"Okay, no problem, I'll take care of it right away!"
"Um."
"My lord, when can I see you?"
"We'll see."
"Okay, okay. Oh, by the way... sir, there is a City God Temple in the north of Fuhe City, and there is a tablet for the judge inside."
"Huh?" Xu Zhengyang was taken aback; he hadn't expected this.
Zhan Xiaohui then asked, "Sir, have you... have you been promoted? Congratulations..."
"You've asked too many questions."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll go and repair the temple right away and offer incense."
"Okay." Xu Zhengyang hung up.
Inside, it was quiet.
Chen Chaojiang stopped what he was doing, turned to look at Xu Zhengyang, and a rare hint of surprise appeared in his long, cold eyes.
Xu Zhengyang smiled, picked up a cigarette from the bedside table and tossed one to Chen Chaojiang, then lit one for himself and smoked it.
"Are you the Earth God?" Chen Chaojiang finally couldn't help but ask softly.
"You said you believed me, so why are you asking this?" Xu Zhengyang asked, smoking a cigarette, without giving a direct answer.
"Nonsense..." The surprise in Chen Chaojiang's eyes vanished in an instant. His pale face and icy eyes concealed the immense shock and turmoil within him. He said calmly, "When I said I believed, I meant that you and the local earth god were buddies, just like the rumors in the village."
Xu Zhengyang took off his shoes, sat on the bed against the wall, crossed his legs, and laughed, "Now?"
"I don't feel good." Chen Chaojiang also sat up, sighed and said, "How the hell can there be a god in this world? And it's you, of all people."
"Jealous?"
“Nonsense…” Chen Chaojiang curled his lip, threw the locust wood lump and dagger on the bedside table, lit a cigarette and took two puffs, and said in a low voice, “I don’t consider you a god.”
Xu Zhengyang smiled and said, "Yes, we're good brothers."
"Just a heads up, it's best not to let too many people know about this."
"Um."
"But you just made a phone call in that capacity!"
"Special circumstances".
"Oh." Chen Chaojiang nodded. "I still prefer the old you..."
Xu Zhengyang's expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Watch your word choice. The word 'like' can easily lead to misunderstandings!"
"How can your thoughts be so filthy?" Chen Chaojiang glanced at Xu Zhengyang with disdain.
Xu Zhengyang laughed and said, "I like you the way you are now."
"roll……"
For a moment, the room fell silent again, and the two seemed to be thinking about something.
“Zhengyang, I’ve realized I’m useless again…” Chen Chaojiang suddenly sighed.
Xu Zhengyang was taken aback, then understood the meaning behind Chen Chaojiang's words, and laughed: "Chaojiang, it's not as serious as you think. I'm still a human being. If I get beaten up, drink too much, or vomit, I'll be dead if I get hit by a bullet today."
"Hmm?" Chen Chaojiang stared at Xu Zhengyang.
"I'm not lying to you."
"I believe you." Chen Chaojiang nodded.
"Go to sleep."
"Um."
Chen Chaojiang turned off the light, and the two lay down fully clothed.
The pale blue curtains were dimly lit by the light from the streetlights outside. The shadowy tree forms on the curtains swayed gently. Xu Zhengyang, of course, wasn't asleep. He quietly gazed up at the dark ceiling, his eyes gradually adjusting to the dim light in the room.
After a long while, he heard Chen Chaojiang's soft snoring.
Xu Zhengyang wanted to turn over to check, but he was worried about waking Chen Chaojiang. This guy was always alert, especially after the shooting incident today, he would definitely be even more alert.
Just as they were about to begin making the Judge's Pen, Chen Chaojiang's calm voice suddenly rang out: "Zhengyang, be the same as before. At least look the same as before, not just in front of me, but in front of others as well..."
"Hmm." Xu Zhengyang paused for a moment before responding.
Chen Chaojiang stopped talking, and after a while, his soft snoring resumed.
Xu Zhengyang was slightly annoyed. He silently probed out with his mind to confirm that Chen Chaojiang was truly asleep before closing his eyes. His mental energy instantly enveloped the dark brown ironwood box on the bedside table. He visualized the judge's pen in his mind, then activated it… The ironwood box on the bedside table emitted a soft yellow light invisible to ordinary people. The ironwood box quickly disappeared, but in Xu Zhengyang's mind, a brush about half a meter long and as thick as a baby's arm appeared. However, the rounded, pointed tip of the brush was not smooth; it appeared somewhat stiff.
