Chapter 2: Judging the Injustice

Taking into account the host body’s strength, in the state of divine possession, the Yanluo Judge Bao Zhen power obtained was two percent, lasting for one quarter of an hour.

A mysterious force appeared within his body.

Damn... am I really this weak? I only got two percent of Yanluo Bao Zhen’s divine power.

Yet after a brief thought, Yang Xuan could understand it.

Yanluo Bao Zhen was a righteous deity of the underworld, and his standing there was extremely lofty.

Whereas Yang Xuan was nothing more than an ordinary mortal.

To obtain two percent of divine power was already quite impressive.

With Bao Zhen’s divine power possessing him, Yang Xuan’s mind was filled with much of the stern majesty Bao Zhen had when judging corrupt officials and wicked or ferocious ghosts.

At this moment, he seemed like Bao Zhen come to life.

A powerful aura radiated from him, and the pale crescent moon outlined on his forehead shone with a faint glow.

With Bao Zhen’s divine power possessed by him, Yang Xuan felt emboldened and no longer feared the ghosts listening to the performance.

With a shift of thought, he intended to continue singing the play.

Once a play begins, unless an unexpected incident occurs, it must be carried through to the end. From all directions came the listeners: humans from one side, ghosts from three, and deities from four.

“Ih-yi-ah-ah.”

The ghosts who had been listening to the performance, sensing the powerful force from Yang Xuan that made their spirits tremble, all dropped to their knees.

The assembled ghosts bowed and kowtowed toward Yang Xuan.

“Greetings, Lord Bao!”

“Greetings, Lord Bao!”

“Lord Bao, we have been wronged!”

“Please, Lord Bao, redress our grievances!”

Though Yang Xuan now possessed only two percent of Yanluo Bao Zhen’s ability, in the eyes of these ghosts, he was like a god.

Yanluo Bao Zhen... terrifying beyond measure!

At the same time, at the edge of the square, two young women walked over.

Both were quite pretty. One of them held a phone on a selfie stick, and the phone was filming the scene here.

“Darlings, send some gifts, will you? Jiao Jiao and I came here in the middle of the night to livestream this ghost opera for you. We’ve made a huge sacrifice for this. The old people in our village always said that living people must never listen to a ghost opera, or you’ll easily run into ghosts.”

The girl with a doll-like face and slightly curly long hair spoke to the camera.

Her name was Yu Mengjia, and she was from this village.

These past few days marked the once-in-ten-years village ritual, and most of the people from the village who worked elsewhere had returned.

So she had come back too.

She was a singing streamer, and the beauty beside her, called Jiao Jiao, was also a singing streamer.

The two of them were livestreaming on the Yazi platform.

They were fairly well-known small-time streamers.

“This troupe has quite a crowd, actually. So many people are singing.”

Yu Mengjia looked at the many figures kneeling facing the stage, then said to the camera.

“Dreamy, these people in the troupe are way too unprofessional, aren’t they? Some are wearing ancient clothes, some modern clothes, and their looks—honestly, I’m dying of laughter. What even is this?”

The beauty named Jiao Jiao, with long shawl-like hair and a lovely oval face, could not help laughing.

These kneeling people kept calling out to the stage, one after another, addressing someone as lord. Their clothes and appearance seemed far too exaggerated to the two women.

Not only were the outfits bizarre, but some of their makeup was downright frightening—bloody and gruesome, eyes falling out, tongues hanging loose, and some even looking as though their heads had been separated from their bodies.

They knew this was a ghost opera, so they were not afraid.

Even though it was already past two in the morning, with so many people around, what was there to fear?

In the livestream chat:

Holy crap, Dreamy, Jiao Jiao, you two are insanely brave, coming here to livestream a ghost opera. Watch out for ghosts.

So this is a ghost opera? Just looking at it through the screen gives me the creeps.

This troupe really does have a lot of people. So many performers.

The clothes they’re wearing are way too funny. Looks like styles from several different dynasties, and those looks—some have tongues out, some are missing half their heads, some have one arm hanging loose, and some have their heads and bodies completely separated.

For those who know, it’s acting; for those who don’t, they’d think it was a night parade of a hundred ghosts.

This troupe’s costume and makeup department is better than most production crews. That’s what professional means—you just don’t get it. I heard that when performing a ghost opera, the actors dress up as ghosts and monsters, so in a sense the play is being sung for ghosts to hear.

The chat was lively.

