Chapter 15

The original guess seemed to have been further confirmed when seeing the bowl on the ground in front of Li Sanjiang, because not only was there water in the bowl, but two agastache leaves were floating in it.

If Li Sanjiang wanted to drink water himself, there was a table nearby where he could place it; he wouldn't put it on the mud ground.

This was more like a gesture of respect:

You drink tea and rest; as for other things, you just lift your hand, and don't worry about it.

Li Zhuiyuan walked closer curiously, thinking: Could Great-Grandpa be pretending to sleep?

But the problem was, if Great-Grandpa really didn't want to manage this matter, why did he still come to sit at the funeral?

If it was just to seal the gift money, why did he have to drag Liu Jinxia and Shan Shan Daye in together?

Falling into such a miserable end in exchange for a sum of money, Shan Shan Daye, who had no guarantee of his next meal, might be willing, but Liu Jinxia's family conditions were quite good. Why would she be willing?

The contradiction in behavioral logic made Li Zhuiyuan feel some wavering in his established impression of his Great-Grandpa for the first time.

"Li Sanjiang! Li Sanjiang!"

Behind him came Shan Shan Daye's roar. His mouth was full of blood, and he was holding a handful of old teeth, his expression twisted to the extreme.

"Oh my!"

Li Sanjiang was woken up, his body trembled, and he almost fell off the chair. Immediately, he looked around somewhat groggily, his gaze falling on Shan Shan Daye's face:

"Hey, why did you get into such a ghostly state?"

"Li Sanjiang, you beast, beast!"

Shan Shan Daye was so angry that his chest heaved. He had peed his pants like a dog and had a row of teeth knocked out. Turning his head, he discovered that Li Sanjiang was actually still sleeping soundly, with sleep in his eyes. He almost couldn't catch his breath and sent himself away directly.

Li Sanjiang looked at Liu Jinxia again, seeing Liu Jinxia's face swollen like two pleated meat buns, his mouth twitched, and he almost couldn't help laughing:

"Blind Liu, what happened to you?"

Liu Jinxia closed her eyes and didn't speak. She felt her cheeks hurt even when she spoke now.

She was also angry, but she was from the same village after all. She had long ago sensed Li Sanjiang's "ability." Although she was very unbalanced, she also knew it was very reasonable.

"Hey, where are the three people from the Niu family? Why are they gone?"

Li Sanjiang was anxious now. Where was the host family?

Shan Shan Daye had to force himself to calm down at this time. He wanted to gnash his teeth, but couldn't find them, so he could only bite his lip and say:

"At eight o'clock, Blind Liu told me first that the weather was cold. Only then did I realize that my position was letting in wind. It was Old Lady Niu who had returned."

"What, it's been half a year, can she still return?"

"She is not a ghost, she is a dead!"

"A dead? You're fooling a fool! A person who has been buried in the soil for half a year can still become a dead?"

"She is a dead. Her shoe soles were seeping water, and she brought water stains when walking. I fought with her for a while, and she also had that water-corpse smell of a dead. My eyes are not blind, and my nose is still there. I've salvaged corpses for a lifetime, I can't recognize a dead wrong!"

"And then?"

"And then..."

"Why don't you say it? You couldn't beat her?"

"If I could be ten years younger..."

Shan Shan Daye didn't say the rest. He couldn't beat Old Lady Niu and even fell into her trap. It was really too shameful.

At this moment, he finally began to admit he was old.

Tonight, if it weren't for Blind Liu's reminder, he might have fallen into the trap directly, and even the process of "fighting" could have been omitted.

"I'm asking, where are the Niu family?"

Li Sanjiang asked again. This was no longer a question of money. If they sat at the funeral and caused all three of the host family to finish, then their signboard in this area would be smashed. Who would dare to invite them to sit at the funeral again?

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

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

Runsheng looked at Li Zhuiyuan standing there and said: "Too late, I just took Little Yuan and came here first to wake you up."

"Go, go to the grave!" Li Sanjiang slapped the stool and looked at Shan Shan Daye and Liu Jinxia again, "You two... stay here and rest first."

This look was quite like a feeling of why you are so unpromising.

