An Rugu, holding a paper cell phone and a spirit-calling banner on either hand, wandered through the city’s nightscape, passing countless pedestrians—but no one noticed her.

A cold wind blew by; a person returning home late sneezed, a sanitation worker sweeping the floor hugged his arms, a couple out shopping moved closer together, and parents pulled their children towards them.

The black-robed yin envoy moved through the crowd, going against the flow, carrying the ‘fruits’ of her harvest, and floated towards the direction of the Land God temple.

Every city has a temple for the City God, whose rank, in human terms, was equivalent to that of a mayor. Below the City God was the Land God, and almost every village has a Land God temple. The God of Land’s rank was equivalent to that of a village chief.

In some places, people built Land God temples, and in some places no one built them. However, they were still needed to manage the affairs of local residents, so these Land God temples still existed. They were, however, invisible to ordinary people.

An Rugu followed the location indicated on the Yin Envoy Rulebook and arrived at a suburban park some 2 kilometers away from Qianyun Amusement Park.

As she walked into the park, a small, exquisite-looking building came into view. The few pedestrians around ignored the Land God temple and walked past it as if it wasn’t there.

This was an invisible Land God temple.

Although the God of Land did not hold a high position, he was a well-known righteous god and basically no one dared to offend him.

On both sides of the gate were posted the couplet ‘Harmony among men, cultivating the land, governing the earth and soil under heaven.’ and the horizontal scroll displayed ‘Humanity and Intermediary’.

An Rugu took out the soul-calling banner with the three people’s names written on it and slowly floated into the room.

A kind and gentle voice reached her ears. “Xiao Bai, it’s you again. How many souls have you gathered today?”

The man called Xiao Bai sighed, apparently in a low mood. “I had two missions today, but I only found one. I ran all over Nancheng and still couldn’t find the other one. I’m exhausted.”

He flipped through the pages of his book. “I wonder where this unfortunate soul who died in the car accident has gone. If she doesn’t return to the Underworld on time, she’ll become a wandering ghost. At best, she won’t be able to reincarnate. At worst, she’ll be hunted down by evil spirits and her soul will be torn apart. It’s really a headache.”

The God of Land could not help but feel a little worried when he heard this. He stroked his snow-white beard and said with emotion, “Everyone has his own destiny. Let her take her own course.”

“I read through her file. This unlucky ghost didn’t do anything bad in her lifetime. She’s not an evil ghost. It’s a shame if she won’t be reborn as a human in the future.”

As the two were talking, a cold wind blew towards them, making their robes rustle.

They suddenly turned their heads and saw a black-robed yin envoy coming in lightly without even touching the ground.

She wore a black robe that dragged on the ground, a tall hat on her head, and a spirit-calling banner in her hand. Every move she made was full of authority.

At first glance, they both thought that they were seeing the always cold and fierce Master Black Impermanence.

After a closer look, they realized that this was a yin envoy with a radiant appearance, that was to say, a living yin envoy.

It was An Rugu’s first time to enter the Land God temple, but her eyes did not wander around. She kept floating towards these two and seemed to be at ease.

Facing the surprised gazes, An Rugu placed the soul-calling banner in her hand on the table and calmly stated her purpose, “I have three souls here.”

The kind-looking Land God was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly took out his household registration book. As if thinking of something, he looked up and said, “Hey, you’re new here. Which district were you from before?”

An Rugu said casually, “Nearby”

Nancheng was a metropolis with a population of tens of millions, and there were countless Land God temples. There were too many Land God temples included in the word ‘nearby’.

The Land God didn’t delve into the matter further. He simply read the names on the soul-summoning banner and verified it in the household register. “Zhang Fan, Wei Haichen, and Jiang Shumin. These three people are indeed from our land. They died unexpectedly and have been approved to go to the Underworld.”

He then took out a red seal and stamped it on three travel permits. The two words ‘Land Seal’ were stamped in red on the travel permit documents.

This was considered as obtaining the Land God’s approval.

The yin envoy named Bai next to her was stunned.

Jiang Shumin… Wasn’t this the name of the person I needed to capture according to my mission book?

He immediately turned around and raised his hand to bow to An Rugu, “This colleague, where did you find Jiang Shumin’s soul?”

Bai had very fair skin and light eyebrows, which, against the backdrop of his white yin envoy robes, made him look as white as a white-painted wall.

And his last name was even ‘Bai’¹—very appropriate.

But even though he looked so pale, you could still tell he was good-looking, with droopy eyes and delicate features.

He looked about twenty years old, and his ghostly appearance was not much different from when he died. It seemed that he was a person who died early.

An Rugu glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and took the three travel permits. “I caught her while I was capturing a wandering soul.”

The yin envoy surnamed Bai thought about his experience today, his heart and eyes filled with confusion. “I looked around almost everywhere today, but I still couldn’t find her. I don’t know where she ran off to.”

An Rugu recalled what happened, and after carefully considering her words, she said, “Someone helped her, allowing her to briefly regain her living form. The yin qi on her body was obscured, so it’s normal that you couldn’t find her.”

The yin envoy suddenly realized what was going on and immediately showed great admiration. He bowed to An Rugu and spoke in a refined manner, “Senior, your abilities are extraordinary. I admire you very much.”

Her title has suddenly changed from ‘colleague’ to ‘senior’.

He racked his brains, trying to come up with some eloquent flattery, but his mind was empty, without a single word of ink.

An Rugu: “… You are a ghost who died five years ago. There is no need to talk to me like that. Just speak normally.”

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

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T/N: It’s best to remember that the Chinese believe that the Underworld is not very different from the living world’s officialdom and bureaucracy. There is hierarchy and a clear delineation of who is in charge of what/whom.

City Gods are deities that protect the people and affairs of a particular territory of great dimension, as well as a corresponding location in the Afterlife. These gods are appointed by official decree (yes, official government stamped decrees) and are usually deceased officials. As officials, they are involved in formal rites of worship and have official duties, such as making it rain. If they fail, they are punished by, for example, leaving their sacred figures out in the sun. From the perspective of the people, they go to the City God to ask for good health, good fortune, etc..

This is the City God of Shanghai. There are City Gods for Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hong Kong etc.

As explained in the text, below City Gods (equivalent to mayor) are the Land Gods (village head).

Land God temples are built to honor the God of Land of a specific territory. When people move into one village, they would greet the Land God there and ask permission to stay, and when they move away, the would say goodbye and do the same to the Land God of the new place.

The Gods of Land are not high-ranking deities, and their temples are usually built by the people themselves so they are mostly of simple construction. These temples are widely distributed, built under large trees or by the roadside, in all villages and settlements. Traditionally, every person is attached to a specific Land God temple much like they are part of specific villages, so the idea that a person’s death must be processed by their local Land God temple makes sense. 

In modern days, some Taiwanese factories even manufacture the walls and ceilings using concrete molds that people use to build simple Land God temples.  

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Chapter 73.2 — The Fourteenth Livestream
Chapter 73.3 — The Fourteenth Livestream
Chapter 73.4 — The Fourteenth Livestream
Chapter 73.5 — The Fourteenth Livestream
Chapter 73.6 — The Fourteenth Livestream

FOOTNOTE:

1. ‘Bai’ means ‘white’ ↩︎