I am the Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysterious-Chapter 171 - 144: Masks and Incense
Sang Que initially thought the mask of the Evil Suppression Bureau was the External Heart Lamp, which would increase the number of her Heart Lamps directly once obtained.
But that’s not entirely true; the mask, token, and official seal make up a set.
The official seal can harness the power of incense to attack evil spirits and ghosts. Back in the woods, when the Li Family Widow was possessed by an Earth Ghost, He Buning used his official seal to expel it from her body.
The official seal of the Evil Suppression Bureau can be used repeatedly, but the one from the Ghost Opera Troupe breaks after a single use.
The official seal is carved from an entire piece of Ten Victory Stone, featuring a ghostly face similar to the mask on top, and the words ’Evil Suppression’ and ’Night Travel’ below.
The power of the official seal depends on how much incense one possesses.
The mask of the Evil Suppression Bureau gains incense in a manner similar to how a Taoist Disciple offers to the Daoist Lord to borrow incense; how much they can borrow depends on their devotion.
When Sang Que first inherited the mask through the ritual, the mask could only provide her with ten basic incense points, and strengthening the incense depended on the position token.
The Copper Travel Token has a limit of one hundred points, Silver Travel a limit of five hundred points, while Golden Travel sets the current mask’s limit at one thousand points.
There is a limit because she cannot simply reach the maximum capacity by wearing the mask and holding the corresponding token.
She needs to wear the mask, gradually assume the role of the Night Traveler, and as her compatibility with the role of Night Traveler and loyalty to the Evil Suppression Bureau increase, the mask will provide more incense.
Sang Que wrote this with a quirky expression, unable to help but complain, "It’s like Sesame Credit and Huabei limits."
This intricate system ensures once one enters the Evil Suppression Bureau, there’s no getting out.
Between the first and second layers of the Nine Netherworld are nine levels, requiring nine incense points to stabilize the soul; between the second and third layers are ninety-nine levels, requiring ninety-nine incense points to stabilize the soul.
Stabilizing power at the gate of the third layer of the Nine Netherworld requires a total of one hundred and eight incense points, which can be reached with a little more effort upon becoming a Copper Traveler.
Most of the evil spirits roaming the Deceit Dynasty are first or second layer, with few in the third layer. With the strength of the third layer of the Nine Netherworld and a little caution, survival is entirely feasible.
Compared to her prior efforts to accumulate the one hundred and eight incense points needed for the third layer strength of the Nine Netherworld, by making short videos, helping Black Mountain Village’s residents, and ultimately relying on her mother’s novel, she finally got through the toughest period.
Now, simply by joining the Evil Suppression Bureau and becoming a Copper Night Traveler, one can directly stabilize at the third layer.
Sang Que felt a sense of disparity, but upon further reflection, if benefits were truly that easy to take advantage of, why didn’t Yan Daozi join the Night Travelers directly in the past?
He just performed Day Travel, eventually not even doing that, likely because engaging with evil spirits daily with the Evil Suppression Bureau is too dangerous. Once leaving the bureau and returning the mask, the Heart Lamp would immediately extinguish.
Day Travelers are relatively safe, with the mask providing significantly less incense than for Night Travelers. Day Travelers need to reach Silver Travel to attain the strength of the third layer of the Nine Netherworld.
Hence, those with the strength of the third layer of the Nine Netherworld constitute the majority within the Evil Suppression Bureau; reaching the fourth layer equates to the rank of Colonel.
This is primarily because between the third and fourth layers of the Nine Netherworld, nine hundred ninety-nine incense points are needed to ensure safety. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
For Night Travelers, the limit for Golden Travel is one thousand points, meaning one must reach the ultimate level of Golden Travel to have a chance to transcend the third layer and enter the fourth.
As it’s often said, delving into the Lower Nine Netherworld isn’t difficult; what makes it challenging is accumulating incense, which becomes increasingly difficult as one progresses.
Her mother also analyzed that the population size in the Deceit Dynasty will cap the number of incense points, making it hard for their Ghost Gods’ power to exceed the Eighth Layer.
"Worked hard for so long, only to get a ten-point incense assurance; even Huabei isn’t so stingy!"
Sang Que remarked, feeling her current incense sits around the third layer, four hundred levels. With the support from her mother’s novel fans, she nearly has enough to impact the incense number for the fourth layer upon becoming a Silver Traveler.
Possibly, if her mother’s novel becomes suddenly popular, she wouldn’t even need Silver Travel.
But her mother also advised that being prepared for all eventualities is certainly correct. Working diligently here with the Evil Suppression Bureau and temporarily forgetting her relationship with Nine Songs, wholly taking on her role as a Night Traveler guarding the people of the Deceit Dynasty is a good move.