Shan Shan Daye's chest began to heave violently again, and the emotion that had just calmed down was stimulated again.

Liu Jinxia's expression was calm, even glancing at Shan Shan Daye with slight contempt: You have been his old partner for so many years, and you have suffered so many muffled losses in front of him, and you still haven't learned your lesson. It serves you right.

Li Sanjiang took Runsheng and Li Zhuiyuan and ran toward the grave mound. Just as they ran to the edge of the field, they heard a sound:

"Mother, I'm hungry, Mother, I'm hungry, Mother, is the rice ready!"

A figure wearing hemp clothes ran out from the front. It was Niu Rui. He opened his arms as if searching for his mother's embrace. Although he was over fifty, he looked exceptionally innocent at this moment.

"Catch him!"

Li Sanjiang directed Runsheng. He went left, and Runsheng went right. The two blocked Niu Rui's running direction, and then pounced on him together, finally pressing Niu Rui under their bodies.

"Let go of me, let go of me, I want to find Mother, I want to find my Mother!"

Niu Rui was still struggling, but couldn't break free no matter what.

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

Just as Niu Rui was controlled here, Niu Fu's figure appeared in the distance again. He was spinning in circles on the spot and crying bitterly. His voice was shrill and emotional, much more invested than when he was crying at the funeral during the day.

Li Sanjiang pressed Niu Rui and said to Runsheng: "Go, catch Niu Fu!"

"Grandpa, are you okay?" Runsheng looked at Niu Rui who was still struggling hard under the two of them.

"It's okay, I still have some strength." Although he had injuries on his body, Li Sanjiang was still very confident in pressing down a small old man. He had carried corpses for a lifetime and had long known the human joints, knowing how to jam people.

"Alright!"

Runsheng left Niu Rui and rushed toward Niu Fu, pouncing and pressing Niu Fu under his body.

"Little Yuan Hou, find out if there is any rope, straw is also fine!"

"Alright, Great-Grandpa."

"Wu Wu Wu Wu, Mother, my dear Mother, Wu Wu Wu Wu, my dear Mother, oh..."

On the ridge opposite, a woman's figure appeared. She was disheveled, covered in blood and mud, especially those hands, the flesh seemed to be peeling off, like bundles of broken cloth hanging on the bones.

She was wrapped in a bunch of things like water grass, dragging a long way on the ground.

She was slowly and stumbling toward the ditch in front.

It was Niu Lian!

She hadn't been buried alive and ran out again, but looking like this, it was very likely that she had been buried but not buried to death, and dug herself out again.

Seeing this, Li Sanjiang shouted to Li Zhuiyuan: "Little Yuan Hou, hurry up and find rope or straw!"

But the picture was that picture, but the sound fell into Li Zhuiyuan's ears as: "Little Yuan Hou, hurry up and catch her, don't let her fall into the water ditch!"

Li Zhuiyuan blinked his eyes, looked at Great-Grandpa and Runsheng who were pressing a Niu family member in two different positions, and looked at Niu Lian in the distance.

He didn't listen to "Great-Grandpa" and go catch Niu Lian, but ran toward the tent. There was rope there, and Shan Shan Daye and Liu Jinxia. Although they were injured, it wasn't that they couldn't come to help tie someone up.

The reason he didn't go catch Niu Lian was very simple. It wasn't because he was young and weak. In fact, Niu Lian felt even weaker now. If a child grabbed the belt on her, he could really hold her.

But they were originally moving forward together, but now they were suddenly separated. Li Zhuiyuan instinctively felt uneasy, as if it were calculated, with the three Niu family members coming out one after another waiting to be caught.

But after running for a distance, Li Zhuiyuan stopped again. He suddenly realized that even if he didn't go catch Niu Lian, didn't he also run away?

A cold wind blew. Li Zhuiyuan turned around. Behind him, there was only the pitch-black field. Where were Great-Grandpa and Runsheng?

At this time, the sound of wooden fish rang in his ears, mixed with messy chanting, like the funeral troupe performing as monks at the funeral during the day.

All around, figures wearing Daoist robes appeared again. They held various ritual implements and circled around him.

