Judge of Souls-Chapter 22 - Strange Occurrences

Chu Xuanliang was also confused, standing awkwardly at the door. “I… would like to know too.”

How did it circle back to Jiang Feng again? Ever since meeting this person once, it seemed like they were running into each other daily, like using some magical charm.

Yama had already dragged the suitcase inside, laboriously placing the money on the table.

Jiang Feng led the two in, inviting them to sit on the sofa. Then he pushed away Yama who was still fiddling with the suitcase. “Move.”

Yama reluctantly stepped aside.

Taking advantage of dealing with Yama, Taoist Master Xuanyi respectfully addressed the teenage boy, “May I ask what position you hold? What instructions did King Yama give in the dream?”

“I am…” Yama said, “I am a substitute ghost under King Yama.”

Taoist Master Xuanyi believed it without doubt. “I see.”

Chu Xuanliang didn’t believe it. “What does King Yama need a substitute ghost for?”

Before Yama could answer, Taoist Master Xuanyi slapped the back of his disciple’s head. “Why are you asking so many questions? Be careful not to offend his lordship!”

Chu Xuanliang: “…”

The two things he feared most about elderly people were health product sales and religious superstition.

The first point was still manageable, but the second… he was helpless against it.

Jiang Feng pushed the suitcase open, saw the bright red bills inside, and immediately his forehead veins twitched. He turned to stare at Chu Xuanliang.

Chu Xuanliang got goosebumps from his stare. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Feng: “What’s this money for?”

Chu Xuanliang looked toward Yama.

Yama said, “Make a note in your little book that Taoist Master Xuanyi, real name Luo Wang, urgently lent King Yama one million. Count it as one merit.”

Taoist Master Xuanyi humbly said, “I wouldn’t dare claim credit. It’s just a small favor.”

Chu Xuanliang added, “In RMB. Not netherworld currency.”

Jiang Feng grabbed Yama’s arm and said, “Evidence of bribery? Does King Yama know you’re scamming him?”

“This isn’t bribery! He didn’t demand anything from me, how can it be bribery?” Yama righteously declared, “I’ll pay him back!”

Jiang Feng: “When?”

Yama: “Very soon!”

Jiang Feng: “Then don’t borrow it.”

Jiang Feng closed the suitcase and handed it back to Chu Xuanliang, “Take it away.”

“Why!” said King Yama, “This is my money!”

He used his abilities to enter dreams and his prestige to borrow the money!

Jiang Feng: “This is called begging, don’t you know?”

Yama was unhappy.

Chu Xuanliang: “…You can’t beg for one million in one go.”

Yama: “This lord can repay it himself, put it down!”

“No.” Jiang Feng was particularly firm about this matter, “When I say no, it means no.”

“Have you never seen one million before, so you’re shocked?” Yama said disdainfully, “When this lord says to give it to you, just take it, why be so pretentious?”

Chu Xuanliang thought to himself, little brother, the person in front of you casually gives away hundreds of millions in assets, one million is nothing to him.

Jiang Feng just wanted to punch him, nothing else.

Yama somehow received this message from his eyes and cautiously stepped back, leaning against the sofa.

“You… how dare you!” Yama said, “Put it down for this lord!”

It was Taoist Master Xuanyi who saw the situation turning sour and spoke up, “Your lordship can keep this money as payment. My disciple’s skills are lacking, and we actually have something we’d like to ask your lordship to inquire with King Yama about.”

Hearing this, Chu Xuanliang sat up straight. If the matter could be resolved, one million wasn’t too much. He followed his master’s lead and told Jiang Feng to put it down first. “Right, listen first and then talk.”

Jiang Feng sat down on the tea table with skepticism.

Yama tugged at his clothes, sat down at the other end of the sofa, and said with dignity, “Speak.”

****

The first person who came to ask for Chu Xuanliang’s help was a rich second-generation named Zhou Yi’an from A City.

On the night of the 16th, she was sleeping at home as usual. In the middle of the night, she felt thirsty and got up for water, planning to use the bathroom too. When she walked into the bathroom, she found the floor was completely wet.

She thought there was a leak somewhere and hurried to get a mop from the balcony.

