After Getting A Job in the Nether World, I Became Famous - Chapter 2.2: Hundreds of Mountains, Thousands of Cash
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- After Getting A Job in the Nether World, I Became Famous
- Chapter 2.2: Hundreds of Mountains, Thousands of Cash
This was probably one of the most well-known members of the Nether World. The person who guides your souls, the Impermanence that was described in the legends.
People say that evil spirits were the scariest, but it was evident that a ghost who was responsible for taking away people’s souls was just as scary. Impermanences were still ghosts, although they might have had a kind nature at first, after doing their job for so long, it was only natural for people to be afraid of them.
Even malicious ghosts would be afraid if they see them, let alone a living person. It was said that if someone accidentally met him, they would end up being seriously ill.
Lan He only knew the theoretical part. The paper dust flew high meant that they were indeed being taken by a spirit to the Nether World. But something was a little strange, the White Impermanence was somewhat of a bigwig in the Nether World. The chances of a normal person seeing him would be very low.
How was he so “lucky” to get his ingots stolen by the White Impermanence? Also, according to the legend, the Black Impermanence’s hat has the words “Peaceful World”, while the White Impermance’s hat has the words “Become Rich Upon Encountering”. Why does this one’s hat just have the word “Rich” written wrong1The Chinese characters on the White Impermanence’s hat is “一见生财”. The last character “财” means wealth or riches, but this ghost’s hat wrote “材”. “财” and “材” look similar and are pronounced the same in Chinese, however, the first means rich, and the other just means material.?
Lan He was slightly puzzled, but he continued to look at the other party with a relaxed expression.
This was the quality of an actor: even after facing a ghost eye to eye, he could still act like he saw nothing.
All he wanted to do was to save Cheng Haidong, he didn’t intend to deal with the Nether World.
The White Impermanence stared at Lan He for quite a while, then finally took two steps to the side and held up an ingot to study it. His voice was so cold and dark that it seemed as if it could freeze water, but it was also filled with genuine glee, “Excellent! Excellent quality!”
The more he looked, the more he liked it. He turned to Lan He and asked him coldly, “Where did you buy this?”
Lan He didn’t reply. The pile of ingots has already been completely burned up. He took out a broom and began to sweep the dust.
After not receiving an answer, the Impermanence sneered as his doubts slowly dissipated. He carefreely shoved all the ingots into his seemingly bottomless pockets and even started to pick his nose.
Lan He: “…”
As if nothing had happened, he walked back towards his room. Suddenly, the cold voice sounded behind him,
“Ordering Lan He’s soul to serve the Seventy-Two Spirits of the East Mountain!”
…Fuck, why does he have my name? Lan He felt his body becoming light as he unconsciously closed his eyes.
——
When he opened them again, his feet were already slightly off the ground. He looked down and saw his body collapsed on the ground. Unlike Cheng Haidong who only lost his soul, Lan He had lost both his soul and spirit. Now his body looked no different than a dead man.
The White Impermanence looked at him in shock. He had an official document in hand as he exclaimed, “You’re Lan He? Then you should have been able to see me just now!”
Lan He: “…”
The White Impermanence: “…”
Lan He: “……”
This was a bit awkward.
The White Impermanence was so angry that he laughed, “You think you can fool a ghost? Alright, alright my brother, you got potential. Let me tell you, from now on, you’ll be part of our East Mountain Nether World Officials.”
Lan He said woodenly, “I think you mean a part-time worker?”
He had already understood what was going on. The Nether World was a really busy place. If the Black and White Impermanence were too busy, they would go to the Mortal World to hire mortals to help them guide souls, and then return their souls after they finished their work.
This type of job was known as “Visiting the Impermanence” or “Visiting the Nether World”. The people that did this were known as “Mortal Impermanence”, which was because they were still mortals, just acting as temporary ghosts.
Of course, in other words, they’re basically part-time workers for the Nether World.
But Lan He didn’t know what got his name on the list, and now he was forced into the team.
