Chapter 15

The original suspicion seemed to be further confirmed when Li Sanjiang saw the bowl on the ground in front of him; not only was there water in the bowl, but two leaves of Agastache were floating in it.

If Li Sanjiang had wanted a drink himself, there were tables nearby where he could have placed it, rather than setting it directly on the muddy ground.

This felt more like a gesture of respect

*Please have some tea and rest; as for everything else, if you would just lend a hand, please don't bother with it.*

Li Zhuyuan approached curiously, thinking to himself: *Is Great-Grandpa pretending to be asleep?*

But the problem was, if Great-Grandpa truly didn't want to deal with this matter, why did he come to perform the seated ritual?

If it was merely for the ritual fee, why drag Liu Jinxia and Old Man Shan into it?

To trade such a miserable end for a sum of money—someone like Old Man Shan, who lived hand-to-mouth, might be willing, but Liu Jinxia came from a well-off family. Why would she agree?

The contradiction in behavioral logic caused Li Zhuyuan, for the first time, to feel a sense of doubt regarding his established impression of his great-grandfather.

"Li Sanjiang! Li Sanjiang!"

Behind him came Old Man Shan's roar. His mouth was stained with blood, and he held a handful of old teeth in his hand, his expression twisted to the extreme of ferocity.

"Holy crap!"

Li Sanjiang was startled awake, his body jerking so violently he nearly fell off his chair. He looked around in a daze, his gaze landing on Old Man Shan's face

"Hey, how did you end up looking like a damn ghost?"

"Li Sanjiang, you animal! You beast!"

Old Man Shan's chest heaved with rage. He had urinated his pants like a dog and had a row of teeth knocked out, only to turn around and find that this fellow Li Sanjiang was actually still sleeping soundly, even having sleep crust in his eyes. He nearly choked to death from pure frustration.

Li Sanjiang then looked at Liu Jinxia. Seeing her face swollen like two wrinkled meat buns, the corner of his mouth twitched, nearly unable to suppress a laugh

"Blind Liu, what happened to you?"

Liu Jinxia closed her eyes and said nothing; even speaking made her cheeks ache.

She was angry, but since they were from the same village, she had long suspected Li Sanjiang's "abilities." Though it felt unfair, she knew it was logical.

"Hey, where are those three from the Niu family? Why aren't they here?"

Li Sanjiang grew anxious. Where were the hosts?

At this moment, Old Man Shan had to force himself to calm down. He wanted to grit his teeth, but having no teeth left, he could only bite his lip and say

"Around eight o'clock, Blind Liu told me the weather had turned cold. Only then did I realize a draft was coming from my position. It was Old Lady Niu returning."

"What? It's been half a year. Can she still return in spirit?"

"She's not a ghost; she's a *Sidao* (a water corpse/dead-rebound)!"

"A *Sidao*? Are you trying to fool a fool? Someone who has been dead for six months and buried in the earth can become a *Sidao*?"

"She is a *Sidao*! The soles of her shoes seeped water, leaving wet footprints behind. I fought her for a while; she had that specific scent of a water corpse that *Sidao* carry. I'm not blind, and my nose still works. I've spent my whole life scavenging corpses; I couldn't mistake a *Sidao*!"

"And then?"

"And then..."

"Why stop? Did you not... handle her?"

"If it could make me ten years younger..."

Old Man Shan didn't finish the sentence. He hadn't "handled" Old Lady Niu, and instead, he had fallen into her trap. It was truly humiliating.

At this moment, he finally began to accept his old age.

If not for Blind Liu's warning tonight, he might have fallen straight into the trap, skipping the entire "struggle" phase entirely.

"I said, where are the Niu family members?"

Li Sanjiang asked again. This was no longer about the money. If they came to perform a ritual only to cause the entire host family to meet their end, their reputation in these ten surrounding villages would be ruined. Who would ever hire them again?

Run Sheng: "Niu Lian is digging a hole at her mother's grave."

"Then why didn't you go save her?"

Run Sheng glanced at Li Zhuyuan, who was standing there, and said, "There wasn't time. I brought Xiao Yuan here first to wake you all up."

"Let's go, to the graveyard!" Li Sanjiang slapped his stool and looked at Old Man Shan and Liu Jinxia. "You two... stay here and rest first."

