Chapter 445: Bloody Words on the Tombstone

Chapter 445: Chapter 445: Bloody Words on the Tombstone

"That old Daoist... did he say anything else?"

"He said... they all died with grievances, that their resentment is too strong. He said we can’t move them for now, that we need to hire someone to perform a ritual and then give them a grand burial..."

"To hell with a ’grand burial’!"

That phrase hit a sore spot for Huang Juncai, because Ji Huan had also once told him to give Heizi a grand burial.

"They’re just a bunch of animals. What burial? Do they even deserve one?!"

Huang Junping looked hesitantly at Ji Xiu’e.

Ji Xiu’e had already regained her composure, and her expression looked quite normal.

She gave an unquestionable command: "Take them down."

During this time, quite a few people passed by, stopping to point and stare in their direction, but no one came closer.

It wasn’t until the two brothers carried out a wooden ladder and began taking down the hanged chickens, ducks, and geese one by one that people noticed. Ji Xiu’e remained perfectly calm, showing no signs of a guilty conscience.

Only then did a familiar neighbor walk over to ask.

"What’s going on, Xiue’e? Was what that Daoist said true? I was there at the time, and he sounded so convincing."

Ji Xiu’e forced a stiff smile.

"What Daoist? He was clearly a charlatan, spouting all that supernatural nonsense to trick me into hiring him for a ritual. How can you believe his words? We’ve been neighbors for decades. You, of all people, should know what kind of person I am."

The neighbor patted her chest.

"I knew you weren’t that kind of person! But it’s such a shame about all your chickens and ducks... Maybe that Daoist did it himself. A full-blown scam!"

Ji Xiu’e had also considered this possibility, and the knot of anxiety in her chest loosened slightly.

’Are there really ghosts and gods in this world? If there were, my eldest son wouldn’t have died.’

’It’s just someone playing tricks.’

’Whether it’s the village folk or that strange old Daoist who appeared out of nowhere, as long as they’re human, there’s nothing to be afraid of.’

’I shouldn’t lose my composure, and I definitely shouldn’t be so paranoid.’

"Junping, you’ll sleep out front tonight. You two brothers stay alert and keep an eye out for any disturbances."

Huang Juncai frowned. "Mother, are you saying that person will come back tonight?"

Ji Xiu’e said coldly, "It would be for the best if they did. I’d like to see just who is behind all this mischief."

The main point was, she needed to find out if that person was just spouting nonsense or if they actually knew something.

Huang Juncai and Huang Junping took turns on watch, staying up nearly the entire night. However, the night was calm and quiet, and no one came to cause trouble.

Huang Juncai felt like they had been played for fools and went searching all over the village to settle the score with those ruffians.

But he couldn’t find them. When he came back after searching, something else had happened at home!

Ji Xiu’e was busy at the mill when she heard her son’s shout. Her heart dropped, and she ran out without even taking off her apron.

Huang Junping followed right behind her.

They both thought the chickens and ducks had been hanged again.

But the chickens and ducks were alive and well. This time, it was the pig that was dead.

The manner of death was also bizarre—it hadn’t been hanged, but had run into a wall.

"H-How could this happen?"

Staring at the conspicuous dark-red stain on the wall, then at the motionless pig lying on the ground, Huang Junping was stunned. A mixture of confusion and horror crossed his face.

The pigpen was in the backyard. He had helped feed the pig just that morning, and he had locked the courtyard gate when they left for work at the mill.

Now, the gate was still locked, shut tight, exactly as it was when they left—yet the pig was outside.

How did it get out?

It usually couldn’t even get out of its pen. How could it have possibly ended up outside when the courtyard gate was locked? And then run into a wall and died?

This was simply inconceivable!

’Could it be... that there really are ghosts?’

’Could it be... that what the Daoist said was true?’

At this thought, Huang Junping’s face turned pale, and he didn’t even dare to look at Ji Xiu’e’s reaction.

More and more people gathered to watch, their thoughts mirroring Huang Junping’s.

You could say someone played a prank with the chickens, ducks, and geese under the cover of night, but how could you explain this pig?

