Chapter 114: The Most Vicious Revenge

Only when I drew near did I see that each of the two coffins actually held a spirit tablet.

The one on the right read 'Spirit Tablet of the Late Dou Zhile'; the one on the left, leaning against the wall, read 'Spirit Tablet of the Late Dou Jinsuo'.

Dou Jinsuo's spirit tablet?

Dou Jinsuo isn't still alive and well?

As my gaze continued downward, I realized that the death dates marked on both tablets were actually tomorrow.

No, to be precise, it's today.

It's already past midnight.

I furrowed my brows and looked again at the old man.

He sat beside Dou Zhile's coffin, lit his opium pipe, took a few deep drags, then said to himself: 'This boy Jinsuo is timid and weak, easily used as a pawn; if I were to leave him behind, I'd really worry.'

My heart skipped a beat; the man before me must be Dou Zhile.

He was focused and spirited; even as a child he'd pester me to teach him skills. He is the Dou family's sole heir, and he calls me Second Uncle. I ought to have passed all my abilities to him, but over this we nearly fell out.

Dou Zhile gave a bitter smile and shook his head: 'The Dou family bears heavy karma; the more one learns, the worse the end. Teaching him even a little would only hasten his death, but in the end… we cannot escape this calamity.'

Having said that, Dou Zhile set down his opium pipe, picked up a plane, and began shaving the coffin's edges bit by bit.

I can hardly imagine what state of mind he's in, so intently crafting his own coffin and his nephew's by hand.

Evidently, Dou Zhile now faces death as if returning home.

Actually, in a sense, these two uncle and nephew… are dying for me.

It's not hard to guess why the Town Mayor brought Dou Jinsuo to see Dou Zhile.

They want Dou Zhile to help make a red coffin of human skin.

Dou Zhile refuses, so he can only wholeheartedly seek death.

But while he is willing to die, can Dou Jinsuo be willing too?

I have dealt with Dou Jinsuo, and as Dou Zhile said, he is timid and fearful of death; after all these years in town, my impression of him is nothing but 'yes-man' and 'muddle-headed'.

Would someone like him, in order to survive, commit acts that extinguish conscience?

After all, he now has the Huang and Bai families behind him.

"Second Uncle."

Just as I was thinking about this, suddenly Dou Jinsuo's voice came from outside the door.

He was wrapped in a black overcoat, dew glistening on him, looking weary from travel.

I and Li Qingying turned simultaneously to look at Dou Jinsuo; he also started, his eyes flickering: 'Xiao… Xiao Jiu steward, how did you end up here?'

How could this be explained?

"Just passing by, I came in for a drink." Li Qingying blabbered on.

Dou Jinsuo scratched his head: 'Oh, okay.'

Dou Zhile set down the plane and called out: 'Jinsuo, you've come? Have you figured it all out?'

"I've understood it all along, Second Uncle."

Saying this, Dou Jinsuo walked to the coffin bearing his spirit tablet, took a look, then took off his shoes and lay down inside.

He held the tablet to his chest; behind it, a delicately carved little wooden horse rolled out. Dou Jinsuo's eyes lit up, he set the tablet aside, picked up the horse, and clung to it, saying: 'I never expected Second Uncle to remember I liked this. With Second Uncle by my side, even if I go to hell, climb knives and walk through fire, I fear nothing.'

At this moment, Dou Jinsuo is completely unlike the impression I had of him.

He is resolute, brave, and faces death as if returning home.

"Ah, that's not right." Li Qingying puzzled, "You were as timid as mud before the Town Mayor, so how…"

Dou Jinsuo played with the wooden horse, smiling: 'I can't oppose them; the only way they'll overlook me is if I appear sufficiently spineless. In fact, the night the Town Mayor came to see me, the outcome was already sealed—this is the tacit understanding between me and Second Uncle.'

Dou Zhile looked at Dou Jinsuo with mixed relief and guilt; Dou Jinsuo returned a smile.

"But can death truly solve the problem completely?"

I spoke up inopportunely, and everyone's gaze instantly turned to me.

I continued: 'For ordinary people, death means the end; but for you, even if you die, you could still be turned into a corpse slave or raised as a corpse. To them, controlling a skilled corpse is far easier than controlling a thinking living person, right?'

My words struck like a heavy blow, smashing hard into the backs of the Dou uncle and nephew's heads.

Dou Jinsuo stared blankly: 'Second Uncle...'

Dou Zhile's face also darkened; he puffed on his opium pipe in silence.

I went on: 'Since you aren't afraid of death, what do you have to lose by rising up, for yourselves and for the Dou family, to rebel once?'

"You don't know anything!" Dou Zhile snapped, "How do you know the Dou family has never resisted? And even if they did, would it help?"

"Back then, that female student—was she truly someone Dou Jinsuo's ancestors wanted to defile? No, absolutely not! It was the most vicious revenge for his refusal to aid evil and his resistance."

I was stunned at once!

That female student from back then… was Fu Wan.

When Dou Jinsuo first pawned that letter, he told me that back then Fu Wan was indeed defiled by his ancestors.

There's actually a hidden story here?

"Get out!" Dou Zhile suddenly stood up, impatiently ushering us out: 'This muddy affair, the Dou family doesn't want to get dragged into it any further; no amount of persuasion will help, my mind is made up.'

The door of the Blue Stone House was slammed shut, and the sound of a bolt sliding home came from inside.

I stepped forward and knocked on the door: 'Elder Dou, we could still discuss this; perhaps there's a chance to turn things around…'

Li Qingying also came over to help knock.

But no matter how we persuaded, there was no response from inside.

Even when Li Qingying began to ram the door, a heavy object could be heard being dragged inside, and the door was braced shut.

We had no choice but to leave resentfully.

The path down the mountain was hard to walk; I was heavy-hearted, and Li Qingying came close, taking my hand for fear I might fall.

Just like that, we kept walking until we were near the mountain base when I suddenly thought of something and shouted: "Not good!"

I turned on my heels and ran back the way we came as fast as I could.

Li Qingying caught up and asked anxiously, "Xiao Jiu, what's wrong?"

I was so panicked my heart felt like it would jump out: "Sister Qingying, I... I might really have caused someone's death."

From Dou Zhile's action of preparing a coffin, it looks like he intended to bring Dou Jinsuo to commit suicide and then bury them.

But what I just said might cause them... to dare not leave the corpses behind.

In the midst of speaking, a faint firelight came from the woods above, and Li Qingying shouted, "Not good, the Blue Stone House is on fire!"

Bad!

As I had guessed, Dou Zhile, who had originally planned a burial, feared the corpses would be controlled by others and ultimately chose to perish in the flames together with Dou Jinsuo.

Achieving a true once-and-for-all…