The entire Ming Lou was left with only the three of us.
We went up to the third floor, but didn't leave immediately. Instead, we went to the room with the altar.
There were some things that needed to be taken back.
Like that "black incense".
The incense had already extinguished, leaving only a very short stub.
I picked it up and put it away. This incense's origin was unknown, and it was likely not something good.
With the incense secured, the only remaining items were a spirit tablet shattered by Old Mo, and a pile of grey paper figures.
Seeing no more valuable items, we continued downstairs.
On the second floor, the gamblers who had come here were still in a deep slumber.
We didn't wake them up.
When they woke up and saw the real situation around them, they should learn a lesson.
Upon reaching the first floor, Old Mo asked me,
"Old Qin, what should we do with these ghosts in the bag?"
My first reaction was to chop them all up, leaving none behind.
After all, they were ghosts from the Ming Lou, in league with that old ghost Pu Sui.
But upon calming down, I noticed a problem.
That was, among these ghosts, could there be people like Wu Jing in their past lives?
Because they signed a life-debt IOU, and unknowingly lost their lives.
Their lives were directly taken by these ghosts.
Forced to become ghost slaves here?
Moreover, all these ghosts lacked any malevolent or fierce aura; they were, frankly speaking, ordinary ghosts.
If over a hundred of them were killed indiscriminately.
If there happened to be someone like I described among them, it could lead to a wrongful killing.
That would incur karmic debt.
This "karma" might sound ethereal, but it truly exists.
Once burdened with too much, it becomes karmic debt, which can be fatal.
It's best to avoid it if possible, and if one can steer clear, then by all means.
But how can we distinguish.
Which ghosts are in the situation I'm thinking of, forced to remain here.
And which ghosts are willing ghost slaves of Pu Sui, willingly harming people here?
Seeing that I didn't speak immediately, Old Mo spoke again,
"Old Qin, are you thinking.
That the ghosts in here might have been killed and forced to remain here as wronged spirits?"
It seemed Old Mo and I had the same thought.
I gave a "Mm":
"Yes, if there are wronged spirits among them who were killed.
Then it becomes difficult for us to distinguish.
We can neither release them nor kill them.
Wrongfully killing good ghosts incurs karmic debt, which is quite troublesome.
If we send them away, and there are any ghosts with ill intentions among them.
They might appear to agree, then escape halfway through our sending them, which would also be tricky.
And forcefully sending over a hundred ghosts at once is beyond our current capabilities."
I also expressed my thoughts.
Because this time, it was different from the ghosts we saw burned to death in the cinema.
Apart from one malevolent ghost, all the others were good ghosts and had never harmed anyone.
As long as we noted down their names and wrote a plea on a charm, they would follow the soul-guiding incense downwards.
But the ghosts here were different.
Among so many ghosts, there were good and bad ones, making them hard to distinguish.
If a malevolent ghost were mixed in, and it escaped halfway, we wouldn't be able to catch up.
Therefore, we couldn't use the same method to send them.
And our current cultivation level was insufficient to forcefully send them away…
Although my master said to be ruthless towards ghosts.
My master also said that people are divided into good and evil, and ghosts have their merits and faults.
My bottom line as a Daoist priest is to guide good ghosts.
Like the冥车 driver elder brother, although he became a wandering soul, he worked tirelessly after his death for his family.
And he didn't harm anyone.
Good ghosts like him should be guided and sent away if possible.
But malevolent ghosts must never be let off, lest they harm others.
Old Mo nodded after I finished speaking,
"It is indeed troublesome.
Four or five ghosts would be fine.
We could set up an altar for forceful sending.
Regardless of good or bad, once they go below.
The Judge in the underworld will investigate their records in the Book of Life and Death and deal with them accordingly.
But here there are over a hundred ghosts, and they don't have Yin Sha energy on them.
Judging by the situation just now, it's indeed difficult to distinguish them.
If we were to forcefully send them, with our current cultivation.
It would take a month to send them all, and my head hurts!"
Old Mo replied with a frown.
But Old Mo's remark gave me an idea.
That's right!
We don't know, but the Judge below knows!
We can't forcefully send them, but we can ask others to send them!
"With your words, Old Mo, I know what to do!"
"Oh? You know what to do?
You're not going to ask my master to send them, are you?
Even with over a hundred ghosts, it would take him three days and three nights to send them all!"
Old Mo looked at me in surprise.
I shook my head,
"No, I am a Yang Envoy.
I possess the Yin Yang Envoy Talisman, holding a semi-official position in the underworld.
My master told me before.
People like us, even with only a semi-official position.
We don't need to evade ghost messengers.
We can't forcefully send these ghosts down, but if we can summon Yin Envoys.
Wouldn't it be a simple matter for them to escort a hundred or so ghosts to the underworld?
Then, the Judge will review them and distinguish who is good and who is bad.
We won't have to worry about who is good or bad, who should be killed, and who should be released…"
I said excitedly.
Old Mo's eyes widened in shock upon hearing this,
"Holy crap!
Is it that awesome?
Can people in our line of work summon Yin Envoys?
Why haven't my master ever mentioned this?"
I smiled,
"We can't summon them, of course. We're not important figures.
But we can invite them!
Every region has people dying every day.
I've heard Yin Envoys ringing bells to summon souls twice outside the hospital.
I've even seen Black and White Impermanence.
This means Yin Envoys appear frequently.
We are all from the Bai School of Daoism.
With my semi-official position in the underworld, I'm at least a contract worker, an auxiliary personnel, right?
If we light incense and set up memorial tablets for the Yin Envoys.
We can definitely invite official Yin Envoys.
Then, we can hand over these souls, explain the situation.
Not only do we save trouble.
But we also increase their performance, and even broaden their horizons, gaining more experience.
To put it on a larger scale, my master is also employed in the underworld!
Why wouldn't we do it?"
Old Mo listened to my explanation and became very excited.
He not only felt that the method was feasible, but more so, he found it interesting.
Although I had seen Black and White Impermanence, Old Mo hadn't seen any ghost messengers yet.
He suddenly slapped his thigh,
"You're right!
Let's do it this way. It's still early.
Let's hurry back, buy some offerings and stuff.
We can get this done tonight.
I also want to open my eyes and see the Yin Envoys…"