

There were also a small group of people who suspected that Senior, as one of Luofeng’s high-level administrators, had perhaps used his authority to figure out the game’s rules or something. However, as soon as these suspicions got stated, they very quickly got extinguished. This was because it had been exposed many times before that even Double Horn Technology’s high-level administrators were asking about how to encounter the Ghost King. Additionally, some people offered a lot of money while contacting Yu Zhengdu in private, trying to buy the Ghost King’s Magical Seal from him; they all got rejected. Even Ox Factory’s high-level administrators couldn’t figure out the Ghost King’s behavior patterns. How could Luofeng’s high-level administrators know—— However, this was technically the truth, seeing as Yu Zhengdu truly didn’t know.

Regretfully, the Ghost King’s Magical Seal, which had become a temporary sensation, ultimately didn’t get to show off its power. Yu Zhengdu was terrified that if he logged into the game again, he would quickly receive all the treasures in the game. Thus, he rapidly ended his gaming career, only leaving an everlasting legend and countless wails of misery in his wake——

Since you’re not going to play the game anymore, at least sell the Magical Seal!

On the morning of the fifth day of the new year, the sound of firecrackers could be heard throughout all of Jintan Village. This shocked awake Yu Zhengdu, who had originally been sleeping. His eyes shot open, just in time to meet Shang Que’s gaze.

Shang Que had already woken up at an unknown time. He had an arm over Yu Zhengdu’s waist and was silently staring at him.

The two of them had already slept in the same bed for many days. Yu Zhengdu had long since gotten used to waking up in Shang Que’s arms. However, it was still the first time that he was seeing the other in such close proximity.

Only now did he discover that Shang Que was actually equally as handsome when lying down. As such, he temporarily wasn’t able to resist scooting close and kissing him.

And then Shang Que tightened his arms even more around Yu Zhengdu.

Mother Yu knocked on the door. “Zhengdu, Xiao Shang, you guys need to get up early today. We’re going to go worship the gods at the public ancestral temple together after sending off the ghost of poverty.”

Immediately after, they heard the sound of Peppa flapping her wings. “Ga ga——”

Mother Yu: “Does Peppa want to go too?”

Peppa: “Ga——”

Mother Yu’s voice was filled with amusement. “Okay okay okay. Let’s go together! I’ll go prepare your breakfast first.”

And then they heard Father Yu say, “Then come do morning exercises with me on the patio, Peppa!”

Mother Yu: “What morning exercises? We’re going to have to walk to the public ancestral temple later. Don’t tire Peppa out.”

After a short Lunar New Year’s break, Peppa Goose’s status in the Yu family had shot straight up. She had even replaced Shang Que as the newest model in Mother Yu’s picture updates to her Moments. Father and Mother Yu fought everyday for the rights to walk the goose and duck. Additionally, they had successfully managed to become the two brightest stars in the Jintan Village’s middle-aged community because of Peppa’s “Healthy Song” dance.

As Yu Zhengdu listened to his parents’ conversation, his entire brain was filled with numerous ellipses. He also felt quite speechless. He silently threw back a corner of his blanket to get out of bed. However, Shang Que kept a tight clasp over his waist. His voice was a bit hoarse. “One more kiss.”

Yu Zhengdu looked at him with a smile of exasperation. “Boss, certain things happen when we young men with normal bodily functions kiss for too long in the morning.”

Shang Que’s gaze guiltily looked off into the distance. “Certain things have already happened……”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

How truly unexpected. Even a thousand-year old ghost wasn’t capable of controlling his own urges.

However, Yu Zhengdu himself couldn’t control his urges either. He wasn’t qualified to be saying anything.

Yu Zhengdu silently laid back down. “……Then I guess we can kiss a bit more.”

After breakfast, the Yu family of three brought Shang Que and Peppa to the Yu clan’s public ancestral temple. Jintan Village was located in an isolated area; it had almost completely kept all of its old customs. Firecracker and fire restrictions weren’t too strictly regulated. The entire way, they could see other families setting off firecrackers and throwing their garbage away to send off the ghost of poverty.

Though Yu Zhengdu had watched all the families in this area send off the ghost of poverty since young, his generation no longer had a great understanding of this custom. Thus, Shang Que shared the story of the ghost of poverty with him along the way.

The earliest legend of the ghost of poverty was about Zhuanxu’s son. He was small and frail and had a natural inclination for wearing rundown clothes and drinking porridge. He had an unrestrained personality and had ultimately died because of this lack of restraint. When humans encountered this ghost, they would lose wealth. He was a very unwelcomed ghost.

However, the customs relating to sending off poverty eventually became more for the purposes of avoiding evil, preventing catastrophe, welcoming blessings, and hoping for good fortune. This practice was also called sending off the ghost of poverty, sending off the five poverties, sending off the poor man, etc. Additionally, different regions had different customs regarding the time you were supposed to send off poverty and the way you were supposed to send off poverty.

People across Huaxia would gradually start sending off poverty from the day before New Year’s Eve at the earliest. Just the province that Shu City belonged to alone had multiple different customs for sending off poverty. Most of the locals at Jintan Village were businessmen. The market started back up on the sixth day of the new year. As such, local customs detailed sending off poverty on the fifth day of the new year.

There were varying ways to send off poverty as well. However, the families of most places would just throw away all the garbage and debris they had collected since the start of the new year, then set off firecrackers to chase the ghost of poverty away. This was what Jintan Village did. As such, this practice was also called “sending off poor debris.” Other places were more fastidious, requiring paper cutouts of people to be thrown into the trash too. Or, there needed to be cars or boats made out of grass or paper as the “transportation” for sending off the ghost of poverty. Some places even had certain actions that needed to be completed when throwing out the garbage. Examples included a certain place in the northwest that required the person to exit the house backwards while holding the trash, some places that needed to eat fried beans on the day of sending off poverty, etc.