His gaze carried a distinct sense of: *Why are you two so useless?*

Old Man Shan's chest began to heave violently again, his newly calmed emotions being provoked once more.

Liu Jinxia's expression remained calm, even casting a slightly contemptuous glance at Old Man Shan: *You've been partners with him for so many years, yet you've suffered so much silent loss being left behind, and you still haven't learned your lesson. You deserve it.*

Li Sanjiang led Run Sheng and Li Zhuyuan toward the graves. Just as they reached the edge of the fields, a voice was heard

"Mother, I'm hungry. Mother, I'm hungry! Mother, is the food ready?"

A figure dressed in hemp clothes ran out from ahead. It was Niu Rui. He spread his arms as if seeking a mother's embrace; despite being over fifty years old, he appeared exceptionally innocent at this moment.

"Catch him!"

Li Sanjiang directed Run Sheng. Li Sanjiang went left, Run Sheng went right, the two of them cutting off Niu Rui's path of escape before pouncing together, finally pinning Niu Rui to the ground.

"Let me go! Let me go! I want to find Mother! I want my mother!"

Niu Rui struggled, but he could not break free.

"Mother! I am Fu Hou! Mother, I am Fu Hou!"

Just as Niu Rui was restrained, the figure of Niu Fu appeared in the distance. He was spinning in circles while wailing, his voice piercing and emotional, far more invested than his mourning during the day.

Pinning Niu Rui down, Li Sanjiang said to Run Sheng, "Go, catch Niu Fu!"

"Grandpa, can you handle it?" Run Sheng looked at Niu Rui, who was still struggling violently beneath them.

"It's fine, I've still got strength." Although he was injured, Li Sanjiang was confident in his ability to pin down an old man. Having spent a lifetime handling corpses, he knew human joints intimately and knew exactly how to lock someone down.

"Alright!"

Run Sheng left Niu Rui and rushed toward Niu Fu, pouncing and pinning him to the ground.

"Xiao Yuan Hou, see if you can find some rope, or even straw!"

"Yes, Great-Grandpa."

"Waaaah! Mother! My dear mother! Waaaah! Oh, my dear mother! *Siyowei*..."

A woman's figure appeared on the opposite field ridge. She was disheveled, her body covered in blood and filth. Her hands, in particular, looked as if the flesh was nearly detached from the bone, hanging like shreds of cloth from her skeleton.

Some sort of substance, resembling water weeds, was wrapped around her body, trailing long behind her on the ground.

She moved in a slow, stumbling manner, heading toward the ditch ahead.

It was Niu Lian!

She hadn't been buried alive after all; she had crawled out. But looking at her state, it seemed she had been buried once, failed to die, and had dug herself out.

Seeing this, Li Sanjiang shouted to Li Zhuyuan, "Xiao Yuan Hou, hurry and find rope or straw!"

But while the scene was that, the words falling into Li Zhuyuan's ears were: "Xiao Yuan Hou, hurry and catch her so she doesn't fall into the ditch!"

Li Zhuyuan blinked. He looked at his Great-Grandpa and Run Sheng, who were in two different positions pinning down members of the Niu family, and then looked at Niu Lian in the distance.

He did not follow his "Great-Grandpa's" words to catch Niu Lian. Instead, he ran toward the shed where the rope was, and where Old Man Shan and Liu Jinxia were. Although they were injured, they could still help tie someone up.

The reason he didn't catch Niu Lian was simple. It wasn't because he was young and weak; in fact, Niu Lian looked so frail that a child could likely hold her back by the trailing weeds.

But the three of them, who had been moving together, were suddenly being separated. Li Zhuyuan felt an instinctive sense of unease, as if it were all being calculated—the three Niu family members were appearing one after another, waiting to be caught.

However, after running a short distance, Li Zhuyuan stopped. He suddenly realized that even if he hadn't gone to catch Niu Lian, hadn't he also run away?

A gust of cold wind blew past. Li Zhuyuan turned around. Behind him, there was only the pitch-black field. Where were Great-Grandpa and Run Sheng?

At that moment, the sound of a wooden fish echoed in his ears, interspersed with chaotic chanting, much like the funeral troupes that performed as monks during daytime wakes.

All around him, figures in Taoist robes appeared, circling him while holding various ritual implements.

