“Um, could it be I guessed wrong?”

The dwarf elder tilted his head.

“My cultivation has regressed again, alas.”

The dwarf elder took out a cigarette and smoked it to himself, looking very melancholy.

Zhou Ze calmed down his emotions. He couldn’t exactly say, *you seem to have a point in your calculation?*

“Senior, I came to ask about the ghost messengers.”

“Ghost messengers?” The dwarf elder frowned. “I say, what are you doing asking about ghost messengers when you have nothing better to do? Those people aren't easy to deal with. You should avoid them if you encounter them.

"You have a physical body and can come back to life. That's a great opportunity. Just be happy about it.”

The old man said, perplexed.

Zhou Ze frowned slightly. The elder in front of him couldn't see that he was a ghost messenger?

Although he was just a temporary worker, judging from the elder's previous deduction methods, he was definitely not a half-baked amateur. Yet, he hadn't been able to detect his identity as a ghost messenger at all.

Did this mean that the little loli really was just using him as a temporary worker? Besides the so-called "Gates of Hell," did she have other important things that she hadn't given him?

Xu Qinglang had said that the loli came and went in a hurry. She definitely didn't just want to hand over the job. She simply had something to attend to and grabbed him as a free laborer.

As for the reason for grabbing him as a laborer, it was simple: she valued the fact that he wouldn't actively cause trouble and wouldn't create problems for her while she was away, right?

But Zhou Ze had to grasp this identity. He had already had one life ruined. This time, he had to completely control his own life, and the identity of a ghost messenger was the best protection, preventing him from becoming an illegal resident living in fear.

Zhou Ze opened his palm to the elder, displaying the symbol.

The elder's expression immediately froze, and then his breathing slowed for a moment. His eyes darted around before he suddenly realized:

“I understand. That long-tongued girl pulled you out to be a substitute.”

The dwarf elder walked back and forth on the mound with his hands behind his back, as if he were thinking about something. Zhou Ze didn't interrupt him.

Finally, the elder asked again, "What do you intend to do by asking me about the ghost messengers?"

“For the harmony of Hell, for the peace of the mortal realm, to better contribute my strength.”

“Oh.” The elder shook his head and then nodded. “Heh, I know what you want to do. You want to replace that long-tongued girl?”

Zhou Ze didn't refute.

Not refuting meant he was admitting it.

“There is a way, and it's very simple.” The dwarf elder pondered, “Since you brought me so many gifts tonight, I'll tell you.”

“I'm all ears.”

“In the Temple of the Literary God, the residents are all sages. The sages are above, humans walk the human path, and ghosts go to the Naihe Bridge. The sages see everything clearly.

"Tell me, isn't that the truth?"

“It is.” Zhou Ze nodded.

“The long-tongued girl gave you this key, which is equivalent to giving you half an identity, but she can take it away at any time.” The dwarf elder pondered, “But as long as you enter the Temple of the Literary God and I personally pray to the sages, and you express your attitude, make some guarantees, and show some determination in front of the sages…

"That is, say those beautiful words you said before even more beautifully. As long as one of the sages nods, your identity will be confirmed.

"But one thing must be remembered: the sages' eyes are like torches, seeing through everything. Once you harbor evil thoughts, or do anything out of line in the future, then you will be sanctioned not only by the laws of the Netherworld but also by the wrath of the sages!”

The dwarf elder looked serious.

“It's that simple?” Zhou Ze asked.

“How difficult it is.” The dwarf elder sighed, “Wanting to gain the favor of the sages and be granted an identity, this is just one method, a method to try for the time being.”

Zhou Ze nodded and said, “Then let's try it.”

The dwarf elder walked to the entrance of the Temple of the Literary God and blew a breath at it. A "click" sound came from behind the door, indicating that the bolt of the big red wooden door had been lowered.

“You go in first and talk to the statue of the sage. Next, I'll arrange things for you.”

Zhou Ze reached out and pushed the door open. He looked at the dwarf elder beside him and saw that he was standing there without moving. He asked strangely,

“Senior, aren't you coming in with me?”

“You jest. I'm just a dog under the seat of the sages. How dare I wander around in front of the sages? You have half an official position. Go in.”

Zhou Ze hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward and walked in.

The elder gently clasped his hands together, and the wooden door closed again.

“Have a good talk with the sage!”

Then, the elder took out another cigarette and bit it in his mouth. Without needing to light it, the cigarette began to burn on its own.

After finishing the cigarette, the elder smiled, took down his gong and drum, and struck it hard!

There was a crisp sound,

The elder shouted in a high-pitched voice:

“The weather is dry, be careful of fire!”

Immediately afterward,

There was another gong sound:

“The weather is dry, be careful of fire!”

The elder played the gong, singing and dancing in front of the Temple of the Literary God, a bit like a shaman from Northeast China.

He was short, and his jumps made him look even more comical.

“Boy, continue to chat with the statue of the sage, express your attitude more. I'll help you reach the heavens!”

The dwarf elder shouted into the Temple of the Literary God.

“Okay, thank you for your trouble, Senior.”

Zhou Ze's voice came from behind the wall.

“No trouble, no trouble. Just bring me a few packs of cigarettes from time to time and come see me. I don't have any descendants, and my incense offerings have been cut off. Now it's hard for me to even smoke a cigarette.