This feeling was like ears and eyes being filled with debris, making one irritable while gradually losing external perception.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his right hand and bit down hard on his forearm. Clearly, he didn't hold back, and clearly, there were tooth marks and bloodstains on his forearm, but the pain was minimal.

No way. Li Zhuiyuan opened his palm. He didn't expect that the method he just taught Runsheng would have to be used on himself so soon.

However, before the slap could hit his face, a man's voice came from behind.

"Sigh, you still fell into her trap."

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and saw Uncle Qin standing there. His appearance immediately gave him a great sense of security.

Qin Shu reached out and placed his hand on Li Zhuiyuan's shoulder: "She is a dead transformed from a cat and a person, a corpse demon, best at confusing people's hearts."

"Uncle, hurry up and save my Great-Grandpa and the others."

"Hmm, don't worry, it's already fine."

Qin Shu raised his right hand. In his hand, he was actually clutching a black cat.

This black cat had half its tail broken, one eye blind, and one leg lame. Although there was large-scale decay on its body, it was still struggling and moving.

Was this the animal corpse that transformed into a dead with Old Lady Niu?

"Uncle, have you already taken it down?"

"Not completely taken down yet." Qin Shu revealed a smile on his lips, "This thing is the same as your Great-Grandpa, it was already seriously injured. Now the cat and the person have separated. I only caught the cat. Now, as long as we find the person and put them together to destroy them, this corpse demon will be solved."

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

"The few Niu family members who were possessed cannot threaten your Great-Grandpa. Let's go find Old Lady Niu first. After solving her, this matter will be over. Let's go, she is in the old house on the west side of the village."

Qin Shu grabbed the struggling cat with his right hand and held Li Zhuiyuan's hand with his left, pulling Li Zhuiyuan toward the west.

"Uncle, didn't you say you wouldn't help if a soy sauce bottle fell?"

"It's already past midnight, and your Great-Grandpa's funeral is over, so my taking action now has nothing to do with your Great-Grandpa. I am just passing by here, seeing a corpse demon harming people, and handling it along the way."

"Oh, so that's it. Uncle, you are really amazing."

"Heh, this is nothing. The truly amazing ones, you haven't seen. This corpse demon is just a small character. Before liberation, those big dead in the Jianghu were the truly amazing big guys. That was truly scary."

"The corpse demon isn't considered amazing? Then Uncle, tell me, what other amazing big dead are there?"

"There are many. People with high status and power in ancient times, who were killed by being sunk in the river, became that kind of general dead. They often possess the ability to mobilize the water-evil resentful spirits in the river and can control ghosts.

There are also areas specifically for water burial, which should have been just a small gathering of basins, but due to the changes of time and the river changing its course, they broke away from the original bondage and flowed into other areas, carrying corpses in coffins, accumulating resentment, and forming roles similar to corpse kings.

Every time such a thing comes out, it is accompanied by natural disasters.

The hardest to deal with are some evil-cultivating Xuanmen people. They take the crooked path, use their own bodies as carriers, seal and raise themselves, in order to achieve immortality in another way. This kind of dead possesses the Daoist supernatural powers from before they were alive. Although they are not the strongest and most domineering, they are the hardest to handle, because they understand the means living people use to deal with them."

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and asked curiously: "Uncle, these dead are so amazing, but now they can't be seen. Who were they destroyed by?"

Qin Shu gave the answer: "They, they were all destroyed by the righteous path."

Li Zhuiyuan silently pulled his hand out of Qin Shu's palm and stopped walking.

Qin Shu noticed it, stopped, and turned to look at the boy.

And Li Zhuiyuan didn't look at Qin Shu, his gaze just met the disabled and rotten black cat in Qin Shu's hand.

The black cat's eyes were greenish, flashing with blood from time to time, filled with resentment.

"Little Yuan, why aren't you walking?"

Qin Shu asked.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that when Qin Shu spoke, the broken lips of this black cat also moved.

"Little Yuan, what's wrong with you?"

