Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Yin Wenjiao's Book of Life and Death has been cracked?

Wen Jiao was a little breathless for a moment.

She lay down beside the hole and could see clearly that on the pages of the Book of Life and Death, which looked like paper but not paper, and like silk but not silk, the paper at the position of the lifespan was torn, and it looked irregular, as if it had been torn forcefully.

Judge Cui frowned.

For a high-ranking judge like him, peeking at the Book of Life and Death was just a small abuse of power for personal gain, but if the Book of Life and Death was damaged, it would be a major event that would shake his official position. Even if he knew about it but didn't report it now, if someone else found out and reported him, and the higher-ups found out that he had touched the damaged Book of Life and Death, he would be unable to defend himself unless he could find the person who damaged it.

But if he shouted it out now, and there was a thorough investigation, there would be chaos and there was no guarantee that someone with sharp eyes would not discover Wen Jiao hiding in his sleeve.

Judge Cui was in a dilemma. Fortunately, he was a seasoned official in both the living world and the underworld, and he came up with an idea in the blink of an eye. His face darkened and he shouted, "Who is the director of the Department of Ladies of All Nations? Get out here!"

After a while, a big ghost came in timidly and said with an apologetic smile, "Master Cui, what do you want to say?"

Judge Cui threw the Book of Life and Death in his hand into his arms, his face as cold as frost, and said, "You have done a good thing! See for yourself!"

The big ghost flipped through a few pages, closed them, and with a sad face, he knelt down in front of Judge Cui and said, "Master Cui, spare my life. It's all because of the poor performance of my subordinates. I was also bewildered by the ghost for a while. I was afraid of being punished by my superiors, so I kept it a secret."

Judge Cui knew that keeping the Book of Life and Death was a very important matter. However, if it was damaged, the ghosts handling it and the ghosts in charge would definitely not be unaware of it. They could only be afraid and concealed it, hoping to delay it for as long as possible. So he said with a stern face: "Explain clearly."

The big ghost waved his hand, and two trembling little ghosts came in. The three ghosts fell to the ground and confessed everything in tears.

It turned out that four years ago, the underworld held a civilization month, saying that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva would come to inspect in person, so the Ten Kings of Hell ordered overnight to tidy up their internal affairs, to make sure they were spotless and perfect, without letting the Bodhisattva find the slightest dissatisfaction.

So the poor ghosts had to move the books of life and death out of their own bookcases, polish each bookcase until it was shiny enough to reflect the ghost's shadow, and then hurriedly move them back and put them neatly in order. There were more than tens of millions of books of life and death in the underworld, and the workload was really not small. When the ghosts were busy, two of them accidentally bumped into each other, and the two stacks of life and death books flew everywhere, and even knocked over a mermaid oil lamp.

The ghosts were so frightened that they almost lost their souls on the spot. They hurriedly sorted out their life and death books and wiped them clean. Unexpectedly, two of them were not only stained by lamp oil, but also stuck together and could not be separated.

Mermaid oil is a very difficult substance to consume. Often, a penny of lamp oil will not be consumed for ten thousand years. You can imagine how sticky it is. The two little ghosts tried their best but couldn't separate the two stuck pages. In desperation, they tore them apart. "Swish", the book of life and death was separated, but the records on both pages were damaged to varying degrees. The year of death and life span of Yin Wenjiao's page were gone, and the other page was even more damaged. The records after the age of twenty-three were so blurred that not even a single word could be seen.

The big ghost in charge was panicked, but on the one hand, repairing the Book of Life and Death was extremely expensive, and this accidental damage was entirely their responsibility, so they had to bear the responsibility themselves. Even if they sold the two little ghosts and themselves, they could not afford the debt. Secondly, the repair time would take years, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva would be here in two days. How could he make it in time?

So the big one and the two small ones discussed secretly behind closed doors, pooled some money to treat the receptionists, the Black and White Impermanence, to a meal, saying that their performance in the World Lady Department was just average, and they did not expect to show their face in front of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, so they asked the two superiors to take the Buddha statue to other outstanding colleagues for viewing. This was not enough, just in case, the three ghosts also mixed the two damaged life and death books into an inconspicuous corner overnight. It was not until a long time after the Civilization Month event ended that they put it back when they saw that no one was checking it.

During this period, the three ghosts bribed the ghost messenger to turn a blind eye to the abnormalities of the two pages. The ghost messenger took the bribe and saw that there was no problem with the owners of the two pages, so he turned a blind eye and fooled the ghost.

Who would have thought that Judge Cui, the superior, would flip through the pages in a moment of excitement and actually turn out one of the two pages with problems?

The three ghosts knelt on the ground, crying and saying, "Master Cui, Grandpa Cui, please save the three of us. If this matter gets out, the three of us won't be able to bear the consequences even if we are fryed in oil a hundred times!"

Judge Cui acted as if he was impartial and indifferent. After they pleaded for a long time, his expression slowly changed. He said with great sorrow, "How foolish you are! The Book of Life and Death involves the numbers of yin and yang. It is a matter of great importance. How can you treat it like a joke?"

In fact, when he changed Li Shimin's life span, he did it in a frivolous way. The three ghosts had no idea what this righteous judge had done. They thought they were guilty of a heinous crime and burst into tears. Judge Cui sighed and said, "Well, considering that you are also pitiful, I will also make a path for you."

The three ghosts were overjoyed: "Please give me some advice, Grandpa Cui."

Judge Cui said, "It would be a disaster if we keep these two stained pages." He looked compassionate, "The only solution now is to tear off these two stained pages."

The three ghosts were stunned, each with a blank expression: "How can this be possible?"

Is this possible? Wen Jiao, who was hiding in Judge Cui's sleeve, was also shocked.

For Sangui, a slightly damaged page in the Book of Life and Death is already a crime that he cannot afford, and tearing it up directly is even more of a crime? How can you help someone like this? It's like a poor guy who accidentally touches a highly corrosive liquid and disfigures his face, and someone next to him is very kind and gives you advice. You thought he would recommend you a low-cost and highly skilled plastic surgery hospital, but he directly suggested that you chop off your head. Sangui wouldn't listen to such an obviously tricky suggestion, right?

Judge Cui looked like an elder giving good advice, and he didn't seem to think his suggestion was absurd at all. "After tearing it off, unless you know these two people, who would know that the fate of two people is missing from the Book of Life and Death? But if it is still in there, who can't see that it is so obviously damaged? You are lucky today to have met a soft-hearted judge like me. If you had met someone else, how could he let you go? Even if you collect enough money one day and repair these two pages, if it is discovered that these two people should have come to the underworld long ago, but they lived for many more years in the world of the living, how will you three ghosts deal with it?"

After hearing his penetrating analysis, the three ghosts were so impressed that they said in unison, "Your Excellency the Judge is right. Let's tear up these two pages."