Chapter 115

Because he had pushed the progression of events forward in advance, more information was able to surface.

In Li Zhuiyuan's mind, the outline of the entire situation began to gradually form; although it was still quite thin, it had finally been constructed, and it was no longer a blur of confusion.

The graveyards on those three mountain peaks corresponded to three households, or three surnames; now, he only knew that the Xue family was one of them, while the other two remained unknown for the time being.

Visiting ancestral graves during specific time periods would trigger a certain mechanism, just like the Immortal Elder's dream visitation that Xue Ba had just received.

But for some unknown reason, the triggering of this mechanism would also lead to the activation of another, opposing mechanism—for example, the "big fish" that had "delivered itself to the door."

Li Zhuiyuan believed that if he hadn't made Xue Ba celebrate his birthday early, this fish wouldn't have been delivered today either.

If things had followed the normal process, on the day of the big birthday celebration a month later, when Xue Ba went to visit the ancestral graves, this fish would have continued to appear before Xue Ba on that day in the form of a neighbor's young fisherman or through some other reasonable method, ending up on the Xue family's dining table.

Two mechanisms were currently vying with each other; more accurately, one side was polluting the operation of the other.

The operational logic of the original mechanism seemed more like a "Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains" style of ancestral seal inheritance.

The purpose of the pollution was to hope that the seal could be broken.

Logically speaking, Xue Ba should be preparing to set off for Zhengmen Village right about now.

But it was very clear now that Xue Ba was unwilling to go.

The earlier expedition team incident had deepened Xue Ba's fear of Zhengmen Village, and the Immortal Elder's dream visitation that Li Zhuiyuan himself had orchestrated had also greatly weakened the sanctity of the true Immortal Elder.

However, there was another possibility: that according to the original plan, when Liangliang returned in a month, he and his father would go to visit the ancestral graves together, and then Qingxia would very likely head straight for Liangliang.

Given Liangliang's insight and temperament, after receiving the Immortal Elder's dream visitation, there was a high probability he would accept this mission to go to Zhengmen Village, and an extremely high probability he would contact him and ask him to come over to accompany him in completing this ancestral task.

Of course, a more extreme scenario would be that Liangliang went alone, his life or death unknown, and then he himself learned the news, came to his hometown, and investigated the mystery of Liangliang's disappearance.

In short, the only one who could get him involved was Liangliang, while Xue Ba was unqualified.

Right now, Li Zhuiyuan naturally did not want to let Xue Ba accompany him to Zhengmen Village; firstly, because he was Xue Liangliang's father, and secondly, because he was a burden.

Fortunately, it seemed his person didn't need to go, only the blood bowl.

Blood food referred to slaughtering livestock to take blood for sacrificial use, while a blood bowl referred to using one's own fresh blood as a sacrificial offering, placed upon the altar table.

The amount didn't need to be very large; taking a small bowl and cutting one's palm, as long as the blood could cover the bottom of the bowl, would suffice.

This amount of blood was a mere drizzle even for his own Xiao Hei, so it certainly wouldn't be a problem for Xue Ba.

He had the method and materials for making black dog blood ink paste; as long as he ensured the blood donor was alive when the blood was drawn, he could ensure this blood would stay fresh for a very long time, to be used as a blood bowl when the time came.

By analogy with the Xue family's situation, did the other two families also need to go to Zhengmen Village to offer a blood bowl?

Was the purpose of the pollution to get these three families wiped out ahead of time? Or at the very least, to get their bodies and their blood dirtied?

But here lay a paradox that couldn't be resolved for the time being: since this "dead-fall" was plotting to break the seal and emerge, why did it still actively bite his hook?

Having just lost Granny Yu, who was full of confidence but had her hope of revival extinguished by him in advance, was the next one going to continue making the same mistake?

"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan?"

Xue Ba's voice interrupted Li Zhuiyuan's train of thought. Looking up, the youth saw the worry and panic in Xue Ba's eyes.

"Hmm, Uncle Xue, what's wrong?"

"Xiao Yuan, tell Uncle, what were you thinking about just now?"

"I was thinking that this Zhengmen Village is so terrifying. You don't want to go, Uncle Xue, and you're right; I wouldn't dare go either."

Upon hearing this, Xue Ba let out a long sigh of relief. He had truly been afraid that the youth, like the previous batch of young university students, would develop an interest in Zhengmen Village.

"That's right, let's just live our own lives properly and not get involved in those kinds of things."

"Exactly, that's what I was thinking too."

