Hotpot Restaurant 26
[ The Underworld. ]
At the Gates of Hell, ghosts came in, but never went out. Surge after surge of ghosts came from the human realm into the underworld.
Just like Birth, Death is something that’s destined to happen in a person’s life.
For all beings in the underworld, this was all too normal.
But it was difficult for ghosts in the human realm to know exactly what the underworld looks like.
Because most of the ghosts that enter the underworld have started on their path to reincarnation. Whenever the Gates of Hell were open, ghosts could enter the human realm to eat, but this was the only fixed period of time they were allowed to do so.
When the ghosts of the underworld meet the ghosts on earth, the time they got to meet up was so short. It was barely enough for them to recollect the past, who would have time to talk about the underworld all day?
It was already rather admirable if a ghost was a little bit knowledgeable about the fact that the underworld had ten Yama Courts.
In the past, the underworld didn’t control ghosts so strictly. This was mainly because technology had not been able to keep up, and secondly, because of the Yama King of the Fifth Court, King Yanluo.
Just as how technology in the human world was changing with each passing day, the technology of the underworld was changing rapidly. From being the only Yama King in the underworld, King Yanluo had also changed to become one of the ten Yama Kings.
In order to better maintain the situation between humans and ghosts, everything was arranged in an orderly manner.
Nowadays, if ghosts wanted to understand what the underworld was like, they would naturally have to visit the underworld for themselves.
When the little ghost entered the underworld, he was still a little nervous.
In the human realm, he had not lived for more than eight human years. He had lived as a ghost for more than thirty years, so in total, he had stayed in the human realm for over forty years. He was coming to the underworld for the first time; he knew extremely little about this place, and also didn’t know if he would be punished.
Punishment was one thing; the other was about the extremely special hot pot restaurant in the human realm.
He wanted to let King Yama know about the existence of this hot pot restaurant. It would be best if King Yama could discuss and cooperate with that hot pot restaurant to promote the food culture of the underworld and human realm.
Every ghost knew that there was nothing good to eat in the underworld; at the very most, there was Meng Po’s soup.
With one bowl, one would forget all about the past, and also forget the taste of Meng Po’s soup; they might even have another bowl.
It was an easy business that seemed like it might be a scam.
These bland days that only consisted of Meng Po’s soup were so boring that one would be better off on the path to reincarnation.
The little ghost looked around; he saw that all the ghosts that passed through the Gates of Hell went along with the flow and boarded a boat, then went ashore. He followed them and got ashore, then walked towards the First Court where King Qinguang was.
He was not the only nervous ghost.
A ghost nearby said, “The First Court is where one’s life is judged to be good or bad, right?”
“Yes, yes. I’m so scared. I feel like I haven’t done any bad things in my life, but I haven’t done much good either.”
“It’s okay, if there’s a mix of good and bad, you don’t have to go to the rest of the other halls, you can go directly to the King Zhuanlun’s Tenth Court to change your gender and be reincarnated.”
The little ghost listened and felt that this treatment was not bad.
He was a male kid in his life, and he would be a female kid in the next.
“What if one has done too many bad things?”
“Then that ghost would be brought to a high platform, which is the platform of the Mirror of Retribution. This mirror can reflect whether one’s heart is good or bad. Then, that ghost would be sent to the Second Court. After entering the Second Court, those that are lucky enough can still enter the Tenth Court directly; those who are unlucky would have to suffer through each hall one by one.”
“Mirror of Retribution? Will there be any good people among those that had done too many bad things?”
The little ghost also looked doubtfully at the ghost giving the explanation.
“Well, there must be. Besides, our criteria for judging what’s good and bad would surely be different from the Yama King. The Yama King looks at the picture, and has a much more comprehensive view than we do.”
This seemed to make a lot of sense.
The ghosts nodded one after another.
