Chapter 157: A Little Lesson

The three ghost judges were dumbstruck. It took them several seconds to react before fury filled their faces.

“Lord Yama, what do you mean by this?”

“Didn’t you hear me clearly?” Yun Jiao’s expression remained perfectly calm and serious. She pointed toward the Book of Life and Death in the old man’s hands. “From this moment onward, you are no longer the ghost judges of Youling.”

“What are you? How dare you speak such nonsense!” one of them barked, his aura flaring as he took a step forward—only to be stopped by the leader in the middle.

The leader gave Yun Jiao a cold glance, then turned toward Bai Yu, his gaze dark and heavy with threat.

“It doesn’t matter if Lord Yama can’t tolerate us, but you’d better think this through. Dismissing us is one thing, but if you drive us away right after taking charge, how will you win the hearts of the underworld? That’s not how a Yama rules, is it?”

Bai Yu’s brows furrowed deeply. The condescending tone instantly stoked his anger.

“You three are no longer ghost judges,” he snapped. “How I manage Youling is none of your concern.”

Their faces turned even darker. The leader gave a cold snort. “Very well! Then let’s see what tricks you have up your sleeve!”

He turned sharply and swept out of the hall, sleeves billowing with indignation. The other two followed with equal hostility, vanishing the moment they left.

Right then, Xi Teng entered from outside and froze mid-step, clearly confused. After bowing to Yuan Jiang, he turned to Yun Jiao. “Junior Sister… what’s going on? Why did those three just storm out?”

“Nothing,” Yun Jiao replied serenely, as though their anger didn’t bother her in the slightest. “They were just fired.”

“Ah?” He blinked. “Fired?”

“It means they’re no longer ghost judges,” she clarified.

“No longer—wait…” His eyes widened as he turned toward Bai Yu. Seeing the black booklet in the old man’s hands, he nearly jumped.

“Brother Bai—you took their Books of Life and Death?!” The aura from that object was unmistakable.

“Yup,” Bai Yu admitted, tearing the talisman from his forehead and handing the book back to Yun Jiao. “The girl here did it herself.”

The talisman had activated the Yama Decree within him, reclaiming the ghost judges’ Books.

“Why?” Xi Teng asked, eyes widening further.

“Disobedient employees are a waste of resources,” Yun Jiao said matter-of-factly.

“…”

“That’s… a problem, don’t you think?” Xi Teng managed to say.

“Is it?” Yun Jiao asked, her tone calm.

“Of course it is!” Xi Teng’s brows furrowed into tight knots. “Junior Sister, I understand why you’re angry—truthfully, I can’t stand those three either. But you don’t realize how much influence they hold. They’ve ruled the Youling Domain for thousands of years and have countless loyal followers. The other three ghost judges are their allies as well. Even Senior Brother Han Shu couldn’t truly control them. Now that you’ve dismissed them, they won’t take it lying down. They’ll retaliate—and that’ll make things even harder for Brother Bai to manage.”

Although Bai Yu was only a temporary regent, chaos now would mean even more trouble when Han Shu returned.

“Xi Teng’s not wrong,” Yuan Jiang said, frowning. “There’s a saying: ‘Little ghosts are the hardest to handle.’ By taking their Books of Life and Death, we’ve humiliated them publicly. They’ll surely bear a grudge. I fear they may rally the ghost city lords, stir up unrest—or worse, pretend to obey while undermining Bai Yu’s authority entirely.”

“Relax,” Yun Jiao said calmly. “They won’t get the chance.”

She turned to a nearby table, took out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Xi Teng.

“Take this back and make a few hundred copies. Paste them across every ghost city in Youling.”

“Huh? What’s this…” Xi Teng unfolded it and frowned, utterly baffled. “This? How is this supposed to help?”

But Yuan Jiang’s eyes suddenly lit up. A look of realization flashed across his face, followed by a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha! Brilliant! Truly brilliant — a move that cuts off the firewood beneath the cauldron. Do as she says, quickly!”

Yun Jiao thought for a moment, then handed him a square seal. “After copying them, remember to stamp each one with this. Otherwise, it won’t take effect.”

Still half-confused, Xi Teng tucked away both the paper and the seal. Without even finishing his tea, he rushed back to the underworld.

The old man couldn’t hold his curiosity any longer. “Girl, what exactly did you give him?”

“You’ll find out soon,” Yun Jiao said, avoiding the question. Then she picked up the test paper she had graded earlier and handed it to him. “Copy each wrong answer ten times. The Grandmaster’s testing you tomorrow.”

Bai Yu: “…” Are you even human?

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The Youling Domain

Feng Qing, one of the dismissed ghost judges, had never been this furious in his life.

He had served as a ghost judge for thousands of years—long before Han Shu had even become Lord of Youling. While not the strongest among the six, he was certainly the most senior. Even in other underworld domains, few dared to cross him.

Even Lord Han Shu had treated him with a measure of respect. Yet now, a mortal dared to strip him of his title and reclaim his Book of Life and Death as if he were nothing.

He was so angry he almost laughed.

Do they really think they can dismiss me?

Even without the Book, he was still the one who truly controlled the Youling Domain. What did that foolish new Yama know about the complex underworld politics here? How many ghosts would actually listen to him?

The Yama might hold the Decree, but could he really command more than a handful of souls?

Management of the underworld ultimately depended on the ghost judges — everyone knew that.

The more Feng Qing thought about it, the more he found the new Yama ridiculous.

A mortal, newly arrived, daring to suppress them? Did he even understand who he was dealing with?

So, upon returning, the first thing Feng Qing did was issue a decree:

All ghost trials were to be suspended.

All soul escorts were to halt their duties.

The Hall of Reincarnation was to close its gates indefinitely.

If they didn’t want him as a ghost judge, fine — let’s see how they managed without him.

Let chaos reign. Sooner or later, they’d come crawling back to beg.

He laughed darkly to himself, his rage slowly cooling into malicious amusement.

The other two dismissed ghost judges shared the same sentiment. Even the three who hadn’t attended the meeting began cooperating with them in secret.

Soon, the entire Youling Domain went eerily still.

The underworld patrols idled.

The lines of souls waiting for judgment grew longer and longer.

Feng Qing and his allies sat back smugly, waiting for the inevitable plea for mercy.

But they didn’t even last two days…

(End of this chapter)