The male ghost froze for a moment, bloody tears streaming from his eyes. “Mother, save me! Old Madam, save me!”
Qing Bao poked the blind man. “You shouldn’t ask like that.”
“When questioning, you must consider the whole story. You should ask who bribed him to harm my mother.”
The little one spoke with utmost seriousness, standing small beside the blind man like a tiny figurine.
“What does a brat like you know? Get out of the way,” the blind man scolded her.
Qing Bao snorted and stepped forward, holding the Judge’s Brush.
“Su Dazhuang, tell me truthfully—who bribed you to harm Si He! If you confess honestly, I might spare you.”
“Qing Bao, have you lost your mind? How dare you question a ghost? Come back immediately, stop causing trouble!”
Seeing Qing Bao’s interrogation, Old Madam Su feared Su Dazhuang would confess.
Su Xiao looked displeased and stepped forward to pick up Qing Bao, intending to carry her away.
But Si He blocked his path. “Does the General not wish to know who harmed me?”
As everyone knew, spirits could not lie—because lying would diminish their karmic merits and lead to heavier judgment.
“You’re letting her cause trouble too? You’ve truly gone mad!” Su Xiao pushed Si He aside in anger, trying to grab Qing Bao.
Unexpectedly, at that moment—
Su Dazhuang sensed the aura emanating from the infant. With a desperate wave of his hand, he pushed Su Xiao away.
He cried out: “It was Old Madam Su who gave me ten taels of silver to kidnap and defile Si He! I didn’t defile her! I never defiled her!”
His voice was horrifying and hoarse. While the villagers felt terrified, they also looked at Old Madam Su with disbelief.
Just moments ago, Old Madam Su had been speaking up for her daughter-in-law—it was all an act.
“Nonsense! How can you believe such ghostly lies?” Old Madam Su cried out in panic, turning to the Clan Leader.
“Clan Leader, you mustn’t believe him! He’s a ghost trying to drag living people down with him! Why would I harm my own daughter-in-law?”
The Clan Leader shook off her hand coldly. “As everyone knows, spirits cannot lie!”
“Old Madam Su, how could you commit such an act? You have no face to worship the ancestors!”
With those words, the Clan Leader stripped Old Madam Su of her right to worship the family ancestors.
This was a great humiliation—her son had returned with military honors, yet as his mother, she was forbidden from entering the ancestral temple.
Old Madam Su staggered backward and nearly collapsed.
The villagers all looked at her with contempt.
Instead, they felt sympathy for Si He and her daughter.
“Si He, the Old Madam is my mother. No matter how wrong she was, you shouldn’t hold it against her. Plead with the Clan Leader for mercy. Qing Bao, stop talking now.”
Su Xiao frowned, casting a disgusted look at Qing Bao.
If not for Qing Bao’s interference, his mother wouldn’t have lost her worship rights.
Qing Bao looked defiant. “Dares to do but not to take responsibility—not even as good as a three-year-old. Shameful! The Su Family ancestors wouldn’t want her worship either.”
Three generations of Su Family ancestors had accumulated centuries of virtuous karma to produce one General in the family. Who would have expected such poor character?
“You!” For the first time, Su Xiao felt the urge to strike a child.
Qing Bao looked at him with disdain.
“Besides, my mother hasn’t said anything. If you have the courage, go order the Clan Leader around! You don’t dare, do you? You bully the weak and fear the strong—what kind of General are you? You should be a turtle!”
“General, General, this was ultimately the Old Madam’s fault. Let it go.”
“If you plead for him again, even your reputation might be implicated.”
“She’s just a child, don’t act rashly.”
The villagers held Su Xiao back.
Su Xiao had no choice but to swallow his anger, though the disgust in his eyes towards Si He grew even stronger.
“Judge, I beg you to send me to the Netherworld!” Su Dazhuang hoarsely cried out, though it was unclear whom he was addressing.
He only wanted to escape this place quickly, to free himself from the agony of being torn apart by the female ghost’s sharp claws.
Qing Bao coldly retorted, “No one can decide the consequences of your sins. First, ask the female ghost behind you if she’s willing to let you go.”
At that moment, the female ghost’s ears twitched slightly upon hearing Qing Bao’s voice. She immediately released Su Dazhuang’s soul.
With a thud, she knelt before Qing Bao.
