Judge of Souls - Chapter 47

Chu Xuanliang was climbing the same path as his master. Although Taoist Master Xuanyi was highly skilled in Taoist arts, he had become slower on mountain paths in recent years due to his advanced age. This was especially true on the steep slope they had chosen.

Everyone chatted through their communication devices while climbing the mountain, confirming each other’s positions and safety.

After passing the middle of the mountain, a piercing long tone suddenly came through their earpieces, causing everyone’s eardrums to vibrate painfully. They all removed their earpieces. When they put them back on after the sound had passed, only static remained.

“There’s no signal,” Taoist Master Xuanyi warned cautiously. “Are they nearby?”

Chu Xuanliang stopped to listen for any movement but didn’t detect anyone in the vicinity. Perhaps they weren’t on this path.

The two continued moving upward. After walking a short distance, Chu Xuanliang’s toe kicked something. Because of the lush weeds growing nearby, the object didn’t roll far.

“What kind of bottle is this?” Chu Xuanliang picked it up and frowned. “It’s so heavy. Such a small thing must weigh at least ten jin.”

Just as he finished speaking, a crack appeared in the white porcelain bottle on its own.

Taoist Master Xuanyi shouted loudly and swung his sword while Chu Xuanliang quickly released the bottle and threw it away.

The porcelain bottle completely shattered in midair, and a black shadow emerged from inside. Taoist Master Xuanyi’s precious sword struck down, but it passed straight through the black shadow. The black thing revealed a large hole in its middle, avoiding being stabbed. Quick as lightning, it rapidly retreated to escape.

Chu Xuanliang turned his head trying to track its movement, but in the blink of an eye, the thing escaped his line of sight. It just kept circling around him, leaving trails of afterimages in his vision.

Chu Xuanliang: “What is that thing!”

The entity was black as thick ink, surrounded by rising yin energy, and remarkably still cast a faint shadow on the ground. It appeared to be a living thing, but while ghost-like, it wasn’t quite a ghost. As soon as it appeared, it automatically emitted a shrill crying sound. The cries included both children’s wailing and old women’s laments intertwined together, twisting painfully in one’s mind. It seemed like some kind of thing forged from wronged ghosts.

“This beast!!” Taoist Master Xuanyi raged, “What beast would dare do such a thing! Why hasn’t a bolt of heavenly lightning struck them dead?”

Chu Xuanliang initially thought there was only one of these things, but before he could move to destroy it, several more identical black shadows appeared on the mountain. From a distance, Chu Xuanliang also heard shouts from other Taoist companions.

Clearly, they weren’t the only ones encountering these entities on their path.

As the black shadows multiplied, the yin energy in the air began to grow denser. It continuously emanated from their bodies, converged, and strengthened. They were essentially like large generators.

The dense yin energy was obviously unpleasant for living people like them.

Chu Xuanliang stood guard in front, cautioning, “Be careful, Master!”

After emerging, the black shadows didn’t actively attack the group of Taoists but instead tried desperately to burrow into the ground. They moved like earthworms, nimbly drilling into the surface with tremendous destructive power.

Chu Xuanliang felt the mountain ground shake beneath his feet. Even giant trees with deep roots were uprooted by these monsters.

In an instant, the mountain was covered with overturned yellow soil, withered grass and flowers, as vitality rapidly drained away.

“Mountain God!” Taoist Master Xuanyi’s eyes reddened as he stomped his foot and shouted, “Stop! You beasts! What are you doing!”

He quickly threw out a Heaven-Opening talisman and chanted, “Evil spirits and demons, dare show scales, Thunder God strike, shatter their forms. Ghosts and monsters dispelled, human realm peaceful. Urgently follow this command!”

Golden light and thunder light crossed and struck out, but the black shadows moved faster, drilling into the ground to hide.

When the spell landed, half hit the black shadows, causing them to emit shrieks, while the other half hit the ground, immediately producing black smoke and a burning smell that permeated the air.

“Aiya! This won’t work!” Taoist Master Xuanyi hastily stopped.

It was a case of injuring the enemy by five hundred while harming oneself by a thousand.

Chu Xuanliang said, “Let’s go up the mountain! The person who threw these things must be up there. If their target is the little Mountain God, they should be nearby waiting for him to appear.”

The other Taoist companions had the same thought.

Everyone held their weapons, avoided the black shadows, and rushed toward the mountain peak. They finally gathered at the summit.

No one dared to approach rashly, all focusing their gaze on the center of the mountain top—two people currently surrounded by more than a dozen Taoists. The two wore black and white Taoist robes and sat cross-legged with their eyes closed. Though they knew everyone had arrived, they neither hid nor avoided them, seeming to disregard them completely.

Around them were several yellow talismans drawn with cinnabar, as well as white porcelain bottles like those encountered on the mountain. It was unknown how many people they had harmed or what kind of torture these ghosts had suffered.

Huang Yu took a deep breath, demonstrating her lung capacity. She stepped forward and said, “Out of fellowship among Taoists I ask you if you know your wrongdoing, if you’re willing to repent which sect you belong to, why you’re using such evil methods, if you don’t surrender now don’t blame us for being impolite!”

Then with a resounding voice she said, “Huff—I’ve finished asking, companions, attack!”

The two people suddenly opened their eyes and clapped their hands together just as Huang Yu finished speaking.

“Kill!”

The word “kill” echoed multiple times, rippling outward like giant waves. The yellow talismans they had hidden in secret connected into a massive net. Those black shadows that had been absorbed in destroying the forest all stopped their actions, looked toward the mountain peak, and turned to rush at the Taoists.

They howled madly and began attacking fiercely without any pattern. Because there were so many, they floated above everyone’s heads, gathering into a black cloud that blocked the sunlight from above.

