Judge of Souls - Chapter 105

Seal the Building

Jun Heng sighed with feeling. “At times like this, you realize how precious comedic relief is. If there were someone who could lighten the mood, relatives wouldn’t turn into enemies.”

Zhang Yangyang said, “Thank goodness I’m poor – that’s prevented so many dangers.”

Jiang Feng asked. “How did you all end up fighting?”

“We started out just arguing. Her daughter was the first to strike, slapping my husband. How could we tolerate that? So I hit back. When people came out to watch, we were embarrassed, so both sides took the fight inside. The other side cursed viciously and even tried to smash our things. I was angry, wasn’t I? I rushed into the room and grabbed a kitchen knife. I only meant to scare them, but my sister-in-law has an even more stubborn personality. When she saw me come out with a knife, she really got vicious and pulled out a fruit knife from her bag.”

The ghost sighed and said, “I mean, if she wanted to leave, she could leave. If she wanted to argue, she could argue. But who carries a knife with them? You can’t even get on the subway with a knife – she definitely did this on purpose. She came prepared to tear my face off, right?”

Zhang Yangyang bit his finger, his gaze falling into empty space.

Probably because Jiang Feng had guided him through yin walk a couple days ago, now he could hear voices but couldn’t see people.

Seeing no one responding, the ghost continued speaking.

“She held the knife, pointing it at my husband. I told her to put it down immediately. My husband looked very scared and begged us all to let go. I mean, he’s her own younger brother – over just a hundred thousand yuan, why did it have to develop to this point? I really couldn’t understand it.”

“I said I could pay back the money. If I sold this house, I’d pay it back. Today I brought people to view the house precisely to pay back the money – what was the point of pulling this stunt?” the ghost said. “I was getting a bit angry too, so I said if you keep this up, I really won’t pay back the hundred thousand.”

“She said she’d sue me, and I said I’d sue her too. Let’s drag it out together and see who can’t afford the lawyer fees. Actually, I knew they were indeed short on money – if it weren’t for wanting to pay back the money quickly, I wouldn’t have sold the house so cheaply, right? Otherwise, how could people come to view it so fast?”

“I really was just trying to scare her. My temper… but she insisted on fighting with me. I was both disappointed and angry. What kind of person becomes like this after borrowing money?” The ghost patted her head. “She went crazy and actually tried to stab my husband! Really tried to stab him! Of course I rushed over to frighten her too.”

“I lunged at her, and her daughter rushed over to grab the knife from my hand. Oh my, I wasn’t going to kill her mother – I just wanted to drive them out! But that child was truly ruthless, grabbing forcefully from my hand, looking at me like she wanted to kill someone. I thought she had gone crazy… of course, I could understand. But when people are angry, they’re not rational. I felt that child wanted to kill me, so I desperately fought for the knife in my hand. My husband and sister-in-law also came over to help, but they were all helping my niece. I…”

“The knife in my hand was grabbed away by them, and then my niece stabbed me to death with one thrust. Then it became what you saw.” She said dejectedly, “Was it really my fault?”

“Well…” Jun Heng said, “What a realistic human drama. But it sounds reasonable enough?”

The group squatted by the door, each lost in thought, while waiting for Officer Ye to come down so they could compare stories. In the silence, Liu Shan came running down from upstairs.

As an eyewitness, how had he been allowed to come down?

Liu Shan ran to Jiang Feng’s side, wiping his palms on his pant legs. “I saw it!”

Jiang Feng glanced at the ghost and asked, “You saw her?”

“Yes, I saw it!” But Liu Shan’s gaze passed over the ghost, staring straight at the group, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he said nervously, “I saw how she tried to kill someone and how she was killed. She went crazy! Doctor, doctor, tell me – can persecution delusion be contagious?”

Everyone turned to look at Jiang Feng in unison.

Doctor?

The female ghost was already angrily saying, “You’re the one who’s fucking crazy!”

Jiang Feng asked: “What did you see?”