Livestreaming a troupe’s performance was already rare enough.

Livestreaming a ghost opera was rare and thrilling at the same time.

Now that they saw the troupe’s performers in such professional attire, many viewers felt their scalps tingle through the screen and called it expert-level stuff.

Some viewers who loved unusual spectacles especially enjoyed this kind of adrenaline.

Seeing the gifts keep rolling in made Yu Mengjia very happy.

“We’re doing this to bring everyone an exciting show, so please support us more.”

“Thanks to Big Fly Bro for the rocket.”

“Thanks to Monk Use Rejoice for the rocket.”

Yu Mengjia said softly to the camera.

Since others were singing the ghost opera, it would be rude to disturb them.

On the stage, Yang Xuan looked like Bao Zhen alive in the flesh.

Hearing the ghosts crying out for justice, and with divine power possessing him now, as if Bao Zhen himself had come upon a grievance, the performance naturally could not continue.

“What grievance do you have? Speak at once!”

Yang Xuan said coldly.

The female livestreamers.

With Bao Zhen’s divine power possessing him, Yang Xuan naturally noticed the two female streamers who were broadcasting live. Their courage was truly outrageous.

Didn’t they see that several of the musicians in the troupe had been frightened so badly that they dropped their instruments and fled backstage?

With divine power and the system’s transformation, Yang Xuan’s body had become extraordinary.

All of his functions had been greatly enhanced.

Though the two streamers were at quite a distance, he could hear everything they were saying clearly. Yet he had no time to pay attention to them.

“We have been wronged. Please, Lord Bao, do us justice.”

An old ghost with white hair knelt before Yang Xuan and hurriedly kowtowed.

The other ghosts also kowtowed repeatedly, saying, “We have been wronged. Please, Lord Bao, do us justice.”

“Silence!”

Yang Xuan gave a cold shout, like a thunderclap, causing all the ghosts to fall silent in fear. The vast square became utterly still.

Even the two female streamers were startled by his voice and grew a little tense, not daring to speak.

“Where does this grievance come from?”

Yang Xuan pointed at the white-haired old ghost and, adopting the measured tone used in Bao Zhen’s operatic performances, asked.

“Reporting to you, my lord: our souls dwell in our ancestral land. We have always been obedient and well-behaved, never daring to disturb our descendants, and we have certainly never done evil by feeding on human vitality. But several years ago, a vicious ghost came to our ancestral land, killed several of our clan members, and threatened us into paying a fixed amount of yin essence every month, or else it would grind us to dust and scatter our bones to the wind, bringing harm to our descendants.”

“That evil ghost has killed many people and carries a heavy aura of blood and slaughter.”

The white-haired old ghost spoke while bowing repeatedly.

From the system’s explanation, Yang Xuan understood what had happened. Under normal circumstances, after death, ghosts do not dare approach the living.

Humans carry yang energy, while ghosts carry yin energy. For weaker ghosts, human yang energy can harm them.

Of course, some powerful ghosts can absorb the yang energy from humans and thereby become stronger.

For ghosts, the more yin essence they have, the stronger they become.

Hearing the white-haired old ghost’s words, a righteous and imposing spirit surged within Yang Xuan.

“Zhan Huwei, Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, where are you?”

Since he now had Bao Zhen’s divine power possessed upon him,

then today he would judge this case!

At Yang Xuan’s loud call, figures appeared on both sides of him.

Among them, the man in the lead was handsome, clad in white robes, holding a long sword, and bearing a lofty and imposing air. He was none other than Zhan Zhao, one of Bao Zhen’s guards, known as the Imperial Cat.

As for the other four men in soldier’s attire, they were Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, and Zhao Hu.

According to the system, with Yang Xuan’s current strength, Zhan Zhao’s power had reached that of a one-star ghost king.

As for Wang Chao, Ma Han, and the others, each had reached the level of ghost general, with Wang Chao the strongest, at five-star ghost general rank.

For these ghost soldiers and spirits, the hierarchy of power was ghost soldier, ghost general, ghost king, and ghost emperor.

Each realm was divided into five stars.

The five-star level was the strongest.

Zhan Zhao and the others were more powerful than this.

But because Yang Xuan himself was weak, their strength was also limited.

“Bring the evil ghost here at once.”

Yang Xuan said coldly.

“Yes, my lord!”

Several ghost soldiers, along with several ghosts, vanished from the stage...

The two female streamers, along with the viewers before the screen, were instantly stunned.