Chapter Five: Sudden Inspection of Wooden Boxes

  This public hall was not used for trials, but rather as a place where Cui Yun worked alone. It was neither large nor small, roughly the same size as the main hall of Qingfeng Temple where incense guests kowtowed and worshiped Buddha.

  Yanshi Shitai, after Cui Yun and Yang Wanyin went to greet the guests, hung her head in despair and stayed still in a corner of the public hall that could hold twenty or thirty people. She thought the guests were also here waiting for their verdicts and then going to report to their new work units. It just so happened that she wanted to see what kind of Buddhist disciple this was, but Cui Yun was surprisingly enthusiastic and treated her with such a huge difference.

  Having waited for a long time, not only did she not see any guests arriving, but even Cui Yin and Yang Wanyin had gone into hiding? Looking at the life-and-death notice in front of her that was over a meter high, she couldn't help but have an evil thought. However, this thought vanished instantly.

  There was a sudden "thud" sound, which scared Yan Shi to jump. She looked up and was stunned! The wooden box from her previous life fell from the sky and landed in front of her, how is this possible?

  She rubbed her eyes again, looked carefully, and indeed it was her own wooden box. She hastily got up and moved forward, bending down with both hands to hug it in her arms. After hugging the wooden box, she felt a sour and tingling sensation in her heart, wanting to cry, but as an old nun who had experienced many hardships, she didn't easily shed tears.

  Feeling a sense of disgust, the wooden box seemed to be moving, so she calmed down and carefully felt it again. Indeed, it was moving! Not only that, but it also seemed to have a sound, as if the wooden box was crying. She brought the wooden box up to her ear, and indeed heard its cry, like autumn wind and fine rain whispering secretly.

  "Wooden box, how did you come here? This is the underworld. The underworld is hell, and hell is terrifying. Wherever you came from, go back there."

  He hugged the wooden box tightly, like a mother who had lost her child holding the child's body, and kept muttering sadly.

  "Wooden box, can't you bear to part with old granny? You can't bear to part, it's not possible, people who have been together for a long time must eventually separate, and those who are separated will eventually reunite. It's all predestined, you and old granny have been together for 58 springs, it's time to part ways."

  "Wooden box, have you encountered some misfortune? Who brought you to this hellish place, tell old Ni?"

  Disgusted with the world, she was muttering to herself when suddenly a flash of golden light appeared, and in the blink of an eye, it snatched away the wooden box from her arms. By the time she came back to her senses, someone had arrived.

  "Disgusted with the world, I, old Sun, have come to keep a vegetarian diet for you."

  Before the person arrived, the sound of horseshoes had already been heard. Upon listening, it was clear that this was the guest whom Cui Yin and Yang Wanyin went to welcome. No wonder the Cui household was in such a hurry to welcome him, he must be an important figure, thought Yan Shi.

  As they spoke, the person arrived in front of Yan Shi, and he looked surprisingly similar to a monkey. The difference between him and the monkeys in the oil pine forest on Mount Wutai was that this man was dressed elegantly and could speak human language.

  The newcomer turned around and winked at Cui Yun and Yang Wanyin, who were closely following behind him. Then he said to Yan Shi, "Who were you just talking to? You're all flushed."

  Although he didn't have a good impression of it, Yan Shi still stood up and said with courtesy: "Let the Monkey Immortal see the joke."

  "Are you talking to it?" As he spoke, the newcomer opened his right palm, and a dazzling beam of golden light shot down, and with the disappearance of the light, a wooden box appeared on the public hall.

  Disgusted, she only then realized that the wooden box had been snatched away by the Monkey Immortal. She thanked the Monkey Immortal while trying to grab the wooden box, but another flash of golden light appeared, and the wooden box vanished once again.

  At this time, the Monkey Immortal was already seated on the judge's bench, adjusting his clothes and hat. He plucked a few strands of monkey hair from his body, put them in his mouth, and blew them out. Immediately, he had a wooden mallet in his hand, which he slammed onto the bench.