But the problem was, you wouldn't be able to live your life properly anymore.

Even if you could dodge the first day of the month, you couldn't dodge the fifteenth. Once the mechanism completely collapsed and that thing came out, the remnants under the mechanism would all be liquidated and destroyed.

Li Zhuiyuan had already decided to use some forceful means later to collect some blood from Xue Ba, and then he himself would be responsible for getting the job done.

"Uncle Xue, does your family have a genealogy?"

"We do. Why, do you want to see it?"

"Hmm, I like looking at genealogies."

"Since you want to see it, I'll go get it for you in a bit."

"Thank you, Uncle Xue."

"Hahaha, let's feast, let's feast!"

The fool outside was still laughing.

Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the room and came to the courtyard.

The fool looked to be about thirty, disheveled and dirty. While others were shirtless, he was still wearing a filthy, tattered cotton-padded jacket, and his hair was a mess like a dog's nest.

At this moment, he was taking candy out of his pocket and handing it to the few children who had come to eat today.

The parents forbade them from taking it, finding the fool unclean, but the children couldn't care less; they grabbed it and ran, tearing open the candy wrappers and popping them into their mouths.

The fool ran along with them, having the time of his life.

That neighbor's young man who had delivered the fish was showing off to everyone he met, describing how big a fish he had caught today, and the fool was no exception.

"Fool, you've got fish soup to drink today. I caught a big fish, it was this big."

The fool, who had been laughing happily, suddenly froze upon hearing this, then his face filled with terror. He backed away, waving his hands and shouting:

"Big fish, can't eat, big fish, can't eat!"

"What do you mean can't eat? Don't you like drinking fish soup?"

"Fish soup, dirty! That soup, dirty! Fish, dirty!"

The neighbor's young man got angry and corrected him: "You're talking nonsense! I just caught it this morning, it's fresh!"

The fool's foot slipped as he backed away, and he fell to the ground, yet he continued to shout incessantly:

"The Zheng family ate dirty, the Zeng family ate dirty, the Xue family is going to be dirty too!"

"What Zheng family, Zeng family?" The neighbor's young man was somewhat puzzled. "What on earth are you babbling about?"

Li Zhuiyuan asked a woman who had come to eat nearby: "Auntie, are there any families in this town with the surname Zheng or Zeng?"

The woman shook her head: "No."

Several elderly people nearby also shook their heads and said:

"Never heard of them."

"There are many surnames in our town, but I've never heard of anyone surnamed Zheng or Zeng."

"Right, I haven't heard of them either."

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to the fool. At first, seeing a big kid walking toward him, the fool thought he wanted to play, and the terror on his face gradually dissipated, replaced by joy and anticipation.

But as Li Zhuiyuan drew closer, the fool revealed an even more terrifying expression than before. He hugged his own head with his left hand as if to dodge, pointed at Li Zhuiyuan with his right hand, and shrieked:

"Ah, you're not a human! Ah, you're not a human!"

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to him, a kind, innocent, and puzzled expression on his face,

and asked:

"If I'm not a human, then who am I?"

The fool retracted the hand he had been pointing with, blocked his own face, lowered his head, and said:

"You're a monster wearing a human skin, you're a monster wearing a human skin."

"Hahahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

Everyone present laughed.

Li Zhuiyuan also let out a laugh. The fool was huddled against the wall, and Li Zhuiyuan, standing before him, was also facing away from the crowd, so the others couldn't see that although the youth was laughing, his eyes revealed a gravity and depth inconsistent with his age.

"What, the fish is gone!" A shout came from the inner room, from Xue Ma.

Hearing this, the people in the courtyard rushed into the room to check the situation. Such a big fish, how could it be gone? Ordinary cats or dogs wouldn't be able to steal it, would they?

Hearing this, the fool actually laughed happily:

"It's good the fish is gone, don't eat fish, don't eat big fish!"

But because Li Zhuiyuan was still standing before him, the fool's voice gradually lowered, and terror surfaced once again.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I disposed of the fish, because it was dirty."

The fool nodded cautiously, his face turned toward the youth, daring only to look to the side: "Right, don't eat fish, dirty."

"Fool, what's your name?"

"Hehe, fool, fool... fool."

He wasn't originally called "fool," but since so many people called him that, he became the fool.

"Fool, do you have any more candy?"

The fool tremblingly reached into his pocket, felt around, and then shook his head: "No, no candy, it's all gone..."

"How about I take you to buy some candy to eat?"

"Buy candy to eat?"

