Judge of Souls - Chapter 45

Chu Xuanliang touched the main door, walked around it once, took out a talisman paper, and pasted it on the door, then stuck a white note next to it. After completing these tasks, he went to find Jiang Feng.

The four of them squeezed into Jiang Feng’s narrow living room, where a VR treadmill was incongruously placed in the middle.

Chu Xuanliang said, “I made a detour to C City this time to investigate a commission related to a disappearance.”

Zhang Yangyang asked, “Taoist priests handle these matters too? Aren’t disappearances police business?”

“Yes, normally they are, but this one’s a bit different,” Chu Xuanliang explained. “This commission was entrusted to me a long time ago, but at that time the missing person was already confirmed dead, and nothing seemed unusual. The missing person’s parents had no evidence, no clear information, couldn’t explain anything properly, so I didn’t pay much attention. But they’ve maintained the habit of regularly coming to burn incense at our Taoist temple. And not just our temple—they visit various well-known Taoist temples across the country. Several of my Taoist colleagues have been approached by them, but truly couldn’t help, finding nothing unusual. This pair of clients still wouldn’t give up, and have donated almost all their savings, causing their once comfortable lifestyle to become extremely difficult, which troubled many Taoist priests.”

Chu Xuanliang continued, “Recently they fell ill, with no one to care for them. My master asked me to clarify matters with them and help find a caretaker for them, without accepting their money. But the clients still firmly described their son’s situation to me. When I heard the name XX Network Company from them, I realized something unusual was happening.”

****

About three years ago, a middle-aged couple came to the Taoist temple with a commission.

Their son, Mr. Tian, suddenly disappeared after university graduation, deposited a large sum of money into their account, then became completely unreachable—phone, WeChat, QQ, all communication tools went silent.

His apartment lease was terminated, he couldn’t be found. He resigned from his internship without any explanation. He cut off contact with all friends and classmates, forcibly severing connections. The entire person seemed to vanish from the world.

The couple was extremely worried, fearing he had met with misfortune. Since their son had just graduated, he had many expenses. Although he had signed an internship contract, his salary was meager—far from being able to send them living expenses, he usually required some supplementary assistance from the elderly couple. Now after disappearing for over a month, he suddenly sent a large sum of money, clearly indicating something had happened.

Unable to find him, the couple reported to the police.

The police quickly located their son with a casual investigation. Mr. Tian was safe and sound, having found a new job at XX Network Company as the general manager. The disappearance was unfounded.

Chu Xuanliang asked, “General manager?”

“Yes, yes,” Mother Tian said, “General manager. But my son studied education! He never learned management or anything about computers. Is it appropriate to hire him as a general manager? I looked it up online—if they weren’t a legitimate enterprise, I would have thought they were running a pyramid scheme!”

The couple hurried to see their son after receiving the news, but he seemed completely changed. He was indifferent toward them, his attitude very cold, with subtle hints of anger. When Mother Tian mentioned past events, he never responded. His eating habits and accent had changed.

Later when they tried to see him again, Mr. Tian began using work as an excuse to brush them off, telling them to go home. The company also put them on a blacklist, and security wouldn’t let them enter.

Father Tian couldn’t help but shed tears. “This is too strange, isn’t it?”

But family relationship matters were not something the police would handle. Mr. Tian regularly sent them money, fulfilling his filial obligations. Plus, the person was alive and well, so the officer could only gradually counsel the couple.

“We found a Taoist priest back then, and that priest said there was nothing wrong with him. I don’t know if that priest was a fraud, but I only believed him at the time. How foolish, not knowing to find someone else,” Mother Tian wiped away tears and said, “He really… his body had always been very healthy, he had physical examinations every year. He had just completed a physical at graduation, and everything was normal. But after this incident, look, in just three or four months, he became ill. I saw him frequently coughing, vomiting, going to the hospital…”

Chu Xuanliang asked, “You followed him?”

Mother Tian said, “I just waited outside the company, worried, wanting to see him.”

Chu Xuanliang nodded.

“Then, about half a year later, he became very sick, only able to stay in the hospital. At that time, company people guarded outside his room, not letting us see him. Later they took him away. To a high-end apartment.” Mother Tian covered her face, sobbing, “Another half year later, someone notified us he was dead, gave us an urn… how could this happen…?”

Chu Xuanliang asked, “Do you know what caused his death?”

Mother Tian replied, “I don’t know, I just don’t know! I don’t even know if the urn contains my son!”

****

Officer Ye crossed a leg and asked, “Organ failure again?”

“Yes,” Chu Xuanliang said, “I had someone use connections to ask at the hospital. Tests showed organ failure. They couldn’t determine the specific cause. No poisoning, not complications from an accident or serious illness. The patient hadn’t undergone thorough examination, but the symptoms were very rare—multiple organ failure simultaneously, with a degree of synchronization that was simply shocking. Before the hospital could discuss treatment methods, they left. The hospital kept a record of the cause of death, and that was it.”

Chu Xuanliang pulled out a form from his chest. “I asked someone to look further. There’s no hospital treatment record, but there are several forensic identification records of death causes, with organ failure listed as the cause.”

Officer Ye looked it over once and passed the paper to Jiang Feng.

The paper listed medical records from different hospitals. Behind the profiles of several people was written “formerly employed at XX Network Company.”

If there was a commonality among these people, it was that they were all very young, between twenty and twenty-five years old. In photos they appeared handsome with straight postures. They were well-educated with above-average intelligence. Past medical examination records showed them all as normal. Some people’s academic specialties had slight connections to their work positions, while others had absolutely none.

After joining the company, without exception, their bodily functions began to decline. Until their conditions became uncontrollable, and they all quietly resigned.

