Judge of Souls - Chapter 57

Late at night, the Judge flipped through the Register of Merits and Demerits, his gaze scanning over the neat characters.

Hu Xi didn’t pursue Wang Xian for damaging her reputation, and Wang Xian, afraid of retribution, changed her identity and hastily moved away with her mother.

Mother Wang, due to financial difficulties, found a lover through her old connections. Their life was much worse than before.

The only one who faced legal consequences was Mr. Wang.

However, rights and wrongs, merits and demerits were all recorded in the Register. Those who committed fraud in transactions or seized others’ family properties fell under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Official King of the Fourth Hall. Even if they escaped punishment in the mortal realm, if they didn’t repent or make compensation, they would ultimately face punishment.

Moreover, human fortunes were influenced by karma and the Heavenly Way. As long as Wang Xian and her mother felt guilty, their future fortunes wouldn’t be smooth.

From the Judge’s perspective, he truly wanted to advise everyone to be kind. He hoped and suggested that all criminals would confess and accept punishment while still alive to reduce their mortal sins and avoid heavier penalties later. After all, mortal laws were much lighter than those of the underworld. The various hells in each hall were places where entering would make one wish for death, dying and reviving repeatedly.

The Judge turned past this case and began searching for Kong Su’s name.

She had been dead for over a month but still hadn’t gone to the underworld, indicating she still had attachments to the mortal realm. But the Judge couldn’t sense any strong obsessions from her, and she didn’t seem to have anyone to be attached to. How could such a ghost with nothing to hide become a wandering spirit?

Even stranger was that after several months, she had little yin energy about her, more like a freshly dead ghost. She could even possess people. Ghosts without strong magic powers couldn’t achieve this.

The Register of Merits and Demerits flipped rapidly and finally stopped on a page. On the page roster was a red circle.

The Judge frowned.

Kong Su, twenty-eight years old, female, born in S City, actress.

——Not deceased.

Was this still a living soul?

Seeing this, the Judge was surprised.

He waved his sleeve, and a cold yin wind rose inexplicably in the room, pushing open the wooden door in front of him. The Judge’s imposing aura leaked out.

Kong Su, who was absorbing the essence of the sun and moon while watching a silent TV drama in the living room, suddenly stiffened, her entire spiritual body twisting.

The Judge said, “Come here.”

Kong Su hugged her legs and floated over in a round shape.

She clung to the doorframe, using the wall to shield her body, anxiously poking her head in and asking softly, “You called me?”

The Judge slightly raised his eyelids. “Where is your physical body now?”

Kong Su said, “I don’t know who handled my funeral arrangements. Maybe I’m in the ground or in a box. They probably wouldn’t have scattered me in water.”

“You’re still alive,” the Judge said. “Your allotted lifespan isn’t over, and your physical body still exists. Right now, your body should be in a deep coma, but it still has vital signs.”

“I’m still alive?” Kong Su was more surprised than him, covering her mouth and saying, “But the news all said I was dead!”

The Judge was speechless. This was absolutely the most clueless ghost he had ever seen.

No wonder she… lived the way she did.

The Judge asked, “Do you remember the cause of your death?”

“I…” Kong Su thought carefully, but wasn’t very certain.

During that period, she had been in a state of confusion, like a puppet on strings. Rationally, she knew what she was doing, but often did things that bewildered even herself. She was particularly irritable, with emotions beyond her control. It made her feel terrible.

She tentatively said, “Sudden death?”

Judge: “Where did you wake up?”

“On the street,” Kong Su recalled, turning her eyeballs. “After waking up, I went back to my company to take a look, but all my things had been cleared out. A group of unfamiliar relatives at my home started looking for lawyers to fight over my inheritance. I went to the hospital and found my hospital bed had been emptied. Plus, the media reported it this way, so I believed it.”

The Judge saw that questioning her wouldn’t yield much information, so he reminded her, “A living soul separated from its true body for too long… you… still haven’t lost your vital energy, firstly because your allotted lifespan isn’t over, and secondly because you often stayed in places with dense yang energy, preserving a thread of your life force. Later, you possessed Hu Xi and stole a lifeline from her. However, this isn’t a long-term solution. You need to find your physical body as soon as possible, otherwise, you’ll have nowhere to go, neither in the human world nor in the underworld.”

“Then what can I do? I…” Kong Su thought about it and didn’t feel panicked. Instead, she became excited, “Does this mean my inheritance is still mine? I can wear makeup and eat again?”

She said seriously, “Actually, when I was alive, I didn’t realize there were so many things I wanted to do. Only after death did I discover how shameful it is to waste one’s life. Life is short, don’t forget to tear down your enemies!”

The Judge’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “I’ll first order someone to search for your physical body.”

Kong Su: “Thank you, Jiang Feng!”

The Judge didn’t correct her form of address and raised his hand to summon five ghost soldiers, ordering them to search for Kong Su’s physical body.

The five underworld soldiers mobilized nearby lesser ghosts and began a detailed search.

Fortunately, not too much time had passed, and everything could still be traced. Plus, Kong Su had the incident in A City, so her body wasn’t far away. About an hour later, the five ghost soldiers returned to report.

Kong Su’s physical body had been secretly transferred from the central city hospital to a remote sanatorium outside the city.

The Judge asked Kong Su to memorize the address before returning to Jiang Feng’s body.

After he disappeared, Kong Su finally dared to raise her head. She floated around Jiang Feng twice, even poking his back with her finger. Finding he truly had no reaction, she turned and went to the living room to continue watching TV.

Sitting in front of the television again, Kong Su’s entire mentality had changed.

Previously, she had been forced into a Buddhist-like detachment, but now it was different—she was full of fighting spirit.

