Judge of Souls - Chapter 52

Mother Wang also wanted to leave, but there were too many people outside the office. She decided to wait until the crowd dispersed.

Hu Xi had now publicly confronted her, revealing Wang Xian’s birth in front of so many people. Her accusations were half-truths and exaggerations. The opponent spoke so quickly, throwing one embarrassing issue after another, that she became confused and couldn’t remember to refute them, only recalling the last sentence of each statement.

Not refuting at the time probably seemed like admission in others’ eyes.

Outside, the commotion continued, and Mother Wang was extremely anxious.

How would Wang Xian continue attending this school? She was a senior in her third year – what if this affected her?

The more she thought about it, the more resentful she became.

Everything belonged to Hu Xi – why? Because she was born to the right family? Being born well made her superior to others?

She couldn’t wait for the crowd to disperse, and suddenly there was another exclamation from outside.

She peeked out and saw that Hu Xi had fainted. A male student stepped forward to carry her, about to take her to the infirmary.

“This woman is really something!”

Witnessing this, Mother Wang stomped her foot, with curses nearly bursting from her lips.

Wang Xian grabbed her hand, panicking: “Mom, what do we do now?”

Mother Wang said, “We need to check on her.”

She was still Hu Xi’s stepmother, after all.

Both the Wang mother and daughter thought Hu Xi was faking, but when she was taken to the infirmary, they realized something was wrong.

Hu Xi’s condition wasn’t good. Her body was cold, not at normal temperature. Her breathing was very weak, and she showed no response to light or sound.

After examining her, the infirmary doctor decisively said, “Take her to the hospital.”

Mother Wang cried out in alarm and immediately pulled out her phone to call Father Wang.

They left Wang Xian at school and rushed to take Hu Xi to the hospital.

****

Kong Su was ejected from Hu Xi’s body, her head spinning from the experience. Seeing people gathered around Hu Xi unable to wake her, she hurried to find Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng was speechless after hearing what happened.

He called Chu Xuanliang to ask what to do for someone possessed by a ghost. Chu Xuanliang said that if it hadn’t been long, he should feed her water with a burned calming talisman, or let her rest for a few days.

Jiang Feng had many talismans that Chu Xuanliang had given him for free. He crouched in a corner examining them one by one, burned one to ash, mixed it into a cup of water, and took it to the hospital.

By the time he arrived at the hospital on the swaying bus, Hu Xi had already woken up once, and the hospital had confirmed there was no danger to her life.

Because Hu Xi had driven them away, Father Wang had left with his wife, leaving just one person in the spacious hospital room.

Jiang Feng handed the cup to Hu Xi, who pinched her nose and drank the strange-tasting liquid.

“It smells like foot odor,” Hu Xi said with furrowed brows, “but it feels good.”

The talisman worked quickly. Her body temperature rose rapidly, her heartbeat accelerated, and her whole body felt warm and comfortable.

“Hey, are you better?” a nurse who came in to check asked curiously. “How did you suddenly fall into such a deep coma?”

Kong Su, gazing out the window at a forty-five-degree angle from the bedside, said, “Probably an aftereffect of carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Jiang Feng reluctantly said, “…aftereffects, I suppose.”

The doctor looked up. “What aftereffects?”

Jiang Feng: “Carbon monoxide poisoning.”

“Is that so?” The nurse was skeptical as she wrote in the medical record. “We’ll observe for now. She’s slightly malnourished and needs to watch her diet.”

After the nurse left, Jiang Feng was the first to grab Kong Su by the neck.

Kong Su said guiltily. “…I’ve never died before, it’s my first time, I’m not experienced. I didn’t know this would happen.”

Jiang Feng: “Ghosts should stay away from the living.”

“It was great! Satisfying!” Hu Xi smiled at Kong Su, “Seeing their expressions made me want to laugh. I loved seeing them so flustered! You were amazing, big sister!”

One real aftereffect of Kong Su’s possession was that Hu Xi could see her again. The two high-fived in the air and recklessly shouted “Yeah!”

Jiang Feng gave Kong Su a cool sideways glance, and she, feeling guilty, hugged her head and shrank to the edge of the bed.

“I really didn’t mean to…” Kong Su said quietly, “I was standing behind her, talking to her. She seemed to hear my voice, so I wanted to get closer. Usually I can’t even touch her, but this time when I reached out, I got sucked in.”

“Isn’t that powerful though?” Hu Xi said, “Try touching my dad, make him give my property back, wow—”

Kong Su rubbed her chin and asked, “Would that work?”

“Definitely not,” Jiang Feng said. “Illegally occupying someone else’s property – when you go to the underworld, plenty of punishments will be waiting for you.”

Kong Su immediately fell silent again. Neither dared to offer any more bad ideas.

Jiang Feng didn’t have much knowledge about ghosts. He looked at Kong Su and hesitantly asked, “Should I find a Taoist priest to help you move on?”

