C23 The Accident

It's often said that the children of the poor mature quickly. I hadn't even completed my second year of middle school before I dropped out to travel far and wide with my foster father, making a living by crafting paper figures and fishing for spirits.

Though I was somewhat more mature than my peers, having been thrust into society early and having learned a great deal about the world, I was still under sixteen—a child by any standard. Yet, the tasks ahead of me were daunting, the kind that even adults would struggle to accomplish.

Sometimes, I thought it might be better to settle down here, making do with fishing for bodies and catching fish. With the 100,000 yuan I had, I could easily lead a comfortable life.

But the mysterious death of my foster father, his final instructions and wishes to me, and the thought of Old Master Jiaang's body lying in the icy Weak Water River wouldn't let me rest. There was a force within me, urging me to bravely forge ahead.

But what should be my next step?

Logically, I should first seek out the thirteen corpses to ensure my own survival. That way, I'd have a lifetime to fulfill those two tasks.

The question was, could I really find those thirteen peculiar corpses within a mere three years?

Living corpses, Blood Corpse, Ice Corpse, Fox Corpse, Spirit Corpse, Poison Corpse, Evil Corpse, Corpse Demon, Corpse Devil, Corpse King, Corpse Immortal, and No-transforming Bone—each one sounded more horrifying and bizarre than the last.

If I were to actually encounter them, I might meet an even earlier demise.

After much deliberation, I decided to first fulfill one of my foster father's dying wishes. I would travel to the Heaven Connecting Palace at Wuyi Mountain to find my "Uncle" Zhao Guizhen and deliver the blood jade shaped like an eyeball to him.

After all, in his final moments, my foster father had instructed me to seek Zhao Guizhen's assistance, and I believed this man must have been the one he trusted most.

With my plan in place, I returned to my room and went to bed early, ready to head to the county town at dawn.

However, I had barely fallen asleep when the loud clang of the courtyard's iron gate startled me awake. Groggy, I stumbled outside to see a girl standing at the gate.

In the pitch-black darkness, I couldn't make out the girl's face, but her silhouette struck me as familiar. I called out, "Who's out there?"

The girl opposite hesitated before finally stuttering in a low voice, "Chang... Changsheng, it's me, Xiaofeng..."

"Who?"

"I'm your Ms. Xiaofeng..."

I furrowed my brow and scrutinized the girl outside the courtyard more closely. Sure enough, it was Ms. Xiaofeng.

Seeing her ignited my anger. I snorted and said, "So, you're the Ms. Xiaofeng who nearly got my father and me killed by those lanterns?"

"Changsheng, I'm sorry. I've wronged you," Ms. Xiaofeng murmured, her head bowed, avoiding my gaze.

"Did Sunn Youde send you here? I'm surprised you even found this place," I said icily.

"No, I found you on my own. Changsheng, I know you hate me, but I had no choice that day. If I hadn't spoken out, Sunn Youde would have forced me into a ghost marriage with Sunn Xingwang and buried me alive. The worst part is, they would have killed my own brother, Xiaohu," Ms. Xiaofeng sobbed.

I sighed inwardly, having suspected that Ms. Xiaofeng must have been driven to desperation; she would never have accused me otherwise.

Yet, the resentment in my heart was hard to shake off, especially after my foster father's tragic death...

Ms. Xiaofeng, seeing my silence, wept bitterly, her tears glistening in the moonlight, making her look all the more pitiable. She went on, "Changsheng, could you please open the door? I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it? Speak from there. I don't welcome you inside, for fear of more trouble," I replied, still detached.

"Changsheng, you're unaware, aren't you? Since you and Uncle Zhao left, a lot of bizarre incidents have occurred in the village," Ms. Xiaofeng explained.

"What kind of incidents?" I inquired, my curiosity piqued.

"Sunn Youde's son, Sunn Xingwang, has come back to life. Children in the village keep disappearing without a trace, and many of the villagers are acting strangely..."

"What exactly is happening?" I asked, bewildered.