This starlet had snatched her opportunities while she was in a coma. This young heartthrob, though barely acquainted with her, was exploiting a dead person’s reputation for publicity. It was really too much.

And this person shared the same agent with her.

Indeed, why would her agent tell the public she was dead?

Kong Su wanted to change the channel to search for news about herself but didn’t dare wake Jiang Feng, feeling very conflicted. She couldn’t focus on the TV anymore and curled up on the sofa, waiting impatiently for daybreak.

The next day, Jiang Feng still woke up according to his biological clock.

Kong Su stared at him with a surprised face until he tidied up, changed clothes, picked up his keys, and called her to leave. Only then did she show some new expressions.

The two took a car to the sanatorium in the suburbs.

This sanatorium wasn’t large, and its economic situation didn’t seem very good either. Though the environment was quiet enough, it was somewhat dirty and messy. Entering the building, they were greeted by the strong smell of disinfectant. That wasn’t the worst part—mixed in was the stench from the toilets.

On the beige tiles were black footprints. The seats used for resting had been worn to black. Everything revealed neglect.

It was easy to imagine that the cleaning lady was slacking off.

Jiang Feng told the front desk he came to pay for the next stage of treatment, inquired about Kong Su’s ward, and headed there.

“I hate this!” Kong Su said angrily. “What did I earn so much money for? To leave it to people I dislike? To think they sent me to such a place—have their consciences been eaten by dogs?”

As they reached the ward area, the musty smell in the air intensified. The bright white paint on the walls was peeling off in patches near the bottom, leaving yellow stains where water had seeped in.

This was a very old sanatorium. They couldn’t afford new equipment, let alone renovate the wards.

Jiang Feng stopped at a door, turned the knob, and peered through the gap.

Kong Su rushed from his side to the front and excitedly pointed, “That’s me, it’s me!”

Inside, a nurse was helping “her” sit up to wipe her body. Kong Su took one look and was speechless, clenching her fists, almost wanting to cry.

That emaciated figure, sunken cheeks, and pale skin looked no different from a corpse. Where was even a trace of her former radiance? If a celebrity looked like this, her acting career would probably oscillate only between ghost films and drug addict roles.

But she was a contemporary starlet who relied on her looks to make a living!

“My God, how did I become like this?” Kong Su was shocked by her appearance. “Is this really not a corpse?”

The nurse inside just gave her a cursory wipe before putting the towel back in the basin. Without changing the water, she just wrung it out a couple of times and moved on to the next bed.

Kong Su immediately swallowed back her tears and voice, only then noticing this was a six-bed ward.

“What the hell!” Kong Su shuddered and retched. “My genes are evolving their own germophobia!”

Who knew how dirty the towel wiping her body was!

Jiang Feng urged, “Hurry in and try.”

For the first time, Kong Su found herself disgusted by her own beautiful body. She moved hesitantly while examining whether her physical body had any other fatal injuries. Just as she approached, she heard a piercing infant’s cry.

The cry carried extremely powerful magic force. Kong Su’s soul was shaken, and she immediately covered her ears and screamed. “Ahhh——“

Jiang Feng forcefully pushed open the ward door and rushed forward to shield her.

Perhaps startled by Jiang Feng, the ghostly thing’s voice paused for a moment, allowing Kong Su to catch her breath. Jiang Feng took the opportunity to observe if there were any other abnormalities nearby.

He reached out and lifted the blanket covering the upper half of Kong Su’s body.

At Kong Su’s bedhead, they saw a naked male infant. The infant was only as big as a palm. It firmly gripped a corner of the pillow with both hands, opened its large mouth, black energy swirling around it, looking at the two malevolently.

“What’s going on?” Kong Su was still shocked. “How can there be such a disgusting thing?”

Jiang Feng asked, “Do you know what this is?”

“It’s a Kumanthong!” Kong Su said. “This must be a Kumanthong. Some people in the entertainment industry have sought these, specifically going to Thailand to invite these little ghosts. It’s actually raising a ghost child. They say raising one brings smooth sailing and financial prosperity. Some people are especially superstitious, so they carry them around. I never believed it before.”

Jiang Feng said, “This is clearly a vicious ghost. And it now has great hostility towards you.”

“Then what should I do?” Kong Su asked anxiously. “I’ve never raised any so-called ghost child! This has absolutely nothing to do with me!”

“It’s guarding your physical body, not letting you approach…” Jiang Feng said. “You were probably driven out by it.”

Kong Su looked at the murderous lump that had killed her, feeling quite complex emotions.

The nurse, hearing the commotion, turned and questioned. “How did you get in? What were you just saying? Did you register your name?”

Jiang Feng walked to Kong Su’s physical body and explained. “I came to see my friend. I didn’t expect she had an accident a month ago.”

“The patient in this bed, you’re only the second person to visit her in such a long time,” the nurse sighed. “As a celebrity, in this condition, without even a fan visiting—it’s pitiful.”

After wiping the last patient, the nurse folded the towel neatly and left with the basin.

Jiang Feng extended his hand toward the little ghost. The Kumanthong grabbed his finger and opened its toothless mouth, apparently attempting to bite.

Kong Su gasped. “Be careful!”

Jiang Feng didn’t take the little creature seriously at all. He spread his five fingers and enveloped the little ghost completely in his palm. Then he gave it an intimidating squeeze. The ghost yelped in pain and immediately became docile.

“What are you spacing out for?” Jiang Feng pointed his chin at Kong Su. “Hurry up and get in.”

TN:

Kumanthong- Thai folklore, which is a type of spirit or doll that is believed to bring good luck and protection, often associated with a child spirit. It is commonly used in certain spiritual practices, especially in Southeast Asia.