Judge of Souls-Chapter 21.2 - King Yama (part 2)

Two boys were sitting on either side, slightly older, probably around fifteen or sixteen years old. One had dark skin, and the other had fair skin, creating a stark contrast.

Most importantly—they were human, and they had shadows.

Jiang Feng breathed a sigh of relief before walking over.

When the three saw him return, they quickly stood up. The child in the middle had a trace of anger in his expression.

“Judge!” That youth quickly walked up to him, stood in front of him, and reprimanded, “You actually made This Lord wait so long! When This Lord summoned you back, you ignored it! I said I would help you search for the Judge’s Brush, so why didn’t you come to the Hall of Yama to report to me!”

Jiang Feng listened to him for a while, then looked at him and asked, “Who are you?”

The youth paused, then said solemnly, “Judge, I am King Yama.”

Jiang Feng: “……”

Whose lost child was this?

Seeing no reaction from him, the youth angrily shouted again, “Judge!”

“Shh.” Jiang Feng said, “I’m not a judge, I’m also King Yama.”

The youth was stunned for a moment and looked back at his two companions.

The black and white youths blinked, and seeing Yama’s body trembling as if about to explode, they quickly said, “Lord Yama, don’t be angry, remember this, punish him next time!”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Jiang Feng couldn’t understand what they were saying and waved at Yama, gesturing him to step aside. Though confused, the youth moved aside.

Jiang Feng went to unlock the door with his key. After the sound of unlocking, he shifted his body to completely block the doorway, observing them from the corner of his eye.

Then, while the three were still confused, he pulled hard, quickly slipped inside like a ghost.

And locked the door.

“……” The three outside, “……”

What the hell?

Black and White Impermanence hadn’t even reacted yet.

“Jiang Feng! I know your name is Jiang Feng!” Yama banged on the door outside, trembling with anger. “Open the door! This Lord is getting angry!”

Black and White Impermanence shouted along. “Open the door, open the door!”

Yama raised his foot and kicked hard.

His divine power that could originally have kicked down half of the Hall of Yama this time only hurt his own foot.

He slid to the ground clutching his foot in pain, biting his teeth hard to keep from crying out. Only then did he remember that he was now just a strand of divine soul residing in the sacred tree of Taozhi Mountain, and his current form was merely mortal flesh.

“Lord Yama!” Black and White Impermanence anxiously asked, “Are you still alive?” Had he been shocked back to the underworld?!

Yama’s face was pale, but he insisted, “You two… don’t stop. Keep knocking.”

Inside, Jiang Feng calmly took off his clothes, sat on the sofa, and ignored their knocking.

Fortunately, in this broken place of his, nothing was sturdy except for this iron security door – without weapons, they couldn’t break through.

Jiang Feng opened a drink and dialed the official police phone number.

“Yes, third floor, number 27, there are three underage and older children.”

“Don’t know them. Never seen them before.”

“They look well-dressed, probably rich people’s kids.”

“Don’t know.”

“They seem fine, just a bit sick.”

“What sickness? Chuunibyo. They’re still banging on my door right now.”

The customer service person on the other end laughed and said, “Open the door, let them in first.”

Jiang Feng: “Why?”

The young man said, “Show some care, they’re all saplings of the motherland. We’ll send someone over now, just don’t let the children run away, it would be dangerous if they got lost. There are many human traffickers rampant in the city, how can we let good-looking children just walk around on the streets, especially ones with chuunibyo – they might get tricked into going off to save the world.”

Jiang Feng: “Alright.”

He hung up the phone and went to open the door again.

The three who were making a fuss outside stopped their movements and looked up angrily.

Jiang Feng stepped aside and said, “Come in.”

Yama walked in first, followed closely by Black and White Impermanence.

Jiang Feng thought to himself, this kid sure knows how to make an entrance.

Yama maintained his anger and said, “Judge, even if you don’t remember, This Lord still has to settle this matter with you. I told you earlier that your piece of wood wasn’t right, told you to go back and make a new one, but you wouldn’t listen, and now look…”

“Want something to eat? All of you sit on that sofa,” Jiang Feng ignored him and pushed the three over, asking, “I have some sun-dried chicken legs, instant noodles, and dumplings, want some?”

The three suddenly fell silent, looking at him with a kind of reluctant yet eager gaze. There seemed to be a slight gleam in their eyes.

