As the name suggests, the "Soul-Catching Book" is a manual used by the underworld's ghosts to capture souls and spirits.
For example, Xi Haihong, the 'Zou Wuchang', had signed an extra-staff agreement with the underworld and also had a booklet in his hand, but it was only at the most basic level.
The cover is light gray, and usually only the newly dead souls in the area that Zou Wuchang is in charge of are updated on it, so that they can exercise their rights as the executor and send these ghosts to the underworld one by one.
The authority of the book held by Gu Zhisang is much greater, and it is at the same level as the "Soul-Catching Book" used by the Black and White Impermanence. It basically covers the records of life and death in the entire Xia Kingdom.
In addition, it also records those fugitive ghosts who have turned into evil spirits and resentful ghosts and are unwilling to return to the underworld. This makes it convenient for the ghost messengers to match the fugitive ghosts' identity information when they find traces of certain ghosts wreaking havoc in the world, thus helping them capture these ghosts.
The principle of 'The Book of Haunted Souls' is very simple.
It is assigned by the Hades, but it comes from the laws of the world.
When each soul is born between heaven and earth, a wisp of soul power will be extracted by the power of law and then sealed into the "Soul Book", which is equivalent to what is called archiving in the world of the living.
From then on, no matter whether this soul is reborn, dies, or reincarnates, every change in the soul will leave a mark on the 'Soul Book'.
The 'Book of Souls', a book of supreme authority in the hands of the Ten Kings of Hell in the underworld, can show a soul's experiences, past, blessings and sins in all its reincarnations.
At the same time, when the ghost officials were collecting souls, they relied on the sealed soul power in the "Book of Collecting Souls".
Once someone dies in the world of the living, the soul is completely severed from the body, and the record of this soul in the "Soul Book" will change, showing its specific date, place, and cause of death.
Then, Yinchai and Zou Wuchang will be able to sense the specific location of the corresponding soul through the soul power sealed in the "Soul-Catching Book", and then appear beside the ghost and take it to the underworld.
However, there are always some ghosts who are too attached to the human world or have great resentment and hatred, and they will gain extraordinary power because of their strong emotions.
They can use these powers to conceal their own breath.
Once the aura is hidden, the 'Soul-Catching Book' will naturally be unable to connect with the soul itself, and the record of the ghost's whereabouts will be lost, making it impossible for the evil spirits to sense it.
Such ghosts will be marked as wanted.
Obviously, the Xu Youhan mentioned by "Moli Xiang" is such a fugitive evil spirit.
Gu Zhisang glanced at the record on the 'Soul-Catching Book', which read in a short line:
'Beating to death.'
She thought about it, stretched out her fingertips to touch Xu Youhan's name on the book, that is, to touch the soul power that was blocked in the "Soul-Catching Book" by the laws of heaven and earth, and tried to "empathize".
The "empathy" technique in the Xia Kingdom's Taoism is similar to the "dream entering technique", "soul searching technique", and the "telepathy" in foreign countries.
They all sense the soul power of the other person and temporarily put themselves into this power.
In a very short moment, the master seemed to become the person involved, and the deep memories, emotions, and even thoughts hidden in the depths of the soul of the same origin would be sensed by the master.
The more powerful the master is, the more information he can see and grasp in an instant.
Gu Zhisang only said, "Let me calculate it," and then closed his eyes.
When his fingertips touched the soul power in the 'Soul-Catching Book', Gu Zhisang's consciousness entered a misty space, as if it was wrapped in a layer of drum skin;
She knew that she had temporarily sensed the origin of Xu Youhan's soul and successfully established a weak connection with it.
Xu Youhan hid his aura very well and there were no flaws.
What she is more concerned about now is not the other party's hiding place.
When she tentatively tried to touch the memories deep in her soul, some extremely profound and indelible traces of memory came crashing into her mind.
At this moment, a ghost hiding somewhere sensed the connection established in the soul.
Its expression suddenly changed, and the Yin energy around it suddenly became manic, directly severing the subtle and imperceptible contract in the soul. Its pale and transparent face was gloomy and ugly, and its eyes were gloomy and filled with resentment.
