Chapter 530

After he recovered, I had someone bring tea, and we sat down face to face.

My aunt wasn't there, and the atmosphere inexplicably became a bit awkward.

Seven Halls Yama said: "Xiao Jiu, thank you for your medicine. After taking the first pill, my condition has already recovered to this extent. Without that pill, I couldn't cooperate with Yin Dang Hang to finish this act; everyone's grievances would continue to be suppressed, and my Yin Tiger Talisman would be hard to retrieve."

It turned out he could arrive in time tonight because Fanchen had arranged it with him beforehand.

The true form of the Seven Halls Yama appearing in Yin Dang Hang is the key to breaking the situation.

Otherwise, just that squad of underlings bickering could mess everything up.

Those people could never have imagined that the Seven Halls Yama would go to Yin Dang Hang; that is the fundamental reason they act with impunity.

This is a linked scheme.

The Seven Halls Yama's memory has been tampered with, preventing him from leaving Hu Shan for too long, and the altered memory concerns Yin Dang Hang; because of mental torment, he fears approaching Yin Dang Hang.

If he can't get close to Yin Dang Hang, how can he seek redress for himself?

So when the head of the underlings faced the Seven Halls Yama, he would ask, "How could you...?"

How did you end up here?

Dìluán's Earth Yin Pill arrived just in time.

I probed and asked: "What level of effect can the first Earth Yin Pill achieve? Has your memory recovered somewhat?"

"My nerves are too damaged; even if I use medicine to slowly repair, those lost or even erased memories may never return." Seven Halls Yama said, "But these past two days, while organizing my old correspondence and official dealings, I found a suspicious individual whom I suspect is very likely the culprit who originally caused me to come to this state."

My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly asked: "What kind of person is he? Do I know him?"

Actually, I wanted to ask directly whether it was Dìluán or Dìshì.

"He was a deputy I trusted greatly at first." Seven Halls Yama said, "But by comparing the before-and-after of our work handover records, one can see his change; I still have a fragment of memory about him in my mind, so I have reason to suspect that he has already infiltrated my circle. What he wants is not only my Yin Tiger Talisman, but also... medicine."

Medicine?

I thought of the vast medicinal herbs in the Peach Blossom Spring, and of the Seven Halls Yama's duties.

Among the criminals apprehended by the Seven Halls Yama, there is a charge called "gathering remains to concoct medicine."

The so-called gathering remains to concoct medicine refers to the act of stealing the remains of those who died by fire, aborted fetuses, etc., grinding them into powder or directly putting them into medicine.

Such conduct is considered desecration and harm to the dead, an extremely disrespectful act toward living beings.

Such conduct is unforgivable.

The Seven Halls Yama oversees this; anyone caught must endure punishment in the Great Hell of Burning Anguish, then suffer in the sixteen minor hells, and only after that be transferred to another hell for continued judgment.

In the whole Nether Realm, the Seven Halls Yama possesses the most medicinal ingredients and knowledge, so it's only natural that he would be targeted.

"Although my memory has been tampered with and is discontinuous, the timeline of my incident is fixed; as a civil servant, every achievement I've made, every criminal I've judged, every pill I've collected, is recorded in the archives."

"As long as I am no longer tormented mentally, give me a little time, and I can find clues in these work files, even reconstruct the truth."

Yes, I also agree with his view.

"I focused on reviewing the year of my incident, then went back two more years; in those three years, my greatest achievement—and also the thing that offended the most people—ultimately led me to a specific prescription."

My eyes lit up, and I exclaimed excitedly: "What prescription? What illness is it meant to treat?"

The Seven Halls Yama pondered, then said: "If we must define that prescription as treating an illness, perhaps it can be summarized as curing aberrant diseases."

"Aberrant disease?"

"Yes, Xiao Jiu, every life in this world is born unequal." Seven Halls Yama said, "Some are born rich and noble, others can only reincarnate as beasts, some are born with a sacred cultivation body, while others are born with a body full of aberrant bones. What I destroyed back then was a group that gathered remains to concoct medicine, transforming aberrant bones into spiritual bones."

My heart started pounding.

This time I went to Yin Dang Hang intending to ask Yu Nian and Fanchen about the 'aberrant bone' matter, but Fanchen didn't know either.

Yet I didn't expect to make a breakthrough here with the Seven Halls Yama.

I struggled to stay calm and asked: "What is that prescription like?"

"In my view, it's like something out of the Arabian Nights."

The Seven Halls Yama gave an order, and not long after, a subordinate delivered a file.

He opened the file, flipped through it, stopped at a middle page, and handed it to me.

I took it and read it item by item.

When I saw the terms 'yin bone' and 'cinnabar spiritual bone,' my hands trembled a little.

So the carvings on the screen wall of the underground cavern actually came from here?

Then, when I saw the suspects listed in the file's appendix, I was stunned again.

Those guys actually came from the Feng Clan!

In the case closure summary, they were called 'primitive evil cultivators of the Feng Clan.'

The more I read, the tighter my brow furrowed: "In other words, this prescription was likely originally commissioned by Dìshì's team for research; just as they had produced results, Dìshì hadn't yet obtained the final formula, and the whole evil cultivator group was then wiped out by you in one sweep…"

The Seven Halls Yama puzzled: "Dìshì?"

Then I realized the Seven Halls Yama might only know Dìluán, not Dìshì.

I quickly explained it to him, then said: "Perhaps, as you said, Dìshì was born with an aberrant bone in his body; to free himself from its shackles, he formed this team and researched this prescription."

The Seven Halls Yama directly cut off Dìshì's path to changing his fate; how could Dìshì let him off?

However, this evil cultivator's prescription requires various bones as ingredients, which is exactly what the Seven Halls Yama's duty is to suppress.

The Seven Halls Yama was not wrong.

He was merely targeted—not only for the prescription of gathering remains to concoct medicine, but also for the yin bone on his body.

This discovery is a pleasant surprise and also crucial.

Since all this stems from a case the Seven Halls Yama once judged, he can naturally reopen the case and lawfully investigate Dìshì.

Thinking of this, I asked: "Once your condition has mostly recovered, will you reopen the case?"

The Seven Halls Yama was quite certain: "Definitely."

"'Then can your authority cover Wǎngsǐ Chéng?' I continued to ask, 'There must be secrets in Wǎngsǐ Chéng, and they are especially crucial. We're not in a rush; we can take our time, but we sorely lack someone who can lawfully enter Wǎngsǐ Chéng to investigate the case…'"

Only by laying everything out in the open can we possibly get to the real truth.

We need a judge...