The sensation was as if his ears and eyes were being filled with debris, making him feel agitated while gradually losing his perception of the outside world.

Li Zhuyuan raised his right hand and bit down hard on his forearm. Even though he hadn't held back, and even though teeth marks and bloody welts appeared on his arm, the sensation of pain was negligible.

There was no other way. Li Zhuyuan opened his palm. He hadn't expected that the technique he had just taught Run Sheng would be used on himself so soon.

But before he could slap himself, a man's voice came from behind.

"Sigh, you fell for her trick after all."

Li Zhuyuan turned around and saw Uncle Qin standing there. His appearance immediately provided a massive sense of security.

Uncle Qin placed a hand on Li Zhuyuan's shoulder: "She is a *Sidao* transformed from a cat and a human—a corpse demon. They are experts at deceiving the human heart."

"Uncle, please, go save my Great-Grandpa and the others."

"Mm, don't worry, it's already over."

Uncle Qin raised his right hand. In his grasp was a black cat.

This black cat had half a tail missing, one eye blinded, and one leg crippled. Although large patches of its body were rotting, it was still struggling and moving.

Was this the animal corpse that had turned into a *Sidao* along with Old Lady Niu?

"Uncle, have you already subdued it?"

"Not completely." A smile appeared at the corner of Uncle Qin's mouth. "This thing is like your Great-Grandpa; it was already heavily injured. Now that the cat and the human have been separated, I have only caught the cat. Once I find the human and bring them together to destroy them, this corpse demon will be dealt with."

"Then my Great-Grandpa and the others..."

"A few possessed Niu family members won't threaten your Great-Grandpa. Go find Old Lady Niu first. Once she is dealt with, this matter will be over. Let's go; she's in the old house on the west side of the village."

With his right hand gripping the struggling cat, Uncle Qin took Li Zhuyuan's hand and led him toward the west.

"Uncle, didn't you say you don't get involved in other people's business?"

"It's past midnight. Your Great-Grandpa's ritual has ended, so my intervention now has nothing to do with him. I am merely passing by and happened to see a corpse demon harming people, so I'm handling it as I go."

"Oh, I see. Uncle, you're really amazing."

"Heh, this is nothing. You haven't seen the truly powerful ones. This corpse demon is just a minor character. Before the Liberation, the great *Sidao* in the underworld were the truly formidable ones; those were the ones that were truly terrifying."

"If a corpse demon isn't considered powerful, then Uncle, tell me, what other powerful *Sidao* are there?"

"There are many. High-ranking individuals from ancient times who held great power and were executed by being thrown into rivers become 'General *Sidao*.' They often possess the ability to mobilize the vengeful spirits within the rivers and can control *Chang* ghosts.

Then there are areas with specific water burial customs. What should have been small river basins became disconnected from their original paths due to the changing course of rivers over time, flowing into other areas. They use coffins to carry corpses, accumulating resentment to form roles similar to a Corpse King.

Whenever such things emerge, they are accompanied by natural disasters.

The hardest to deal with are certain practitioners of the occult who have taken a dark path. They use themselves as vessels, sealing and nourishing themselves to seek a different way of ascending to immortality. These *Sidao* possess the magical powers they had in life. While they might not be the strongest or most domineering, they are the hardest to handle because they understand the methods living people use to combat them."

Li Zhuyuan looked up curiously and asked, "Uncle, if these *Sidao* are so powerful, yet we don't see them now, who was it that wiped them out?"

Uncle Qin answered, "They were all destroyed by the righteous path."

Li Zhuyuan silently pulled his hand out of Uncle Qin's palm and stopped walking.

Uncle Qin noticed and stopped, turning back to look at the boy.

But Li Zhuyuan didn't look at Uncle Qin; his gaze was fixed on the crippled, rotting black cat held in Uncle Qin's hand.

The black cat's eyes glowed a ghostly green, occasionally flashing with blood-red light, filled with resentment.

"Xiao Yuan, why did you stop?" Uncle Qin asked.

Li Zhuyuan noticed that as Uncle Qin spoke, the broken lips of the black cat also twitched.

"Xiao Yuan, what's wrong?" Uncle Qin leaned down to look at Li Zhuyuan, while placing his right arm behind the boy as if to embrace and comfort him.

Li Zhuyuan immediately sensed a pair of furry claws touching his neck. He instantly dodged to the side, creating distance between himself and Uncle Qin.

