The Infamous Spirit Lord and the Department of Afterlife

The Department of Afterlife and a few other branches were the initial few sectors of Heavens. Deaths existed much before the concept of money or marriage could be developed by humans and thus adopted by the ancient deities.

Now, the hierarchy began with the Senior Spirit at the top, followed by Marshall of the Grim Reapers, and then his fifteen Captains. Under them, rookie Grim Reapers, and 'Assistants' would do their jobs. Without a proper post assigned to them, these Assistants are only left doing tedious paperwork. The department office, designed on a mountain, used to have the main hall on the peak, used by Spirits and residencies for Grim reapers underneath. Fu Yating thought, his office would now be too empty and to avoid being bullied by the Assistants, it would be better to live behind the mountain.

"The residence behind the mountain is too isolated and was built to be a prison. Living there alone is... not something you should choose." Luo Ming said grimly.

"I have thought about it. No matter why it was made, it is still a house. The view is beautiful from here, and there's peace to cultivate without worries. It will be long before I am summoned outside again, so I should use this time well."

Hesitance was evident on Luo Ming's face. It was a well-known fact among all immortals, that the Spirit Lord Fu Yating was only a prisoner to the heavens. Though forgotten by most entities, he used to be one of the most promising young men to have ascended to Heaven, and was even a candidate to become the Emperor. Today, he is an officer only because he performs duties, and an immortal because he cannot die.

"If Senior Spirit wishes so, then we cannot change his mind." Luo Ming resigned.

Fu Yating began strolling in the area. He noticed the old persimmon tree that wouldn't bear fruit anymore. He plucked out a piece of bark, the cadmium had started browning. It reminded him of himself... He pushed such thoughts away and looked around. There were blooming buds and mellow grass adorning the land, and sunlight lit every plant a brighter jade green. The pavilion he would live in, though not grand in Heaven's standards, suited well with the mountain in view.

The mountains will always sit at the top. New grass will keep blooming in Heaven. The best job for the dying persimmon tree would be to give its last shade of protection and knowledge to the young ones, and forget its own childish wish to grow as tall as a mountain. That would be the best for Fu Yating too.

"All happens with Heaven's will." He reminds himself.

The Emperor had blatantly advised him to take in disciples. He should've been more considerate of Fu Yating's position, as who would want to learn under him?

If they only needed lessons on cultivation, sword forms or ancient spells, he could provide plenty of those. But disciples would want much more than that. They all wanted a master who would attend the Emperor's meetings often, and thus provide more exposure to other officers. He couldn't provide such a thing.

Fu Yating had been insulted to his face many times for being arrogant.

He would never speak of his life as a mortal. They only knew obvious facts, like he was one of the princes in the Fu Dynasty and his mother had been a noblewoman. Since the king never favoured him or his mother, people called him 'Young lord' rather than 'his highness', ignoring his royal blood. This did not bother Fu Yating. "Many people wish to be called a 'Young Lord', it is not a bad title." He had commented.

There is a famous tale about the Spirit Lord Fu Yating's arrogance.

One time the Emperor had become very interested in his past and asked him to narrate his mortal life in front of all ministers present. Fu Yating had replied, "Until Your Majesty calls it an order, this immortal cannot share such stories." All in the audience had started shouting at him for insulting the Emperor, but he stood there without a pinch of change in his expression.

Another incident that ruined his reputation, must be with the deity of fertility.

"Would the Lord Fu Yating agree, that death and birth are two sides of the same coin?" The female deity had asked, and Fu Yating had believed the conversation to be of philosophical nature, so he went on speaking about his opinions.

"I agree. Only with the death of one soul in my tablets, can a new life begin in the wombs that you bless. Thus, death and birth are codependent, equals in nature."

Upon hearing this, the Deity of Fertility had blushed immensely and ran away from the scene. Fu Yating didn't think much of the event, until later when a marriage proposal came knocking his doors. Confused, he explained the situation to his trusted friend, Luo Ming. "Spirit Lord, she was clearly flirting with you! Many officials even heard your conversation openly, and your response only makes it worse!"

Fu Yating sent a long apology letter to the deity. Apparently, she had always admired his beauty, and regardless of his cold demeanour, she had hoped to marry him someday. When he refused such a generous proposal, all of Heaven called him a fool to let go of a big chance of gaining power. Who else would want to marry him? The deity of fertility had been so disheartened, that the following year, the mortal realm's harvests fell below the necessary mark.

Fu Yating had also become burdensome cattle to the Emperor.

