Chapter 16: Curse

Zhang Lingshan's heart sank.

Following the path cleared by the crowd, he walked to the entrance of Li Fu's house and peered inside.

He saw three corpses hanging high from the three beams in the room.

Each corpse had bulging, purple eyes staring fixedly toward Zhang Lingshan's house.

It was an indescribable feeling.

Even though the three pairs of eyes were looking in the same direction and from such a distance—where, logically, no one should be able to see their eyes clearly—everyone had a strange, inexplicable sensation that they were looking directly at Zhang Lingshan's home.

It was a force of hatred capable of affecting human perception.

He had no idea why they held such immense resentment toward his family.

*Swish!*

Suddenly.

As if sensing something, the three corpses turned their heads in unison, staring straight at Zhang Lingshan.

The crowd suddenly realized the truth.

They weren't looking at his house; they were staring at Zhang Lingshan himself!

"Xiao Shan, what on earth happened? Everything was fine before. I suggest you hurry and burn some paper and say some kind words to the Li family to ask for their forgiveness."

"Yeah, yeah, didn't you promise to help them before? Didn't you help bring Xiao Dong back? Since you brought him back, that should be a good thing. How could they hate you so much?"

"I think there must be a misunderstanding. Quickly burn some paper and kowtow to clear things up. Let the family of three pass on in peace without lingering attachments."

As the people chattered one after another, Zhang Lingshan's heart grew increasingly heavy.

Suddenly, someone shouted from the side, "Move aside! This property has already been sold to our Sanjiang Gambling House. What are you all crowding around for?"

"Sanjiang Gambling House?"

The crowd immediately parted to let the people from the gambling house enter.

The man walking in was an acquaintance Zhang Lingshan had seen yesterday—a man named Feng Zai.

Feng Zai glanced at Zhang Lingshan and recognized him, but he ignored him. Instead, he looked toward Li Fu's house, his brow furrowing deeply as he cursed, "Dammit, I knew that old man's eyes looked off yesterday. Turns out they've pulled this stunt on us—the whole family of three committing suicide together just to leave us with a haunted house. Hmph!"

He let out a cold sneer and beckoned to his companions. "There are dead bodies here; call the yamen to handle it. Once it's cleaned up, we'll come back to take possession of the house and the land. Let's go!"

As he spoke, he cast another glance at Zhang Lingshan, his eyes flickering with a strange meaning.

It was as if he were looking at a dead man.

Zhang Lingshan felt a chill run through him. He quickly caught up to Feng Zai, pulled a piece of broken silver from his right hand, and stuffed it into Feng Zai's bosom, whispering, "Brother Feng, please accept this small token of my gratitude."

"Don't! I won't take money from a dead man."

Feng Zai quickly stepped aside, intending to leave immediately, but perhaps feeling pity for Zhang Lingshan, he offered a kind warning: "You've been cursed with their lives. May luck be with you. Perhaps you should go to a temple outside and seek some talismans; if you're lucky, it might help you get through this ordeal."

"A curse?"

Zhang Lingshan's expression turned extremely grim.

The ones bullying them were clearly the Sanjiang Gambling House, and the ones extorting them for the property deeds were also the Sanjiang Gambling House.

The one who took twenty taels of silver from them was Shi Lei.

But the unlucky one was Zhang Lingshan.

*Dammit!*

If he had known, he should have ignored Li Fu's pleas and simply driven him away with a stick.

Zhang Lingshan felt utterly depressed.

But things had already come to this; regret and gloom were meaningless now.

Moreover, even if he had truly driven Li Fu away with a stick, Li Fu would surely have blamed him for not helping, and would have ended up bringing his wife and child to the underworld to curse him anyway.

In short, this was just bad luck.

The priority now was to find a way to break this curse.

***

Returning home.

Zhang Liyu and Zhang's mother surrounded him nervously. They had clearly heard the neighbors outside advising Zhang Lingshan to burn paper and kowtow.

"Xiao Shan, what exactly happened?"

"Sigh, yesterday..."

Zhang Lingshan did not hide anything and told them the truth about what had happened.

Zhang's mother slumped to the floor. "We didn't even do anything, yet we've been dragged into this mess. They don't dare curse the Sanjiang Gambling House, and they can't find that senior brother of yours, Shi Lei, so they vent all their resentment on us. Heavens, is there no justice left?"

Zhang Liyu said resentfully, "A family of cowards. They can't offend others, so they bully us, treating us like soft persimmons to be squeezed. Don't be afraid of them. As long as we lock the doors at night, no matter how powerful they are, they can't get in."

"Yes, yes, lock the doors. Xiao Shan, come home early during this period; whatever you do, don't come back late. If the weather is overcast one day, let's just stay indoors all day."

Zhang's mother nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Lingshan said, "Mhm, I understand. I'm going to the martial arts hall first today, so don't worry. Those three from the Li family are targeting me; it has nothing to do with you."

"Brother, don't overexert yourself while practicing. If your spirit is weak, you'll be more susceptible to influence," Zhang Liyu reminded him.

Zhang Lingshan forced a smile, acting casual. "It's fine, I know what I'm doing."

With that, he turned to leave, but his expression became solemn.

Though he didn't want to think about it, the image of the Li family staring at him kept echoing in his mind.

In that instant, his entire back had gone wet, and his head felt as if it had exploded. He had lost all sensation, sinking into a pool of blood, being violently pulled down by the three members of the Li family.

Fortunately, that feeling vanished quickly; otherwise, he would have been dragged into oblivion right then and there.

Because he had experienced such an indescribable scene, Zhang Lingshan believed Feng Zai's words completely: he truly was cursed.

The fact that Feng Zai could tell at a glance meant the man had seen something like this before.

And Feng Zai's suggestion to seek talismans at a temple provided a lead.

Since he and his father had built the Hongye Temple on Hongye Mountain, he was familiar with the area. He might as well go to Hongye Temple to request a talisman.

But before that, he had to inform Shi Lei.

That unreliable fellow—if you don't have the ability, don't make grand promises. He talked a big game as if the Sanjiang Gambling House were his own family business, but in the end, he accomplished nothing and only caused trouble for others.

*Dammit.*

He was a total dead weight!

He had to make him share some of the burden of this misfortune.

***

Zhang Lingshan hurried to the Hong Clan Martial Arts Hall. He arrived at the middle courtyard and saw Tie Feng and the other registered disciples practicing standing postures, but he didn't see Shi Lei.

"Where is Senior Brother Shi Lei? Hasn't he come yet today?" Zhang Lingshan asked Tie Feng.

Tie Feng shook his head. "I haven't seen him. Doesn't he always follow you around?"

"Senior Brother Shi Lei should be in the backyard. He's a formal disciple; he usually practices in the backyard," an older registered disciple said.

Zhang Lingshan hurriedly cupped his hands in thanks. Without regard for the hall's etiquette, he rushed straight through the main hall and into the backyard.

Sure enough.

He saw Shi Lei standing among a group of formal disciples wearing the Hong Clan uniforms. He was holding a stone ball in his hands, rotating it back and forth with a completely expressionless face. He lacked all of his former rogue-like charisma, looking as if he had become a different person entirely.

"Hey, what are you doing? Who gave you permission to enter?"

A formal disciple shouted sternly upon seeing Zhang Lingshan appear.

Zhang Lingshan hurriedly replied, "I'm looking for Senior Brother Shi Lei! Something terrible has happened!"