Chapter 21

The few people chatting were local hired hands.

In the feudal era, servants in wealthy families were divided into two types: maids and servants who sold themselves to the master's family, and hired hands who were paid.

Those who sold themselves were actually slaves, and their life and death were decided by the master. They had no wages, and their marriage and funeral arrangements were not up to them.

It sounds miserable, but if they encountered a kind master, at least they wouldn't starve. They would get some bonuses during festivals, and in lean years, their lives were much better than the average person's.

Of course, there was a threshold for selling oneself into slavery—one had to be good-looking.

Wealthy families also had something to say: "Just for this, many people want to kneel, but don't have the path!"

The people chatting were hired hands paid when the wealthy family was short-handed, doing chores like sweeping and repairs; once the money and goods were settled, they were essentially day laborers.

Most of the gossip about wealthy families came from these people's mouths.

Because those who sold themselves lived and ate at the master's house, and their life and death were decided by the master.

If they were caught gossiping, they might lose their lives.

But hired hands moved between various wealthy families, and after finishing work, they would gather before going home; after a few cups of wine, the gossip would naturally spread.

At this time, these people had already had three rounds of drinks, their faces red and hot, and they were muddled.

Seeing Li Miao bring the wine over, they knew it was good wine they couldn't usually afford, so naturally, they wouldn't refuse.

They hurriedly made room for Li Miao and told the story of the "ghost" one by one.

This Squire Wu was a famous rich man in Pingshan Guard, with a thousand acres of fertile land, and his mansion was magnificent.

The process of Squire Wu's ancestors getting rich was actually very cruel.

The primitive accumulation of capital is bloody, especially naked in the feudal era.

A thousand acres of fertile land certainly didn't fall from the sky; it often relied on trickery and force.

Magnificent splendor certainly wasn't brought from the womb; every bit was stripped from people.

Fortunately, Squire Wu's ancestors were smart people, knowing that the key to passing on wealth was not to make it more, but to make everyone feel "you deserve to have so much money."

So he started to associate with officials and powerful people, finding some backers for himself.

Below, he also began to restrain his habits, accumulate virtue and do good, and even distributed porridge during lean years. If tenants were late paying rent, he would let his subordinates go to their doors and say things like "the landlord has no surplus grain either," actively granting them a period of grace.

This went on for two or three generations, and by Squire Wu's generation, his reputation in Pingshan Guard became "no wonder they have money."

Squire Wu himself was not very smart, failed at his studies, and just honestly lived as a rich man in Pingshan Guard, living a comfortable life.

But starting a month ago, Squire Wu's life began to get difficult.

At first, it was the guards in the mansion; when patrolling at night, they always felt cold and fearful, and couldn't find the reason.

Later, the flowers and plants in the mansion began to wither.

A few days later, when the servants were cleaning the courtyard, they always found animal carcasses in some corners.

At first, it was snakes, insects, rats, and ants, then birds, and then wild cats.

You have to know that it was already late autumn, the weather was cooling down, and ordinary carcasses would take two or three days to start rotting.

But these carcasses seemed to have been dead for a while, already starting to breed maggots, rot, and stink.

At first, the servants thought it might be wild cats dragging the carcasses in without finishing them. Or maybe some naughty children threw them over the courtyard wall, so they didn't pay much attention.

As a result, after cleaning up one batch, another batch died the next day, and there were more and more carcasses, and the originally quiet courtyard was filled with a stench.

After ten-plus days like this, Squire Wu finally couldn't stand it anymore and let the guards guard the courtyard at night to see what was going on.

This look caused trouble.

According to the guards on night duty, that night was exceptionally cold, and the moon was covered by clouds.

The whole courtyard was only lit by lanterns, and a group of people scattered in the courtyard could barely see each other's figures, and couldn't even see each other's faces clearly.

A group of people in the courtyard, smelling the faint stench of corpses, all felt fearful.

Just when they were bracing themselves to guard until the fourth watch, thinking tonight would pass like this.

Meow~~

In the silence, a cat's meow was heard.

A snow-white big cat walked over from the courtyard wall, its two eyes emerald green, like two ghost fires floating in the air.

This big cat's steps were stiff, not at all agile like an ordinary wild cat, but instead limping, just like a corpse that had just learned to walk.

A guard holding a lantern gathered his courage to look, and as a result, he was scared to the ground with a "Mommy."

That big cat, its skin and flesh rotted, its form emaciated, a piece of flesh on its face had fallen off, revealing white teeth.

Its belly was empty, dried intestines dragged under its feet, and ribs grew unevenly on its chest.

That big cat was clearly a corpse!

A pair of eyes were staring fixedly at that guard!

Hearing this, Li Miao glanced at Li Xiaosi, who was whispering to Wang Hai, as if intentionally or unintentionally, and turned to pour a glass of wine for the person speaking.

"And then?"

The man drank the wine, lowered his voice, and continued.

The guard screamed and fell to the ground, and the rest hurried over to help.

People in this era were generally superstitious, and at most they had heard a few ghost stories from their elders; where had they ever seen this scene?

As a result, they were all scared and stunned by the big cat, not daring to move.

The big cat stopped when it saw people, its two green eyes staring at them without turning.

On that face with only half its skin and flesh left, a stiff, human-like smile clearly appeared!

Meow——!!!

With a hiss, it pounced on the group of people!

There was an old man among the guards who had traveled the Jianghu when he was young, had seen much, and was bold, so he used the long stick in his hand to block it in mid-air.

Snap.

But with a crisp sound, the cat corpse was swept into two pieces.

The upper and lower halves of the big cat fell to the ground, still struggling, trying to crawl onto people.

Several people were scared pale, and some timid ones vomited on the spot.

It was the old guard who called for people to bring dry grass and kerosene to burn the corpse with a fire.

A group of people waited until dawn to report to Squire Wu; Squire Wu didn't believe it at first, but a group of people swore they saw it clearly, so he didn't doubt it anymore.

He publicly rewarded the old guard with twenty taels of silver and gave him a few days off to let him go home and rest for a while.

But after a few days, they waited and waited, but the old guard didn't come back.

When Squire Wu sent someone to check at the old guard's house, they found that the old guard had died at home, and the whole corpse was rotten beyond recognition.

The skin and flesh on his face, just like that big cat, were half gone.

(End of chapter)