Chapter Sixty-One: The Judge Makes His Appearance
After carefully storing the Cheng Guang Sword, Rong Jiang calmed herself, her beautiful phoenix eyes slightly closed, and began to send a message to Si Ge using her divine sense. She needed to know the outcome of tonight's events. Upon receiving Rong Jiang's message, Si Ge immediately set off for the mortal realm.
The underworld has passages to various parts of the human world, and it's quite quick to travel to the human world through these special passages.
After an incense stick had burned for a while, a man dressed in a blue robe suddenly appeared.
The man appeared to be in his early twenties, tall and elegant, dressed in a blue robe. He was as beautiful as jade, with a hint of aloofness in his handsome and refined face. His thin lips were slightly upturned. "Your subject greets Your Majesty!"
This is Si Ge, the chief judge of the underworld.
"Huai'an." Rong Jiang gently tapped the table. "Have you finished interrogating the six female ghosts brought back by the ghost messengers from Linzi?"
The flow of time in the underworld is different from that in the human world. One hour in the human world may have passed three or four hours in the underworld.
From the time he left the Luo residence until now, it has been enough for Yun Jian to bring the female ghost back to the underworld and complete the interrogation.
As the direct leader of the ghost messengers, Si Ge should know very well what's going on. Moreover, Rong Jiang personally witnessed this, so Si Ge will definitely pay close attention.
"Your Majesty, the life stories and deeds of these six female ghosts have been thoroughly investigated." After bringing the six female ghosts to Qin Guang Palace, Yun Jian immediately went to report the matter to Si Ge.
Upon learning of this matter, Si Ge went to the Qin Guang Hall to attend the trial, in order to understand the whole story.
Although Zhang and Tao were innocent victims, they had sown discord in their lives. Zhu Shu, the ghost who harmed unborn children in life, continued to manipulate and deceive other ghosts after death, leading to the deaths of ten people at the hands of vengeful spirits, their souls devoured and vanishing into nothingness – truly heinous crimes. Xue Mei, Dong Xiang, and Qiu Ju, the three innocent ghosts, died tragically, and after death, were further bewitched by Zhu Shu and other ghosts, causing many more deaths, but since they did not kill the innocent, their actions are somewhat understandable.
Si Ge briefly explained the interrogation process and the verdict of Zhang and the other ghosts.
The most sinful one is actually Zhu Shu. Although she didn't personally harm anyone, the other ghosts were all instigated by her. As for the three ghosts, Xue Mei, although they were taking revenge on those who harmed them, they were still punished for seeking revenge on their own.
The crimes of Luo Qi, Yue Niang, and Madam Luo will be formally settled after their deaths.
One can escape punishment in the mortal realm, but one cannot hide one's sins in the underworld. Once on the Mirror of Retribution, what sins can be concealed? In the darkness, everything is preordained; this is the fairness of Heaven's way. Whether you are an emperor or a commoner, your mistakes will always be punished.
What Rong Jiang wanted to know, Si Ge had already finished explaining. Then, he lifted the hem of his robe and was about to kneel down, "It is my dereliction of duty that has led to cannibalism in Linzi. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
If the ghost messengers arrive promptly to take away the ghost after a person dies, how could a female ghost harbor resentment, kill someone, become a vengeful spirit, and devour souls? This is the dereliction of duty by the ghost messengers, and even more so, the responsibility of the judge.
Si Ge felt guilty as he thought that as the chief judge, he was in charge of all the judges and ghost messengers, but now that a mistake had been made, had he failed His Majesty's trust?
A gentle force lifted his knees.
Rong Jiang remained seated at the table, speaking gently, "Get up. Why blame yourself, Huai'an? The Underworld is currently rife with affairs, and the lack of manpower has led to oversights. I can understand."
She smiled faintly, "In the future, Huai'an will just need to keep a closer eye on him."
Rong Jiang was actually quite angry that such a thing had happened in Linzi City. However, she was also well aware of the current situation in the Underworld. The Underworld was vast, and after the turmoil, it was severely understaffed. She could forgive a first mistake.
