Chapter 13: Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13: The Thirteenth Judge

Jiang Chen's staff burned black in his hands. The con woman's scream cut through him like glass, shredding the air of the alley. But she didn't let go.

Her soul wrapped around his like smoke, invasive and cold. He could feel her thoughts bleeding into his—not words, but impressions. A courtroom. A gavel. A face he didn't recognize. The smell of bleach and stale coffee.

*You think I'm afraid of pain?* Her voice echoed inside his skull. *I've been tortured before. Better men than you have tried.*

"Stop reading my memories," he growled.

*Stop showing them to me.*

He twisted the staff. More black light. She screamed again but held on tighter. Her grip on his mind didn't loosen—it deepened, spread, found cracks he didn't know he had.

And then she found it.

Not his death. Not the execution. Something older. Something he'd buried so deep he'd almost forgotten it existed.

A room. Red curtains. A woman's voice humming a lullaby. The smell of jasmine tea.

The con woman's consciousness recoiled. *What was that?*

Jiang Chen's blood went cold. "Get out of my head. Now."

*That memory. It doesn't belong to you.*

"GET OUT."

He stopped holding back. He channeled everything—every spark of black light his staff could produce—and blasted her out of his mind. She flew backwards, her stolen body slamming into the wall of the alley. Bricks cracked. Dust fell.

She slid to the ground, coughing, laughing.

"My god," she whispered, wiping blood from her lip. "You have no idea who you are, do you?"

"I know exactly who I am. I'm a dead man with a job."

"No." She pushed herself up, unsteady, her eyes fixed on him with something that looked almost like fear. "That memory. The red room. The woman. That wasn't yours. It was implanted."

Jiang Chen's grip on his staff tightened. "Implanted by who?"

"I don't know. But whoever did it was powerful. Really powerful. The kind of power that can rewrite a soul." She took a step toward him. "You weren't just framed for murder, Jiang Chen. Your whole identity was constructed. Your memories. Your past. Your life. It's all fake."

The words hit him like a physical blow. He staggered, caught himself on the wall.

"That's impossible."

"Is it? Think about it. Can you remember your mother's face? Clear and detailed? Or is it blurry, like a photograph you've seen once?"

He tried. His mother. She was... She had... Dark hair. Warm hands. He remembered her hands, but not her face. Not her voice. Not her laugh.

Nothing.

"I remember her," he said, but his voice cracked.

"You remember the *idea* of her. There's a difference." The con woman's expression softened, almost sympathetic. "I've been possessing people for seventeen years. I know what real memories feel like. Yours are hollow. Like someone painted them on top of a blank canvas."

Jiang Chen's hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking.

*She's lying. She's a con woman. This is what she does.*

But the doubt had already taken root.

"Why would anyone do that?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"I don't know. But I can find out." She extended her hand again. "Let me help you."

"Help me? You just tried to possess me."

"Old habits." She smiled, that infuriating, charming smile. "I'm offering you a trade. You take me to Diyu. I'll tell the judges everything I know about your case. But more than that—I'll help you find the people who did this to you. I have connections. Living connections. People who owe me favors."

"What kind of favors?"

"The kind that get answers."

Jiang Chen stared at her hand. He thought about the judges. About Judge Shen, who had given him this chance. About the Book of Life and Death, which recorded every soul's destiny. If his memories were fake, would the Book show it?

"Yes," he said slowly. "Let's go to Diyu."

She smiled wider. "Excellent."

"But if you try anything—"

"You'll blast me again. I know." She rolled her eyes. "You made your point. I'm a prisoner. You're the warden. Let's get this over with."

He raised his staff and sliced the air. The veil between worlds tore open, revealing the grey, endless expanse of Diyu. The cold wind hit them both, smelling of ash and rain.

"After you," he said.

She walked through without hesitation. Brave, or stupid, or both.

---

They emerged on the plains of Diyu, where the sky was a permanent twilight and the ground was grey ash that crunched beneath their feet. In the distance, the great gates of the First Court rose like black teeth against the horizon.

The con woman looked around, her expression unreadable. "So this is the underworld. I always imagined it more... fiery."

"It gets worse the deeper you go."

"I can't wait."

They walked in silence. Jiang Chen kept his staff ready, watching her every move. But she seemed genuinely subdued, her eyes taking in everything—the wandering souls, the distant towers, the rivers of black water that wound through the plains like veins.

"You know," she said, "I've sent a lot of people here. Never thought I'd end up here myself."

"Most people don't."

"Are you always this cheerful?"

"I'm dead. I've earned the right to be grim."

She laughed, a genuine laugh this time. "I like you, Jiang Chen. I hope we can stay friends after you inevitably betray me."

"I'm not going to betray you."

