"Greetings, Leader!" Grace Bennett bowed to the burly man. "It's us. Today we've brought a wrongful death case and need your judgment."

"Wrongful death?" The burly man didn't even lift his eyelids. He pulled out a notebook from his chest and flipped through it quickly. "No can do. The quota for wrongful deaths has been filled these past few years. Just mark it as 'accidental death.' Add five years to their lifespan in the next life, otherwise the workload is just too much."

After saying this, the burly man snapped the notebook shut and turned to leave. William Dawson and the other two were left standing there, stunned.

"Leader!" Emma Foster snapped out of it and called out, "This deceased was clearly killed due to the influence of 'Tai Shu.' There's no way it shouldn't count as wrongful death!"

"'Tai Shu,' so what?!" The burly man turned around. "The Legends Bureau has been abandoned for nearly a thousand years. Haven't you seen enough 'Tai Shu' cases? If every death caused by 'Tai Shu' is counted as wrongful, how can there be any order left in this world? How can the underworld be governed?"

As he spoke, the burly man strode forward, a faint aura of anger emanating from him, forcing the two girls to retreat step by step.

Just as the three were panicking, a gust of wind swept in from behind them, whistling past their ears and heading straight for the burly man. In a flash, a man in white robes appeared before them, standing with his back to the three, holding a giant brush covered in talismans, facing the burly man.

The man in white was far less imposing than the burly man, but the moment the burly man saw him, his eyes widened in terror. Before he could utter a word, the man in white reached out and slapped him hard across his bearded face.

The slap was so forceful that the burly man spun around in place.

"Three things," the man in white said calmly. "First, from now on, don't ever speak to other underworld messengers like that again. Second, wrongful death is wrongful death—no matter how many die, it's still wrongful. That's the judge's duty. Third, the Legends Bureau has never been abandoned."

This scene terrified William Dawson. If the burly man in red was scary enough by appearance, the man in white who followed and slapped him was even more mysterious—who could he be?

Before William Dawson could react, the burly man in red dropped to his knees with a thud and, almost in tears, said:

"At your command, Great Judge!"

The words "Great Judge" had barely left his mouth when not only did the burly man in red kneel, but the black and white wardens beside William Dawson also hurriedly knelt. In moments, all the black and white wardens and underworld guards nearby had knelt, leaving only the souls standing.

Soon, the souls followed suit, kneeling as the underworld messengers did, and William Dawson was no exception.

On the plaza of over ten thousand people, only the man in white stood with his hands behind his back.

"Are there ranks among judges? Who is this?" William Dawson, kneeling on the ground, whispered to Grace Bennett.

"Of course there are ranks!" Grace Bennett whispered back. "There are four great judges in the underworld: Lord Wei Zheng of the 'Virtue Reward Division,' Lord Zhong Kui of the 'Evil Punishment Division,' Lord Lu Zhidao of the 'Investigation Division,' and the one before us is the chief of the four, Lord Samuel Clark of the 'Underworld Law Division'! He is also the head of the eight great underworld messengers, known as the 'Civil Judge.'"

The man in white slowly turned around, scholarly in appearance, yet exuding an undeniable aura of authority.

"Everyone, rise. I was just passing by. No need to make a big deal out of this—if the Yamas find out, it'll be troublesome."

With that, the underworld messengers stood up one after another, bowing respectfully to Samuel Clark before returning to their duties.

Grace Bennett and Emma Foster also stood up. It was their first time seeing the Great Judge, and they couldn't help but feel excited.

"You too, get up," Samuel Clark said to William Dawson, who was still kneeling. "This time, I'll judge your case personally."

William Dawson was a bit flustered by the honor. "Oh, oh, thank you!"

With a wave of his right hand, Samuel Clark's soul-summoning brush glowed with a blue light, the talismans falling off one by one. With a flip of his left hand, a ledger-like book appeared out of thin air, with the words—"Book of Life and Death"—written on it.

As the Book of Life and Death flipped open, the blue glow of the soul-summoning brush intensified. William Dawson slowly stood up and said, "Leader, do you need my name? I'm William Dawson..."

Samuel Clark smiled without answering. Just as he was about to write William Dawson's name, he paused, staring at William Dawson's face.

"You..." Samuel Clark wanted to say something, but the words seemed to slip his mind. After a while, he asked, "What did you just call me?"

"Leader, why?" William Dawson looked at Samuel Clark in confusion.

Grace Bennett and Emma Foster didn't dare speak. They could clearly see the confusion on the Great Judge's face. As someone versed in yin and yang and the ancient and modern, what could possibly puzzle him?

After a long while, Samuel Clark finally asked, "In the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, did we meet?"

"The nineteenth year of Zhenguan?" William Dawson was taken aback, then chuckled. "Not to mention the nineteenth year of Zhenguan, even the nineteenth year of the Republic, I couldn't have existed back then."

Grace Bennett also sensed something was off and said to Samuel Clark, "Great Judge, did you forget he's just a mortal? He shouldn't remember anything from the nineteenth year of Zhenguan."