The Beloved of the Underworld

The Mystery Hunt is currently the most popular reality show. Each episode, the guests visit a spooky place with a mysterious legend, such as a mountain village, an old mansion, or a haunted house, and investigate its secrets. Though every episode ends with a thoroughly scientific explanation, viewers still love it. Meng Qiao, an amateur contestant said to be able to communicate with spirits, is young, slow, and has a low task-completion rate. She also disappears from camera view now and then. Yet she consistently ranks near the top in audience polls, so netizens mock her as someone who got on the show through connections. [Who exactly is voting for Meng Qiao?] [Those of you who like Meng Qiao, come out and take a few steps. I want to see if any of you are actually alive. Could it be a whole army of ghost voters?] Meanwhile, in the underworld: King Yama: Quick, add two more teams! Qiaoqiao's about to get overtaken. Black and White Impermanence: We're voting, we're voting. One vote from you, one from me, and Qiaoqiao will debut tomorrow! Ox-Head and Horse-Face: Let's see who dares to overtake our Qiaoqiao! We'll drag them down if we have to! Meng Qiao, an underworld employee forced to compete and under a lot of pressure, sighed. If it weren't for the endless Meng Po Soup and impossible KPIs, I wouldn't want to be on this show either, okay? QAQ She was slow because she had to listen carefully to the voices of the ghosts. She kept disappearing from camera view because she had to sneak away to catch ghosts without the others knowing. Her task-completion rate was low because she knew the reasons made up by the production team were all fake! There really were ghosts on this show! And she had to secretly send them on their way! Most vengeful ghosts either had unfinished business or had died unjustly. May those who suffer in this life find happiness in the next. Later, as the show went on, Meng Qiao really did become more and more popular. One contestant quietly warned her in private: Stop trying to stand out. I'm determined to take first place in the polls this time. I've got someone powerful backing me! Meng Qiao replied with confidence: What's so impressive about that? I've got people backing me from below. The other contestant: ? Later, people heard that whenever this contestant appeared on the show, all kinds of inexplicable bad luck seemed to befall them :) An optimistic little ray of sunshine who inherited a civil-service position in the Meng Po division at a young age. A coming-of-age, everyone-loves-her story. Both the human world and the underworld adore her. The underworld here isn't built in the conventional way. I've made up a great many details of my own. Theme: Punish evil and promote good.