Yama never imagined he would see this girl again.
He remembered her clearly.
She was one of the most unforgettable cases he had ever judged in Hell.
Her appearance in the Hell Hall had shaken everyone.
She had been the 100th soul to stand before Yama for judgment.
Usually, the people brought to Hell were adults. Most were over eighteen, sinners who had lived long lives filled with greed, cruelty, and crime.
But for the first time in Hell's history, a nine-year-old girl had appeared before the throne of the Lord of Hell.
Yama had been stunned.
He immediately opened the Judgment Book and searched through her life.
Page after page.
He looked carefully through every record of her existence.
Yet he could not find a single sin that justified sending her to Hell.
Instead, what he found filled him with pity.
Her life had been filled with suffering.
She was bullied by everyone around her. Despite being only a child, she was forced to do endless chores for the clan just to earn a few coins. Even the servants would push their own duties onto her, spending their time idling around while she worked tirelessly.
She endured everything.
All for one reason.
To earn enough money to cure her sick mother.
But fate had been cruel.
Before she could even gather enough money for the treatment, she had died and was brought to Hell.
Yama could not understand it.
Why had the Heavens punished her?
Why had she been sent to Hell for judgment?
Someone like her should have gone straight to Heaven without even needing to stand before the Judgment Throne.
Yama was not someone who feared the Heavens.
After confirming that she had committed no sins, he made his decision.
He sent her directly to Heaven.
That moment was recorded in the history of the Hell Hall.
She became the first person ever personally sent to Heaven by Yama himself.
The decision caused a massive uproar.
The Heaven Hall was furious and even threatened war with Hell.
But Yama was not someone who could be intimidated.
He was a righteous judge.
He would never go against his own judgment.
He demanded that Heaven Hall provide evidence explaining why she should be sent to the Netherworld.
"What are you trying to do?" Yama had said coldly."Are you trying to control the population of Heaven?"
The Netherworld was a place reserved for the worst sinners.
Murderers.
Tyrants.
Monsters who had committed unforgivable crimes.
But it was not a lawful place.
There were no rules there.
Just imagine what would happen when the most evil humans gathered in one place without any restraints.
Sending a nine-year-old girl there would have been nothing short of torture.
"You want me to send an innocent child to the Netherworld?" Yama had said.
"I can already imagine what those scum would do to her."
The Hell Hall existed to judge souls.
And Yama, the Lord of Hell, had the final authority.
He alone decided whether a soul returned to the mortal world, ascended to Heaven, or was banished to the Netherworld.
Not even the Heavens could overturn his judgment.
In the end, Heaven Hall had no choice.
With no argument strong enough to oppose Yama's decision, they accepted the girl and brought her to Heaven.
And yet…
Here she was.
Standing in front of him once again.
Yama's mind raced.
It seems I transmigrated into this world before she died and was brought to Hell.
And it looks like she was close to Ye Ji.
He remembered the details of her life from the Judgment Book.
She had suffered greatly.
But now, looking at the memories slowly surfacing in his mind, Yama realized something else.
The boy whose body he now occupied had suffered even more.
Despite being the Third Young Master of the Ye Clan, his life had been worse than that of a servant.
I'll have to search through his memories later.
I'm certain he was poisoned. When I took over this body, there were no visible wounds.
Yama pushed those thoughts aside and looked at the girl.
"Yu Yan… what are you doing here?"
Although he already knew her name from the Judgment Book, seeing her here still shocked him.
Yu Yan smiled softly.
"Ye Ji gege, look. I brought you food."
She quickly took out several rice balls from her pocket and placed them on the broken table in front of him.
"Hurry and eat before someone comes."
Her kindness surprised him.
Yama slowly picked up one of the rice balls.
"Thank you, Yu Yan."
But as he spoke, something caught his attention.
Since the moment she entered the shed, Yu Yan had been hiding her left hand behind her back.
"Yu Yan… why are you hiding your left hand?"
She quickly shook her head.
"Ah… it's nothing, Ji gege."
Yama frowned.
Without hesitation, he grabbed her arm and pulled it forward.
"AHHH!"
Yu Yan screamed in pain.
Yama froze.
Her hand was covered in bruises.
Dark marks and dried blood ran across her small arm.
Some of the wounds were still fresh.
A cold fury began to rise within Yama.
"Yu Yan… what happened to your hand?"
His voice was dangerously calm.
"Ji gege, nothing happened. I just fell."
She spoke quickly, clearly worried that he might become angry.
"What do you mean you fell?" Yama said sharply."Someone clearly did this to you."
His eyes narrowed.
"Was it the Second Young Master?"
Yu Yan immediately shook her head.
"No, no! I really just fell."
She desperately denied it.
She knew exactly what Yama was thinking.
She was afraid he might try to fight someone.
Yama understood her intentions immediately.
He knew she was protecting him.
But he chose not to press the matter further.
Instead, he picked up a torn piece of cloth lying nearby.
"Come here," he said gently."Let me bandage it for you."
Yu Yan hesitated for a moment before slowly walking toward him.
The moment Yama touched her injured hand—
Everything stopped.
The world froze.
The wind.
The dust.
Yu Yan herself.
Time had come to a complete halt.
Only Yama could move.
Then suddenly—
A blinding white light appeared in front of him.
Moments later, something materialized in the air.
A massive book.
It floated silently before him.
Yama recognized it instantly.
He had seen it his entire existence.
The book was enormous, nearly half the size of the shed.
Its presence carried an overwhelming sense of authority.
Across its cover were three enormous words.
THE JUDGMENT BOOK.