“Call it whatever you want,” said the White Impermanence as he smiled, “Recently, there’s a lack of labor down there. You follow me and do your job, and I’ll reward you.”
Lan He tried to insist, “Mr. White Impermanence, I never intended to work on this job…”
Perhaps witches and wizards would be looking forward to building connections in the Nether World, but Lan He had a job of his own already. He didn’t want a part-time job, and in addition, it wasn’t easy to do this job either.
The White Impermanence rubbed his face and unexpectedly, showed a hint of happiness. It was just that it looked a bit strange on his pale and lifeless face. “Haha, I’m not Lord Xie, but of course, he is all of our role models… You can just call me Lao Bai.”
In the legends, the White Impermanence’s real name was Xie Bian, and Lan He realized that he wasn’t the real one. Perhaps it was because he idolized the White Impermanence and that’s why he was dressed like this.
“Oh, no wonder the ‘Become Rich Upon Encountering is written as wrong.”
Lao Bai: “That’s a homophone.”
Lan He: “…”
You… Lan He endured it and said, “I’ll go write a job resign and burn it to them. Mr. Bai, please let them know.”
He didn’t know at all how he got chosen, but when the Nether World forcibly hired mortal souls, they wouldn’t care at all about what the victim wants. They do things by force, and it was no use to argue with them. The best choice would be to just do your best.
“Ridiculous! There’s no bargaining with ghosts!” Sure enough, Lao Bai started to shout, “Any hired soul must serve at least twelve years!”
“I folded those ingots and paper clothes,” insisted Lan He.
Lao Bao’s lifeless face immediately changed, In that case…
In the Mortal World, who can prove whether Joss Paper was real or not? There was no bank to do that kind of job. Therefore, not every Joss Paper being burnt and sent to the Nether World were usable.
In the Nether World, there were mountains of money piled around because their quality wasn’t high enough. Because the Mortal World sends so much money every year, all the low-quality ones would just be useless money and be left there to be piled up.
The ingots that Lan He folded were different. Lao Bai hasn’t seen ingots of such high quality for a long time. Although the materials were the same, not everyone had this kind of skill.
Lao Bai’s tone immediately changed as he said, “Alright fine, seeing that you’re so sincere… But you still need to do at least twelve months.”
Money could also bribe ghosts. With the discount, twelve years turned into one.
One year is still very long though. “Can you arrange a paperwork job for me?” asked Lan He unwillingly.
Not all Mortal Impermanence guide souls. They have some other jobs as well.
Lao Bai also replied unwillingly, “I’ll try.”
“Thanks.” After finishing the bargain, Lan Hemournfully agreed.
How unfortunate! I have to work part-time for the Nether World. On top of that, there’s no pay, and instead, I’ll have to spend my own money on everything.
Lao Bai took out a uniform from his pockets. It included a tall hat like his, a chain, and a fan. “Here, these are all yours. They’re made to look exactly like the original ones the Black and White Impermanence wears. It’s just that you can write whatever you want on your hats.”
…Looks like these workers really admired their boss. Lan He picked up his hat and pondered for a while.
Lao Bai then took out a brush pen and gave it to him, “Would you want to write ‘Become Rich Upon Encountering’ or ‘Peaceful World?'”
“I can only choose from these two?” asked Lan He.
Lao Bai looked at him confusedly, “No… but almost everyone chooses one or the other. The Black and White Impermanence are two of the most famous people in the Nether World. If we wear what they wear, not only would we borrow their fame, other souls would also be afraid of us.”
Lan He understood what he meant, “I’m going to do paperwork anyways, so I don’t need to worry about this.”
After that, he didn’t even wait for Lao Bai to stop him as he scribbled for words on his hat, “Since I’m Here Already”.
Lao Bai: ???
“Oh, by the way, my friend lost his soul, can I use this to get him back?” Lan He asked as he held up his fan. An Impermanence has two tools, the Soul Chain, which is used to take people’s souls, and the Soul Fan, which can be used to return a soul to a body.
