Ashley Grant: "......"

He walked toward the room as if nothing had happened, but suddenly heard that chilling, ghostly voice behind him:

"Order Ashley Grant's soul to enter the Seventy-Two Departments of the Eastern Yue Underworld as an official!"

...Damn, how does he know my name? Ashley Grant only felt his body grow light, and he unconsciously closed his eyes.

......

When he opened his eyes again, his feet were already slightly off the ground. Looking down, he saw his own body lying on the floor. Unlike Brian Carter, who had only lost his soul, both his soul and spirit had left his body—he looked just like a dead man.

Ethan White stared at him in shock, holding a document in his hand. "You're Ashley Grant? Then you shouldn't have been able to see me just now!"

Ashley Grant: "......"

Ethan White: "......"

Ashley Grant: "............"

Well, this was a bit awkward.

Ethan White actually let out a laugh of exasperation. "You even trick ghosts? Good, good, little brother, you've got potential. Let me tell you, from today on, you're one of the fierce warriors of our Eastern Yue Underworld."

Ashley Grant said woodenly, "You mean, a temp worker."

He had already figured out what was going on. The underworld was busy, and when the wardens couldn't keep up, they would conscript living people from the mortal world to help collect souls. After the job was done, they'd be sent back.

This kind of job was called "walking with the wardens" or "walking the underworld," and such people were called "living wardens," since they were alive, as opposed to the ghostly wardens.

Of course, in modern terms, you could just call it being a temp worker for the underworld.

But Ashley Grant still didn't know how he ended up on this roster and got forcibly drafted.

"Call it whatever you like," Ethan White said with a laugh. "We're short on hands down here lately. Work hard with me, and you won't be treated badly."

Ashley Grant probed, "Lord Ethan White, I'm really not interested in this..."

Maybe those spirit mediums and shamans would look forward to getting in with the underworld, but Ashley Grant already had a regular job and wasn't keen on moonlighting. Besides, the food in the underworld wasn't exactly appetizing.

Ethan White touched his face and actually showed a hint of delight, though on his deathly pale face it looked a bit creepy. "Oh, I'm not Mr. Bennett, you've got the wrong guy. Of course, Mr. Bennett is a role model for us all... Just call me Old White."

It was said that "Ethan White" was named Chris Bennett. Ashley Grant suddenly understood—so he was just an ordinary warden, not the real Ethan White. He probably admired Ethan White and dressed up like him. "Oh, no wonder. Then you wrote the 'fortune' character in 'instant fortune' wrong on your hat."

Old White: "That's a variant character."

Ashley Grant: "......"

You... Ashley Grant held back and said, "I'll write a resignation letter and burn it, please ask Lord Ethan White to make an exception."

He really didn't understand why he was chosen, but the underworld's conscription of living souls never considered the person's wishes—it was completely mandatory. There was no point arguing, he could only try to negotiate.

"Ridiculous! Who bargains with gods and ghosts?" Sure enough, Old White shouted, "Any living soul conscripted must serve at least twelve years before being released."

Ashley Grant: "I was the one who folded those ingots and paper clothes earlier."

Old White's dead face immediately showed a different expression. Oh, so that's how it is...

Who in the mortal world can tell real from fake paper money? You can't take it to the bank, so not every piece burned is up to standard or good enough quality.

In the underworld, there's a mountain of useless money, because most of the paper money burned from the mortal world is subpar and not fit for circulation, so it's discarded and piles up like a mountain.

But the ingots Ashley Grant folded earlier were different. Old White hadn't seen such high-quality ingots in a long time. Even with the same materials, not everyone had such skill.

Old White immediately changed his tone, saying with some restraint, "Alright, seeing your sincerity... but you still have to serve at least twelve months."

Money talks, even with ghosts and gods. With one negotiation, twelve years became one year.

A year was still long enough. Ashley Grant reluctantly said, "Then can I be assigned to clerical work?"

Walking with the wardens didn't always mean collecting souls—though that was most common, there were other jobs too.

Old White also reluctantly said, "I'll try."

"Thank you." After bargaining, Ashley Grant agreed, though dejectedly.

What a disaster out of nowhere—he had to work as a temp in the underworld for a year, and not only was there no pay, he even had to pay out of pocket.

Old White took out a uniform from his robe, including a tall hat like his own, a chain, and a fan. "Here, this is yours. All made as one-to-one replicas of the originals worn by Black and White Wardens, except you have to write the words on the hat yourself."

...Looks like these wardens really idolized their bosses. Ashley Grant picked up the hat and pondered for a moment.

Old White handed him a pen: "Do you want to write 'instant fortune' or 'peace under heaven'?"

Ashley Grant asked, "I can only choose between those two?"

Old White looked at him strangely. "No... but basically everyone picks one of those. Black and White Wardens are famous in both worlds. Dressing like them is like borrowing their prestige—even ghosts are a bit afraid when they see us."

Ashley Grant understood what he meant. "Since I can do clerical work, I don't need to worry about that."

As he spoke, without waiting for Old White to stop him, he casually wrote four characters on the hat: 来都来了.

Old White: "???"