Chapter 9: CHAPTER 9: UNDERWORLD, HALL OF JUSTICE (4)

The lad was shaking violently, crying and wailing, the words coming out of his mouth were just sobs, yet he struggled to turn them into words.

"I... I... I've always studied hard since I was a child... My parents wanted me to concentrate on my academics, so they went above and above to make me feel at ease, yet I was thrown out of the examination compound, merely because of a letter of support from my mother. Because the exam compound prohibited the use of any form of paper, I was accused of cheating and thus missed the crucial exam. I can't tell my mum that I failed the exam because of the letter she wrote from the bottom of her heart.

To conceal the issue, I had to pretend to have passed the exam with high honors, hired a bunch of palanquins, toured around the poor neighborhood, and pretended to be a district official so that my parents could be proud for once in their lives. At that time, I was not in the best state of mind, all I wanted was for them to be happy as they deserved it.

The young man pauses for a while to wipe away tears stripping down from two sides of his cheeks, then resumes his story.

“...Also thanks to that fake parade, I met the daughter of one district official, I did not mean to deceive her. At first, I was also very self-disciplined, but the more we came into contact, the more I saw her as a person. She was born with a silver spoon, yet, her soul was pure, simple, and cheerful. Over a period of time, I also inadvertently felt in love with her…

However, I was aware that this was going to be a morganatic marriage because the two families were of unequal social standing. I just believed she'd be better off with someone who could lavish her with fortune. I had to leave since she would suffer terribly if she found out the truth. I expected her to grow tired and eventually forget all about me, returning to her life as it could have been before she met me. I wasn't expecting her to keep waiting till she was bedridden."

Tears couldn’t stop pouring down his face as he struggled in regret and misery. It took quite a while till he was able to draw out some more words.

"While living in poverty and being unemployed, I had to stay with that beggar kid in a small shelter. He's not a bad person, it was just that harsh circumstances forced him to steal in order to survive. All he stole at the time was just a loaf of bread from the baker, nothing too valuable. The baker losing that one bread didn’t suffer much damage, but if that kid got caught, he will surely die…”

"...Later on, I was fortunate to earn a job as an apprentice to a well-known physician. I got to meet with one special patient, a bright and intelligent little girl. I once read in a book that psychological strength greatly influenced her potential to heal, as a result, I said words of encouragement to her to persevere in treatment, not knowing that it was an incurable disease, I was so stupid..."

"As for harboring a wanted person, it was not a bad person, he was slandered by the district authority and cornered to death, I couldn't just leave him alone."

"What about you later taking the name of that prestigious doctor of yours to deceive people into getting diagnosed illnesses and then arbitrarily prescribing medicine for them?"

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The boy raised his face and crawled forward with his hands, tears streaming down his face, he was miserable and desperate.

“The physician I followed was truly exceptional, but he is excessively materialistic and only treats the wealthy, prominent residents or the high-ranking authorities. The poor or the lowly who had significant illnesses, regardless of how much they begged, he would not spare them a look.

I didn't have the heart to let them cross thousands of miles in the hope of saving their loved ones, but in the end, they was left with disappointment and empty-handed, so I followed them home and used my skills to treat them. I did in fact save a life. However, because of this, I was beaten by the physician, which resulted in my instability and falling to death...I…I…"

"No more sobbing background stories from you, we don't have all day to put up with this. What you did is all written down in permanent black ink, along with the penalty. Lying is a sin that cannot be easily forgiven; a liar will be punished, and we always adhere to the rules outlined in the texts. Although the fact that you saved an individual will get you some merit, still, your massive lies will be inexcusable."

"Why is that? I've never hurt anyone, I just want everyone to be happy, and I simply wanted the best for them. Why am I being punished, and why are you being so cruel?”

"Your penalty has been determined and will not be amended for any reason. You will get your tongue severed, descend to the depths of hell, and pay the debt of two thousand merits. Since you have already saved one life, that will minus seven hundred merits from your debt, the remaining still must be paid with hard labor!"

"No! I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a criminal, I didn't do anything excessive, you guys are unfair, how can you just rely on one phrase in the texts to determine the punishment without further consideration of other factors? Then what is the point of setting up this Underworld Council? No, you can't do this to me, I have never picked up a tool in my life, I will surely die down there, I will definitely not make it out as a whole..."

Before he could finish, a blazing chasm appeared at his feet, and those demonic arms started to drag his legs. The sound of their howling, which sent shivers up people's spines, caused his limbs to become weak, and let them instantly engulf him, leaving only the young man's heartbreaking cries for help to reverberate throughout space. 

This priceless medicine box of his, which is claimed to save one's life, slipped from his grasp and was dispersed all over the cold hard floor, nothing more than litter now. Because he was unable to bring it to the person in need in time, he missed the opportunity to both save their life and his own.

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