The Legend of Zhong Kui: Chapter Five - Betraying Father's Memory for Power

The next case Zhong Kui encountered was perhaps the most morally repugnant yet. In a prosperous merchant town, they discovered a young man named Chen Shimei who had committed the ultimate betrayal—denying his own father's memory for political gain.

Chen Shimei sitting in his empty office, haunted by his betrayal

The bat guide explained the situation: "This man's father died fighting bandits to protect the town. But when a corrupt magistrate offered Chen Shimei an official position in exchange for saying his father was a criminal, he accepted without hesitation."

Fu Qu's face darkened with rage. "He sold his father's honor for a title? This is worse than any demon—this is a human who chose to become a monster."

Han Yuan added bitterly, "And look at the irony. He sought an official position to gain wealth and status, but the very act of betrayal has cost him everything valuable—his family's reputation, his ancestral home, even his inheritance has been seized by that same magistrate who now blackmails him."

The corrupt magistrate, Judge Wei, was himself possessed by a Greed Ghost—one of the most insidious demons who didn't just take wealth but corrupted others into destroying themselves for material gain.

Judge Wei possessed by the Greed Ghost, dark tendrils corrupting his soul

"This is how the clever demons work," Zhong Kui observed. "They don't just commit evil themselves—they create situations where humans damn themselves through their own choices. Chen Shimei wasn't forced to betray his father. He chose to."

They watched from the spiritual plane as Chen Shimei sat in his new but empty office, the title "Assistant Magistrate" on his door meaning nothing. No one would work with him. Merchants refused his business. Even beggars spat when he passed.

"My lord," the bat guide reported, "the Greed Ghost is planning something bigger. Tonight, he'll demand Chen Shimei arrest his own mother as a conspirator. If he agrees, the demon's power over this town becomes complete—proving that anyone can be bought."

That evening, they witnessed a heartbreaking scene. Chen Shimei's elderly mother, dressed in mourning white, came to his office.

Chen Shimei's mother in mourning white, pleading for her son's redemption

"My son," she wept, "your father's spirit came to me in a dream. He forgives you but warns that you stand at a crossroads. Tonight, they will ask you to betray me as you betrayed him. If you do this, your soul is lost forever."

Chen Shimei couldn't meet her eyes. "Mother, I... I've come too far to turn back now."

"It's never too late!" she pleaded. "Your father died with honor. You can still choose to live with it."

At that moment, Judge Wei entered with guards. The Greed Ghost's influence was visible to Zhong Kui—dark tendrils wrapped around the judge's heart like parasitic vines.

"Chen Shimei," Judge Wei announced with a cruel smile, "we have evidence your mother has been spreading seditious lies about your father being a hero. Arrest her, and I'll make you full magistrate."

Chen Shimei stood frozen. His mother looked at him with infinite sadness but also hope. The entire room seemed to hold its breath.

This was when Zhong Kui chose to partially materialize—visible only to Chen Shimei. "Look at me," the demon-queller commanded. "I am the judge of those who betray their ancestors. Your father watches. Your decision now determines whether you die as a man or a monster."

Zhong Kui's supernatural intervention, showing Chen Shimei the truth

Chen Shimei saw the supernatural judge and trembled. But more importantly, he saw something else in Zhong Kui's presence—a vision of his father, standing proud in death as he had in life.

"No," Chen Shimei said quietly, then louder, "NO! I will not arrest my mother. I renounce my position. I confess my earlier lie—my father was a hero, and I am the criminal for denying it."

Judge Wei's face contorted with rage, and the Greed Ghost partially emerged from his body, shrieking. "You fool! I offered you everything!"

"You offered me nothing but shame disguised as gold," Chen Shimei replied, finding courage he never knew he had.

Zhong Kui fully materialized, along with his companions. Fu Qu's arrow struck the Greed Ghost as it tried to fully possess Judge Wei. Han Yuan recited an exorcism that forced the demon to separate from its host.

The Greed Ghost revealed as a grotesque mirror of human avarice

The Greed Ghost stood revealed—not as a traditional monster, but as a grotesque mirror of human avarice: its body made of fool's gold that crumbled at the touch, its eyes bottomless pits that could never be filled, its hands grasping at everything but holding nothing.

"You cannot kill me!" it shrieked. "As long as humans desire more than they have, I am immortal!"

"Perhaps," Zhong Kui said, raising his sword. "But we can kill your influence here and now."

With one strike, he shattered the demon. As it dissolved, all its ill-gotten gains evaporated—the gold in Judge Wei's treasury turned to dust, the false documents burned spontaneously, and every bribe ever taken became a debt owed.

Judge Wei, freed from possession but not from guilt, confessed his crimes and surrendered to imperial justice. Chen Shimei, though he had finally chosen correctly, still had to face the consequences of his earlier betrayal.

"Your choice tonight saved your soul," Zhong Kui told him, "but it doesn't erase your previous sin. You must spend the rest of your life rebuilding the honor you destroyed."

Chen Shimei accepted this judgment. He gave away all his remaining possessions, became a monk, and dedicated his life to maintaining his father's grave and teaching others about the importance of filial piety.

Chen Shimei's redemption as a monk, maintaining his father's grave

His mother forgave him but died soon after from the grief she had endured. At her funeral, Chen Shimei's tears were genuine—he had learned too late that no position or wealth was worth betraying those who loved you.

As they left the town, Han Yuan reflected: "This case troubles me more than the others. The demons we can fight, but human weakness... how do we combat that?"

"By showing that redemption is possible," Zhong Kui replied, "but also that it comes with a price. Every choice has consequences that cannot be fully undone."

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Continue the epic journey in Chapter Four: The Filthy and the Fastidious - An Unlikely Alliance and discover the beginning of the legend in Chapter One: The Ugly Scholar's Curse.