But halfway through his shout, the Buddha-radiant golden mountain of the spiritual platform plunged into a dark abyss. Writhing shadows like tentacles of some deep-sea leviathan coiled upward. Zhaos was like a duck being lifted by the neck—aside from desperate twitching, he couldn't make another sound.

  A cold terror from the depths of his soul slowly wound around him. Zhaos could even hallucinate the sound of his own pounding heart.

  A low female voice spoke: "Unlucky bastard… delivered yourself to my door again?"

  Ling leaned down. A shadow darker and more absolute than pitch black, one that utterly devoured light, crept inch by inch over Zhaos's trembling, nearly transparent soul.

  "Running? Weren't you acting tough just now?"

  Ling pinched Zhaos's soul and hefted him like picking fruit at the market.

  "Let me see… chaotic resentment, jumbled logic, IQ… tsk, hard to put into words."

  Ling frowned with distaste, as if smelling spoiled food:

  "Ugh, way too unappetizing." She sighed. "I'd get diarrhea if I swallowed you."

  Zhaos was scared into a sniveling mess. He couldn't even muster a desperate last-ditch struggle: "L-let's talk! You can't eat me! Fourth Master is still waiting for me outside!"

  Ling burst out laughing as if she'd heard the funniest joke: "Hahaha, idiot. If I let you go back, that's when I'd really lose this body. You're just cannon fodder that old Four sent in—still working your ass off for him like a fool."

  Zhaos babbled incoherently: "How… how is that possible! I'm one of Fourth Master's Top Ten Outstanding Evil Ghosts! Countless achievements! The Master would never abandon me! If you… if you let me go, I definitely won't tell him about you…"

  Ling gave a cold snort. She projected the outside view onto the Spiritual Platform. "Believe it or not, see for yourself."

  Ling's primordial spirit "re-synced". She bowed deeply to Fourth Master with standard etiquette and smiled: "Merit received. This humble immortal thanks Fourth Master for the gift. Only… that young friend seems unable to come out. Would you like to come in and fetch him personally, Sir?"

  Inside the Platform, Zhaos screamed silently in despair: Fourth Master! Come save me! The fugitive you're looking for is right here!!

  But Fourth Master seemed quite pleased, even visibly relaxed. He waved magnanimously: "Hahaha, seems Cultivator Ling has quite the personal charm. Since that little ghost wants to learn more from you, I won't intrude!"

  Zhaos couldn't believe what he was hearing: Personal charm my ass!! Fourth Master! Have you forgotten how I worked 996 all year without a single day off?! Who the hell have I been killing myself for?!!

  Fourth Master stopped paying attention to the Celestial Maiden before him. Instead, he warmly patted Dax's shoulder: "Brother Jiang, my household has all sorts of people and ghosts—occasionally one or two misbehave, I hope you understand. Since this Zhaos committed the crime of body-snatching, I'll leave him with you. Do whatever you want with him—I absolutely won't interfere."

  Dax could only nod in bewildered agreement: "Fourth Master's generosity and noble spirit truly make you a role model for us all! I will dutifully report the Master's righteous sacrifice of his own subordinate, contributing to Longjiang's public security work!"

  Hearing this, Zhaos suddenly stopped struggling. He stood frozen, all his earlier noise completely gone.

  Ling poked at him: "Heard that? From now on, you've officially been transferred to Ling Studios. From here on, you're my ghost slave. I'm giving you half a day to process your emotions."

  Zhaos still showed no reaction. His inner self seemed to have died completely.

  Ling maintained that smile, inwardly amused: Hehe, old fart. Wei’s craftsmanship is top-tier, isn’t it? One-way trip, no exit. Feeling reassured now?

  Fourth Master rose and adjusted his Tang suit cuffs.

  "Old Jiang, actually, I came this time with some good news for you."

  His voice dropped low, carrying a seductive whiff of power:

  "You know, the Guangnan Magistrate position… there might be some changes coming. The current Magistrate isn't well—probably won't last much longer."

