Judge of Souls - Chapter 107

What did this mean?

Jiang Feng still couldn’t agree with it.

“Everyone lives upstairs and downstairs from each other. If someone called the police, anyone could easily figure out who it was. Wouldn’t it be simple to retaliate? Nowadays, with all these neighborhood disputes, even if someone gets driven to the point of mental breakdown, the police won’t intervene. I didn’t dare call the police because I was afraid of causing trouble.”

Liu Shan shrugged and sighed.

Jiang Feng asked, “Did the police officers come later? Who called the police?”

“She called the police herself,” Liu Shan said. “At least, that’s what I think. She had been beaten and hospitalized, and her whole demeanor became rather gloomy. People in the building were afraid to talk to her – they would immediately scatter when she approached. But several neighbors still maintained good relationships with her husband.”

Jiang Feng asked, “Good relationships with her husband?”

“Yes, like I said, her husband was usually very kind and generous to outsiders. He would help anyone who asked for assistance. He seemed to have a good temper too – I never saw him lose his temper. So everyone gradually turned a blind eye.” Liu Shan said with some conflict, “I think… men who beat their wives are all pretty pathetic, but they believe that today’s society and social climate emphasize women’s status too much, condemning without asking for reasons, calling it radical feminism. When a woman hits a man, isn’t that domestic violence too? Look at how many women like to hit and scold at will – who has ever advocated for men’s rights? When a woman does something wrong and pushes someone to their limit, can’t they be hit? Marriage isn’t joining a monastery – even a cornered dog will bite. Women just have too many problems… Oh, I wasn’t the one saying this – they were saying it. I heard them discussing it in the stairwell. I was just trying to understand the life philosophy of married men.”

Jiang Feng asked, “So what was his reason for hitting her?”

“I don’t know!” Liu Shan said evasively. “But from her husband’s mouth, he said very unpleasant things. He said a lot of bad things about her, all kinds of filthy, unspeakable things. Plus Sister Zhang didn’t have a job and had to depend on her husband for support, so it seemed she never had any other options. They had lived here for so many years, and her parents only came once. From their attitude, her parents really liked this son-in-law… So you tell me, with things like this, how could anyone help? Besides, this was originally a family matter, so everyone just stopped interfering.”

Jiang Feng asked, “What happened after the police officers came?”

“Family matters… after marriage, fights between spouses are family matters. That police officer called the man over for mediation… I don’t know the result, but apparently there was no punishment. The man continued going to work and coming home, and sometimes he beat her even more severely. I think the police were called about three times in total, all by this person.” Liu Shan pointed to the person in the photo. “Him. The third time he came, he directly had Zhang Jie sign something, then smoked a cigarette with the man at the door and left.”

Jiang Feng asked, “He was also a police officer from the station?”

“What else? Many families with domestic violence situations maintain themselves in strange ways. After the police leave, they make up as if nothing happened, over and over again. Even if you want to help, there’s no way. Plus her husband had a good reputation in this area and was well-liked. After asking around, it was just verbal education. Well, of course, that police officer’s attitude toward handling this matter was somewhat biased.” Liu Shan said, “So you see, reputation is very important. Beasts in human clothing all appear well-dressed, right?”

Jiang Feng asked, “What happened after the man committed murder?”

Liu Shan said, “I don’t know how it turned out. I think he was sentenced to a few years. Not many anyway.”

Jiang Feng nodded to show he understood and walked aside to call Officer Ye.

“We also investigated this place. This couple’s incident should be the starting point of all the death cases, but their situation had been going on for a long time – it doesn’t look like a sudden change caused by external influence,” Officer Ye said. “This case was just judged some time ago. The man is currently serving his sentence and appears to be behaving well, with no violent or abnormal behavior.”

Officer Ye said, “Zhang Yao had filed for divorce because of domestic violence… but it was rejected the first time.”

Jiang Feng asked, “Why?”

“Well, this is hard for me to explain to you,” Officer Ye said. “First, she didn’t have sufficient evidence at the time, no stable job, and the man insisted on not divorcing. The probability of a successful divorce on the first attempt isn’t high. But if you file two to three times, there’s generally no problem.”

Jiang Feng pondered, “Hmm.”

This showed that Zhang Jie actually had the intention to divorce.

Jiang Feng discussed with him about visiting the man in prison. Officer Ye arranged a time and hung up the phone.

Liu Shan tentatively asked, “Is this the case?”

Jiang Feng replied, “Not sure yet.”

“Let me go with you too. I discovered that it’s only safe when I follow you. Besides,” Liu Shan shook his shoulders, “if a ghost is really attached to me, seeing the murderer might make it transfer over.”

Jiang Feng nodded, “Alright.”

****

Officer Ye came to pick them up at the appointed time, and Deng Bian was also there.

Deng Bian complained, “Why are there so many people?”

Jiang Feng said, “He has to follow me.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“If I don’t come, you don’t need to come either.”

Deng Bian was left speechless and awkwardly pursed her lips.

That was true.

They came here to find someone precisely because they were considering the influence of supernatural events. But since it was a supernatural event, what would two laypeople ask about?

Officer Ye said, “Alright, alright, let’s go.”

The four of them took a car to the suburban prison and followed the procedures for a prison visit.

Through a pane of glass, Jiang Feng got a clear look at the man from the incident – Guo Li.

He looked at him twice more and confirmed that the man was very clean, without any trace of yin energy.

This man had refined features, and even with his hair cut into a crew cut, he still had the feeling of a fair-skinned young scholar. It was really hard to see that he would commit domestic violence.

