Judge of Souls - Chapter 96

“Taoist priest, Taoist priest!” Mrs. Miao said breathlessly, “How is it? Is there something wrong around me?”

Jiang Feng shook his head. “No. What happened to you at home? It’s daytime now.”

Mrs. Miao wanted to show him the talisman, but it had already burned to ash and scattered in some corner.

“I was just resting at home, and then it started burning! Then I heard screams, crying sounds, wave after wave, so loud I couldn’t hear anything else. I thought I was going to faint, so I called you.” Mrs. Miao finally came to her senses and asked, “How did you end up here?”

“I came here looking for someone and was just about to leave,” Jiang Feng said. “I suggest you take us to your home to have a look. Maybe there’s something unclean left at your house that you don’t know about.”

When Mrs. Miao heard him say this, her mind raced through several thoughts, and she asked, “Did someone else in this residential area also ask you to handle something?”

Jiang Feng: “Yes.”

Mrs. Miao: “Can I ask who?”

“No.” Jiang Feng frowned slightly, “You answer first, otherwise we’re going back.”

Mrs. Miao: “I…”

Jiang Feng understood. He had never met such a stubborn person before. Unless she clearly knew what was causing the haunting around her, she was at her wit’s end but didn’t want others to know, and asking Jiang Feng was just hoping he could handle the trouble for her.

Unfortunately, Jiang Feng wasn’t that kind of person. He immediately decided with Chu Xuanliang to go back.

“Can you return the dog to me?” Mrs. Miao quickly grabbed his hand and said, “Taoist priest, I now know it has nothing to do with my dog. It was actually protecting me, right? With it around, I can feel at ease. Please, give it back to me.”

Jiang Feng spoke evasively, “It? It’s already been sent away.”

Mrs. Miao gripped harder, leaving a white mark on Jiang Feng’s arm. “Where was it sent?”

“It’s already dead. Where do you think it should be sent?” Chu Xuanliang said from the side, “Life and death are two different paths. How could you think of having a ghost protect you?”

Mrs. Miao became somewhat flustered. She must have been quite frightened by what had just happened and didn’t dare let Jiang Feng leave.

While the three were entangled, there was a powerful shout nearby, and a dark figure approached in two or three steps.

The man was broad-shouldered and sturdy, tall and strong. Even through his casual clothes, you could see the muscles on his upper body. He came up and threw a punch at Jiang Feng.

Chu Xuanliang was startled.

Jiang Feng’s left hand was being held by Mrs. Miao, and he had no guard against the man. But his body reacted faster than his brain. The moment the man approached, he immediately kicked with his right leg, landing a blow on the other’s chest.

The opponent had a stable lower body stance. He swayed his hands and barely managed not to fall.

Mrs. Miao ran over to him, asking anxiously, “Are you alright?”

The man blocked Mrs. Miao behind him and spoke rudely, “Who are you people? What are you doing here?”

Mrs. Miao awkwardly introduced. “This is my husband. Why did you suddenly come back?”

“I called you but you didn’t answer. Mom also said she didn’t know where you went. I was worried something happened to you, so I hurried back to check.” The man said, “If there’s trouble, you can call security. They should be able to hear you if you shout.”

Mrs. Miao pointed at Jiang Feng and said, “They’re my friends. They happened to pass by, so we came down to chat for a bit. They were just about to leave, and I wanted to invite them up to sit for a while…”

“Oh, it was a misunderstanding. You said recently you’ve been followed and pranked by someone, so I thought it was them.” The man’s expression softened somewhat, and he said to the two, “Sorry, I lost my composure just now.”

It sounded like he didn’t know about Mrs. Miao’s encounter with ghosts. But how could a married couple living together day and night not know that their other half was being haunted? According to Mrs. Miao’s previous description, the harassment by small ghosts had reached the point of affecting daily life. The wounds and malevolent energy on her body also proved this was indeed true.

At this point, why was she still trying to hide the truth?

Moreover, even if she wanted to hide such things, it should be very difficult to escape her partner’s notice.

Neither Jiang Feng nor Chu Xuanliang responded. They silently turned and left.

Chu Xuanliang decided to investigate Mrs. Miao like investigating a case. She was just too strange. Maybe there would be some discovery.

He contacted someone he knew in the area, asking them to pay more attention, then drove back to A City.

When the two arrived in A City, it was already evening. The little Mountain God had been confined in the house for a day.

It didn’t matter that he didn’t eat, and he quite enjoyed watching TV. Before leaving, Jiang Feng had even turned on cartoons for him, thinking he should be very satisfied today. But when they got home, they didn’t see him in the living room. He was wrapped in a blanket on the bed, constantly squirming.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, he couldn’t get up for a moment. When he saw the bedroom door being opened, the little Mountain God rolled around like a drum. “Dad, you lied! This liar! I love you so much, why did you lie to me?”