  Dax's heart lurched. Everyone knew the current Magistrate had been sidelined by Fourth Master. "Unwell" probably meant he'd already been sent to the eighteenth level of hell for "recuperation."

  "You've got seniority, plenty of grassroots experience, and all these major achievements." Fourth Master patted Dax's mud-stained flight jacket. "Being cooped up in a small place like Longjiang all the time is really wasting your talents. If… someone were to give you a push, the power of life and death over Guangnan might well end up in your hands, Brother Jiang."

  This pie was painted large and round. Any savvy divine official knew this promised more than just a three-tier promotion. Guangnan's jurisdiction covered over twenty territories the size of Longjiang. Forget that the territory was dozens of times larger—just the chasm of real power between a Magistrate and an Earth God was enough to make countless low-level divine clerks knock their heads bloody trying to cross.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  What was an Earth God, really? Basically a doormat the Celestial Court laid across the mortal realm. Anyone could step on it. Anyone could throw their hot potatoes onto it.

  Those exalted immortals up in the Nine Heavens were mostly self-actualized true spirits, untouched by mortal dust. Their divine consciousness swirled with mysterious celestial laws—what did they know of flesh-and-blood emotions? Thus the "Spiritual Cultivation Good Fruits" assessments decreed each epoch were often as illusory as flowers in a mirror. The metrics were set without reason, and the specific paths to salvation were never even specified.

  So the whole system could only run on "data falsification" from below and "precision blame-shifting" from above. Through layers of mutual deception and fa?ade, this world managed to limp along day after day in absurd equilibrium.

  And the Earth God was the ultimate explanation for every celestial decree that couldn't be implemented—the edicts were perfect, heaven's will was merciful, it was all the fault of those receivers below whose cultivation was insufficient, whose tempering was lacking, who had failed to live up to heaven's favor.

  This post was arguably the one most likely to attract the Five Decay Calamities in all the Court. Bar none. Someone like Dax who'd walked this tightrope for years—neither promoted nor eliminated—was a genuine oddity across the entire heavenly bureaucracy.

  A smarter, greedier divine official would have understood immediately, kowtowing in gratitude. But Dax only felt a chill at his neck, as if what dangled before him wasn't a pie but a noose.

  "F-Fourth Master flatters me… this humble god's abilities are meager…"

  "Now, don't refuse so quickly."

  Fourth Master produced a gold-embossed jade slip from his sleeve and gently placed it in Dax's trembling palm.

  "The eighth of next month is this old man's birthday celebration. It'll be held in the neighboring Fushan Village. All the prominent figures from both the yin and yang realms will attend."

  Fourth Master squeezed Dax's shoulder meaningfully, with enough force to nearly crush his shoulder blade:

  "After the banquet, there'll be an internal 'Merit Charity Auction.' Some good Guangnan projects—say, certain ownerless spirit mines, or management rights to temples with flourishing incense, oh, and the hottest Guardian God program right now—will be transferred to insiders at low prices."

  "Brother Jiang, if you're interested in advancement, you'd better be… 'understanding' at that auction."

  The implication couldn't be more blatant—help me launder Merit, and I'll give you a position.

  "Take it. I know your temple's strapped for cash. Don't worry, whatever you bid on first, I'll fully support. As for the Merit returns, we can discuss that afterward."

  Fourth Master didn't give Dax a chance to refuse. He took one last look at Ling, nodded with satisfaction, and leisurely vanished into the dawn light, leaving only an empty grand chair behind.

  Ling watched the fading spiritual energy from that grand chair and clicked her tongue: "So this is how the venerable and distinguished roll? Look at that—even his charging station is single-use…"

  Only when that oppressive sandalwood scent had completely dissipated did Dax finally give out. His legs buckled and he collapsed onto the ground.

  The gold-embossed invitation in his hand now felt as heavy as a thousand tons.

  "It's over… all over…"

  Dax stared at the invitation, face ashen: "I thought Secretary Wang's mess had been exposed. Turns out it's even worse. 'Charity auction' my ass—they're forcing us to be their white gloves, to take over their dirty assets!"

