“One tael per day. What do you think, miss?” Di Yao calculated in her mind and was quite satisfied.
“Very satisfied!” Heaven never seals off all exits. Di Yao was about to cheerfully accept Meng Po's offer when a sudden idea struck her.
“Granny, wait for me a moment. I'm going to find Judge Cui and see if I can convert the grain I owe into silver.”
In the mortal world, exchanging money for grain and grain for money was perfectly normal. Why couldn't she convert the debt?
Following the guiding butterfly conjured by Meng Po, Di Yao found the Yinlv Division where Cui Jue worked. She was only let in after Cui Jue had some free time.
Cui Jue, still in his red robe, sat at the head, leisurely polishing his Soul-Hooking Brush.
As soon as he saw Di Yao, he raised the brush and drew a line in the air. A golden thread trailed from the tip, and moments later, Di Yao's name and her residence in Wrongful Death City appeared in midair.
“Miss Di Yao, what brings you here?”
Thinking of how Cui Jue had deliberately teased her with the food registry, Di Yao spoke bluntly without holding back.
“Judge Cui, why didn't you tell me earlier that there's no food here? Is tricking people really that amusing?”
His casual words had given her hope, but he didn't know how much it hurt when she learned the truth.
Behind Di Yao's impulsive outburst was her ignorance of the Underworld's hierarchy. She didn't know that among the Reincarnation Division, Judgment Division, and Infernal Division under the King of Hell, the Judgment Division held the most power. And the Judgment Division was further divided into the Good Reward Department, Evil Punishment Department, Investigation Department, and the Yinlv Division, with the latter being the chief.
The Yinlv Division managed all the registers of life and death in the mortal world, controlling everyone's fixed lifespan and food allotment. Nothing could change them except the Mandate of Heaven or the Soul-Hooking Brush. Cui Jue was the head of the Yinlv Division, dealing with the text in the registers all day. He rarely went out except for duty, and as a result, his temper had grown increasingly eccentric.
And Di Yao had the nerve to come straight in and blame him. Of course, Cui Jue was angry.
“Trick?” Cui Jue stopped his polishing. He placed both hands on the desk and stood up. “If Benjun remembers correctly, miss, that day you only asked if there was a way to reincarnate early—not whether it was feasible in the Underworld. Benjun just told you the truth. How is that tricking you?”
Di Yao clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. “Then it's not trickery. I misunderstood you, Lord Judge. I apologize for that. But I also heard that if someone's lifespan hasn't ended, you can still send them back to the mortal world?”
Cui Jue understood what she meant. Seeing that she could bend and stretch, he didn't want to deliberately make things difficult for her. He curled his lips and shrugged. “Sorry, I can't. Since you already know about the old system, didn't anyone tell you that seventy years ago, the Ghost Emperor changed the rules? Anyone who enters the Underworld cannot return to their previous life. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for dying at the wrong time.”
“That's not...” Di Yao started but was cut off.
“Fair? It's indeed unfair. But you can go find the Yinsi Guidi, the Ghost Emperor of the Underworld. Go see if he'll grant you fairness or reduce you to ashes. Not all divine officials have the patience to listen to a little ghost's boring nonsense like Benjun does.”
Di Yao didn't know any Yinsi Guidi. She brought it up just to take a chance, never expecting Cui Jue to help her.
Even though she disliked Cui Jue's sarcastic tone, she knew that if he hadn't thrown her out for her insolent words, it meant he didn't really want to make things hard for her.
So she went along with his words, flattering him with phrases like “deeply understanding” and “fair and incorruptible.”
When Cui Jue's tone softened, she appealed to his reason and emotion, naturally proposing her request to exchange grain for money.
But it was flatly rejected on the grounds that “the Underworld has its own rules.”
She had wasted a lot of breath, but in the end, she was still lost and uncertain about the path ahead.
When she returned to Naihe Bridge, it was already dark. Di Yao helped Meng Po clean up the stall and then poured out her grievances.
Meng Po handed Di Yao a bowl of her own soup. “Maybe have another drink? Forget all this. It's late now. You can stay at my place for the night and go back tomorrow.”
Di Yao put down the Meng Po Soup and shook her head like a rattle-drum. “No, Granny. My husband is waiting for me at home.”
Meng Po gave Di Yao an unreadable look, then drank the soup herself.