When the little ghost moved up in line to the entrance of the First Court, he saw a magistrate sitting on a chair right at the other end. The magistrate was quite handsome; his hair was tied in many small braids that were all gathered in the back of his head.
Holding a tablet in his hand, he asked according to procedure, “Name?”
The little ghost looked up. “Jiao Yitong.”
The magistrate entered the name. “Jiao Yitong, a native of Fengdu. Alive for seven years and six months. Died of natural causes in bed. A mix of merits and demerits. You can go straight to the Tenth Court.”
The little ghost didn’t expect to be given this verdict directly, and even less expected that the magistrate hadn’t cared that he had remained in the human realm for so many years.
But the problem was… wouldn’t he be unable to meet King Yama then?
Was the Human Realm Ghost Hotpot Project done for just when he had arrived in the underworld?
The little ghost dawdled, “Um, Lord Magistrate. I want to ask, how may I get to see King Yama?”
The magistrate was unexpectedly rather patient. “What is this about? Who do you want to see? All the Yama Kings are very busy. One doesn’t usually get to see the Yama Kings for simple standard procedures like reincarnation.”
The little ghost hesitated.
If he didn’t get to see King Yama, wouldn’t he have come in vain?
He said slightly hesitantly, “Umm…”
The magistrate asked probingly, “Do you have a grievance? You’ve only lived for seven and a half years.”
There were not many people who have been wronged at the age of seven and a half.
The little ghost shook his head. He really didn’t have any grievances, it was just that he had died young.
The magistrate asked further, “Then, do you wish to be with your parents again in the next life? Your parents have not reached the end of their lifespan. If you want to wait, after getting an appraisal of your good and evil rank in the Tenth Court, you can submit an application for the postponement of your reincarnation. Remember, you have to submit it in the same month, lest it expires.”
The little ghost didn’t expect the underworld to be so humane.
He took note of this important information. Seeing that the magistrate was a good one to talk to, he decided to state his mission. “My lord, it’s like this. I am from Fengdu. As it sounds similar to the underworld, we are called the ghost capital. “
The magistrate nodded.
“Maybe because of this, strange things would happen there. For example, recently, there’s this hot pot restaurant.” The little ghost pulled on his little yellow hat. “The hot pot made by the little boss of this hot pot restaurant can be eaten by ghosts.”
The magistrate’s eyes widened slightly, “Huh?”
Seeing the magistrate’s reaction, the little ghost continued tentatively, “I think the underworld will come to know about it sooner or later. There must be something special about the little boss—who knows, she might become an official of the underworld in the future. So…”
The magistrate thought about it. “So, after investigating this person, we should bring her to the underworld as soon as possible.”
The little ghost: “???”
No, magistrate, why aren’t you following regular thought processes?
When the little ghost heard what he said, his little face became anxious. “No. Why can’t there be a business between the human realm and the underworld? Many ghosts haven’t gotten to eat anything in the human realm for decades, and even if they managed to occasionally eat a meal, it’s also good for them to have a chance to favour it again!”
The magistrate listened and disagreed; he explained to the little ghost, “If shops in the human realm attract a lot of ghosts, accidents would easily occur. This little boss can make hot pot in the human realm, so why can’t she do it in the underworld? She can even attract more ghosts to come earlier to the underworld to queue up and get reincarnated.”
The little ghost said anxiously, “But she’s in her twenties. She hasn’t died yet.”
The magistrate gave it some thought, then said, “That’s true. We will send someone to have a discussion with her later, and see if she can agree to come earlier to the underworld. If both parties agree, extra pay can be given for the leftover years.”
The little ghost: “……”
What goddamned extra pay? That girl was living well, why must they want her to die and come to the underworld to work? The little ghost was too well aware of the grief of parents who have lost their children, and he absolutely would not allow this to happen.
The little ghost glared at the magistrate. “You can’t bring her here. There is a phoenix standing guard by her side.”
