"WAAHHH!!!" The shrilling voice mixed between a young child and an elderly woman interchanges in every other sentence. "I don't want to be Meng Po anymore! Everyday I sit at the same place, do the same thing, and look at the same ugly mugs. Let me reincarnate! I want to fall in love, have babies, grow old, then die!"
Entering view is a woman in her early 20's clothed in long ebon robes that drags on the floor. Surrounded by a group of distressed caretakers, she swings her arms in anger to deter them from coming closer. Every slight movement causes the edges of her robes to sweep along the ground, garnering gazes full of gratitude from nearby sweepers.
Retaliating against useless consolement Meng Po flopped onto the floor with an enraged yell. Kicking and growling at the approaching guards, she thrashed her body around like a fish on a cutting board. Knowing that struggling is fruitless but still refused to submit her eyes gleamed with a lethal light.
"Don't take another step!" Baring a pair of shiny white teeth, it flashes momentarily before aiming for the nearest hand.
"Argh!"
The moment a few panicking envoys noticed Chu Nuan, tears of joy gushed out like a waterfall as they ran towards her direction.
"Your Honor!" They wept with wretched faces as their legs buckled from tension. Taking the opportunity of when they kneel to the floor, a hand from each individual grasped onto an edge of Chu Nuan's clothes. With no intention to let loose, they clutched the piece of cloth as though gripping onto a lifeboat.
Raising an eyebrow at this exhibition, Chu Nuan swept a gaze at the crying guides and hysterical Meng Po. Trying to ignore the situation she lifted her head to look at the dusky sky with slanted eyes. Nice weather today, she thought before a flash of lightning struck at her feet.
"..." Fine. No need to remind me.
Shaking off the hanging baggage, Chu Nuan changed her expression into a compassionate visage. Bending beside the frenzy woman, her voice filled with gentle grace entered the atmosphere.
"I understand your point."
Hearing this incredibly soothing murmur, Meng Po abruptly stopped chewing at the face of a caretaker and instead turned to stare at the pleasant profile nearby. "Really?" She asked with watery eyes.
"Really." Chu Nuan answered while hoisting her up effortlessly. "I can comprehend your pain, even I wouldn't want to sit at the same place for millenniums cooking soup. In this gloomy place the only other thing you can do aside from cooking is serving the lined up souls like a cafeteria worker. "
"That's right, that's right!" Meng Po nodded her head furiously, "you really do understand." Sitting onto the chair Chu Nuan led her to, Meng Po's gaze sparkled with appreciation.
Chuckling in a soft voice, Chu Nuan casually ladled from a black pot not too far from their position. Pouring the contents into a bowl, she swirled the liquid inside before offering it to the woman in front of her. "Here, you must be thirsty. Take a sip and wet your throat first before we continue our conversation."
Receiving the offer, Meng Po took a large mouthful as a sign of gratitude to Chu Nuan. Placing the bowl down, her mouth opened to speak when suddenly her body glowed with a bright light. As abrupt as it came, the light died down just as quickly, leaving a dazed Meng Po to stare into space.
A sly grin crept onto Chu Nuan's face while her eyes narrowed into a crescent moon. "Hi~ how are you feeling?"
"??Who am I?" The woman's gaze focused on a particular direction.
"You are Meng Po."
"Meng Po? I am?"
"That's right, your main job is to boil soup and serve it to souls waiting for reincarnation. Today is your first day on the job. If you have any questions, feel free to ask the envoys for information. Remember to work well, we are all counting on you."
Pondering for a second with her head tilted sideways, Meng Po's foggy mind slowly cleared up. Shaking her herself to gain clarity, a steeled voice sounded out. "Okay! I'm going to work hard!" She shouted after clenching her fists in determination.
Receiving a meaningful look, the envoys on stand-by all rushed forward instantly. Encircling their target, they cautiously escorted her back to her dwelling for further (brainwashing) education.
Watching them leave with a blank look in his eyes, Xie Luochen asked a question he had in his mind. "I thought Meng Po's soup doesn't work on Meng Po?"
"It doesn't." Chu Nuan answered while walking away from the station.
_______________
"What is our company policy?!"
"Reap souls! Reap money! Reap benefits!" The roar of motivated envoys vibrate in the vicinity.
"I can't hear you, again!"
"Reap souls! Reap money! Reap benefits!"
Returning to the Bridge of Forgetfulness, the training for new hires starts.
"Good." Acknowledging their efforts, Chu Nuan continued to instruct. " Everyone here listen well, New Years is coming and those who fail to meet this year's quota will have their bonuses deducted. So hand out more business cards if you want spirits to appoint you as their next guide. Another thing is, the Bridge of Forgetfulness is in the process of being rebuilt. But funds are running low for supplies. What do you think we should do?"
