Judge of Souls - Chapter 66

When Jiang Feng arrived at the resort area, Senior Brother was already fighting with the opponents.

The bamboo building was constructed in the most secluded corner, with the entrance blocked by a fence so people rarely approached it.

Jiang Feng climbed over and discovered the path was covered with unknown black insects. He followed the dense line of bugs and quickly found his target.

Senior Brother was standing at the main entrance of the bamboo building, facing three monk-like figures.

Senior Brother heard movement and turned his head slightly. “How did you get in here?”

Jiang Feng asked, “How did you find this place?”

“I attached a paper talisman to Yang Huan’s body.” Senior Brother drew his long sword with one hand. “They knew I was coming, yet they didn’t run.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? I thought you would bring a group of Taoist priests, but only two came. You should be the ones afraid,” one of them sneered from across the way. “But now it’s too late to run.”

Jiang Feng noticed his heavy accent, which made his speech sound strange. “Foreigners?”

The man said, “We’re Thai.”

Jiang Feng: “What are Thai people doing here?”

Senior Brother replied flatly, “They’re just homeless dogs who were driven out and fled to China. Black-robed Ajarns aren’t welcome in Thailand either. People there believe in orthodox Buddhism. Those who use filthy methods like them, even with powerful magic, get expelled.”

The insects had gathered around them, first covering the staircase to the second floor and blocking their retreat at the entrance.

They moved like a tide, not rushing to attack but spreading out to approach from all directions.

Senior Brother burned a fire talisman, creating a barrier around himself.

Senior Brother acted as if he hadn’t noticed and said calmly, “Coming to China and not keeping a low profile, but instead so boldly looking for death.”

The lead monk didn’t take him seriously. He had traveled extensively with his master, solving problems for him, and rarely faced strong enemies. Except for being driven out by Luang Por An, they had always been unrestrained.

When they first arrived in China, they were cautious about the legendary Taoist arts, but soon discovered that out of ten Taoist priests they encountered, nine were fake and one was weak. True Taoist arts had essentially been lost, and ordinary people posed no threat.

Those famous masters who used small tricks to manipulate powerful officials were laughable.

How could these people compare to their Ajarn?

He raised the prayer beads in his hand, stretched them forward, and chanted incantations Jiang Feng couldn’t understand. All the waiting insects moved at once.

Jiang Feng’s eyelid twitched as he realized these insects could fly.

The enclosed space seemed to be engulfed by a black hurricane, with the buzzing of wings so loud that it drowned out all other sounds.

Controlling insects, real living creatures, couldn’t be countered with ordinary Taoist arts.

Senior Brother immediately raised his sword and invoked the Ninth Heaven Fire Decree, pulling Jiang Feng to his side. The talisman that had seemed nearly burned out suddenly erupted into a fire snake. The ashes on the ground rose up, shooting straight to the ceiling.

The insects, though small, charged with great force. They still broke through the fire barrier but were reduced to charred corpses.

Jiang Feng raised his hand to shield his face, feeling disgusted.

When the three Ajarn saw the fire dragon rise, they realized this Taoist priest who dared to come alone was indeed different from others they had met. Without seeing him make hand seals, with just a few simple words of command, he was much more powerful than they had imagined.

The lead monk’s expression changed, not daring to be careless. He grabbed his prayer beads and pulled hard, breaking the connecting string. The two behind him followed with their own movements, chanting incantations.

The prayer beads that fell to the ground began to shake, and the small ghosts trapped within were released from their constraints.

Senior Brother felt the strong yin energy, his vision obstructed, and swung his sword toward two spots. He tilted his head slightly, and a ferocious face appeared in the fire wall, opening its mouth to bite at the two of them, barely a palm’s width from Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng instinctively moved to avoid it, stepping out of the fire circle. Behind him were insects so dense they obscured his vision.

Senior Brother momentarily failed to watch over him, using his exorcism sword to repel the small ghost. Half of Jiang Feng’s body was already surrounded by black insects.

