novelraw Chapter 210 Naming? Let's call him Ah Gou!
Chapter 210 Naming? Let's call him Ah Gou!
Chapter 210 Naming? Let's call him Ah Gou!
The man wasn't afraid of death, but he felt that if he died so meaninglessly, the person in front of him would be at a disadvantage.
"Although you were the one who suggested that I serve you like a slave, it can be considered compensation from the underworld. If I die like this, your compensation will be gone. If you think about it, you're the one who's at a loss."
Gu Tang remained unmoved: "Loss? I don't think it's a loss! Your death would be more satisfying for me than your life!"
"If I die, my soul will return to the underworld. Will that make you feel better?" The man was stunned. No wonder this person was so angry. It turned out that he was angry that the man had come to the human world from the underworld.
"Fine, I'll listen to you and go back to wait for my death."
"Wait a minute!" Gu Tang understood the meaning behind his words and called out incredulously to the person who was about to turn and leave.
"Shouldn't your soul be annihilated after death? Why is your soul returning to the underworld?!"
The man was even more incredulous than she was: "I am not a heinous demon. I was just possessed by a soul from another world and accidentally took the wrong soul."
I only made seven mistakes in total. The other six have all been reborn as compensation, and you're the only one still harboring resentment.
It was his fault for taking the wrong soul. He apologized and made compensation. Surely it's not enough to make his soul vanish?
These words made Gu Tang feel uneasy: "After returning to the underworld, will you still be your soul-reaping messenger?"
"I'm not doing it anymore..."
Gu Tang felt a sense of relief and his face lit up with joy. "Empress Houtu is wise! He should have been dismissed from his post long ago!"
Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived, as the man gasped for breath and uttered the second half of his sentence.
"When I came here, I received the document to assume the position of 'Judge of the Inspectorate.' After you pass away in this world, I will return to the underworld to take up my post."
Gu Tang: "…………"
Feeling wronged and angry surged into my brain at the same time!
She grabbed the kettle from the table and threw it at the person: "This is outrageous!!! You blind bastard, you did something wrong, why doesn't the underworld kick you out? Why did they promote you!!!"
Gu Tang had spent some time in the underworld, and although she didn't know much about the various positions there, she still made a point of inquiring about the leadership.
At the time, she thought that if she couldn't be resurrected by possessing another body, she might as well stay in the underworld and become a ghost messenger.
The position of Judge of the Investigation Division is one of the four judges of the underworld, a powerful figure with real authority!
How could such a position be given to such a stupid and blind person?!
No justice!
This is outrageous!
The man easily caught the water jug that was thrown at him and looked at Gu Tang cautiously: "The underworld is short-handed and won't easily let the ghost messengers go... Don't be angry, don't be angry. If you really don't want to keep me by your side, then I'll go back and wait to die."
The resentment was so intense it was almost tangible!
After she dies, she will transform into a ghost king on the spot!
Hearing this, Gu Tang was still furious, looking at him with a sinister gaze: "Go back and wait to die? Wait until your soul returns to the underworld so you can become your judge in the Investigation Department?!"
The man nodded very honestly: "If there are no mistakes, then that's how it is."
No errors? Great! But now there's an error!
Gu Tang took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down: "Didn't you ask me to take the mother talisman? Then I'll take it."
Want to go back to the underworld and become an official?
Bah! Don't even think about it!
First, use the mother talisman to keep him there, and then slowly look for some monks and Taoists to see if they can suppress his soul.
Haha! You'll never be able to go back to the underworld!
The man didn't know why she had changed her mind again, but for him, staying was the best option.
After all, it wasn't easy for him to come to the human world after expending so much merit. If he were to go back like this, all that merit would be wasted.
The man approached Gu Tang, still completely unguarded, exposing his left chest so that Gu Tang could smear his blood onto the purple talisman.
Looking at the chest so close to his face, Gu Tang stared intently at the wound that had just been inflicted.
The skin and flesh were turned outwards and blood was still seeping out. If another knife were stabbed into the heart at this point, the person would basically be dead.
Unfortunately, I don't plan to do that right now.
Gu Tang suppressed her anger, cut her finger with a dagger, and smeared her blood on the purple talisman on his chest.
The blood-stained purple talisman quickly split in two; one remained on the man's chest, while the other floated in mid-air, absorbing Gu Tang's blood.
The next instant, the purple talisman left on the man's chest "spit out" a drop of blood. The purple talisman, floating in mid-air, quickly enveloped the drop of blood and then flew towards Gu Tang with it.
