Chapter 154: The Arrival of Judge Cui

A total of six black sedan chairs halted completely outside the manor.

Besides these six sedans, Lord Sun, the chief clerk of the Judge's Office, stood at the entrance and proclaimed loudly, "Welcoming the arrival of the Six Heavenly Gods of Luofeng!"

I had heard the traveling peddler mention the hierarchy of the underworld. These Six Heavenly Gods of Luofeng were the deities of Mount Luofeng, ranking above the Ten Kings of Hell and below the Five Directional Ghost Emperors.

By inviting these six to sit as a joint tribunal, Judge Cui had clearly anticipated that King Qin Guang would refuse to confess. Seeing them, King Qin Guang put away his side sword and prepared to sit down, but Judge Cui stopped him. "King Qin Guang, you are not qualified to sit and stand trial right now. Please stand below the dais!"

King Qin Guang's expression turned terrifyingly dark, clearly infuriated.

Yet, upon seeing the sedans of the Six Heavenly Gods, he only gave a cold chuckle, glared at Judge Cui, and said, "Lu Zhidao, you better remember this!"

With that, he stepped over and stood beside me.

"Lin Yi, do you really think coming here will allow you to erase those names from the Book of Life and Death? Even if you manage to remove them, do you honestly believe you can ever leave the underworld?" King Qin Guang asked.

"My Lord Qin Guang, human effort can achieve anything. Why not try before giving up?" I retorted.

"Very well, let us try then!" he replied.

Judging by his tone, King Qin Guang was not afraid of the Six Heavenly Gods at all. Moreover, it seemed he had already reported my and Erpang's affairs to them beforehand. If this were truly investigated to the bottom, my offenses would likely be severe. However, with the arrival of the Six Heavenly Gods, King Qin Guang was admittedly less arrogant than before.

Perhaps Judge Cui's move had achieved some effect after all.

Soon, the Six Heavenly Gods were all in place. They looked quite advanced in age, each with white beards. Instead of an aura of nether gloom, they radiated an auspicious energy. I had never witnessed such an aura before, so I had no idea what it actually was.

Upon seeing King Qin Guang standing below the dais, the Six Heavenly Gods showed no surprise; clearly, Clerk Sun had already briefed them on the situation.

Immediately afterward, Judge Cui recounted the entire sequence of events to the Six Heavenly Gods, including the lingering mystery of how the Book of Life and Death had surfaced.

When they finished listening, the Six Heavenly Gods were about to speak, but King Qin Guang beat them to it.

"King Qin Guang pays respect to the Six Heavenly Gods! Although Judge Cui speaks with a tongue as smooth as oil, he is biased toward this person. My lords, do not listen to his words alone."

At that moment, the Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong, one of the Six Heavenly Gods, spoke up. "King Qin Guang, the Book of Life and Death is already here, and the contents you tampered with are also here. How do you explain this?"

"This is slander and framing!" King Qin Guang declared.

The Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong stood up, walked over, picked up the Book of Life and Death, examined it closely, and asked, "King Qin Guang, you claim this is slander and framing. Do you have any defense?"

King Qin Guang replied, "If the Book of Life and Death had been discovered within my manor and shown signs of unauthorized tampering, I would accept this crime. However, this book was not found in my residence at all. This brat claims he picked it up. My lords, do you believe that? This is the Book of Life and Death! Can it simply be picked up?"

Here, King Qin Guang paused, glanced at Judge Cui, and continued, "In my view, this matter is nothing more than this brat stealing the Book of Life and Death from my manor, and then conspiring with Lu Zhidao to tamper with it, shifting the blame onto me in order to frame me!"

"My lords, think about it carefully. Only Judge Cui's brush can modify the Book of Life and Death, and that brush is his personal item, carried with him at all times. If he did not alter the book, who else could it be? Clearly, this is a trap designed specifically to target me!"

Having said that, King Qin Guang fixed his gaze on the Six Heavenly Gods.

At this point, Judge Cui said, "King Qin Guang, your ability to turn black into white is truly extraordinary. Do not forget, half a month ago, I lent my judgment brush to you!"

"Is that so? Where is the proof? Why would I know nothing of this?" King Qin Guang countered.

Judge Cui could not help but frown. The situation had been urgent at the time, and the loan had indeed not been officially reported. If King Qin Guang refused to admit it, proving that he had borrowed the brush would be nearly impossible.

Listening from the side, I suddenly understood one thing.

The tampering of the Book of Life and Death would inevitably be discovered sooner or later. The fact that King Qin Guang had borrowed the brush to alter the book without reporting it meant that aside from harming us, he had another hidden agenda: to drag Judge Cui down with him. Judge Cui's incorruptible and upright nature had undoubtedly offended King Qin Guang long ago.

Thus, when King Qin Guang saw the Six Heavenly Gods arrive, he did not panic, because he had been waiting precisely for this moment.