Hesitation appeared in the fool's eyes. Clearly, he was weighing the candy against the monster wearing human skin.

"Besides candy, anything you want to eat or drink in the store, I'll buy it for you, how about that?"

The corners of the fool's mouth curled up. He placed his hands in front of him, kept fiddling with his fingers, and said timidly:

"Re... really?"

Li Zhuiyuan said as a matter of course: "It's definitely real. Monsters only eat people, they don't lie."

"Hehehe..." The fool nodded. "Right, monsters only eat people, they don't lie."

"Then come with me, I'll take you to the store."

Li Zhuiyuan walked forward. When he reached the entrance, he found that the fool behind him was still hesitating, looking like he wanted to follow but was very timid.

The youth said in a deep voice: "Follow me, or I'll eat you."

"Coming! Coming!"

The fool shivered and immediately followed.

Li Zhuiyuan led him out of the courtyard gate. As for Runsheng... he had to stay in the room to continue explaining how such a big fish had gone missing.

Arriving at the small shop, Li Zhuiyuan let the fool choose things. The fool cautiously grabbed a small handful of candy, just five or six pieces, and looked at the youth with a probing gaze, as if terrified of taking too much.

"Auntie, you estimate the bill yourself."

After saying this, Li Zhuiyuan picked up the large tray containing the candy and poured it into the fool's pockets.

"Hehehe, hehehe!"

Seeing his pockets filled with candy, the fool jumped up with joy. Suddenly, quite a bit of candy fell to the ground, and he bent down to pick it up, while more kept falling out of his pockets as he did so.

"Hehehe, so much candy, can't pick it all up, can't pick it all up, can't pick it all up!"

Some children nearby had already approached, but because there was an outsider like Li Zhuiyuan, they were too embarrassed to come forward.

The fool took the initiative to call out to them: "Pick up candy, pick up candy, so much, can't pick it all up, can't pick it all up!"

The children looked at Li Zhuiyuan; they had seen earlier that it was this youth who was buying the candy.

"Go ahead and pick it up, the fool is treating you."

Hearing this, the children immediately came up to pick it up together, and the fool was even happier.

"Auntie, is there any more candy?"

"Yes, let me open a bag."

"No need, just give me the whole bag. Also, get me a big bag, put these, these, and those all inside for me."

"You..."

Li Zhuiyuan took a small stack of large-denomination bills out of his pocket.

"Hey! Alright, I'll pack it for you."

Except for the little bit in his pockets, the rest of the fool's candy was picked up by the children.

Li Zhuiyuan handed him a large bag of snacks and then led the fool toward a quiet spot.

Along the way, whenever someone deliberately asked the fool what good things he had in his hand, the fool would open his pocket himself and let them take some.

When he met children and the elderly, the fool would also take the initiative to toss some to them.

By the time they reached the quiet spot Li Zhuiyuan wanted, the originally bulging large bag was left with only a shallow layer.

That university student expedition team from last time should have given him a not-insignificant guide fee, but he had long since spent it all. However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't feel he had done anything wrong, because he was truly a fool; as a fool, he couldn't hold onto money.

The two sat down side by side. Li Zhuiyuan didn't rush to talk about business, but instead said:

"Actually, I don't want to be this monster either."

Some things, it seemed, could only be said to a fool.

The fool looked at Li Zhuiyuan in a very ingratiating way, then took a pack of instant noodles out of the bag. He used too much force when tearing open the packaging, and the noodle cake fell to the ground.

The fool picked it up, hurriedly took a bite, and then very carefully handed the noodle cake to Li Zhuiyuan.

"I don't eat it."

The fool took back the noodle cake and continued eating, the sound of crunching constantly coming from his mouth.

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "Can you see the Zeng family and the Zheng family?"

The fool didn't speak, continuing to eat the noodle cake as if he hadn't heard.

Li Zhuiyuan deepened his voice: "Speak."

The fool was startled and choked.

Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to pick up a bottle of soda, open the pull-tab, and hand it to him.

The fool took it, drank the whole can in one go with a "glug-glug," and then let out a long burp.

"You can see the Zeng family and the Zheng family. Those two families, a while ago, ate big fish."

"Right, eat big fish, they ate it, they ate it."

"Have you seen other strangers? A man, a woman, very young, carrying mountaineering backpacks, the woman is very fair, the man likes to walk with his hands on his waist."

The fool continued eating the noodle cake again.

"If you don't answer, I'll eat you."

The fool cried and began to shout: "Get me a batch of goods. Get me a batch of goods. Get me a batch of goods."