"The Temple of the Literary God doesn't lack food and drink, but I wouldn't dare touch anything in front of the sage, even if you gave me ten guts.”

The dwarf elder laughed heartily,

Then he continued to happily play his gong.

“The weather is dry, be careful of fire!”

"Bang!" The gong sounded!

“The weather is dry, be careful of fire!”

"Bang!" The gong sounded.

Each gong sound was lower than the last.

At the same time, the mallet that the dwarf elder had wrapped in white cloth began to be soaked with blood.

At first,

The blood was just faint and scattered, but as the gong was struck again and again, the blood began to spread.

It began to thicken and become dazzling,

In the end,

Every time the dwarf elder struck, he could strike out a large pool of blood, staining his clothes and adding a touch of ferocity to his originally comical image!

“The weather is dry, be! care! ful! of! fire!”

"Bang!"

With the last gong sound,

The dwarf elder threw the red, bloody gong and drum into the Temple of the Literary God, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

“The sage has opened his eyes, the evil spirit is subject to the law!”

After shouting the last shout,

The elder was struck by lightning. His body became much more blurred than before, and there was even a faint tendency to dissipate.

But he still laughed wantonly and shouted inside:

“Are you comfortable? Are you comfortable now!”

“Not comfortable.”

Zhou Ze's voice came from behind the wall.

“Not comfortable is right. Young man, I'll teach you what the world is impermanent and the human heart is unpredictable!

"The human heart is separated by the belly, let alone a ghost!

"I'm willing to sacrifice the merits of a sixty-year accompaniment to ask the sage to suppress and kill you!”

“Do I… have a grudge with you?”

Zhou Ze's voice came from the other side of the wall, with a strong sense of confusion.

“Grudge? Of course there's a grudge!” The dwarf elder's body swayed for a while, but he still continued to shout: “I won't reincarnate, I won't fall into reincarnation, I won't go to the afterlife!

"I accompany this Temple of the Literary God day and night, serving these ancestors,

"For what?

"Isn't it just to accumulate some karma for future generations, to bless my descendants!

"My lineage has done evil things in the past, which led to a small population, so I had to stay here, just to keep the incense burning!

"But a year ago, my last descendant, my only descendant, was gone!

"What's the point of me being a grandson for sixty years?”

The dwarf elder cried out,

“Is it fun to be with these clay statues every day?

"Hahaha, the heavens have eyes. That day, during the 'Washing the Door' ceremony, I just glanced at you and borrowed a cigarette from you.

"I didn't see anything at all.

"Today, I just calculated it properly. To hell with your Liuwei Dihuang pills! (A traditional Chinese medicine)

"You let me calculate that your death is inextricably linked to the death of my last descendant!

"This is the cause you created, and today you will bear the fruit!

"I'll use the merits of sixty years of accompaniment to exchange for your soul to be scattered.

"You're worth it! You don't lose out!”

“Your descendant died on the operating table?” Zhou Ze asked from behind the wall.

“No, he didn't die on the operating table. He died in a car accident.”

The dwarf elder wiped away his tears. Although his figure was much blurred, his tears seemed to have red spots.

“I wasn't driving in my previous life.”

Zhou Ze wanted to say that he was also killed in a car accident in his previous life.

“That drunk-driving bastard, he should have died, his lifespan should have been exhausted, but you stubbornly saved him on the operating table and forcibly extended his life for half a month!

"In the end, when his time came, he died in a car accident while drunk driving, but he also implicated my lovely great-great-great-grandson, who also died in the car accident.

"Tell me,

"Is this not your karma?

"Is this not the sin you created!

"Is this not the debt you owe!”

“Your brain circuit is really powerful.” Zhou Ze exclaimed.

The dwarf elder, who had slowly recovered from the initial excitement of revenge, suddenly noticed an extremely strange thing. In theory, he had broken a sixty-year-old accompaniment merit and asked a sage in the Temple of the Literary God to open his eyes once.

According to the usual habits of those clay sages, they were lazy to death on weekdays. As long as there was a ghost in front of them when they opened their eyes, even a genuine ghost messenger could be suppressed and killed together, let alone Zhou Ze, who was not a genuine ghost messenger?

Shouldn't Zhou Ze be suffering great pain under the sage's gaze, his soul collapsing and his soul dissipating?

Why was his tone so relaxed every time he responded to him?

This wasn't right,

This wasn't right!

“How can you be okay, how can you be okay!”

The dwarf elder suddenly shouted,

He had buried the merits of a sixty-year-old accompaniment!

Zhou Ze walked out from behind the other side of the wall,

Looking at the dwarf elder.

The Temple of the Literary God was surrounded by a rectangular wall. When Zhou Ze spoke earlier, he was standing outside the wall on the other side, so when the dwarf elder stood at the front door, it sounded like Zhou Ze was standing in the temple and replying to him.

The dwarf elder was struck by lightning, looking at Zhou Ze, who appeared outside the Temple of the Literary God, in disbelief,

“How are you outside, how did you get out!”

Zhou Ze pointed to the back and said:

“You've been working in this unit for so long,

"Don't you know that you can actually go through the back door here?”