Gu Zhisang, whose 'empathy' technique was cut off, opened his eyes, and only a few seconds had passed.
She raised her eyebrows slightly. She didn't expect that Xu Youhan was much more cautious and smarter than she thought. He could discover and cut off the magic so quickly.
But it was too late, as some of the leaked memories were 'seen' by her for a moment.
After sorting out these messy fragments, as well as the various situations that happened to 'Molixiang's' husband and his facial features, Gu Zhisang deduced the cause of the whole incident.
She looked at the camera with a complicated tone and said:
"In the middle of the previous month, you received a taxi request in the middle of the night and went to a vocational and technical school to pick up three students from the school and go to the new suburbs in the north of the city.
Among the three students was Xu Youhan. ”
Recalling his appearance in the clip, Gu Zhisang described him as follows: "He should be thin, medium height, fair skinned, wearing glasses, handsome and clean, in short, he doesn't fit in with the other two.
There was some conflict between the three of them when they got on the bus, and you noticed it, and you should also be aware that the relationship between them is not good. "
Listening to Gu Zhisang's description, Molixiang's husband's already slightly blue face became even uglier, and his pupils trembled.
How could this woman describe what happened that day in such detail? !
It was as if there was a fourth person sitting in his car at that time!
He began to panic.
The double torture of physical and mental suffering these days had already made him miserable. As he listened to those descriptions, the scene of that afternoon involuntarily emerged in his mind.
Everything was just as Gu Zhisang said.
It was almost five o'clock in the afternoon. This was his first order of the day. He noticed something was wrong when three students got on the bus.
The boy in the middle was fair and clean, but his hair was a little messy and his face didn't look very good. The young men on both sides were much stronger than him, and they almost carried him and dragged him into the car.
As soon as he was pushed into the car door, he glared at me and tried to climb down by the door, "Are you guys mentally ill? I said I'm not going..."
But then one of them raised his hand and hit him on the side of the face and ears. The crisp sound of the blow directly knocked the glasses off his face.
"Don't be so shameless, you are nothing. Inviting you to my birthday party will open your eyes to a country bumpkin, but you are putting on airs?"
After the young man finished cursing, he told me the address of a villa in the new suburbs in the north of the city, "Driver, drive faster."
At this time, Molixiang's husband, who was sitting in the driver's seat, had already frowned.
He knew very well that the boy in the middle was probably being bullied.
He could clearly see from the rearview mirror that the boy's face turned red after being punched, and the attacker had his arm around his neck in a threatening manner.
'Have you ever drunk wine? Have you ever eaten white truffles and Kobe beef? My friend, you are as pitiful as a frog in a well. Please show your mercy. Don't be ungrateful.'
Another young man was grinning and holding up his mobile phone, watching this bullying farce.
The more Jasmine's husband looked at the scene, the angrier he became, because the young man being bullied looked only about 20 years old, the same age as his son.
At this moment, the boy silently broke free from the grip of the abuser, holding his glasses tightly in his hand, and said to Jasmine's husband with suppressed anger:
"Master, please pull over for a moment. I don't know these two people at all, and they are not going the same way. They forced me to get on the bus."
"What the hell are you doing?"
The hot-tempered young man jumped up and pinned the boy down, punching and kicking him. He looked so ruthless that he didn't hold back any strength at all, and he wanted to beat the boy to death.
Jasmine's husband was startled by the noise behind him, and he could no longer sit still. He stepped on the brakes, turned his head and said:
"Hey, young man, what are you doing? You can't bully people like this. How can you invite someone like this?"
"Whose business are you thinking? A poor old driver is here to teach me a lesson?" The hooligan turned around, leaned on the back of the passenger seat and glared at Jasmine's husband, spitting all over his mouth, as if he was going to beat him up.
'Who told you to stop the car? Believe it or not, I'll beat you up too!'
Jasmine's husband was so angry that he asked, "How can you talk like that? Do you have any manners?"
At this time, another young man who was watching the show jumped out to play the villain, patted his friend on the shoulder and said: "Uncle, don't mind it, he is just a person with a loose mouth. We are really classmates in the same class. We agreed to celebrate a friend's birthday today. They had some conflicts and started arguing. "
"Don't worry about them, just drive quickly. We have to arrive before the scheduled time. If we are delayed, we will complain."