"Everyone betrays everyone eventually. It's human nature."

"Then why trust me?"

"I don't trust you. I trust that you want answers more than you want to punish me." She glanced at him sideways. "And I'm right."

He didn't answer. Because she was right.

---

The First Court rose before them, its doors standing open as always. But something was different. There were more soul reapers than usual. Dozens of them, standing in formation, their black staves glowing.

"Trouble," the con woman murmured.

Jiang Chen grabbed her arm. "Stay close."

They approached the doors. A soul reaper blocked their path—a tall woman with silver hair and eyes like white fire. "Halt. The court is in session. No unauthorized entry."

"I'm a soul reaper. I have a prisoner for judgment."

The silver-haired reaper looked at the con woman, then back at Jiang Chen. "You're the new one. The dead man."

"That's me."

"Your prisoner will have to wait. The judges have convened an emergency meeting."

"About what?"

The reaper's expression flickered—uncertainty, or maybe fear. "Another judge has gone missing. The Thirteenth."

Jiang Chen frowned. "I thought there were only ten judges."

"There are ten *official* judges. But there's a thirteenth. A secret one. She governs the souls that don't fit anywhere else. The ones the system can't classify." The reaper lowered her voice. "She's been missing for three days. Her court is empty. Her souls have started escaping."

The con woman stepped forward. "Three days? That's when I was captured."

Everyone turned to look at her.

"What?" she said. "I'm just pointing out a coincidence."

"There are no coincidences in Diyu," the silver-haired reaper said. "Perhaps your prisoner knows more than she's telling."

"I'm sure she does," Jiang Chen said. "But she's my prisoner. And I'm taking her to Judge Shen."

"You can't. Like I said, the court is in session."

"I don't care. This is important."

The silver-haired reaper's hand tightened on her staff. "Don't make this difficult, dead man."

"Then let me through."

The two of them stared at each other. The other reapers watched, hands on their own staves. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut.

And then the doors of the First Court swung open.

Judge Shen stood in the doorway, his robes flowing, his face carved from stone. "Let him through."

The silver-haired reaper bowed and stepped aside.

Jiang Chen walked past her, dragging the con woman with him. As he passed Judge Shen, the old judge's eyes met his.

"You found her."

"I found her. And she has information. About me. About my death."

Judge Shen's expression didn't change. "We'll discuss it in private. After the meeting."

"No. Now."

Everyone froze. No one spoke to a judge like that. No one.

But Jiang Chen was past caring. "She knows things. About my memories. About who I really am. And she told me about the Thirteenth Judge. Three days missing. Same time she was captured. That's not a coincidence."

Judge Shen was silent for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly. "Very well. Bring her."

He turned and led them through the hallways of the First Court, past the endless shelves of records, past the weeping souls, past the scribes who never looked up from their work.

They entered a small chamber at the back of the court. A table. Two chairs. A single lamp that cast long shadows.

"Sit," Judge Shen said.

The con woman sat. Jiang Chen remained standing.

"The Thirteenth Judge," he said. "Who is she?"

Judge Shen closed the door. "She is the keeper of the forgotten. The souls that don't belong to any crime, any virtue, any destiny. The ones that fall through the cracks. She governs them."

"And she's missing."

"Yes."

"Because of her." Jiang Chen pointed at the con woman.

"Maybe." Judge Shen sat down across from her. "But there's something you should know, Jiang Chen. The Thirteenth Judge isn't just missing. She's been erased."

"Erased?"

"From the Book of Life and Death. Her name. Her history. Her records. All gone. As if she never existed."

The con woman leaned forward. "That's not possible. Not even I could do that."

"No," Judge Shen agreed. "Not even you. Which means someone else did it. Someone with access to the Book. Someone within Diyu."

Jiang Chen's mind raced. "You're saying there's a traitor among the judges."

"I'm saying there's a traitor among the *gods*."

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

The con woman smiled. "Well, this just got interesting."

Jiang Chen ignored her. "If someone can erase a judge from existence, what's stopping them from erasing me?"

"Nothing," Judge Shen said. "Which is why I'm sending you to find her."

"Find who?"

"The Thirteenth Judge. If she's still alive, she's the only one who can tell us what's really happening. And she's the only one who can protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

Judge Shen's eyes met his. "From the people who killed you. The people who fabricated your memories. The people who are now coming for you again."

The lamp flickered. The shadows stretched.

And somewhere in the depths of Diyu, a bell began to toll.

The con woman's smile faded. "What's that?"

"The death bell," Judge Shen said quietly. "It only tolls when a soul reaper has been killed."

One. Two. Three.

The bell kept tolling.

"Someone's hunting us," Jiang Chen said.

"Not hunting *us*,"