Volume 1 : Path through Purgatory

Chapter 4 : Aftermath of the Trial

“I think We have seen enough to reach a judgement. This Seat finds the accused soul, Zhang Gui from Earth guilty! He shall be sentenced to suffer the agonies of the first Eight levels of the Eighteen levels of Naraka for a period of time not exceeding Nine Reincarnation Cycles.”

“ Additionally, under my authority as the Tenth Court Yama King, Xue Zhuanlun, I decree his soul to be branded with the Heart Binding Curse.”

Two hours had passed since the judgement. Old Lady Meng had made herself scarce immediately after. Minister Wei had dragged off the convict,Zhang Gui,louding proclaiming that he would personally brand the Heart Binding Curse onto him. Only the three eminent figures remained in the giant hall. A fierce debate was underway between the three and the topic seemed to be related to Zhang Gui.

“ Your Majesty, Vitality Thunder is a heavenly material, not some random pebble on the side of a road. There is no way it just randomly appeared in that mortal’s soul.”, the Yang General was clearly apprehensive about the whole situation. He kept fiddling with the violet coloured orb that had started the entire incident. Arcs of lightning were shooting out of the orb but upon contact with his arms they fizzled out without any effect.

Yama King seated in the middle was once again going through that thick leather covered book. “ Senior Wujia is not wrong. However you both have also seen through that young man’s Book Of Life and Death, nothing exceptional stands out. Even the planet Earth he was on is just a grade zero planet with neither any cultivators nor any Qi. Clearly some external powers are at play here but I fail to see who they are or what they would accomplish from this.”

“And you seniors might not know this but similar incidents have already happened at least once in the last few reincarnation cycles. A mortal soul would somehow overcome the restrictions of the Bridge of Karma and create havoc. If my intuition is correct and all these incidents are being controlled by an organisation in the shadows, the consequences will be severe. I will meet with the other Yama Kings and authorize an investigation into the matter.”

“But doesn’t Your Majesty feel that the punishment you decreed was too harsh for a mortal. To take out your anger on a mortal soul would be unbecoming for a mighty Yama King. Nevermind sending him to the Naraka Hells for nine reincarnation cycles but to have the Heart Binding Curse branded upon him, isn’t that condemning that soul to eternal doom?”, The Yin General, Xie Bi’an, was perhaps the only one who showed any concern for the doomed mortal.

“Bi’an is too kind. The mortal should be glad that he wasn’t extinguished immediately. Never mind the rebellion he incited, just his actions that led to the annihilation of hundreds of souls in the Pond Of Reincarnation are enough to justify his punishment. 843 souls were exterminated by the Pond of Reincarnation, we haven't had such losses since that war. Although I am a bit curious, Your Majesty, How long do you think he will last? I reckon he won't last for more than 4 days. Sentencing him to 9 Reincarnation Cycles is like hunting a chicken with a tiger.No mortal soul can survive the hells of Narak for even a single lunar month.”

“Senior Wujian looks down upon mortals too much. Did you forget about that old man, isn’t he also a mortal soul.” , a rare expression of trepidation surfaced on the Yama Kings face when he spoke of that man.

“That old ghost….. is a monster”

........

In a poorly lit room, a figure could be seen sitting on the floor with their back against the cold stone wall. The exit of the room was blocked by numerous thick bars. The room was clearly a prison cell and that figure was its prisoner. Only a dim luminescent stone hanging from the ceiling cast some light onto its body. He was wearing an ill fitting, stained grey robe. His face was quite ordinary, the only exceptions being his slightly big ears and delicate childlike eyes. This man was naturally Zhang Gui.

*Sigh*

With nothing better to do, Zhang Gui began thinking about what he had gone through since the last few days. He thought about the despair he had felt when the judgement was decreed and the miserable situation that he was at the centre of afterwards. He was not even sure how long he had stayed unconscious for after being knocked out by that stupid ladle.

By the time he recovered his senses, he had found himself stranded in this prison cell. As far as he could tell all the cells near him were empty. Alone and afraid, he did what any other frustrated man would do, or at least that what he thought any frustrated man would do - He screamed his lungs out, praying for someone to hear him. Now that he knew that Gods were real, his prayers were far more sincere than before. And thankfully, for once his prayers were answered. With thundering footsteps and a heavy clankering of armor, a person visited his cell. This person possessed the body of a human and the head of an Ox.