Proceed systematically in handling mysterious cases, seeking the other eyeball of the Yin Child, and preparing to confine a four-layered evil ghost.
Regarding that massive mysterious case that terrifies everyone, she also discussed it with her mother.
Though the Yin Child hasn’t mentioned any plan for blood sacrifices, from the blood sacrifice incident in Tangyuan County, it’s clear the Yin Child needs the most extreme fear experienced by people right before their deaths.
Accomplishing this is incredibly challenging, making it impossible for her mother to write an extra Chapter with the Yin Child as the protagonist in a mysterious case.
Because readers are always viewing someone else’s story, which won’t happen around them, they can’t possibly feel that extreme level of fear.
Utilizing a storyteller’s ability to actively create mysterious cases to harm innocent people is also not something she or her mother can do.
To achieve this, she still needs to find an opportunity within the Deceit Dynasty, and her mother suggested first investigating the origin of the Yin Child and the ins and outs of the Fengning City incident, maybe a breakthrough can be found.
"The other eyeball hasn’t been found yet, so let’s take it slow."
Today, Sang Que also received her three hundred merit points from the Merit Office, not thinking much until she checked the exchange list and realized that three hundred points are quite a lot.
The Evil Suppression Bureau categorizes mysterious cases simply into four levels: A, B, C, D.
The Tangyuan County sacrifice event is classified as level A, involving evil ghosts above the fourth layer, with a threat range covering a whole county.
The event in Ping Lake Village affected several villages surrounding Ping Lake Village, also involving a fourth-layer evil ghost, classified as level B.
A village-wide scope is C level, while cases involving just a few households are D level.
Day Travelers generally handle C and D levels, while Night Travelers handle A and B levels.
Put simply, matters involving first-second-third-layer evil spirits are directed to the Day Travelers, while fourth-level ghost-level matters are directed to the Night Travelers, with special instances, like a three-layered evil which Day Travelers can’t handle, passed on to the Night Travelers.
Threats like the Yin Child, belonging to ultra-level A disaster scenarios, once any trace is detected by the Night Travelers, are directly handed to the Yin Walking General.
Sang Que’s three hundred merit points were the maximum acquired for handling a level B mysterious case as a leading figure, with Qin Ze and Xu San who assisted her earning only a hundred points each.
The Evil Suppression Bureau divides yin objects into Evil Level and Ghost Level. The two keys on her that can be repeatedly used are considered special within ghost-level yin objects; pig-killing knives and such are ordinary evil-level yin objects.
Ghost-level yin objects start at five hundred merit points and up, with a single-use evil-level yin object requiring at least a hundred merit points.
Sang Que can exchange her three hundred merit points for three evil-level yin objects, or other resources.
Browsing the list, she noticed many bizarre items, including weapon materials.
Similar weapons to her Hundred Victory Saber can still be found in the Merit Office, with the cheapest going for a thousand merit points.
There is also a special firecracker used to repel ghosts, mixed with vermillion, black dog blood powder, and a small amount of Ten Victory Stone debris. One stick costs thirty merit points.
That item she can have Jiang Zao make a whole carload for her!
Ten Victory Stone is considered a strategic resource under the joint control of the government and the Buddhist Sect during the Xuan Dynasty, even rarer than glutinous rice. If she privately sells it, the Buddhist Sect may target her, and not even the Evil Suppression Bureau could protect her.
However, she can prepare some for herself; once used, others have no way to trace it.
For now, there’s a lot on the list that Sang Que still can’t fully understand, so she decided not to exchange anything today, planning to familiarize herself with the items before doing so later.
She listed the red nail she obtained earlier in the Merit Office, pricing it at a hundred merit points.
The advantages of joining the Evil Suppression Bureau are evident in the things she learned today; the logistical support is extremely comprehensive, saving her a lot of energy.
Also, it’s incredibly important for survival in the Deceit Dynasty to easily obtain critical information inaccessible to ordinary people.
The fact that the more she engages with evil spirits, the more she attracts them doesn’t concern Sang Que at all. With great power, any evil spirit coming for her is ultimately seeking death.
After putting down her pen, Sang Que checked over what she had written by the lamp one last time, ensuring there were no mistakes before putting away her notebook and pen and calling Xia Chan to come back early for bed.
Tomorrow morning, she would have Kou Yushan take Xia Chan to school first; then she would go to meet Tong Youyu, the Copper Night Traveler of eight years.
Anyone who could last eight years is stronger than Yan Daozi!
