Judge of Souls-Chapter 21.1 - King Yama (part 1)

The Taoist priests were dumbfounded.

This was their first time encountering a ghost who was eager to die. With so many Taoist priests in the room, if they couldn’t even subdue a single ghost, their reputation would be ruined.

A Taoist priest pointed and said, “How dare you come back, you’re so arrogant!”

Ma Shiluo was fearless, brandishing a small golden token. “Get out of my way, all of you!”

Everyone stared intently, their faces blank. Being inexperienced, none had seen such an item before.

Officer Ye bluntly asked, “What’s that? An imperial seal? Can it command both the living and dead?”

The crowd, still shaken by the earlier golden light, dared not move rashly. A Taoist master tentatively threw a soul-binding talisman, then everyone jumped backward, preparing to duck in case there was a flash of light to avoid injury.

Seeing the talisman approach, Ma Shiluo felt some instinctive apprehension. But then the small token in her hand trembled slightly, instantly steadying her nerves.

The talisman couldn’t even get close, burning up midway. Meanwhile, a row of small golden characters appeared floating in the air.

“Written by the Judge himself, this case has been decided. No interference allowed,” Chu Xuanliang read aloud, “It’s the Judge’s token!”

Several Taoist priests were shocked, only able to utter “Ah… ah… ah,” unable to form proper words.

What a sight to behold in their lifetime!

Officer Ye pulled his friend’s sleeve. “What does this mean?”

Chu Xuanliang: “It means all uninvolved parties need to stand aside.”

Officer Ye could barely contain his excitement. “Damn, this is incredible!”

The Taoist priests actively moved aside to clear a path. The principal, who was trying to squeeze into the crowd, suddenly had nowhere to hide. His colleagues also scattered, afraid to be associated with him.

Ma Shiluo laughed at the principal. “Now it’s your turn! Weren’t you so proud? Keep being proud! You thought with your money and power, finding a bunch of muddle-headed Taoist priests would let you do whatever you wanted? See if you can escape now!”

The “muddle-headed” Taoist Feng’s face darkened.

The principal quickly turned and rushed to the door, grabbing the handle and pulling hard. The door, which hadn’t been locked, was now firmly sealed.

He twisted the handle violently and tried to ram it with his body, but it was useless. He tried not to look back, but suddenly a bloody hand pressed against his ear, forcing his gaze to turn.

The dull thud of a hand hitting the door made him shudder, then his fingers loosened as he stopped his efforts.

Another hand pressed down on his head from above, five fingers tightly gripping his skull. He had no doubt that if he tried to resist, his head would be twisted off right there. His legs went weak, and he could only collapse to the ground.

Ma Shiluo had transformed from her normal appearance back to how she looked when she died. Her face was split and mangled, a bloody mess. Her eyes wide open, the eyeballs burst, with only black-red blood visible.

She pressed tightly against the man, smearing her blood onto him.

Bone-chilling cold seeped from deep within his body, and the principal shouted, “Save me! Taoist master, save me!!”

“No one can save you!” said Ma Shiluo, “I don’t need to wait for Heaven’s retribution, I’ll take my revenge myself!”

Principal: “Save me! You’re Taoist priests! How can you watch someone die without helping!”

Taoist Feng showed hesitation.

Chu Xuanliang said, “The Judge has made his ruling, meaning he believes you’re guilty. Even if you go to the underworld, you’ll still be punished. How can we help?”

Ma Shiluo used her fingernails to scratch his face, and bloody words appeared on the principal’s skin. “Keep pretending you had nothing to do with it! As a principal, you took bribes, for your own benefit deliberately allowed Lu Quan to commit crimes, let Wu Zhiwei exploit students, ignored student complaints and reports – this isn’t just indifference, this is dereliction of duty! You don’t deserve to be principal, you’re an accomplice!”

“You thought your wrongdoings wouldn’t be pursued? Everything is recorded crystal clear! Now even the Judge thinks you’re wrong. If you don’t atone for your sins, even death won’t let you escape your guilt!” Ma Shiluo continued, “Even if your conscience never learns to reflect, I’ll make you remember your sins for life!”

The principal was pinned down by her, unable to move. He tried to cry out but felt something writhing in his throat. He couldn’t swallow it down, it was stuck there making him nauseous. Following that, a rotting stench rose from his throat.

He didn’t know what it was, and didn’t dare to think about it. His eyes were bloodshot from straining, and his body was drenched in cold sweat.

The man wasn’t young anymore – if this continued, he might actually die of fright.

