Chapter 203 Mirage Sand

Gu Yuzhen climbed over into Wang Degui's yard at three in the morning.

Moonlight streamed in through the broken window, falling directly on the wood-chopping axe that had been retrieved from the kitchen.

She didn't bother prying open the door; she simply smashed the glass and climbed into the main room.

When Wang Degui awoke with a start, the axe blade was already pressed against his neck.

"Do you recognize me?" she asked.

Wang Degui stared wide-eyed, and by the moonlight, he could see who it was.

The face was even thinner than I remembered, but the eyes were bright and clear; they were definitely not the eyes of a madman.

"Do you recognize me?" Gu Yuzhen forced a strange smile.

Wang Degui was taken aback at first, then flew into a rage: "You wretch! You dare to come back?"

The fat on his face was trembling. "You...you really aren't crazy. You were faking it all. You deliberately killed my son! You're the one who should be in jail!"

A crisp slap echoed in the room.

Gu Yuzhen shook her numb hands: "Yes, I was faking it."

She leaned down and stared into Wang Degui's bloodshot eyes: "The child I killed was the bastard of a rapist."

"Even tigers don't eat their cubs!" Wang Degui struggled hysterically. "You're worse than an animal! How could I have married a woman like you!"

Gu Yuzhen suddenly laughed, a laugh that sent chills down Wang Degui's spine: "You who buy and sell people are not worthy of talking about marriage?"

She grabbed his hair and said, "If you hadn't paid for it, would any woman in this world even give you a second glance?"

Wang Degui suddenly sprang up and tried to strangle her, yelling, "You killed my son, I'll kill you!"

Gu Yuzhen was prepared and slammed the axe handle hard into his temple.

Wang Degui's vision went black, and he collapsed back onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

"You want to kill me?" she sneered. "Then let me ask you, who has the axe?"

She stepped on his wrist, the axe blade digging into the fat of his neck, and blood immediately seeped out.

Wang Degui panicked, the stench of urine spreading across the kang (heated brick bed): "You...what do you want..."

The first cut was to cut off the tongue.

The second cut chopped off his finger.

When the third cut was aimed at his lower body, Wang Degui convulsed in pain and fainted.

Blood splattered onto the calendar on the wall.

Gu Yuzhen scooped a ladle of cold water from the stove and splashed it on him to wake him up.

Wang Degui opened his blood-covered eyes and saw Gu Yuzhen shaking the rusty salt jar.

"I've heard that rubbing salt into a wound helps it heal faster."

She smiled and poured the entire can of salt onto his bloodied and mangled crotch.

Wang Degui died in excruciating pain; he convulsed violently like a gutted fish until his pupils completely dilated.

Before dawn, Gu Yuzhen dragged his mutilated body to the village entrance and used the iron chain that had once bound her to hang him upside down from the old locust tree.

When the wind blew, drops of blood dripped onto the stone tablet in Wangjia Village, like a red rain.

Gu Yuzhen leaned against the blood-stained stone tablet and closed her eyes wearily.

In Wangjia Village, all 37 households turned a deaf ear to her cries.

She stroked the bloodstains on the axe handle, pondering how to poison the well water.

It's too difficult to fight against the entire village on your own, but you have to try.

The sound of fallen leaves being crushed made her open her eyes abruptly.

A woman in a plain white Taoist robe stood quietly in front of her.

The night breeze brushed against the man's clothes, making him seem like a banished immortal descending to earth.

This outfit was unfamiliar and strange to be seen here, but Gu Yuzhen recognized her.

She was Lu Yao, a former patient of the Fifth Mental Hospital. Gu Yuzhen always felt a sense of familiarity with her, but she couldn't remember where she had met her before.

Gu Yuzhen had always been quietly watching over Lu Yao.

Later, Lu Yao recovered and was discharged from the hospital. Although Gu Yuzhen regretted that she would never see her again, she was still happy for her.

Like a bird trapped in a cage, watching another bird flap its wings and fly into the sky.

Gu Yuzhen stared blankly at Lu Yao, not understanding why she was there.

Warm fingertips touched her bloodstained cheek.

Gu Yuzhen stared blankly as a wisp of blue light flashed from Lu Yao's sleeve, and the bloodstains on her face vanished like morning dew.

"you……"

“Too much destruction for jade,” Lu Yao squatted down and expertly tidied her disheveled hair. “It would be too much of a loss for jade.”

Gu Yuzhen gripped the axe handle tightly, her knuckles turning white: "But I'm not willing to accept this."

“I know.” Lu Yao’s palm covered her trembling hand, and she sighed softly, “That’s why I’ve come to take you to see a good show.”

She bent down and picked up a handful of dirt from the ground.

The soil flowed between her fingers, gradually emitting a faint green glow, like countless tiny phosphorescent flames dancing.

“Mirage Sand,” Lu Yao explained softly. “If villagers get it on them, they will see the nightmares they are meant to see.”

With a wave of her hand, fluorescent lights poured down like a galaxy, drifting towards every lit window and every closed door.

"Let's go." Lu Yao grasped Gu Yuzhen's wrist. "Let's go take a look."

...

The first household is Li Hongmei's family.

Li Hongmei lived across from Wang Degui's house; she had married into the family from the next village.

Her daughter-in-law was also bought, but she escaped before Gu Yuzhen was abducted.

Li Hongmei hated the woman who ran away, and by extension, she also hated Gu Yuzhen.

She often leaned against the doorstep, cracking sunflower seeds while making veiled criticisms:

"That city slut, she doesn't know what's good for her! My son is such an honest man, he feeds her and clothes her, and she just runs away! Bah! What an ungrateful wretch!"

"City girls have the bodies of pampered ladies but the lives of servants! What's wrong with us country folk? Are we not good enough for these pampered ladies?"

And now—

Li Hongmei huddled in the mud and water of the pigsty, her hands and feet turning purple from being strangled by hemp rope.

Standing in front of her was Wang Degui, whose honest and unassuming face was now twisted into a ferocious smile.

"Why are you running?" He grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the wall. "Haven't I been good to you? Huh?"

With his other hand, he unbuckled the belt around his waist. Li Hongmei's pupils suddenly contracted, and she suddenly understood what was about to happen.

Just like when she heard the cries coming from the neighboring yard back then, she pretended not to hear them.

The belt snapped against her face, splashing mud that wet her eyelashes.

Her gaze passed over Wang Degui's shoulder and she saw Gu Yuzhen in her hallucination leaning against her own door frame, cracking sunflower seeds and watching this scene with a smile.

“Aunt Li, Wang Degui is such an honest man.” She mimicked Li Hongmei’s usual tone, “He’s been so good to you, how can you be so ungrateful?”

Li Hongmei let out incoherent sobs.

She trembled all over, her fingernails digging into the mud, but she couldn't escape this nightmare.

Lu Yao gently placed her fingers on Gu Yuzhen's shoulder.

The real Gu Yuzhen stood in the shadows, watching Li Hongmei suddenly start shaking her head frantically, her hair coming undone, her gray hair covered in mud.

Her eyes reflected the mixture of fear and sudden realization on Li Hongmei's face.

“This is only the first household.” Lu Yao’s voice drifted into Gu Yuzhen’s ears like a wisp of smoke. “There are still thirty-six more to come. Let’s take our time to look at them.”