Unlike other officers, the Spirits in the Department of Afterlife would only be offered prayers when someone in the family would pass away. Fu Yating however, had no proper shrines built for him, thus no one prayed to him. He would be surprised if anyone in the mortal realm even knew his name.

To summarize it all, Fu Yating is the Senior Spirit in the Department of Afterlife. Most newer immortals know him to be a nobody. The very older officers are split among those who don't know him, and think of him as an arrogant fool and the remaining few who don't hate him but prefer to keep their distance from him.

The promising young immortal, fallen low to become a nobody.

"Senior Spirit, are you busy?" One of the Captains knocked on the wooden pillar.

"No, I am only setting up my office here. What do you need?"

"Marshall asked if you would like to take a look at possible disciples. He sent these scrolls, as his suggestion." Fu Yating picked up one scroll and looked at the record. It was a new recruit under the Martial deity, perfect to be his disciple.

"Let me ask you this, has your Marshall made these suggestions assuming these students would want to learn under me?" The Captain awkwardly shook his head. "If only for status' sake, these students would be perfect suggestions. But I don't think they'd be willing to come under my wing. They are promising cultivators, and have better goals than getting stuck in the Department of Afterlife, especially so soon after the Emperor's decree, there's too much uncertainty."

The Captain couldn't argue with that. "But Senior Spirit, you have to try and convince at least one person to become your disciple. The Emperor's words cannot be taken lightly, and it isn't proper for you to live in this *cold palace!" He coughed trying to swallow his words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

How can Captain call a pavilion in the Heavens a Cold Palace? Did it really look like that to the outsider's eye? That seemed troublesome.

Fu Yating continued. "No, thank you for being honest. I hadn't expected such rumours to have circulated... what more are they calling me?"

The Captain was a simple man and spoke honestly. "Well, these are only rumours I've heard among the Assistants, I don't believe them. But they say the Emperor was swooned by Senior Spirit's beauty, but since he found out you were a man, he wanted to keep you away from everyone else. And... punish you for being born a man."

"But the Emperor has known me for a long time, he knows I am a man."

"Not only that, but they also say that you're not allowed to take in disciples, as the Emperor doesn't want the Senior Spirit to interact with any other men." How ridiculous.

"Clearly, the person starting such absurd rumours is a new immortal." Fu Yating placed a worried hand on his forehead and thought hard. "Alright, thank you, Captain, for telling me. I wouldn't have known otherwise. And thank Marshall too on my behalf, but take these scrolls back. They are of no use to me."

"Senior Spirit, if you do not take in students, these rumours would only prove true. They even say that you are also in love with the Emperor, and you refuse to take any disciples because your heart only belongs to his majesty." This Captain seemed to love rumours as much as the gossipy assistants did.

"It's alright, Captain. I will not take your advice lightly." He nodded.

It was as if the Universe had started to push him to take in a disciple.

Fu Yating sighed and touched the Captain's shoulder in a casual way, in a way to say goodbye, but he saw exactly what he had been afraid of.

A horrifying scream echoed in his ears as a sword went through the Captain's heart. Behind him, Luo Ming was shouting, telling him to pay attention.

His hand recoiled back almost immediately, and he couldn't look the Captain in the eyes anymore, just having witnessed his death. He took a moment to grasp his breath because Luo Ming's agonized expression, and the dying man he had just seen alive a moment ago, was a lot to take in.

This was the only reason, Fu Yating could not take in disciples.

He isn't sure if it's an ability granted to every Spirit, but he hasn't heard any other Spirits speak of it before, and now he's the only Spirit left so he cannot ask. He had searched through many libraries in search of an answer but found none.

Ever since the eleventh year of his ascension, he has had the ability to watch the death of any person he touches, a death that his conscience wouldn't let him forget.

"...Captain should head back." He spoke with averted eyes, and the Captain bowed in response, turning away with the scrolls.

Fu Yating sat down hurriedly, wiping his forehead and calming his meridians.

He remembers younger immortals approaching him to become his disciples, but he would come in contact with them and would see their deaths.

When he touched a wailing old man on his deathbed, he knew the man would die within the next hour, but he couldn't bring himself to say it to the family. In that one glimpse, he had seen the old man's daughter bawling an ugly cry. At that instance, he believed this ability to be an actual curse, tearing him between his conscience and logic.

This ability works only once on every person, and with ghosts, it shows the deaths in their past lives. But once is enough, how would he live with, and teach a person, or talk to them, knowing exactly how they would meet their ends?

Fu Yating had sworn never to take in disciples, to never touch people by accident.