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"Hey, hey, the one ahead in line, what are you daydreaming about? Why aren’t you moving? Judge His Excellency is very busy!"

What situation is this?

The young man’s eyes popped open, only to find himself in this place without knowing when he arrived here?

Where is this?

Everything around was a greyish white, yet it was clearly not a place in the outskirts.

A magnificent stone building towered over, many times taller than Capital City’s Observing Stars Tower, the floor completely covered with marble, and a large crowd including himself queuing up, waiting.

He had no clue why he was here, as just a moment ago. ..

Right, where is little sister? Little sister...

He hastily looked around and, after a moment, finally saw his younger sister on the tall steps ahead.

The once dying Yan Zi, now from some unknown source of strength, had managed to climb such high stairs, standing at the top, in front of that person wearing a white robe and bizarre mask.

"Yan Zi!" In that moment, seeing his little sister alive, the young man was so overjoyed that he forgot himself and rushed upwards!

"Hey, hey, hey!"

The ones being cut in line instantly glared angrily, "Where did this wild boy come from? How dare he cut in line here?"

"Where else could he come from? If not those unruly Northern People, then it’s those Southern Barbarians."

"Southern Barbarians? He doesn’t look like one though..."

As the crowd murmured among themselves, the young man had already climbed halfway up. The two weapon-bearing Ghost Generals above saw this and frowned, ready to take action, but were stopped by the young man wearing the mask.

"This youth, judging by his clothes, seems to be wearing Jiangnan’s finished green cotton from a year ago, just like the little girl. Let him come up first..."

The two soldiers glanced at each other, and nodded slightly, evidently recognizing the youth’s attire as the green cotton popular in Jiangnan a year ago.

But this style had already gone out of fashion in Jiangnan, even the newest refugees wore newly developed pure cotton.

Someone showing up here in last year’s Jiangnan clothing could be a peddler fallen from grace in Jiangnan.

According to tradition, Jiangnan people who have fallen outside and cannot return, even those who die abroad, are contributing to the richness of Jiangnan. Their accumulated virtue is equivalent to that of a warrior, entitling them to at least fifty years of ’underworld longevity’ to start with!

They would also receive the same treatment as martyrs.

Thinking of this, the eyes of the two soldiers became much more serious.

As beneficiaries, these soldiers from the Warrior Army were very supportive of this policy.

Like them, after death, not only would they enjoy twice the normal ’underworld longevity’, but they could also hold the position of Ghost General, accumulate more Virtue Power, add to their ’underworld longevity’, or choose a favorable reincarnation for themselves.

Although these itinerant traders were not part of the Warrior Army, their benefits were the same; after all, they were considered peers, so naturally, they couldn’t just give them the cold shoulder.

When the big man finally climbed up, gasping for breath, the young man with the mask asked gently, "Is this your relative?"

The girl beside him widened her eyes as soon as she saw the youth and immediately ran over and hugged the youth who had climbed up.

As he held his sister, the big man burst into tears.

Because at this moment, he felt it: he was dead... and his younger sister... was dead too!

"Valiant man, do not grieve..." The young man spoke gently, "To have arrived here is already a great fortune."

The eyes of the youth in the mask twinkled, and he immediately discerned that neither sibling was from Jiangnan; they lacked the unique mark of Jiangnan, and had just happened to die within Jiangnan’s territory, so they were brought by the Wandering God to the underworld jurisdiction of Jiangnan.

"What place is this? Hell?" the sturdy man murmured.

"Presumptuous!" The two soldiers could no longer hold back, "Where does this wild boy come from? Can’t you speak properly? This is the underworld bureaucracy of Yunzhou. You’re lucky to have died here..."

"Underworld bureaucracy..." the sturdy man looked up, "Yunzhou?"

"Tell us, how did you get here?" the youth asked gently still.

No longer daring to be confused, the big man hurriedly recounted how he and his parents had crossed mountains and rivers, and how he had taken his little sister to flee from the pursuit of a centipede, and in the final moments, reached the territory of Yunzhou...

As everyone listened to how the man’s father had fought to the death to bring his young daughter here, the crowd grew silent...

The people of Jiangnan had grown accustomed to the notion that after death, the underworld would accept them, seemingly having forgotten that this privilege was an enormous temptation to those from the outside world.

