Chapter 31: The Life-Stealing Immortal

"The two of you are being haunted by a malevolent spirit," Chu Tian said, looking at the two visitors with a playful expression. "What kind of catastrophe have you wrought that this vengeful ghost is so fixated on you?"

"Master, you can see it?" Hearing this, the two men trembled, their eyes lighting up as they looked at Chu Tian.

Chu Tian replied, "If I didn't have that much ability, why would you have come to me?"

"The Master is right," Meng Anren said. He pulled a briefcase from behind him, slid it across the table, and added, "Please, Master, save us. As long as you can resolve this haunting, this is just the down payment. We will pay you five times this amount after the job is done."

After speaking, Meng Anren opened the briefcase. Suddenly, it was filled with neatly stacked hundred-yuan bills, laid out clearly before Chu Tian and the others.

"Whoa, that much money?" Behind Chu Tian, Old Man Li, a ghost, widened his eyes at the case.

Meanwhile, Song Shiyun, who was playing *Angry Birds* behind the counter, glanced at the money and remarked casually, "The volume of this case looks to be about 43 by 30 by 9 centimeters, which is 11,610 cubic centimeters. Based on the volume of standard banknotes, a hundred bills is about 120 cubic centimeters. So, a million yuan in cash would take up about 12,000 cubic centimeters. This case contains less than a million."

Hearing this, Meng Anren couldn't help but give Song Shiyun a deep look.

Chu Tian closed the case and looked at Meng Anren and Fan Shishi. "Six million to secure my services—you two are certainly generous. I can deal with the spirit haunting you, but everything happens for a reason. I want to know why it is haunting you. Resolving grudges through understanding the cause is better than resorting to violence. What do you think?"

"Master, if we knew the reason, would we need to ask for your help?" Fan Shishi chimed in. "Just subdue the spirit for us. If you can destroy it completely, name your price. Whatever you ask, our Fan and Meng families will do our absolute best to satisfy you."

Chu Tian smiled at their words and said, "Since you don't want to talk, you can stay here for the night. If that spirit really comes looking for you, I'll deal with it for you!"

Hearing this, Meng Anren and Fan Shishi were overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. Chu Tian, having no interest in further conversation, took their money and returned to the entrance of the haunted house, lying back on his recliner.

Inside the hall, Song Shiyun continued playing on her computer. Chen Meng, having dropped Chu Meng'er off at kindergarten, returned to the house, pulled up a chair beside Chu Tian, and watched the two visitors. "You don't seem very eager to help them," she remarked.

"Is it that obvious?" Chu Tian lifted the book covering his face and glanced at the two guests to ensure they couldn't hear him.

"Do you know something?" Chen Meng asked.

"Guess how old those two are," Chu Tian said.

"How old?" Chen Meng frowned, glancing at the youthful pair. "They are from the younger generation of the Meng and Fan families in the city. They look like they're barely in their twenties."

"In their twenties?" Chu Tian laughed, lay back down, and covered his face with the book again. "These two are 'Life-Stealing Immortals.' You could add a zero to their age, and it still wouldn't be enough!"

"Life-Stealing Immortals?" Chen Meng’s expression changed. It was the first time she had ever heard the term. "What are those?"

"They are... wicked villains who toy with their allotted lifespans to deceive gods and ghosts," Chu Tian said. Under the cover of the book, his eyes turned cold and sharp.

He hadn't met them last night, so he hadn't investigated them then. But seeing them today, he realized exactly what they had done. They were burdened with the stolen lifespans of countless others. It was somewhat similar to what Song Shiyun had once done by buying life with money.

Ancient kings and cultivators, in their pursuit of immortality, had invented many twisted arts beyond mere meditation and alchemy to extend their lives. These two were practitioners of such dark arts. A common cultivator might not notice anything wrong, but how could a Ghost Envoy like Chu Tian miss it?

The life and death of all mortals are recorded in the Book of Life and Death. While some might defy heaven to add a few years, no mortal can exceed the limit set by that ledger. Although Ghost Envoys do not control the Book, they can tell at a glance if someone has long outlived their natural span.

Meng Anren and Fan Shishi had long since exhausted their own time, yet they carried the stolen lifespans of others, spanning decades, upon themselves. Those years didn't belong to them. If the Underworld were functioning normally, the people they robbed would be recorded as dead, even if their bodies remained in the mortal realm.

While the two lived in luxury on stolen time, their victims wandered in a daze, worse than lost souls, trapped at the place of their "death," year after year. Only when the thieves finally exhausted the stolen years would the victims regain their senses. If the Underworld came to collect them, they might reincarnate; otherwise, they would fade into nothingness.

Ghost Envoys despise these "Life-Stealing Immortals" most of all, as they brazenly challenge the justice of the Underworld. These two had truly grown bold. Since he had encountered these criminals, Chu Tian decided he would see exactly how they had managed to survive in the mortal realm for hundreds of years.

If the virtuous ghost fox he met yesterday truly had a life-or-death grudge against these two, Chu Tian might find himself helping the other side. After all, a creature of such merit should never be tarnished. If he could bring a virtuous ghost fox into his service, it would be the perfect successor for his role as the Yin-Underworld Envoy once he ascended to a higher rank.