Chapter Twelve: The Former Life of the Enchanted Mirror

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After watching Wei Xiaoping enter Li Jinluan’s office, Luo Zhifu turned to Yang Zhijin and said, “Xiao Yang, take a guess, how much do you think we made this time?”

Yang Zhijin smiled. “Eighteen thousand, right?”

Luo Zhifu looked a little surprised. “Did you eavesdrop on my conversation with Li Jinluan?”

Yang Zhijin looked puzzled. “Eavesdrop? I’ve been here the whole time talking with General Wei about the Nether Hound, never left his side! What are you talking about?”

“Then how did you know we made eighteen thousand?”

“Haha, I just guessed. You’re always partial to numbers with four or eight in them, kind of superstitious about them, so if you said the total price was thirty-eight thousand, I figured we’d want to make a bit more, so I just randomly guessed eighteen thousand. Didn’t expect to get it right.”

“That’s true! Sigh, we’ve collected payment twice now, and Wei Xiaoping never even tried to haggle. He must be very wealthy in his life above. If I’d known, I would have raised the price at the gate!”

“Yeah, usually we’re pretty good at reading people, but today we underestimated Wei Xiaoping! Still, it’s fine, we didn’t really have to put in much work anyway. Brother Luo, let’s stick with the usual arrangement—you take ten thousand, and I’ll take the eight.”

Just then, Wei Xiaoping finished signing the IOU and walked out.

As he turned the corner at the door, he seemed to hear Luo Zhifu and Yang Zhijin discussing something about him.

Wei Xiaoping slowed his steps and listened more closely; sure enough, they were talking about him.

He caught Yang Zhijin’s words: “Yeah, usually we’re pretty good at reading people, but today we underestimated Wei Xiaoping! Still, it’s fine, we didn’t really have to put in much work anyway. Brother Luo, let’s stick with the usual arrangement—you take ten thousand, and I’ll take the eight.”

So they’re saying they didn’t make enough money off me? Does that mean consultations here don’t require a fee? Or maybe I was overcharged? They must have taken more from me than necessary.

Wei Xiaoping sighed to himself. The two of them had acted so friendly the whole time, but who would have thought their hearts were so greedy, blinded by profit! Truly, you can know a ghost’s face but never its heart.

“General Wei, you finished writing the IOU?” Luo Zhifu asked.

“Yes, it’s done. Can I go learn about my past life now?” Wei Xiaoping replied.

“Let’s go, the consultation room is just ahead. Li Jinluan didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”

Wei Xiaoping thought, You already arranged everything with him—what trouble could he give me? You’re just fishing to see if he let anything slip about your secrets, aren’t you?

“What trouble could he give me? You all already discussed everything for my… situation! There’s nothing more to make difficult.”

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Wei Xiaoping, Luo Zhifu, and Yang Zhijin walked toward a vast chamber.

Inside the entrance stood a half-human-height round pillar made of rare wood. The pillar’s side was carved with drifting clouds and dragons, and at its top was set a magical mirror as clear as glass.

Luo Zhifu walked up to the pillar. “General Wei, please register first.”

Wei Xiaoping looked skeptical. “Register? Didn’t I already do that when writing the IOU? And there’s no paper or pen here—how do I register?”

“That was just to record your payment,” Luo Zhifu explained. “This registration is proof you’ve come for a consultation. Our rule is one payment per consultation—you don’t get unlimited free queries just because you paid once.”

“Oh, I see! So I pay for each session, and this registration is proof I’ve already consulted, right?”

“Exactly! We’re a large office, and big institutions do things thoroughly,” Luo Zhifu said.

“So with no pen and paper, how do I register?” Wei Xiaoping floated up to the pillar.

“No need for pen or paper. Just place your palm on the Magic Pattern-Recording Mirror.”

“The Magic Pattern-Recording Mirror? What’s that?”

“This mirror is specially enchanted to record people’s palm prints. All you do is touch your palm to it, and the magic inside will automatically capture your fingerprints and palm lines in detail, then assign you a number. If someone tries to claim they’ve paid but never used their consultation, we just have them touch the mirror again—it will display their previous print and number. That way, no one can cheat us!”

“I see,” Wei Xiaoping said, placing his palm on the mirror as instructed and quietly waiting for the magic to activate.

Curious, he watched the Magic Pattern-Recording Mirror under his hand.

Soon, colored lights began to beam from the mirror. The glow grew stronger, swirling in a hypnotic dance.

As the magical lights spun, the mirror emitted countless trembling beams of light.

As the colored rays shimmered, Wei Xiaoping’s hand on the mirror began to vibrate.

He looked at his palm—there was a haze of red radiance.

“See that red glow in your palm?” Luo Zhifu explained. “It means your body in the living world hasn’t fully died; you still carry some living blood energy. Normally it’s invisible, only the Nether Hound can smell it or this enchanted mirror can reveal it.”

Wei Xiaoping, intrigued, asked, “After the mirror, I really can see some red in my palm. Brother Luo, Brother Yang, don’t you have any?”

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“We’re real ghosts now, so of course not. In a moment, we’ll show you!” Luo Zhifu said.

“All right, the Magic Pattern-Recording Mirror has stored your palm print, you can take your hand away,” Luo Zhifu continued. “Let me and Yang Zhijin show you—look at the difference between ours and yours.”

He pressed his right hand to the mirror.

Soon, the same magical colors streamed from the mirror, swirling and shimmering with beams of light.

As the light swirled, his hand began to tremble as well. But unlike before, his palm remained simply black and white—no trace of red glow.

Luo Zhifu withdrew his hand and had Yang Zhijin try, with identical results.

“Now do you see that your soul is not the same as ours?” Luo Zhifu said.

Wei Xiaoping nodded. “I never imagined the underworld had such things for registering souls! Where did you get it?”

“It floated here on its own,” Luo Zhifu replied. “In its previous life, it was made by humans in some world as a device for recording faces or fingerprints. Over time, its owner replaced it with a newer model, so it was sold as junk. The junk dealer sold it to a factory, which dismantled its parts and melted them down to make other products. That’s when it died, and its soul drifted here. We assigned it to continue its previous work.”

“How amazing, that machines made by humans can have souls too!” Wei Xiaoping exclaimed.

“Everything in this world,” Luo Zhifu explained, “whether animate or inanimate, has its own soul. The type varies, and so does its purpose and contribution to the world. But when anything, whether object, animal, or plant, dies, its soul or ghost falls under the jurisdiction of the Underworld.”

“Which is why this place is called the Crossing of All Things Consultation Office—you manage the souls of everything from the human world, animal world, plant world, or even things, as long as they’ve died, right?” Wei Xiaoping said.

“Precisely! Why else would it be called the Crossing of All Things Consultation Office?” Yang Zhijin replied.