Chapter 447: Guozhong's Negotiation

Liu Guozhong clasped his fists and said, "Old branch secretary, it's not that Mengyong bears a grudge. It's just that this evil spirit is truly excessive; if we don't find a way to settle this today, I fear more villagers will fall victim to his hands tomorrow."

Old branch secretary thought it over and felt Liu Guozhong's words were also quite reasonable. So he instructed Liu Guozhong: "Since Mengyong has a plan in mind, let's do as Mengyong says! But this matter must be done secretly; if word reaches the superiors, neither of us will escape a session of thought reform."

Liu Guozhong clasped his fists, solemnly said, "Please rest assured, branch secretary, Mengyong understands."

The next morning, Liu Guozhong and several able fellows from the village took half a day off from the production team. They picked up their tools and headed straight for Ku Jing.

By the way, Liu Guozhong had barely managed to save his life that night, yet now he returns to Ku Jing—what is he up to? And what secret plan did he and the old branch secretary discuss?

After a moment, Liu Guozhong's purpose became clear on paper.

Only seeing him insert three incense sticks before Ku Jing, kneel and kowtow a few times, then he told his brothers to ready their tools and begin pumping water out of Ku Jing.

About half an hour later, the water in Ku Jing was pumped dry; Liu Guozhong personally descended with a fishing net and hauled up a large pile of bones in Ku Jing.

All told, these bones numbered several dozen. However, since they were all placed in the same Ku Jing, it was impossible to tell whose was whose.

Yet Liu Guozhong actually dared to consider using the bones of the Thousand Corpse Ghost. Could it be that he is unwilling to accept defeat and has come to seek revenge on the Thousand Corpse Ghost?

However, the reason is not so.

After hauling up a large pile of bones, Liu Guozhong knelt down heavily, lit three sticks of pure incense, and then, kneeling thus, spoke aloud to the pile of bones:

"I, Liu Guozhong, courtesy name Mengyong, a rude martial man of the jianghu, today I have hauled up the young lady's bones; this is my alone, Liu Mengyong's idea. If the young lady wishes to blame anyone, remember to seek me, Mengyong alone, and not my brothers beside me."

After the opening remarks, Liu Guozhong paused, then clasped his fists again with a more reverent tone and went straight to the point: "Mengyong came here today not to offend the young lady intentionally. I, Liu Mengyong, have read little, but I also know that dust returns to dust, earth to earth; grudges and hatred should be sought from the debtor. If the young lady wishes to take revenge, she should go after those who plotted her death that day. Why linger in the human world, taking the lives of innocent villagers?"

The young lady Liu Guozhong spoke of was naturally the concubine killed by the principal wife that day. After his questioning ended, the surroundings fell silent at once; only the few sturdy men guarding behind Liu Guozhong, because of excessive tension, had their rising and falling breaths spreading through Zhu Lin.

Meanwhile, the Ku Jing before Liu Guozhong was a pile of motionless bones, without a sound.

Liu Guozhong knelt and urged again: "The young lady has lingered in the mortal world for many years, having harmed enough people; I suppose that resentment in her heart should have been resolved. If the young lady still harbors resentment, I, Liu Mengyong, here represent those who harmed you back then, and will kowtow one hundred times to make amends. Mengyong is not a Daoist, I do not know how to draw talismans to exorcise ghosts; I only hope the young lady will cease here and stop harming the innocent villagers."

Having said that, Liu Guozhong paid no heed to anything else, planted his hands on the ground, and began knocking his forehead repeatedly against the pile of bones, thudding with each kowtow.

After kowtowing a full one hundred times, until his forehead was rubbed raw and bleeding, Liu Guozhong then brushed off the dust from his body and rose to his feet.

Yet the pile of bones remained unmoving, showing not the slightest reaction—not even a hint of a cold breeze, let alone a gust of yin wind.

At that moment, a fellow beside Liu Guozhong poked him and whispered, "Mengyong, maybe we should just go back. Think about it—we and she live in different worlds; how could she possibly listen to us? Besides, she does evil, and we can't do anything about her."

"Shut up—I, Liu Mengyong, will draw a line today; if we can talk, we talk; if not, I'll fight." Liu Guozhong glared at the man beside him and snarled, "I, Liu Mengyong, will even risk my life today to find her and get a clear answer."

