Judge of Souls - Chapter 115

There had been continuous clanging sounds of wall chiseling from next door, but they kept the volume low. After their conversation stopped, the sounds from over there also ceased.

Subsequently, noisy footsteps continued to echo as someone hurriedly walked past.

A voice from outside shouted. “Is Wu Teng from room 3012 at the hotel?”

Wu Teng immediately stood up. Chu Xuanliang patted his shoulder to comfort him, then walked out together with him.

After a few words were exchanged, Wu Teng returned carrying his bag and luggage.

Jiang Feng asked. “What did you say when you called the police?”

“I didn’t say much. I just said that my friend heard something making noise inside the wall while sleeping at night, and we suspected they might have stuffed surveillance equipment in the bathroom,” Chu Xuanliang said. “I also hung a talisman up there, forcing them to chisel open the wall.”

Wu Teng stood to the side, very much wanting to speak but not daring to open his mouth casually.

“There indeed was a skeleton inside,” Chu Xuanliang said. “However, what’s most chilling now isn’t a skeleton that’s been dead for who knows how many years, but the banging sounds we mentioned from inside the walls.”

Jiang Feng: “…Why are you scaring people for no reason?”

“Give them some room for imagination, and they’ll find scientific explanations themselves,” Chu Xuanliang said. “The police won’t publicize these kinds of details.”

Not long after, it seemed someone checked out. There were also some arguing voices from downstairs.

It had to be said that the hotel really was experiencing an undeserved disaster this time. However, as long as they examined the age of the skeleton, they could determine that it had nothing to do with the hotel.

“Wah wah wah!”

Wu Teng opened his mouth, and like clouds and mist, a large mass of black qi emerged.

Jiang Feng said, “It seems the fear of people in the hotel also causes changes in you, not just the emotions from online comments.”

Chu Xuanliang asked in confusion, “So where exactly is the root cause – online or in reality?”

“It might be gradually transferring from online to reality. Its power is still continuously growing stronger, and it’s impossible to determine what extent it will develop to in the end,” Jiang Feng said. “Given his level of being a troublemaker, if reality were driving the online activity, he would probably have been finished long ago.”

Wu Teng wanted to cry.

The waiter had been standing in the corner all along.

The rich yin qi in the room obviously made him quite comfortable. His previously pale complexion began to turn rosy.

Jiang Feng then remembered him.

“You can leave together with your corpse now.”

The waiter said, “I want to reincarnate. Staying here is too boring.”

“The underworld isn’t a place you can come and go as you please,” Jiang Feng said. “Since you want to reincarnate, then start walking from the Yellow Springs road yourself.”

The waiter asked, “How do I get to the Yellow Springs road?”

Jiang Feng replied, “On the seventh day of the seventh month when the ghost gates open, go out on the street at midnight and ask those little ghosts who come out to eat, then enter through the ghost gate. Walk all the way to the end, and you’ll reach the Hall of King Yama.”

The waiter said, “Isn’t there any other way? I’ve never entered the ghost gate before.”

One of the brothers couldn’t help but say, “Brother, don’t force it – we haven’t even died yet!”

The waiter said, “Alright then.”

He somewhat reluctantly accepted this arrangement. Jiang Feng asked him about his birth date and time, and the origin of his name, then agreed to let him leave. He instructed Wu Teng to find an opportunity to burn some paper money for him, since Wu Teng had already become entangled with him previously.

That night, everyone didn’t dare let Wu Teng sleep alone.

Firstly, they didn’t know if his current condition would worsen; secondly, they didn’t know if among the attacks and curses he had attracted on Weibo, someone might suddenly awaken abilities like him and then kill him. In the end, Chu Xuanliang stayed to spend the night with him.

Because a skeleton had appeared in the room, the experience was too inauspicious. The hotel wanted to give him a free room change and refund his money. Wu Teng felt very embarrassed and refused to accept it. This made the hotel’s finance department even more panicked, and both sides went back and forth for a while.

The next morning, Chu Xuanliang went to Jiang Feng’s room.

Chu Xuanliang asked, “How did last night go? Did you encounter any curses?”

Jiang Feng said, “Very well. Nothing happened at all.”

There wasn’t even a trace of yin qi. Even after Yama fell asleep, the faint yin qi on his body also faded away on its own, nearly disappearing completely.

This was truly regrettable.

Chu Xuanliang said, “Is it because your cursing abilities aren’t strong enough yet?”

Jiang Feng: “Possibly. Let’s try again.”

So the next day, everyone squatted in Chu Xuanliang’s hotel room again, working hard to be “keyboard warriors” of the new era.

Yama opened his new account and scrolled through the trending topics one by one, racking his brains to start arguments with all the comments. He cursed profusely, misinterpreted the original meaning of comments, used loaded language, and distorted the truth of events. Wu Teng’s group of brothers acted as shills below, helping him fish for comments while generating heat.

After arguing for a short while, Yama’s account was banned. All his hard work was wasted.

Yama threw down the mouse in anger and used Chu Xuanliang’s ID card to register a new account, starting the battle anew.

From morning to afternoon, they had only nibbled on a piece of bread and a pancake, yet the results were minimal. Yama stood next to Wu Teng, and the yin qi in his mouth was like comparing a white thread to a vast sea of clouds. That sea of clouds still had a talisman pasted on it for suppression.

However, through these negative actions, everyone felt their mental state had received positive education.

Yama had only recently learned to type, and the keys he was most skilled with were those related to profanity. He crouched by the bed, looking dejected. “Being a contrarian isn’t fun at all. Being a keyboard warrior isn’t fun at all.”

