I’m Actually a Bigshot

Chapter 4: The bus

“Su Qingxing, are you fucking scared out of your mind?!”

Bai Gu looked at Su Qingxing with an expression similar to the one he had when he’d just seen a ghost.

They were now standing outside the gates of the haunted school, the board with the school’s name at the entrance was blurred, but after leaving the school, the screaming ghosts really did not come any closer, just as Bai Gu had said.

It was clearly only a school gate, but those hideous evil spirits seemed to have hit a transparent wall and couldn’t take a step out of the campus!

Even the headache-inducing wind and rain seemed to stay within the confines of the school.
There was not a single drop of rain in the world outside the school gates, nor was there any trace of water on the ground beneath Bai Gu’s feet.

For Bai Gu, his escape from the Horror World was worth it, even if he had to sacrifice two scapegoats.
For Bai Gu, as long as he managed to survive in this World of Endless Terror, he would one day be able to return to his own world.

But the Su Qingxing standing in front of him …… made Bai Gu, a villain who was used to backstabbing people, panic.

 An ordinary high school student?

The young master of an aristocratic school whose physique was so weak that he couldn’t even run fast?

A stinky brat who couldn’t even stay away from his phone during a dangerous moment?

Were they really the same person? Same as the one who was standing in front of Bai Gu now?

Bai Gu couldn’t help but take a step back and looked at Su Qingxing with a smile on his face and said, “Hey, Qingxing, I escaped with you, so even if you don’t treat me as your savior, we should still get along peacefully, right?”

“Escaped?” Su Qingxing smiled and cocked his head, but the smile never reached his eyes, “Dead soul number MS7378, Bai Gu.
Time of death April 28, 2018, died in a mountainside mudslide.
When he was alive, he harbored evil intentions, killed his fellow friend and hid his body in the wild.””What are you babbling about! How could you possibly know!” Bai Gu’s entire body was in a state of fear more terrible than the time when evil spirits were surrounding him, the pupils of his eyes that were covered with a red film were almost frantic, “I’m standing right here, I’m standing right here! I’m still alive! How could I have died because of a ridiculous mudslide!”

“What are you babbling about! How could you possibly know!” Bai Gu’s entire body was in a state of fear more terrible than the time when evil spirits were surrounding him, the pupils of his eyes that were covered with a red film were almost frantic, “I’m standing right here, I’m standing right here! I’m still alive! How could I have died because of a ridiculous mudslide!”

“This is the entrance to the Underworld, of course only the people who have died can come in.” Su Qingxing curbed his smile, his black eyes turning completely into a dark blue color, and he just looked at Bai Gu indifferently as he continued speaking—

“Dead soul number MS7378 Bai Gu, failed in the trial of the Underworld.
He will be transferred to the eighteenth level of hell in the Underworld.
He shall never be reborn.”

“Huh, failure?” Bai Gu’s smile was completely maniacal, “Su Qingxing, are you making a mistake? I’ve escaped! I’ve already escaped! That group of seniors that I killed told me that as long as we managed to escape, this world would be over!”

He had obviously escaped, but he had lost?

How could such a ridiculous thing be possible!

Bai Gu’s hand drew out from behind him, bringing along with it the saber that was still stained with Zhang Biao’s blood, and he stabbed straight towards Su Qingxing.

“Sorry, as the saying goes, good is rewarded with good, evil with evil.” Su Qingxing’s figure slowly floated upwards, the ghostly blue lantern and Ghost Fire appeared around him, blocking Bai Gu’s ensuing attack.

“So Bai Gu, your time has come.”

Surrounded by an ethereal blue mixture of star-spotted light and fire, Bai Gu seemed to see a very faint shadow appear behind Su Qingxing that was dressed in layers of fancy clothes, with long silver hair.
It was an appearance that was extremely similar to Su Qingxing’s, but even more exquisite, to the point of being incomparable.

“Su Qingxing, who the hell are you!!!”

The ground beneath Bai Gu’s feet began to crumble, and like a searing inferno covered in lava, flames transformed into a giant hand that dragged Bai Gu straight into the abyss!

Just as he was about to lose his consciousness due to the burning, he vaguely heard Su Qingxing’s voice ringing in his ears –

“I’m just an ordinary worker.
Some people also call me a ‘Guide to the Underworld’.”

He had lost.

In the blazing lava, Bai Gu reluctantly stretched out his arms and opened his mouth wide, but in the end he could only let more and more lava enter his body.

Although he won the game, he did not know that the truly terrifying existence had been hidden among them all along!

That was ……

“Su Qingxing ！！！！！！！！”

The final cry reached Su Qingxing’s ears from the depths of the earth, while Su Qingxing merely landed on his toes with a tap, turned around and walked right in front of the school ghost group, allowing the crumbling ground to gradually recover behind him as if nothing had happened.

The evil spirits that were originally hideous and terrifying in front of Bai Gu were now standing neatly in front of Su Qingxing like students in formation.