Jiang Feng: “……”

He had lost.

Thinking about it, offering instant noodles to teenagers in their growing years wasn’t very considerate.

He took out all five remaining packets of noodles, removed the noodle blocks, and set the seasoning packets aside. Then he took out all the remaining ingredients from the refrigerator.

He heated oil in the pot, cracked three eggs and fried them until yellow on both sides, then set them aside.

Adding oil again, he stir-fried the sauce until it turned red, then added meat slices and fried them until fragrant. He put in the frozen chicken bone stock he had saved earlier. Since it wasn’t enough, he added some water. After the water boiled, he added vegetables and the noodle blocks.

Worried they wouldn’t be full, Jiang Feng added extra vegetables.

Yama stood at the kitchen door—strictly speaking, it wasn’t a kitchen, just a small space forcibly partitioned from the living room—and said in a sour tone, “So you can cook. Eat every day then.”

Jiang Feng: “……”

Who doesn’t eat every day? Whose child was this who had run away from home?

After the noodles were cooked, he added some salt to season them and divided them into four bowls. He gave the three eggs to the three chuunibyo youths. Then he brought them to the coffee table in the living room.

Yama was surprised seeing the fourth bowl. “You’re eating too?”

Jiang Feng: “……”

Enough already! This is too much!

Just as the four had taken their first bite, someone arrived.

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Jiang Feng went to open the door and saw an unfamiliar young man.

The man showed his ID, explaining he was the community police officer, here to pick up the people. He had just gotten off work when Jiang Feng called, so he was in casual clothes. Since he happened to be nearby, he came to help take them away.

Jiang Feng pointed inside, asking him to wait until the three finished eating.

The three seemed genuinely starving, and there wasn’t much in a bowl of noodles, so it should be quick.

The two chatted at the doorway.

The young police officer asked, “How serious is their condition?”

“Pretty serious,” Jiang Feng said, “He claims he’s King Yama.”

Inside, Yama’s expression changed, looking at Jiang Feng in shock.

How could he tell these irrelevant mortals about such matters?!

The young police officer outside laughed. “Wow! That’s quite a unique condition.”

Jiang Feng deeply agreed that it was indeed unique.

Yama put down his chopsticks and stood up.

The police officer asked, “Finished eating?”

Behind him, White Impermanence, Lord Qi, nodded.

Jiang Feng said: “Then let’s go out.”

“I’m Police Uncle, come on, three little younger brothers, where’s your home, what are your names? Did you have a fight with your parents?” The young officer looked at his watch, “It’s Thursday today, looks like you’ve skipped school too, that’s not okay.”

Yama became anxious and shouted, “My home is right here!”

The officer passed Jiang Feng a paper, asking him to sign and write down his ID number. After filling out the report information, he went to grab Yama. He gripped him under the armpits, lifted him up, and dragged him along. “Don’t bother others. Come on, we have lots of big brothers at the station to play with you.”

Yama was about to go crazy with anger.

He kicked his legs and turned his head back to shout. “I won’t forgive you! I! Won’t——!!”

The police officer had no experience dealing with rich kids of this age, but he really liked him, coaxing him like a young child. “Come on little brother, uncle will take you home.”

Yama struggled weakly. “Let me go!”

Black Impermanence followed behind saying, “Let it go, let it go, Lord Yama. When under someone’s roof, one must bow their head.”

Seeing he wouldn’t behave, the police officer simply picked him up. Yama’s body wasn’t heavy, and the officer was muscular, so carrying him on his shoulder was just right. He even patted his bottom, saying: “Kid, don’t move.”

Yama’s eyes widened in disbelief. While being carried down the stairs, he stammered at Jiang Feng. “You——you just wait! Just you wait!!”

Jiang Feng waved at his retreating figure.

Goodbye, friend.

****

At the police station in A City’s Harmony Community, three youths suspected of running away from home due to chuunibyo arrived.

The lady at the registration desk asked, “What are your names?”

The police officer steadily sat the person in the chair and said, “This one is called Lord Yama, but I don’t know how to write it. I don’t know about the other two either.”

White Impermanence politely nodded. “My name is Xie Bi’an.”

Black Impermanence followed his brother’s nod. “My name is Fan Wujiu.”

After all, even if they told the truth, no one would believe it.

“Oh, Black and White Impermanence, huh.” The lady pointed at Yama and laughed, “Then what about you? King Yama?”