Chapter 115: Tai Sha

Ji Taimi's grandmother had died, but not completely.

Or to put it another way, the process of this person going from "life" to "death" had been forcibly interrupted.

"The reason those elderly people in Nursing Village who are old but won't die are still alive despite their bodies being as withered as skeletons might be precisely because of this reason." Ning Zhe's pupils dilated slightly, watching silently as the grandmother who had come back to life chattered before him, a thought popping into his mind: "But in Ji Taimi's memories, there were examples of elderly people in the village being hit and killed by cars or falling to their deaths."

If I were to pull out a knife and slit Grandmother's throat now, would she die?

If a knife couldn't kill her, what about "Special Permission"?

Ning Zhe felt this hypothesis was worth testing, but he shouldn't use Ji Taimi's grandmother for the experiment. His sister was still nearby, and the reason Ji Taimi had returned to Nursing Village was because his mother had requested in a letter that he come home to take care of his sister.

All sorts of clues indicated that Yin Lishang was a very important character, and she had an inextricable connection to the mystery of immortality in Nursing Village.

Think, Ning Zhe, think. If I were Ji Taimi, a normal internet-addicted teenager who had never encountered eerie events, and I returned to my hometown because of a letter from my mother, only to witness the Earth God crawling out of the temple in the eerie form of a human bone snake on the way into the village...

What would an internet-addicted teenager who knew nothing yesterday encounter if he ran blindly into a village shrouded in eerie events?

"—He would die." Ning Zhe immediately reached a conclusion.

"Ah Mian, you've seen the Earth God..." Before Ning Zhe, the grandmother who had just "resurrected" looked concerned, her wrinkled hands tightly gripping his palms, saying earnestly:

"The True Lord of the Profound and Subtle Manifestation is a night-wandering Yin God. People of our Yang world, logically speaking, shouldn't be able to see the Earth God with their own eyes. You saw Him last night... perhaps you accidentally took the wrong path when the Yin energy was strong and bumped into the Earth God."

"You bumped into a Yin God... Ah Mian, hurry, listen to Grandmother, go offer two sticks of incense to the Earth God, kowtow a few more times with sincerity, and apologize to the True Lord..."

Ning Zhe sighed: "Grandmother, why do you chatter about these gods and ghosts every day? This is a civilized society now, feudal superstition isn't in vogue. If you love to kowtow, go do it yourself, I'm not going."

Having said that, he took Yin Lishang's hand and turned back: "Let's go, Brother will take you home."

"Okay." Yin Lishang followed him obediently.

He wouldn't offer incense to the Earth God no matter what, not just because it was a taboo day for sacrifices and worshiping the Earth God was asking for bad luck, but also because Ji Taimi himself was a new-generation teenager who had received a complete compulsory education and had never been fond of feudal superstition.

"Oh my, you child..."

Seeing her good grandson walking away holding her granddaughter's hand, the grandmother stomped her feet in anger, but she didn't dare to act out in front of the True Lord's temple, so she had to kneel back before the temple, inserting more sticks of incense into the burner, kowtowing like a pestle, muttering: "True Lord is magnanimous, Great Emperor is broad-minded, the junior doesn't understand the rules, and offended you unintentionally..."

Yin Lishang walked happily on the road home with Ning Zhe. Her body was not good, and she was panting after walking a short distance. She wiped the sweat from her temples with her sleeve, still trying hard to keep up with her brother's pace.

"Your health wasn't this bad before." Ning Zhe slowed his pace and said: "How did you get weaker as you grew up?"

"I'm sorry..." Yin Lishang lowered her head: "I don't know why either. The illnesses on my body never get better, and I often get new ones, causing Grandmother and Grandfather a lot of trouble."

"I can see that." Ning Zhe exhaled lightly. Just by looking at Yin Lishang's face, he could distinguish at least 3 types of skin diseases. Listening to the sound and frequency of her breathing, she likely had some asthma, and osteoporosis was inevitable. If he dissected her, he could directly bind a pathology encyclopedia.

People who couldn't die, illnesses that couldn't be cured—the mysteries in Nursing Village were increasing.

Was there really only one ghost here? Not necessarily. The phone in his pocket buzzed. Ning Zhe held Yin Lishang with one hand, took out his phone, and looked at the message on the screen. It was from Feng Yushu:

【I found that ginkgo tree, there is only one kneeling old person in front of the Earth Temple, Ning Zhe, where are you?】

The text itself didn't reveal any tone, but between the lines, Ning Zhe could still read Feng Yushu's unease and anxiety. He typed with one hand and replied with a short message:

【I have left that place, go kill that old person, use Master Yeyao, use Special Permission, either is fine, kill her as soon as possible, and then tell me the result】

Feng Yushu replied in seconds:

【Understood, I'm going now】

【What after killing the old person? Where should I find you?】

Ning Zhe replied with a short 【Wait for me there】, turned off the screen, and put it back in his pocket.

"Brother, who are you chatting with?" Yin Lishang was a bit curious: "Is it Mom? I haven't called Mom for a long time, I miss her so much."

Ji Taimi was just a 16-year-old student who hadn't finished middle school. Yin Lishang was even younger, not even 14 this year. Coupled with her frail health, to put it mildly, she was precocious and sensitive; to put it bluntly, she was sentimental. Whether physically or emotionally, she was very sensitive. She looked obedient, but in reality, she was very hard to coax.

"No, I'm messaging a friend." Ning Zhe turned his head and looked silently at Yin Lishang's rotted face covered in acne.

Not knowing if it was shyness or inferiority, noticing his steady gaze, Yin Lishang shrank her shoulders, lowered her head, and said in a small voice: "It's very ugly..."

=9+Shu_Ba

"It will look good once the illness is cured." Ning Zhe said casually: "Our little sister was very cute when she was young, and she will definitely be a charming and lovely girl when she grows up. It's just covered by scars now."

"Mm, mm-hmm." Yin Lishang nodded repeatedly. Girls always love beauty, but soon she slumped her shoulders again in dejection: "But what if the illness never gets better?"

The other illnesses on her body had never gotten better. Although she was very happy that her brother praised her for being cute when she was young, Yin Lishang knew very well in her heart that these ugly scars would likely be with her for a lifetime.

"If it doesn't get better, then so be it." Ning Zhe shrugged.

At the same time, the phone in his pocket vibrated several times in succession. Unlocking the screen to look, it was a new message from Feng Yushu:

【That old person is dead, I killed her with Master Yeyao】

【Ning Zhe, I... you must come and see, after this old person died, there was no corpse left on the spot!】

【After I killed her with Master Yeyao, her corpse actually disappeared into thin air, like rock sugar thrown into boiling water, it just melted and disappeared, without leaving a trace...】

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 116 =====