Pretending to be stupid was too exhausting.

Wu Teng’s friends were also gloomy and annoyed. “Only now do I realize that life’s most beautiful wish is wanting to be a good person.”

His friend looked at the person involved with a lifeless expression. “Wu Teng, just how much evil have you done online?! Look at this little brother!”

Wu Teng: “This mainly relies on daily accumulation. As they say, you can’t become fat in one bite…”

Brother: “Are you actually proud of this? Is there something wrong with your brain?!”

Wu Teng: “I don’t think so.”

By evening, Wu Teng’s throat began to feel uncomfortable again.

Chu Xuanliang had to say: “I must remind you that what’s on your neck is already a golden talisman, the most powerful kind. If even this talisman can’t suppress the yin qi in your body, then you need to prepare for a yin qi explosion.”

Wu Teng was extremely nervous. “What would happen?”

“You’d be very susceptible to attracting malevolent ghosts. And we don’t know what would happen if your body becomes filled with yin qi. You might become half-human, half-ghost?” Chu Xuanliang said. “I can’t leave you at the hotel – you’d cause trouble for others. You should come with me first.”

Chu Xuanliang wanted to take Wu Teng to a Taoist temple. He believed that no matter how powerful an evil god was, it wouldn’t dare act presumptuously before the ancestral master.

The key was ensuring the Taoist temple there was reliable. There were several that made tons of money but were actually empty shells without any real spiritual power.

Several people drove to the suburbs, leaving Jiang Feng and Yama to continue staying at the hotel.

“This pace won’t work!” Wu Teng’s friends said anxiously. “My friend can’t wait much longer!”

“Should we buy a trending topic then?”

“Would buying one now be useful? Or should we rally our friends and family?”

“Rallying friends would definitely get us sent to a mental hospital, thanks.”

“How about going to some fan circles? Randomly pick two celebrities’ relationships – fans generally have pretty good fighting power.”

Speaking of celebrities and fighting power, Jiang Feng remembered something. He knew a max-level player.

Jiang Feng began flipping through his contacts and dialed.

“You haven’t called me in so long,” Kong Su said from the other end. “I’m filming in the deep mountains and forests now, and I have to move around just to get a signal. I was wondering if you’d think of me in this lifetime!”

Jiang Feng said, “Please help me repost a few Weibo posts. Do you have any internet trolls over there? Help me promote it too.”

“You want me to open Weibo now? You’re making things difficult for me!” Kong Su said, then lowered her voice guiltily, “Actually, how should I put this – my agent made me go offline for three months to win the director’s favor. He’s determined to create a phoenix-rising-from-ashes, dedicated-to-work image for me. Hahahaha! He said getting too close to netizens would expose my neurotic nature, so my Weibo account is in his hands now. I’ll get scolded if I post anything.”

Jiang Feng thought for a moment. “If it’s inconvenient for you, then help me contact some internet trolls. We need heat right now.”

Kong Su quickly shouted, “No no no, do you need help with something? Tell me first! If it’s about defending your reputation, I’ll help you!”

Jiang Feng: “No. I want you to repost some moronic comments from a side account and gather more fans to come curse at him. His account traffic is too small.”

Kong Su: “…”

Kong Su hung up decisively. While Jiang Feng was still confused, she called back in less than three seconds.

Kong Su said mysteriously, “Let me tell you, I just experienced a supernatural event.”

Jiang Feng: “??”

“I thought I heard you stupidly asking me to find people to curse at you?” Kong Su said. “Hey, what were you actually trying to say just now?”

Jiang Feng: “…”

Jiang Feng gave an extremely brief explanation. Kong Su, due to poor signal, only heard fragmented descriptions, causing serious gaps in the plot. She filled in the entire story with her imagination – the truth didn’t really matter; she just wanted to repost now.

Kong Su struggled to add Yama as a friend on her tablet, saying, “Ready, big brother? Remember not to post politically sensitive Weibo posts – they get deleted immediately. Oh right, right, you should say that Kong Su has an obligation to support her sister-in-law, then add some profanity and slander. They’ve been doing poorly lately and came to me for help, but I just haven’t had a chance to curse at them. Quick quick! Come on!”

Under Kong Su’s personal guidance, Yama published a clearly targeted Weibo post and tagged Kong Su herself.

Five minutes later, Kong Su stubbornly retweeted and replied using her network connection.

With Kong Su’s influence and retweets, whenever Yama casually jumped around in the comments section, he could receive countless replies and likes.

Riding the trending topic #WantingFameDesperate#, his follower count rapidly exceeded fifty thousand, his first comment immediately broke ten thousand, and showed signs of reaching six figures.

While they were having more fun here, angry shouting from the agent came from Kong Su’s side. Kong Su said “hanging up now” and quickly logged off to escape.

This time, the black qi in Yama’s mouth finally had sufficient substance. Without talisman suppression, he achieved opaque black breath, the only difference being that his body didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Yama was very satisfied and said, “Tonight, the master of the black mist will come to kill Jiang Feng.”

He then posted this online as well.

After he finished speaking, he coughed once, and the black qi had spread from his mouth throughout his entire body, faintly like a malevolent ghost.

Looking at his own hands, Yama suddenly understood something.

“What is he trying to do? Select ghost messengers?” Yama said. “Does he really think of himself as a god governing the mortal world?”

Turning people into neither human nor ghost, yet giving them absolute power to control life and death, to earn anger points for himself.

The young man muttered, “Even if this gets big, at most he’d just be a moderator, right?”