Ideally, such a bizarre appearance would have scared Zhang Gui into a frightful mute but perhaps it was because he had been desensitized since his arrival in hell or perhaps it was the overwhelming anxiety and loneliness plaguing him, either way the only emotion he felt staring at the Ox-head figure was relief.

“Why are you screaming for?” The armoured figure’s deep and heavy voice resounded in the cell.

“For help.”

Soon after that lonely, gloomy prison cell filled the sounds of two chatting friends. The Ox-headed man had identified himself as Ox-Head Nanjiang, the warden of the Qincheng Prison. The man seemed to possess an incredibly simple and straightforward personality. Despite being the warden, he did not seem to mind spending his time with an inmate. There was not much common between the two of them to talk about so naturally the conversation slowly deviated towards topics that all men could relate to - alcohol and women. Eventually, Ox-Head even brought out two cups and a gourd filled with fragrant alcohol to go along with their conversation.

“Brother Nanjiang, where exactly am I?”

“Oh this place! This is the Qincheng Penitentiary located on the outskirts of Diyu. You would not know much about it since you arrived from the capital city Youdu.”

The realm of the dead, as it turned out, was called Diyu. And the capital city of Youdu was where the Ten Yama Courts were located. Apart from the dead, it looked like Diyu also had its own fair share of living citizens living about normal lives. Ox-Head had assumed Zhang Gui to be one of those citizens sent to the prison for some petty crime. He almost dropped his alcohol when he learned that Zhang Gui was a soul that had crossed the Bridge of Karma.

Within Ox-Head Nanjiang, Zhang Gui had finally found someone to whom he could tell his side of the story. He was determined to have Ox-Head develop a positive impression of himself. With such intentions, he even started sharing emotional anecdotes from his time on Earth in an attempt to win the warden over. He even made sure to mention how his pitiable little sister would be missing him dearly. The only flaw being, he never had a little sister , in fact, he was an only child …. But how was Ox-Head going to find that out? And unsurprisingly as a result of his stellar acting performance , Ox-Head Nanjiang expressed great empathy for his plight.

“Brother Nanjiang, I feel like we were fated to be friends. I feel like I have known you for many years. If you can please ask the Yama King to reduce or remove my punishment or atleast explain my side of the story to him.”, as his embarrassing words echoed in his mind ,Zhang Gui truly felt shameless. That was the first time he had met this person, he barely knew anything about him, he had given him a distorted half complete account of the events of that day, and after all this, he was expecting this man to act as his advocate.

Such wanton shamelessness truly made Zhang Gui re-evaluate his personality.In this such times, alcohol became a great scapegoat to blame all your shortcomings at.Truly, a man in despair was capable of incredible feats.

*Sigh*

Recovering from his recollections, Zhang Gui was once again beset by a dull gloom. It had been a long time since Ox-Head had last visited him. He had promised to return as soon as he could. At the moment, Zhang Gui had all his hopes placed on Ox-Head’s petition to the Yama King.But there was no way to determine the passage of time in this damned prison cell. Therefore Zhang Gui could not tell how long it had been since he had met him. He had tried shouting out into the hallway as he had done before but he was met with stunning silence. Now, all he could do was wait.

After an amount of time that could only be described as excruciating for Zhang Gui, those thundering footsteps returned …. But this time with some extra set of footsteps.

As the footsteps reached closer to his prison cell, Zhang Gui could make out Brother Nanjiang’s voice.

“Senior , the Qincheng Prison is under my jurisdiction for the time being but you can do as you wish. I will raise no concerns.” Such a fawning polite tone was unusual for Ox-Head. Zhang Gui had thought of him as a straightforward ,sincere individual.

Eventually the two visitors were standing right in front of Zhang Gui’s cell. He was standing with his hands wrapped around the prison bars looking at Ox-Head with eyes full of expectations. But before he could ask Nanjiang anything, his attention finally landed on the other visitor.

“It's you!!“