Chapter 1035 On the Occasion of Employing People
Upon entering the house, they found nothing but simple furniture, none of which was intact; all were broken and dilapidated, as if salvaged from a garbage heap.
Yang Haoran was not surprised by this. The old woman and the others were dressed in rags, so how could their furniture be any better? In these times, for ordinary people to have a place to stay and even a few pieces of broken furniture was already quite good.
Shui Ling solemnly introduced Yang Haoran to them. When they learned that Yang Haoran was an Underworld Official sent by the Underworld Office, the newly appointed Emissary of Death for Gu Mo City, the old woman and the others were incredibly excited. In their eyes, Yang Haoran's arrival meant that the Gu Mo City Underworld Office was saved, and by extension, their believers were also saved.
For these ordinary people, their concept of a strong individual was not clear. In their eyes, anyone who was not an ordinary person was a strong individual. They simply did not understand the divisions of non-ordinary realms or the varying strengths of such individuals.
Thus, they blindly believed Yang Haoran was powerful and blindly believed that the Gu Mo City Underworld Office and their believers were saved.
Yang Haoran offered no explanation, because no matter how much he explained to ordinary people, they might not understand, and even if they did, it would only impose a greater psychological burden on them, which would be of no benefit to him.
When they learned that Yang Haoran and his companions would be staying in their small courtyard for a while, the old woman and the others not only didn't refuse but were overjoyed. They bustled about, cleaning the rooms for Yang Haoran and his group, completely forgetting the exhaustion from a day's labor.
They were devout believers of the Death God, and for a divine emissary to temporarily reside in their home was an unparalleled honor. Of course, they wouldn't refuse; instead, they worried that Yang Haoran and his group might not be accustomed to the living conditions, or that their service might not be attentive enough.
Although it was quite crowded with several people sharing one room, it was only temporary. Moreover, these believers were all weak, and forcing them to sleep in the courtyard would surely make it difficult for them to rest well. This was not good for them, and Yang Haoran certainly wouldn't disregard their well-being just because he and his companions needed space.
Aside from a slight dissatisfaction from Xiang Chuan, no one else had any objections to Yang Haoran's decision. Of course, even if they did, they wouldn't dare voice them.
Once they had a place to settle, Yang Haoran instructed Shui Ling to awaken the traitorous Night Watcher. When they left the Broken Temple, this Night Watcher's power had been sealed, and he had been knocked unconscious to prevent him from causing any trouble along the way.
After waking him, an interrogation was naturally unavoidable. The man's resolve was not strong; he confessed everything before any severe torture was applied, and Yang Haoran and his companions thus obtained the information they desired.
This individual had surrendered to the Spirit Mediums a long time ago and naturally became the Spirit Mediums' informant within the Underworld Office. The person he had surrendered to was none other than Zhuang Mingzhe.
It was precisely because of his presence that Zhuang Mingzhe knew many things about the Underworld Office, especially the movements of the small team he belonged to, which Zhuang Mingzhe knew even more clearly, and for which Zhuang Mingzhe had earned considerable merit.
In the past, the Gu Mo City Underworld Office had a sizable number of Night Watchers, thus they were divided into several small teams. Shui Ling and Lu Wu each led a team, and this individual was Shui Ling's trusted subordinate, so he was privy to the details of every mission.
Because of his presence, Zhuang Mingzhe was always aware of Shui Ling's movements. However, he never acted against Shui Ling, not because he was reluctant to kill her out of pity, but because he wanted to lure out a bigger fish and earn greater merit, thereby elevating his status among the thirteen Spirit Masters.
Since the Emissary of Death of the Gu Mo City Underworld Office was killed, the Underworld Office would definitely send a new Emissary of Death to take over the Gu Mo City Underworld Office. Once the newly appointed Emissary of Death arrived in Gu Mo City, they would certainly try to gather the surviving Night Watchers of the Gu Mo City Underworld Office, as integrating these Night Watchers was essential for better work execution.
As soon as the newly appointed Emissary of Death did so, this traitorous Night Watcher would learn of their movements. Zhuang Mingzhe then only needed to report this information to Big Sister and personally eliminate the new Emissary of death to earn a massive credit (gōngláo-merit/contribution).
Therefore, he had ordered the traitorous Night Watcher to inform him immediately once the new Emissary of Death appeared.
Today, when Lu Wu and Huang Sha found Shui Ling, this individual learned of Yang Haoran's arrival and realized that Yang Haoran was the newly appointed Emissary of Death. So, he used a Communication Talisman to transmit this news to Zhuang Mingzhe, also informing Zhuang Mingzhe of the approximate location of the Broken Temple they were headed to.
Upon receiving this news, Zhuang Mingzhe immediately reported it to their Big Sister. Big Sister, naturally, took this matter very seriously and thus summoned all the Spirit Masters together.
With all thirteen Spirit Masters assembled, Zhuang Mingzhe articulated his plan: he wanted to seize this opportunity to capture Yang Haoran in one fell swoop and eliminate this newly appointed Emissary of Death of the Underworld Office.
However, some Spirit Masters felt that his approach was too risky and did not endorse his proposal.
In the end, Big Sister still nodded in agreement to his proposal, but for safety's sake, Big Sister ordered him to send a stand-in. This would not only guarantee his safety but also allow them to gauge the abilities of this new Emissary of Death, thus leading to the scene Yang Haoran and his companions experienced.
The final outcome was that, although Zhuang Mingzhe did not lose his life, he lost his Guardian Spirit and twenty-odd Spirit Mediums, and most importantly, suffered a tremendous loss of face. Conversely, they still hadn't figured out how capable Yang Haoran truly was.
As for this traitorous Night Watcher, he was naturally abandoned by the Spirit Mediums, as he had no value left in their eyes.
After clarifying the whole story, Yang Haoran remained his usual self, showing little reaction. A faint smile lingered on his face, as if he were listening to an irrelevant story.
But Shui Ling was different; she was furious and deeply disappointed. She had always cultivated this traitor as a trusted subordinate, only for him, her very own confidant, to betray her and the Underworld Office in the end.
Anyone encountering such a situation would naturally feel terrible, and Shui Ling was no exception. No one can bear the betrayal of those close to them.
Having understood the full sequence of events, Yang Haoran did not act against this Night Watcher himself, because he had previously stated that he would hand this person directly over to Shui Ling for disposal.
He said it, and he did it.
Although Shui Ling was deeply disappointed and pained by her subordinate's actions, she knew what needed to be done and what shouldn't be. Therefore, she did not show leniency just because this person had followed her for a long time; she immediately ended his life on the spot.
For this person's actions, simply killing him was considered lenient. For some ruthless individuals, he would have undoubtedly suffered inhumane torture, but Shui Ling did not do that.
Perhaps it was because this person had followed Shui Ling for a long time, and she had developed some feelings for him, or perhaps it was because Shui Ling was not a ruthless person by nature. So, she did not torture him but ended his life in the quickest way possible.
As for his soul, she naturally extracted it from the corpse. When she handed his soul over to Yang Haoran, she consciously and proactively begged for forgiveness, knowing that as a team leader, she was undeniably responsible for such an incident.
However, Yang Haoran did not punish Shui Ling, merely telling her to be more careful in the future. There were naturally his own considerations behind this decision.
One's heart is veiled, and no one can guarantee that there won't be a traitor by their side, not even he himself dared to guarantee that.
Logically, even with understanding, there should still be some punishment for such an incident. However, it was currently a time when talent was needed, so he did not dwell on this issue with Shui Ling.
Despite this, Shui Ling roughly understood Yang Haoran's intention but still felt extremely ashamed.
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