Judge of Souls - Chapter 46

His name was Wang Yeqin. From childhood, he was obsessed with game programming and possessed an extremely keen talent for letters and numbers. With exceptional intelligence, after graduation, he established a game development company based on his outstanding personal abilities and market sensitivity.

Shortly after the new company was founded, it rose with the domestic industry boom, gaining some fame and a bright future ahead. Just as he was full of vigor and about to make his mark, fate played a cruel joke on him. In a car accident, he was rear-ended by a drunk driver.

Right after the accident, he didn’t feel particularly bad. He remained calm, believing he would certainly recover, given how advanced modern medicine was.

But the multiple organ failure that followed made him panic. First his kidneys developed problems, requiring dialysis treatment. After a painful experience, he obtained a kidney transplant opportunity through other channels. But problems with his liver and stomach soon followed…

Organ failure has an extremely high mortality rate. He could only suffer painful treatment in the hospital. His girlfriend left him, his business partner took over the company’s management, and his parents sat at his bedside every day, faces washed with tears.

He was finished, but he couldn’t accept it.

Every day he stared at the white incandescent light on the ceiling, constantly thinking back on his past life. People say you see your life flash before your eyes only when you’re about to die, but he had seen it countless times as he lay bored in his hospital bed, or when he lost consciousness and was rushed to the emergency room.

He was a good person—he had studied hard in school, never bullied classmates, respected teachers, was filial to elders, dedicated to his work, and diligent and honest. Was this fate’s reward?

His parents found a mysterious Taoist priest for him. The priest looked only in his forties, but claimed to be over 120 years old.

Such a clumsy deception made him laugh.

The other man maintained his expert demeanor and coldly said, “If you can help me earn a hundred million, I’ll save you.”

Wang Yeqin snorted with derision. He thought this was just a joke.

“With enough money, nothing is impossible—it just depends on whether you can earn that much,” the man said. “You can choose a body you like, and I’ll help oversee the process. If you follow my instructions and devour the other person’s soul, you can become them.”

A young, handsome, healthy body—who wouldn’t want that?

He could live for the rest of his life, perhaps even achieve immortality, better than his current state—if only he had money.

And wasn’t making money what he did best? This was heaven’s compensation for him.

A person who had languished in a hospital bed for so long, suffering tremendously, could not refuse such temptation. Even if it was a scam, what did it matter? He was nearly dead anyway, and his assets were far from the so-called hundred million—only he could earn that kind of money.

The first time, he chose a bright, handsome young man and began excitedly planning his future life.

After being “reborn,” he was full of confidence. However, he didn’t enjoy it for long before weakness returned to his body.

Breathing difficulty, limb weakness, trouble eating, elimination problems, pain throughout his body…

He panicked, but the old Taoist casually told him, “Well… although you’ve taken over his body, his lifespan was already exhausted. You devoured his soul and occupied his body, which prevented others from discovering you, but it can’t prevent his death. Don’t worry, after you die, I’ll find you another useful body.”

He would have to watch himself gradually decay and then die.

This kind of “rebirth” was absolutely the most horrifying lie in the world.

Wang Yeqin was terrified, confused, and turned to evil, hiding away to weep bitterly.

But there was no going back. The old Taoist said, “You’ve already killed someone—caused a soul to scatter completely—which is a great sin. If you give up now and become a wild ghost, the King of Hell will send people to take you to the underworld, and you’ll suffer in hell for all eternity, a thousand times more painful than now.”

Becoming a wandering ghost was a terrifying thing. Wandering empty streets where no one could see you. Always having to guard against more powerful evil ghosts suddenly appearing to tear apart your body. The old Taoist wouldn’t let him wander freely to be captured by underworld officials who might expose him. These people would certainly be the first to hunt him down.

The old Taoist had forced him onto a truly hopeless path.

Sometimes he thought death would be better. Every day he lived now was punishment for himself. Yet each time, he couldn’t help seeking a new target. At least for the first few months of a new life, he was happy.