  The two men in the Cui Junfu thought that this splashing monkey was not convinced of their report, and wanted to investigate Yan Shi's past and present through trial, so they both opened their mouths facing the outside of the hall, acting as bailiffs shouting loudly.

  "Rise - Hall - "

  "Up Hall"

  Disgusted, thinking that this monkey immortal was going to interrogate himself, he felt extremely wronged and had no choice but to kneel on the ground, shouting: "Injustice!"

  Unexpectedly, the monkey immortal immediately jumped out from behind the case, grabbed Yan Shi and said: "Old man, which of us is here to interrogate you? Quickly get up, quickly get up!"

  Disheartened and bewildered, I thought to myself, "If you don't interrogate me, who will you interrogate?" Is there anyone else besides me in this court? Meanwhile, the two people from Cui's mansion changed their expressions, each thinking to themselves, "Could it be that this reckless monkey wants to interrogate himself?"

  Cui Yun and Yang Wanyin's idea of the Golden Angel was crystal clear, but it deliberately let them continue to fantasize, quietly telling Yan Shi: "This angel is actually checking this wooden box."

  "Examine the wooden box?" This remark made Yan Shi feel that the underworld was not only as terrifying as the rumors in the mortal world, but also somewhat inexplicable.

  After being awakened from his reverie, the golden-robed angel jumped to the back of the case, grasped the wooden mallet and struck it. He struck three times in succession, then loudly asked: "Who is present in court?"

  "I am Under Officer Choi Yun, the Chief Judge of the First Tribunal of the Underground Ministry."

  "I am Yang Wanyin, the guardian under Chief Justice Choi Geon."

  The golden-robed angel struck the sounding board once more and said solemnly: "Those who have nothing to do with this case, refrain from speaking!"

  The two people in the Cui Junfu looked up at the golden-robed angel in confusion, and saw a wooden box darting around in front of them. Because the golden-robed angel had just cast an eye-blocking spell on them, both were frightened by the wildly moving wooden box.

  "How many people are on the hall?"

  The golden-robed angel slapped the wooden box once and opened his mouth to interrogate again. The wooden box had just stopped, and someone spoke up.

  "Jianmin is a person from Lingqiu County, Shanxi Province, with the surname Ma and the name Zhangli, sir."

  "What kind of occupation are you engaged in?"

  The wooden coffin moved slightly: "Making a living by robbing tombs."

  "How many graves have you robbed in your life?"

  The wooden coffin was slightly larger: "I've been robbing tombs for dozens of springs, and I really can't remember how many graves there are. However, I have robbed some tombs that I can recall clearly."

  "We've all stolen something from graves, let's confess."

  "An ancient tomb, a modern tomb, a contemporary tomb, an official's tomb, a rich man's tomb, a monk's tomb, a nun's tomb..."

  The angel in golden clothes waved his hand and stopped him, saying: "What's the point of all this nonsense? Get to the most important part."

  "A small village called Degou, located between Mount Wutai and Mount Heng in Shanxi Province, was robbed of a tomb. But it wasn't a tomb, it was a sacrificial wall built with human heads. There were over a hundred heads, it's simply inhumane and unbearable..."

  During the handover, the wooden box suddenly sobbed, leaving the golden-robed ambassador no choice but to proceed with the main topic ahead of schedule.

  "What crime and what reason have you come to this underworld?"

  "On the night of September 26, 2012, at Qingfeng Temple in Wutai Mountain, he was beaten into the underworld for stealing from the grave of Yan Shi Shitai."

  Disgusted, he felt a pang of heartache after hearing this answer, but still persisted in listening on. While Cui Yun and Yang Wanyin had long been stunned by the "omnipotence" of the Golden Angel.

  "What did you steal? Tell the truth!"

  A wooden box, empty inside, with only a stack of paper, and on that one sheet of paper, there was some writing.

  A shock to the world, and one's own life story will be revealed to all!

  The Golden Robe Envoy slapped the shock wood again and continued to interrogate: "Tell me about your process of being beaten into the underground prison."