Qin Shu bent down, looked at Li Zhuiyuan, and at the same time placed his right arm behind the boy, as if to hug and comfort him.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately sensed a pair of furry claws touching his neck. He immediately dodged to the side and pulled away from Qin Shu.

"Little Yuan, what is wrong with you!"

Qin Shu's tone became severe, and in the eyes of the black cat in his hand, the blood color suppressed the green.

"Little Yuan, be obedient, come with me, let's solve this matter together, so that your Great-Grandpa and the others can be completely out of danger!"

This time, Qin Shu's lips only moved slightly, while the cat's mouth kept opening and closing.

This scene reminded Li Zhuiyuan of a peculiar performance he had seen at a school anniversary in Beijing. The performer stood on the stage with a puppet. When he spoke, the puppet's mouth kept opening and closing, looking as if the puppet was talking and communicating by itself.

However, in front of him, it seemed to be the opposite of that stage performance.

Gradually, Qin Shu became quiet, and the cat also became quiet. They seemed to have discovered that this child had already seen through it.

A strange smile began to appear on Qin Shu's face, and the cat's mouth also split open, with fresh blood constantly dripping from the corners of its mouth.

Immediately, everything in Li Zhuiyuan's vision turned into blood color. Whether looking at them in front of him or in other directions, it was covered with a layer of blood stains.

Li Zhuiyuan stood on the spot, clenching his fists. He was very scared, but he wasn't scared into running around, nor did he scream or shout.

In the description of corpse demons and a series of dead with the ability to confuse people's hearts in "Jianghu Strange Records," the most frequently mentioned sentence was that corpse-salvagers must remain calm and not be led by the nose by them.

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

Moreover, at this time, you can't close your eyes. Closing your eyes is a kind of cowardice and giving up, which is equivalent to handing over all the initiative.

Cold sweat constantly seeped from Li Zhuiyuan's forehead, and he swallowed saliva from time to time. His breathing gradually became rapid, and the whole person felt like he was standing on a stove being roasted.

However, a picture he dreamed of after doing the fortune-turning ritual with Great-Grandpa that night suddenly appeared in his mind. In the picture, he was standing on the bed at home, and all around was a sea of corpses.

In everything, one fears comparison. When you are certain that all this is fake, when you can use the real horror of the dream to add weight to yourself, the scene in front of you is not so scary.

The black cat's smile gradually converged, and Qin Shu staggered back two steps, his whole body decaying at an extremely fast speed. In a few blinks, he was left with only a pool of sewage.

Suddenly, all the hallucinations around dissipated. The night wind brought fresh air. Li Zhuiyuan's body relaxed, and he began to pant heavily.

The black cat regained its freedom. It hopped and dragged its disabled body to Li Zhuiyuan, looking up at him.

Li Zhuiyuan also lowered his head, staring at it.

One person and one cat fell into a silent gaze.

The one who broke the silence first was still Li Zhuiyuan:

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

Li Sanjiang's behavioral logic had already made Li Zhuiyuan feel puzzled, and this corpse demon's series of actions made Li Zhuiyuan feel even more inconceivable.

Was it taking revenge?

The black cat seemed to sigh. It looked very tired. It opened its mouth, and it should have wanted to speak, but couldn't, probably because Qin Shu was gone.

It waved its cat claw at Li Zhuiyuan, then dragged its disabled body along the small path toward the west.

Li Zhuiyuan stood on the spot, not following.

After the black cat walked a distance, it stopped, turned its head, and looked at Li Zhuiyuan. In the cat's eyes, mockery flowed.

But Li Zhuiyuan still didn't move. He had a strong desire for knowledge, but no curiosity in an uncertain moment, nor that extra impulse of kindness.

"Meow!"

The black cat screamed. This cry was like a child crying. It felt angry, but this time the anger was directed at Li Zhuiyuan, without lethality, full of helpless dull anger. "Do 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 claw and pushed toward the front.

The first time, Li Zhuiyuan didn't understand. After pushing a few more times, Li Zhuiyuan understood.

It was referring to the move when Old Lady Niu pushed him away to wake up at the last critical moment at the birthday banquet on the first floor.