Once a person starts down an evil path, there’s no turning back.

****

Everyone dismantled the equipment Sun Lei had sent over and examined each small component one by one. In the end, they actually found what appeared to be talisman writing inside.

It was written very small, tightly attached to some metal component, almost indistinguishable unless carefully examined—it could be mistaken for an original engraving on the part.

Zhang Yangyang saw everyone fall silent and asked, “Is this some kind of Thai cursive script? What is this drawing?”

“It should be a cloud talisman,” Chu Xuanliang said. “‘Golden rules and jade principles, cloud scripts and jade chapters, documents before the myriad laws, containing the nine streams to save the world.’ It’s a symbol created based on the movement of clouds in the sky, an insight into the world’s great principles.”

Officer Ye asked, “What does it say?”

“I don’t know,” Chu Xuanliang said. “Each person has their own different understanding and insights. This relates to talismans passed down in different sects—anyway, I haven’t seen this type before.”

Jiang Feng asked, “Is it the same as what I copied for you last time?”

The Judge had previously copied a line of cloud script inscribed by a Taoist from the fake Judge’s pen, but because of different traditions, Chu Xuanliang couldn’t provide an answer.

“I don’t know,” Chu Xuanliang couldn’t discern its meaning. “I need to take it back for my master to look at. However, without finding the person or a connected sect, it’s difficult to get any leads. I should still go visit this company.”

Officer Ye and Zhang Yangyang weren’t Taoist practitioners and had no self-protection methods, so they were told to go about their own business. As for Jiang Feng, being a ghost-attracting tool who could easily cause danger, he was told to stay somewhere safe and out of the way.

Chu Xuanliang said, “I’ll find Huang Yu to go with me.”

****

In a dark room in the suburbs of A City, windows and doors were tightly closed.

A middle-aged man sat cross-legged on a cushion. Around him were various white porcelain bottles and jars, some tied with ropes hanging from the ceiling. There was no wind, yet they made clear clinking sounds.

A knocking sound echoed in the empty room.

“Enter.”

Two men in their fifties walked in and knelt on either side of the door.

“Master, that Taoist priest called Chu Xuanliang has come inquiring again.”

“A Taoist priest?”

“He’s from the Taoist Association of A City. He seems quite skilled, otherwise he couldn’t have found this place.”

“Then we can’t let him continue his investigation. A Taoist’s body is quite good—I wonder how long it can last. I’ll help that Wang fellow once more. Hopefully this body will last longer. Once the company goes public, he can die.”

The other disciple said, “Master, aren’t we still trying to capture the transformed mountain spirit? We found this little thing with great difficulty, but it’s hiding so well. If we attract the attention of the Taoist community now, wouldn’t that be alerting our prey?”

“When mountains transform into spirits, they’re always transparent in their state of mind. This is a perfect opportunity to lure the Taoist practitioners over, force them to comply, and use their blood to draw out the mountain spirit. It saves me a group of little ghosts I’ve raised, and we can capture them all in one net.”

“Then Chu Xuanliang…”

“Call him to the Shaoling Mountain range,” the middle-aged man said. “Go there now and make preparations.”

“Yes.”

****

Huang Yu and Chu Xuanliang stood outside the game company building, frowning as they heard the receptionist’s response.

Walking out together, Huang Yu said, “That place again? If we hadn’t just investigated the Shaoling Mountain range, I’d actually believe there was a villa area there.”

Chu Xuanliang asked, “Are they trying to capture the little Mountain God?”

“That’s a Mountain God—who wouldn’t covet that? Catch and eat it, and you gain hundreds of years of cultivation. But the little Mountain God is hiding very discreetly, with no leakage of spiritual power, and hasn’t been publicly revealed within the association. How did they find it?” Huang Yu said. “Besides, isn’t the little Mountain God the underworld’s mascot? They dare to touch someone from the underworld?”

