Erwa continued to reminisce, "As the enemy's encirclement tightened, and the village was about to be captured, everyone knew that death would soon be upon us. But even so, the adults showed no fear. They fought with all their might, not to save themselves but to delay the enemy as much as possible, allowing the reinforcements to arrive and wipe out the enemy."

"Watching the soldiers around me fall in battle, I was terrified. I knew that I would soon meet the same fate. I covered my ears, hiding beneath my father's body, praying for a miracle. But instead of a miracle, all I heard was a deafening explosion."

Here, Liu Erwa's expression noticeably dimmed. "After the deafening blast, I felt my father's body go limp on top of me, like he was filled with lead. Then, I felt a hot, sticky liquid flowing down my back. It was my father's blood. In the midst of the explosion, my father, who was shielding me and firing at the enemy, was hit by shrapnel in the back. The shrapnel pierced his heart, and he died on the spot."

"My mother ran over from nearby and, after confirming that I was unharmed, sat amidst the gunfire, cradling my father's body in her arms. She looked deeply sorrowful, but she only shed tears, without crying out loud. She kissed my father's forehead goodbye again, then picked me up and ran towards cover."

"I saw two enemies taking advantage of the gunfire, suddenly rushing towards my mother from behind. I immediately warned her to be careful. My mother reacted swiftly, shielding me and throwing herself to the ground, then rolling to evade the enemy's bullets while forcefully pushing me behind cover. Then, she immediately counterattacked and killed the two enemies with precise marksmanship."

"However, when my mother came back to my side, she found that my chest was completely soaked in blood. It turned out that, when my mother pushed me behind cover, I was unfortunately hit by a bullet through the chest. This time, my mother couldn't bear the sadness anymore and, holding my still-warm body, burst into tears."

"More enemies began to invade the village, and our remaining soldiers immediately engaged them in close combat. Since there was no hope of leaving alive, everyone hoped to take as many enemies with them as possible. Killing one was not a loss, killing two was a gain. Everyone picked up their bayonets, preparing to fight the enemy to the death."

"Alas! Losing both her husband and child in succession, my mother lost all her fighting spirit and completely lost faith in survival. Faced with the enemy-occupied village, my mother simply stuffed the valuable intelligence into my clothes, then, she picked up my body and jumped into a nearby dry well."

As Liu Erwa reached this point, he sighed sorrowfully again, softly crying. Seeing the pitiful figure of the little ghost standing there sobbing, Haoyun and the others couldn't help but feel pity.

Master Gu sighed in the system, "Liu Erwa was only a one-and-a-half-year-old child, whose mind was not yet mature. This made him very susceptible to being possessed by stronger resentment after seeing such a horrific scene, attracting the attention of the misfortune spirit energy. So, Liu Erwa becoming an unlucky ghost cannot be entirely blamed on him."

Haoyun was relieved to hear Master Gu's conclusion. Because it meant that after dealing with the misfortune spirit energy inside Liu Erwa, their punishment for him might be greatly reduced. It seemed that although Master Gu and the others were high and mighty, sometimes they also tended to solve problems in a straightforward manner. However, they were not foolish and unjust people. As long as enough evidence was provided, they could still discern right from wrong and judge each suspect with the utmost fairness.

To prevent Liu Erwa from losing control of his emotions again and being possessed by resentment, Haoyun first comforted him in a low voice, then changed the subject, asking, "So, what happened afterward? Do you remember what happened after you died?"

Erwa sniffled, his nose surrounded by black mucus, and replied, "Um, I remember. After briefly losing consciousness after death, I opened my eyes again. Then, I found myself being slowly lifted out of a deep well by a strange figure with wings, dressed in a black robe, and with no visible face."

"That was a soul summoner from the underworld. After mortals die, they descend to the mortal realm and extract souls from the deceased bodies to transfer them to the underworld for redistribution," Master Gu explained.

Erwa nodded in a seemingly understanding manner and continued, "When I regained consciousness as a soul, I saw many soul summoners descending from the sky. They extracted the souls from the bodies around the village and slowly flew them into the sky."

"Soon, I saw my mother and father's souls being lifted into the air by the soul summoners. I shouted loudly, trying to break free from the soul summoner guiding me and fly to my parents. But I couldn't break free and could only watch as I and my parents went in different directions."

Liu Erwa struggled to control his emotions and continued, "Just when I could barely see my parents, I heard them bidding me farewell in a very loving voice. They told me not to be afraid, that everything was over. They said it was their fault, they shouldn't have disguised as refugees and engaged in such dangerous work. But they had no choice because they were also trying to save more lives. They hoped I could forgive them, as they couldn't give me a happy life."

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"Finally, they hoped I could be reincarnated into a good family, far away from war and disaster, and live a happy life. Then, they disappeared completely into the sky. And I, after a moment of darkness, was brought to the underworld by the soul summoner. That was my last moment alive and my memory after entering the underworld."

"Do you know when the misfortune spirit energy invaded your body? Or did you feel the impact of some powerful energy after becoming a soul?" Dao Lao asked again.

"No," Liu Erwa shook his head, answering with certainty.

Dao Lao and Master Gu, through observation, unanimously believed that Liu Erwa had indeed not hidden anything on this issue; he was telling the truth. So, Master Gu continued to ask, "Liu Erwa, how did you come to this world after being taken to the underworld?"