“Thank you all for your hard work.” Su Qingxing bowed his head to the somewhat respectful and restrained looking group of ghosts, and made a point to give a slight smile to the protagonist of this trial – the half-body female ghost.

Under the reflection of the ghostly blue lantern, Su Qingxing closed his eyes and his figure began to turn fainter and fainter, eventually disappearing at the entrance of the school amidst the attention of all the ghosts.

When Su Qingxing opened his eyes again, there was no longer a campus in the middle of a stormy night in front of him, instead, it was replaced by a deserted street under the night sky.

There were many human buildings on both sides of this street.
One could see a school, a supermarket, a shopping mall and even a hospital, but because this street was empty and deserted under the gloomy starless and moonless night, like a ghost town.
It also appeared like these buildings without any lights were lined up on both sides like towering stone tablets.

This was a ghost town.

“Where is this place?”

A somewhat familiar voice rang out in Su Qingxing’s ears, and the familiar figure belonging to Zhang Biao was standing not far from him, looking around with a bewildered expression.
On Zhang Biao’s arm, the ferocious wound was still bleeding, and there were still many scars left on his body from when he had been surrounded by the ghosts.

“This is a ghost city.” Su Qingxing said, and started walking straight ahead, “The place where you will live next.”

As Su Qingxing advanced, one by one, the streetlights along the road came on, the dim light similar to the overhead lights with moths flying around in the corridors of the haunted school.

“A ghost town? Did I die?” Zhang Biao looked at Su Qingxing in surprise, “Young Master? Are you dead too?”

“……” Su Qingxing silently glared at Zhang Biao, “You are here, so you must be dead, and another person will explain the details to you.
Anyway, you are riddled with sins, and you can reincarnate after the atonement period is over.
Live a good life next time.”

“Person?” Zhang Biao looked around again, “There are no humans here, there are only ghosts that are not even close to …… aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The tall, but in fact particularly scared of ghosts, Zhang Biao suddenly shouted out, startling Su Qingxing, who was walking next to him.
After looking towards the direction Zhang Biao pointed at, Su Qingxing saw a female “person” wearing a white blood stained dress floating under a stop sign on the road …….

In the distance, there was also a rickety bus heading towards the station.

“Don’t make a fuss, that lady is your guide.” Su Qingxing stopped in his tracks, “As of now, my mission here is over.
If fate permits, maybe we’ll meet again at work later.”

“Little Young Master ……” Zhang Biao stared at the ghost town in front of him, at the bus parked next to the station, at the female ghost in a white dress that was waving at him, and then finally at Su Qingxing, who looked no different from when he was in that world of horror, but still gave off a somewhat different feeling.

Zhang Biao’s sluggish brain seemed to have figured out something.

“Young master, although I don’t quite understand what happened, what about that bastard Bai Gu?” Zhang Biao didn’t walk directly towards the female ghost, but grit his teeth and waved his arm as if he was ready to rush over and beat Bai Gu up, “Don’t tell me that guy really escaped.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that you won’t get your revenge, it’s just that the time is not yet right1.” Su Qingxing directly turned around and walked in the opposite direction, “Whether or not he escaped from that world, the sins that Bai Gu is tainted with will cause him to spend an eternity in the eighteenth level of hell.”

“……”

“I was sent here because I saved the young master? Even if one becomes a ghost, is the criterion for judging good and evil still the same?” Zhang Biao asked again.

Su Qingxing paused and said, “There is no such thing as good and evil here, the criteria each guide uses to pick people is decided by the guide himself.
Some like ghosts with an unshakable conscience, others prefer wicked and treacherous ghosts, that’s all ……”

“Right, I forgot to mention it before.” Su Qingxing, who had walked under the streetlight, turned around, and the smile that rippled at the corners of his mouth caused Zhang Biao to lose his concentration for a moment, “Thanks a lot for that time at the school gate.”

“Oh my God” Zhang Biao looked at the distant back under the street light in a very dazed manner and could not help but mutter, “This little young master is too good looking.
Even after seeing so many beautiful women over the years., I can’t believe I’m dumbfounded by the beauty of a skinny little young master at this moment!”

“Zhang Biao, hold on! No matter how pretty the young master is, he’s definitely not as good as a soft and fragrant2 woman, think of those breasts! Think of those legs! Think of those buttocks3 ……”

“Newcomer, are you familiar with Lord Guide?” It was unclear when the female ghost in the white dress had floated to Zhang Biao’s side, “Be careful, the last ghost who had bad intentions towards the Lord Guide is still in the soup pot of the 18th level of hell at the moment.”

“Laozi4 likes women!” Zhang Biao, who was not even afraid of ghosts now, glared at the female ghost with a straight face, “Don’t think I’m still afraid of you now, we’re all ghosts, who’s afraid of whom!”

“Oh?” The female ghost, whose entire face was covered by her long hair, stretched out her ghastly white hand and pushed her hair away, revealing a face without any features except for her bloody mouth, “What about me?”

