Judge of Souls - Chapter 83

Jiang Feng restrained the ghost, and Chu Xuanliang was stunned for a moment before finally taking out a talisman to seal the ghost.

The Taoist priests over there had no time to care about how they were handling their little ghost, as they discovered their physical condition was even worse than they had imagined. No matter how they tried to regulate their breathing, they couldn’t stop the magic power leaking from their meridians, like balloons punctured with countless holes. Within moments, they could no longer hold on.

Years of cultivation, destroyed in an instant. Their limbs grew weak, and due to the aftereffects of losing their magic power, their consciousness gradually faded.

Chu Xuanliang glanced over and saw that three out of the four had already fainted. So he actively delivered a hand chop to send the last one to follow his companions.

Meanwhile, Zhu Yan lay on the ground, her face covered with cold tears. Mr. Zhu rushed over in dismay and took her in his arms.

“Dad…” Zhu Yan said, pounding her legs, “I can’t feel my legs!”

Mr. Zhu held her face and comforted her, “They’re here. They’re still here. It’s going to be alright.”

He raised his head and pleaded, “Please, can this be healed? Whatever the cost, I’m begging you!”

Zhu Yan’s legs had been gnawed by the ghost, and with her soul damaged, unlike physical injuries, she would never be able to stand up again in this lifetime.

But as long as the soul itself remained, in places heavy with yin energy, after a few decades or even centuries, there was still a chance for it to slowly regenerate.

Chu Xuanliang shook his head.

Mr. Zhu embraced Zhu Yan in heart-wrenching grief. “My daughter! Yan Yan!”

When the old ghost was by her side, she had many opportunities to turn back and admit her mistakes. But she didn’t.

Mr. Zhu and Qin Ru also had many chances to advise her, but they didn’t either.

They forgot that the ghost had been following Zhu Yan, observing her every move, knowing her true inner thoughts. Sometimes an apology can be very important to victims, but definitely not this kind of perfunctory treatment—such apologies only make them feel worse.

****

Zong Ce curled up on the sofa, biting her sleeve and giggling with trembling shoulders.

Meng Po asked, “Does doing such things make you happy?”

The smile on Zong Ce’s face froze. She released her teeth and said, “I just made a casual remark. Are you going to report me to the Judge?”

“Every day I distribute medicinal soup by the Naihe Bridge, and I am the last person human souls see before they move on. They often can’t help but tell me about their loved ones, their sorrows, their regrets. Some are small matters, some are things they wanted to say but couldn’t. After listening to many people’s accounts, I’ve finally discovered that childhood trauma accompanies a person throughout their life. So many people come to ask me, why is there a law protecting minors? Why use legal justice to protect a criminal, even when you know they deserve punishment? What do you think?” Meng Po said.

“How would I know? Protection law for beasts who happen to be minors?” Zong Ce sneered. “Law and society, fundamentally speaking, favor the weak. If this law didn’t exist, they would say, these people are still children, why not give them another chance? Hmph, those who speak out are just a small minority; their sentiments on certain issues are not enough to be credible.”

“A teacher once told me this,” Meng Po said. “Minors either lack proper understanding, not knowing what is right and what is wrong. Or they have the right understanding but lack sufficient shame and sense of responsibility, unable to empathize with others’ pain, and can harm others simply for their own pleasure or to attract attention. The reason for protecting minors is that their mistakes reflect not just their own moral failures, but the malice exposed between society, parents, teachers, education, and so on. It’s not just them who should be punished. If someone is to be condemned, then the adults who taught these children wrong should also be guilty. The law is more willing to believe that these children, who have not yet been completely shaped, may have the possibility of changing in the future.”

Zong Ce, a minor himself, had no comment on this.

Meng Po asked again, “Do you know why people who believe in cults or evil gods also gain power?”

“I don’t know,” Zong Ce frowned and said, “You’re talking a lot today. My head is about to explode.”

Meng Po’s manner of speaking always carried a soft, pleading tone that made Zong Ce’s ears itch.

Meng Po said, “Because they believe they are right. They devoutly believe in their deities, pray with passion, and trust sincerely. Gradually, they gain strength from their faith. You can never reason with these people. But as time passes, after they spend dozens or hundreds of years in hell, quietly observing others’ lives and understanding the true nature of the world, they wake up. Give them a bowl of Meng Po’s soup, and they become no different from others. From the beginning, they were actually the same; what influenced them was society and education.”

“No one can guarantee that those who commit violence as minors will improve after receiving social education and mental maturity. But I’ve seen many psychopaths. They enjoy watching people being abused, fantasize about murder and crime, but ultimately restrain these impulses, integrate into society, and keep this secret until death,” Meng Po said. “Education has power. Not all sins need to be repaid with death. To the Underworld, life is a very precious thing.”

Although Zhu Yan’s behavior was detestable, it was far from deserving death. Her life was only fourteen years, blurry and one-sided, and perhaps one day she could awaken to her mistakes.

Of course, no one would know this until the future arrived, but humans always place beautiful fantasies on the future.

The law is not meant to guarantee the rights of all individuals, but rather the interests of the broader masses.