Only in Jiangnan could one enjoy peace after death, a feat no other place could achieve in today’s world!

"Your father was a far-sighted man..." the youth gently squatted down, looking at the burly man, a softness flitting through his eyes.

In today’s world, one could almost say that arriving in Jiangnan was like escaping from hell!

According to intelligence reports, demons rampaged outside, heretical cults were rampant, mother and child ghost temples in the Central Plains were sacrificing young children, giant pythons covered the northern lands, and various other evil deities emerged in different areas.

The long-forgotten human sacrifices were everywhere, and domestic animals that could transform into demons at any moment were commonplace.

Perhaps one day you would wake up to find your wife and children devoured by the dog that had been in your family for years.

In such a world, if not hell, then what?

Even in death, life in Jiangnan was more comfortable than outside. The cycle of reincarnation was assured, whether one chose to enjoy a posthumous existence or to go straight into a new life filled with hope!

Even a peddler who had only visited Jiangnan once could discern that Jiangnan was the hope for the future, yet his own uncles didn’t understand...

The youth was a member of a sorcerer family who died en route to Jiangnan to study, fortunately within Jiangnan’s borders. It was his father’s foresight that had desperately led them to safety in Jiangnan.

His father had survived and took root in Yunzhou, Jiangnan. Sadly, he had perished, but his spiritual power as a magician caught the attention of a senior judge, allowing him to become one of the judges and enjoy a civil yin lifespan...

His short-sighted elders probably still carefully served those Southern Barbarians back in the Southeast, didn’t they?

Truly pitiful...

He had heard that those Southern Barbarians committed murder, arson, and looting in the Central Plains, committed all sorts of evil, and especially enjoyed using excuses to abuse young women from great families.

Just last month, his cousin wrote saying she was to be married off as a concubine to some Southern Barbarian general by the family head.

Unwilling to submit, she planned to follow in the footsteps of his family and flee to Jiangnan.

Now... a month without news, she was either forced by the family head to those beasts of the Southern Barbarians or... she perished on the way here.

The current world was extremely dangerous, and it was not easy to come to Jiangnan as one wished.

"Sir!" The burly man, realizing the situation, quickly knelt and kowtowed, "My parents are just outside the border of Yunzhou. The place they come from is plagued by an Insect Demon, please, sir, save them!!"

He was well aware that his parents, with their physical condition, would never be able to reach Yunzhou like he did if they took the same route!

"I’m afraid that’s not possible..." the youth shook his head helplessly: "Beyond the borders of Jiangnan, even by a fraction, is outside the jurisdiction of our hellish officials. Our hell ghost soldiers cannot cross over, so even if we wanted to help you, we are powerless."

"This..." The burly man was stunned. How could this be?

Hearing this, other specters also shook their heads in silent pity.

To die just outside, just shy of the last step, was truly a pity. Many of the specters had seen those evil ghosts outside the jurisdiction of the judges...

Many of them were members of the warrior army who had battled abroad; even though they were promptly brought to Jiangnan when they died, they had all witnessed the horrors of the Path of Yin and Yang. To die and go to such a place was the true hell!

At this moment, they felt grateful for being born in Jiangnan, thankful that a Chen Qing had come to Jiangnan, and even more fortunate to catch this era’s dividend and join the warrior army!

All grievances about dying in battle dissipated clean away in an instant.

Woo!!!

Suddenly, just as the burly man wept and pleaded and the young judge faced predicament, the sound of a battle horn, one belonging to the battlefield, erupted throughout the ghostly domain!

All the specters inexplicably looked towards the top of the enormous stone building, and the young judge also stared up in astonishment.

It was the horn at the very top of the building that was sounding, a horn that had hung untouched at the summit, and now, a ghost general was blowing the horn...

The judge’s face turned solemn in an instant.

That was the signal for war. He had heard Lord Shen mention that since the establishment of Jiangnan’s ghostly jurisdiction, this horn had never been sounded. What was happening today...

"All hell ghost generals, attention!"

From above the skies, the voice of Lord Shen echoed across all of the ghostly realm: "All enlisted hell ghost soldiers, immediately arm yourselves and gather at the offices!"

"This is..." The young judge looked towards the tower roof, his eyes full of shock!

"The war... has begun!!!"