Shen Cuiyu frowned and said seriously, "Feng Chuman, it's not your fault."
".....What?"
Plop.
Since they were so close, a drop of bloodstain dripped from Feng Chuman and stained Shen Cuiyu's light - yellow dress today, spreading an eye - catching dark red mark.
Feng Chuman was stunned for a moment and instinctively tried to wipe it with her broken fingers. Instead, the bloodstain spread further on the light - yellow fabric.
After a moment of silence, Feng Chuman stiffly withdrew her hand. Her gaze slowly moved up along the dirty mark until she met Shen Cuiyu's eyes.
Those eyes were surprisingly calm. There was neither disgust nor fear, only a kind of almost pure sincerity.
Feng Chuman suddenly had an illusion that at this moment, she didn't seem to be a fierce ghost but an ordinary girl of similar age to Shen Cuiyu. She didn't have the deep hatred or the pain of skinning. All she needed to worry about every day was what to eat, what to play, and why the homework left by the private - school teacher was so difficult... Everything was so beautiful, and there were many tomorrows waiting for her.
Feng Chuman stared at Shen Cuiyu with her dark eyes without blinking. Suddenly, she said:
"I was sixteen when I died."
Shen Cuiyu responded calmly, "Well, I'm one year older than you."
Those dead - looking eyes finally flickered, and then a hint of uneasiness suddenly appeared.
"I... dirtied your dress."
"It can be washed if it's dirty." Shen Cuiyu didn't even look at the stain. Her tone was as calm as if she was discussing what to eat later.
Feng Chuman's soul fell into a strange silence. After a long time, she spoke in a low voice as if talking to herself, "Qin Keyun... is very good. Without a beautiful face, she won't attract fatal disasters..."
"No," Shen Cuiyu suddenly shook her head and whispered, "Beauty is never wrong. Chuman, would you trample and destroy a flower just because it blooms too well?"
Feng Chuman was stunned and shook her head.
"So, only the evil people with twisted and dark hearts will use beauty as an excuse for harm. The one who is wrong is the crazy murderer, never you."
"But I just... can't accept it." Feng Chuman's voice dropped. Her resentment no longer boiled but settled into a deeper sadness. "So many years have passed. I've been trapped in the painting and suffered every day, while Liu Junjie... probably has been reincarnated and is living freely..."
The word "freely" was exactly the deepest thorn in her heart.
Shen Cuiyu frowned slightly, "Who told you that he has been reincarnated?"
Feng Chuman suddenly looked up. Her turbid eyes were full of surprise and doubt.
"He... hasn't been reincarnated?"
Shen Cuiyu didn't say more. She reached into the little - rabbit sachet and took out a strange black incense stick. She didn't need fire to light it. With a slight movement of her spiritual power, there was a soft "hiss", and then white smoke slowly surrounded. Instead of dispersing, it coiled and condensed as if it had spirituality.
As the white smoke curled, the surrounding space seemed to be torn open by an invisible big hand, leaving a crack!
A ghost officer in a black robe and with a soul - catching chain around his waist slowly stepped out of the crack!
The ghost officer's eyes swept over Shen Cuiyu and he nodded slightly. It seemed that he was quite familiar with Shen Cuiyu, but his voice was still cold and direct:
"What's the matter for the celestial master to summon me?"
Shen Cuiyu returned the salute and pointed at Feng Chuman beside her, who was covered in blood and still full of resentment, "Please, elder brother ghost officer, help her check the whereabouts of a sinful soul."
As a fierce ghost, Feng Chuman was naturally a little afraid of the ghost officer. She looked at Shen Cuiyu hesitantly. The latter nodded at her. Only then did Feng Chuman's turbid eyes finally start to move. She said hoarsely, "His... his name is Liu Junjie. He died in the 33rd year of Emperor Zhaohui. I don't know anything else..."
After saying that, Feng Chuman lowered her head at a loss. The clues she could provide were vague. Even the appearance of her enemy had become blurred in the long and lonely years.
The ghost officer didn't say much. He raised his right hand slightly, and a thick volume unexpectedly appeared in his hand out of thin air. It was neither made of gold nor jade, but there was a flowing light on it, which was very mysterious.
The ghost officer's fingers flipped through the pages like a phantom. The pages fluttered, and in almost the blink of an eye, they suddenly stopped.
"The sinful soul, Liu Junjie," the ghost officer's cold eyes fell on the fixed page. His lifeless eyes were like an ancient cold pool. His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable majesty. He read out the judgment on the book word by word:
"He committed suicide in the 23rd year of Emperor Zhaohui. His sins in his lifetime were too numerous to be recorded. Especially his evil deeds of killing the innocent and skinning them alive were extremely heinous!"
"The sinful soul thought that his sins would be eliminated after his death, but he didn't know that suicide would add another sin!"
"After the judge's inspection, he was sent to the lowest level of the Avici Hell to be tortured by skinning and heart - digging. He has to suffer 3,600 times a day, and his sentence is 500 years - it's not over yet, and he is still being tortured!"
The moment Feng Chuman heard the judgment, her dead - looking eyes suddenly shrank violently!
At this moment, Shen Cuiyu seemed to say something to the ghost officer. The ghost officer nodded slightly. The next second, that page of the judgment suddenly burst out with dazzling blood - red light. A powerful and cold suction instantly captured Feng Chuman's spiritual consciousness!
When she opened her eyes again, she was actually in the boundless purgatory!
Feng Chuman looked up. In the endless darkness and the churning infernal fire, Liu Junjie was tightly bound by iron chains. Several hideous little ghosts were holding sharp blades and skinning and digging out his heart again and again!
A soul was different from a physical body. After being damaged, a soul would return to normal in the blink of an eye. So before Liu Junjie had a chance to catch his breath, the sharp blade would mercilessly cut into his soul again!
"Ah - it hurts! It hurts so much!"
Liu Junjie's soul kept screaming. His expression was extremely painful, but he could only repeat it again and again, endlessly!
At the moment when Liu Junjie struggled, he actually locked eyes with Feng Chuman not far away!
He suddenly froze and began to plead desperately, "Miss Feng - I was wrong! I was wrong - please let them spare me!"
The scene in front of her suddenly disappeared.
"Ho... Hoo..."
After being stunned for a long time, Feng Chuman suddenly laughed. Her voice was hoarse and unpleasant, but she laughed more and more loudly. Her shoulders even began to shake happily, which made Shen Cuiyu frown in worry that her broken soul might disperse because of the loud laughter.
But as she laughed, the crazy laughter gradually showed grievance and finally turned into sobbing!
As Feng Chuman cried, the human - skin scroll also shook violently, as if wailing.
Shen Cuiyu stretched out her hand and gently stroked the scroll, as if comforting a child who finally had the opportunity to pour out all her grievances.