  The wooden box suddenly quieted down: "A lowly person took this risk, with no gain, and in a fit of anger, poured a bubble of urine into the wooden box. Unexpectedly, a thunderstorm flashed, and the lowly person was gone."

  "Really?"

  "It's all true, I swear."

  "Continue with your statement."

  "Start from the beginning? Sir."

  "The detailed plot of entering the underworld."

  "The humble people were struck by lightning and fell into hell, after falling into hell, they were picked up by an old nun, and then unknowingly ended up in the palm of a grown-up's hand, that's all."

  "Do you know what you were in your past life?"

  "Ordinary people don't know. They don't even know their own biological parents, having been raised by many families since childhood. They really don't know, adults."

  "Do you know how you became a wooden box?"

  The wooden box continued to move upwards, muttering to itself: "A lowly citizen turned into a wooden box? How could the lowly citizen Ma Zhangli turn into a wooden box?"

  The golden-robed angel turned to Cui Yin and said: "Does the Judge know about Ma Zhangli's past life?"

  Chui Yun was stumped, and in his heart he grumbled, "How could this little tomb raider possibly know about my past life?" Although he felt uneasy, he still put on a respectful face to deal with this troublesome monkey.

  "This is going to be a big trouble, sir."

  The Golden Robe Angel knew that Cui Yin didn't have the ability, so he teased him again: "Or should Judge Sun recommend to the Jade Emperor and let me, old Sun, be a file clerk in the Cui Mansion?"

  Choi Yun immediately brushed off his sleeves and knelt down, saying: "Heavenly Lord, you can't joke about killing a low-ranking official like me!"

  The Golden Robe Angel burst out laughing and said, "Your Honor, can't you even give me a little bit of face? Actually, I just want to get a part-time job and earn some extra silver coins. As long as Your Honor makes a phone call or sends a message, whether it's Zhang San or Li Si's past life, I'll settle it for you in no time, guaranteed accurate."

  Choi Yun thought to himself, "You think it's easy being a professional mourner? I've got stacks of files reaching the ceiling, 30 million full-time archivists and nearly 100 million part-timers, all working non-stop without even time for meals. You think this job is a breeze?"

  The golden-robed angel knew that Choi Yun was not convinced, and the nature of showing off that had occurred when he was learning from Bodhi's old ancestor earlier re-emerged. It opened its palm, bowed its head and blew onto its palm, a golden light shot out from its palm and hit the wall of the public hall, revealing a scene of executing a death sentence on Ban more than 60 years ago.

  …………

  As Choi Yun and Yang Wanyin were watching with relish, the Golden Angel took a sip of air towards the painting, a beam of golden light rose from the wall, shot at it and poured into its mouth, and the picture disappeared instantly.

  The golden-robed angel withdrew the screen and said to Cui Yin, "How about it, Judge? Otherwise, you can give me one of your treasured items, and I'll transfer the copyright to you. That way, those 9999 file clerks won't have to work so hard."

  Choi Yun replied evasively: "The Heavenly Lord's divine powers are vast and wide, I admire them. But I don't know what connection there is between the death of this Itai and the thief Ma Zhangli."

  The Golden Robed Angel said: "Don't be in a hurry, Judge Sir, take another look below."

  As they spoke, a beam of golden light shot towards the wall and a new scene appeared. It was a small village in Lingqiu County, China, where it was icy and snowy. A dilapidated thatched cottage suddenly let out the sound of a newborn baby crying...

  The golden-robed angel recalled the golden light and slapped the wooden table with a loud bang, asking in a thunderous voice: "Cui Yun, do you know your crime?"

  Choi Yun disappeared in this inexplicable scene, and I was about to attack the mischievous monkey, but unexpectedly, the other party turned around and interrogated it.

  "Sir, isn't this joke going too far?" Cui Yun said stiffly.

  The golden-robed angel had a "Bao Gong" expression: "Who was joking with you, think about what you did on the day of Ban Jian's death?"

  Choi Yun's face suddenly changed color.