Jiang Feng said, “I didn’t.”

He crawled out from under the blanket. “I said I’d go back the day after tomorrow, not live alone until the day after tomorrow. I’m only home for two days, why won’t you spend any time with me!”

He stood up and complained grievously, “Today doesn’t count!”

Jiang Feng put his phone by the bedside to charge, sat down and began looking through class schedules and times. The little Mountain God hugged him from behind, rested his chin on his shoulder, and said, “Dad. Even though you’re a dad I picked up, I won’t throw you away.”

“…” Jiang Feng said, “No. You have to go back to Shaoling Mountain to cultivate. Do you remember the Mountain God from Shanyuan Village? If you don’t cultivate, you’ll become like him. Mountain Gods can die too.”

The more human society developed, the lower the possibility of Mountain Gods taking shape became. The current peace was still somewhat manageable, but when there wasn’t enough land and development reached the Shaoling Mountain area, his temperament could easily be led astray, ultimately falling short of success.

“There’s nothing on the mountain… I’d rather have nothing! But that Zong Ce keeps asking me math problems! I can’t solve them! She’s even dumber than me!” The little Mountain God lay back, spread his limbs, and looked at the ceiling with no will to live. “Goodbye.”

Jiang Feng tugged his calf once. The little Mountain God had no reaction. So he pulled the blanket over him and went to wash up and sleep.

****

The next day, Chu Xuanliang asked him in despair how to handle that husky.

“What should we do with this dog? My master said if I put the dog in the Taoist temple again, he’ll expel me from his tutelage.”

Jiang Feng: “Your master dislikes dogs that much?”

“It barks all day and night, constantly charging at talisman formations trying to get out. Its howls are mournful and its voice is loud. At night when no one’s around, the entire Taoist temple is filled with its voice. Those who don’t know would think we’re doing something. It scares away all the wandering spirits in the vicinity.” Chu Xuanliang said, “Although we’re a Taoist temple, we haven’t developed dog language yet. We really can’t afford to keep it.”

Jiang Feng: “…”

“I’ve rarely seen such strong obsession – refusing to go to the underworld and insisting on persisting.” Chu Xuanliang said wearily, “What kind of big matter could fit in such a small dog brain? A dog’s mission?”

Jiang Feng: “Probably because you and it don’t have a common language.”

Chu Xuanliang: “And you do?”

So Jiang Feng brought the little Mountain God over.

Tangyuan was always especially gentle with children, letting them ride, pet, and play with it. It’s just that ordinary children couldn’t see it now.

As soon as the little Mountain God approached it, it immediately quieted down, only letting out a low whimper.

“You need me.” The little Mountain God stroked Tangyuan’s neck and said profoundly, “See, you all can’t do without me.”

To keep this dog under control… Jiang Feng also left the little Mountain God at Qianyuan Temple, incidentally letting him listen to the Taoist priests chant scriptures.

The little Mountain God was thunderstruck.

There was no more love left in this world.

****

This dog’s future was quite problematic. Jiang Feng hesitated whether to simply let it go back.

Two days later, he received another call from Mrs. Miao.

She urgently wanted to say something, speaking incoherently, and only halfway through did she think to organize her words.

But Jiang Feng interrupted her. “You don’t need to come looking for me anymore.”

She was stunned. “Why? Aren’t you a Taoist priest? Don’t you have any methods?”

Jiang Feng said, “Doctors can’t save people who want to die. Taoist priests can’t save people who deserve to die.”

“You’re saying I deserve to die?” Mrs. Miao sobbed on the other end, “How do I deserve to die?”

Jiang Feng: “You’re being evasive and not telling the truth. Whatever you have at home that you don’t dare let people see should be related to this haunting. If that’s the case, what’s the point of looking for a Taoist priest?”

Mrs. Miao: “That’s because…”

Jiang Feng: “No matter how many legitimate reasons you have. If you seek help from a Taoist priest but don’t cooperate, and something happens, it means your fate has arrived. I have no solution.”

The phone on the other end suddenly hung up. He didn’t know if she had heard what he just said.

Jiang Feng looked at the screen and was about to put it away when the phone vibrated again.

This time it was Chu Xuanliang.

“There’s news,” Chu Xuanliang said. “Mrs. Miao is now at the hospital.”

Jiang Feng: “Something happened to her?”

“No, no, not her.” Chu Xuanliang’s tone sounded somewhat difficult to describe, “Um, how should I tell you this?”

The phone showed another incoming call. It was Mrs. Miao who had just hung up.