Take, for example, the determination of sexual harassment. Cases with strong subjective awareness and difficult, ambiguous evidence-gathering will result in the loss of rights for some plaintiffs and defendants, regardless of whether the handling is lenient or strict.

The law protecting minors is the same. Bystanders may think that giving them another chance is unfair. While those involved might think, isn’t this what you all taught me? I had no choice.

Moreover, this law doesn’t just protect delinquent children. Domestic violence, sexual assault, corporal punishment, and various social problems all exist in reality.

“So she doesn’t have to face punishment?” Zong Ce rolled up her sleeves and said, “Then the Underworld is a place that serves the rich, too. It’s good that I won’t go to the Underworld after I die.”

“You’ve never been to the Underworld, why do you make such judgments about it?” Meng Po said. “In the Underworld, merit is merit, and sin is sin; they don’t cancel each other out. If someone uses money gained from killing one person to save a hundred people, can they enjoy the merit of saving ninety-nine people? No, that’s impossible.”

Zong Ce stood up.

Meng Po asked, “Where are you going?”

“Home!” Zong Ce said, “There’s something wrong with Jiang Feng’s place. You’re not normal anymore.”

****

The case of Teacher Wei’s sexual harassment finally concluded with Zhu Yan personally going online to tell the truth, tearfully apologizing.

Waves of online voices followed one after another, and several more false accusation cases surfaced, with victims wanting to clear their names using the momentum. For a time, there was widespread discussion about similar sexual harassment cases.

Mr. Zhu’s company suffered a major blow. Initially, it received attention due to Zhu Yan’s scandal, which then led to the exposure of various financial problems. After consecutive trading halts to avert disaster, it was investigated by both the tax bureau and the securities regulatory commission. Shareholders reduced their holdings, employees jumped ship, and like a domino effect, successive incidents occurred, resulting in heavy losses. No one knew if they could survive this crisis.

Qin Ru still divorced Mr. Zhu. Her face was almost unrecognizable, and her mental state was poor. Having been too high-profile before, now without Mr. Zhu’s protection, she faced a strong backlash in public opinion.

As for Zhu Yan, due to her disabled legs, she couldn’t emerge from the shadow for a long time and gradually became enveloped by depression.

Under the influence of the internet fermentation, Teacher Wei left A Foreign Language School and went to A City No. 1 Middle School. He quickly gained recognition, earned the trust of many parents, and with his reputation restored, he could be prioritized for awards and promotions.

At A Foreign Language School, the dean, management, and several related teachers were all suspended pending investigation. Their names were made public, making their future career paths very difficult.

Zong Ce’s instigation of Zhu Yan to steal the porcelain vase ultimately didn’t escape Jiang Feng’s watchful eye. Since there was no little book to record her mistakes, Jiang Feng sent her to reflect under Shaoling Mountain like Sun Wukong, asking the mountain sprite to help take care of her, and occasionally going over to bring some food.

Zong Ce was furious but powerless.

Jiang Feng told her that once she hand-copied one hundred thousand words of scriptures and achieved passing grades in all middle school exam subjects, her punishment would be reduced and she would be released early. So Zong Ce had been studying, studying, studying these past few days…

Since no one died in this case, Jiang Feng temporarily recorded it and submitted it to Yama for judgment.

Kong Su, however, was quite happy.

Although netizens rushed to those platforms that had spread rumors about Teacher Wei and cursed vehemently, the platforms chose to ignore it completely. To reverse his reputation, Mr. Zhu actively bore the costs of litigation, encouraging Teacher Wei to defend his rights, so Kong Su wasn’t involved anymore.

Gao Yuqing heaved a huge sigh of relief. Otherwise, his life’s work would have been half ruined.

Also because of this incident, Kong Su turned misfortune into blessing, standing out among many young actresses to become a new type of internet celebrity.

This time, the labels attached to her were finally not along the lines of “mentally ill.” But she remained calm about it, and of course, her fans were even more relaxed.

The composition of Kong Su’s fan base was perhaps the most unique among all celebrities. No one could imitate or surpass it.

She always maintained an attitude of “Yes, I’m crazy—so what can you do about it?” which led to unusual harmony between fans, anti-fans, and bystanders. For all the smearing accusations, none of the three parties denied them, but while not denying, they would also casually speak well of her.

When invited for an interview, the host mentioned this incident, and Kong Su solemnly bowed with clasped hands, “Thank you to the netizens for the crowdfunding and Mr. Zhu’s support, which helped me avoid a bankruptcy crisis. Thank you, everyone.”

The netizens laughed:

“Still my Sister Kong, haha!”

“The more I look at it, the more I feel those few Weibo posts weren’t my flight attendant’s style; only the last two were. She probably wanted to say that for a long time, right?”

“Don’t walk away, I think so too. Is Kong Su the kind of person who speaks so artistically? It wouldn’t be her if she didn’t start cursing loudly. The rational style doesn’t match her at all!”

“I’ve become a fan, a true fan this time. Not the kind observing pathology.”

“It’s okay, you’ll soon stop being a fan, haha!”

The host asked, “Are you doing a new show recently?”

Kong Su: “Yes.”

Host: “It’s a live show, right? Exploring the jungle?”

“No, it’s exploring haunted villages,” Kong Su smiled and said, “I accepted it earlier because the price was very high.”