“Judge, oh righteous official, please grant me justice! A year ago, my mother-in-law, Lady Jiang, committed adultery and hid her lover in my room. Under oppression, I was forced to take the blame for her. My husband, Su Dazhuang, even accepted money from the lover and handed me over to be humiliated…”
“I was drowned in a pig cage, dying with deep resentment. My resentful energy was so heavy that even the Ghost Messengers couldn’t move me. I beg you, Judge, to deliver justice and severely punish these evil-doers!!!”
Her kneeling posture was eerie, resembling how she had curled up inside the pig cage before her death.
Old Madam Su was shocked.
She never imagined Aunt Ba could be such a person.
Aunt Ba was terrified out of her wits. Trembling, she pointed at the female ghost and said,
“Blind man, don’t believe her! She was full of lies when she was alive, and after death, she has taken multiple lives. Quick, destroy her so she can never be reincarnated!”
They all mistakenly thought the Judge the female ghost referred to was the blind man before them.
The blind man’s lips trembled, unable to speak.
Qing Bao then asked, “How did Su Dazhuang die?”
The female ghost replied respectfully, “He lost too much blood, his yang energy depleted. I possessed his body and smashed him against a rock until he died!”
Upon hearing this,
Aunt Ba could no longer sit still. She screamed heart-wrenchingly, “You killed my son! You killed my son… I’ll destroy you!”
The pain of losing her son had overshadowed her fear.
Aunt Ba lunged at the female ghost but was immediately seized by the throat.
Qing Bao quickly covered her eyes: “Oh dear, I can’t watch, I can’t watch!”
A life for a life—it was only natural.
Qing Bao naturally wouldn’t interfere.
The blind man used all his lifelong knowledge to perform rituals and save people, but his skills were no match for the female ghost’s deeply entrenched resentful energy.
The Clan Leader kept pleading, “Don’t kill anyone! I’ll erect a tombstone for you and find someone to perform rites for your soul. Don’t harm your own mother-in-law!”
But even though he mustered the courage to communicate with the female ghost, she couldn’t hear him.
She directly strangled the struggling Aunt Ba to death.
Aunt Ba’s soul emerged, her eyes red as she lunged at the female ghost.
Qing Bao, who could see clearly now, secretly waved her Judge’s Brush and said, “Go and face judgment!”
Hehe, Qing Bao was afraid the female ghost might be outnumbered in a two-on-one fight.
Although she wasn’t in the Netherworld, since she had returned to the mortal realm, the Old King Yama would surely step up and handle matters impartially.
Aunt Ba would not come to a good end.
Unwilling to forgive her husband and mother-in-law, the female ghost tore Su Dazhuang’s soul to pieces and devoured it.
Considering the good deeds the female ghost had performed in her lifetime, Qing Bao personally ferried her to the underworld.
This was even more powerful than performing rites.
It was like being a privileged individual with a special pass.
Everyone thought it was the blind man’s rituals that had sent all the ghosts away.
Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.
“Blind One, thanks to you tonight, otherwise we would have truly wronged the General’s Wife.”
“Indeed, fortunately you have the skills. Entrusting our ancestral hall’s blessing ceremony to you gives us peace of mind.”
No one paid any attention to Qing Bao, who had been questioning the ghost nearby moments earlier.
Everyone even assumed Qing Bao was merely bold, asking questions on behalf of the blind man to clear her mother’s name.
Qing Bao didn’t wish to explain anything. She retracted her Judge’s Brush, making it vanish into her palm.
The blind man’s body was still trembling uncontrollably. Seeing everyone praising him, he found himself in an awkward position and had no choice but to accept their flattery.
The Clan Leader said, “Now that the truth has come to light, everyone except Old Madam Su shall accompany me to the ancestral hall to pay respects to our ancestors!”
Upon hearing this, Old Madam Su fainted from fury.
“Qing Bao, you and your mother must come too. Kowtow to the ancestors and admit your fault. No more such bold mischief in the future,” the Clan Leader added, having actually admired Qing Bao’s courage earlier.
Had she not persistently questioned, the truth might never have been revealed.
Qing Bao put her thumb in her mouth, thought for a moment, then lifted her small face to ask the Clan Leader:
“May I not worship?”
She hadn’t done anything wrong—why should she apologize?
Moreover, the Su Family’s ancestors probably couldn’t withstand her kneeling worship.