The husband of 'Jasmine Fragrance' accepted the reservation order, and he had no right to cancel it after accepting it. Once he was late and was complained by the passengers, he had to pay ten times the unit price as compensation.
This order is not cheap either. If he is really complained about, he will be deducted hundreds of dollars and his credit points will also be reduced.
After much hesitation, and fearing that he would be beaten and scolded by another gangster behind him if he didn't drive, Jasmine's husband finally stepped on the accelerator and started the car:
"Stop bullying me."
"Don't worry, uncle. I told you it was just a joke."
Because of the presence of such an ignorant guy like him, the gangster on the other side who was acting like an idiot also glared at him fiercely, but did not touch him again.
The moment the car started, Jasmine's husband saw the embarrassed young man in the rearview mirror.
There was disappointment in his eyes, and he pursed his lips and stopped talking.
Seeing that look, Jasmine's husband felt guilty and ashamed. He was thinking about how to compensate this boy.
He thought that after they arrived at the destination and the person who placed the order clicked the delivery confirmation button, if the boy still wanted to leave, he would send him back for free.
Gu Zhisang's voice pulled him out of his memories:
"Then you sent the three of them to their destination and left. You should have seen Xu Youhan's predicament at the time, and you also knew very clearly that he was actually being bullied.
But you didn’t take it seriously.”
"The next day, the police informed you that Xu Youhan had died, and asked you to go to the police station to record your statement and ask if you saw anything that night, but you didn't tell the truth, right?"
Gu Zhisang's voice was a little cold: "You clearly saw him being bullied, but you didn't tell the truth, which led to his unjust death and he hated you as well."
When Jasmine heard this, she lost her temper and pushed her husband:
"Why are you saying that? Didn't you tell the police officer that you didn't see anything? Didn't you say there was no conflict in the car? Why didn't you help the kid at that time?!"
Gu Zhisang did not speak, because the question about 'Jasmine Fragrance' was also of her curiosity.
She only saw the scene where Xu Youhan was forced to get into the car.
Then there was a swaying scene filled with anger and powerlessness, where he was pinned to the ground and beaten and humiliated by a group of young men.
Before she could finish reading it all, the other party discovered her peeping and disconnected the soul'empathy' technique.
She guessed from the cause and effect that Jasmine's husband did not tell the truth and concealed the truth, and helped cover up for several murderers.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why Xu Youhan would hate a driver who had nothing to do with his death.
Unless this driver was also involved in his death.
Hearing her confident tone, the middle-aged man, who originally had a weak psychological defense, was completely broken.
His eyes were cloudy and bloodshot, and it was obvious that he had not had a good night's sleep in the past few days and was tormented by this incident.
He swept away all the goods on the counter and growled, "How can I manage it if you ask me to?!"
"My mother, my mother has parents and I have children. Do they need money for schooling? Do they need money for the mortgage? Do they need money for my father and mother's illness? How dare I ask you? Are you happy if I manage our family and something goes wrong? I don't have the guts. I'm not a hero who sacrifices himself to save others!"
The man's hysterical look shocked Jasmine.
She felt a little sore in her nose as she looked at her husband who was crying with his hands covering his face. This was the first time she saw her husband in such a miserable state.
"Then tell me, you have a secret and there are 20 million people watching you." Jasmine could not help crying as she spoke, "You don't even know that our son has been implicated in this matter. The master said that the young man who died unjustly has resentment in him and it will affect everyone in our family!"
After a few minutes, the man managed to calm down.
He wiped away his tears, his expression somewhat numb, and finally told the truth of that day in a hoarse voice.
It turned out that he had thought about helping the young man at the beginning.
Then the car arrived at the place, he waited for the man to click on the delivery, and was about to call Xu Youhan.
As a result, he saw several young men lazily walking out of the villa area over there and approaching the car, "What are you doing here so late?"
"They just don't give me face."
A thug glanced at Jasmine's husband and asked, "Who is this?"