Chu Xuanliang stepped forward and pressed her shoulder, saying, “Ma Shiluo. Are you going to kill him?”

Ma Shiluo finally stopped and stepped back. The strange sensation in the man’s mouth instantly vanished. He turned to face the ground, coughing violently, not realizing that words had appeared on his face.

Chu Xuanliang and Officer Ye turned around to find that the other school leaders standing in the room also had similar words on their faces.

“Dereliction of duty”, “corruption”, “indifference”, “Lu Quan”.

Those people were in such an extreme state of mental tension that they hadn’t noticed the stinging on their faces. Or perhaps the wounds were so deep they couldn’t feel the pain. Only when Officer Ye looked at them with an eerie expression did they realize what had happened.

They wiped their chins and found blood on their hands – how could they not understand? They covered their faces and screamed hysterically.

Ma Shiluo turned to look at Lu Meng.

When Lu Meng met her eyes, she immediately turned pale with fear, trembling in terror. She cried, “Kill me, just kill me!”

She suddenly burst forth with savage strength, pushing through the crowd, trying to jump out the window.

Ma Shiluo wouldn’t let her have her way, grabbing her collar with one hand and violently dragging her back into the room.

“You really want to die?” Ma Shiluo whispered in her ear, sneering, “After you die, you’ll have to keep me company. Do you dare to die?”

Lu Meng’s gaze was scattered, and hearing this, her pupils dilated as she gasped twice.

That’s right, Ma Shiluo was now a ghost – if she died, she would never be able to escape her.

But what could she do now? She couldn’t even die?

Lu Meng covered her mouth and began retching.

Ma Shiluo floated in the center of the ceiling, looking down at these people with mockery.

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Those who liked to judge her life from their lofty positions now crawled like insects beneath her feet.

They might feel pain, fear, and regret, but they notably lacked any remorse towards her.

Ma Shiluo laughed.

At this point, she didn’t need it anyway.

Officer Ye felt a surge of sympathy.

This was truly a case of being unable to live or die.

Chu Xuanliang, seeing them on the verge of breakdown and fearing they might completely give up, quickly offered them hope. “If you live properly, there’s still a chance to reduce your punishment. Our Taoist ways don’t reject those who have made mistakes. All punishments have time limits – once you’ve atoned, you’ll have a chance to be free. The netherworld wasn’t created for killing; there’s no such thing as a ‘death penalty’ there.”

“Besides, you still have long lives ahead. Even if you’ve done wrong in the mortal world, if you’ve already received appropriate punishment, that will be taken into consideration and won’t be pursued twice,” Chu Xuanliang said, “Right, Ma Shiluo?”

Even ghosts wouldn’t know about this.

Ma Shiluo said with a righteous face. “Right!”

“So, obey the law and be good people,” Chu Xuanliang said, “It’s not too late.”

A man begged Ma Shiluo. “Student Ma, we apologize to you! Publicly! We’ll reveal everything and restore your reputation! Please give us another chance. Really, please, I know I was wrong…”

Ma Shiluo: “Apologizing to me is useless, even if I forgive you it’s useless. You all… better take care of yourselves.”

Having fulfilled her wish, the golden token hanging on Ma Shiluo’s chest crumbled to dust. She snorted and turned away, leaving with flair.

Everyone present didn’t dare make a sound.

Officer Ye couldn’t help but marvel. A woman under the Judge’s protection was indeed extraordinary.

Chu Xuanliang went over and patted the principal’s back, saying, “Stop retching. There’s nothing in your mouth, she was just scaring you.”

The principal lay on the ground with vacant eyes, having no strength to speak, let alone stand up.

Officer Ye opened the room door with a “click.” He stuck his head out to look around the corridor, then called to a passing nurse. “Excuse me, there are several patients in this room.”

Nurse: “Oh, I’ll call a doctor.”

Officer Ye: “I think you might need to call your supervisor.”

****

Jiang Feng woke up early with a heavy head. After turning off the alarm and finishing his morning routine, he headed to school.

He had expected to see students playing chase with parents at the school gate, but instead found the campus peaceful. Although there was no longer a crowd gathered at the gate, the overall atmosphere was much livelier than usual. Everyone was whispering, exclaiming, and sighing.

He took out his phone and lit up the screen.

8:05, that’s right.

This should have been a time when everyone was sullen with morning grumpiness and didn’t want to talk.

Jiang Feng listened carefully and finally caught the sound coming from the school broadcast station amid the noisy shouts. At the same time, from the passersby’s words, he pieced together most of what had happened.