"Your Majesty, I obey! I will certainly keep the ghost messengers strictly disciplined from now on." Si Ge stood still, following the force. He was grateful for Rong Jiang's leniency, but also felt even more guilty. The underworld had just been established, and everything needed to be rebuilt. The ghost messengers and judges in various places were all newly promoted and lacked experience, so oversights were inevitable. As the chief judge, he should be even more diligent and meticulous in his supervision to live up to His Majesty's trust.
Thinking of this, Si Ge added, "Your Majesty, after I return, I will re-examine the patrol schedules and territorial divisions of the ghost messengers in various places, and will especially increase the patrol frequency in large cities like Linzi. At the same time, I will order the judges of each palace to strengthen the training of newly recruited ghost messengers, so that each ghost messenger understands his or her duties, is familiar with the soul-collecting process, and avoids such oversights from happening again."
Rong Jiang nodded slightly in agreement. Her gaze swept over Si Ge's stern face, and her tone softened: "I am naturally at ease with Huai'an's work. The Underworld is vast, with billions of souls, and managing it is a complex undertaking that cannot be accomplished in a day. You don't need to be too hard on yourself and your subordinates; just proceed step by step."
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty," Si Ge said, bowing. He knew this was Rong Jiang's encouragement, but he felt an even greater weight on his shoulders.
Rong Jiang nodded, and after a while, she said, "Huai'an, check the Yin-Yang Scrolls in Linzi. Around several hundred years ago, was there a woman from the Li or Rong family who mistakenly entered the Demon Realm, or had any connection with the Demon Realm?"
The underworld has the Book of Yin and Yang, which records a person's merits and demerits throughout their life and controls their lifespan.
Generally, ghost messengers have the authority to see a person's lifespan and death, but this is limited to their own jurisdiction. As the chief judge, Si Ge's authority is even greater.
Rong Jiang could certainly see the destiny of everyone in the world. She asked Si Ge to investigate simply because she thought of what Jiu Ya had said about her maternal grandmother, and wanted to change the subject for Si Ge. At the same time, she also wanted to test Si Ge's ability to use the Yin-Yang Scroll.
"Your Majesty, I will investigate immediately." A vermilion jade slip appeared in Si Ge's hand, on which the pattern of the red spider lily was outlined with simple lines. It was one of the sub-volumes of the Scroll of Life and Death, which held the highest authority in the Underworld. He concentrated his mind and focused his consciousness into the jade slip.
Within the jade slip, radiance flowed, and countless fine golden characters swirled and moved like a galaxy, recording the life trajectories of all living beings in Linzi City over the past hundreds of years. The information was vast and complex. Si Ge's mind stirred slightly, first using the surnames "Li" and "Rong" as a guide, then supplementing it with related terms such as "Demon Realm," "Demon Qi," and "Demon Creatures" to filter the information.
This process requires extreme concentration and a precise grasp of the rules of the Scroll of Life and Death. Si Ge frowned slightly, his fingertips lightly tracing the jade slip, guiding his divine sense to precisely capture the necessary fragments from the torrent of information. He saw countless lives of joy and sorrow, birth, aging, sickness and death flashing by like a revolving lantern—there were peaceful deaths of old age, unexpected calamities, and the mundane routines of ordinary people... and he needed to find the specific clues that led to the intersection with the Demon Realm.
The spider lily patterns on the jade slip seemed to come alive, glowing faintly and flickering as Si Ge searched. Occasionally, one or two spots of light would appear particularly bright; these were targets that initially met the criteria, but still needed further verification.
While Sige was investigating, Rong Jiang was also searching for information about Jiu Ya's so-called maternal grandmother in her sea of consciousness. She needed to confirm whether Jiu Ya's coming to the mortal realm was truly to find her relatives. The Yin-Yang Life and Death Scroll was within Rong Jiang's sea of consciousness; she didn't need the jade slip as a reference point to search for things. Her divine sense roamed in the vast and boundless river of life, and the speed and precision of her searches far surpassed Sige's. However, even so, facing such a long period of time and such a large number of people, it still required some mental effort.
Because of the sheer volume of information, Rong Jiang did not immediately verify the truth or falsehood of Jiu Ya's words during the day.
