Chapter 217: Underworld Office Laws
If, after all this talk, those two Night Watchers still didn't understand what was going on, then they truly had an intelligence problem.
Although Old Master Wu had already guessed some of it, hearing Yang Haoran’s overbearing words still sent a shock through him.
The three were still in their stunned state when Yang Haoran suddenly vanished. Before they could react, their vision turned black, and then they lost consciousness.
Indeed, when Yang Haoran reappeared in the main seat, all three, including Old Master Wu, had fainted, their bodies slumped softly to the ground.
His sudden strike against the three of them was not to kill them, but to forcibly erase their memories of tonight.
They had learned too much tonight, everything they should and shouldn't have known, so Yang Haoran had no choice but to act.
Now, without the Death God Seal in their bodies, they naturally lacked Spirit Power. Erasing a segment of their memory was no difficult feat for the current Yang Haoran. Even if their Death God Seals were still intact, given their limited strength, it wouldn't have been much trouble for Yang Haoran to erase their memories.
To keep a secret, having those who know perish is always the best option, but Yang Haoran didn’t do that. Naturally, he had his own considerations.
Firstly, he genuinely found it difficult to bring himself to kill the three of them simply for this matter.
Although the Black-Clothed Man spoke lightly, telling him to handle the matter cleanly, it might have been a deliberate test. If he really did that, who knew how the Black-Clothed Man would treat him, the newly appointed Emissary of Death? Even if he wasn't punished, his impression might not be very good in the future.
Given Yang Haoran’s character, he would absolutely never do something so detrimental to others and himself.
There was another reason: the Lecheng Underworld Office was now practically an empty shell. All the stronger, veteran Night Watchers were dead, and the remaining ones were all new recruits. Not only was their strength limited, but their knowledge in various aspects was also quite shallow, a considerable gap compared to the veteran Night Watchers.
However, with these new recruits, at least the normal operation of all Death God Temples in Lecheng could be maintained. Without them, all the Death God Temples throughout Lecheng would fall into paralysis.
It was for these reasons that Yang Haoran ultimately decided to handle the matter by erasing their memories instead of killing them.
When the three woke up, they would forget what happened tonight. However, their destinies would change in different ways.
There was no need to mention Old Master Wu; although he was a bit cunning, Yang Haoran currently needed someone like him to assist him. He didn't need immense power, just someone capable of handling trivial matters, and Old Master Wu was certainly up to the task.
Therefore, he would definitely keep Old Master Wu on. As for how long, that would depend on Old Master Wu himself. As long as he harbored no ill intentions, Yang Haoran certainly wouldn't be bored enough to cause him trouble.
As for the other two Night Watchers, while Yang Haoran had no intention of eliminating them, it would be impossible for them to achieve anything significant under his command.
If they performed well, they could remain temple keepers. If they didn't, once enough personnel were in place, it would be their time to be dismissed, even losing their positions as temple keepers.
Yang Haoran did not forcibly awaken the three, as it would cause them some harm. However, he also didn't leave the hall, as he still needed to wait for them to wake up and arrange some matters.
During the wait, Yang Haoran's gaze fell upon the three items on the table beside him.
These three items were left by the Black-Clothed Man before he departed: two Iron Books and a wooden box.
Earlier, within the forbidden zone, he and the Black-Clothed Man had only discussed two matters. The first was naturally for Yang Haoran to offer advice on how to handle the Deng Feng situation.
The second matter was the new Emissary of Death for Lecheng.
Deng Feng was Lecheng's Emissary of Death, and with his death, Lecheng urgently needed an Emissary of Death to fill his position, to ensure all Underworld Office-related work in Lecheng could proceed normally.
Having opened his Heaven Soul, one was qualified to become an Emissary of Death, and Yang Haoran, who had just opened his Heaven Soul, was a suitable candidate.
Furthermore, Yang Haoran's suggestion on how to deal with the aftermath of Deng Feng's death was quite good and was successfully adopted by the Black-Clothed Man. Thus, he decided to let Yang Haoran try his hand as an Emissary of Death, reasoning that if it didn't work out, it wouldn't be too late to replace Yang Haoran later.
Initially, the Black-Clothed Man had considered erasing the memories of Yang Haoran and the others. However, while Old Master Wu and the two others would be easy, erasing their memories posed no difficulty.
But Yang Haoran was different. Having opened his Heaven Soul, Yang Haoran's strength was incomparable to that of Night Watchers like Old Master Wu. Erasing his memory would be exceedingly difficult.
Unless. . . unless the Death God Seal within Yang Haoran’s body was forcefully extracted. In that case, erasing Yang Haoran’s memory would be much simpler.