Gu Tang was startled. Before she could react, the purple talisman, wrapped in blood droplets, pierced through her clothes and landed directly on her left chest.
She didn't know what was under her clothes, but she could feel a burning sensation on her left chest, followed by an image of a small figure bound by purple rope in her mind.
"Is there a little person in my head who's been tied up with rope?" Gu Tang was very puzzled. What was going on?
The man calmly replied, "That little person is me. Hold your breath and concentrate. When I disobey your will and disobey your commands, you can control the ropes on the little person to punish me."
Gu Tang's eyes lit up, and he immediately closed them to try to manipulate the ropes on the little man, intending to teach him a lesson.
The man noticed something amiss and felt a little uncomfortable, but not in pain. He looked at Gu Tang and asked, "Are you using the ropes on me to punish me?"
“That’s right!” Gu Tang readily admitted it, grinning with a malicious expression.
The man was somewhat surprised: "Didn't I just say that if I disobey your wishes and disobey your orders, you can use the ropes on the little man to punish me? I haven't done anything right now, so the purple talisman won't be unable to distinguish right from wrong."
Gu Tang was stunned. So this was a talisman with principles after all?
Undeterred, she tried again, but the man still didn't change his expression.
In the end, he could only give up on the matter with a grim expression.
"Put your clothes on and get back to fixing the door!"
The man smashed her room door, and she had to fix it herself.
The man glanced at the broken door and immediately shook his head: "I don't know how to fix it."
Gu Tang picked at his ear: "What did you say?"
I said I couldn't.
"The first thing he did for me was to fix my room door!"
The man paused, then changed his mind and said, "Then I'll go learn the cultivation method first, and then come back to practice after I've learned it?"
Gu Tang, intentionally trying to make things difficult for him, nodded: "Okay."
The man dressed and planned to go out to find someone who knew how to repair doors to learn how to do so.
Having completely calmed down, Gu Tang kept scrutinizing him, and belatedly recognized him as the black-clad man with light-footed skills who had snatched the Backflow Incense from Ma Da's hand yesterday and placed it on the Changqing Gate.
Remembering how he had talked about becoming her apprentice in front of her father yesterday, and how he had said he would treat her like his own father, Gu Tang's face turned green!
She stopped the man who was about to leave and questioned him, "Why did you put the incense on Changqing Gate yesterday? Have you ever seen incense flowing backwards?"
Mentioning that incident, the man also recalled the rare and wondrous sight he had witnessed yesterday: "So that incense is called 'backflow incense'? I've never seen it before. We met outside the crowd earlier; I recognized you then, but you didn't recognize me."
Later, you and your father went to the alley and watched the play from the wall. From your conversation, I learned that you were the one who put on that big show yesterday.
You said you wanted to put the incense on the Changqing Gate, and after hearing that, I did as you said and put the incense on the Changqing Gate.
It was a bit unexpected for Gu Tang to be found out that she was the mastermind behind yesterday's events. Fortunately, the Mother Talisman controlled this person, so she wasn't afraid of him betraying her.
But things have come to this point, and they're all in the same boat now; they can't just keep hating each other.
Hatred will not only fail to quell her resentment, but will also blind her and cause her to lose her accurate judgment.
Letting out a long breath, Gu Tang decided to temporarily set aside her prejudices and reassess this person.
"We've known each other for two lifetimes, and we're both reincarnated, so why don't we each tell you about our current skills and strengths? You go first!"
These words were very firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
Fortunately, the man didn't care about any of that; he did whatever he was asked to do.
"This body was given to me by Houtu. I don't know its origin or name. After I came to the mortal world, all my magic disappeared, and I only retained two skills: martial arts and object perception."
What is object perception?
"Feel whether the object comes from the local area or another time and space."
"What's your current level of martial arts? Are you capable of fighting? If so, how many could you take on by yourself?"
"I don't know what level they are at. I haven't met any experts, but I can beat dozens of bandits."
"bandit?"
The man nodded: "When I first arrived in the human world, I wanted to hire someone to help me find you, but I didn't have a single copper coin, so I robbed a nearby bandit camp..."
A bandit's den! How much silver must there be in there?
Gu Tang, who loved money, quickly asked him, "How much did you rob? Are there tons of silver lying around in bandit dens?"
"There wasn't much silver. The bandits here are all very poor. They searched the whole mountain and only found about fifty taels of silver. They had already spent all the silver on their way here."