Li Zhuiyuan pondered for a moment. He had actually connected with the fool's train of thought, and he imagined the scene.

After discovering the phone call wouldn't go through, he asked the shopkeeper auntie if her phone was broken, and the shopkeeper auntie proved it was fine by making a call herself.

If nothing went wrong, the shopkeeper auntie should have made three restocking calls yesterday.

The fool liked to squat next to the shop to pick up candy, so he should have witnessed this process at the time.

He really could see all three Min'an Towns!

"Did they say anything to you?"

The fool continued eating the noodle cake.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't urge him to answer this time, because no matter how much Yin Meng and Binbin tried to find someone to pass a message to, they wouldn't go looking for a fool.

By the same token, he was the same; even though he knew the fool could see through the three Min'an Towns, he still didn't dare to truly tell the fool anything and let him try to pass it on to Binbin and the others.

Who knew how he would cut off the beginning and the end, directly reversing the meaning of a sentence when passing it on to him.

"In Zhengmen Village, is there a very, very big fish?"

The fool's movements stopped, as if frozen.

But looking closely, one could see his eyeballs constantly rotating.

Gradually, his facial skin began to tremble, and then his entire body started to shake.

"In the village there's a big fish, in the village there's a big person, in the village there are many, many people..."

"Fool, how many people went into the village last time?"

The fool stretched out both hands, his ten fingers constantly standing up and straightening; he couldn't count this high.

Li Zhuiyuan asked again: "How many people came out of the village in the end?"

The fool retracted all his other fingers, leaving only his right index finger, shaking it excitedly before Li Zhuiyuan.

"I want to go to Zhengmen Village, I have to ask you to take me."

The fool shook his head frantically.

"If you don't go, I'll eat..." Li Zhuiyuan stopped.

He looked at the fool very seriously again.

The fool was somewhat frightened by the youth's gaze, tremblingly opened another pack of biscuits, and put them into his mouth one by one.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up. The fool was so scared he hurriedly scooted to the side, and two pieces of biscuit fell out of his hand onto the ground.

Seeing this, the youth put away the Dragon King gift he had been preparing to set up and sat back down.

Li Zhuiyuan reached over, picked up a piece of biscuit from the ground, blew the dirt off it, touched it with his fingers, and only then put it into his mouth and took a bite, saying while chewing:

"I am a corpse-salvager."

The fool picked up the remaining piece of biscuit from the ground, put it into his own mouth, and muttered:

"Hehe, I am the person who guards the village and eats."

"Fool, if that thing comes out of Zhengmen Village, then this town will have to become the second Zhengmen Village."

Hearing this, the fool's chewing stopped. He began to look around unconsciously. He couldn't see clearly while sitting, so he simply stood up and kept looking around at the surroundings: those shops, those houses, that mountain, that water, those people.

Li Zhuiyuan put the remaining half of the biscuit in his hand into his mouth, then clapped his hands:

"Fool, take me to Zhengmen Village and let's salvage that thing."

"Okay."

Tan Wenbin put down his bowl and chopsticks.

Hu Yiwei on the side hadn't eaten a single bite; his stomach was now full of compressed biscuits, which were expanding.

After finishing the last half-bowl of warm soup, Zeng Yinyin stood up and said:

"Come, Yiwei, I'll take you up to see Miaomiao."

Hu Yiwei stood up.

But his wrist was gripped by Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin looked at Zeng Yinyin: "Why isn't Miaomiao coming down, but he's going up?"

Zeng Yinyin retorted: "Is that not allowed?"

Hu Yiwei also said: "Binbin, let's do this: I'll go up, ask Miaomiao about things clearly, and explain things clearly, and then I'll drive back to Jin Ling with you."

"Hu Ge, are you so sure Miaomiao is on the second floor?"

"What?"

"Since we arrived at this house until now, have you heard Miaomiao's voice?"

As soon as Tan Wenbin finished speaking, a young girl's voice came from the second floor:

"Yiwei, I'm waiting for you on the second floor."

Hu Yiwei said excitedly: "It's Miaomiao!"

Tan Wenbin still gripped Hu Yiwei's wrist without letting go: "Hu Ge, make Miaomiao come down. You came to demand an explanation, not to apologize. You have to strike your pose!"

"I..."

"Yiwei, if you don't come up, then just leave." Miaomiao's voice came from the second floor again. "Between us, there's actually nothing left to talk about."

"Miaomiao, there are some things I must say to you."

