Chapter 1: The Nine Generations of Virtuous People

The horse-faced figure snorted disdainfully and said, "What's so tragic about it? It's just running back eight times in a year. At worst, I can run back sixteen times in the next two years. I'm all in; let's see who can outlast whom"

Judge Cui's face twitched for a moment after hearing this, and he quickly leaned over the computer, typing away in a flurry. Then, he widened his eyes and stared silently at the screen. The horse-faced assistant couldn't help but feel anxious and hurriedly leaned in, asking, "What’s wrong? Is there something going on?"

Judge Cui crawled out from under the table, dressed in a red ancient official robe, with two gauze wings resembling peach leaves on his black cap. He somewhat resembled a seventh-rank county magistrate from a theatrical stage, with arched eyebrows, small eyes, and a wrinkled little face that looked like a folded bun, giving him a rather comical appearance

The Ox-Head and Horse-Face were stunned for a moment before they both lamented in despair: "I hate Bilgewater!"

Who would have thought ... Within a year, he actually died and returned eight times, with none lasting more than two months. Speaking of which, Judge Cui treated him quite well; in his first life, he was sent to inhabit the body of a wealthy man from Wenzhou who had just drowned. This wealthy man owned four clothing companies, had a fortune of 300 million, was 68 years old, yet his wife was only 28, and he had three beautiful mistresses even younger, the youngest being just 18. Isn't that enough to be worthy of him?

Judge Cui trembled all over, pointing at the screen and lamenting: "It's over, it's over, it's really gone wrong this time. Sigh! Had I known it would come to this, I might as well have reported to Lord Yan directly, saying that you violated the rules and misled the souls. I, in my effort to help you plug this loophole, have made mistake after mistake, and now it has turned disastrous!"

Hehehe... Judge Cui made a sinister smile: "The Buddha's grand wish that ten virtuous people can attain Buddhahood was made three hundred years ago. If someone were to be reborn three hundred years ago, even if they died a hundred times, they would not meet the conditions for the ten lifetimes to attain Buddhahood, hahahaha..."

Judge Cui, with a mournful expression, said: "No, no, look here, counting the time you wrongfully detained him, he has already died nine times, each time due to his good deeds, so... so..." Judge Cui took a long breath and gritted his teeth, saying: "He is now a nine-time virtuous person."

The ox-headed figure, moved by emotion, said: "What is it, my lord? Is it that the system's garbage has accumulated to the point of causing a crash? And * illustrations * books"

Suddenly, the Bull-Headed Man suspiciously rolled his eyes and said: "That’s not right, my lord. When we allowed him to borrow a corpse to return to life, we had bribed Meng Po to prevent him from drinking the soup, so no matter how many times he dies, it should only count as one life. How did it turn into nine lives?"

The ghost resembling a pop star was followed by a pair of ox-headed and horse-faced figures. The ox-headed one's eyes were bulging to the limit of a cow's gaze, while the horse-faced one's face was elongated even more than that of a donkey. This was all because Zheng Shaopeng, who had been designated as a client to be avoided, had returned.

After waiting for a while, Judge Cui's expression suddenly changed, turning pale as a ghost. If he had not been wearing that bright red official robe, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face would surely have thought he was a ghostly prisoner who had escaped from jail, and with a set of soul-restraining ropes, they would have sent him back.

In the span of two weeks, he familiarized himself with the operations and circumstances of the entire company, and then allocated one-third of the assets to the wealthy man's estranged wife and his two abandoned sons, while the remainder was donated through various means

With the sound, a very handsome young man walked over from the opposite side of the Naihe Bridge. His hair was styled with hair wax, appearing neat and shiny, and he wore a white suit adorned with numerous sequins, looking just like a pop star who had just stepped off the stage

I never expected... that he would come back to life again. Not to mention the pitiful Judge Cui, even the Ox-Head and Horse-Face are about to go crazy.

No one is perfect, Zheng Shaopeng can only sigh. Why is it that there are no young, wealthy, handsome, charming, and elegant young gentlemen in this world?

After much difficulty, he finally possessed a handsome and charming red singer, renowned in Hong Kong and Taiwan, for the eighth time. This fulfilled his wish, and he should be able to stay and enjoy these two years of life.

Judge Cui shook his head and said: "There is no way around it. I heard that the city god has gone on vacation to the human realm, and his name is not on the register of life and death. Since his vacation is not over, no one can find him. For now, we just have to hold on like this. By the way, didn't you apply for leave? What are you doing here?"

Zheng Shaopeng never imagined he could hold such a high position. He genuinely wanted to achieve something significant, but he simply could not tolerate having a woman nearly the same age as his mother as his wife

Judge Cui was pacing back and forth in the grand hall. After a while, he suddenly frowned, glanced around furtively, and beckoned the Ox-Head and Horse-Face to come forward, twisting his mouse-like whiskers with a sinister smile, saying: "Ahem, since the computer glitch at the Hall of Reincarnation allows souls to traverse time and space, I have come up with a plan. If we could arrange for him to go back to ancient times to borrow a corpse for resurrection, hehehe..."