The earliest deaths were among those who had held upper management positions in the company. Titles like general manager, chief financial officer. Later, they became team leaders, assistants, secretaries. Moreover, in the past two years, the deceased men’s positions began to have connections with their academic specialties.

After detecting these anomalies, it became apparent that these changes had obvious intentionality.

If the deceased were truly connected, then someone behind the scenes was covering up these people’s abnormal behaviors. After all, upper management turnover that was too rapid would easily arouse suspicion—twenty-something-year-olds constantly parachuting in and suddenly disappearing would inevitably attract attention from observant people. Companies hiring professionals without relevant experience would also be noticed by other employees.

It seemed that as the company continued to grow and was now preparing to go public, those in charge began to care about their image and were gradually changing their approach.

“So far, including the one you saw yesterday, plus the founder, six have died,” Chu Xuanliang held up fingers and said, “According to the timeline, about one per year. Some with better physical conditions could last up to a year and a half.”

Chu Xuanliang said, “Because these people normally appeared unsociable, didn’t let others see their poor physical condition, and rapidly cut off all connections with their original units after resigning, company personnel still don’t know they’ve died, which led to omissions in police inquiries. If we hadn’t traced it backwards, we really wouldn’t have discovered the problem.”

Yet this line that seemed to have no issues connected them.

Zhang Yangyang said, “But an education graduate becoming general manager is too outrageous, right? Didn’t anyone question it?”

Officer Ye said, “That’s their internal management issue. They said they like young people’s thinking and energy. Gaming is very creativity-intensive, and their company was originally formed by a team of young people, so their requirements for age and experience are relatively low. What they want is passion and technical skill.”

Jiang Feng asked, “An education major’s passion and technical skill?”

Chu Xuanliang replied, “That education graduate also liked playing games.”

Zhang Yangyang’s thoughts jumped around. “So playing games causes death?”

“Playing games would be difficult; that’s a gradual process,” Jiang Feng looked at him and said, “But being stupid certainly can—that’s an explosive process.”

Zhang Yangyang: “…”

Officer Ye asked, “So, what’s your guess?”

Chu Xuanliang said, “I don’t know. Every inference has some contradictions. I only know that after death, organs stop functioning.”

Zhang Yangyang hugged Jiang Feng. “Are you saying these people were already dead?”

“They were clearly still alive, the kind where blood flows and hearts beat.”

“Then it’s… body snatching.”

“Even with body snatching, there would be corpse energy. And it’s not possible.”

Even if possessed by ghosts, habits would become inhuman.

Ghosts don’t like crowded places, find it difficult to go out during the day, and don’t feel pleasure from eating. They gradually emit a foul odor. Their own yin energy attracts nearby ghosts, causing people around them to suffer.

Obviously, none of these people showed such conditions. This was why Chu Xuanliang initially believed Mr. Tian’s situation wasn’t a supernatural event.

Chu Xuanliang said, “In short, if it were just ghosts, they couldn’t accomplish this. I suspect someone from the Taoist sect is behind this, using some secret technique to cover it up.”

Sun Lei being haunted, followed closely by Jiang Feng and Zhang Yangyang—ghosts cannot possess through program code, so clearly the suddenly appearing Complete Reality map was the key.

The people involved must be carrying something related—either computers or headsets.

Chu Xuanliang had never detected hidden yin energy in these two items, but what if… it was talismans?

Chu Xuanliang took the VR headset and turned it over in his hands, saying, “I need to disassemble it to see if there’s anything else inside.”

****

On the empty, silent walkway, a man swayed back and forth under the streetlamp. Yet no shadow appeared on the dim ground below him.

The dormitory entrance before him had been pasted with an exorcism talisman, preventing him from approaching. In frustration, he shouted at the sky many times, still receiving no response.

After about two hours, a male voice finally asked, “What are you making noise about?”

The male ghost immediately became excited, “Why haven’t you released me yet? I want that person, that person is too powerful! The moment I saw him I knew, if I entered his body I could definitely live longer! Why won’t you let me find him, and why did you cut off his machine!”

“You violated our agreement. The person I chose for you was Sun Lei, not that person. Yet you went behind my back trying to kill him.”

Male ghost: “I don’t care! I entered through Sun Lei’s machine, but I’m not interested in Sun Lei anymore, I want that person! Who is he? Give him to me!”

“Someone who makes you feel this way must be a Taoist priest.”

Male ghost: “Then I want the Taoist priest! I want him as my next body!”

“Shut up, fool! You even let him see what you look like now; the Taoist sect has noticed you. If you don’t want to perish, be good and stay put.”

The male ghost wouldn’t listen, driven mad by the long-term torment of illness.

“Are you doing this intentionally? Deliberately choosing bodies that die easily for me, afraid I might live too long? Ahhh—I can’t take it anymore! Do you know what organ failure feels like? I’ve died six times, died painfully six times!”

His expression twisted, his features contorting with hatred. “I lay in a hospital bed, feeling death approach me, my entire body in pain. Unable to move, unable to eat… this is nothing like what you told me before!”

“Shut up!” the person outside angrily said, “You’re just a minor ghost I keep now; you’ll die when I want you to die. What right do you have to question me?”

The male ghost seemed triggered by the word “die,” frantically shaking his head. “No—no! Only me! It won’t work without me! Only I can earn that much money. If you want money, you have to save me.”

“Without you, the company will continue to operate just fine.”

“No! The company is about to go public. Without my creativity, new games can’t be developed.” The ghost wailed miserably, “You’re the one who made me like this, you can’t abandon me!”

The person outside impatiently interrupted him, “I’ll find you a new target. During this time, behave yourself. If you act on your own again, I’ll kill you directly.”