"Xiao Yuan, what is wrong with you!" Uncle Qin's tone became stern. In the eyes of the black cat, the blood-red color suppressed the green.

"Xiao Yuan, be good, come with me. We will resolve this together so your Great-Grandpa and the others can be completely out of danger!"

This time, Uncle Qin's lips only moved slightly, while the black cat's mouth opened and closed incessantly.

This scene reminded Li Zhuyuan of a peculiar performance he had seen at a school anniversary in Beijing. A performer stood on stage holding a puppet; when the performer spoke, the puppet's mouth opened and closed continuously, making it look as if the puppet were the one speaking and communicating.

However, what was happening before his eyes seemed to be the reverse of that stage performance.

Gradually, Uncle Qin grew quiet, and the cat grew quiet as well. It was as if they had realized the child had seen through them.

A bizarre smile began to appear on Uncle Qin's face, and the cat's mouth split open, with blood continuously dripping from its corners.

Suddenly, everything in Li Zhuyuan's vision turned blood-red. Whether he looked at the people before him or in any other direction, everything was coated in a layer of bloodstains.

Li Zhuyuan stood his ground, his fists clenched tight. He was very afraid, but he did not run around in terror, nor did he scream.

In the *Chronicles of the Jianghu's Strange Tales*, the most frequent description regarding *Sidao* and other corpse demons with the ability to bewitch the human heart was that corpse scavengers must remain calm and not be led by the nose.

The more panicked you are, the more opportunity they have.

Furthermore, one must not close their eyes at a time like this. Closing one's eyes is an act of cowardice and surrender, equivalent to handing over all initiative.

Cold sweat continuously beaded on Li Zhuyuan's forehead. He swallowed hard from time to time, his breathing becoming rapid, feeling as if he were standing over a furnace being roasted.

However, the images from the dream he had after performing the luck-changing ritual with his Great-Grandpa that night suddenly surfaced in his mind. In the dream, he was standing on his bed at home, surrounded by a sea of corpses.

In everything, the danger lies in comparison. When you are certain that all of this is fake, when you can use the genuine horror of your dreams to bolster your resolve, the scene before your eyes becomes much less terrifying.

The black cat's smile gradually receded, while Uncle Qin's body staggered back two steps. His entire body began to rot at an extremely high speed; within a few blinks, he was nothing more than a puddle of filthy water.

In an instant, all the illusions around him vanished. The night breeze brought fresh air. Li Zhuyuan's body relaxed, and he began to gasp for breath.

The black cat regained its freedom. It hopped and limped toward Li Zhuyuan, looking up at him.

Li Zhuyuan also looked down, staring at it.

The person and the cat fell into a moment of silent staring.

It was Li Zhuyuan who first broke the silence

"What... do you actually want to do?"

Li Sanjiang's behavioral logic had already confused Li Zhuyuan, and this corpse demon's series of actions was even more incomprehensible.

Was it seeking revenge?

The black cat seemed to sigh; it looked very exhausted. It opened its mouth, seemingly wanting to speak, but was unable to, likely because Uncle Qin was gone.

It waved a paw at Li Zhuyuan, then dragged its broken body along the path toward the west.

Li Zhuyuan stood still, not following.

After walking a distance, the black cat stopped, turned back, and looked at Li Zhuyuan, a mocking glint in its feline eyes.

But Li Zhuyuan remained unmoved. He had a strong desire for knowledge, but he did not possess curiosity in uncertain moments, nor did he have an excess of impulsive kindness.

"Meow!"

The black cat let out a screech, a sound like a child's crying. It felt angry, but this anger was directed at Li Zhuyuan—it was a powerless, frustrated anger without any killing intent.

"You want me to go with you?"

The black cat nodded.

"But I have no reason to go with you."

The black cat raised its paw and pushed toward the front.

At first, Li Zhuyuan didn't understand. After a few more pushes, he understood.

It was referring to the last time at the birthday banquet on the first floor, when Old Lady Niu had pushed him away at the final critical moment to save him.

At that time, Old Lady Niu had turned her back to the zombie and said

"Little one, Grandma will send you away first."

Although Old Lady Niu did not die in the end and was still alive, Li Zhuyuan did not believe that the image, the action, and the kindness that the strange old lady had released at the end were an act.

