Chapter 4: The Demon Before, the Corpse Behind
At the same time, at the Nan family’s house at the village entrance.
Curled up inside the coffin, Old Master Nan was sound asleep, when a terrified scream seemed to pierce the air right by Yuanman’s ear.
Startled awake from her slumber, she rubbed her drowsy eyes and slowly sat up. Sitting atop the coffin, she stared blankly for a moment before gradually regaining her senses. Nervously, she clutched the little straw doll in her hands and glanced around.
Instinctively, she spoke, “Grandpa, it sounded like someone just called out. Yuanman is a little scared. Could you hold her, please?”
Silence fell over the main hall.
Yuanman paused, then belatedly remembered: Grandpa was ill and resting.
He wasn’t well yet; he couldn’t hold her.
Meanwhile, the scream in her ear grew clearer, as if someone was shouting into a megaphone right beside her.
Yuanman covered her ears, but the piercing scream penetrated her hands and echoed inside her head.
Taking a deep breath, she patted her chest reassuringly: “It’s okay, Yuanman is already five, a big girl now. Not scared, not scared.”
With short little legs, she climbed out of the coffin. “Grandpa, please behave. Yuanman will go check outside and come back soon.”
Yuanman ran into the courtyard, tiptoeing toward the source of the sound. Across several houses, the Zheng family’s home was shrouded in a sinister red mist.
The mist exuded a thick aura of resentment, identical to the one she had seen earlier at the funeral parlor around the blood-stained female ghost.
The seeds sown by the Zheng family were starting to bear fruit.
“Oh no!” Yuanman slapped her head, suddenly remembering she had only given Zheng Feiyu the little coffin for protection today, but not her kidnapper uncle.
Could he be implicated and punished by the Zheng family too?
Frowning deeply, her face full of inner turmoil—should she… go save him?
But today, her uncle had scolded her; he was a bad person. Yet…
Grandpa had said her blood ties with her maternal relatives were still unbroken, and turning a blind eye to death would harm her future cultivation.
After a moment of deliberation, Yuanman decided to heed Grandpa’s advice, clutching the little straw doll as she stepped outside to rescue someone.
Just as she left, the coffin, silent all day, creaked ominously.
A shadow slipped silently out from within…
—
At the Zheng household.
Zheng Feiyu’s pupils contracted sharply, his face pale and greenish. Overcome by terrifying adrenaline, he screamed and instinctively turned to run back into the room.
Glancing back, the blood-stained female ghost suddenly appeared behind him.
“!!!”
He spun around and dashed, stumbling and rolling down the stairs.
Zheng Feiyu was on the verge of insanity—who could tell him that ghosts actually existed in this world!?
At the same moment, downstairs, Jiang Lixuan was wildly running upstairs, chased by a reanimated corpse.
From afar, he heard heavy, chaotic footsteps above. His eyes lit up—was Zheng Feiyu coming to find him?
He sprinted up, shouting, “Zheng Feiyu! Go get help! Your grandpa has come back to life!!”
—
No sooner had he spoken than Zheng Feiyu’s terrified cry rang out, “Brother Xuan! There’s a ghost!!”
Jiang Lixuan looked up sharply and saw Zheng Feiyu fleeing downstairs with the blood-stained female ghost, her face streaming with bloody tears, chasing him relentlessly.
“Damn!!”
He turned to flee but then saw the resurrected Old Master Zheng shuffling toward him with a stiff gait, his face pale and ghastly.
Jiang Lixuan felt utter despair—there was a ghost in front and the reanimated grandfather behind.
Was fate demanding his life here today?!
In those few seconds of hesitation, Zheng Feiyu reached his side, trembling and nearly in tears, his legs weak: “Brother Xuan, what do we do?”
Jiang Lixuan decided decisively, “Run forward!”
A reanimated old man walking stiffly was far easier to deal with than that blood-stained female ghost!
Without hesitation, Jiang Lixuan took the lead, delivering a fierce kick to Old Master Zheng’s chest.
The stiff body collapsed instantly, tumbling down the stairs.
“Go!” He grabbed Zheng Feiyu and hurried down.
As they passed Old Master Zheng, he tried to grab Zheng Feiyu’s ankle, but Jiang Lixuan swiftly kicked him away.
Suddenly, a red ghostly figure appeared before Jiang Lixuan, its eyes filled with malice and resentment: “Where do you think you’re running to?”
“!!!”
Jiang Lixuan’s worldview teetered at the ghost’s inhuman speed. He stumbled back, voice trembling: “Zheng Feiyu, where did you anger this ghost?!”
Holding the railing, Zheng Feiyu’s voice wavered: “I don’t know! I don’t even know her!”
Tears welled up as he pleaded, “Miss, if you want revenge, go after your enemy! I have no grudge with you! Killing me would only make you guilty of murder!”
“All of you Zheng family are my enemies,” the blood-stained ghost cackled, her mouth tearing wide to her ears, thick, foul blood dripping down. “The greatest enemy has already been sent away by me. Now, only you remain.”
With that, her nails lengthened ferociously, and she lunged at Zheng Feiyu.
In a reflex, Zheng Feiyu pulled out the little coffin from his pocket, closed his eyes, and placed it before him.
At the same moment, a stern voice rang out: “How dare you! Cease this violence!”
A talisman descended from above, landing before Zheng Feiyu.
The blood-stained ghost crashed into a golden barrier, black resentment billowing from her body as she was flung back with a scream.
A dark figure leapt through the gate, standing protectively before Zheng Feiyu and Jiang Lixuan.
Zheng Feiyu and Jiang Lixuan looked up at the young man who had suddenly appeared, dressed in an indigo Taoist robe, his hair tied in a Tai Chi style, his features handsome. Neither noticed the golden glint flashing from the little coffin in Zheng Feiyu’s hand.
Jiang Lixuan’s eyes brightened as he recognized the robe’s insignia: “You’re a Taoist priest from the Three Pure Ones Temple?!I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.