Liu Shan said, “They were talking at the door! That lady brought her daughter over – seemed to be Brother Tian’s sister from across the hall. The two groups argued for a bit at first, speaking very loudly. I live across from them and heard some of it, but didn’t dare come out. Then Brother Tian and his sister seemed to talk it through with good words and bad words, and the voices quieted down. I thought it was over, but then I heard several of them screaming.”

Liu Shan pinched his voice to imitate:

“‘Why are you holding a knife? Don’t hold a knife! Are you crazy?!’ When I heard someone shouting, I hurriedly pulled the door slightly open and looked inside. Sister-in-law Tian was holding a kitchen knife, shouting at them, saying things like ‘you shameless person, I won’t pay back the money’ and such. Everyone looked a bit dumbfounded, still trying to reason with her nicely. Brother Tian was a bit angry but also very scared, telling her to put the knife down first. Then somehow, she just started chopping at them with the knife. Brother Tian and his sister tried to stop her, but Sister-in-law Tian was like she was possessed, struggling desperately with tremendous strength. The young girl beside them saw her mother was about to be chopped, got scared, went over to help press down on the hand from the side, then took the knife and stabbed it into Sister-in-law Tian’s stomach.”

The ghost exclaimed excitedly. “That’s impossible!”

“It’s true!” Liu Shan said. “Give me some reaction! Did I explain it clearly?”

Chu Xuanliang covered one ear and nodded. “You explained it clearly, but we still have some issues on our side.”

“I think, I think something’s really wrong. Sister-in-law Tian isn’t usually like this – she’s actually quite gentle. How could she suddenly start chopping people with a knife? And the things she said… obviously she saw something.” Liu Shan bit his fingernails and began speaking in a disturbed manner. “I’m saying, wasn’t the person downstairs before just like her? He thought I was going to harm him, really thought I was going to harm him, but actually I wasn’t. It’s ghosts causing trouble, right?”

His pupils trembled, his breathing became rapid, and he said in terror, “Am I also a bit abnormal? Was I really being chased and hunted that day? Or did I imagine it? Will I one day be like them, killing people because of delusions? But if someone really wants to kill me, and I don’t fight back, won’t I just be killed?”

Following this logic, he felt the problem was simply unsolvable. He might not even know how he died even as a ghost – too unjust.

“Ghosts… there must be ghosts… why are they haunting me…” Liu Shan said, “When did it start? That day I ran to the street and saw two ghosts…”

He suddenly looked up at Jiang Feng and Zhang Yangyang, his eyes darting back and forth between the two faces, finally matching them up.

“Ahhh——!” Liu Shan pointed at them, his hair standing on end, screaming. “It’s you two! It was you two that day!”

Zhang Yangyang said, “Congratulations on remembering.”

Liu Shan turned to run but was grabbed by the collar by Chu Xuanliang. His legs went weak and he almost cried.

“Please spare me, I beg you, I don’t know anything, my life is worthless!” Liu Shan wailed loudly, “Help! Police, help!”

Officer Ye poked his head out from the stairwell, looking down. Seeing them huddled together, he said irritably, “What’s your situation! Stop bullying ordinary people, okay?!”

Chu Xuanliang made a gesture for him to continue with his work.

Liu Shan was almost falling into despair.

“We were at the scene that day, and we were the ones who called the police for you. But you seemed a bit dizzy, and after falling, you couldn’t tell directions. We thought you were some kind of drug user, so we took the opportunity to run away and hide.” Jiang Feng said, “Have you ever seen ghosts operating in broad daylight while having good relationships with both police and Taoist priests?”

Liu Shan sniffled and thought it over carefully, taking a deep breath. “That seems to make sense.”

Chu Xuanliang said, “Don’t be so jumpy – you nearly scared me to death.”

Liu Shan moved a couple steps to stand in the bright sunlight. Though he was sweating, he felt an unprecedented sense of security, grinning foolishly at the group.