On the antique Eight Immortals table sits a monitor resembling a computer from the human world, with half a body protruding from beneath the table, as if someone is crawling under it

Zheng Shaopeng certainly would not reveal that he despised the fact that the old man had become soft where he should be hard, and hard where he should be soft, thus deliberately seeking death. Consequently, the judge racked his brains and sent him to the body of a recently deceased deputy mayor.

Judge Cui stammered, "If we were to send him back to life now, and he were to die again due to doing good deeds, then he would be a virtuous person for ten lifetimes, having escaped the cycle of life and death."

With a loud crash, a bowl of richly fragrant Meng Po soup fell to the ground, and the deep wrinkles on Meng Po's face appeared even more pronounced. She murmured with a sigh: "The ninth time, the ninth time, this calamity has returned again"

The narrow and elongated Naihe Bridge spans across the Wangchuan River, leading into the ethereal depths of the cloud traces. The souls, untouched by dust, weep as they drink a bowl of Meng Po soup, stepping onto the unpredictable path of the afterlife

The ox-headed figure, puzzled, asked: "What does it mean to be a good person for ten lifetimes? To jump out of the cycle of life and death?"

The Ox-Head and Horse-Face clapped their hands together and laughed wickedly: "Excellent, my lord, you truly are a seasoned expert, uh... I mean, you are prudent and composed..."

The two burly young men who accompanied him often harassed him, and when he rejected their advances, the look of deep resentment in their eyes made his scalp tingle. Such a withered and fallen state...! I am a dignified man of seven feet tall; dying of hunger is a minor issue, but losing one's integrity is a grave matter!

His legendary tale of nine deaths and eight reincarnations began when he fell from the cable car while heading to Nancang Mountain. By supporting a three-year-old girl before his fall, he accumulated merit, which extended his lifespan by three years. However, the unfortunate Ox-Head and Horse-Face were in a hurry to return for the wedding banquet of the City God’s daughter, and before he could fall into the ravine, they had already summoned his soul.

Judge Cui shook his head and said: "This time the problem is not serious, but after starting up, the hard drive light flashed wildly for half an hour before allowing me to operate, making me doze off while waiting"

The old man saw them and sighed with a frown, saying: "Alas! It is still this 'system that is a plague to death—it's a mess.' Ever since we started using it, the efficiency of the underworld's work has indeed improved, but after a few months, it needs to be reinstalled. I can now perform every installation step skillfully with my eyes closed.

Uh... it's not that there aren't any, but rather that the young people who meet these criteria are in excellent health and have a hearty appetite, so if he wants to possess one, he will have to wait.

He gathered a pile of evidence and submitted it to the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, and when the organization conducted a severe investigation into the case, he was honorably and proactively eliminated by his former accomplices

Zheng Shaopeng, who was watching the floating figure in the air waiting to possess him, felt a chill run down his spine. Thus, after being reluctantly pushed into the body of the recently drowned billionaire by the ox-headed and horse-faced beings, he found himself utterly unable to enjoy this kind of fortune.

The ox, upon hearing this, touched its horns but did not speak

The Ox-Head and Horse-Face were also taken aback, staring blankly as they said: "This... what are we to do? This damned rogue, we couldn't bear to let him fall to pieces, so out of kindness we took his soul early. Who would have known that the Book of Life and Death suddenly changed? What are we to do now?"

Judge Cui sighed, saying: "Great compassion and mercy cannot save us from today's predicament, for the moral fabric of society is deteriorating, and human hearts have become unrecognizable. The Buddha, in order to rectify human hearts, made a grand vow three hundred years ago on Mount Ling, stating that if a mortal can persist in doing good for ten lifetimes, they will attain Buddhahood. If they are allowed to do good and die once more, they will surely become a Buddha. The Buddha possesses immense supernatural powers and can certainly perceive the secrets within; at that time, would it not be a trap?"

The Hall of the Underworld was eerily quiet, and on the dark, heavy Eight Immortals table, there was a stack of documents half the height of a person, yet the figure of Judge Cui was nowhere to be seen. The Ox-Head and Horse-Face looked around in surprise and walked towards the Eight Immortals table.

The Ox-Headed Ghost cautiously stepped forward and called out, "My Lord Judge, what are you doing under the table?"

Zheng Shaopeng thought with deep sorrow and indignation, thus... when the company arranged for him to participate in a disaster relief charity performance on the mainland, this star, who had just recovered from a serious illness, "accidentally" fell from the stage, hitting the back of his head on a pebble the size of a popcorn kernel. Consequently, a wisp of fragrant soul, filled with lingering resentment, swiftly made its way to the underworld.