Upon saying that, Liu Guozhong picked up the shoulder pole beside him, gave the ground a hard shake, glared at the bones, and declared: "Today I, Liu Mengyong, will, according to jianghu rules, draw a line for the young lady. If she agrees to stop harming people and be reborn properly, Mengyong will certainly observe the rites and send gold foil and paper money. If she refuses to comply, then I, Liu Mengyong, will set up a shed beside this Ku Jing and dwell there; each time the young lady appears, I will strike her once with my family's Liu stick technique, and unless I, Liu Mengyong, die, I will never stand by and watch you harm people."

Just then, the pile of bones beside Ku Jing suddenly went crack, scattering on the ground, and a skull with a darkened forehead fell out from the bones. Its two empty, dark eyes, like those of a living person, stared fixedly at Liu Guozhong.

Although Liu Guozhong was startled, he guessed this must be the master of Ku Jing, the evil spirit that has been wreaking havoc in Zhu Lin—the Thousand Corpse Ghost.

Liu Guozhong thought this because he had a feeling. As for familiarity with the Thousand Corpse Ghost in Ku Jing, aside from the homeless souls killed there, only the escaped Aunt Wang and Liu Guozhong himself knew it.

When that skull rolled out from the bones, Liu Guozhong was startled, and immediately a feeling welled up in his heart identical to that night in Ku Jing.

It's her!

Thinking this, Liu Guozhong took a deep breath, stepped forward with the shoulder pole, and loudly addressed the darkened skull: "Young lady, give me a word—will you agree or not?"

After asking, Liu Guozhong stood holding the shoulder pole before the skull, gazing at it in silence. After a moment, he finally realized the problem.

It seemed… the skull before him was merely a bone, incapable of speech.

The foolish Liu Guozhong instantly came to his senses, glanced around the empty surroundings, and said to the skull: "Young lady, would this work? If you agree, let a black feather fly over my head; if you do not agree, let a gust of yin wind blow through Zhu Lin. Whatever you mean, at least show some sign."

In the dialect of a certain southern region, "black feather" means crow. Since ancient times, the most spiritually attuned beasts have been cats, dogs, and oxen; the most spiritually attuned birds have been owls and crows.

But after Liu Guozhong finished speaking, the skull simply remained still there. The stalemate lasted over ten minutes; the surroundings stayed as silent as before, with no yin wind and no crow flying over his head.

After half an hour, Liu Guozhong also gave up, recognizing this laughable yet frustrating fact.

He sighed wearily, turned around, and waved at the sturdy men around him: "Forget it, I see this is going nowhere. Everyone, pool your strength and bury these bones. After all, the dead must return to earth for peace; leaving them exposed to sun and rain would weigh on our consciences."

The sturdy men all stepped forward, picked up their shovels, and were about to dig a pit.

Just then, a sudden harsh croak rang out from behind. Everyone startled, lifted their heads, and looked toward the sound.

Only see, not far away on a bamboo stalk stood a jet‑black crow; the crow seemed spiritually attuned as it glanced at Liu Guozhong, then let out another harsh croak, spread its sooty wings, gave a little shake, and shot straight toward the distant sky like an arrow.

As the crow swept over Liu Guozhong's head, a tiny speck suddenly dripped from the sky. At first Liu Guozhong paid it no mind, but after the crow flew off he felt something was off.

His face felt sticky. Liu Guozhong wiped his forehead and came away with a bit of black, gloopy substance like mud.

He brought his hand close and sniffed, but because he had just recovered from a serious illness his nose was still a bit stuffed, so for a moment he could not tell what the substance was.

At that moment, the foolish Liu Guozhong did something nobody expected—seemingly spontaneous, as if possessed—he brought his finger stained with the black substance to his lips and lightly licked it.

Liu Guozhong slapped his thigh and finally realized. The substance on his face… was a lump of crow droppings.

………… After a moment, Liu Guozhong noticed something even more amiss.

The companions standing nearby twitched their faces, all covering their mouths. They wanted to laugh but found it painfully hard to hold back.

In an instant… the tear‑weeping Liu Guozhong's face sank as black as a pot lid. No, rather, his face sank as black as crow droppings.