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

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

Although Old Lady Niu didn't die in the end and was still alive, Li Zhuiyuan didn't think that the picture and action, as well as the kindness finally released by the old lady with a strange temper, were acted.

Because, whether it was acted or not, he could tell, because he himself was often...

Damn it!

Li Zhuiyuan squatted down, lowered his head, and hugged his head with both hands.

He now really hated this kind of thought that would pop up inadvertently, because this kind of thought would constantly deny his current identity, while at the same time detaching his surrounding interpersonal relationships step by step.

And once he let this situation develop, he would feel repulsed by all irrational and correct behaviors around him. Family, friendship, and all the warmth in society were just stupid wastes of time. He would become cold, like the huge processor flashing with bright light in the school computer room.

In the end... he would become his mother.

He would hate himself like this, just as his mother also hated herself.

He suddenly understood a little why his mother would take him to see a psychiatrist time and time again when he was a child, because his mother saw that her son had inherited the same illness as her.

The black cat seemed to be moved at this time. Green light flowed in its eyes. Its previous confusion was resisted by this boy, but looking at the boy's reaction now, it seemed that a better opportunity had come?

But in the end, it still didn't do so, not because of its kindness, but because it felt a sense of fear. It seemed that using confusion on the current boy would trigger unimaginable terrible consequences.

Li Zhuiyuan kept repeating his interpersonal relationships in his mouth, constantly telling himself, or even hypnotizing himself, who he was, and what his kinship relationships were.

Only this time, occasionally mixed with Qin Li's name.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his face hard, as if wanting to stuff his identity recognition and substitution back in. He stood up, took a deep breath, and looked at the black cat again. From the cat's eyes, he saw the warmth and kindness belonging to a teenager.

The black cat's eyes began to widen. At this time, it was actually a bit unable to distinguish, who exactly was the corpse demon?

"Do you have something you need my help with? Then lead the way, take me to find the old lady."

The black cat nodded and continued to walk forward. This time, the boy behind followed.

When passing a small ditch, without any warning, the black cat suddenly disappeared.

Li Zhuiyuan was familiar with this ditch. When he came here during the day, he had washed his hands here. In order to let Uncle Qin stay, he didn't hesitate to plan to have a picnic on the stone block in front.

Three cement slabs were placed on the ditch for people to pass. Li Zhuiyuan walked onto the slab, looked around, and still couldn't find the black cat's figure.

But since it wanted to take him to a place, it shouldn't have disappeared halfway.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and looked at the gap between the cement slabs under his feet. The gap was very large, half a palm wide.

Below was the constantly flowing water.

At this time, a protrusion appeared in the water flow, and an old lady's face slowly emerged, looking at Li Zhuiyuan through the gap in the cement slab.

She was hiding here.

Even though he had psychological preparation, this way of appearing still made Li Zhuiyuan feel a chill down his back, but he still endured the inner discomfort and squeezed out a smile at the human face below.

"Splash..."

The water continued to flow, and the old lady's face also drifted along the direction of the water. After leaving the range of the cement slab, a louder sound of water rang out.

She stood up in the ditch. The ditch was very deep, and she was very short. She wasn't walking underwater, but more like floating in a standing posture.

Only the part above the shoulders was still on the water surface.

Unlike the appearance he saw at the birthday banquet, at that time, although she was thin to the bone, she still looked like a person.

But now, only a few cloth strips remained on her clothes, and her body was decaying over a large area, and even many wormholes and rat-bite marks could be seen.

As if if the force of the water in the ditch were a little stronger, it could completely shatter her.

This was her true body, because there was no coffin to protect her when she was buried, so she became like this.

She drifted in the water, and Li Zhuiyuan followed along the road by the ditch.

With a body, she could speak.

If one only listened to the text description, this scene should be very kind and warm. On a summer night, a grandmother was talking to her little grandson.

But if it were matched with the real picture, it would be enough to make people's scalps tingle.

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

"Her man left early, and she raised her children alone. During that most difficult time, not a single one of her children starved to death or died young."

"After her children grew up and started families, she brought up her children's children, and then continued to bring up their grandchildren."

"At that time, she could still do housework, watch children, cook, and do some farm work. She was very satisfied. She felt she was still useful, useful to her children."