But the water kept accumulating more and more, impossible to soak up. It was even about to overflow past the bathroom door’s threshold and flood into the bedroom.

Zhou Yi’an was at a loss.

She couldn’t hear any water flowing sound anywhere, and after searching the bathroom thoroughly, she couldn’t figure out where the leak was coming from. She had no idea where to start.

In the middle of the night, plumbers probably weren’t working. She simply grabbed a blanket and blocked the bathroom doorway. Then very calmly took out her phone to search for solutions online.

At this point, several black hairs appeared in the water.

The hair seemed to be from a male, only about 5-6 centimeters long.

Zhou Yi’an was startled.

Where did this thing get washed out from? The drain? How filthy must this water be then?

She immediately jumped up and retreated outside the bathroom door. She peered inside from an angle.

The emerging hair became increasingly dense. Following the water flow toward the door. Tangling together in clumps.

She checked the time – 2:31 AM. The dim light and eerie hair made the scene particularly terrifying.

Zhou Yi’an finally began to feel afraid. She carefully moved forward, following the direction of the water flow with her eyes, until they fixed on a spot.

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.

A bloated floating corpse appeared in her bathtub. The whole body was swollen, like an inflated balloon. At the same time, the stench of decay spread everywhere from inside.

Zhou Yi’an’s hair stood on end instantly, her spine chilled, and clutching her phone she turned and ran.

As soon as she moved, that giant corpse actually stood up from the bathtub by itself and quickly chased after her.

Zhou Yi’an had just run to the living room when the water corpse caught up and pressed her down on the ground from behind.

Water flowed down her neck, the ice-cold sensation covering her body, the piercing stench nearly overwhelming her consciousness, Zhou Yi’an couldn’t move.

She heard the ghost roar in her ear. “B*tch, give me back my life!”

Zhou Yi’an fainted on the spot.

Jiang Feng raised his hand to touch his neck, feeling a bit cold.

Yama frowned and asked, “Does she live alone?”

Chu Xuanliang said, “No, she lives with her boyfriend in a house near the city center. But her boyfriend was away on a business trip and wouldn’t return until the 17th, so when the haunting happened, she was alone.”

Yama nodded thoughtfully, “Then what?”

Do ghosts ever mistake people?… It does happen occasionally. So you need to be careful when choosing someone to live with.

When Zhou Yi’an woke up, it was the next morning.

She was lying alone in the living room, with no water corpse in the room and no hair in the bathroom. If it weren’t for the faint corpse smell still lingering in the air, she would have thought it was all her imagination.

Zhou Yi’an called her boyfriend crying, and her boyfriend found a Taoist priest through someone to check their home first.

Jiang Feng asked, “Did she know that dead person?”

“Yes, he was a friend of hers, they had quite a bit of interaction. He was closer to her boyfriend,” Chu Xuanliang said, “If there’s no mistake, it should be a male named Ye Lin. Twenty-three years old this year.”

Chu Xuanliang continued, “That Taoist tried to search for Ye Lin’s soul using his old clothes but couldn’t find anything. Most likely he’s already dead. So Zhou Yi’an notified Ye Lin’s parents about this and reported it to the police.”

Everyone treated this as a common case of ghost revenge, and that Taoist said the same thing.

Chu Xuanliang: “Zhou Yi’an was very certain she didn’t kill anyone. Her boyfriend thought that Taoist was toxic, fanning the flames, so he fired him and found me instead.”

Chu Xuanliang said, “Regarding this matter currently, how to put it. Ye Lin appeared at a bar on the 10th, with clear surveillance footage. That was the last time anyone saw him. After that, no one ever saw him again. His cause of death, time of death, location of death are all unclear. We just can’t find his soul. The police can’t confirm his death, and are currently following up on it as a missing persons case.”

Jiang Feng: “His parents didn’t notice when he disappeared?”

Chu Xuanliang: “His parents don’t live in the country and are quite lenient with him. Plus Ye Lin was quite rebellious, not answering calls or coming home wasn’t uncommon, so they didn’t pay much attention.”

Jiang Feng: “Mm.”

“Ye Lin’s parents rushed back overnight and beat up Zhou Yi’an, but were stopped by her boyfriend.”

