Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 78: Yin Messenger

"Ting! Ting ting!"

The door closed, the curtain fell, and the room was enveloped in dim light and an unusual tranquility.

Jiang Yuan could only hear his own breathing, while Ji Xiuxiang, kneeling before the divine statue, seemed not to breathe at all. Slowly and rhythmically, she tapped a wooden clapper, producing a monotonous yet solid sound.

He squinted, examining the divine statue approximately over a meter high, surrounded by a flower-decorated canopy. It wore a red bridal dress and a phoenix crown, resembling a bride sitting in a palanquin, ready for marriage.

In front of the statue, incense burned in the censer, with spiraling blue smoke filling the room with a peculiar fragrance.

"Ji Xiuxiang, a believer, bows and prays to Her Majesty!" Dizzy from the incense, Jiang Yuan suddenly heard Ji Xiuxiang shout shrilly, and then chant half aloud and half sung: "With one stick of incense, transform into a million incense clouds, and beseech Her Majesty’s descent..."

Her voice became increasingly hushed and quick, probably because the invocation spell must remain secret. Anyway, he only caught two lines before the candle flame shot up over ten centimeters high, burning brightly and illuminating the whole room.

As Ji Xiuxiang muttered incantations and continuously bowed before the statue, the room’s temperature plummeted suddenly.

An eerie chill swirled around the room, nearly extinguishing the candle flame. A few breaths later, Ji Xiuxiang’s posture abruptly went rigid and motionless.

"Is this... possession?" Jiang Yuan felt a chill of fear mixed with curiosity; the system had not warned of any danger, so he lowered his breathing rate and focused intently on her.

The red bridal garment on Ji Xiuxiang moved without wind, and she, originally kneeling on the mat, stood upright, still facing away but exuding an entirely different aura.

She stood there stiffly, forming complex hand signs with her fingers.

Jiang Yuan tried to breathe quietly and lower his presence, while thinking that regardless of her origin, being able to confront the Yin Messenger head-on for the sake of a believer was indeed the mark of a qualified "immortal entity."

"Screech! Screech!"

Amidst the silence, the sound of chains dragging on the ground echoed, defying pinpoint location, sending shivers down one’s spine.

"Well now, I say..." A Yin Messenger dressed entirely in black, wearing a black high hat with a deathly pale face gradually appeared in the Immortal Hall, rasping with a hoarse chuckle: "It’s been a long time since Tian Changgui passed away; I am here to seize his soul and bring it to the Netherworld. Where is Tian Changgui?"

As soon as Ma Hongtu made his appearance and stated his purpose, he looked around the room, giving Ji Xiuxiang a dismissive glance when his gaze passed over her. However, upon seeing a living person with strong Yang Energy sitting in the corner, his brows furrowed involuntarily.

This person is truly peculiar!

Even though not an official Yin Messenger, he had served the Netherworld for quite some time, capturing more than a thousand souls if not eight hundred, and had encountered countless cultivators since people still wished to linger in the Human World post-mortem. Finding cultivators to mediate and extend one’s stay was common after all.

But no matter who it was, once wearing this Official Hat, he could clearly see their name, birthplace, and lifespan, never erring. Yet this time, upon seeing this person, his information was completely blank, even the experienced Yin Messenger paused.

Could it be... this person has already transcended the Three Realms and is beyond the Five Elements, thus the governing soul-binding Yin Messenger cannot discern his particulars?

"Greetings, my friend." The temporary Yin Messenger Ma Hongtu, always one for smooth sailing, upon discovering the anomaly, adopted the mindset of preferring misjudgment over offending, respectfully bowed.

Jiang Yuan’s heart thumped wildly.

Having never seen a Yin Messenger before, childhood tales of eerie ghost stories involuntarily flashed through his mind; he mustered his composure, returned the bow, and continued to sit calmly on the chair, waiting to observe their negotiations.

"Sir, may I know your honorable surname?" Ji Xiuxiang’s eyes glimmered red, with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes; she moved forward with a stiff gesture and said with a sharp playful tone: "Please sit down, have some incense, take a rest."

"I am surnamed Ma, serving in Fengdu Underworld of the Netherworld. This incense... ha, isn’t much. Let’s skip the pleasantries and hand over Tian Changgui’s soul."