"She was just such a person. She had no surname when she was young, and after living a lifetime when she was old, she never had a moment of self, just like a wheel of a cart, turning and turning like this."

The easy road, turn smoothly and quickly; the bumpy road, stumbling... could also pass.

She never complained. She felt that a person's life should be like this."

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

Unfortunately, she could live. Even if she never went to find her children for relief, even if she drank cold water and ate rotten food, she was still like a gecko in the wall crack, always living."

"She liked to bask in the sun, sitting in the courtyard, basking for half a day."

"That day, she saw me, an old, ugly, and disabled cat."

"Clearly she was living difficultly herself, but she still adopted me. Whatever she ate, I ate."

"She would hold me to bask in the sun together, talk to me, tell me about her youth, tell me about her children's father, the man whose appearance she had already forgotten."

"She would tell me about the interesting things when the three children were young, saying the eldest son said he would let her enjoy happiness in the future, let her not have to do anything, just sit on the bed and have rice served;"

"Saying the second son would tear cloth to make new clothes for her every season, not having to wear old clothes with patches anymore;"

"Saying the little daughter would buy her gold jewelry like other women in the village, let her wear it every day."

"Every time she said these things, she was very happy, but as a cat, I knew that the children and grandchildren she raised hadn't come to see her for a long time."

"Later, she was sick."

"But this broken wooden wheel, no matter how many cracks appeared, wouldn't fall apart."

People from the village came, saw her like this, called her three children, and demanded they support the elderly."

The three children already disliked her for living long, and until now, she wouldn't die, sucking the fortune of the descendants. How could they support her?"

"Yes, they blamed all the responsibility for their children not doing well on her, as if all their lack of smoothness and cowardice were because of her."

"But the village was watching closely, and they didn't want to pretend."

"So they tacitly locked her in the old house,"

"Look,"

"It's this bungalow in front."

Along the ditch, Li Zhuiyuan had already walked a long distance. In front was a three-room bungalow. The left and right rooms had already collapsed, and only the middle one was barely standing.

The door was already broken, and the door gods pasted on it had already turned black.

Old Lady Niu walked out of the ditch. She was soaking wet, standing in front of the door, not rushing to push the door in, but looking around with nostalgia.

"They would come in every day to deliver food, pretending to the villagers, but they were all empty bowls. No matter how much she begged, she couldn't beg for a grain of rice or a mouthful of water."

"Her two sons each had reasons, saying their children didn't agree, saying if it weren't for her, they would have had such a good future."

"Facing her who was hungry and had more breath going out than coming in, the two sons seemed to have suffered a great grievance, while she was the heinous villain."

"But she was still too able to endure. She drank dew, ate moss, ate the insects that crawled into the house, ate everything she could find in the house, no matter if it was edible or not, as long as she could swallow it, she stuffed it into her mouth."

"She could really live, always hanging on to that breath, like a tough weed."

"I felt sorry for her, and what was even more pitiful was that she still remembered to share half of the insects she finally caught with me, she was still thinking of feeding me, no matter how difficult she was herself."

"Just like back then, when she worked hard to feed the three children."

"Hehehe... hehehehe..."

Old Lady Niu laughed. On the gap on her face that had been gnawed by snakes, insects, rats, and ants, fine downy hair gradually grew.

At this time, the face of this Cat-Faced Old Lady didn't seem so scary anymore.

Because it covered up the true ugliness.

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly asked: "You ate her meat?"

The Cat-Faced Old Lady nodded: "I did eat it."

"Creak..."

The door opened automatically, making a harsh friction sound.

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

The three Niu siblings were kneeling by the bed, with white ropes tied around their heads, black gauze wrapped around their waists, and wearing hemp clothes, crying.

Everything seemed to be the same as when the funeral service was held during the day.

Li Zhuiyuan was somewhat puzzled. Since the three Niu siblings were here, what were Great-Grandpa and Runsheng holding?

However, associating with the corpse demon's ability, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that maybe the sobriety he thought... was actually never fully sober, just like waking up from a dream and not returning to reality, but entering a new dream.