After a while, fine beads of sweat even appeared on Si Ge's forehead, clearly indicating that this meticulous operation had taken a toll. He let out a long sigh, and the light from the jade slip in his hand slowly stabilized, revealing three relatively clear bands of light.
"Your Majesty," Si Ge's voice carried a hint of weariness from the search, but remained clear and steady, "I have discovered that in the past two hundred years, three women of the Li family in Linzi have had some connection with the Demon Realm."
Okay, Rong Jiang has also finished reading. Her results are consistent with Si Ge's, and even more detailed. She spoke calmly, both stating and verifying Si Ge's findings: "A third daughter of the Li family in the west of the city, born into a noble family, admired Taoism from a young age. Later, by chance, she became the disciple of a rogue cultivator, whose Taoist name was Yu Zhen. She later achieved some success in her cultivation. One hundred and seventy years ago, when her master took her to explore an ancient secret realm, they encountered a spatial rift and were unfortunately swept into the Demon Realm. After that, there was no news of her. The Book of Life and Death records that her life lamp was once extremely weak and almost extinguished, but then miraculously reignited, and her aura was tainted with pure demonic energy. It is speculated that she survived in the Demon Realm and had a very deep connection with the demon race, and may even have given birth to offspring."
"A poor girl named Li Jiang, orphaned and destitute, about 120 years ago, in order to make a living, joined a caravan to try to reach the borderlands. On the way, they encountered bandits, the caravan was scattered, and she escaped alone, accidentally entering a desolate and dangerous place at the border between the human and demon realms. There, demonic energy permeated, and mortals could not survive for long. The Book of Life and Death records that she was slowly invaded by demonic energy, suffered endless pain and torment, and died of organ failure, leaving no trace of her body."
"There was also a merchant woman named Li Wan. Her family had fallen on hard times, and ninety years ago, she and her parents sold their property and returned to their ancestral home. On the way, they encountered a flash flood and were separated from their parents. In her panic, she got lost in the desolate mountains and encountered a low-level demon that had escaped from a rift on the edge of the demon realm to the human world—a Soul-Eating Hedgehog. Although the demon was of low intelligence, it was bloodthirsty and ferocious, and was far beyond what a weak woman could withstand. The Book of Life and Death clearly records that she was devoured by the Soul-Eating Hedgehog and her soul was scattered."
That demon was merely a low-level creature, lacking any intelligence; any cultivator with even a slightly stronger ability could easily kill it. But for a weak woman, her only fate was to be devoured.
"Your Majesty is wise, that is indeed the case," Si Ge replied, inwardly admiring Rong Jiang's ability to grasp such detailed information in an instant. If these three women truly had some connection to the Demon Lord Jiu Ya, it could only be Li Yuan, the third daughter of the Li family, who came from a prominent clan, had cultivated, ultimately fell into the Demon Realm, and whose life-soul lamp indicated a possible union with a demon.
Rong Jiang lowered her eyes, her fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on the table, producing a rhythmic sound, as if she were pondering something. The hall fell silent for a moment, broken only by the faint sound of the wind outside the window. After a while, she suddenly looked up at Si Ge, "Has Huai'an met the Demon Lord?"
Si Ge was slightly taken aback by the sudden question. Why would Rong Jiang ask such a seemingly unrelated question? But he quickly composed himself and honestly replied, "Your Majesty, I am ashamed to say that I have never had the honor of setting foot in the Demon Realm. The Demon Lord's status is noble and mysterious, and I believe I have never seen his true appearance." He paused, then added, "Even during the period when communication between the Underworld and the outside world was relatively smooth, news about the Demon Lord was mostly vague and hearsay."
Rong Jiang was not surprised by his answer. "Although I have never met him, Huai'an should have heard some rumors about the Demon Lord's background, right?"
After the unification of the Underworld, the outside world could no longer obtain information about it, but that didn't mean the Underworld couldn't obtain information about the outside world. The Underworld had its own sources and channels of intelligence, especially regarding the movements of major powers such as the Demon Realm and the Celestial Realm, which it always kept a close eye on. Moreover, before Demon Lord Jiuya completely unified the Demon Realm and power was thoroughly reshuffled, the Demon Realm was not a monolithic entity; various forces were vying for power, making it relatively easier for news to leak out.
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