At five in the morning, all students received a text message from the Academic Affairs Office. Then at six o’clock, the school broadcast station broadcast the content again at high volume, gathering all students at the plaza of the Student Activity Center for a large assembly.

Some students had already been squatting at the school gate, and when they heard the broadcast, they just rubbed their eyes and went over. After yesterday’s big commotion, everyone was on edge. By six-thirty, about two-thirds of the people had arrived.

At this assembly, the principal and several leaders publicly admitted their mistakes. They stated that they knew about Lu Quan’s improper private behavior but failed to restrain or stop it, ultimately leading to today’s situation. They expressed deep regret for Ma Shiluo’s death, admitting they were unqualified to be educators.

His voice was low and hoarse as he spoke word by word, with no one interrupting him.

After he finished speaking, there was still silence among the students.

The calm before the storm.

The more they stayed like this, the more uneasy the security guards who had come to prepare for trouble became. They stood vigilantly against the platform wall, ready to prevent students from rushing forward to attack. Officer Ye and a group of police officers were also prepared to respond.

The principal and leaders bowed deeply. They remained bowing for a long time.

Then someone led with a shout of “Get out!”, and everyone’s emotions exploded as they raised their arms and roared, demanding them to get out of A University.

Finally, they left the school under police escort.

All relevant personnel resigned in acknowledgment of their responsibility. The father-daughter pair, Lu Quan and Lu Meng, admitted to the murder and were taken away by police for investigation.

The outside world was shocked by these people suddenly confessing without evidence, and various conspiracy theories emerged for a while, but were quickly suppressed.

Although such seemingly earth-shattering events had occurred, classes continued as usual.

Everyone cleaned up the garbage at the school entrance, rushed to the cafeteria for breakfast, and then hurried to the teaching building for class.

It seemed that no matter what happened, because of their identity as students, they could quickly return to their original life track.

Just like superheroes who transform in the night, great people hide in ordinary lives.

Zhang Yangyang joked that the principal and others had suddenly opened their conscience overnight and awakened, just short of entering monkhood.

Zhang Yangyang sighed. “Ah, but why did they wear masks? Shows no sincerity at all! And their voices were so weak and lifeless, like they hadn’t woken up. What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jiang Feng didn’t answer, and Zhang continued happily, “Haha, whatever!”

They had been prepared for a difficult struggle, but didn’t expect it to be resolved so easily. Could there be anything better in this world?

****

After morning classes, Jiang Feng went to deliver takeout.

The boss had heard about their glorious deeds and happily offered a 20% discount for everything. The neighboring shops immediately followed suit. These young people were already wild with joy, and now it was endless – takeout orders instantly increased, and they were short-handed.

Actually, the shops were only a few hundred meters from the school, so with more orders, it became more convenient to deliver.

He delivered until one-thirty, when the lunch shift ended. Jiang Feng went to class. At three-thirty in the afternoon, he rolled back to his rental room for a brief rest.

He was climbing the stairs with his head down when he suddenly heard someone upstairs ask. “Why hasn’t he come back yet!”

Another person replied. “Wait a bit longer.”

“Lord Yama, shall I go find someone to buy you something to eat?”

That voice said glumly. “…This is begging, I know.”

“No, no. The ghost I caught last time said this is called ‘using your face.'”

“That’s why he was beaten to death!!”

Jiang Feng’s footsteps paused.

That voice had the clear and bright sound of a boy before his voice changed, probably quite young.

He remembered living on the third floor, and the household opposite didn’t have any children.

Jiang Feng walked past the stairs landing and peeked out, indeed seeing three figures squatting in front of his door.

The smallest was in the middle, looking about eleven or twelve years old, perhaps a middle school student, or maybe still in elementary school. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt, with two strands of hair standing up on his head. In his hand, he was holding a piece of bubble wrap from some packaging.

TN:

The difference between 阎君 (Yán Jūn) and 阎王 (Yán Wáng)

阎王 (Yán Wáng) – King Yama, Lord of the Underworld

Most commonly used in everyday language.

Often appears in proverbs, idioms, and folklore.

Has a stronger, more authoritative, and sometimes fearsome tone.

Used metaphorically to describe ruthless people (e.g., 活阎王, “Living King Yama”).

阎君 (Yán Jūn) – Lord Yama, More Formal & Respectful

Less commonly used in casual speech, more formal and literary.

“君” (Jūn) is a more respectful title, making it sound dignified.

Found more in religious or mythological texts, Taoist and Buddhist scriptures.

May appear in poetic or respectful references to the underworld ruler.