With King Qin Guang twisting the narrative, the suspicion fell heaviest upon me and Judge Cui. Consequently, with the Six Heavenly Gods present, Judge Cui could no longer act as the chief judge.

Knowing this, Judge Cui cupped his hands in respect to the Six Heavenly Gods and stepped down from the presiding seat. Among the Six Heavenly Gods, the Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong stepped up to take the position of chief judge.

"King Qin Guang, it turns out you intended to frame me all along?" Judge Cui asked.

"What is Judge Cui saying? I am merely speaking the truth. A straight foot is not afraid of a crooked shoe. Are you feeling guilty and afraid, Judge Cui?"

King Qin Guang retorted, deliberately raising his voice so the Six Heavenly Gods could hear him clearly.

"King Qin Guang, this matter has yet to be concluded; you must not speak in such a manner," the Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong, seated at the presiding position, stated sternly.

The Heavenly Palace Lord then continued to question the parties involved, yet King Qin Guang's defense sounded as though it had been meticulously prepared in advance, leaving no flaws.

However, since Judge Cui had never modified the Book of Life and Death, he naturally refused to confess to it.

As the interrogation went round and round, the final focus inevitably fell back onto me. Since nothing definitive could be proven regarding the tampering of the book for the time being, they had to question the theft of the book itself.

Naturally, following the peddler's instructions, I clung firmly to my story that I had picked it up along the path in the underworld. The Six Heavenly Gods then pressed me on where and when I had found it...

A barrage of questions followed, but I answered them fluently. The peddler had anticipated these scenarios and drilled me on what to say.

Fortunately, I remembered every detail accurately.

"My lords, since they intended to frame me, they naturally prepared their excuses in advance. You will get nowhere questioning him like this. If you want him to tell the truth, torture must be applied!" King Qin Guang declared.

The Six Heavenly Gods conferred among themselves, and the Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong finally commanded, "Administer the punishment!"

Just at that moment, a guard outside announced, "Lord Cui has arrived!"

"Lord Cui has arrived! He governs the nether laws. Perhaps we should listen to his counsel on this matter." The Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong immediately halted the instruments of torture and motioned for Lord Cui to enter the hall.

I thought to myself that his timing was impeccable; if he had been a moment later, the torture benches would have been brought out. Meanwhile, King Qin Guang whispered beside me, "Lin Yi, are you scared?"

"Scared my foot!"

He sneered. "No one can save you now. Even with Lord Cui here, it changes nothing!"

"Is that so?"

"Naturally!" he replied.

At that moment, Lord Cui walked into the hall. The Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong motioned for him to take a seat, briefed him on the proceedings, and asked, "Lord Cui, you govern the Nether Law Department. Do you have any insights on this matter?"

Lord Cui first offered a respectful bow, then said, "My lords, to speak the truth, I came here today intending to discuss a matter with Judge Cui, never expecting that a trial was already underway."

The Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong asked, "What matter do you wish to discuss?"

"Someone lodged a complaint that King Qin Guang had privately tampered with the Book of Life and Death. I have already led men to search King Qin Guang's manor. Indeed, the Book of Life and Death was recovered there, and I witnessed with my own eyes that it had been altered to add the names of four individuals. However, those four names do not originally fall under the jurisdiction of the Book of Life and Death. Furthermore, the words 'lifespan exhausted' were appended after each of their names, which means the perpetrator intended to murder these four mortals—a grave crime indeed!"

As Lord Cui spoke, King Qin Guang glared at him with unblinking eyes. King Qin Guang had already guessed that I had not escaped hell on my own, but had been released by Lord Cui. And Lord Cui's arrival here today was meant to strike down King Qin Guang, not to rescue him.

"Lord Cui, do you possess evidence?" the Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong inquired.

At this, Lord Cui stood up, sighed, and said, "It is a pity. When I searched King Qin Guang's manor and secured the Book of Life and Death as evidence, on my way here to Fengdu, I was ambushed by a band of ghost soldiers. Those soldiers were formidable; they fought desperately and snatched the book from my hands."

"Fortunately, I made other preparations and managed to trap them beneath Mount Luofeng, capturing every last one of them. Sadly, those cunning ghost soldiers did not carry the book on their persons. Under rigorous interrogation, they confessed that the Book of Life and Death had been discarded on Mount Jinji. The sharp talons and iron beaks of the golden chickens on that mountain are far more terrifying than vultures; a single scratch tears flesh and skin down to the viscera. My lords, if the book was thrown onto Mount Jinji, could it possibly survive? Clearly, they are trying to destroy the evidence!"

Mount Jinji was the very same place I had claimed to find the book.

It seemed that up to this point, everything was still proceeding entirely under the peddler's control.

Lord Cui continued, "My lords, those ghost soldiers who seized the evidence were bribed. At this very moment, they are waiting outside the gates, awaiting trial!"

Hearing this, the Heavenly Palace Lord of Taisha Liangshi Zong commanded, "Bring those ghost soldiers in!"