Seeing seven or eight burly and strong young men staring at him covetously, the justice and courage to stand out in Jasmine's husband's heart were extinguished at this moment.
He heard the thug who beat him up said angrily: "Don't bother with other people's business anymore. Just shut up when you shouldn't. I have your phone number, so it's easy to check you out! Get out of here!"
The driver’s phone number is indeed marked on the taxi-hailing platform, and those who have just placed an order can indeed see it.
When Jasmine's husband stepped on the accelerator and drove out, his heart was still beating a little fast.
From the rearview mirror, he could see several young men pushing the person in the middle, and some even kicking the boy's legs.
He stopped the car on the side of the road after driving two sections.
On one side was the ferocious threat from the other side, and on the other side was the balance of justice in his heart. He hesitated and picked up the phone to call the police, but was afraid of getting into trouble.
Just as he unlocked the screen, another order dispatch message popped up on the platform, automatically assigning him a nearby order.
The passenger called him and when the call was connected he said he was in a hurry and hoped he could arrive soon.
After hanging up the phone, Jasmine's husband finally suppressed his anxiety and drove to pick up new passengers.
When he was young, he was a bit of a bully for a while. He was beaten up by others, and he also beat up others by relying on his immature personality.
If that was the time, he would definitely stand up.
Even if he was beaten black and blue, he would still fight to the death with others. At most, he would sacrifice himself for the sake of loyalty. But now he has been worn down by life and is no longer able to stand up for what is right.
It's fine.
Jasmine's husband comforted himself in his heart.
These young guys are just like him in the past. They are fighting over a small friction. Besides, since they are all boys, nothing serious should happen...
Thinking this way, he temporarily put the matter aside.
It was not until the next day when he was called to the police station and learned that the quiet boy from yesterday was dead. He was beaten to death with internal organs ruptured and heavy bleeding. That's when Molixiang's husband was confused and could not believe it.
What followed was a huge sense of guilt and regret. All kinds of emotions enveloped him, making him wonder if he had tried to stop it yesterday;
If he hadn't stopped his car on the side of the road and not sent the boy over because he was afraid of getting into trouble or being beaten, would everything that happened today not have happened?
The police officer asked him if he saw the boy named Xu Youhan, the deceased, having a conflict with other people while he was in the car.
At that time, Jasmine's husband thought that he had been cowardly this time, and he must seek justice for the boy!
Just as he was about to answer, a police officer knocked on the door and said that his wife had come and was very worried, so he asked him to go out and meet his wife first to reassure her.
When he walked to the hall in a daze, his wife came up to him and said: "You almost scared me to death..."
The noise from the other side caught his attention. He looked up and saw several middle-aged men and women in the hall.
These people are the parents of the children suspected of committing the crime.
They surrounded the two police officers and shouted their innocence, saying that their children were only 20 years old, usually very well-behaved and obedient, and it was impossible for them to beat a classmate to death, and that they must have been wrongly accused.
Seeing the Jasmine couple in the hall, one of the women suddenly came over:
"You are the driver the police officer mentioned yesterday, right? You have to testify for my child. He didn't kill anyone. How come my child became the murderer just because he attended a class reunion? You can't put the blame on our family!"
Others also shouted: "What you said is wrong. My son would never do such a thing. I should not have let him go. It's really unlucky!"
"……"
The middle-aged woman who yelled first was the mother of the young thug who beat people most violently in the bus.
In the chattering crowd, when Jasmine's husband saw the face of one of the middle-aged men, his pupils shrank and he subconsciously moved his wife behind him.
He lowered his head and avoided her gaze, his hands trembling slightly.
He knew this man.
Twenty years ago, when he still had the dream of being a gangster, he followed a "big brother" and a group of brothers, walking around the streets every day, drinking, singing and bragging, and even got into several group fights.
It was during that period that he met this man.
The 'big brother' he followed at the time had to call this man 'brother' when he saw him. Once when they were singing in a KTV, they had a conflict with other people. This man picked up a wine bottle and smashed it directly on the other person's head, and also stabbed the other person's arm with broken glass. He was very cruel.
Although this man is much older now and seems to have returned to normal life wearing a suit and tie, "Molixiang"'s husband still has a deep memory of the tattoo on the side of his neck.