The most obvious sign was... since Uncle Qin disappeared, he had never seen him again.

The Uncle Qin earlier was the corpse demon reading his inner heart and transforming it.

It even read the "Jianghu Strange Records" in his heart, hmm, and read it to him.

Old Lady Niu pointed to Niu Fu and said: "He was often sick when he was young. It was her, carrying him to beg the doctor for treatment regardless of wind or rain. When there was no money for medicine, she would kowtow to the doctor and wash clothes and chop wood for the doctor's family."

Immediately after, Old Lady Niu pointed to Niu Rui: "When he was young, he fought in a group and beat someone to death. It was her who went to beg the person's father and mother for mercy and helped them support their old age and send them off, only then did she get a letter of understanding. In the end, she really served the person's parents well and sent them off."

Finally, Old Lady Niu pointed to Niu Lian: "When the family was divided, she cried and said she was also her child and couldn't be biased, saying that even if her brothers didn't support her in the future, she would take her to her own house. She divided the little things in the family into three equal parts."

Saying this, Old Lady Niu turned her head and looked at Li Zhuiyuan, smiling: "You know, how did this Niu Lian do it? Because she was too able to live, Niu Lian felt that acting like this every day was too troublesome."

"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 in front. The next day, she said her mother walked and fell into the ditch and was gone."

"Actually, she was already starving to death at that time, and couldn't even speak."

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

"She was drifting and drifting in the water at that time, and I, just like you earlier, followed her on the shore walking and walking."

"Finally, I jumped onto her, and I started to eat her meat. She actually didn't have much meat, couldn't gnaw, all bones."

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

"Then, you died together?"

"Yes, I didn't expect it to become like this. We died, but we... lived again, becoming like this, neither human nor ghost, nor demon."

"I feel, maybe it's because she was so stupid that even God couldn't stand it."

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

The Cat-Faced Old Lady showed a fierce look: "I want to take revenge, I want to take revenge for her. These three white-eyed wolves, why do they still have the face to continue living well!"

"But, you clearly already have the ability to take revenge, why haven't you done it?"

Hearing this question, the Cat-Faced Old Lady looked at Li Zhuiyuan somewhat puzzled: "At the birthday banquet that day, what you said to me, I thought you were saying it on purpose to please me and save your life. Could it be that this is your true thought in your heart?"

"But, shouldn't there be such a thought?"

"People of your kind will not allow external evil to harm living people, no matter how... sinful this living person is."

"This is your Dao. Violating it will suffer retribution."

"Didn't your Great-Grandpa teach you?"

Great-Grandpa taught me?

Li Zhuiyuan began to ponder, but Great-Grandpa clearly took him to lure Little Huang Ying to the bearded man's house that night.

And after it was done, Great-Grandpa also put his left hand on his waist and held a cigarette in his right hand, happily saying that he could eat at a banquet in a few days.

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

"No, now we are talking about your matter. You caused so many things, why haven't you taken revenge yet?"

The Cat-Faced Old Lady's face began to twist, and "crack-crack" crisp sounds kept appearing in her body. Some dead earthworms and dead rats kept sliding out of her body and piling up on the ground.

Immediately after, she roared in a tone containing grievance and indignation:

"I want to take revenge, I dream of taking revenge, but do you know what makes me most angry?"

"She, and I, are one body. We are one body."

"Although I am the leader, she is actually already gone, but her instinct still remains with me."

"I can feel that as long as I kill one of these three people, her instinct will wake up and shackle me, and I will have no chance to take action against 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 get the punishment and retribution they deserve!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then don't kill them, don't kill any of them."

"What?"

Hearing this, Niu Old Lady grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's shoulders with both hands, almost gnawing toward Li Zhuiyuan's neck, and said fiercely:

"Little child, do you know what you are saying?"

"Because there is no need to kill anyone at all, and she can't shackle you."

"What do you mean?"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the Cat-Faced Old Lady close at hand and smiled:

"Make one disabled, make one sick, make one crazy."

"Then watch how the good children they educated by example carefully take care of and support them."

"This is the best for them..."

"Retribution."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 16 =====