Pain!
Unbearable, intense pain!
This was Tang Qi's first sensation upon regaining consciousness; it flooded in like a tide, a kind of pain that no measure could prevent, seemingly targeting his soul directly. The sources of the pain were his skull, and the wrists of his hands, and the ankles of his feet.
As he instinctively howled in agony, a series of old, hoarse voices buzzed into his mind like flies, speaking a complex and abstruse language. Strangely enough, Tang Qi understood every word.
"O Great Judgement Demon, please heed the call of your believer, Old Morgan. For a humble believer's soul to swap with a younger body, I offer a fresh, young soul as a sacrifice, for the great Judgement Demon to relish..."
Judgement Demon? Who?
Is this a prank? Wasn't I at the bar drinking with my colleagues?
Could it be I've been kidnapped?
Wait a second?
Am I being crucified?
When Tang Qi realized this, his pain seemed to lessen briefly, and he finally ceased his howling, exerting great effort to open his eyes. His slowly expanding field of vision was initially filled with shadows, then from the mist, it gradually became clear, and then an extremely horrific, bizarre scene entered his sight.
Before him was a misty, black shadowy bubble. Judging from the extending boundary of the bubble, Tang Qi realized he was also inside it. Emitting this giant black bubble was a huge scale, seemingly made of bronze and covered with mottled colors.
On each end of the bronze plates of the scale, there were nebulous glows, both seemingly... human-shaped?
Yes, human-shaped.
Tang Qi's gaze penetrated the misty light and saw their true forms.
At one end was a young man in a coma, with delicate features, pale complexion, and a slim figure who seemed to be having a nightmare, his face marked with terror.
On the other end, there was an extremely old man, a Black man, with loose black skin, but he was conscious, hunching over and kneeling on the bronze plate, his hands in a strange pose, murmuring as if praying, pleading.
And he was praying in the direction of Tang Qi.
Yes, that was him.
Although the whole scale was in a shaking state, constantly changing direction with a "creak, creak" sound, no matter how it shifted, the old Black man always faced Tang Qi while praying.
"Could it be that I am the Judgement Demon?"
The moment Tang Qi realized something and courageously looked down, his already painful mind hammered as if struck by a giant mallet, and amidst his howls, he finally saw his true predicament.
He was indeed tied to a cross, a very peculiar cross.
In the middle of this giant scale, any part Tang Qi looked down at bore carvings of blood-red skull patterns, seeming like symbols or script, with a bizarre and horrifying presence roaming among these patterns.
When Tang Qi attempted to twist his body to see more, pain more severe than anything before surged violently, still emanating from his skull, wrists, and ankles.
In another bout of agonizing howl, Tang Qi clearly saw his own body, also wrapped in a layer of nebulous glow, hung on a skull cross with a total of five sharp nails piercing through his skull, wrists of both hands, and ankles of both feet.
Tang Qi was terrified; he had sustained such injuries and yet he wasn't dead?
"No, that's not right, I'm already dead, I am in a soul state now."
"These two, are also souls."
Tang Qi suddenly realized an incredibly dreadful fact; then his already terrified expression could only be described as distorted this moment, a distorted soul hanging on the cross and howling, witnessing all this, the old Black man seemed to think all this was normal, becoming even more fervent in his prayers.
At that moment, Tang Qi's gaze suddenly penetrated the black bubble and saw the outside scene: a spacious, luxurious study with a huge bookshelf, a desk made of some kind of mahogany, a luxurious crystal chandelier above, and various exquisite trinkets, all asserting the master's wealth and taste.
But at this moment, the place was marred by two "bodies" on the floor.
There was no blood, and no signs of disarray or struggle, but indeed, there were two bodies lying side by side on the floor.
One body was a young man, with black hair, delicate features, pale complexion, a slim body dressed in well-fitting clothes that carried a style of foreign fashion never seen before.
The other, an aged Black man with ordinary features and a somber demeanor, dressed perhaps like a butler.
Around them, burned candles of a blood-like color, and in the middle, drawn with white powder, were bizarre patterns, above their heads in the central area, stood an ancient bronze scale.
"This is...?"
Stay calm, I must remain calm, I resist moving, take a few deep breaths, Tang Qi forced himself to calm down.