He saw the man approaching and helped the agitated middle-aged woman, "Sister, don't be excited. I know my nephew won't do such an impulsive thing. The police will find out the truth."
After the man finished speaking, he tried to shake hands with him in a friendly manner.
Jasmine's husband was still frozen and didn't reach out his hand, when the police officer inside came out and shouted, "What are you making a fuss about? This is the police station, don't make a loud noise."
He followed the police officer back in in a trance, his mind full of past and recent scenes, and he was in a state of confusion.
Now that society is stable and the crackdown is strong, that man will definitely not be as arrogant as before. There is no need to be afraid of him...
Besides, I was just a small follower back then, and he definitely doesn’t remember me.
The more Jasmine's husband thought about it, the more frightened he became.
What if?
Seeing how well dressed this guy is, he must be very rich now, right?
What if he still has that kind of power? What if he is the kind of scoundrel who collects protection fees and hates me because I reported his nephew? Then my family's store, which has been open for more than ten years, is here. My daughter has just been admitted to a very good key high school, and my wife is just an ordinary housewife...
He himself is not a gangster, but an ordinary middle-aged man who is burdened with many debts and is timid.
If the other party really retaliates against him, how should he protect his family?
The police officer's voice was still ringing in my ears: 'You really didn't notice anything? Did they have any friction while they were in the car?'
After a moment of silence, Jasmine's husband said in a muffled voice: "There was no... conflict."
'I didn't see or hear anything ahead.'
"It looks like they are just ordinary classmates. I guess they are not forced..."
When he walked out of the police station, Jasmine's husband felt extremely bitter. He heard his wife mumbling beside him:
"Didn't you see the mother of the young man who died just now? She came and sat on the floor of the police station crying. She was dressed quite simply and half of her hair was gray. So pitiful..."
He flew into a rage: 'Stop talking!'
He didn't want to hear any more news about this matter. He just wanted it to be over as soon as possible and return to normal life.
Otherwise he would feel that he was also an accomplice.
——
When recalling this, Jasmine's husband could no longer speak. He sat down in a chair with lifeless eyes and muttered to himself:
"I'm not the murderer, I didn't hurt anyone, why are you pestering me? Why don't you go after those who killed him? I'm afraid, I'm timid, I have children and I have concerns, is this my fault?!"
He hasn't had a good night's sleep since this happened.
Later, I gradually woke up in the middle of the night, feeling weak, sore, and unable to breathe.
Later, he often dreamed of the dead young man, staring at him with a pale face and gloomy eyes.
Clearly, he only glanced at her twice in the rearview mirror, but in his dream, every facial feature of the other person was crystal clear.
Jasmine's husband finally determined that he was possessed by something.
The dead young man hated him and came to take revenge on him.
He felt aggrieved and puzzled, and thought that although he had told a lie out of cowardice, he did not deserve to die. During those days, he frantically searched the Internet for methods to exorcise evil spirits.
Reciting the Great Compassion Mantra and the Diamond Sutra over and over again is of no use.
By chance, he clicked on a forum, where the poster said that he used to have a special physique and was always very scared of seeing ghosts. But after getting a tattoo of Zhong Kui, his health has improved a lot.
Many people echoed this, saying that Zhong Kui is originally a god who catches ghosts and is the god that ghosts fear the most, but he can only be tattooed on the back.
After searching for a long time, Jasmine's husband finally took a gamble and changed his tattoo despite the unbearable pain and inflammation in his back, just to drive away the young ghost who was haunting him.
Gu Zhisang sighed and said, "It's not just you that's being harassed. Others have also been retaliated against, and their situations are much more serious than yours."
According to the "Book of Souls", two people have died.
Others also suffered injuries of varying severity and are still suffering from the evil spirit's invasion.
These people should be the ones who participated in the beating.
As Jasmine's husband himself said, he had his own concerns and was afraid that his family would be retaliated against.
From the perspective of worldly laws, he did not participate in the crime, and the facts he concealed could hardly be judged as perjury.
But from a moral perspective, he did conceal the suffering suffered by the deceased Xu Youhan and helped cover up the murderer.