“Aaaaahhhhhhh ！！！！ Mommy ah！！！！！！！”

Su Qingxing heard the miserable screams behind him, but he just chucked and did not turn around again.

The task of the Underworld Guides was simple: to examine the hearts and minds of those souls in the Underworld Trials, to bring the right ones back to the ghost town and to send the bad to the bubbling depths of hell.

So Su Qingxing had seen many, many things, of which Zhang Biao constituted but a small part.
And yet, like every other time before, Su Qingxing found a glimmer of pleasure in this repetitive job.

After taking his mobile phone out of his pocket and making sure that the device had not been damaged by the rain, Su dialed the number “666”.

“Hello?” A languid masculine voice came from the other end of the line, “Qingxing, have you finished your work?”

“Well, bringing back a new ghost is somewhat rewarding,” Su Qingxing said, and changed the topic, “Zhu Sha, next time don’t send me so many irrelevant jokes and pictures while I’m working, people who are still always looking down at their phones in the horror world are actually very easy to be suspected, right?”

“But it’s funny!” The voice on the other side of the phone suddenly became energetic, “Did you see that little white dog? It actually likes to sniff its own little butt, hahahahahahaha!”

“……” Su Qingxing was silent for a few seconds, “I’m hanging up, I’m on my way back to the ……” management department.

Before Su Qingxing could finish speaking, the man on the other end of the phone named Zhu Sha already gave an “ah” and said anxiously, “Qingxing, it seems that a bigshot from the underworld is coming to our place for an inspection, come back quickly!”

A bigshot from the underworld?

Su Qingxing’s mind immediately conjured up the guy he couldn’t help but avoid.

“By the way, where did you just say you were returning to?” Zhu Sha’s voice then came from the other end of the phone.

“……” Su Qingxing paused and immediately changed his words, “I’m getting ready to go back to work, that big shot, I’ll have to trouble you to receive him.”

“Hey hey! Qingxing, you can’t be like this! Haven’t you already done three missions in a row? Shouldn’t you be back for a break already?! Qingxing, you have to take care of your body, as the ghost town’s lucky…… bah, honored guide, the elders and inhabitants of the ghost town are looking up to their respectable and lovely lord guide, you must not fall! Don’t leave me to face the bigshot alone! I’m the most afraid of the bigshots…”

In the next second, Su Qingxing had already hung up the phone.

“……”

“Let’s get back to work.” Su Qingxing’s figure began to disappear in the streets of the ghost town.
He had come here to hide from someone, naturally he could not reveal his whereabouts in front of any “person”.

    ×××

Legend has it that the entrance to the underworld appears in a variety of different ways; it could be a street, a hospital, a dilapidated classroom, or a bus on a mountain road ……

Each time the work began, Su Qingxing would experience a brief period of darkness before his eyes.

 When Su Qingxing regained his vision, he found himself sitting in the last row of an ordinary bus, and he could even feel the endless bumpy feeling of the bus driving along the mountain road.

“You’re awake?” Sitting on Su Qingxing’s right side was a white-haired old man who, despite his age, looked very energetic, wearing a white tai chi suit of good fabric and clutching a dragon head walking stick in his hands.

Su Qingxing’s eyes were filled with bewilderment.
Having been a guide for so long, he had long since gotten used to playing the role an ordinary trialist.

“It seems that something terrible has happened, you must be careful, son.” The old man looked at Su Qingxing with some kindness in his eyes, “I have a grandson who is about the same age as you, but you are much more handsome than him.”

“Old man, why are you spouting so much nonsense?” On the seat in the front row, a man with a cigarette in his mouth turned around, his eyes full of hostility, “Kid, hurry up and introduce yourself, after this moment, grandpa, I won’t have time to listen to your nonsense.”

“Ah …… ah ……” Su Qingxing’s eyes flickered and he suddenly stretched out his hands and gestured in a panic to the man who was smoking, “Ah Ah, ah ah ……”

As his gestures turned faster, Su Qingxing’s eyes even turned red and looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe I met a mute!” The man threw the cigarette butt on the bus and stomped it out with his foot, “Not a single useful one! All of them are a fucking burden!”

Footnotes:

1. 不是不报 The character used here is 报 bào which can mean: to announce; to inform; report; newspaper; recompense; revenge; CL:份[fen4],張|张[zhang1]
So this particular phrase could mean “don’t worry, it’s not that I didn’t report him/wasn’t informed about him” or it could me “it’s not that you won’t get your revenge” If anybody has a better translation of this phrase then please tell me in the comments.

2.
香 xiāng fragrant; sweet smelling; aromatic; savory or appetizing; (to eat) with relish; (of sleep) sound; perfume or spice; joss or incense stick;
Meanwhile, ML: I’m sure my SQX is more fragrant than any other person in this world, hmph!

3.
那屁: my machine translator read it as ‘fart’ and Zhang Biao was this far from being labelled as a pervert who gets off on a woman’s fart WHEEEZE

4.
老子lǎo zi: father, daddy, “I, your father” (in anger, or out of contempt)
Basically an arrogant way of referring to yourself