***

Judge Cui slapped his thigh and said: "That is to say... he has attained Buddhahood"

At that moment, a very arrogant voice shouted: "I want to file a complaint! I must file a complaint!"

Judge Cui said: "There is no other option, my computer needs to be reinstalled again, there is too much junk in the system, this is really taxing the processor, it is running extremely slow"

In the depths of the clouded trace, there exists an invisible allure. Once a soul steps onto the bridge, there is no possibility of turning back; it can only drift forward, much like a moth drawn to the flame.

Zheng Shaopeng let out a huge sigh of relief. Not long after he happily leaned over the recently deceased famous singer who had just passed away due to illness, he was horrified to discover that this charming young man, who had driven countless girls wild, was actually a homosexual, and moreover, one who played the role of the 'receiver' in such relationships.

When they woke up from their drunken stupor and realized they had arrested the wrong person, Zheng Shaopeng's physical body in the mortal realm had already been cremated. To evade responsibility, they had no choice but to bribe Judge Cui to send him back to the mortal realm, allowing him to borrow a corpse to return to life and exhaust the remaining three years of his lifespan.

A month later, Mingming saw that he had died but had come back to life, and he looked at her with a strange gaze all day long, which drove his beautiful wife, who was already terrified, to madness. She repeatedly stabbed him with a fruit knife. By the time the Ox-Head and Horse-Face arrived upon hearing the news, they also found the mutilated corpse somewhat disgusting to revive, so they had no choice but to take him back to the underworld

The Ox-Head and Horse-Face opened their mouths wide in disbelief and said: "No... it can't be, right? Becoming a Buddha is not that easy, is it?"

Judge Cui sighed and said: "System vulnerability ... ... "

Mamen muttered: "Our Diting domestic operating system is quite good, why did we need to invite a foreign city god to design it back then? I heard that His Majesty Yama and His Majesty Lucifer from the West are negotiating to have that original designer, Bilgewa, upgrade the operating system as soon as possible"

The bull raised an eyebrow and said curiously, "So what? What if that bastard builds a bridge or repairs a road, and accidentally trips over a small stone and dies? Wouldn't that still fulfill the agreement of ten lifetimes of good deeds?"

The Ox-headed Ghost grinned and looked at the book, wanting to laugh but holding it back: "Well, the old man is of advanced age, so it is understandable that he does not know what a stallion is; it would not be appropriate for me to tell him this." He then changed the subject and asked, "Is there a problem with the system? Do you need me to help you fix it?"

"Nine Generations of Good People? What does that mean?" Niu Tou asked in confusion, as the words of the Judge Lord were too profound, leaving one somewhat at a loss.

Thus, he spent all day lingering in the hospital as a patient, refusing to return home. When he discovered that this deputy mayor was actually one of the corrupt individuals, he finally breathed a huge sigh of relief

The issue is... This wealthy man did not drown in a river, nor did he drown in the sea; rather, he drowned in a bathtub, where he was literally drowned by his beautiful and charming wife while taking a bath

The deputy mayor is only 48 years old, which is considered a prime age. He resides in a high-level ward, his body filled with tubes. The bustling scene that surrounded him when he was first hospitalized has since turned into a desolate one, ever since the attending physician informed the organization that preparations were being made for his memorial service.

Worse still, the system truly crashes, falsely crashes, and automatically restarts, with constant issues. I have heard that at the Hall of Reincarnation, Judge Zhang Hong has many souls exploiting system vulnerabilities to traverse time and space to the ancient times to become breeding stallions. These people all say that one should strive for higher positions, and they did not commit any wrongdoings in their past lives. Why are they so eager to be reborn into the realm of beasts? Being a breeding stallion is so arduous; I just cannot understand it, truly cannot understand it.

Man Cang Er could not help but clasp his hands and say: "The Bodhisattva has a kind heart; no wonder the world refers to Him as Great Compassion and Great Mercy. The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said, 'I vow not to attain Buddhahood until hell is empty!' Like the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, although He has not yet attained Buddhahood, in my heart, He is the true Buddha"

Niu Tou chuckled twice and said: "My lord, that fellow who is unwilling to live has returned from the dead again. He has only lived for one year out of his three-year lifespan, and he has died and returned nine times. You must think of a way, for those who walk too much will eventually encounter Yan Luo. If Lord Yan finds out, it will be disastrous."

Judge Cui let out a bitter laugh and said: "Sometimes, even becoming a Buddha depends on opportunities. Guanyin Bodhisattva, for instance, missed the chance to attain Buddhahood because on the day the Buddha preached and guided his disciples to enlightenment, the world was facing great calamity. The Bodhisattva declared: 'I vow not to become a Buddha until all sentient beings are saved!' As a result, she missed the opportunity. Although her divine powers are vast and she stands above all Buddhas, she cannot be called a Buddha."