Chapter 16: The Frozen Hell’s Chosen Judge

Xie Xuan placed her hands on Feng Xun’s shoulders. In the cold, lonely night, she lowered her head and gently rubbed her cheek against his neck, like a small creature finally returning to its nest after wandering too long.

“Xie Xuan died a long time ago,” she said softly. “I ate her.”

She knew clearly why she was able to survive.

Each time she forcibly took control of that sickly, fragile body, the original Xie Xuan’s consciousness weakened a little more, until it eventually dispersed completely, leaving nothing behind.

“She deserved to die.”

Her tone suddenly turned sharp, the words ground out through clenched teeth.

Feng Xun looked ahead in silence. Beyond him, the horizon was swallowed by wind, snow, and fog, indistinguishable from the night itself. He said nothing, only tightened his hold and carried Xie Xuan steadily toward Fengdu.

That night, while Xie Xuan slept deeply, she faintly felt a chill.

After spending so much time beside Feng Xun, whose body temperature was unnaturally intense, she always felt cold whenever he was no longer near her.

An ordinary human would have longed for that warmth.

But Xie Xuan was different.

She stepped barefoot into the snow-covered night. The bone-piercing cold of the human world surged up from the ground and seeped into her body. Instead of pain, the extreme sensation brought her an indescribable pleasure.

The colder it became, the stiffer her limbs felt, yet her heart grew calmer and quieter. The frozen night filled her with a rare sense of tranquility.

Beneath the thick snow, countless wisps of mist from Fengdu swept toward her, surging endlessly into her body. They refined and tempered her originally fragile soul, compressing it, strengthening it, making it denser with every breath.

When Xie Xuan finally regained awareness, the sky had already brightened.

She lowered her head and looked at her palms.

She could clearly feel that her soul had become solid and resilient. Within her dantian, a faint core was beginning to form. According to Li Wen’s teachings, she had officially entered the Soul Condensation Realm.

Soul cultivation was exceedingly difficult.

Most ghosts born in the human world struggled to adapt to the cold, gloomy aura of Fengdu. They had once lived beneath the warm sun, experienced intense emotions, and known love and hatred. How could such souls survive in a sorrowful, frozen underworld?

Only those who had accumulated merit in life and were free of wrongdoing could remain in Fengdu to cultivate. Even then, many refused to stay. Despite the greater opportunities for cultivation in the underworld, they would rather return to the human realm.

Xie Xuan was different.

She had never truly seen daylight while alive.

The only time she ever faced the sun was on the day she died.

Xie Rushan knew of her illness. To ensure that the torture could be carried out in broad daylight, she had requested a miraculous medicine from the system—so that on the day of execution, Xie Xuan’s flesh could be sliced away piece by piece before tens of thousands of onlookers.

Was she evil? Was she bad?

Xie Rushan might not have been considered a villain by others. Her life had been smooth, her tasks too easy, her success coming effortlessly. She gained trust and affection wherever she went.

But precisely because everything came so easily to her, when someone dared to defy her, her hatred became terrifyingly intense.

Moreover, Xie Xuan’s attempt to kill her was an assassination of a royal family member. By the laws of the mortal world, it was indeed an unforgivable crime.

Xie Xuan could not understand why, upon the Mirror of Retribution—the divine artifact that never erred—the judgment declared her innocent.

She had never murdered anyone.

And yet, within her body, she had killed a completely innocent soul.

She lifted the jade pendant wrapped around her wrist and softly spoke the name that even she found complicated.

“Xie Xuan.”

The character 翾 described a bird gliding lightly through the sky.

She believed she was different from the original Xie Xuan.

She lived only to please herself.

“Your cultivation is progressing well.”

Within the Frozen Hell, Li Wen sensed the changes in Xie Xuan’s soul and offered a rare compliment.

Most of the time, he wore a disguised mask, his bearing dignified and distant, resembling a highly revered King of Hell.

Xie Xuan raised her eyelashes slightly and nodded. Master and disciple faced each other with practiced courtesy, and unexpectedly, they appeared to be on good terms.

“It seems I must teach you something new,” Li Wen said as he rolled up the sleeve at his wrist.

“You know there are things you cannot tell the Lord, right?” he added with a smile.

“Are you hiding this from Feng Xun?” Xie Xuan asked, her eyes flashing. “Are you betraying him?”

“The Lord believes he can lead you across that sinful, self-bound river,” Li Wen said calmly. “He believes he can ferry you to the other shore. But I know you will never choose to stand on his side, will you?”

As he spoke, he bent down and looked directly into Xie Xuan’s eyes.

Xie Xuan nodded, acknowledging his judgment.

At that moment, Li Wen raised a finger and pressed it gently against her brow.

“I govern all eighteen levels of hell, including the Frozen Hell. The other Yama Kings have long since withdrawn from worldly affairs, becoming idle immortals. Thus, the power of judgment rests entirely in my hands.”

“The sinful souls are too vile. Almost no one can endure witnessing the evil of the human world without losing fairness.”

“Do you want this power?”

Xie Xuan had been chosen precisely because she was nearly unaffected by the negative emotions generated by sinful souls. Though those souls were heinous in life, an executioner who punished with anger or hatred would inevitably lose impartiality.

The eighteen levels of hell existed to uphold order, fairness, and law. Those who wielded the power of judgment had to become cold, ruthless, and absolutely just.

This was why almost no one could control Hell.

In the end, only King Chujiang remained.

And now, Li Wen intended to pass this power to Xie Xuan.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll do evil?” Xie Xuan asked quietly, lifting her gaze.

“What benefit would it bring you to be unfair to those souls?” Li Wen replied with a faint smile.

“Xie Xuan, you will never do anything that does not benefit you. You act entirely on instinct. The pleasure you feel when administering punishment is purer and more harmless than pity for victims or hatred for sinners.”

Xie Xuan fell silent.

She had thought she only needed to kill a few mortals—perhaps she didn’t need such overwhelming power. But there was also that mysterious system. What kind of existence was it, that even the Ten Kings of Hell knew nothing of it? Could it be connected to the Upper Realm… to Feng Xun’s origins?

Just as she was about to accept Li Wen’s inheritance, the first question that escaped her lips was:

“What kind of person do you think Feng Xun is?”

“He is an excellent person.”

For the first time, even the cold and ruthless Li Wen revealed a trace of sorrow in his eyes, his voice softening.

He was the most esteemed minor deity of the celestial realm—and the kindest Ghost King Fengdu had ever known.

“Alright,” Xie Xuan said, nodding.

In the next instant, Li Wen and Xie Xuan plunged into the icy depths of hell.

Countless hellish scenes flashed around them like a revolving lantern. The wails of the living, the roars of sinners, and the unwilling, resentful howls echoed endlessly.

At the same time, the power of judgment flowed continuously from Li Wen into Xie Xuan’s body, permeating every inch of her soul like crackling lightning, taking root and spreading.

When Xie Xuan’s feet touched solid ground once more, Li Wen had already placed a six-inch dagger formed of hellish ghost energy into her palm.

Before her, a sinful soul knelt on the ground, bound by chains. The gaunt middle-aged man prostrated himself, his posture submissive and trembling.

As Xie Xuan raised her hand, the power of judgment awakened.

She began to survey his life—

And to search for his sin.