Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Prefect's Cognitive Collapse

Unfortunately, Song Ping was one of the few who didn't believe in ghosts and spirits. Born into poverty, he studied the classics diligently for over a decade, rising step by step to the position of prefect through his own talent. He believed in the saying, "The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits," and trusted in the law and empirical evidence. To him, those tales of gods and ghosts were mostly hearsay spread by ignorant villagers, or tricks used by petty scoundrels to dabble in superstition.

Among gods, demons, humans, and ghosts, the human realm is considered the weakest. Most ordinary people have never seen these so-called gods or demons, and without firsthand experience, their credibility is greatly reduced. Song Ping, having served as an official for many years, handled numerous cases of supernatural feats, all of which ultimately proved to be man-made.

Jiu Ya looked at Song Ping's face, which clearly said, "I don't believe you for a second." His expression was obviously saying, "This is definitely a magic trick! What the hell! Don't even think you can fool me." She could almost imagine the prefect's inner roar.

To be honest, Jiu Ya could understand Song Ping's feelings. After all, she had just woken up and encountered a bunch of demons, which had severely impacted her worldview. She usually enjoyed reading books about gods and demons, but she knew in her heart that these things didn't exist. Otherwise, in the advanced 21st century, how could they not find any trace of gods and demons? Even if they lived deep in the mountains, they would be photographed by satellites! For a modern person who had been raised with atheistic views, being transmigrated into a demon lord was the most shocking thing to her worldview, okay? That feeling was even more terrifying than discovering that the sun had risen in the west.

Jiuya coughed lightly, suppressing a laugh, and pointed at the illusory painted skin ghost. "Your Excellency, do you think any magician could conjure up such a... uh... lifelike and moving ghost out of thin air?" She deliberately emphasized "lifelike." "So, give up struggling and accept the fact that this world is much more colorful than you imagine."

"This is a painted-skin ghost, but sir, there's no need to worry. I've already subdued it," Rong Jiang said gently. "We are all cultivators, but we were just passing through this place when we heard that a monster was causing trouble. Its methods are unlike those of ordinary people. That's why we decided to set out under the cover of night to capture the monster and prevent it from harming the people." In just a few words, she explained her identity and her intentions, and also transformed Jiu Ya and the other two from "criminals" into "righteous people."

Looking at the "painted-skin ghost" that was beyond human capability, and listening to Rong Jiang's clear and logical words, Song Ping's worldview was shaken like never before. He murmured, "There really are ghosts in this world? I actually saw a ghost?" This was even more shocking to him than when he first tried a complex serial case.

It was precisely because he didn't believe in ghosts and gods that Song Ping insisted that the numerous murders were committed by humans, at most by extremely cruel and perverted criminals. Naturally, he wouldn't listen to others and ask monks or Taoist priests to perform rituals to deliver the souls of the dead. But now, the irrefutable "facts" were right in front of him, leaving him no choice but to believe.

"Gods, Buddhas, demons, and ghosts all coexist with humans in this world. Judging from your appearance, you are already in your thirties, so you must be quite knowledgeable," Rong Jiang continued. "Not everything in this world can be seen with one's own eyes. But does that mean that things we've never seen don't exist?"

Jiu Ya nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing. She was now the Demon Lord, and therefore the most qualified to speak on the matter!

The painted-skin ghost on the side remained blankly picking at its fingers, indifferent to everything happening around it, completely immersed in its own world.

Song Ping pondered for a long time, his brows furrowed, a fierce internal struggle raging within him. Rong Jiang's words made sense; the world was vast and full of wonders, and there were many things he had never experienced, but that didn't mean those things hadn't happened or existed. He also valued both witness testimony and physical evidence when investigating cases, and now the "physical evidence" (the painted-skin ghost) was right before his eyes... "What you say is quite right, young lady, but this ghost—" He pointed at the painted-skin ghost, a troubled expression on his face.

The court has tried many heinous criminals, but it has never tried a ghost! How should a ghost be tried? Would human instruments of torture work on it? A cane? It seems to have no physical form. A clamp? Probably wouldn't hold it. What if this ghost sneaks away? Who could catch it?

"I have already subdued this ghost." Rong Jiang repeated, her expression unchanged, "This painted-skin ghost is extremely troublesome. I fought it for a long time last night and only managed to subdue it. As for how it committed its crimes, I don't know. Seeing that dawn was approaching, and concerned about giving the people an explanation, I brought this painted-skin ghost to the yamen."

"Fighting with whom?" Jiu Ya blinked, trying hard to suppress her laughter. "Ranran, don't you have a conscience saying that? A mere painted-skin ghost can fight His Majesty the Underworld Emperor for so long? My god, is it defying the heavens? This boast is too unbelievable!" She secretly glanced at Rong Jiang, who remained calm, as if it were the truth.

"Young lady, you bravely stepped in to rid the people of Changshao of a great scourge! I...I am eternally grateful!" Upon hearing this, Song Ping was indeed deeply moved, even rising to slightly bow to Rong Jiang. What kind of spirit is this! A chivalrous act of helping those in need! The serial murder case that had plagued them for three months, leaving them helpless, was solved just like that by a passing young girl? "But—" Song Ping hesitated for a moment before finally asking. Professional problems require professional solutions. If she can catch ghosts, she can surely extract something from them and know how to handle the situation.