Because he could tell if something was an act, because he himself often...

Damn it!

Li Zhuyuan crouched down, lowered his head, and clutched his head with both hands.

He truly hated these thoughts that would pop up unexpectedly, because such thoughts would constantly negate his current identity while step by step detaching him from his social relationships.

And once this situation was allowed to develop, he would feel repulsion toward all irrational but "correct" behaviors around him. Kinship, friendship, and all the warmth in society would be nothing more than a waste of time. He would become cold, like the massive, flashing processors in a school computer lab.

Ultimately... he would become like his mother.

He would loathe himself, just as his mother loathed herself.

He suddenly understood a little why his mother had taken him to see psychologists time and time again when he was a child; it was because she saw that her son had inherited the same sickness as her.

The black cat seemed to be moved. The green light in its eyes swirled. Previously, its bewitchment had been resisted by this boy, but seeing his reaction now, did a better opportunity present itself?

But in the end, it did not do so. It wasn't because of its kindness, but because it felt a sense of dread—as if using bewitchment on the boy now would trigger unimaginable and terrible consequences.

Li Zhuyuan kept muttering his social relationships to himself, constantly telling and even hypnotizing himself as to who he was and what his familial ties were.

Only this time, the name Qin Li was occasionally interspersed.

Li Zhuyuan rubbed his face forcefully, as if trying to shove his identity and sense of belonging back in. He stood up, took a deep breath, and when he looked at the black cat again, the cat saw the warmth and kindness belonging to a youth in his eyes.

The black cat's eyes widened. At this moment, it actually couldn't tell who the corpse demon was.

"You need my help? Then lead the way. Take me to the old lady."

The black cat nodded and continued walking forward. This time, the boy followed.

As they passed a small ditch, without any warning, the black cat suddenly vanished.

Li Zhuyuan was familiar with this ditch; he had washed his hands here during the day. To get Uncle Qin to stay, he had even planned to have a picnic on the stone slab in front.

Three concrete slabs were placed over the ditch for people to cross. Li Zhuyuan walked onto the slabs and looked around, but still could not find the black cat.

But if it wanted to take him somewhere, it shouldn't have disappeared halfway.

Li Zhuyuan looked down at the gap between the concrete slabs. The gap was large, about half a palm wide.

Below was the flowing water.

Suddenly, the water surged, and an old woman's face slowly emerged, staring at Li Zhuyuan through the gap in the concrete.

She was hiding here.

Even though he was mentally prepared, this manner of appearance still made Li Zhuyuan's back go cold. However, he forced himself to endure the discomfort and squeezed out a small smile toward the face below.

*Splash...*

The water continued to flow, and the old woman's face drifted along with the current. Once she moved past the concrete slabs, a louder splashing sound was heard.

She stood up in the ditch. The ditch was deep and she was short; she shouldn't have been walking underwater, but rather floating while maintaining a standing posture.

Only the part above her shoulders remained above the water.

She did not look like she had during the birthday banquet; back then, although she was skin and bones, she still looked human.

But now, her clothes were nothing more than shreds of cloth, and her body was heavily decayed, with many wormholes and rodent bite marks visible.

It seemed as if if the current in the ditch were any stronger, it would completely shatter her.

This was her true form; because she had no coffin to protect her during burial, she had become like this.

She drifted in the water, and Li Zhuyuan followed along the path by the ditch.

With a body, she could speak.

If one only heard the verbal description, this scene should have been very kind and warm—an old grandmother chatting with her little grandson on a summer night.

But when paired with the actual visual, it was enough to make one's scalp tingle with horror.

"When she was very young, she was trafficked into the Niu family to be a child bride. She didn't even have her own surname.

Her husband died early, and she raised her children alone. During those hardest times, not a single one of her children starved or died in infancy.

When her children grew up and started families, she looked after their children, and then continued to look after their grandchildren.

Back then, she could still do housework, watch children, cook, and do farm work. She was very satisfied; she felt she was still useful, useful to her children.

That was the kind of person she was. She had no surname as a child, and after living a whole life, she never had a single moment of selfhood. She was like a wheel on a cart, just turning and turning.

On a good road, she turned a bit more smoothly and quickly; on a bumpy road, she stumbled along... but she made it through.

She never complained. She felt that this was just how a person's life should be.

