Chapter 4: The Loop of Grief

Her eyes filled with resentment: "Mom, I’ve listened to you since I was a child, been a good person, donated every month, volunteered at the shelter whenever I could, so why did I end up like this!"

The viewers all felt it was unfair: [Good people get the short end! The wicked live forever!]

But in the livestream, I said to Marissa: "Marissa, it’s because you killed someone."

As soon as I finished, everyone in the room looked toward the livestream sound coming from Marissa’s phone. Especially her mother-in-law, who exploded: "What! My son was killed by Marissa?!"

The viewers were instantly led:

[Ah! She killed her own husband?]

[Oh my god! Has she been acting all along?!]

Only Marissa’s mother shouted angrily at me: "Who are you! Spreading rumors! My daughter and Ryan Decker grew up together, how could she kill him!"

I impatiently curled my lips: "Tsk, did I say she killed Ryan Decker? Your daughter was a person of great fortune, she could have lived to a hundred. But she killed someone. And it was a good person. What you do in the real world, the afterlife keeps accounts. Every deed, good or bad, is always recorded."

Marissa, watching my livestream, suddenly widened her eyes and rushed to the camera: "You’re lying! That person killed Ryan, I made him pay! Shouldn’t he die?!"

I got a bit angry and retorted: "Do you know the truth? The person you killed was innocent!"

Before I finished, Greg suddenly stood up, trying to move the two elders away. But Marissa’s mother stubbornly held onto her in-law, insisting on hearing the rest: "Go on! I want to hear, who did my daughter kill!"

I sighed, then used my mental power to search the afterlife. Soon, a green light flashed before my eyes, and a fifteen or sixteen-year-old ghost boy, who looked like he’d been through hell, appeared on the streets of the afterlife, scavenging for food.

When the ghost boy saw me, his eyes filled with surprise: "It’s Autumn! Strange, why are you looking for me! I have no family or friends in the real world, who could send me anything?" Still, his eyes were full of hope: "What are you delivering?"

I’m a delivery person in the afterlife, and sometimes I have so many things to deliver that I use countless avatars. Almost all ghosts here know me. But when they see me, their first reaction is always happiness, like a starving person finally seeing a food delivery. Ghosts in the afterlife without jobs depend entirely on their living family sending things for food and clothing. Some haven’t eaten for a year or more.

Looking at the hope in the ghost boy’s eyes, I turned the camera to show Marissa behind me. The ghost boy’s eyes narrowed, and his whole body trembled: "It’s her... she killed me!"

The ghost boy looked down and pitiful. He was homeless in life, and after death, with no tombstone or family to remember him, he became a lonely wandering ghost. As a wild ghost, he relied on robbing for food and clothing, and if he lost, he got beaten. Now, seeing the one who killed him, Marissa, the hatred almost spilled from his eyes.

I looked at Marissa: "You killed him, made him suffer for so many years below, you should pay what you owe."

Then I looked at Greg in the other camera:

"Back then, there was no mugger who killed Ryan, right?"

Greg’s face stiffened. Both elders stared at him. Then, as if relieved, he said: "You’re right, I am the one with the most guilt... Back then..."

He paused, gathering courage:

"Back then, Ryan drank a lot at the wedding, but insisted on taking Marissa’s mother home. I saw he couldn’t walk straight, so I offered to do it. Who knew he’d suddenly punch me in front of everyone, angrily warning me that it was his wife and mother-in-law, and I shouldn’t interfere! The three of us grew up together. I liked Marissa first, and gave more than he did! But him! All he did was make Marissa worry, what else did he do! He just wanted to show off! Drank so much! I told him not to drive! Not to drive!! I’d take her! But he refused!"

Greg was so agitated his veins popped: "When I came back after taking her, I found he’d driven into a pond! Rural ponds are usually fish ponds, not deep, just over a meter. But just enough to submerge his car! When I found him, he was barely alive. I called for help and dragged him out, but when he crashed, a rusty metal shard stabbed into him. Every time I pulled, the water turned red. In the end, underwater, he grabbed my hand and hooked my finger. That was our childhood promise—to be best friends for life. But Ryan still died. When he was pulled out, there was a big bloodstain on his abdomen, and folks started rumors that he was stabbed. Then someone at the wedding, for drama, embellished it, saying the groom was killed by a mugger on the way home. The rumors grew. Everyone who loved him wanted someone to blame. Especially his mother, who saw Marissa’s family as enemies."

At this point, Ryan’s mother was sobbing uncontrollably. Marissa’s soul stood among them, her face dark. Only Greg kept talking: "That’s right, there was no mugger who killed Ryan. I made it up to help Marissa survive. She did nothing wrong, why should she die from baseless guilt! I even thought, after learning she was pregnant, that as long as she recovered, I could take care of her and the child for life!"