The man continued to shake his head. "I have committed no crime. Why are you pestering me... why..."
Gu Zhisang frowned and didn't speak for a long time.
Human affairs are always complicated, and everyone has different criteria for judgment. This incident has caused more discussion than previous incidents, and there are many different opinions in the comment section of the live broadcast room.
She glanced at the lens and said, "I can't judge guilt, reward or punishment."
After all, she is just a spectator of these events, not a judge in the world of the living or the King of Hell in the underworld.
"But I should know why it's haunting you."
Jasmine's husband looked up in shock and looked at his wife's hand - the source of the sound.
He heard the woman in the live broadcast say:
"You had a tattoo of 'Guan Gong holding a sword' on your body before, right? Guan Gong himself is the embodiment of justice, bravery and perseverance. 'Guan Gong holding a sword' adds a layer of loyalty and bravery, and is known as a symbol of 'eliminating all injustices in the world and eliminating all evil people in the world'.
He is a righteous god. Whether you get him tattooed on your body depends on whether your fate can bear it. If you are not such a person, you will conflict with the energy he manifests. "
Gu Zhisang's tone was complicated as he continued, "When you had the tattoo of Him, you must have heard of these symbols and allusions. At that time, you must have said something like a promise, which allowed the words to add to your body and intensify the manifestation of 'Guan Gong holding a sword' on your body."
Listening to Gu Zhisang's voice, Molixiang's husband couldn't help but think of twenty years ago.
When he and a group of brothers went to get tattoos, he did hear the owner of the tattoo shop say that Guan Erye was unparalleled in loyalty and bravery, and that the symbolic meaning was excellent.
At that time, he did not have so many concerns. He was full of passion and righteousness, and yearned for the loyalty and courage of the knights in the movies.
When he sees some movie plots or gets drunk at a table, he will say to his friends in indignation: "If I encounter such a thing, I will definitely be the first to help!"
What he didn't know was that it was his repeated emphasis on his loyalty and bravery, and his willingness to help others when he saw injustice, that made the "Guan Gong with a Sword" in him extremely prominent.
When he really encountered what happened to Xu Youhan and retreated, it was contrary to the power of manifestation he had once built up with words.
After Xu Youhan died and turned into a ghost, one could see Guan Gong faintly engraved on his back through his clothes, and see the mark manifested in his soul.
Listening to the lies that Jasmine's husband told at the police station and looking at the manifestation of Guan Gong on him, Xu Youhan thought of her own experience and felt that this man was really hypocritical and ridiculous.
How can he be worthy of the Guan Gong tattoo?
How dare you say you are loyal and brave? !
The ghost, whose reason was swept away by resentment, just wanted to tear the shameful face of this man to pieces. Seeing him being scared to death, he felt happy in his heart.
Perhaps at the beginning, it really didn't want to take Molixiang's husband's life, but just wanted to vent its resentment and anger, and wanted him to apologize to it and regret perjury.
Who would have thought that the other party got a tattoo of "Zhong Kui to protect his body" overnight.
When it approached Jasmine's husband again, its soul was injured by Zhong Kui's seal, which aroused its rage and resentment for the wrongful death, so it attacked indiscriminately to kill him.
After Gu Zhisang finished his speculation, Molixiang's husband remained silent for a long time.
The discussion in the comment section of the live broadcast room was even more intense.
Some people think that Jasmine's husband did nothing wrong, and it is inevitable that he has relatives and concerns;
On the contrary, the ghost was too cruel and went too far.
Some people also think that he committed a crime by giving false testimony to the murderer, and this is a fact that cannot be covered up;
Besides, they have died in vain and turned into evil ghosts, so how can they remain rational...
After a while, Jasmine's husband covered his face dejectedly.
It turns out that a life of wasting time can really make a person lose his edge.
In the end, he became the kind of mediocre and cowardly person that he hated the most when he was young.
The author has something to say:
Sangsang is just a spectator who reveals the truth of the incident. She will not easily judge anyone unless they are truly evil.
Everyone has their own opinions, and readers are also viewers. They can freely express any views and opinions on the events in the article.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