Moreover, if it were his wife’s ghost coming for revenge, he should be the first person she would target.

Jiang Feng was also somewhat confused at this moment.

Officer Ye sat with Jiang Feng, while the other two stood behind them.

Officer Ye was responsible for questioning. “Do you still remember your wife?”

“I remember her,” he said, clasping his hands in front of his face, his voice sorrowful. “It was an accident. I’m also very heartbroken. I didn’t want to kill her. I actually loved her.”

Officer Ye asked, “You committed domestic violence for such a long time – can you also call that an accident?”

Guo Li repeatedly denied, “If she had been more obedient, I wouldn’t have hit her. And many times I didn’t even use force, but she screamed as if I was going to kill her. She even went to my workplace to cause trouble, throw dirt, block my supervisor and go crazy, making a big scene that almost cost me my job. I was really… angry! We were clearly husband and wife – why was she so cruel to me?”

Officer Ye said, “You could have gotten divorced.”

Guo Li looked up and said, “But I loved her! I would never divorce her! We could have been fine, as long as she was obedient.”

Officer Ye looked completely puzzled.

How did he suddenly stop understanding Chinese?!

Jiang Feng shook his head at him. Given his position, Officer Ye couldn’t say too much. Seeing there were no more questions, he stood up to leave.

****

Guo Li was taken back to his cell.

He sat dazedly on the edge of the bed, starting to recall past events. Today, hearing someone mention Zhang Yao, he felt an inexplicable panic in his heart. The scene of Zhang Yao lying in a pool of blood kept appearing in his mind.

If she hadn’t died back then, he would still have a bright future ahead of him and wouldn’t have ended up like this.

He sighed and looked up to find his cellmate looking at him with ill intent.

The other man had one leg propped up on the bed, picking at the edge of his fingernails with his hand, mocking, “I heard you’re a coward who beat your own wife to death to get in here?”

Guo Li said displeasedly, “What’s it to you?”

The cellmate stood up and flew into a rage. “You pretty boy also have the guts to talk to me like that?”

Guo Li asked, “What do you want to do?”

The other man charged straight over and grabbed his neck.

Guo Li struggled in panic. “What are you doing? What are you doing!”

“Fuck!” the other man shouted. “Are you crazy!”

Guo Li blinked and found that the other person was still standing two steps away from him. What just happened must have been his imagination. He took two deep breaths and quickly apologized, “Sorry.”

In the afternoon they went to labor reform, and in the evening during dinner, everyone lined up at the window to get their food in turns.

Guo Li got a plate of food and chose a seat to sit down.

The cellmate across from him saw him coming over, lifted his eyelids, smiled at the person next to him, then openly sprinkled something into his rice.

Most people without backing would just endure it when encountering this. But Guo Li reacted as if he had seen poison, suddenly standing up and shouting, “What did you put in my rice!”

The cellmate was stunned for a moment, then said fiercely, “Sit down!”

Guo Li insisted, “Tell me what you put in first.”

Seeing the prison guard coming over, the cellmate immediately said, “I didn’t do anything! Are you blind?”

Guo Li began rummaging through his bowl like a madman: “You want to poison me, don’t you? You want to poison me, right? If you have the guts, try eating some yourself.”

“Bullsh*t!” The cellmate’s temper flared up immediately, pointing at him. “Are you crazy! When will this end! You think I’m putting up with you!”

“What are you all arguing about? Sit down!” The prison guard had already heard and glanced at the cellmate, saying, “You didn’t put anything in? If you didn’t put anything in, you two switch plates.”

The cellmate roughly switched their plates: “Switch then switch! He’s crazy!”

The prison guard raised his eyebrows somewhat puzzled. Seeing both of them quiet down, he also turned and walked away.

At night, lights out for rest.

Guo Li lay on his bed facing the wall and quickly fell asleep after closing his eyes.

He dreamed that he woke up in his bed at home.

Sunlight streamed in from the windowsill. Early winter mornings, he was awakened by the warm sun. When he touched the bedding, it was warm. Zhang Yao lay beside him, looking peaceful with her eyes closed.

He pillowed his head on his hand. The watch on his wrist that he hadn’t taken off was still ticking, the mechanical tick-tock sound entering his ears. The second hand moved around the dial one revolution after another, but seemed to be forever frozen at a certain time.

Guo Li lay there for a while longer, feeling that all of this was reassuring and blissful.

He turned over, wanting to pull the person beside him into his arms. But the skin under his palm felt cold.

Guo Li’s whole body trembled. Something flashed through his mind, but he didn’t catch it. He opened his eyes and found that his wife had changed appearance.

Zhang Yao’s face was pale and blue, her features bruised and purple, her muscles emaciated, lying there like a dead person.

He forcefully threw off the blanket. Under the blanket, the person was covered in bloodstains, wearing loose home pajamas, but a fruit knife was stuck in her chest.

Guo Li’s expression began to change, turning to horror.

He finally remembered.

Right, Zhang Yao was already dead. Beaten to death by him.

The corpse opened its eyes and called out, “Husband.”

…Husband.

Guo Li was too frightened to make a sound.

Suddenly, the lying corpse moved its hand and grabbed his wrist.

That real sensation forced Guo Li to scream. “Ahhhhh——“

He opened his eyes and woke from the dream. Everything around him was dark. He wanted to shrink further into the bed, but found that there really was a hand on his wrist, gripping it tightly.

His voice pierced the long night again. The circle of people around him woke from their dreams with startled shouts of “Holy sh*t!”