Later, she grew old. She couldn't watch the children, couldn't do farm work, and couldn't even light the stove. Her children and grandchildren all felt she was useless, a burden.

Unfortunately, she was able to survive. Even though she never asked her children for help, even though she drank cold water and ate spoiled food, she remained like a gecko in a wall crack, stubbornly living.

She liked basking in the sun, sitting in the courtyard for half the day at a time.

That day, she saw me—an old, ugly, and crippled cat.

Even though her own life was difficult, she still adopted me. Whatever she ate, I ate.

She would hold me while basking in the sun, talking to me, telling me about her youth, about her children's father—the man whose face she had already forgotten.

She would tell stories about the funny things her three children did when they were small. She'd say the eldest son promised to let her enjoy her old age, that she wouldn't have to do anything and would just sit on the bed while food was brought to her;

She'd say the second son would get her new clothes every season so she wouldn't have to wear patched-up old clothes anymore;

She'd say the youngest daughter would buy her gold jewelry like the other women in the village, so she could wear it every day.

Every time she spoke of these things, she was very happy. But as a cat, I knew that the children and grandchildren she raised hadn't come to visit her for a very long time.

Later, she fell ill.

But this broken wooden wheel of hers, no matter how many cracks appeared, would not fall apart.

People from the village came. Seeing her in that state, they called her three children and demanded they provide support for the elderly.

The three children already resented her for living so long and not dying yet, thinking she was sucking away the luck of her descendants. How could they ever support her?

Yes, they blamed all the failures of their own children on her, as if all their misfortunes and incompetence were her fault.

But the village kept a close eye on them, and they were unwilling to put on an act.

So, they tacitly agreed to lock her in the old house.

Look,

It's that one ahead."

Following the ditch, Li Zhuyuan had already walked a long distance. Ahead was a three-room single-story house. The two side rooms had already collapsed, leaving only the middle one barely standing.

The door was long since dilapidated, and the Door Gods pasted on it had long since turned black.

Old Lady Niu walked out of the ditch. She was soaking wet. Standing before the door, she did not rush to enter, but instead looked around with nostalgia.

"They would come in every day to deliver food, putting on an act for the villagers, but they always brought empty bowls. No matter how she begged, she could never get a single grain of rice or a sip of water.

Her two sons each had their reasons, saying their own children wouldn't agree, saying that if it weren't for her, they would have had much better futures.

Facing her, who was starving and on the verge of death, the two sons acted as if they had suffered a great injustice, while she was the sinful villain.

But she was too resilient. She drank dew, ate moss, ate the insects that crawled into the house, and ate everything she could find in the house—whether it was edible or not, as long as she could swallow it, she stuffed it into her mouth.

She truly could live, hanging onto that breath like a tenacious weed.

I thought she was pitiful, but even more pitiful was that even then, she still remembered to share half of the insects she had worked so hard to catch with me. She was still thinking of feeding me, no matter how difficult things were for her.

Just like how she had worked so hard to raise those three children back then.

Hehehe... hehehehe..."

Old Lady Niu laughed. On the gaps of her face carved by snakes, insects, rats, and ants, fine fuzz began to grow.

At this moment, the face of this cat-faced old woman did not seem so terrifying.

Because it covered up the true ugliness.

Li Zhuyuan suddenly asked, "You ate her flesh?"

The cat-faced old woman nodded. "I did."

*Creeeeeak...*

The door opened automatically, making a piercing grinding sound.

Along with the opening of the door, the sounds that seemed to have been sealed inside emerged.

The three Niu siblings were kneeling by the bed, wearing white headbands, black sashes, and hemp clothes, wailing in mourning.

Everything seemed exactly as it had during the ritual earlier.

Li Zhuyuan was somewhat confused. Since the three Niu siblings were here, what was it that Great-Grandpa and Run Sheng were pinning down?

However, recalling the abilities of a corpse demon, Li Zhuyuan realized that perhaps what he thought was being awake... was actually never fully waking up. It was as if, after waking from a dream, he had not returned to reality but had entered a new dream.

The most obvious sign was... since Uncle Qin had disappeared, he had not seen him again.

The Uncle Qin from before was a manifestation created by the corpse demon from his own heart.

It had even read the *Chronicles of the Jianghu's Strange Tales* from his mind and even recited it to him.