Chu Xuanliang asked, “Did you buy or rent this house?”

Liu Shan: “Rented.”

“Find another place.”

“I want to move, but I paid six months’ rent plus one month’s deposit. I’ve only lived here for two months – if I move now, I won’t get a penny back.”

“Stingy as hell, that’s just like you.” Officer Ye came down from the stairwell, commenting casually.

Everyone looked over, and Jiang Feng asked, “How did it go?”

Officer Ye: “Just suddenly went berserk and started chopping people, then got killed in return.”

The ghost beside them let out a desperate cry.

So it was actually true?

“We can’t have any more deaths. If more people die, it’ll really be a total wipeout. We’ve decided to find a reason to seal this building first.” Officer Ye said, “During the building closure, we can give you some subsidies, but not much. Find housing early – be careful not to end up on the streets.”

With residents having incidents one after another, going berserk, and it being uncertain whether it was due to feng shui or whether moving would help, everyone in the building was now high-risk. The police needed to find people to assess and test them, while secretly monitoring them to prevent them from suddenly going berserk and harming others.

Liu Shan was the same, of course.

Officer Ye patted his back. “First go to the police station to sign something. Don’t stay here tonight.”

Liu Shan had good self-awareness. He said, “I’m not comfortable staying anywhere now!”

Officer Ye thought about it and said, “How about you stay with me? The police station would welcome you too. Twenty-four-hour air-conditioned rooms plus staff for heartfelt conversations around the clock, the station accepts takeout orders from everywhere, internal ultra-high-speed wireless network, secure worry-free firewall – you could even browse porn sites without getting viruses. If any danger arises, you can tell yourself it’s a hallucination. We are public servants, here to protect you.”

Liu Shan: “No thanks!”

Jiang Feng said, “No, you’ll stay with me.”

Officer Ye looked at him gratefully.

Chu Xuanliang: “Isn’t that bad? Always getting you involved.”

“I’ll watch over him – there won’t be any danger.” Jiang Feng said, “The more people there are, the less safe it is – easy to drag them into danger. Neither the police station nor the Taoist temple is suitable.”

He was indeed the best choice.

So after a few polite exchanges, they settled on this arrangement. Liu Shan would first go to the police station to sign papers, then Officer Ye would bring him back to pack his things and send him to Jiang Feng’s house.

****

Because the move was so rushed, he didn’t bring many things. By the time he finished packing, it was already dark. He didn’t dare go back for more things, so Jiang Feng took him to the supermarket downstairs to buy necessities.

The residential complex had an artificial lake with flowing water, drawn from some river. Usually the environmental protection was good – the water surface stayed clean, and in the shallow areas you could clearly see schools of fish swimming by.

The two walked slowly back under the streetlights, with Liu Shan sighing constantly along the way until Jiang Feng was almost fed up with his sighing.

Outside the residential building lobby, someone was sitting by the flower bed, holding a box of takeout and eating.

Jiang Feng recognized him and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Personal——” Deng Bian held her meal box with one hand and pointed at Liu Shan with the other. “Protecting you two. The police must ensure the personal safety of enthusiastic citizens.”

Jiang Feng: “I thought you all sat in cars.”

Deng Bian said, “Your residential complex has to allow vehicle access too!”

Inside were all small paths that only bicycles could navigate.

Deng Bian suddenly stood up, casually tossed her food, and ran toward the lake.

At the same time, a splash was heard from behind them.

The two ran over together and saw Liu Shan desperately flailing in the water.

Jiang Feng asked, “What are you doing?”

Liu Shan shouted, “There’s someone in the water!”

Jiang Feng said coldly, “No, there isn’t.”

“But——” Liu Shan was stunned, then fell silent, his face showing fear.

Jiang Feng said, “Come up quickly.”

Liu Shan barely came to his senses and tried to swim toward the shore. As soon as he moved, his whole body sank down.

Two words slipped from Deng Bian’s lips. “Holy sh*t!”