"When I was extradited to the underworld, the soul summoner responsible for me told me that because I was a young soul, I had to take the special reincarnation channel for young souls. But I kept insisting on seeing my parents, refusing to cooperate with the judgment hall's trial, and refusing to sign the reincarnation agreement. Plus, because I was emitting a lot of resentment due to my anger, to calm me down, a priest who looked very similar to the Grand Executor had me locked in solitary confinement." Erwa said, looking a bit scared as he glanced at Master Gu.

"Looks very similar to you?" Haoyun also looked at Master Gu, puzzled.

"Hahaha! That's the Director of the Department of Reincarnation Management, named Eduardo Lichgunilas Rivardilionis Parkinson God's Hand Canarlouis. He's my identical twin brother," Master Gu explained.

"Your identical twin brother? Director of the Department of Reincarnation Management? It sounds like quite an unusual position, right? How did he end up there?" Haoyun asked, somewhat surprised. Obviously, Haoyun thought that as the Grand Executor of the Spirit City, Master Gu should have the ability to help his twin brother get a better job.

"Oh, he's a bit lazy and doesn't like to do too complicated work. So, he voluntarily transferred from the Strategic Command Center of the 13th District of the Underworld and stayed in the Department of Soul Summoning Management as a grassroots cadre," Master Gu said, shrugging, indicating that even he couldn't do anything about God's Hand.

"Oh, I see." Haoyun showed an expression of understanding, while muttering to himself: No wonder Judge Yan allowed Master Gu to use an alias for activities! Based on the names of Master Gu's biological brothers, their original names were probably just as eccentric as God's Hand's.

After this little episode, Haoyun signaled for Liu Erwa to continue explaining the situation.

Erwa nodded and continued to recall, "It was a white space with no boundaries, and I didn't know how long I had been there. Gradually, I felt intense loneliness. I didn't know what would happen to me if I persisted in rejecting their reincarnation arrangements. But I really didn't want to start over like this; I wanted to be back with my parents. They promised to take me fishing and picnicking, and I knew my parents would never break their promises. They would never be those kinds of people."

"Thinking of this, my mind suddenly became confused, and I had a terrible headache. I felt really unlucky, suffering such misfortune at such a young age. I felt that heaven was very unfair to me. Why was I not only unlucky when I was alive but also unlucky after death? Instead of calming down, my mood was ignited by an inexplicable anger."

"Based on your description, that should be the feeling caused by the misfortune spirit energy amplifying your pain. Its purpose is to further strengthen your sense of misfortune and nurture negative emotions in your heart. And these negative emotions are the energy that can nourish the misfortune spirit energy," Dao Lao briefly explained why Liu Erwa would feel this way.

"Yes, that's right." Erwa nodded in agreement with Dao Lao's words, then continued, "After I got angry, I did feel a strange power beginning to surge within me. I started uncontrollably recalling my experiences before and after death, and the more I remembered, the more unlucky I felt, and the angrier I became. When this emotion reached a peak, I felt that the power surging within me seemed to awaken. And I, unknowingly, gained the ability to control that power."

"I seemed to hear a voice telling me that it could take me away from here and bring me anywhere I wanted. I didn't know why it said that, but I immediately thought of my parents; I really wanted to see them again. I really didn't want to leave them. As my thoughts became stronger, a ball of purple-black mist suddenly emerged from within me. This mist instantly enveloped me and gave me a feeling of dizziness. However, this feeling quickly passed, along with the purple-black mist. Then, I found myself in an ice cream shop, and my mom and dad were sitting happily chatting at the table opposite me."

"After that, all I wanted to do was to be with my parents every day. I just wanted to stay by their side, happily, without being disturbed by anyone, forever. I didn't realize that I had become a malicious ghost, let alone that my behavior of clinging to them would hurt them. I—" Liu Erwa said, then couldn't help but turn his head with a look of apology towards the bedroom where Xiaoyong and Xufang were.

Haoyun bent down, gently stroked Liu Erwa's hair, and comforted him, "It's already very good that you can now realize your mistakes clearly. This just shows that you didn't intend to hurt them, which is important. Because of this, we can spare you from severe punishment."

"How could I hurt them? I just treated them as my parents because they look so much like my real parents!" Erwa hurriedly responded, occasionally looking pitifully at Dao Lao and Master Gu.

Then, Liu Erwa drooped his head again and murmured softly, "This couple not only looks very similar to my parents, but they are also very kind people, just like my parents. I really want to be their child. Can I really not continue to stay by their side? Erwa has already regarded them as my biological parents!"

Watching Liu Erwa look pitifully back at the bedroom, Haoyun also felt a wave of bitterness in his heart. So he asked Dao Lao and Master Gu in the system channel, "Hey, this little ghost is quite pitiful. Can we help him?"

"Well, it depends on what Judge Yan says. We don't have the authority to make that decision. However, this Liu Erwa is indeed not inherently bad; he just fell into the trap of misfortune spirit energy and unknowingly ended up harming Xiaoyong and Xufang. So, if he continues to behave well, maybe I can find an opportunity to advise Judge Yan." With Master Gu's stance, Haoyun also felt relieved.