1 The Balance Scale of Soul Exchange (1/2)

Pain!

Unbearable intense pain!

That was what Tang Qi first felt after he woke up. Like the tide, it was the kind of pain that could not be avoided by any means and felt as though it acted directly upon his soul. The sources of his pain were his head, his wrists, and his ankles, respectively.

While he was instinctively wailing due to the pain, old and hoarse voices, like buzzing flies, kept digging into his mind. It was a complex and obscure language, but strangely, Tang Qi understood all of it.

”The great demon of adjudication, please listen to the call of your believer, Old Morgan. —Help the soul of your lowly believer change into a young body. For this, I offer a delicious and young soul as a sacrifice. May the great demon of adjudication enjoy to his heart's content…”

Demon of adjudication? Who?

Is this a prank? Wasn't I drinking at the pub with my colleagues?

Could it be I was kidnapped?

Something like that?

Am I being hung on the cross by someone?

When Tang Qi became aware of this, his pain seemed to be relieved slightly. He finally stopped wailing and opened his eyes with great effort. His gradually expanding range of sight was first filled with shadows, and then haziness. Gradually, it became clearer. At this point, an extremely terrifying and strange scene entered his eyes.

There was a hazy, black shadow bubble in front of him. Judging from the boundary where the bubble extended, Tang Qi himself was also inside this bubble. This huge black bubble was produced by a gigantic weird-looking balance scale that was covered with mottled colors and seemingly made of bronze.

There was a cluster of hazy lights on the bronze plates at both ends of the scale. They seemed to be… humanoid?

That's right. They were humanoid figures.

Tang Qi's gaze penetrated the hazy lights and saw their true form.

At one end was a teenager in a comatose state. His features looked pretty and delicate. However, his face was pale, his body thin. He seemed as though he was having a nightmare and had a frightened expression on his face

At the other end, there was an extremely old man with wrinkled black skin. He was awake and kneeling on the bronze plate with his bent body. His hands were in a strange pose while he chanted phrases. He looked like he was praying and pleading.

And the direction he was praying was where Tang Qi was.

That's right. It was him.

Although the entire scale was swaying and changing direction among the clanking noises, the old black man continued to face Tang Qi as he prayed.

”Could it be that I am that demon of adjudication?”

When Tang Qi realized this and summoned his courage to look down, he felt an intense pain in his head, as if he was severely struck by a sledgehammer. Countless overlapping images materialized, and in the midst of his wailing, he finally saw his real situation clearly.

He was indeed tied to a cross, a very special cross.

On the center portion of this huge scale, there were imprints of bright red skulls no matter where Tang Qi looked. They seemed to be either symbols or text and had a strange and terrifying aura floating around them.

When Tang Qi wanted to twist his body to see more, a pain more intense than before surged forth. The pain continued to originate from his head, wrists, and ankles.

After another painful wail, Tang Qi saw his body clearly. He was also wrapped in a layer of hazy light as he hung on a skeletal cross. There were a total of five sharp nails piercing into his head, wrists, and ankles, respectively.

Tang Qi was terrified. How could he still be alive after suffering such injuries?

”No, that's wrong. I'm already dead. I'm just a soul now.”

”The two over there are souls too.”

Tang Qi suddenly realized this terrible fact, and his face was distorted by the terrified look he had. He looked like a twisted soul, wailing as he hung on the cross. That old black man who appeared as if everything he was witnessing was normal began to pray more excitedly.

At the same time, Tang Qi's eyes suddenly penetrated the black bubble and saw the outside world: a spacious and luxurious study room, a huge bookcase, a kind of mahogany desk, and a luxurious crystal chandelier on the ceiling. These beautiful and exquisite items all demonstrated the wealth and taste of the owner.

But at this moment, this scene was destroyed by the two ”corpses” on the ground.

There was no blood nor any signs of struggle or fighting. However, there were indeed two bodies lying side by side on the ground.

One of the corpses was a youth with dark hair and beautiful facial features. His complexion was pale, and his body thin. His clothes were well-fitted and elegant, with an air of exoticness which he had never seen before.

The other corpse was an old black man with ordinary facial features. He had an air of somberness around him. From his clothing, he seemed to be a housekeeper of some sort.

The two were surrounded by burning blood-colored candles, each with a strange pattern drawn with white powder in the center. Placed on top of their heads were old-looking bronze balance scales.

”This is…”

Calm down, I definitely have to calm down and try my best to keep still. After taking a few deep breaths, Tang Qi managed to force himself to calm down.

After a long time, his mouth trembled, ”So, I had a drink, woke up, and transmigrated into a demon. My soul even ended up on this damned cross, obviously being dragged into an evil ritual. This old man who looked like an old housekeeper seemed to be the initiator of this ritual. He prayed to me and asked me to place him into a younger body. He even found himself a target?”

Tang Qi combined the old man's prayer language and the scene before him, and slowly inferred his exact situation.

However, he was still unable to move or get rid of those five nails. Any movement would result in limitless pain for him.

Tang Qi had two options now.