The yin energy was bone-chillingly cold, causing teeth to chatter.

Through the sparse ghost shadows, Chu Xuanliang saw that the two people were still sitting in their original positions.

Seeing this development, the Taoist masters gathered together to coordinate their response.

First, they cast spells to strengthen their talismans. “Heaven clear, earth clear, blood spirit hear the command, make you divine, talisman joins talisman decree…”

Then protection spells: “Brilliant and majestic, sun rises from the east, I now chant, sweep away all inauspiciousness…”

Followed by various Five Thunder talismans, Fire talismans, Ghost-killing incantations…

Various lights flashed around the Taoists, but the black mist at the periphery grew increasingly dense.

Even though the Taoist masters had sufficient talismans in reserve, they weren’t meant to be used up like this. Even if the talismans could withstand it, the little Mountain God might not. His cultivation was still shallow, and this area had already been destroyed by seventy to eighty percent—the situation was dire.

“This won’t work!” one Taoist gritted his teeth and said, “Where did so many evil ghosts come from? We should send someone down to find reinforcements!”

Chu Xuanliang said with difficulty, “All the Taoists in the city have been called. Those who could come are already here. The rest won’t be much help. And those from further away probably won’t arrive in time.”

The Taoist said, “Silly boy, go call the police! Tell them there’s deliberate arson here—call 119, 120, 110, all of them! I don’t believe they can escape!”

Chu Xuanliang: “…”

It sounded strange, but it was true. In a society governed by law, if you had the ability, go to a place without police; otherwise, if they invited you for tea, you’d have to go obediently.

However, the biggest problem now was… they couldn’t get out. These ghosts were extremely tough, and talismans couldn’t easily disperse them.

****

Jiang Feng had been texting with Chu Xuanliang, but the latter wasn’t responding, probably having misplaced his phone somewhere.

He leaned back on the sofa with his computer on the armrest, remembering he was browsing news related to gaming companies on a webpage when, in the blink of an eye, he suddenly fell asleep.

As soon as his consciousness wavered, a little jumping figure appeared in his mind.

“Dad! Dad!” The little Mountain God jumped up and down in front of him, constantly scratching his back, anxiously saying, “Someone released bugs to bite me. I feel so uncomfortable!”

Jiang Feng saw that his skin had already turned patchy red, obviously in bad condition, and asked, “What kind of bugs? Are you afraid of bugs?”

The little Mountain God angrily said, “I am! They’re black, really black. They chase and bite me. Many people have come to the mountain, and now they’re fighting!”

Jiang Feng: “How are you feeling now?”

“Itchy! Uncomfortable!” The little Mountain God was nearly crying. He scratched himself, leaving a bloody mark. He looked genuinely suffering; his hair color had dimmed and was turning yellow.

The little Mountain God clenched his fists and said, “They bite me. I’m getting angry!”

Jiang Feng immediately said, “I’ll come over right now. Hide yourself well, don’t let them catch you.”

The little Mountain God cried, “Dad, come see me quickly…”

There was no direct bus to the Shaoling Mountain range. Jiang Feng didn’t have a car and needed to take a taxi. Even by taxi, going from the city center to the mountain area would take at least an hour.

Jiang Feng desperately wanted to wake up, but once his consciousness entered this chaotic place, he lost control. Time passed minute by minute, second by second, and anger rose in his heart.

****

At the foot of the mountain, the young Taoist disciples looked up at the mountain through binoculars.

Everything had been calm at first, with everyone eating snacks and chatting. Later, they could see the rampaging black mist without even using tools. The young Taoists looked up and immediately panicked.

“The mountain is so dark!”

“Quick, form the formation!”

“The formation was set up long ago! But Master told us to set up a Heaven Net Earth Trap Spell. They aren’t fleeing downward at all, they’re just rushing upward. What should we do?”

“Are there too many of them? Will Master be in danger?”

“Should we go up to check?”

“If Master can’t handle these monsters, wouldn’t we be seeking death by going up?”

“Summon, summon—summon the underworld officials, quickly!”

The young Taoists weren’t deeply cultivated in the Tao. Their usual duties involved reciting scriptures and explaining oracle slips to visitors who came to burn incense. They naturally didn’t know high-level spells like summoning underworld soldiers.

With no other options, they could only try their best. Dozens of people sat cross-legged, lit incense, and began performing the spell to dispatch underworld soldiers in unison.

Even if they only summoned a small underworld official, they could at least have him report back, right? They had prepared stacks of yellow paper and spirit money.

Organized chanting echoed at the foot of the mountain. “Heaven clear, earth clear, soldiers follow orders, troops follow the seal, generals follow commands…”

They chanted seven times in succession. Towards the end, the originally simple phrases required force from their dantian to pronounce. It felt as if their bodies were being heavily pressed down, and the sensation of the mountain shaking grew stronger. Clouds surged and winds flew, blocking the sky and sun, creating an imposing atmosphere of dark clouds pressing down on the city.

Eventually, it was beyond their control. Massive chains burst from the ground, wrapped in enormous yin energy. Something was vaguely about to manifest in the world, and muffled thunder began to sound from the horizon.

They had definitely summoned something formidable.

The group of young Taoists fell silent, anxiously looking forward.

“A Ghost King? Did we summon a Ghost King?”

“Is a Ghost King good or bad?”

“Only a ghost would know that!”

“Will….Master kill us?”

“No. We’ll die here first.”

A few breaths later, the underworld soldiers with their majestic and suffocating presence finally appeared.

Those restless ghosts on the mountain stopped attacking, no longer under the control of the Taoists, and once again drilled into the ground to hide out of fear.

“The Judge!” one Taoist pointed and shouted, “It’s the Judge!!”

The young Taoists gasped.

Who could have summoned the true form of an underworld deity?