However, after opening the Heaven Soul, the Death God Seal within one's body completely transforms into one's unique power seed. Forcibly extracting Yang Haoran’s Death God Seal would also be no simple task and would consume a significant amount of the Black-Clothed Man’s energy.
In addition, there was a very important reason: if he did that, it would be tantamount to personally destroying a Heaven Soul expert, which would be a loss for both him and the entire Underworld Office.
Heaven Soul experts were not like cabbages, readily available in abundance like Night Watchers. The emergence of every Heaven Soul expert was extremely difficult; without absolute effort and a certain amount of luck, it was hard to successfully open the Heaven Soul.
To personally destroy a Heaven Soul expert just to conceal the Deng Feng incident, especially when this person was his subordinate, seemed like a losing proposition no matter how one looked at it.
Even if the Deng Feng incident wasn't completely concealed, at most he would receive a reprimand from his superior and be suppressed by his peers using it as an excuse. While it would naturally be best to avoid such negative impacts, sacrificing a Heaven Soul subordinate for it was a losing trade he would never make, not unless his mind had completely deteriorated.
He had already lost one Deng Feng, and he certainly didn't want to lose another Yang Haoran. Having an additional Heaven Soul expert would only benefit him, not harm him.
Conversely, every Heaven Soul expert lost was a loss to him.
For these reasons, the Black-Clothed Man not only refrained from acting against Yang Haoran but instead decided to appoint Yang Haoran as Lecheng's new Emissary of Death.
If Yang Haoran wasn't appointed, the Black-Clothed Man had no more suitable candidate for the time being, so he had to make do with him.
It was precisely because of this that, under the Black-Clothed Man's arrangement, Yang Haoran became Lecheng's new Emissary of Death. Before leaving, the Black-Clothed Man also left him three items, along with a warning.
Looking at the three items on the table beside him, Yang Haoran picked up one of the thicker Iron Books, opened it, and skimmed through it.
This Iron Book recorded all the laws of the Underworld Office. The Black-Clothed Man had specifically instructed that every Emissary of Death must memorize these laws without missing a single one.
As a Night Watcher, one only needed to remember their duties; there weren't too many rules. As long as your superior didn't bother you, anything was fine.
However, after becoming an Emissary of Death, it was completely different. Emissaries of Death were Underworld Officials recognized by the Underworld Office, and their influence was incomparable to that of Night Watchers. Therefore, the management of Emissaries of Death was much stricter.
After a quick glance, Yang Haoran closed the Iron Book. The information contained within was simply too vast; it was unrealistic for him to memorize all these laws in a short period. He would have to read them slowly later.
Placing this Iron Book aside, Yang Haoran picked up the other Iron Book.
Comparatively, this Iron Book was much thinner. Upon opening it, there were no physical pages inside. When laid flat, it actually lit up like a tablet computer, and then a dense array of information appeared.
Yang Haoran flipped through hundreds of pages. He found that it not only recorded major events that had occurred within the Underworld Office since its establishment but also major events from other organizations outside the Underworld Office.
This Iron Book was very much like a history book unique to the Underworld Office.
Although this Iron Book was much thinner compared to the previous one, the content recorded within was tens of thousands of times more. Thankfully, the Black-Clothed Man hadn't asked him to memorize its contents, or it would have exhausted him to death.
Closing the Iron Book, Yang Haoran planned to slowly read it when he had time. Although it contained a great deal of information, he was quite interested in it. After all, understanding more of this information would be beneficial for him and would broaden his horizons.
Placing this Iron Book aside as well, Yang Haoran finally picked up the wooden box. The Black-Clothed Man had left three items in total before he departed, and this fist-sized wooden box was the last one.
The wooden box opened, revealing three thumb-sized black pills inside. Other than their dark color, these three black pills seemed to have nothing remarkable about them.
However, as Yang Haoran’s finger gently tapped above the wooden box, with a crisp "crack" sound, it was as if some seal had been broken by his touch.
A rich, visible Yin Qi immediately emanated from the three pills. What had seemed like ordinary black pills moments before now appeared far from common.
These three black pills were precisely the Soul Pills that Underworld Agents yearned for, and the Yin Qi they were currently emitting was naturally Pure Yin Qi, which could be absorbed without any side effects – the very Soul Qi that Night Watchers spoke of!
Looking at the three Soul Pills in the box, a smile involuntarily appeared on Yang Haoran's face. Soul Pills, even for him now, were rare and excellent treasures.
After becoming an Emissary of Death, he would receive three such Soul Pills annually. In addition, extra Soul Pills would be issued based on his contributions to the Underworld Office throughout the year.
In other words, these three Soul Pills before him were his guaranteed annual salary.
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