The monk rejoiced, waiting to see Jiang Feng reduced to dry bones before collecting his soul. Unexpectedly, all the insects that approached him retreated like a tide in the next second. These trained insects seemed terrified of him, retreating half a meter away, showing even more fear than they did of the fire talisman.

Senior Brother raised his eyebrows in surprise, but seeing this, no longer concerned himself with Jiang Feng and focused on dealing with the small ghosts.

The lead monk, seeing the situation turn unfavorable and knowing his skills might truly be inferior, became alarmed. He muttered something to the person behind him, who turned and ran upstairs.

Jiang Feng’s gaze followed that person, clearly wanting to go up as well.

The monk warily directed his attack at Jiang Feng.

Since entering, they hadn’t seen him use any Taoist arts, so his abilities remained unknown.

“Who are you people?” The monk stepped back, guarding the staircase with his companion, his face showing cold mockery. “Did you come specifically to kill us? Were you sent by Luang Por An?”

Senior Brother sneered. “You think too highly of yourself. We’re just casually cleaning up some trash, who cares who you are?”

Jiang Feng found all the talk about Luang Por and Ajarn annoying.

“Thailand mostly believes in Buddhism, right? But did you know China has its own native religion called Taoism? Coming to someone else’s territory to cause trouble, have you monsters and demons reported to King Yama first?”

The lead monk’s eyes shifted, and he shouted, “Take this!”

The oil paintings hanging on the wall suddenly began to twist and bulge outward.

The human figures in the originally colorful paintings crawled out from their frames. They shot like lightning directly at Jiang Feng.

The two monks manipulated invisible threads with their hands, making the puppets obey their commands.

Senior Brother blocked several of them.

Jiang Feng didn’t draw a talisman or chant. He simply raised his hand and grabbed the small ghost tightly, then threw it back.

“Ah——” The monk never expected this move and was hit squarely, falling to the ground.

 “How is this possible!”

The puppet opened its mouth wide, its eyes turning craftily, flashing with vicious light, and bit the two men.

The monks were shocked. “No!”

The puppet’s body began to convulse again, and black insects crawled out, entering the two men’s bloodstreams through their wounds.

“Ah——” The two could only scream in agony.

All the surrounding insects and sealed ghosts began to stir, making increasingly shrill cries.

Ghost shadows flickered, demons danced chaotically.

They had captured so many small ghosts in this area, more rampant than expected.

Senior Brother sat cross-legged and began to invoke a blue talisman, saying, “I’ll guard downstairs, you go up and see. Don’t let anyone escape.”

Jiang Feng nodded, stepped over the two corpses, and rushed up the stairs.

The stench on the second floor was overwhelming—the musty smell of a place long deprived of sunlight with windows tightly shut. The windows weren’t open.

As soon as he stepped up, a white light appeared on the floor, indicating an array had been activated.

“You Chinese Taoist priests are somewhat powerful,” an elderly voice came from somewhere. “But in my Ten Thousand Ghost Formation, whoever enters never leaves alive.”

Jiang Feng looked toward the sound.

A ghastly white face hung from the ceiling—a doll made of white cloth.

“Nameless nobody, how dare you act recklessly before my Taoist sect?” Jiang Feng extended his hand toward the face and grabbed, “I’ll send you to face judgment before King Yama!”

However, when he closed his fingers, another ghost flew into his palm.

The doll’s head shook and fell from the ceiling. Immediately, hundreds of small ghosts floated out from the formation, the floor covered in blood, with ghosts wailing in waves.

Jiang Feng glanced out the window and commanded sternly, “Stop!”

The Judge swept his long sleeve, erasing the formation on the ground. With a clap of his hands, all the troublemaking ghosts were pressed against the wall.

The sound waves rippled outward.

The black-robed Ajarn, who had just escaped not far away, trembled and immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The young disciple supporting him called out anxiously, “Ajarn!”