Damn, what a huge thing! It's not good as a pen, but it's perfect for a fight.
Xu Zhengyang turned his attention back to the case file and asked: What should the judge's pen look like?
The answer was: It is up to the judge to decide according to his or her own whims.
"Hmm, I see..." Xu Zhengyang thought for a moment, then mentally activated the large and awkward judge's pen, instantly transforming it into thirty ordinary household calligraphy brushes. "Hmm. That's much more comfortable. I'll use one, and keep the others as spares."
The moment this idea arose, he saw all thirty judge's pens in his mind being added to the judgment book.
Xu Zhengyang opened his eyes, stretched out his hands, and with a thought, the casebook appeared out of thin air in his right hand, while a dark brown, seemingly ordinary calligraphy brush appeared in his left. The brush tip was smooth, and the fine bristles were glossy and soft, unlike the stiff and awkward one he had imagined. Xu Zhengyang grinned. "Pretty nice, isn't it!"
He was just waiting for Zhan Xiaohui to demolish the Judge Temple in Cixian County and then build a new Judge Temple in Fuhe City so that he could do whatever he wanted.
When Xu Zhengyang first became a wandering judge, he was somewhat annoyed by the geographical limitations of the position. He was bound to the temple where it was located; even with a promotion, before acquiring the judge's pen, his abilities weren't significantly better than those of a clerk. During his stay in Fuhe City, Xu Zhengyang occasionally thought about the "wandering" aspect of the title, suspecting it held a different meaning. He inquired about it in the case file and, as expected, it was true. The reason he was called a "wandering judge" was precisely this: wherever the judge's tablet was placed in the temple, that was where the wandering judge resided.
In addition to the chief judge, the City God should have three wandering judges.
The City God resides in the city and has his own government office. He does not reside in a City God Temple built by humans. In contrast, City God Temples often have tablets for judges, which are the positions of the chief judges.
The Chief Judge and the City God usually handled their official duties within the government office. However, when City God temples were built in various counties and townships, the tablets of the judges enshrined there were then staffed by itinerant judges who would patrol and handle minor matters. More important cases would be submitted to the Chief Judge or the City God for final judgment. Additionally, itinerant judges were responsible for collecting case files from the local earth gods in various townships every six months, and then forwarding these to the Chief Judge and the City God.
If there are too many City God Temples built below and not enough itinerant judges, then the City God will decide how many places the itinerant judges will govern.
Therefore, although there are very few City God temples and Judge tablets in the world today, and there is no City God to give the wandering Judge more jurisdiction, there is only one place to enshrine the position of Judge, and that place will become the location of the wandering Judge...
Thinking of this, Xu Zhengyang looked at the jade case file in his hand and thought to himself: You know so much. Why didn't you tell me these things before?
A: Insufficient positions, insufficient level to unlock artifacts.
Xu Zhengyang realized: Is there anything else I don't know? Tell me everything.
A: No.
Xu Zhengyang sighed. Damn it, why am I starting to feel like a primary school student? If I can't learn second-grade material in first grade, then... can't I skip a grade?
A: No.
Xu Zhengyang asked: On what grounds?
A: The case file is incompetent.
Xu Zhengyang almost burst out laughing, secretly praising him: You are really honest and interesting, full of wit. Talking with you is more interesting than sitting with Li Bingjie. Hmm, you are also much more interesting than Chen Chaojiang at times.
The verdict was not responded to.
Xu Zhengyang curled his lip: Damn it, you can't take a compliment.
In a flash, the judgment book suddenly displayed a line of golden characters: "Given that there is currently no chief judge in Fuhe City, the wandering judge of Cixian County, who wields the divine artifact Judge's Pen under the Fuhe City God, will temporarily assume the position of chief judge."
Xu Zhengyang was taken aback. Another promotion? He then sighed and muttered to himself, "If I had known this would happen, why bother with all that trouble?"
He took out his phone and sent a text message to Zhan Xiaohui: "Stop changing the temple's name."