Chu Xuanliang let out a deep sigh, “Then the next night, her boyfriend was also haunted by Ye Lin’s ghost.”

Jiang Feng exclaimed. “Why? Because he stopped his parents from beating her?”

Chu Xuanliang’s mouth twitched. “This… fundamentally it’s impossible. Ye Lin said he killed him.”

Jiang Feng: “So who actually killed him?”

“Don’t know. Can’t find the soul to ask, no clues at all, so we don’t know anything,” Chu Xuanliang shrugged, “Ye Lin’s parents now treat them as the murderers, smearing and slandering them everywhere. Ye Lin’s father was a famous media person in his early years, with considerable influence in the industry. Zhou Yi’an’s boyfriend couldn’t take it anymore, now he’s offering me three million to find out the truth and make them shut up quickly.”

Yama: “You want me to help you find Ye Lin’s soul?”

“If possible,” Chu Xuanliang added, “By the way. Zhou Yi’an’s boyfriend couldn’t possibly be Ye Lin’s murderer. He left for his business trip on the 9th, so whenever Ye Lin died, he wasn’t in A City.”

Everyone fell into thought, no one speaking. Suddenly there was a “knock knock” at the door outside.

All four looked toward it.

When no one responded, the knocking outside got louder.

“It’s me!” It was Officer Ye’s voice, “Open up, I know you’re home!”

Only then did Jiang Feng go to open the door.

Officer Ye was covered in sweat, conscientiously changed into slippers at the entrance, then walked in familiarly. He complained, “What are you guys doing? Causing trouble for me again!”

Chu Xuanliang: “I didn’t call you.”

Officer Ye picked up a glass of water from the table, sniffed it, confirmed there was no strange smell, and not caring about anything else, drank it down. He let out a breath and said, “You didn’t call me, but you’re setting me up!”

Chu Xuanliang: “How am I setting you up?”

Officer Ye: “Just now the bank reported that an elderly person was withdrawing a large amount of cash. They deliberately used the limit to hold him up, but the elderly person still anxiously took the money away. They suspected it was some kind of scam organization. Damn, security followed all the way and then called the police. When I heard the address I knew, damn it’s you guys again! I snatched the case from my colleague and rushed over here, okay?”

Jiang Feng looked accusingly at Yama.

Yama said coldly, “What does it have to do with me?”

“How am I elderly?” Taoist Master Xuanyi said angrily, “Do I look like someone who’s easily scammed?!”

Officer Ye rolled up his sleeves and solemnly warned, “Student Jiang, Taoist Chu, it’s like this. When you fleece sheep you can’t just fleece one sheep repeatedly. Look how worn out I am working for you guys!”

He pointed at his dark circles. “I! Am! Busy! Understand?!”

Jiang Feng said, “Don’t worry.”

Officer Ye was about to give them his colleague’s phone number to drag someone else in. Then he heard Jiang Feng say, “You’re not alone.”

Officer Ye raised his head angrily: “Who else are you talking about!”

Jiang Feng introduced, “Chu Xuanliang.”

Chu Xuanliang: “…”

Officer Ye held his forehead and said, “The ship of our friendship is already full of holes. Please block me, I’m begging you.”

Yama rolled his eyes, “I advise you to be polite to him, don’t offend him.”

Officer Ye snorted. “What’s that supposed to mean! Are you threatening a police officer?”

Yama said, “He’s quite petty, likes to write people down in his little notebook when something happens.”

Jiang Feng: “…”

Officer Ye was amused by this kid. “What does he think he is, Light Yagami? What can writing it down do!”

Yama looked at him like he was an idiot and turned away, refusing to speak to him.

Officer Ye stepped forward and opened the suitcase.

“Wow, this really is one million,” Officer Ye clicked his tongue, his eyes reddened by the sight. “I’m jealous. When will you take me along to make some money?”

Jiang Feng still said, “Take this money back.”

“Why!” Yama coughed once, “This lord can at least help you ask around.”

Jiang Feng: “Then wait until you get answers before taking the money. Not now.”

Yama said angrily, “So why not!”

Jiang Feng said calmly, “Intuition.”

TN:

薅羊毛 (hāo yángmáo): “Fleece the sheep” (idiom for taking advantage of a situation, often in a small but repeated way)