Mother Yu was walking in the front with Peppa. Father Yu was right behind Peppa, so was closer to Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que. After hearing Shang Que’s explanation, he exclaimed, “Xiao Shang knows about quite a lot of stuff.”

Right after saying this, he added, “But that makes sense. Your company works in this field.”

Shang Que didn’t bother explaining himself. He just made a casual sound of acknowledgement.

Father Yu asked again, “Then can you tell us which custom is the most effective out of all the different types?”

“It’s all the same,” Shang Que said. “All customs, regardless of procedure, are an expression of worship and belief. What’s actually effective is the faith behind them. Everything else is only a form of performance. There is no better or worse variation.”

Yu Zhengdu fell into thought. “This is the supposed ‘belief makes things happen’, right?”

Shang Que nodded. “Yes.”

Yu Zhengdu observed the cheery atmosphere all around them. Confused, he asked, “But what does the ghost of poverty actually look like? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”

Shang Que answered with a smile, “The earliest ghost of poverty has already become a god. Consequently, he disappeared when the Heavens and Hell collapsed. The ghosts of poverty among us now are mostly born around lazy people or in dirty environments. They are ultimately a minority.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded in understanding.

During their conversation, they had already reached the Yu clan’s public ancestral temple. This public ancestral temple had originally been a place Yu Zhengdu had visited since young. Now, though, it was slightly different from before.

On the right of the Yu clan’s ancestral temple was a little temple. This had initially been used to worship the Yu clan’s ancestors, the Three Gods. But last Qingming, Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que had unintentionally discovered that the Three Gods had already fallen into evil. Shang Que had lowered thunder fire, smote the Three Gods’ Temple, and arrested the Three Gods – who were brothers. After, the Yu clan had remodeled the little temple and invited Fu De True God back. Fu De True God had previously been driven out by the Three Gods.

When they arrived, there were already quite a lot of members of the Yu clan gathered by the public ancestral temple and worshipping their ancestors. Upon seeing Yu Zhengdu and them, they instantly surrounded them in greeting.

These days, Yu Zhengdu’s family’s status was completely different in the Yu clan compared to what it had been in the past. After what had happened last Qingming, everyone all knew that Yu Zhengdu’s company had some fancy technology that could connect the mortal realm and Underworld. To this day, Old Mr. Yu, the head of the Yu clansmen, was still a dedicated client of their company; he had bought Underworld communications services for the whole year.

Father and Mother Yu greeted everyone individually. Only then did they take Yu Zhengdu, Shang Que, and Peppa into Fu De True God’s temple.

While walking, Mother Yu said, “How fortunate that Xiao Shang exposed the truth about the Three Gods. Ever since we invited the Village God back last year, the entire Yu clan’s luck really has gotten a lot better. Now, not only members of the Yu clan, but a lot of people from other nearby areas will also specially come worship here from time to time.”

As they spoke, they entered the temple. Mother Yu reminded, “Zhengdu, you have to be sincere when you worship later.”

Before Yu Zhengdu could respond, he saw a little old man agilely jump off the pedestal being worshipped. He rapidly ran up to Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que, an ingratiating smile on his face. “How come the two leaders have suddenly arrived? Are you here to perform a work inspection?”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

This person was Fu De True God, the one who currently had great amounts of incense fire and was being religiously worshipped by Jintan Village and its surrounding occupants. At the same time, he was also a current employee of the Luofeng headquarters. His employee number was 0023, making him even later on the list than Kang Jin.

Yu Zhengdu scanned their surroundings. The mortal eye wasn’t capable of seeing gods or spirits. The worshippers were carrying on as usual. Nobody had noticed that the Village God had already left his pedestal and was reporting on work to his two bosses.

Yu Zhengdu couldn’t talk to him right now for fear of arousing other people’s suspicions. He could only glance at the other and softly cough as a signal.

The Village God received his signal and hurriedly made an “ok” gesture with his hand. He said, “Then you two leaders can do as you wish. I’ll send you guys an Excel sheet with my work summary on it later.”

After being unemployed for many years, Fu De True God had once again been invited back and was receiving incense fire again. He had developed a much greater love and dedication for his job. He worked hard and was diligent, so made pretty great achievements. Each quarter, he could offer quite a lot of faith and burial offerings to Luofeng. Additionally, he was very motivated. Even at such an old age, he had still attended the company’s training classes and learned how to use Microsoft Office. He was an excellent employee.

Though he could receive Fu De True God’s work report every quarter, personally seeing one of their company’s workers being worshipped by villagers still gave Yu Zhengdu an exceptionally strong feeling that something was off.

Just, everything was very strange.

After speaking, Fu De True God was just about to return to his pedestal when he saw Mother Yu saying to a goose off to the side, “Peppa, you come worship too. Ask the Village God to ensure that you’ll become smarter and prettier.”

Peppa lifted her goose head and gazed at Fu De True God with her beady little eyes. Then, she flapped her wings. “Ga——”

Fu De True God’s expression turned horrified. “This can’t be our company’s Peppa Goose, right?!”

Yu Zhengdu dryly made a sound of acknowledgment.

Fu De True God instantly shot up. “Young Miss, please don’t worship me. I’m not worthy of accepting your worship!!!!”

Shang Que side-eyed him from off to the side. “Give Young Miss a red envelope, then.”

Peppa: “Ga ga——” Give me a red envelope.

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

What is wrong with this father-daughter duo……

The author has something to say:

Amnesiac children can go back to reread chapter 20 and 23!

Fu De True God: Pulls out a red envelope.

Xiao Kui: Peppa, share with dad!

Peppa: Ga—— (okay)