Chapter 76 Life-Buying

Chapter 76 Life-Buying

Ye Shaoyang and Xiao Ma hailed a cab to a street near their apartment for food. After a humble meal, they wandered along the way home and passed a night market. Some stalls there sold clothes, so Ye Shaoyang dragged Xiao Ma there to shop for some shirts.

“Let’s just go to the mall. The clothes here are not that...suitable,” Xiao Ma said as he took a quick glance at the stall owner. He did not want to offend them.

Ye Shaoyang knew what he meant, but he disagreed, “Why must we shop at the mall? Clothes there are expensive, and it’s the same as the clothes here. Look at these clothes—the material and the brands. They even sell Adi something. Will the shops in the mall sell these items so cheap?”

The people around them started to laugh. They covered their mouths when they overheard Ye Shaoyang’s words. Xiao Ma noticed this too, and boy did he feel embarrassed. Ye Shaoyang did not pay any attention to them. He quickly found some shirts that he liked and two pairs of sports shoes. The items totaled at less than five hundred Yuan. The price satisfied Ye Shaoyang. He quickly took out six hundred from his wallet and handed it to the owner. But when he looked up at the owner, he saw blood oozing out from all the orifices of the owner’s face. The thick blood flowed down the owner’s chin and dripped onto the money in his hand.

Taken by surprise, Ye Shaoyang rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nothing. No blood on the owner’s face and certainly none on the money. In fact, the owner happily counted the money he earned from Ye Shaoyang.

Was it an Illusion Of Death? Ye Shaoyang frowned.

“Here, young man. Here’s your change,” the owner handed him some notes.

Ye Shaoyang counted the money and found a green colored note sandwiched in between. As astonished as he was, he calmly told the owner, “Boss, something is wrong with this note. Can I make an exchange?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Why don’t you take a look?”

The owner took the note, and his face immediately paled. Obviously, the sight of the note had frightened him. It was a fifty Yuan note, but the printing differed from the Renminbi banknote. The figure on the note was a stern looking man who wore an ancient Chinese imperial crown. A line of text laid at the bottom of the note—Printed by Fengdu Ministry.

“This is….a hell note! Where did it come from! ” the owner shuddered.

“How would I know. You gave it to me. What are you trying to do here?” Ye Shaoyang replied.

The owner gradually calmed down and came across an idea, “You cunning bastard, there is definitely no hell note in the change I gave you. It is so ominous of you to try and accuse me in this way.”

Immediately, Ye Shaoyang could tell what was on the owner’s mind as soon as he looked into the latter’s eyes. He did not expose the owner’s dirty trick. He simply smiled and walked away. He dragged along Xiao Ma, even though Xiao Ma was trying to argue with the owner.

“Little Ye, why did you stop me? It’s definitely him who gave us that note. We don’t have to be afraid of him,” Xiao Ma fumed.

Ye Shaoyang gave Xiao Ma an explanation of his vision, “I saw the Illusion of Death, which means there is a spirit pestering him. He will die soon. A normal person can’t see it, but a sorcerer like me can. In fact, many fortune tellers can actually tell a person’s fate from this.”

“You mean that he is definitely going to die?” Xiao Ma asked with a surprised look on his face.

“Well, that’s not always the case. Whenever an Illusion of Death appears, the person will end his life tragically. If it's accidental; then, it will be an inescapable death. It's in the Book of Fate. There is no way to escape that. However, there might be another death that is not recorded in the Book of Fate—a tragic death caused by supernatural beings. In many cases, people whose time is not up yet die because of this. In theory, this should not happen because anyone, even a supernatural being, must be punished if they kill someone. However, there is one exception. Have you heard of the term ‘life-buying’ before?”

Xiao Ma anxiously shook his head, “How would I know about these things?”

Ye Shaoyang glanced at the stall owner. That fellow was unaware of the danger before him; he was busy making money and trying to sell everything in his stall. Since Ye Shaoyang had nothing better to do, he led Xiao Ma to the roadside and sat on a bench. He started to tell Xiao Ma everything he needed to know about the term ‘life-buying’.

“You see, when a person dies, their soul enters the Netherworld Council. If this person has done nothing wrong, they will qualify for reincarnation, so the council will direct them to the Reincarnation Department to wait for their turn. Because there are so many souls, a person has to wait for their turn to reincarnate, and it can take up to two years. Or, they can be recruited as a Netherworld soldier or gain another post. In return, the council will allow them to visit the people they loved in the human world, even if it’s not their birthday or the Hungry Ghost Festival. Consider this as a perk.

