Chapter 155: Subordinates Come to Pay Respects

Late at night.

The Qingyang Temple was shrouded in ink-black darkness. Normally a tranquil sanctuary where spiritual energy gathered, tonight it felt especially eerie. Within the vast temple complex, only the main hall was lit.

In the center, an old man dressed in dark robes sat nervously upon the main seat. His expression was conflicted — shifting from left to right, fidgeting restlessly as though sitting on pins and needles. At last, unable to endure it any longer, he turned toward a certain calm, tea-sipping figure beside him.

“Girl, how about we switch places? I’ll sit down there. This seat feels… wrong somehow.”

“Nonsense!” Yun Jiao set down her teacup, her other hand still busy marking the papers spread across the table. “You’re the head of Qingyang. The main seat is yours by right.”

Even if Qingyang rarely had visitors, one couldn’t just sit wherever one pleased.

“…”

He didn’t feel like the head at all.

The old man squirmed, looking even more uneasy — twisted like a wrung towel, constantly glancing toward the doors of the main hall. The longer he thought, the more anxious he became.

“Girl, are you sure they’ll come? What if none of them show up?”

“Don’t worry,” Yun Jiao replied, glancing at him. “Xi Teng went to deliver the message himself. He said midnight, and he won’t be late. Besides… the sooner you meet them, the sooner you’ll understand what’s going on.”

When you’re parachuted in as the new boss, it’s best to meet your subordinates early.

“Junior niece is right,” Yuan Jiang added gravely from the other side. “Since you’ve already received the Yama Decree, that makes you the legitimate ruler of the Youling Domain. They must have already heard the news. Rather than letting them gossip behind your back, it’s better to meet them openly.”

“But they’re ghost judges,” the old man said worriedly. Ghost judges weren’t ordinary wraiths or underworld guards — they were souls second only to the Yama Lords themselves. “If they start a fight…”

“They won’t,” Yun Jiao said firmly. As long as the Yama Decree remained bound to the old man, neither the ghost judges nor the guards would dare strike first — at least not openly. “Besides, Uncle Yuan is here!”

Though Yuan Jiang’s golden body had yet to be fully restored, his injuries were long healed. As a celestial immortal, his cultivation was more than enough to suppress a few ghost judges.

The old man still cast a worried glance at Yuan Jiang. Yun Jiao sighed and added,

“Come on. You’re not even afraid of the Grandmaster — what’s a ghost judge to you?”

“Uh…” That actually sounded convincing. Why did he suddenly feel less nervous?

Just then, the air grew chillingly cold, and the temperature plummeted.

“They’re here,” Yuan Jiang warned quietly.

Indeed — in the next instant, a surge of thick yin energy poured in. The brightly lit main hall dimmed at once, the orange lamplight flickering and turning into eerie green ghost fire.

The old man’s whole body stiffened. He instinctively straightened his back, sitting upright on the chair. The yin energy grew denser by the second. Then, in the center of the hall, three enormous figures appeared — semi-transparent and towering, nearly brushing the ceiling, filling half the hall with their presence.

They didn’t look grotesque like ordinary ghosts missing limbs or eyes; their terror came instead from the overwhelming aura that pressed down on the heart, instinctively invoking fear.

Their cold, unblinking eyes locked directly on the old man seated at the top.

“So you are the new lord of Youling.”

The three towering figures clearly didn’t take him seriously. They looked down at him condescendingly, releasing a suffocating pressure that flooded the hall — deliberate provocation.

Yuan Jiang’s face darkened. In the next instant, an even stronger pressure surged outward from him in retaliation.

The three ghost judges barely had time to react before — bang! — they were slammed to the floor. Their massive spectral bodies crumpled like popped balloons, shrinking rapidly until they were merely human-sized. The eerie green flames on the walls flickered and reverted to their normal orange glow.

“Hmph.” Yuan Jiang snorted coldly.

So this was their little intimidation game? As if no one else knew how to play that trick.

The three ghost judges were stunned, disbelief flashing across their faces as they looked toward Yuan Jiang.

“You… you’re from the Upper Realm!”

Wasn’t the new Yama supposed to be a mortal? Why was there a celestial immortal here — and a high-ranking one at that?!

“Quite the display of authority, ghost judges,” Yuan Jiang said pleasantly, though his eyes grew sharper. “This is the first time I’ve heard of ghost judges meeting their Yama Lord in full spirit form.”

Their faces blanched. They exchanged uneasy glances, panic flickering between them. Crushed beneath the pressure, they couldn’t even stand. Finally, the oldest among them forced himself to speak,

“Forgive us, Lord Yama! In our haste to come pay respects, we forgot to retract our true forms — we meant no disrespect!”

They had no idea what relationship this immortal had with their new lord, so for now, they dared not act rashly.

Yuan Jiang didn’t pursue the point. He glanced at the old man and withdrew his spiritual pressure, returning the floor to him.

Instantly, the old man’s confidence surged back. After all, he was a professional charlatan — acting was his forte. He straightened his sleeves, adopted a dignified, immortal-like composure, lifted his chin at a forty-five-degree angle, and in the exact same tone they’d used earlier, asked,

“So, you three are the ghost judges of Youling?”

Perhaps that earlier shock had done its job — the three ghosts were still visibly shaken. They quickly rose to their feet and cupped their hands respectfully.

“Yes, Lord Yama. We are indeed the ghost judges of the Youling Domain.”

The old man stroked his beard and gave them a slow once-over. “I was told Youling has six ghost judges. Why do I see only three before me?”

The three exchanged uneasy looks. They glanced up at the old man — who, sitting there beside a celestial immortal, somehow looked even more imposing — and hesitated, unsure what to say. Finally, the one in the middle spoke.

“Forgive us, Lord Yama. Affairs in Youling have been extremely busy. Since the previous Yama left without returning for some time, countless matters have piled up. The others could not leave their duties and asked us to offer their apologies. Once they are free, they will come to pay their respects.”

His tone was humble and respectful, his face appropriately guilty and troubled — an impressive act. But the expressions of the three in the hall turned cold.

Busy, their foot. It was just another form of provocation.

They clearly looked down on this “new Yama” who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere — a mere mortal, no less. These three were just here to maintain appearances. The other three didn’t even bother pretending.

Though they’d anticipated such defiance, the old man still felt uncomfortable. He couldn’t help glancing sideways at Yun Jiao.

Girl, what do I do next? How are we playing this scene?

(End of this chapter)