Hu Yiwei began trying to break free from Tan Wenbin's hand: "Binbin, let go quickly. I'll go talk to Miaomiao and come down right after, it'll be very quick."

"You..."

Just at this moment, Tan Wenbin heard a sound from the coffin beside him, and at the same time, a chill invaded his body.

Binbin's body immediately stiffened, his strength was drained, and he couldn't even speak.

Damn, this guy has possessed me!

Hu Yiwei finally pried open Tan Wenbin's hand.

Zeng Yinyin said: "Come, Yiwei, follow me up. Miaomiao is feeling a bit low; don't say anything to provoke her in a moment."

"I know, Sister Yin."

Zeng Yinyin led Hu Yiwei to the hall and went upstairs via the wooden staircase.

She pushed open the door to the second floor, stood to the side, and signaled for Hu Yiwei to enter first.

Hu Yiwei frowned slightly, because he smelled a rich scent of sesame oil, very oppressive and stifling.

But he still didn't hesitate too much and stepped inside.

Zeng Yinyin didn't intend to go in; she grabbed the door frame and closed the door.

Then, with a smile on her face, she walked slowly downstairs.

"Miaomiao! My Miaomiao! My Miaomiao!"

Inside, there was an altar table. On the table, besides a few candles, was a large fish that had been cut in half vertically, as if it were being offered there.

Under the faint candlelight, Hu Yiwei was hugging a woman... to be precise, he was hugging a dried corpse, and was weeping bitterly.

The dried corpse's face still maintained its original appearance, and one could tell it was a girl of the same age as Hu Yiwei, but from the neck down, it was already impossibly thin. Describing it as "skin and bones" wasn't even appropriate; it was clear that even the bones had been severely shrunken.

It was as if someone had used matchsticks to build the trunk and limbs of a person, and finally placed a normal human head on top.

And behind Zeng Miaomiao, there was another dried corpse. This dried corpse could no longer be distinguished by gender, because even its head had shrunk, which, in its extreme disharmony, presented a kind of overall harmony.

Beside this dried corpse lay a walking stick.

This one, presumably, was that grandmother of the Zeng family.

Hu Yiwei still had feelings for Zeng Miaomiao, and seeing his former lover now turned into this state, he was truly heartbroken.

Only, Zeng Miaomiao had her eyes closed, unable to speak, and perhaps even unable to perceive anything.

"What on earth did you do to Miaomiao? Why did she become like this? Why!" Hu Yiwei was nearly driven mad.

But just after shouting this, Hu Yiwei felt his whole body go numb, and he fell to the ground.

His brain was still very clear; now he realized that this sesame oil might be poisonous.

"Bada bada..."

The fish, which only had half a side left, began to flop on the altar table, and finally landed beside Hu Yiwei. As it landed, it splashed a sheet of grease.

Hu Yiwei forced his eyes open; so this wasn't the scent of sesame oil, it was fish oil.

"Ugh!"

Zeng Miaomiao's mouth suddenly opened, and small fish surged out from within. Accompanying the outflow of small fish, Zeng Miaomiao's head, which had been relatively normal, began to shrink rapidly, turning into a dried corpse at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Hu Yiwei's eyes turned red, but he was completely unable to move.

These small fish all flopped toward Hu Yiwei. Even though they were small fish, their mouths seemed to have sharp teeth. Hu Yiwei felt his entire body being torn and bitten.

At this moment, the fish, which only had half a body left, opened its fish mouth and actually emitted Zeng Miaomiao's voice:

"Yiwei, didn't you want to talk to me? Speak, Yiwei, why aren't you speaking?"

Terrifying despair was gradually swallowing him up.

Zeng Yinyin walked down the stairs, returned to the kitchen, and carefully examined Tan Wenbin, who was still sitting there with his head lowered, motionless.

She put a finger into her mouth, sucking on it, and said with a smile:

"I'll use him tonight. That brother-in-law of mine is truly all show and no substance; I'm not satisfied enough, and you can't perform well either, what do you think, my man?

He should be good for three or four days. Once he's used up, we'll throw him upstairs to be a sacrificial offering, and then we'll find someone new."

After waiting for a while, seeing Tan Wenbin didn't speak, Zeng Yinyin asked somewhat strangely:

"What do you think? Say something, won't you?"

Tan Wenbin slowly raised his head, and Zeng Yinyin's expression changed accordingly.

Because on Tan Wenbin's forehead was stuck a talisman paper that had come from who knows where.

"You're dreaming!"

(End of chapter)