Old Lady Niu pointed at Niu Fu and said, "He was often sick when he was little. It was her, carrying him on her back through wind and rain to beg doctors to see him. When there was no money for medicine, she would kowtow to the doctors and wash clothes or chop wood for their families.

"Then, Old Lady Niu pointed at Niu Rui: "When he was young, he got into a brawl and killed someone. It was her who went to plead with the man's parents, helping them with their old age and funeral arrangements to get a letter of forgiveness. In the end, she truly served those parents well until they passed.

"Finally, Old Lady Niu pointed at Niu Lian: "When the family split, she cried and said she was also their child and couldn't be biased. She said even if her brothers wouldn't support her in her old age, they should take her to their homes. She then divided the family's meager belongings into three equal parts.

"As she spoke, Old Lady Niu turned to look at Li Zhuyuan and smiled: "Do you know what this Niu Lian did? Because she was too good at surviving, Niu Lian felt that playing this act every day was too much trouble.

"That night, when it was Niu Lian's turn to 'deliver food,' Niu Lian dragged her off the bed and threw her into the ditch ahead. Then the next day, she would say her mother had fallen into the ditch and passed away.

"Actually, she was already nearly starving to death then; she couldn't even speak.

"But in the end, she was still thrown into the water... and drowned.

"She drifted in the water, drifting and drifting, just as you did before, following her along the bank.

"Finally, I jumped onto her. I began to eat her flesh. She actually didn't have much flesh left; it was all bone and hard to gnaw.

"But I just wanted to bite her, I wanted to eat her. I was so angry. Why was she so stupid? How could there be such a stupid person in this world?"

"And then, you all died together?"

"Yes. I didn't expect it to turn out like this. We died, but we... lived again, becoming this thing that is neither human nor ghost, neither man nor demon.

"I think it's because she was so stupid that even the Heavens couldn't bear to watch."

Li Zhuyuan finally asked the question he wanted to ask: "What do you actually want to do?"

The cat-faced old woman's expression turned fierce: "I want revenge! I want revenge for her! How can these three ungrateful wolves have the face to continue living so well!"

"But you clearly have the ability to take revenge. Why haven't you acted?"

Hearing this question, the cat-faced old woman looked at Li Zhuyuan with confusion: "The words you said to me at the birthday banquet... I thought you said them just to please me so you could live. Is that actually your true thought?

"But shouldn't one have such thoughts?

"Your kind would never allow an evil external force to harm a living person, no matter how... sinful that living person might be.

"That is your Way. To violate it is to suffer backlash.

"Did your Great-Grandpa not teach you?"

*Great-Grandpa taught me?*

Li Zhuyuan thought about it. But Great-Grandpa had clearly led him to lure the little oriole to the bearded man's house that night.

And after it was over, Great-Grandpa had stood with one hand on his hip and a cigarette in the other, happily saying they could enjoy a feast in a few days.

Could it be that Great-Grandpa's Way was different from others?

"No, I'm talking about your matter now. You've caused so much trouble, why haven't you taken your revenge?"

The cat-faced old woman's face began to distort. Her body made continuous "crackling" sounds, and dead earthworms and dead rats kept sliding out of her body, piling up on the ground.

Then, she almost roared in a tone filled with grievance and indignation

"I want revenge! I want revenge in my dreams! But do you know what makes me angriest?

"She and I are one. We are one.

"Although I am the one in control and she is actually gone, her instincts remain within me.

"I can feel that as long as I kill one of these three, her instincts will awaken and restrain me, and I will never have the chance to deal with the other two!"

"So, you want to kill all three of them?"

"Nonsense! I don't want to let any of them go. I don't want to choose one out of three. I want them all to receive the retribution they deserve!"

Li Zhuyuan: "Then don't kill them. Don't kill a single one."

"What?"

Hearing this, the old woman's hands gripped Li Zhuyuan's shoulders, and she almost bit into his neck, snarling

"Little one, do you have any idea what you are saying?"

"Because there is no need to kill them for her to be unable to restrain you."

"What do you mean?"

Li Zhuyuan looked at the cat-faced old woman inches away and smiled

"Maim one, make one sick, and drive one mad.

"Then watch as the 'good children' they raised through their own example take care of them with all their heart.

"That is the best...

...retribution for them."