Chapter 115: Culling and Slaying

Ji Taiwei’s grandmother died, but not completely.

Or put another way, this person’s transition from ‘life’ to ‘death’ was forcibly halted.

“The elderly in Yanglao Village who are old but not dead—why do their bodies wither into skeletons yet still live? Perhaps it’s because of this.” Ning Zhe’s pupils slightly dilated as he silently watched his grandmother, who had just come back to life, babbling before him; a thought arose in his mind: “But in Ji Taiwei’s memories, the village elders had died from car accidents or from falling and breaking their necks.”

If I now drew my knife and slit my grandmother’s throat, would she die?

If a knife can’t kill her, what about Lei Te?

Ning Zhe felt this hypothesis was worth testing, but he shouldn’t use Ji Taiwei’s grandmother as the subject—his sister was right beside him, and Ji Taiwei had returned to Yanglao Village only because his mother had written asking him to come home and care for his sister.

All the clues pointed to Yin Lishang as a crucial figure, deeply entangled with Yanglao Village’s mystery of immortality.

Think about it, Ning Zhe, think about it—if I were Ji Taiwei, a regular internet-addicted teenager who’d never encountered the bizarre, 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 grotesque form of a bone-serpent…

What would happen to a teenager who yesterday knew nothing, now fleeing in panic into a village shrouded in the bizarre?

“—She’ll die.” Ning Zhe immediately reached a conclusion.

“Ah Mian, you’ve seen the Earth God…” Before Ning Zhe stood his grandmother, just resurrected, her wrinkled hands tightly gripping his, her voice heavy with concern:

“Xi Yi Mr. Zhenjun is a yin spirit that roams at night; people of the yang world are not meant to see the Earth God with their own eyes. You saw him last night… perhaps you accidentally took a wrong path during peak yin energy and came face-to-face with him.”

“Meeting a yin spirit… Ah Mian, quickly, listen to Grandma—go offer two sticks of incense to the Earth God, kneel and kowtow sincerely, beg forgiveness from the True Lord…”

Ning Zhe sighed: “Grandma, why do you keep droning on about ghosts and gods? This is a civilized society now—superstition’s out of style. If you want to kowtow, go ahead, I’m not going.”

Saying this, he took Yin Lishang’s hand and turned back: “Come on, brother’s taking you home.”

“Okay.” Yin Lishang obediently followed him.

He wouldn’t offer incense to the Earth God under any circumstances—not only because today was taboo for worship, and venerating the Earth God invited bad luck, but also because Ji Taiwei himself was a new-generation teenager who’d received full compulsory education and had always been indifferent to feudal superstition.

“Oh dear, you child…”

Watching her obedient grandson walk away holding his granddaughter’s hand, the grandmother stamped her foot in frustration, but dared not lash out before the True Lord’s temple; instead, she knelt again before the shrine, jammed extra sticks of incense into the censer, and kowtowed like a pounding pestle, muttering: “True Lord, merciful; Great Emperor, vast as the sea—this lowly descendant didn’t know the rules, unintentionally offended…”

Yin Lishang walked happily beside Ning Zhe on the way home; her body was weak, and after walking a short distance she was panting, wiping sweat from her temples with her sleeve, yet still struggled to keep pace with her brother.

“You weren’t this weak before,” Ning Zhe slowed his pace and said. “Why are you getting weaker as you grow older?”

“I’m sorry…” Yin Lishang lowered her head. “I don’t know why—I’ve never been able to cure my illness, and I keep getting new ones. I’ve caused Grandma and Grandpa so much trouble.”

“I can see.” Ning Zhe exhaled softly; one glance at Yin Lishang’s face revealed at least three skin diseases, her breathing pattern suggested possible asthma, and osteoporosis was certain too—dissect her and you could bind a medical encyclopedia.

People who can’t die, illnesses that can’t be cured—the mysteries of Yanglao Village are multiplying.

Is there really only one ghost here? Not necessarily. The phone in his pocket buzzed. Ning Zhe, still holding Yin Lishang’s hand, pulled it out and checked the screen: Feng Yushu had sent a message:

【I found the ginkgo tree. Only one kneeling elder remains before the Earth God temple. Ning Zhe, where are you?】

The text revealed no tone, yet Ning Zhe could still sense Feng Yushu’s unease and urgency. He typed with one hand and replied with a brief message:

【I’ve left that place. Kill the elder. Use Ye Yao. Use Lei Te. Either way—kill her quickly, then tell me the result.】

Feng Yushu replied instantly:

【Understood. I’m going now.】

【After I kill the elder, where do I find you?】

Ning Zhe replied with a short 【Wait for me there】, then turned off the screen and returned the phone to his pocket.

“Who are you chatting with, brother?” Yin Lishang asked curiously. “Mom? I haven’t called Mom in so long—I miss her.”

Ji Taiwei was only a sixteen-year-old junior high student who hadn’t graduated yet; Yin Lishang was even younger, not yet fourteen. Add her frail health, and euphemistically she was precocious and thoughtful; bluntly, she was melancholic and emotionally sensitive—physically and emotionally fragile, outwardly obedient, yet hard to comfort.

“No one. Just messaging a friend,” Ning Zhe turned his head, silently studying Yin Lishang’s face, pockmarked and ulcerated with acne.

Whether from shyness or shame, sensing his unwavering gaze, Yin Lishang hunched her shoulders and lowered her head, whispering softly: “It’s ugly…”

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“It’ll look better once the illness is cured,” Ning Zhe said casually. “Our little sister was adorable as a child—grown up, she’ll surely be a charming, lovely girl. Right now, it’s just the scars hiding it.”

“Mm, mmhmm.” Yin Lishang nodded eagerly—girls always loved beauty—but soon her shoulders slumped again. “But what if the illness never gets better?”

Her other illnesses had never improved. Though she was glad her brother said she’d been cute as a child, Yin Lishang knew deep down—these ugly scars would likely stay with her for life.

“Let them stay then,” Ning Zhe shrugged.

Meanwhile, his pocket phone buzzed again—several quick vibrations. Unlocking the screen, he saw a new message from Feng Yushu:

【The elder is dead. I killed her with Ye Yao.】

【Ning Zhe, I… you have to come see—when the elder died, there was no corpse left behind!】

【After I killed her with Ye Yao, her body vanished into thin air—like rock candy dropped into boiling water—melted, disappeared, not a trace remained…】

(End of Chapter)