Being served a sudden pop quiz, all the envoys revealed perturbed looks before they began to whisper and exchanged ideas with each other. A few minutes have gone by without one plausible concept to work on.
Disappointment displayed itself on Chu Nuan's face as she pulled out a packet of papers. " It's very simple, we will start a touring agency. One third of you will find customers, another third will tour the customers, and the rest will finish their reaping quotas." Shuffling the papers on hand, Chu Nuan glanced at the bewildered guides, "any questions?"
Hands flew in the air right away.
One guide asked, "Your Honor, as reputable couriers how can we stoop so low as to become salesmen?"
"Ah?" Veins protrude out of Chu Nuan's pale forehead. "Is your head filled with water for grass?" She asked in a voice chock-full of unconcealed scorn.
"Excuse me?" the envoy replied with a stunned expression.
"I asked, is your brain full of rubbish!" Throwing the stack of documents at the envoy's chest, her ragged breathing gradually steadied as she pushed loose strands of hair back with a sigh. "What use is honor if we all became beggars on the street. Money doesn't fall from the sky, the project needs funds to work with."
Astonished by her words, the envoy became speechless.
A different person asked, "how do we reel in customers?"
"That's a more substantial question, watch me." Saying so, Chu Nuan cast a gaze towards the crowd of waiting souls. Due to the broken bridge, the amount of souls able to cross became less than one third of the usual numbers. This caused the area around the bridge to be jammed with unneeded traffic. Although a region has been renovated into a small town for temporary residence. Due to insufficient funds, the town and bridge's construction has been slowed to almost a stop.
Searching among the mass of souls, her sight landed on a woman in mid-thirties floating aimlessly around the bund. Wearing a normal shirt and jeans, with no extra jewelry or makeup. Chu Nuan's eyes lit up with a sly light. She's the one!
Arranging her face with a bright smile, she approached the woman with a warm attitude. "Hey! Didn't think I would see you here!"
Attracted by the greeting the woman looks at Chu Nuan with a confused expression. "You are….?"
Putting on a saddened look, she continued to bs, "it's only been a few years, I can't believe you forgot about me…"
"Oh, oh, I'm sorry.." The woman apologized with shame.
"It's okay, how have you've been? Still working late night shifts?"
"Yes, I overworked myself before coming here.."
"Ah, that's too bad, I'm sure you rarely got the chance to enjoy yourself, no?"
"That..."
Patting the woman on her back in encouragement, Chu Nuan leaned closer to the woman's ears. "Hey, I've got an offer for you."
"An offer?"
"That's correct. I know you have been working hard without rest. Now that I think about it, when was the last time you actually went out to have fun? See, even you don't remember. So how about this? I know a touring event will be taking place soon and my friend is one of the organizers. For the price of, not 99,999, not 9,999, but for 99.99 Hell's coin, I will sell you a ticket. What do you think?"
"This…." Hearing the price of the ticket the young woman froze in shock. No matter how much she thinks about this offer, it doesn't seem normal.
"Now, now, what do you hesitate for? You're already dead. You couldn't enjoy yourself when alive, but at the very least how about having some fun being dead. Plus you even forgot about me just now, will you reject my concern for you as well? Just scan this QR code on this tag." Hehe.
Strung along by guilt and the feeling of wanting to set herself free, the woman absentmindedly scanned the code Chu Nuan placed in front of her before leaving to claim her ticket.
Returning to the group of stunned students, Chu Nuan swung the tag around with a smug grin. "Reap customers like that. Observe how they look, act, and dress, these are all important clues to knowing the potential target. It doesn't matter what tricks you use, from lying, crying, to saying the truth, all these are actual skills to use. Our goal is to squeeze them all dry!"
Someone raised their hand, "Your Honor, what if I am unable to proficiently use these tricks?"
"Then seduce them."
Handing the QR code to Xie Luochen, she gave him a gentle push towards the crowd. At the same time, turning on a recording she brought out a mechanical voice of a robot spread out among the crowd. "Come! Come! Come! Beautiful. Women. Men. Elderly. If. Anyone. Wants. To. Help. Me. Please. Scan. This. Code."
Instantly, a horde of ghosts surrounds Xie Luochen trying to scan the same code. A moment later, an exhausted Xie Luochen came back with messy clothing.
"See?" Chu Nuan looked at the group once again. "This is the power of a beautiful face, learn well from this."
At this point, someone else asked a very important question. "Your Honor, what if I'm not smart nor handsome?"
Searching for the owner of that voice, Chu Nuan consoled, "you must have confidence in yourself even though you think you're not handsome. In reality--" Pinpointing to the owner of that voice, her words immediately came to an abrupt stop. Pausing for a fraction of a second, she continued, "I can transfer you to another department."
"...."