One choice is to agree to the Old Black Man's request, help him swap bodies, and complete this evil ritual. At this moment, Tang Qi has a premonition that as soon as he opens his mouth, he could devour the soul of the comatose youth on the left side of the scale.
This is the process to complete the ritual. As soon as one side of the scale loses a soul, the other side naturally sinks, touching some mechanism that would allow the Old Black Man's soul to enter the youthful body below, turning from an elderly black man into a handsome young man.
Tang Qi's second option is to refuse the Old Black Man. The consequence of that choice is unknown to Tang Qi - what would happen if he refuses? It's bad enough being transformed into an ambiguous Devil, but wouldn't it be even worse if he couldn't even be a Devil?
"How should I choose?"
While suppressing his pain, Tang Qi struggles to swallow the non-existent saliva, shifting his gaze away from the "sacrifice".
He is now a starving Devil, craving for souls. Tang Qi could feel he was rapidly weakening. The five nails were not merely inflicting pain, and if this continued, Tang Qi felt he would soon utterly dissipate.
But if he agrees to help the Old Black Man, then the best outcome for Tang Qi is to continue as the so-called "Judgement Demon," attached to this scale, pressed at the bottom of the box, waiting for the next customer.
No, is it just that? Would he have to constantly endure torment, forever unable to be free?
Could he accept such an end?
"No, there must be another way, there has to be."
"I can think of something, I must think of something."
His intense will to live caused Tang Qi's mind to operate like never before, yet in his past life, he was just an ordinary office worker. Now a novice Devil, how could he possibly find a way out of this dead-end situation so quickly?
And time, was rapidly ticking away.
One second!
Two seconds!
Three seconds!
Tang Qi's flickering soul was becoming fainter, and the still praying Old Black Man raised his head in astonishment, wondering why his ritual hadn't taken effect. At this moment, Tang Qi could clearly see that the Old Black Man was unequivocally evil.
That aged face was filled with gloom and ferocity, his blur soul teeming with black tendrils—a murky wicked person.
However, what the Old Black Man was seemed no longer important. Tang Qi's head grew increasingly heavy and dim, feeling as if he was losing the strength to devour the sacrifice, maybe even dissipate in the next second.
Or perhaps, fall into a deep sleep.
In that final moment, Tang Qi suddenly had a ridiculous thought—he wanted to see if his current posture really resembled Jesus.
As this thought emerged, Tang Qi's vision shifted, and he truly saw his hazy soul in an awkward position, nailed to the cross, just like Jesus.
"Huh?"
"What is this...?"
Tang Qi suddenly froze, his eyes blank, seemingly seeing something incredible.
Fortunately, he didn't stay stunned for long, and quickly snapped back to reality.
Staring intently at the strange interface that had appeared in front of him without notice.
Name: Tang Qi.
State: Weak.
Profession: Judgement Demon
[Information Fragment One:As a Judgement Demon, your duty is to collect the sacrifice and then place the sacrificer's soul in the target body.]
[Information Fragment Two:Before you make a judgement, both souls must stay put. You can devour the sacrifice on the left, but unless the sacrificer on the right volunteers, you cannot harm him.]
[Information Fragment Three:As a Judgement Demon, once you leave the Soul Swapping Balance, your soul will dissipate within three seconds.]
[Information Fragment Four:If you choose not to make a judgement this time, the sacrifice will automatically be absorbed by the scale, and you will fall into slumber.]
"Is this my Golden Finger?"
Tang Qi, as a veteran web novel enthusiast in his past life, of course knew commonly that those who are reborn or traverse to another world usually come with some kind of Golden Finger.
Tang Qi thought he didn't have such a luxury in his devil state, but now it suddenly appeared.
"There's a chance, the only chance."
Tang Qi's gaze, carelessly ignoring the rest of the interface, focused entirely on the second and third Information Fragments.
The excitement surged through him like a warm current, forcefully consolidated Tang Qi's increasingly fading soul, and using this restored bit of strength, Tang Qi opened his mouth and released a surprisingly hoarse, low voice.
"Solemn believer, your offering... is not enough."
At this moment, Tang Qi's appearance was like a truly twisted Devil, wailing and roaring.