Unlike the desolate and bleak scenery Hao Yun had seen outside the city earlier, the City of Spirits bustled with activity. Various humanoid, animal-like, and hybrid creatures, whose forms even Hao Yun couldn't describe, bustled through the streets. Numerous shops lined the streets, with bustling crowds moving to and fro, giving the entire city a vibrant atmosphere.
"Welcome to the City of Spirits. How do you find it? Quite different from what you imagined, huh?" Judge Yan said proudly, observing Hao Yun's inexperienced demeanor.
"Let's go!" With Judge Yan's prompt, the carriage finally came to a halt in the center of a plaza.
"Where are we going?" Hao Yun asked, puzzled, as he followed Judge Yan out of the carriage, finding himself on an exceptionally spacious plaza. This was entirely different from the grand and majestic Underworld Palace Hao Yun had imagined Judge Yan would reside in.
Seeing Hao Yun's bewildered expression, Judge Yan casually pointed upward and said, "We're going there."
"Wow! This is incredible!" Hao Yun exclaimed, following Judge Yan's gesture and looking up.
The scenery in the City of Spirits was so futuristic that even the strange sights on the streets overwhelmed Hao Yun. Consequently, he completely missed the massive platform floating above the City of Spirits, upon which an imposing castle was constructed.
Around this vast floating platform, Hao Yun also saw the rare and exotic creatures hovering in the air. These divine beasts patrolled the sky in an orderly manner, appearing leisurely. However, Hao Yun knew these flying divine beasts were definitely not benign. In the face of an enemy, they would tear them to pieces in an instant.
Hao Yun noticed that many of the aerial creatures were half-mechanical and half-organic. For instance, the phoenix-like divine beast that had just swooped down towards Hao Yun and then soared into the clouds. Its entire body was composed of exposed mechanical skeletons, with the other parts covered in fiery red feathers. As the semi-mechanical beast soared through the sky, it emitted a faint flame, leaving behind a fiery trail in the sky, appearing extraordinarily beautiful.
"This... this is so cyberpunk!" Hao Yun couldn't help but exclaim as he watched the red divine beast soar freely in the sky, completely subverting his traditional perception of the Underworld.
As the phoenix-like semi-mechanical divine beast soared into the sky, emitting a sound full of electronic style, a dragon shrouded in black mist immediately ascended slowly from the platform in the sky. The dragon emitted a roar as it ascended, then wriggled its sinuous body and swiftly flew towards Hao Yun and the others.
The dragon emitted soft growls as it descended, as if greeting Judge Yan. Then, just as it was about to land, the dragon ascended once again. After deftly drawing a figure-eight pattern in the air with a body the size of a 16-carriage train, the dragon descended again, hovering beside the group at a height of only a foot above the ground.
After alighting from the carriage, Judge Yan regained his authoritative demeanor. With a single step, he crossed out, carrying Hao Yun and Dao Lao, onto the enormous metal platform on the dragon's back. Stepping on the mechanical platform beneath his feet, Hao Yun couldn't figure out what metal material it was made of.
Hao Yun noticed that the platform's surface was devoid of talismans, adorned with intricate patterns carved from dark wood in the details. These patterns, combined with the throne-shaped structure specially designed for Judge Yan on the platform, gave the relatively narrow platform on the dragon's back an air of mystery and elegance.
At Judge Yan's signal, when Hao Yun and Dao Lao had respectively settled into the mechanical, Chinese-style official chairs that rose from the platform's floor, a synthetic electronic sound suddenly emanated from somewhere unknown. "Welcome aboard the City of Spirits' Dragon Shuttle 001. Passengers are advised to adjust the seat back, fasten your seatbelt, and stow the small table. This flight is about to depart. We wish you a pleasant journey!"
Upon hearing this, Hao Yun instinctively searched for the seatbelt on the official chair, while muttering in confusion, "So, even riding a dragon requires a seatbelt? Aren't these divine beasts supposed to fly using mysterious spells? Shouldn't they be safe enough? Why the seatbelt? And where did it come from? And the small table? This seat back can't even be adjusted!"
Hastily, Judge Yan responded in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Ahem, never mind, never mind, Hao, my friend. I just wanted to add a bit of ceremonial flair. Nowadays, everything needs to have a sense of ceremony, right?! Haha, haha!"
Upon hearing Judge Yan's explanation, Hao Yun suddenly realized, "Could it be... Judge Yan, when you came to greet us outside the city in the carriage, was that also to add a sense of ceremony? Could we have just ridden this dragon from the beginning?"
Judge Yan nodded and said, "Ah, flying straight here would've been too dull, wouldn't it? It's more prestigious to arrive in a carriage. Besides, I happened to be passing by there after fetching the cake from the Southern Town of the City of Spirits. But between you and me, my friend, I actually prefer riding in carriages when I go out. Because riding in a carriage is a symbol of status!"
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Hao Yun wanted to scold Judge Yan loudly, "Doesn't riding this dragon also symbolize status? This is your exclusive mount! Moreover, riding a dragon is obviously more imposing and prestigious than riding in a carriage, isn't it?!"
Dao Lao, already accustomed to Judge Yan's flamboyant style, didn't want to linger and listen to Judge Yan's nonsense any longer. Leaning back in the official chair, Dao Lao impatiently waved his hand at Judge Yan, gesturing for him to command the dragon to fly back to the palace.