Ji Xiuxiang still maintained her ghastly smile, took a handful of incense, lit it, and offered it with both hands, "Master Ma, please be lenient. Tian Changgui’s ancestors had relations with me, as you see, they are all old and young at home with only this one robust man dying young; life cannot continue. Yin Mountain is right there in the Netherworld; though reaching high, I can barely count as a neighbor. In the future, should Master Ma need anything, feel free to command!"

Speaking, she flipped her right hand and produced a large stack of paper-folded gold ingots, igniting them over the candle flame and respectfully presenting the ashes, "These are Tian Changgui’s offerings to Master Ma. If you can spare him a few years until the children grow and life can carry on, he will naturally report to you. Besides, he originally died in the Wilderness, and any wealth thereafter would surely be yours. How about letting him stay in the Wilderness?"

"This money..." Ma Hongtu took a deep breath of incense, pinched the gold ingots burned for him, and lowered his pale face, sighing: "Why go to such trouble for an ordinary mortal? Look at his money, it’s only slightly better than those useless items from Broken Money Mountain. You practice at Yin Mountain, and you know the current situation in the Netherworld. For these trifles, I wouldn’t open the net, risking exposure by those above."

"Alas, if it were a common believer, I wouldn’t bother with such effort. But Tian Family ancestors have been gracious to me; now with the world in turmoil and descendants dwindling, I can’t watch the bloodline of a former benefactor vanish. Master Ma, if you could spare him a few years, Tian Changgui would burn incense and money for you on the first and fifteenth of each month, how’s that?"

"Not worth it! Not worth it!" Ma Hongtu casually pocketed the gold ingots, took a deep inhalation of incense, and rejected: "Anyone with some cultivation knows that spirits are near while gods far, everywhere’s chaotic. I’ve yet to secure a position as a formal Yin Messenger, why ruin my career? Where is Tian Changgui’s soul? Quickly follow me to the Netherworld!"

As his words fell, his wrist flicked, and the iron chain dragged on the floor "whoosh," followed by a clattering sound of the coffin being overturned outside, as the Soul-Binding Rope dragged Tian Changgui’s soul into the Immortal Hall.

"Great Yin Messenger, I beg you to spare me!" Dragged out of the paper effigy, Tian Changgui knelt on the ground and pleaded desperately.

"Ji Xiuxiang" had a trace of anger flash across her face, thinking that she, a Lady of Yin Mountain, was reputable in the Netherworld, and to save the descendants of a past benefactor, she would have to endure the demeanor of a mere Yin Messenger. Her eyes glowed red, and an aura of chilling Evil Energy burst forth!

Ma Hongtu showed her due respect, his right hand flicked, and the kneeling, begging Tian Changgui silently fell unconscious.

"Oh, do you still want to spar with me?" He sneered, shaking with his left hand, and brandished the Mourning Stick, "Even the Netherworld’s Yin Messenger won’t submit, and you, a female corpse of Yin Mountain, wish to take advantage of the chaos of spirits? Try Grandpa’s Mourning Stick that scatters souls?!"

The icy atmosphere was held at bay; Ji Xiuxiang’s face twitched, yet she dared not approach.

If her true form were here, how could she be intimidated by a temporary Yin Messenger? But this is the Human World; Yin Messenger can freely traverse both realms, unlike her true form, which would be vulnerable to implicating the descendants of her benefactor. She could only swallow her grievance.

Jiang Yuan watched his task on the verge of failure, and though Ji Xiuxiang feared the Mourning Stick, it seemed no threat to him. He stood up and spoke, "Both of you, calm down. As it stands, Tian Changgui has already evaded capture for several days, no urgency needed, how about negotiating further?"

He could see the blood bar above the Yin Messenger, comparable to the Ice-winged Eagle header Yun Mo.

In comparison, it should be akin to a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.

Furthermore, upon seeing the Yin Messenger, the system’s detailed analysis began with the three words "low-level monster."

This indicated that, within the system settings, Yin Messenger could indeed serve as a minor boss, and estimating if he were to burn those papercaft horses and people from the Storage Bag and fight him, purely considering the blood bar, he would undoubtedly dominate.

He held no other intent, feeling both parties were escalating their verbal exchange, advising them to refrain from taking Tian Changgui, offer additional terms and benefits, possibly completing the task effortlessly, acquiring the Soul Refining Banner.