A week passed. Under Huohuo's guidance, Bai Sheng also came to understand the enormous Ten Lords Bureau.
To be honest, there were still many rules in a place like this. The Judges had to handle all sorts of problems, and Xianzhou Luofu's Ten Lords Bureau had four Judges in total.
The Judges of the Ten Lords Bureau had all undergone systematic training and had to gain experience in every kind of duty. However, when it came to actual assignments, their responsibilities were still divided into the four departments of "Arrest," "Restraint," "Punishment," and "Interrogation."
Xueyi, whom Bai Sheng had met before, was a Judge of the "Arrest" Department. Carrying iron chains and demon-breaking awls, she tirelessly searched for serious criminals, hooked and subdued them. She used the body of an artificed puppet to "return to life" and fulfill her mission.
Simply put, she was responsible for capturing fugitives.
Hanya was a Judge of the "Interrogation" Department. Ordered by the Ten Lords, she wielded the Nether Prophecy Heavenly Brush, read the various forms of sin, and issued judgments and punishments. She had once drunk Oblivion River Wine, using dream divination to study the turbulent currents of Xianzhou Persons' karmic ties and retribution, and to predict when mara would emerge.
In terms Xianzhou Persons could understand, she was basically a humanoid radar, responsible for detecting mara-struck and then handing them over to the "Arrest" Department.
As for Huohuo, she was a Judge of the "Restraint" Department, leading souls and spirits while subduing evil and transforming misfortune into good fortune. With banners and dancing spirit talismans, she searched for a path home for lost souls.
She was responsible for guiding the souls of Xianzhou Persons who had fallen victim to mara out, so she and Bai Sheng were practically a perfect professional match. For now, however, Huohuo only needed to manage and maintain the demon-exorcising tools. As for the rest, she would have to wait until Huohuo matured a little more before handing it over to her. At present, she was still only a Trainee Judge—in other words, she was on probation.
There was no helping it. This Little Fox Person had risen through the ranks too quickly, so this also served to rein in her prominence and prevent malicious people from plotting against her.
Bai Sheng had not met the Judge of the "Punishment" Department yet. Xueyi said he had been sent away and would not return for the next few decades.
(PS: Actually, I'm just afraid of getting stabbed in the back and too lazy to write this person. Hehe??·??·????)
"Ugh, this is so boring!"
Huohuo sat in a chair, swinging her legs. Hanya had gone to handle a mara-struck case, while Xueyi had recently tracked down a group of Abundance's beasts. Changyou's whereabouts had been discovered very close to Xianzhou, so Xueyi had to go out.
Today also happened to be a day off. Aside from the essential staff, almost no one was left in the Ten Lords Bureau.
"So what do you usually do, Huohuo?"
Bai Sheng asked. He was so bored that he had started making puppet dolls to play with.
"I usually organize the demon-exorcising tools, but the warehouse is locked today, so I can't get in. I also draw paper people."
"Then let's forget that. It doesn't sound very interesting."
Bai Sheng had seen the paper people Huohuo drew before. How should he put it? They were quite creative, with all kinds of expressions, and they could still be used normally.
In theory, drawing paper people was much like drawing talismans. The slightest deviation would cause all one's efforts to go to waste, forcing one to start over from scratch. Yet no one knew how this little Huohuo had researched it: while preserving their basic functions, she had given the paper people all sorts of expressions, some of them extremely exaggerated.
"By the way, Huohuo, why are your dark circles so heavy? Do you not rest well at night?"
Bai Sheng had wanted to ask about this for a long time, but he had not felt familiar enough with her back then. After spending a week together, however, he felt that asking would not be a problem.
"Ah, my dark circles? It's actually just because I often stay up late watching horror movies."
Huohuo spoke as her small, delicate hand picked up a paper person and posed it as if it were throwing a punch.
"Why stay up late watching horror movies? Are you trying to get into the atmosphere?"
Bai Sheng was a little curious, so he continued asking.
At that moment, a mass of blue-green foxfire floated over. Before Huohuo could say anything, it spoke first:
"Isn't it because this little crybaby wants to toughen herself up? She swore she could watch one all the way through, but what happened? Every time, she gets scared after five minutes and runs back under the covers."
It was Grandpa Tail. After spending a week together, both Grandpa Tail and Bai Sheng had decided that the other was not a bad person.
"You tsundere, you finally decided to come out?"
Bai Sheng teased him. He had already seen through Grandpa Tail. He was a classic case of a sharp tongue and a soft heart. Though he never let up verbally, he was extremely concerned about Huohuo in his actions. Many of the demon-exorcising missions outside were only completed after Grandpa Tail possessed Huohuo.
"You little punk, you're lecturing me now? I'm only worried that my mobile meal ticket will be scared witless. The thing I hate eating most is the emotion of fear."
Grandpa Tail turned his head aside and spoke indifferently.
Whether he really did not care was another question.
"By the way, Huohuo, can I ask you about something a little... awkward?"
"Eh? What does Asheng want to ask? Just tell me."
The large green tail behind Huohuo swayed back and forth. Although Grandpa Tail had taken up residence in Huohuo's tail, Huohuo could still feel her own tail.
"Because of Grandpa Tail, you became the Fated Calamity that attracts evil spirits. Is that true?"
Bai Sheng recalled the information he had seen in a dossier a few days ago.
Huohuo nodded, then complained glumly:
"Isn't it? How was I supposed to know that showing kindness back then would lead to this? I'm timid, yet I still have to do this job. If I had a choice, I wouldn't have touched him!"
After Huohuo finished speaking, she glanced at Grandpa Tail floating in the air. Her two ears twitched, making her look innocent and pitiful.
"Hey! I don't dislike you, yet you're the one disliking me first? Who do you think let you rise through the ranks so quickly? Besides, your tail tastes awful. If not for this lousy talisman, I wouldn't want to be stuck with you either!"
Sure enough, whenever Huohuo brought this up, Grandpa Tail was bound to blow his top.
Seeing Grandpa Tail like that, a faint smile appeared at the corners of Huohuo's mouth. She thought to herself:
Hehe, Asheng's method really is amazing. Grandpa Tail can't act mighty now.
"Grandpa Tail, I can make an artificial body no weaker than Xueyi's and separate you from Huohuo. You could inhabit the puppet, which would also fulfill your wish to separate from her. What do you think?"
Bai Sheng said this because he had the ability, and the Ten Lords Bureau could provide the materials. There were plenty of strange and unusual things here.
"You should worry about yourself first, kid. I don't need you fussing over me. What would I eat after leaving her? Are you trying to starve me to death?"
"Stars are spirit beings of the spiritual-substance lifeform realm, astral-spirit class, incorporeal order, soul-essence family, and Stars sub-species.
"Stars are pure-energy lifeforms without fixed physical forms. Many civilizations record them as 'the Formless' or 'the essence of starlight.' Stars enjoy parasitism, manipulating fleshly bodies and sensing the many changes produced in the nervous system by emotions. This act of 'eating the seven emotions and six desires' satisfies the incorporeal Stars. A possessed host will be uncontrollably driven to perform stimulating actions..."
Huohuo supplemented them with some knowledge about Stars from the side.
"All right, all right, stop chanting scriptures. I'm done with this. Goodbye!"
After being toyed with by the two of them, Grandpa Tail no longer knew what to say. He simply slipped back into Huohuo's tail.
Before you continue