“This ghost has committed numerous crimes, murdering the people of my city. The murderer should be beheaded and his head displayed to serve as a warning to others and to give the people an explanation. But the murderer is a ghost, so how should I deal with him? Since you are a Taoist, young lady, you must know a lot about these matters of the underworld.” Song Ping’s attitude had changed from disbelief to humbly seeking advice.

"This?" Rong Jiang smiled slightly, as if she had expected him to ask this question. "If you want to judge a ghost, I can naturally make it confess the truth and record its crimes one by one. But how do you want to deal with this ghost? Ghosts are the souls of people after they die. In principle, ghosts are no longer under the jurisdiction of the human world. The laws of the mortal world cannot judge the souls of the underworld."

"Is there really no way to deal with it?" Song Ping felt a pang of pain in his heart as he thought of the people who had died so tragically, and a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him. The ghost was evil, and the innocent people were being slaughtered. Just because it was a ghost, were the laws of the mortal world powerless against it, unable to bring them justice? "This ghost is causing trouble in the human world. Can't we just kill it directly?" A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

Rong Jiang shook her head and said solemnly, "Yin and Yang have their order, each fulfilling its duty. Those who commit murder are punished by the laws of the mortal world, while ghosts who harm people are punished by the laws of the underworld. This is the rule of heaven and earth." The underworld has its own order. Even if a person in the mortal world commits murder, they will be interrogated after being caught. How can they be like some cultivators who kill without distinguishing right from wrong? Of course, she didn't say the last sentence.

"The underworld?" Song Ping was a little puzzled. After thinking about it and combining it with some folk legends, he understood. "I guess the underworld is the netherworld, right?"

“Exactly.” Rong Jiang nodded affirmatively, then, worried that Song Ping might ask another question that would embarrass her subordinate, such as “Why hasn’t the underworld resolved this matter after three months?” she immediately offered an explanation, beginning to elaborate on her ghost messengers: “Just as there are soldiers and officials maintaining order in the human world, the underworld naturally has ghost messengers responsible for guiding the souls of the dead and maintaining the balance between yin and yang. If someone in the human world has reached the end of their lifespan, the ghost messengers will come to the human world periodically to bring their soul back to the underworld, where they will be rewarded or punished according to their merits and demerits in life. However, the rules of the human world and the underworld are different, and they are far apart. It takes time for the ghost messengers to receive the news and return to the human world; they cannot monitor every place in the human world at all times.” She attributed the delay to “periodic” and “the time required for news transmission,” perfectly avoiding the pitfall of inadequate supervision.

Actually, the ghost messengers of Changshao can't be entirely blamed for this. The Netherworld power contained in the incomplete Book of Life and Death helped Changji conceal his aura, and the ghosts brought back from Changshao were already past their lifespans, so no one could detect anything amiss. Moreover, the matter of the incomplete Book of Life and Death was an internal affair of the Underworld, and it was impossible to tell a mortal prefect.

"I see." Song Ping nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite, accepting the explanation. But a new problem arose. "So, this ghost is to be handed over to the underworld officials to be taken back to the netherworld? But how am I supposed to explain this to the people of the city? I can't just say the murderer is a ghost and has already been taken away by the underworld officials, can I?" Would the people believe that? Besides, many people in my city have died tragically in the past three months. Have the underworld officials ever come to Changshao? So how can this ghost be taken to the netherworld for trial?" He posed a series of questions, revealing the mindset of a pragmatic official.

Song Ping kept his distance from talk of ghosts and spirits, and had no idea about the procedures for ghost messengers to handle cases. However, he did understand that humans and ghosts were clearly from two different worlds, let alone the relationship between humans and ghost messengers. Even government officials needed people to report crimes or discover victims to handle cases, so the same should apply to ghost messengers. Lord Song thought a lot, but he was still completely clueless about this unfamiliar field.

"This ghost has committed heinous crimes, causing countless deaths. In the underworld, judges will judge him according to the laws of the underworld. He will certainly not escape punishment. He will likely suffer many cruel tortures, such as skinning, boiling in oil, and climbing mountains of knives. He will have to endure these punishments for at least several hundred years to atone for his sins. This is the explanation given to the victims." Rong Jiang said slowly, her tone carrying a chilling undertone, causing everyone in the hall to shiver involuntarily. Even the painted-skin ghost seemed to tremble. "As for whether the ghost messengers will come, Your Excellency need not worry. Your Excellency is a local official in the mortal world, possessing both official authority and popular support. The ghost messengers are officials of the underworld, and their yin and yang energies are naturally in sync. Your Excellency only needs to prepare an incense table, sincerely burn incense and pray, and explain the matter. You will surely be able to summon the ghost messengers in charge of this place."

"Huh?" Song Ping looked completely bewildered, feeling like he'd received a lot of information today. Oh my god, wasn't today a bit too exciting? Not only did he see a ghost, but he could actually summon ghost messengers himself? Nobody would believe this experience if he told them!