I know you are the master and I am the servant. A servant needs to regularly bring wealth to his master. I had already planned this before I came. After we recognize each other, I'll go find a few more bandit dens and rob them all, so you won't lack money.
Hmm, that sounds more like human speech.
Gu Tang raised her chin: "My name is Gu Tang, what's your name?"
The man paused for a moment: "The names used in the underworld are bestowed by Houtu and carry the power of the netherworld. They are not suitable for use in the human world. So, in essence, I am now nameless and without a surname."
"Then you can choose one yourself. You'll need a name to be called from now on."
"According to the contract, the servant's name should be chosen by the master."
Gu Tang glanced at him, wondering if she could name him herself?
Okay! If you dare to say it, she dares to accept it!
"Since you're a servant, there's no need for a proper name. I'll just call you Dog!"
"...Ah Gou?" The man was somewhat taken aback.
"A lowly life is easy to sustain! You're my only precious servant, so I'm hoping you live to be a hundred years old so you can do all the work for me!"
Is that so?
The man—no, Ah Gou—looked incredulous.
"By the way, do you know what the rules are for being a servant?"
"Servant's code?" Ah Gou looked confused. "I don't know."
Gu Tang smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't know. I'll write down the rules, and you can try to memorize them. From now on, we'll follow these rules. There's no reward for doing things right, but there must be punishment for doing things wrong! No objections?"
Ah Gou had an opinion, but when he met Gu Tang's gaze, he couldn't utter a single word of it.
After a brief standoff, he conceded: "No objection."
But it was during this brief stalemate that Gu Tang seized an opportunity: "One of the rules for servants is that when your master asks you a question, you must always answer in accordance with your master's wishes!"
Your brain should be used to think about how to better serve your master, make your master happier, and solve your master's problems, not to think about confronting your master or whether you should speak up if you have any opinions!
How could a servant have any objections? A servant's only duty before his master is obedience! Obedience! Obedience!
If the master says the empty table in front of him is filled with delicacies, the servant should say so and quickly fill the master's empty table with delicacies! Do you understand what I mean?
Ah Gou was shocked, Ah Gou was speechless.
"This is my first time serving someone else, I don't really understand these things, is that right?"
"Coincidentally, I'm often the host of other people's shows, so I know a lot about these things. That's right, that's exactly it. So, let's do it again!"
Gu Tang smiled and said, "I'll write down the rules, and you should try to memorize them. From now on, we'll follow these rules. There's no reward for doing things right, but there must be punishment for doing things wrong! No objections?"
These were the words she had just spoken, but Ah Gou, the servant, hesitated.
Now let's do it again, with the same tone, the same questions, the same smile, and the same Ah Gou.
Will you still hesitate?
Ah Gou might have been in the underworld for too long and become a bit dull, but fortunately he's not stupid.
Trying it again is a reminder that if his answer doesn't fall for the trap this time, he'll face punishment.
Therefore, the instant Gu Tang finished speaking, Ah Gou's voice rang out: "No objection!"
After saying that, he stole a glance at Gu Tang, wondering if she was satisfied now.
Gu Tang neither expressed satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, his expression remaining unchanged: "Remember, you are a servant. Doing things right is your duty, it is what you are supposed to do. But if you do something wrong, that is your fault, your mistake."
Ah Gou was in a daze. Is that so?
"See the mess in this house? Clean it up. After dawn, find a carpenter to repair the door. After that, keep a close eye on the backflow incense. If there are any changes, come back and tell me."
Ah Gou replied instinctively, "Yes," without the slightest hesitation.
However, Gu Tang could still find fault: "A good servant will think of all aspects of these matters before the master speaks and complete them quickly, instead of presenting these messes directly to the master."
Ah Gou felt a little dizzy, so he didn't do it right again?
After hitting him with the stick, Gu Tang gave him a sweet treat, pulling out a string of copper coins from her clothes and handing it to him.
"After cleaning the house, when you go to the street to find a carpenter, don't forget to buy a decent set of clothes, and then go to the bathhouse to take a bath."
Ah Gou happily accepted it, but before the coins could even warm up, Gu Tang started to suppress him again.
“Servants are the face of their masters. Your first mistake is dressing like this today. Your second mistake is forcing your way into the inner courtyard by relying on your own lightness skill.”
Waking the master before dawn is the third mistake. Breaking the master's door is the fourth mistake. You'll be punished after you've finished your business!
I'll fix the typos this afternoon.