A short while later, Zhan Xiaohui replied with a text message: Okay, stop immediately, sir. Actually, I have already arranged for someone to change the name, but it will take some time to order the plaque.
Xu Zhengyang initially didn't want to reply, but after thinking about how dedicated Zhan Xiaohui had been, he replied: "Thank you for your hard work, and I'm sorry to have troubled you."
Zhan Xiaohui replied quickly with a text message: "Sir, you flatter me. It will shorten your lifespan. I have plenty of money now."
Xu Zhengyang didn't reply, a surge of jealous irritation rising within him: Damn it, whether it's Zhan Xiaohui in his past life or the current Zhan Xiaohui, they're both incredibly lucky, making everyone envious. That brat Zhan Xiaohui was originally a poor farmer. After his parents died unexpectedly during high school, his sister didn't rely on him; instead, she went to work and earned money, completely ignoring him. After getting married, she was even less inclined to care about her younger brother. Who would have thought that this kid's luck would turn around so dramatically? During his spare time working on a construction site, he bought a few lottery tickets and won a huge prize, suddenly transforming from a poor boy into a millionaire with tens of millions in savings. What kind of incredible luck is that?
However, he probably exhausted his luck all at once. After suddenly becoming rich, he started to spend his days enjoying life and indulging in pleasure, which ruined his health.
And so, Cheng Jinchang, who had been resurrected through a body, benefited greatly...
Getting promoted is naturally a good thing, Xu Zhengyang thought to himself: You did a bad job this time. In the past, every time I got promoted, you would tell me what kind of supernatural abilities and powers the new position would bring.
The judgment record states: The chief judge under the City God, holding the judgment record pen, determines a person's good or evil, submits it to the City God for approval, and can then enter the underworld to become a judge.
What's the use of that?
The final verdict states: A person's sins and merits in this world determine their fate in future lives.
Xu Zhengyang thought for a moment, then asked: "Let alone how many people there are in the world, there are hundreds of thousands in just one county. I am a judge with dozens of divine duties. I have to be busy with so many things every day. Can I manage to keep up?" "Well, I am indeed incompetent. But when there were so many gods around, they were also busy, weren't they?"
After a brief silence, the verdict book replied: The verdict book, the county record book, and the local record book all have their own records.
"Oh... the divine artifact is indeed very good and powerful!" Xu Zhengyang nodded, sighing with a hint of understanding: "Although the Heavenly Laws stipulate that gods cannot interfere in the affairs of mortals, in the end, it is still the gods who control the fate of humankind in this world. Past life, present life? Reincarnation, the wicked are reborn as animals, the virtuous are reborn as wealthy and powerful..."
How similar this is to the legend!
Just as I was thinking about these things, the judgment book flashed and a line of text appeared: Unless one is extremely virtuous or extremely wicked, the underworld does not need to manage them and they will reincarnate on their own.
Xu Zhengyang was taken aback. Oh, so all the immortals are lazy too, leaving everything to their divine artifacts and avoiding involvement whenever possible. No wonder they live such carefree lives.
Suddenly remembering something else, Xu Zhengyang asked curiously: "Can I go to the underworld for a stroll now?"
The verdict was: Yes, but it would be a temporary appointment as chief judge, which would require a great deal of mental effort, so it is not recommended.
Xu Zhengyang's anger flared up instantly, and he cursed: Why is it so hard to be a god? You have to expend so much supernatural power to do anything. Do you know how difficult it is for me to collect some faith power in this world?
The verdict was ignored...
Helpless, Xu Zhengyang put aside his annoyance and asked, "What other abilities do you have?"
The verdict states: Holding the Soul-Locking Chain allows one to seize the soul of a living person, instantly killing them.
Xu Zhengyang's heart trembled with excitement, and then he asked through gritted teeth: Does this also require a great deal of divine power?
The answer is: Yes, and it steals souls and devours lives; each life requires half of one's divine power.
Xu Zhengyang felt an urge to smash the verdict book and throw it into the latrine... Then, suppressing his anger, he asked: Where is the Soul-Locking Chain? Who sent it to me? Am I supposed to have to fend for myself?
The answer was: Yes.
Xu Zhengyang's eyes widened, his anger rising: What do you use to make it?