“Spirit commissioners would usually keep a close eye on these souls to prevent them from causing any trouble in the human world. However, some of them, usually those another person killed, would take the opportunity to bribe the spirit commissioner so that they can take revenge on those who took their lives. There’s a catch though. Before a soul can take a person’s life, the soul must first pay the person an amount of money that is worth the person’s life. That’s why it is called life-buying. It is like the soul telling the person, ‘I’ve bought your life with money. Now, I can take your life.’”

This went beyond Xiao Ma’s wildest imaginations. He mumbled, “How would such an arrangement even be allowed to exist? Wouldn’t Yama the King of Hell do something about it?”

“It’s kind of like an unspoken rule in the Underworld. As long as the spirit commissioner does not oppose the soul, and the soul does not go overboard, the King of Hell won’t take any action. Besides, the person the soul kills would be spared from punishment. Their sins that they accumulated during their lives would be voided because of this, so they won’t complain about it either.

“To enter into such an arrangement, two conditions must be met. Firstly, the soul must not have committed any sins when they were alive; someone punished in death would not have this chance. They also need the opportunity to come to the human world. Secondly, the killer who took the soul’s life must not have been apprehended and brought to justice in the human world. It is hard to meet both conditions, so such an arrangement is rare.”

Xiao Ma turned to look at the stall owner. He was a man in his thirties, a little overweight and not good-looking. A similarly shaped woman stood beside him, perhaps his wife. Xiao Ma shook his head in disbelief, “It’s hard to imagine that this crooked businessman is actually involved in a murder.”

Ye Shaoyang replied, “A murderer wouldn’t have a label on his face. Of course, we wouldn’t know by just looking at his face.”

“True,” Xiao Ma said, “But Little Ye, why do you want to get involved in this? Like you said, life-buying is allowed, and this guy is a murderer. There’s no need to save him, right?”

“Of course, I’m not going to save him. But life-buying is not the usual protocol. It’s best to avoid this and let him get his justice served in the human world,” said Ye Shaoyang.

“What should we do then?” Xiao Ma asked.

“Let’s wait and see for now. We should first find out why someone wants to buy his life.”

The duo sat silently on the bench. They observed the stall owner, as he closed the stall. The stall owner was completely oblivious to what would happen to him soon. He was busy selling his products. More than often, he would exaggerate the merits of his products. Whenever he successfully convinced a customer to buy his products, he would happily rip them off. Then, he would hide aside to count the money with blissful eyes. Xiao Ma could not stand the sight. He shook his head, “His life will end soon, yet money is all he cares about. Isn’t it ironic?”

Ye Shaoyang smiled. Then he sent Xiao Ma into deep thought, “Aren’t all of us humans the same? I guess he is no exception.” Suddenly, Ye Shaoyang remembered something—he might need Xie Yuqing’s help tonight. So, he gave her a call and asked her to come over and meet them for an important issue.

“Hey Little Ye,” Xiao Ma suddenly felt curious, “The joss paper we burn to our ancestors and the hell notes. Which one do they really use in the Underworld?”

“They cannot directly use the joss paper; they must convert it into hell notes at the Netherworld Bank before they can spend it.”

Xiao ma nodded in understanding, “I see. It’s like foreign exchange then.”

Twenty minutes soon passed, and Xie Yuqing arrived just like she had promised. It was a little late at night, so she simply wore a sleeveless T-shirt, tucked in elegantly into her short jeans. It was a neat and casual attire, which gave her an image of simplicity and practicality. She headed toward Ye Shaoyang and asked, “Hey little trickster. What’s all the fuss about?”

Ye Shaoyang smiled, “Just wanted to go out on a date with you.”

Xie Yuqing glanced at Xiao Ma and said, “A date with the three of us together?”

“Why not? Or do you prefer just the two of us?”

Xie Yuqing kicked his feet, “Stop joking around. What’s the matter?”

Ye Shaoyang pointed in the direction of the stall owner and told her everything. Xie Yuqing could barely believe this story. She stared back at Ye Shaoyang, “You are the sorcerer here, not me. What could I possibly help you with?”

“Trust me. I wouldn’t ask you to come here if I could do this alone.” Before she could react, Ye Shaoyang moved his lips closer to her ears and whispered his ingenious plan to her.