In the hall.
Listening to the sounds from the little ones outside, Jiang Lin chuckled and shook his head.
He checked the time. The mechanical sphere should be with Si, a member of the Ghost Artifact Workshop, by now.
Ever since the Seven-Colored Egg didn't return, the mechanical sphere was probably bored, or perhaps it had found its path.
It started heading towards the Ghost Artifact Workshop.
Si was there, as were the artifact refiners from the West Hall.
While learning artifact refining, they also made modifications to their own bodies.
Sometimes, they could even refine quite a few gadgets and bring them back.
In the study behind him, Jiang Lin had also prepared a bookshelf for it.
Dedicated to storing its gadgets.
Besides the mechanical sphere, many other things had happened in the past two years.
For example, Nie Jiu and Qin Mu formed an optimal combination, their performance gradually increasing, even showing a trend of breaking into the top ten in team performance.
For example, the life-bound paper Jiang Lin carried with him had taken on a human shape, similar to a paper figure.
Jiang Lin had tried inputting many commands into it, but none could make the life-bound paper—the paper figure—move.
And then there was...
When distributing rewards for the "Scum Ghost Domain" broadcast earlier, a viewer used the reward to exchange for a chance to resolve a haunting in their home.
At that time, Jiang Lin had sent the Seven-Colored Egg with the paper effigy to investigate.
The result was that the so-called haunting was actually the viewer's other twin child—Xu Nan.
Because Xu Nan's physique was special, when Jiang Lin sent him to the Judge, he had told him:
"After your own matters are resolved, if you wish to stay, you can come to the Eighteenth Hall."
And not long ago, Xu Nan had indeed come looking for him.
That day, after Jiang Lin had assigned tasks to his team members, he heard the gatekeeper, Duo Bao, report that a ghost child was looking for him.
Xu Nan, whose consciousness had mostly recovered, looked fair and soft, with fluffy hair.
He was wearing a yellowish-brown outfit and looked just like an ordinary child.
Moreover, he could speak now.
As soon as he saw Jiang Lin, he directly said, "I want to follow you."
"Also, can I see Xu Ran? I just want to look, not to disturb their lives."
"Of course."
This was not a problem for Jiang Lin at all.
It was something he could do with a flick of his hand.
That morning, he completed the relevant procedures and took Xu Nan to his home.
When they arrived, Father Xu had already left for work, and Mother Xu was at home preparing lunch.
The house looked much the same as when Xu Nan had left.
However...
A room named Xu Nan had been added.
In the kitchen, a set of rice bowls engraved with 'Xu Nan' had also been added.
Xu Nan, Xu Ran, these two sets of rice bowls were placed side by side.
On the shoe cabinet, a pair of shoes belonging to 'Xu Nan' had also been added.
Seeing these things, Xu Nan said nothing, nor did he ask to speak to Mother Xu.
He just silently, silently watched it all.
Just like when he was still inside Xu Ran.
Then, he learned from the conversations of the neighbors.
After recovering from his illness, Xu Ran had recuperated for a period and then retook the college entrance examination.
He did not enroll in a music conservatory or a medical school.
It seemed he was going into research.
Attacking science.
After listening for a while longer, Xu Nan withdrew his gaze.
"We can go now, Lord Jiang."
"..."
On the way back to the Eighteenth Hall with Xu Nan, Jiang Lin obtained a drop of blood-tear from him.
Including the one used to exchange for the pearl last time, that makes two drops.
...
After returning to the Eighteenth Hall,
Jiang Lin did not let Xu Nan wander around him aimlessly, nor did he assign him tasks like the Seven-Colored Egg.
Instead, he enrolled him in an underworld class to learn about underworld common knowledge first.
In addition to his studies, Jiang Lin also arranged suitable cultivation techniques for him based on his physique.
A special spiritual body, innate wisdom, and precocious development...
Xu Nan's learning and cultivation required no supervision.
He quickly got the hang of it.
By now, he had almost finished the courses on underworld common knowledge.
He had also memorized a large part of the underworld laws.
Indeed, he was very worry-free.
The other pet beast captains who found out asked where they could find such a treasure.
Oh, right.
In the past two years, Jiang Lin had further advanced his realm.
He had been promoted to the peak of the Ghost King realm, half a step into the Underworld Emissary realm.
But strangely, this increase in strength had not brought any memories of his past lives.
This led Jiang Lin to speculate whether a higher realm was needed, or if the remaining memories were blocked by Meng Po's soup.
Last time, the memories of the 'Jiang Lin' life were not fully recalled.
He had wondered at the time if it was because the memory fragments were too long, and his strength was insufficient to sustain further recollection.
However, all of this was just Jiang Lin's speculation.
After all, the peak of the Ghost King realm was not a low level of strength.
Above that were the Underworld Emissary realm and the Nether Emperor realm.
These were realms Jiang Lin had never dared to imagine before.
"Time to go to work."
In the Eighteenth Hall.
After the pet beasts who were friends with the Seven-Colored Egg had left, Jiang Lin also tidied up his thoughts, got up, and walked out of the hall.
It had been two years, and his special tasks now included several that required long-term investigation.
And in order to bring about changes in his life-bound paper, he often went to the task center to accept missions.
As he walked out of the underworld passage, Jiang Lin skillfully opened the live stream.
He wouldn't miss out on the points from daily broadcasts if he could get them.
"System prompt: You have become an excellent first-class ghost messenger. Current task progress: 78%"
...
"Ding, the live stream you follow, 'Daily Healing in the Underworld,' has started. Come and take a look~"
...