Kong Su shook her head firmly, resisting, “Absolutely not!”

Jiang Feng: “So you want to stay in the world of the living forever?”

This question made Kong Su hesitate.

In the month since her death, she had wandered the streets with no one to talk to.

If she continued living like this, she didn’t know how long before she would break down. It was too lonely.

Besides, after death, people were supposed to go to the underworld.

She had a natural obsession with fulfilling the responsibilities that came with her identity.

For instance, students should study hard, actors should act well, and celebrities should maintain their image. Many things weren’t necessarily what she liked, but once she was in a position, she always wanted to do her best.

“I…” Kong Su glanced at Hu Xi, finding an excuse, and nodded, “I need to make sure she’s okay before I go to the underworld. I’m her ghost realm guardian now. I can’t leave her with such a mess.”

Jiang Feng said with exasperation, “…There’s no such thing.”

****

Father Wang and Mother Wang hurried home.

By the time they entered the community, Father Wang’s face had darkened, and he didn’t even try to manage his expression.

Opening the door, he threw his suit onto the sofa, sat down, and began to fume.

Seeing him like this, Mother Wang diligently made him tea and brought it to him.

Father Wang turned away, tugged at his tie, and exhaled roughly through his nose in frustration.

Mother Wang pursed her lips and went to wash an apple for him.

“Stop right there!” Father Wang’s anger remained unabated, and her abnormal attempts to please him only made him more agitated. He stood up and said, “What’s the use of trying to please me now? What about before? Huh?”

Mother Wang turned around. “What did I do? What’s the point of just yelling at me?”

Father Wang forcefully pulled off his tie and threw it onto the sofa.

“Did you find that apartment for her? You told me everything was taken care of? What nonsense! She’s my daughter too! My flesh and blood! Not someone for you to mistreat!”

Mother Wang, looking at his face just inches away, responded loudly. “The real estate agent found it! It was close to the school. How many good places are there in the school district? Aren’t they all simple and uncomfortable? What could I do about that?”

Father Wang: “And her living expenses? What about her living expenses?”

Mother Wang’s eyes darted away at this question. “How would I know what she spent it on?”

“Wenxiu, Wenxiu, I know what you’re going to say next just from the wrinkle of your brow! Are you still lying to me?” Father Wang pointed at her nose and scolded, “How am I supposed to trust you? Can’t you have some perspective? What happens if people find out I’ve been mistreating my own daughter?”

“But did you ever care? You talk as if you cared so much about this daughter. Why push all the blame onto me? Listen to what she said today – was I really that cruel? Do you think we’re all stupid or blind? Can’t you tell who’s lying?”

Father Wang raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, then shook his head. “I won’t argue with you. Calm down on your own.”

They parted on bad terms.

Father Wang went to the company, while Mother Wang returned to her room, took out her phone, and called Wang Xian.

She pulled out a tissue and tearfully complained on the phone.

“I work so hard to maintain this home, am I having it easy? Does your father think I’m just relaxing and having fun all day? Men never see women’s hard work and contributions.”

“And that Hu Xi – after all these years, your father has worked overtime managing the company to reach today’s success. In her mouth, it all became her dead mother’s property! Using people like dogs – is that how it’s done? Does she really think her mother left that much money? Your father earned all this through his own abilities!”

“I was born a farmer, not with a silver spoon like her mother, but I’m not as vicious as she is. She just can’t stand to see us doing well, and wants to destroy our family… sob… her mother died, and she’s just like her mother. I’ll never have a good day in my life.”

“Mom, don’t cry,” Wang Xian said with sweaty palms, consoling her, “I won’t let her bully you like this.”

****

After resting at home for two days, Hu Xi decided to return to school, considering this was the final semester of her senior year and critically important.

When she returned to school, she found the atmosphere even worse than before. It was completely different from what she had expected.

Walking through the teaching building, Hu Xi keenly sensed something was wrong. Finally standing at the classroom door, she didn’t enter.

Everyone was avoiding her gaze. Hu Xi put away her smile, feeling an unexplained panic.

A girl sitting near the door saw her arrive and became very nervous. She came over and said, “Hu Xi, you’re back.”

“What’s wrong?” Hu Xi grabbed her and asked, “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

The girl hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Have you seen our school forum?”

Hu Xi: “Why would I look at that?”

Their school forum was basically nominal, with hardly anyone knowing about it.

The girl licked her lips and said, “You… you’ll understand once you see it.”

The class monitor stood up and said, “Don’t look! Hu Xi, you should report this to the police.”

“Reporting this to the police probably won’t help much. After all, it’s not a bloody major case,” a male student said quietly. “And the perpetrator might be a minor.”

Hu Xi scanned the classroom and realized Wang Xian wasn’t there.

She directly pulled out her phone from her pocket and began searching for their school’s forum.