At this, the magistrate immediately laughed. “Phoenixes have been, since a thousand years ago…”
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, and repeated, “Phoenix?”
The magistrate looked around, then he took out a cell phone and made a call right there and then.
“Hello? Wen Ji, I’m Jiang Jiang. Come help take over my duties. I have a ghost here who’s looking for the Yama King.”
After that, he gave two grunts of assent, then hung up. “Jiao Yitong, right? I’ll take you to meet the First Court’s King Qinguang. The matter of the phoenix is more important.”
Was the phoenix more important than the hot pot restaurant?
The little ghost floated towards the magistrate. “But, it’s a hot pot restaurant!”
The magistrate named Jiang Jiang laughed. “You may not believe it. I used to be an imperial brewer. All the newly developed wines in the underworld now are basically all made with recipes I came up with.”
The little ghost was dumbfounded.
Magistrate Jiang Jiang saw that a woman was coming from afar, then pulled the little ghost along behind him and headed off to the main hall. “ Humans have been in the world for hundreds of years, but to the underworld, this time is pitiably short. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to eat many more years of hot pot in the underworld? Alright, let’s go.”
……This seemed to make sense?
The little ghost was almost convinced.
At any rate, he was still firm on his original purpose. He wasn’t just doing it for himself, but also for the ghosts who are still in the human realm.
“Lord Magistrate, I want to analyse with you the issue of the number of ghosts in the human realm!”
“What’s there to discuss about that? It’s incomparable with the number ghosts in the underworld.”
“That’s not the way to look at it. We can still discuss how to go about opening this hot pot restaurant.”
“Then we’ll discuss it later, and talk about the serious things first. The phoenix, tell me about it.”
As the magistrate and the little ghost debated over the issue of the hot pot restaurant, while deviating off to talk about the phoenix, they stepped into the First Court of the underworld, which was the domain of King Qingguang.
King Qinguang, the Yama King of the underworld’s First Court, was surnamed Jiang.
He’s in charge of life and death of the human realm, and oversaw the good and bad of the underworld. Even King Zhuanlun’s Tenth Court had to submit the summary statistics of reincation to King Qinguang every month.
Due to the heavy workload, King Qinguang spent most of his time with a serious expression.
He represented the fairness, justice and order of the entire underworld.
After Jiang Jiang entered the hall, his behaviour and demeanour were much more disciplined than before.
He bade the little ghost to be quiet, then led him to the room where King Qinguang was located.
“My lord,” Jiang Jiang greeted King Qinguang. “I have something to report.”
There were several large screens in front of King Qin Guang at this moment, where various materials and information were being displayed non-stop.
He waved away the screens casually. “What’s the matter?”
As a magistrate, Jiang Jiang would not bring ordinary ghosts to him if it wasn’t a major matter.
“The little ghost here saw a phoenix in Fengdu. Barring any unexpected circumstances, it should be Master Guifeng,” Jiang Jiangyan reported briefly and concisely.
King Qinguang looked at the little ghost.
The little ghost straightened his back nervously. “Yes, it’s a phoenix. He admitted it himself. It was a big bird that could exude fire from his body.”
King Qinguang nodded. “Where is this little ghost going next?”
Jiang Jiang replied, “The Tenth Court.”
King Qinguang responded, “Mm. Let him go then.”
Jiang Jiang whispered to the little ghost to go back the same way, and head to the Tenth Court via the back door.
The little ghost took a step, then turned back and said hurriedly, “That hot pot restaurant…”
Jiang Jiang laughed. “I will tell my lord about it.”
The kid took another step, but stopped again and said nervously, “You can’t just go and take her life!”
King Qinguang, who was still present, let out a majestic “Hmm?”
The little ghost was timid; at the sound, he was so scared that he immediately ran off back where he came from.
Jiang Jiang turned his head and explained to King Qinguang, “My lord, this is the situation. Master Guifeng is now in a hot pot restaurant in Fengdu.”
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