New words appeared quickly on the exercise book, as if to express attentiveness: [It is true that I can only write and draw, but I can help you with your homework. What degree are you studying?]

An Rugu looked young, dressed simply and cleanly, and had a fresh student spirit.

As long as one was a student, who didn’t have homework worries?

Shang Yue had been eyeing Zhou Keyu all this time. If An Rugu purified Zhou Keyu, she would be able to eat Zhou Keyu’s yin qi.

When she saw these words appear, she covered her mouth and couldn’t help laughing. “Although I don’t know much about the world today, I know a little common sense. You are a high school student, and she has already graduated from college.”

Zhou Keyu: “???”

[What university?]

“Nancheng University.”

The words in the exercise book quickly disappeared, as if they had never appeared. Zhou Keyu’s class ranking was good, but he could only be ranked in the top 50 in his grade, and he was still a little short of being admitted to Nancheng University.

The smile on Shang Yue’s face became deeper and deeper, a blush appeared on her fair face, and her eyes were full of desire. “In terms of being a ghost, you are not as good as me, and in terms of being a human being, you are not as good as the master. You are so inferior, so you should go to the Underworld and reincarnate.”

Zhou Keyu: “…”

The ghost in the black schoolbag sat in his own little corner and couldn’t help but raise his arms to hug himself.

This was the first time he applied for a job in his life, but he failed completely, and it hit him hard, making him suddenly feel that he was useless.

At this time, An Rugu finally took action.

Zhou Keyu thought she would recite a spell to purify him, and he felt overcome with sadness. His eyes flashed with attachment to the world and longing for his relatives.

However, An Rugu had no intention of reciting the incantation; instead she asked with some confusion, “You really don’t want to be reincarnated?”

Zhou Keyu felt a glimmer of hope and immediately seized the opportunity like a drowning man a lifesaver: [I really don’t want to!]

“Why don’t you want to be reincarnated?” An Rugu still didn’t understand these ghosts’ brain circuits.

Reincarnation was the law and cycle of life. Why do these dead people not want to become human again but want to remain as ghosts?

New words appeared on the exercise book: [If I need to drink Meng Po’s soup for reincarnation, then I will lose all my memories. Zhou Keyu will completely disappear, which is equivalent to dying for the second time.]

“You want to be a ghost this much?”

Zhou Keyu was silent for a while, and after thinking carefully, he wrote in his exercise book: [I personally think the disadvantages of being a ghost are that in the ghost society the strong preys on the weak, the inability to get along with living relatives, and some ghosts are really scary. Sometimes even I will also be scared of myself.

But as a ghost, I have special abilities that are far more interesting than when I was a human.

Besides, I won’t have to take exams anymore after becoming a ghost! ! ! ]

An Rugu: “…”

Zhou Keyu wrote with tears in his ghost eyes: [If I reincarnate now, I will have to take the college entrance examination again in just over 6,900 days!]

An Rugu: “…”

Zhou Keyu seemed to feel that he had not said enough, so he added words from the bottom of his heart, [I heard that after death, there are beings who come to reap wandering souls. I accidentally became a ghost attached to objects, and I never encountered such a being. I heard ghosts passing by say that there are too many things going on in the Underworld right now, and it is inevitable that there were omissions in dealing with ghosts, so they did not come to reap my soul.

At the same time, the Underworld is full, and control is somewhat relaxed. As long as ghosts do not harm humans, they can temporarily wander around the world.

Master, don’t send me down! Just think of it as reducing the pressure on the Underworld…]

An Rugu thought about the fact that the fertility rate was getting lower year by year and the population would grow at a negative rate in the future, and she understood why the Underworld was so full.

Under Zhou Keyu’s expectant gaze, An Rugu nodded and said, “You can stay in the human world for the time being, but the premise is that you don’t harm humans.”

Zhou Keyu was very happy when he heard this. The pages of the exercise book kept turning and clattering, as if to express his happiness.

However, An Rugu said, “You had a conflict with those people, so you threatened them and made them unconscious. Although you didn’t make an irreversible mistake, it caused a very bad impact on humans. This is your fault. Do you have any objections?”

Zhou Keyu admitted his mistake very quickly, “It was my fault.”

An Rugu thought for a moment and said, “I will brand you. You will stay in Cloud Rise temple for a while and use the aura of the deities to wash away the hostility in you. Do you agree?”

Zhou Keyu knew that this was his last chance and immediately replied: [Agree!]

Shang Yue saw the duck in her mouth fly away and bit her lip, looking dissatisfied with her unsated desires.

Seeing her like this, An Rugu comforted her, “You like to eat yin qi so much. I will often take you out to drive away evil spirits, and then you won’t starve anymore.”

Upon hearing this, Shang Yue had no choice but to nod her head and agree.

An Rugu branded her mark on the black schoolbag and put the trembling ghost in the Daoist temple. Under the watchful eye of the gods, he will surely change his bad habits.

I Livestream Divination to the World translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: I looked up China’s fertility rate and An Rugu was correct—their population is huge (1.4 billion as of 2023) but is growing at a negative rate, that is, statistically, more people are dying than are being born. By 2050, that 1.4 billion is estimated to drop by 110 million; by year 2100, their population is estimated to be below 800 million. It’s a looming crisis that has their government very concerned. They’ve gone from having a one-child policy to giving incentives to families to give birth to more children.

It’s the same issue that Japan and S. Korea are facing: the population is growing older, burdening the social system, and not enough young people are entering the work force, thereby slowing down the economy.

As for the metaphysics side of things, it’s getting pretty crowded in the Underworld as souls wait to be reincarnated 😅