“Run quickly. They’re not ordinary Taoist priests, possibly even more powerful than Luang Por An.”

“How can there be cultivators more powerful than Luang Por An?”

“I was careless this time.” The black-robed Ajarn pushed away his hand. “You hold them back for me first.”

The disciple exclaimed in shock. “But I… ugh——“

He looked down at the hand piercing through his chest, too stunned to speak.

“A…jarn”

The black-robed Ajarn crushed his heart, took a breath, and healed his own internal injuries. Without looking back, he fled.

By the time the Judge had secured the Ten Thousand Ghost Formation upstairs and locked up the small ghosts—sending those he could to the underworld and leaving the rest for the Taoists—the black-robed Ajarn had vanished.

Jiang Feng couldn’t sense his presence momentarily. He went downstairs and found Senior Brother was also gone.

He took out his phone and called the police.

****

The black-robed Ajarn fled in panic, rushing into the mountain behind the resort area, finally stopping on a deserted mountain path.

He rarely exercised, had dozens of small ghosts living in his body, feared light, never went outside, and was also elderly. This time, using his magic powers to run for nearly an hour was his limit.

He sat down to rest against a peach tree and examined his right arm.

Because it had been exposed to sunlight while he was fleeing, the incomplete right arm was being gnawed by restless small ghosts. The blood from the wound had dyed the originally white fabric deep red.

The fresh blood further stimulated the greedy evil ghosts, causing internal turmoil.

“Damn it!” He sat cross-legged and began to use magic to suppress the ghosts.

Sweat dripped down his chin as he licked his lips, thinking that if only there were living people nearby, he could let the ghosts satisfy their hunger.

Just as this thought appeared, he heard a crisp female voice say, “Hello.”

The black-robed Ajarn suddenly opened his eyes. Before him stood a girl with pigtails, only fifteen or sixteen years old.

She carried a slender wooden box about one meter long on her back. She looked cute and pretty, smiling softly with two obvious dimples.

“Come here,” the black-robed Ajarn suppressed his excitement, pretending to be weak. “I’m injured and feeling unwell. Could you help me up?”

The girl smiled brightly. “Of course, grandpa.”

She walked toward the black-robed Ajarn as she spoke.

Seeing her approach, the Ajarn eagerly reached out and grabbed her forearm. Just as he was about to laugh madly, planning to use her life force to feed his ghosts, he realized something was wrong.

His left hand touching her had been reduced to bare white bones.

A fierce ghost, with yin energy as thick as ink, was biting his arm. When it saw him looking, it revealed a pair of blood-red eyes. The eyes curved into crescents, expressing satisfaction and excitement.

The black-robed Ajarn’s throat tightened.

This was no ordinary girl; he had fallen into someone else’s trap.

This was definitely someone even more ruthless than himself.

He tried desperately to beat his left arm but found it useless. The evil ghost was several times more powerful than any small ghost he had ever seen; he was completely helpless.

The girl let out a low laugh. “There’s a Chinese saying: ‘There’s always someone better, always a higher power.’ Understanding this principle before death isn’t such a loss.”

“Who are you? Who are you!!”

“I…” She adjusted the strap of her box and said, “My name is Zong Ce. Remembering my name won’t help you, as people like us don’t have a next life.”

She walked in a circle around the black-robed Ajarn, seemingly evaluating. “You like refining ghosts, and so do I. But you like to choose innocent children to refine, which I really hate. I prefer to choose bad people. The worse the person, the more powerful the ghost becomes after refining. Just like you.”

The black-robed Ajarn howled in unwillingness, but as he spoke, only a skeleton remained on the ground.

Zong Ce collected the Ajarn’s soul, then patted the evil ghost’s head, saying, “If you behave and listen to me, I’ll let you eat. Otherwise, I’ll throw you into my formation, understand?”

The evil ghost nodded obediently.