Nothing happened all night, but now something happened in broad daylight. It had somehow gotten out of its pen, over a wall, and then rammed itself to death outside.

If it was a person’s doing, how did no one notice in broad daylight, with people coming and going?

Besides, most people would have trouble climbing over a wall themselves, let alone carrying a pig that weighed several hundred pounds over it. Anyone with that kind of strength would have gone to Yeyang long ago to work as a guard for the government office or some wealthy family.

There was no Daoist in the village today, so they couldn’t blame it on a priest trying to scam them for money again.

"That’s terrifying! A perfectly good, fat pig... what could have possessed it to kill itself by running into a wall!"

"Their family must have offended some entity..."

"Offended what? Didn’t that Daoist say the day before yesterday? Their family has an unpaid blood debt..."

"A blood debt! What blood debt?"

"Who knows? They must have done something to earn a guilty conscience!"

"It probably wasn’t Mrs. Ji. She’s a kind-hearted woman. It was most likely her gambler of a husband..."

Before the words had even faded, someone shrieked.

"Everyone, look! There’s... there’s a word on the wall..."

The crowd followed their gaze and saw only a bloody smear.

"Where’s a word? Your eyes must be playing tricks on you..."

"Look closely! The bloody smear has a shape. Doesn’t it look like the character for ’Grievance’? Oh, but you can’t read, so you wouldn’t understand even if I told you!"

"So what if you know a few measly characters! I think you’re just making things up."

"Who’s making things up? If you don’t believe me, let’s find someone... Hey! Uncle Seven, you studied in town, come take a look! Is this the character for ’Grievance’ or not?"

The man called Uncle Seven pushed through the crowd, stared at the bloody smear for a moment, and nodded. "It is indeed the character for ’Grievance.’ No doubt about it."

"Heavens! It must be true!"

The people who had just been chattering excitedly suddenly all fell silent, their gazes turning in unison to Ji Xiu’e.

The scene became deathly quiet, making one’s hair stand on end.

From that moment until now, Ji Xiu’e hadn’t said a word. Her eyes were fixed on the wall, as if her very soul had been stolen away.

She was literate, and she had been the first to spot the character for "Grievance."

Although she tried her best to act nonchalant, her shifting expression and pale lips betrayed the panic in her heart.

She was truly panicking, especially after everyone else had also recognized the character.

"What are you two standing there for? Get a basin of water and wipe it off! Wipe it off now!"

She shrieked hysterically, a stark contrast to her usual demeanor.

The crowd remained silent, but an unspoken understanding passed between them.

Ji Xiu’e could no longer be bothered with any of that.

Those who have done many things that weigh on their conscience are also more paranoid than others. Yesterday, she could still find excuses to avoid the truth, but today, she couldn’t even convince herself anymore.

Seeing that Huang Juncai and Huang Junping weren’t moving, she took out her keys, unlocked the courtyard gate herself, and immediately came out with a bucket of water, which she threw directly onto the wall.

Strangely enough, when the bucket of water was thrown, the character didn’t fade. Instead, it became even clearer. Ji Xiu’e lunged forward and scrubbed at it with a rag for a long time before she finally managed to wipe it away.

After the character was gone, she let out a long sigh of relief, completely oblivious to the changed way the people around her were looking at her.

In the days that followed, one strange and bizarre thing happened after another.

No matter how carefully they stood guard, the animals they were raising continued to die, one after another.

But that was nothing.

「On the afternoon of the third day,」 the old tree by their gate fell over without any warning.

The roots were blood-red, and the large pit left behind was filled with an unidentifiable red liquid.

「On the fourth day,」 a fierce clap of thunder was heard on an otherwise clear day, the sound coming from the direction of the graveyard.

The graves of all the other families were fine, but the grave of Ji Xiu’e’s eldest son had been struck, leaving a large gash.

What was most terrifying was that the tombstone was covered in bloody handprints of all sizes, and on the back of the tombstone, several new lines had appeared, written in blood—

The mother’s debt, the son repays.

One son lives, one son dies.

The living is worse than death, the dead’s soul finds no rest.