The dragon soon transported the three of them to the floating platform. The Judgment Hall built here was similar in style to the city below, with the only difference being the absence of the hustle and bustle of the main city. Additionally, the density of guards stationed here was significantly higher than in the main city below.
Hao Yun and Dao Lao followed Judge Yan into the Judgment Hall and proceeded to the main hall where Judge Yan usually conducted his affairs. At this moment, a beastman official, who had been waiting here for some time, clad in a deep brown robe with a green face and sharp teeth, immediately approached with a terrifying smile, saying, "Judge Yan, you're back."
"Hmm." Judge Yan hastily responded to the newcomer and hurriedly went inside to deliver the cake to his wife. The beastman official, with his imposing appearance and robust figure, seemed accustomed to Judge Yan's behavior and didn't bother to pay him much attention. Instead, he engaged Dao Lao in conversation.
"Haha, my old friend! It's been too long since we last met! How have you been? Any 'pleasant surprises' lately? I'm eager to hear all about it!" The beastman official greeted Dao Lao with a sly grin, clearly poking fun at Dao Lao's work. After all, Dao Lao's job involved tracking mold spirit energy, so theoretically, he could only encounter various unfortunate incidents during his pursuits.
"Get lost! All you ever do is talk nonsense!" Dao Lao retorted grumpily.
Then, Dao Lao pointed at Hao Yun and introduced him, saying, "This is Hao Yun, my new assistant. This old beastman is Judge Yan's assistant, the Grand Steward of the City of Spirits. He goes by the name of Guli Reba, but you can call him Master Gu."
Upon hearing this, Hao Yun quickly greeted Master Gu respectfully and said, "I'm Hao Yun. It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Gu. I look forward to your guidance in the future, and I'll be forever grateful."
Meanwhile, Hao Yun couldn't help but wonder, "Guli Reba, Guli Reba? Why does that name sound so familiar? Could it be..."
Suddenly, a realization struck him, and he cast a curious glance at Dao Lao, then at Master Gu.
Master Gu seemed to sense Hao Yun's curiosity and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, saying, "Haha! That's right, Hao, my friend. As you should know, in the world you come from, there are two incredibly popular female celebrities—Gulnazar and Dilraba."
Hao Yun nodded, acknowledging that in his world, Gulnazar and Dilraba were indeed top-tier actresses. In his world, these two super beauties were widely known and recognized, even by someone like him who wasn't particularly interested in celebrities.
"Could it be that your name is..." Hao Yun began, somewhat incredulously.
"Hahaha! You got it! To be honest, I'm a devoted fan of those two ladies! So, without their permission, I took the liberty of using their names to create a stage name for myself, one that's both catchy and memorable. It's embarrassing to admit, but I couldn't resist! Hahaha!" Master Gu explained, covering his face with both hands, as if feeling shy.
"I knew your name sounded familiar! So, you actually combined their names to create your own?" Hao Yun exclaimed in amazement, feeling thoroughly bewildered.
At this point, Judge Yan, who had returned to the main hall, overheard the conversation between Master Gu and Hao Yun. He couldn't help but tease, "This old fellow here, he's completely smitten with those two girls! He's always talking about how great they are, pestering me to let him adopt a stage name to express his admiration for them. Well, I couldn't stop him. Besides, his original name was just too long and annoying to say every day. So, I approved his use of a stage name for work!"
Listening to Judge Yan's explanation, Hao Yun couldn't help but twitch his mouth a few times. A beastman from the Underworld, with a green face and sharp teeth, the distinguished Grand Steward of the City of Spirits, turned out to be a devoted fan of two human female celebrities? And that's not all. Just for the sake of idolizing these stars, he even created a stage name by combining the names of two highly popular actresses? And he got approval from Judge Yan, the highest-ranking executive in the City of Spirits? This... this is just too surreal!
With these thoughts in mind, Hao Yun subtly shifted his position to maintain a certain distance from the three old fellows in front of him. At this moment, Hao Yun was starting to regret listening to Dao Lao and following him to the Underworld. These three people were just so unreliable! How could the three officials of the Divine Spirit Realm be so clueless?
Noticing Hao Yun's strange gaze directed at them, Judge Yan quickly changed the subject, saying, "Ahem, well, let's not dwell on that. Let's focus on the task at hand!"
Since Judge Yan had been busy with other matters recently, Dao Lao hadn't contacted him before coming to the Underworld. Instead, he had contacted the previous-life management center of the Underworld directly with the help of Master Gu. Therefore, Judge Yan only knew that Dao Lao was coming to see him but was unaware of the matter concerning the ghost doll. As a result, Dao Lao had to recount the incident of the ghost doll causing trouble for the souls in the mortal realm once again.
After getting a rough understanding of the situation regarding the ghost doll, Judge Yan nodded and turned to Master Gu, asking, "So, what did the previous-life management center find out?"
"They found something," Master Gu replied.
At the same time, Master Gu stepped forward and made a gesture with his hand, and a huge holographic screen appeared in front of the four of them.
The screen quickly displayed the basic information about the ghost doll provided by the previous-life management center: Ghost Doll Code Number—HP-CN-31415926; Gender—Male; Temporal Line Affiliation—Thirteenth Realm of the Divine Spirit Realm, Underworld Earth, N31 Temporal Line; Previous Life Name—Liu Erwa; Age at Death—One year and three months; Background Overview—Son of a wartime hero, killed by invaders, and so on.