Chu Xuanliang replied, “Dead ghosts are also underworld people, and they touched them, didn’t they?”

Huang Yu was greatly surprised and patted his chest, saying, “Wow! Chu Xuanliang, you’ve become impressive, now you’re even making sarcastic remarks!”

Chu Xuanliang: “…”

Huang Yu immediately returned to seriousness, planning, “We don’t know who we’re dealing with. It’s a trap, and just the two of us going definitely won’t be enough. If their goal is to capture the little Mountain God, this is serious. Let’s do this—I’ll go back to find my master, you go back to find yours, and bring the most capable people you can to the mountain. Bring offerings and tools to prepare a magic formation to summon spirits.”

Chu Xuanliang said, “I was thinking the same thing.”

He had expected the other party to avoid them or deny everything, but they were surprisingly direct about meeting at the Shaoling Mountains.

Either they were extremely confident or had ulterior motives.

When Taoist Master Xuanyi heard this news, he immediately shouted angrily, “How dare they!”

He quickly put down his phone, put on his large Taoist robe, tied his fake hair into a small bun, then shouted to the group, “Take up your weapons, bring all your disciples, the bald donkeys next door are attacking our territory again!”

Chu Xuanliang was embarrassed and hurriedly said, “No, no, it’s not monks!”

Taoist Master Xuanyi paused, holding his fake hair, and continued shouting, “Quick! Those bald donkeys next door have instigated Taoist priests to attack our territory!”

Chu Xuanliang: “…” No—it’s not!!

Chu Xuanliang took out his phone to explain, clicking on a voice message that had just popped up.

From the speaker, another robust-sounding Taoist master cursed. “Xuanyi, are you getting senile?! That troublemaking bald donley has already been scared into relocating. The temple next door now has many cute little monks, and our Taoist Association has already made peace with them and started building social harmony together!”

Taoist Master Xuanyi threw down his phone, furious.

Chu Xuanliang hurriedly explained. “Martial Uncle, it’s not like that. Recently in the city, a group of people have been using gaming tools to carelessly take lives, helping dead people return to life through bodies—no, that’s not right—helping dead souls return through living people’s bodies. Six victims have been discovered, and now they’re calling me over.”

Immediately, a group of Taoist masters jumped in.

“Martial Nephew Xuanliang, you’re their next target!”

“Martial Nephew Xuanliang, I’m not in the city, but you can go to my temple and take my Zhen Guan Treasure, the Lingxuan Armor, for protection!”

“Xuanyi is unreliable. Martial Nephew, you must be prepared to protect yourself.”

“In critical moments, save yourself before your master—the Taoist community needs you, martial nephew!”

Taoist Master Xuanyi: “…”

They couldn’t gather many people in such a short time, and in A City’s Taoist temples, excluding the charlatans, truly capable Taoist priests were few. Many had also gone out on business during the Spring Festival.

In the end, they recruited about fifty apprentice Taoist priests who were still in training, normally responsible for distributing incense, greeting visitors, and chanting scriptures.

An hour later, Chu Xuanliang contacted the game company’s receptionist again, who responded surprisingly readily. They even sent him a location via phone, indicating they were already at the top of a mountain in the range.

Spared the trouble of calculating, everyone gathered at the foot of the mountain. Seeing most people had arrived, they prepared to assemble and climb.

Taoist Master Xuanyi selected a group of formidable individuals as the vanguard. They took stored talismans and magic tools to go capture the black Taoist. They were divided into pairs, advancing toward the summit from eight directions.

“The rest stay at the mountain foot to prepare the Heaven Net Earth Trap Spell, covering this entire mountain. After we go up, seal off the whole mountain area to prevent the enemy from escaping. If the situation turns unfavorable, request assistance from the underworld soldiers. No matter what happens, do not go up the mountain casually to avoid disturbing the Mountain God’s cultivation.”

The disciples nodded in agreement.

Taoist Master Xuanyi waved his hand, “Let’s go.”