Chapter 20

The courtyard gate was shut with a booming bang.

The town mayor and his men gradually forced me into the main hall.

The town mayor's son stared at me without blinking, his eyes full of manic excitement, his hand gripping the Coffin Nail trembling.

The town mayor pointed at the attic and said, "Xiao Jiu, look, what is that?"

On the attic, a red coffin sat there, wrapped in iron chains.

"Wufu Town is a cursed town; every thirty years it needs a pure-yin body to suppress the curse, and you are the ninth."

The town mayor stood with his hands behind his back, squinting at the red coffin, muttering to himself: "Nine is a variable; with change comes an end, Xiao Jiu—you are crucial."

"On the first of August you escaped disaster; a few nights ago you barely survived, Xiao Jiu—misfortunes never come singly, and this time you came knocking yourself, so don't blame my men for showing no mercy."

As his words fell, he suddenly reached out, grabbed a handful of my hair, and hauled me up toward the attic.

I struggled, and the others immediately rushed forward, lifting me up in one motion.

The attic wasn't high, and I was quickly lifted up.

They pressed me into the red coffin; the town mayor's son crouched beside it, pressing the tip of the Coffin Nail against my forehead.

His eyes gleamed with bloodlust: "Xiao Jiu, don't be afraid—I'm skilled; it won't hurt much."

Having said that, he raised the hammer high…

Just then, a whip crack came from outside, accompanied by the sound of the courtyard gate collapsing.

Someone ran out to see what happened, but the town mayor shouted anxiously, "Jiabao, hurry, drive it in!"

But he forgot that the people who had been holding me had run out.

I kicked up, striking the town mayor's son's hand hard, and the hammer clattered to the ground.

Yet the tip of the Coffin Nail still pierced my forehead, drawing blood.

I didn't have time for that; I twisted to crawl out of the red coffin, and the town mayor rushed over, flustered, to press me down.

In the chaos, a long whip with a red tassel lashed from behind, looped once, and tightly coiled around the town mayor's neck.

And I had already picked up the hammer, pressing the blood‑stained Coffin Nail against the town mayor's son's forehead.

Everything was under control.

I turned and gave Li Qingying a triumphant smile: "Qingying Sis, you came just in time."

The note I left for her read: "If I haven't left the town mayor's house in half an hour, storm in."

Li Qingying rolled her eyes at me: "If we wait half an hour, your corpse will be cold."

I laughed loudly, then turned to the town mayor, pressing the Coffin Nail down harder; his son yelped in pain, and I threatened sternly: "If you don't want your line cut off, answer my questions properly!"

The town mayor was still hesitating.

He kept glancing toward the east wing, as if someone were hiding there.

I lost my patience and swung the hammer without hesitation.

Li Qingying also tightened her whip further.

The town mayor winced, stammering: "I'm telling you, I'm telling you—don't hurt my Jiabao, whether that broken mailbox or the eight red coffins in Zhu Pan River, they're all meant to appease the Five Immortals of years past… ah…"

Before the town mayor could finish, a dozen or so yellow-skinned creatures burst from the east wing; the leader leapt up and clawed at his face.

The change happened too fast; Li Qingying immediately pulled me back, shielding me as we retreated while she whipped her lash nonstop at those yellow-skinned things.

The yellow-skinned creatures pressed step by step; when one was whipped, another immediately took its place.

Li Qingying successfully got me out of the courtyard gate, and we sprinted for the pawnshop.

The yellow-skinned things pursued relentlessly until we ducked under the pawnshop's eaves, where they halted, each crouching across the street, their beady, shrewd eyes the size of millet grains fixed on the pawnshop, unwilling to give up.

Back at the pawnshop, I gasped for breath while Li Qingying gripped her whip, standing guard at the door.

After an unknown amount of time, the yellow-skinned creatures seemed to receive some command and suddenly departed.

Li Qingying turned her head, exclaimed "ah ya", and reached out to touch my neck.

Only then did I feel the pain, a sharp ache that made me suck in cold air.

My neck had been scratched by the yellow-skinned creatures.

Li Qingying hurried to fetch medicine to treat my wound, but my mind kept replaying what had just happened.

Just a little more, just a little more!

If it weren't for those yellow-skinned things appearing out of nowhere, I could have squeezed some useful information from the town mayor.

Alas, the effort fell short.

But it wasn't a total loss; at least I can now be quite certain that the so‑called curse of Wufu Town is probably nonsense.

The existence of the Wufu Town curse as a smokescreen is likely meant to conceal something else.

Whatever it is, it's related to the Five Immortals… those beasts!

Behind the Dou family stands the Gray Immortal, while behind the town mayor's family stands the Yellow Immortal.

The town mayor's family bears the surname Huang.

Ah, how could I have overlooked such an important point?

Wufu Town isn't large; its native inhabitants are few, and the leading surname among them is Huang.

Next comes the Bai Family to the north.

As for the Dou family, their numbers have dwindled.

I was practically counting on my fingers, yet I found that there are no households in Wufu Town surnamed Liu or Hu.

How is this possible?

Now the Dou family has only Dou Jinsuo left, incapable of making a big wave.

The town mayor's scheme has failed here; now only the Bai Family remains.

They're all grasshoppers on the same line; the Bai Family certainly won't do nothing.

Bai Family...

Compared to the town mayor, the Bai Family's status in Wufu Town is still quite high, because his family has been in medicine for generations.

Wufu Town doesn't have a larger hospital, only a clinic.

But the Bai Family in Wufu Town has a fairly large clinic; Granny Bai's medical skills are excellent, and many people from the surrounding area come seeking her treatment.

I used to spend most of my time studying away, not understanding all these intricacies; now it seems, this Granny Bai is less about treating illness and more about the family enshrining a White Immortal, she's basically telling fortunes.

Li Qingying helped me bandage my wound, then urged me to lie down.

My mind was full of calculations, and I didn't want to fuss anymore.

She stayed with me until past ten at night; seeing me yawn repeatedly, she tucked me in, turned off the light, locked the Dang Pu's main door, then went back to her room to sleep.

I had just fallen asleep in a daze when suddenly a knocking sound came from outside.

Thud… thud… thud… thud-thud…

Three long, two short, the sound not loud, repeatedly knocking in a regular pattern.

Granny had said that knocking at midnight, urgent as if summoning death, is usually a person; but this regular three-long-two-short pattern is more likely something unclean.

Could it be that a yin thing has come to the door?

Yin dang dang has a request; it cannot be refused.

Thinking that, I got up to open the door.

But I was extra cautious; the moment I pulled open the small street-facing door of Nan Shu Fang, I jumped back, keeping my distance from the door.

Drip… drip…

Outside the door stood a person… shadow…

It wasn't that the person had only one shadow; rather, I couldn't make them out.

Liu Junyan suffered heavenly punishment, sustained serious injuries, and is still in seclusion recuperating; I, affected by him, find my vision again somewhat unclear regarding those things.

But although I couldn't make out that person's shadow, I could see on the ground, accompanied by the drip-drip sound, pools of fresh blood continuously flowing into the Dang Pu.

That person reached out a hand to me, holding a small knife that kept dripping blood, voice hoarse and unpleasant, a woman saying: 'Dang… dagger…'