  Ling walked over and plucked the invitation from his hand.

  "This is a good thing. What's there to panic about?"

  Ling pushed up her glasses, a greedy blue glint flashing across the lenses:

  "I'd like to observe and learn."

  She meant it—though the second half of that thought was: Once my mining rig is up and running, I'll know just how many games are being played in this mortal world.

  Plus those two Purifiers—perfect opportunity to probe what was really going on.

  She looked at the gold lettering on the invitation that read "Boundless Merit," lips curving into a cold smile befitting a hungry ghost:

  "We're short on money, resources, and connections anyway. Someone's gone and set up the whole venue, inviting us to come rob—oh sorry, 'fundraise.' Where else would you find such a deal?"

  At that moment, a piercing scream echoed faintly from the depths of her spiritual platform:

  "Let me out!!! AAAHHHH—"

  Ling was in an excellent mood. She casually muted Zhaos's volume in the backend.

  Dax picked himself up off the ground and dusted off his backside, expression still heavy.

  "I really fucking stepped wrong once and now every step's wrong. You've dragged me straight into the gutter. No, I absolutely can't do this. I'm going to—"

  "Going to what? Get yourself killed?" Ling said coldly.

  Dax spoke with difficulty: "I'm the only loose thread in Guangnan’s entire grid—and as long as I’m out here, they can't sleep at night. This time they've finally got something on me… But once you do something like this, there's no getting out. How can I ever face… Don't worry, I won't rat you out. Worst case, I resign and re-enter the reincarnation cycle."

  Ling sighed helplessly: "Dax… I really don't know where your bottom line is, you old con man. Sometimes you have none at all, sometimes you're ridiculously stubborn. Stop overthinking—this isn't something you can settle by reincarnating. The reason they're courting you isn't because they have something on you. It's me—this body."

  Dax blinked, mind racing: "You're saying—Fourth Master wants to make sure we, who have access to this body, are under his control… which means…"

  Ling nodded: "Since we've come this far together, might as well be straight with each other. That's right—I dug up enough dirt to send him straight to the Immortal Execution Platform. What's really going on with this body—are you still going to play dumb with me?"

  Dax's eyes suddenly darkened. His fingers unconsciously rubbed that old pocket watch again.

  "…So he's involved after all. In that case, there's only one path left now."

  "This is too big. I need to arrange some fallback plans first. You're right—when I get back, we need to have a real talk."

  He sighed, voice full of melancholy: "I need to go to the Lei house, bring Wynn some soul-stabilizing medicine, and… terminate him. We're already deep enough in this muddy water—no need to drag him down too."

  He turned to look at Ling, unusually serious: "You stay here. Don't go running around! Don't! Don't! Don't cause any more trouble! I'll be back soon."

  With that, Dax hurried to leave.

  Before going, he still couldn't help looking back, pointing two fingers at his own eyes, then pointing at her.

  Then he tripped, stumbling and nearly falling.

  Looking down, he saw the body that had been possessed and abandoned time and time and time again, now flopped on the ground like a boneless heap, eyes unfocused, foaming at the mouth.

  Hard to say who was unluckier—him or Zhaos. Maybe it was precisely this resonance of misfortune that kept bringing them together.

  Dax quickly hoisted the body over his shoulder and rushed out the door in a fluster.

  Ling watched his silhouette disappear through the doorway and shrugged.

  "Don't run around?"

  She chuckled softly, reaching up to touch her left shoulder. An invisible spiritual glow was faintly warming there, a thin thread pointing toward a building not far away.

  "Well, isn't this convenient."

  Ling turned around and looked toward a corner of the courtyard.

  There, two figures—one tall, one short—were silently trembling. They'd been frozen stiff the entire time, petrified by Fourth Master's pressure.

  Sigh… their mental fortitude needs work—

  But seeing Mimi's combat power at a glaring 50 times hers, and Val's defense at 80 times hers, she silently pulled two gleaming gold bars from her Pouch. Her smile was devilishly enticing: "Anyone want to earn some extra cash this weekend?"