“Of course, easy.” Lao Bai glanced at Cheng Haidong, “But today, you must help me find the soul of a person named Song Qinmin. The local spirit told us that he was loitering in the Mortal World and is unwilling to leave.”
Song Qinmin, isn’t that the name of the recently deceased man, Mr. Song?
“Then I think I know where he is,” said Lan He.
——
Lan He, in the form of his soul, brought Lao Bai to Mr. Song’s house. From a distance, they could see Mr. Song and Cheng Haidong at the door. He was trying to pull Cheng Haidong in, but Cheng Haidong held tight onto the door frame and refused.
Sure enough, he was indeed taken away by Mr. Song…
Lan He thought for a second and then used the fan to block his face.
“What are you doing?” asked Lao Bai.
“Just taking care of some business,” said Lan He unhappily.
He was forced to do this part-time job, but he didn’t want to spread the news to prevent himself troubles after the year was over.
In other words, even if Mr. Song hasn’t watched his plays before, he might have seen him in the village, and Cheng Haidong also knew him very well. If he saw him like this, he’d be even more frightened than he already was. Therefore, it was best to cover up.
Lao Bai chuckled. It was strange for him because all those part-timers in the Nether World were trying to get themselves as popular as possible, and Lan He was just the opposite.
Then he looked at Song Qinmin. After seeing their red lanterns, he had already hidden in the room.
Cheng Haidong let out a sigh of relief and sat on the floor. Then, he saw the ghosts floating towards him. Both were wearing tall hats, one wrote “Becoming Rich after Encountering”, and the other, “Since I’m Here Already”. There were chains in their hands and one of them was even covering his face.
Cheng Haidong was horrified, More ghosts!!!
But this ghosts’ hat seemed weird…
Cheng Haidong was brought here by the old man. Mr. Song said he invited him to drink tea, and he only realized where he was after he got here.
If a normal person saw an Impermanence, they would be seriously ill. Even souls would be shivering in fear when seeing them. Although Cheng Haidong didn’t know who they were, he was deeply afraid, as he sat against the wall with tears welling up in his eyes, “I don’t want to die…”
Especially the Impermanence with the words “Since I’m Here Already”. He was afraid that he was going to say, “Since I’m Here Already, we officials can’t return empty-handed, I’ll have to take you away.”
Fortunately, Lao Bai just said simply, “Your life isn’t over yet. I, Lord Bai, will you back to your body.”
Hearing this, Cheng Haidong was filled with joy, “Thank you, mister… Lord Bai.”
Seeing that the “Since I’m Here Already” ghost was just standing there without saying anything, he was extremely flustered. “Also, also thank you…”
“Lord Lan!” said Lao Bai.
Lan He didn’t even get to stop him. He shook his head under the fan at Lao Bai. You can’t tell him my name! You’re hinting at him…
Fortunately, Cheng Haidong didn’t think of his friend. He just showed a confused look and said to himself, “White… blue… Blue and White Impermanence? I only heard of Black and White Impermanence… Does the Nether World have a navy too?”2The MC’s name, Lan He, the Lan is written as (兰lán). The word blue is also pronounced Lan (蓝lán). On the other hand, the Bai in Lao Bai(白bái) is pronounced and written same way Bai(白bái) as in the color white. Cheng Haidong thought he met the real White Impermanence so he was actually trying to say Lord White, and that’s why he was confused when he heard Lan, he thought it was Lord Blue.
Translated by: UnderTheMoon
Edited by: Summit
- 1The Chinese characters on the White Impermanence’s hat is “一见生财”. The last character “财” means wealth or riches, but this ghost’s hat wrote “材”. “财” and “材” look similar and are pronounced the same in Chinese, however, the first means rich, and the other just means material.
- 2The MC’s name, Lan He, the Lan is written as (兰lán). The word blue is also pronounced Lan (蓝lán). On the other hand, the Bai in Lao Bai(白bái) is pronounced and written same way Bai(白bái) as in the color white. Cheng Haidong thought he met the real White Impermanence so he was actually trying to say Lord White, and that’s why he was confused when he heard Lan, he thought it was Lord Blue.