The comments were full of mixed feelings:

[The three of them grew up together, now only he is left.]

[Everyone lives in hatred, but only he is trying to patch things up.]

[He’s really been trying to repair the relationship between Ryan and Marissa’s families, sigh, it’s so sad.]

[Don’t be so easily moved! He did all this just for Marissa, obviously.]

Greg looked at the ghost boy behind me in the camera, almost begging: "Don’t hate Marissa, hate me instead."

But the ghost boy’s eyes were still full of hatred for Marissa. Greg’s eyes reddened and he trembled:

"To help her live, I told her Ryan was killed by a homeless kid, and only by bringing him to justice could Ryan reincarnate and start over. I only said that to delay her suicidal thoughts. Who knew! That very night, she came to my house with a rope, her eyes shining with a joy I’d never seen since Ryan died. But then I was stunned, because on her shoulder was the body of a homeless boy strangled by a rope... She looked at me innocently, her dark pupils full of madness, and said, Greg, look, I avenged Ryan, now he can reincarnate, right? If he reincarnates, will he become my baby? Only then did I know she was pregnant. For her and her child, I steeled myself and buried the homeless boy’s body in my yard. Only I knew she killed someone. Maybe she saw her unborn child as the reincarnated Ryan, and she did get better and gave birth."

Greg looked up at the ghost boy: "So please don’t blame her, okay? She killed you, but I gave her the knife, I’m the one who should die."

The comments were full of sarcasm:

[Oh, you’re so noble! But the homeless boy was innocent!]

[The homeless boy only lost his life, but you lost your great love! Are you a saint?!]

[Am I the only one who thinks he meant well, just did a bad thing?]

[You’re the only one! Shut up!]

Just then, through the livestream, everyone saw another shadow in the room! It was Ryan! He’s back!

I watched as the couple appeared together. But above their heads, a countdown timer to leaving this world appeared. Maybe, it’s time to let this family meet one last time.

On the livestream, I took out a bottle of ox tears: "Ox tears blessed with mental power! Drip this in your eyes and you can see your deceased loved ones, only eighty bucks each, anyone need it?"

A viewer asked:

[Host, I don’t understand, why can everyone in the livestream see the dead Marissa and Ryan, but their families can’t?]

I told them: "Oh, after my business got big, I applied for a special livestream permit from the afterlife. Now I can connect with both the living and the dead!"

The comments exploded:

[So you knew she was a ghost all along?!]

[Why didn’t you say so earlier!]

[Wait, did she say her livestream can connect to spirits in the future?!]

[Following! Notify me next time you go live!]

Greg immediately ordered several bottles of ox tears. After paying, he realized: "We’re in different cities, by the time you deliver, it’ll be too late!"

But as soon as he spoke, my avatar was already behind him: "Freshly blessed ox tears, sold out today."

Whoosh. My avatar returned. Greg quickly distributed the ox tears, and the two elders eagerly applied them.

Marissa saw her mother and finally reunited with her husband and child! The baby, seeing Marissa’s face, suddenly stopped crying and laughed, reaching out to her. Ryan looked at Marissa and suddenly burst into tears: "Honey, I’ve waited for you for six years..."

At that moment, not only her family, but the livestream comments were all moved:

[So the reason the baby in dad’s arms stopped crying and laughed was because he saw his mom!]

[So dad called the baby ‘honey’ because the daughter looks like his wife, so he was reminded of her?]

[The baby is so pitiful. Thinking of their brief reunion before eternal separation, my heart aches!]

[Marissa was foolish. If she hadn’t gone mad and killed, she wouldn’t have died as retribution, right?]

[Sigh, good and evil are separated by a single thought. Autumn, do bad people get judged after death?]

I nodded:

"Don’t worry, bad people are judged by the law when alive, and if the law can’t judge them, there’s always the judge and Devil after death~ Anyway, none of them can escape."

After being separated for six years, the family of three was reunited, and all were silent. Until Ryan finally spoke, saying to Greg:

"When I hooked your finger before I died, it wasn’t to burden you with taking care of my family. I just... wanted to apologize. For years, my soul was trapped in this house, and I kept wondering why I couldn’t leave. Later I realized I owed you, Marissa, my parents, and everyone who loved me an apology. I clearly apologized when I died, but why do I still feel so sad..."

He looked at Marissa. She was lovingly gazing at the child in her arms. Marissa didn’t know why her child found his father after she died, but at least, they could be together now.

Seeing their departed children return as a reunited family, the two old ladies who had fought before now hugged each other and wept. Marissa hurried to comfort her mother: "Mom, I’ll come see you if I get the chance."