Judge of Souls - Chapter 87

Tian Guang followed Jiang Feng all the way, only to realize he had actually walked quite far. Small flying insects buzzed back and forth in the night, causing itching sensations all over his body.

The more he looked at this place, the stranger it felt. Because the tree shadows were blurry, some areas appeared to have people standing there when viewed from a distance. Although Jiang Feng walked in front of him, he constantly felt as if something was following him from behind, and that in the next second, a withered hand would emerge from beneath his feet and drag him into the soil.

Due to psychological suggestion, whenever Tian Guang tripped over a tree branch on the path, he would scream in terror, almost wanting to cling to Jiang Feng.

As he continued forward crying and whimpering, his sobbing could be clearly heard through the channel. Viewers could only respond with “emmm……” upon witnessing this.

“Sacrificing for love.”

“Sacrificing for the show.”

“Sacrificing for his future glorious career.”

“Tian Guang, do you still remember your public persona?”

“Am I the only one who thinks he’s not faking it? Bold guess, but it might be real.”

“I just called the police. Does this count as a false alarm? It’s not my problem anyway, it’s the production team’s fault.”

After the two returned to their lodging, Tian Guang turned on the main light and woke everyone up.

Kong Su and others rustled as they got up from the floor and asked, “What’s going on? What are you two doing?”

She yawned and checked the time. “It’s only this early? You’re really pushing yourselves for the audience.”

By now, Tian Guang had wiped away his tears, but his eyes and face were still red, and his clothes were smeared with dirt. He silently unwrapped the cloth from his feet, revealing skin that had been rubbed raw with some bleeding. Without a word, he went to the water barrel to rinse his feet.

Jiang Feng said, “He went into the graveyard.”

“Damn!” Kong Su gave Tian Guang a thumbs up, “Are you stupid or what?”

Tian Guang turned around, such a big guy looking hurt and helpless at her.

Kong Su: “Did you… really summon an evil spirit with the Pen Fairy?”

The investor was also surprised, reaching for his glasses beside his pillow. “Haunting? Evil spirits?”

Ji Ruxi and others upstairs had also been awakened and were leaning over the staircase. “Brother Tian, when did you go out? I didn’t hear anything.”

The assistant asked puzzledly, “Was I sleeping that deeply? You went downstairs and I didn’t even know?”

Tian Guang looked up in distress. “Stop talking! All of you come down, let’s gather together to feel more lively!”

Jiang Feng had become thirsty after walking all that way and went to get some water, temporarily removing his mask.

With everyone awake, they wandered around with their phones, and his profile inevitably appeared in various livestream channels.

“This Taoist guy is quite handsome.”

“Taoist guy, show us your full face!”

“The Taoist guy said he’s not a Taoist.”

“Going to a graveyard at midnight, I’ll give him a kiss for that courage.”

“Who needs it……”

Ji Ruxi, Kong Su, and others wiped their faces before starting to look at the comments in the livestream. The comments were full of descriptions of Tian Guang’s various reactions to encountering something supernatural.

Ji Ruxi looked at them in shock. “…Is this some new form of prank?”

The investor was already checking the recorded footage on the computer. His expression was unsettled, clearly frightened as well.

Jiang Feng said, “Call everyone down from upstairs, we should all stay together. There’s plenty of space on the first floor, we can squeeze in.”

Tian Guang now didn’t even dare go up to the second floor. “This little sister, please throw down my sleeping bag, thank you.”

After a few seconds, the assistant ran out frantically saying, “The professor and doctor are missing, what should we do?”

Jiang Feng quickly went up to the second floor. The sleeping bags were empty; the people were gone.

Neither of them had taken the talismans Jiang Feng had given them, and no one knew what condition they were in now.

However, what confused Jiang Feng most was that he hadn’t detected any yin energy or signs of fierce ghost activity in this village, which was why he hadn’t forced everyone to wear the talismans. Why was this happening?

Kong Su got goosebumps all over, rubbing her arms vigorously she said, “What the——“

Ji Ruxi stood not far away, and now she was about to cry. “Don’t scare me!”

The comment section went wild.

“Didn’t see it!”

“Didn’t see anyone moving, how did they disappear?”

“Holy crap!”

“Is this special effects editing?”

“Must be special effects. I don’t believe it. How could people suddenly disappear? Can any expert analyze the footage, when did they vanish?”

“Call the police? What should we do?”

“I don’t care if it’s real or not, I’ve reported it. If it’s just for show effects, I’ll file a complaint.”

Ji Ruxi belatedly ran to check her talisman, which she had placed under her pillow. When she touched it, she found only blackness—it had turned completely to ash.

Everyone else instinctively went to check their talismans, and unsurprisingly, all had turned to ashes. They hadn’t taken them seriously before, but now realized these talismans had truly saved their lives. Cold sweat broke out as they felt the fear in retrospect.

Ji Ruxi looked to him for help. “Taoist Jiang, do you have any more?”

Jiang Feng pointed to Kong Su, who had taken all the remaining stock.

Kong Su deftly put her hand in her pocket.

The difference was that while others found a handful of ash, she found a pile. With a constipated expression, she scattered the black ash into the air and spat out three words: “Fu*king hell.”

Tian Guang suddenly discovered that his talisman was the last surviving one, and he was immediately overjoyed. He had one more life than the others.

“Where did the Taoist guy say he bought these things?!”

“Qianyuan Temple!”

“I’m going to Qianyuan Temple first thing tomorrow, damn!”

“The talismans from Qianyuan Temple aren’t something you can just buy. They’re limited in quantity, require reservation, and aren’t cheap. More importantly, they come in different grades—casual buyers can only get practice pieces made by novice Taoists.”

“I want the same talisman as this guy!”

“Idiots, it’s obviously marketing by the temple. This guy is clearly advertising, can’t you see? Why are you genuinely getting worked up? Anyone with basic scientific knowledge knows these are tricks!”

“Explain the scientific principle then. I’ll start: it’s definitely not the Pythagorean theorem.”

“Bored? Whatever the scientific principle is, do you know there’s a profession called ‘shill’?”

“Right now I’m just… frustrated.”

Everyone had mournful faces, as if it were the end of the world.

“Taoist master, you must save us.” Ji Ruxi tried to grab Jiang Feng’s hand but was blocked by Kong Su. She could only stand there pleading. “Taoist master, what about the professor and doctor? Are they already…”

The assistant shuddered. “Why don’t we go ask the villagers? Yes, they must know! They’ll tell us!”

Jiang Feng: “They won’t tell you. If they were going to say something, they would have said it during the day.”