As soon as Liu Yunqing spoke, the old woman standing behind the two of them suddenly shed two streams of dark red tears from her cloudy and eerie old eyes.

"Grandma, you..."

Ruan Qing was startled and quickly went over to check if the old woman was injured, but the old woman raised her hand to block her way.

The old woman let the blood and tears lie down, her eyes fixed on the grave. She walked over with faltering steps, and only after she stopped did she speak in a low, hoarse voice:

"Of course I know how Xiangqin died, how could I not know!"

"She died for this old woman! For this old woman who deserved to die anyway!"

The old woman's voice conveyed extreme grief, yet her face remained completely still.

It doesn't seem like they don't want to move, it's more like they can't move.

"Don't you think she's stupid? I'm already at the age where I should be dying, but she's so young. Why would she risk her life for me?"

"How can there be such a silly girl in this world?"

"..."

The old woman seemed lost in her memories, muttering to herself in a disjointed manner.

Aside from stating that Liu Xiangqin died because of her, there was no other key point.

Ruan Qing was getting anxious and was about to urge him when Liu Yunqing stopped her with a look, leaving her only able to stand by anxiously.

The old woman seemed completely oblivious to the two of them, staring blankly at the small grave mound for a long time before speaking again.

This time, as soon as she opened her mouth, Liu Yunqing perked up, because the old woman's voice sounded clearer than ever before.

"I know why you've come—to investigate that 'Lucky Tea,' right?"

"I've been waiting for someone, and they've finally arrived."

As the old woman finished speaking, she turned to look at Liu Yunqing. Her cloudy eyes now shone with a sharp, scrutinizing light, as if she wanted to see right through him.

But she was just an ordinary old woman; how could even the sharpest gaze intimidate a cultivator?

After scrutinizing Liu Yunqing for a while, the old woman seemed resigned to her fate, but finally asked:

Can I really trust you?

Liu Yunqing remained composed. She didn't say anything to prove herself, but simply looked openly at the old woman and said:

"I only said that I was not from the City Lord's Mansion, but I was passing through Biyue City and felt that something was amiss, so I investigated."

Liu Yunqing was not worried about whether the old woman believed it or not.

Sure enough, after a while, the old woman's back, which she had forced straightened, hunched over again, and she said with some helplessness:

"As expected, cultivators are beyond the comprehension of us mortals."

"Anyway, I have no other choice. I hope I didn't make the wrong bet."

After saying this, the old woman, without waiting for the two to speak again, told them everything she knew.

"Xiangqin is a child I picked up, but she is more filial than my own children."

“My two gambling sons stole my savings for my funeral and beat me half to death.”

"I can't make a living like this, and I'm not going to survive either."

“I’ve even thought about dying, but that silly girl Xiangqin won’t give up and says she wants to go to Biyue City to work.”

“She wanted to bring me a cup of ‘good luck tea,’ but we weren’t allowed to take that tea out of the city, so she carried me into the city on her back.”

Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing asked, puzzled:

"Huh? Since you've gone to town, Grandma, you can drink the 'Good Luck Tea' yourself. What does it have to do with her death?"

The old woman seemed not to hear and continued talking to herself:

"That 'Good Luck Tea' boasted that it could bring the dead back to life, but when I drank it, it did absolutely no good."

"As I was about to die, Xiangqin drank the lucky tea herself, praying for good luck and that I would live to be a hundred years old."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yunqing's heart stirred, and he silently sent his divine sense into the old woman's body.

Ordinary people cannot detect the cultivator's investigation, but Liu Yunqing, who was examining the old woman's body, was shocked by what he saw.

Is this even human?

To be precise, can such a person still live?

No wonder the old woman's eyes would shed bloody tears at the slightest emotional fluctuation, and no wonder her voice was emotional but her face remained expressionless.

What's wrapped in this living human skin is clearly a rotting corpse!

Yes, the old woman's body beneath her skin was almost completely rotten.

As for why he can still act like a living person, it's entirely due to that strange talisman in his heart meridian.

Few people would think that living like this is better than being dead.

Liu Yunqing barely managed to suppress her shock, and said in a relatively calm voice:

"Xiangqin found that you were indeed better after drinking the 'Good Luck Tea,' but she was not?"

The old woman shook her head with difficulty and continued:

"I was indeed better by the next day, but Xiangqin's bad luck didn't happen that quickly."

"At first, Xiangqin was very happy to see that I had recovered, and I was also happy to see that Xiangqin was alright."

“I’ve made up my mind to move away from this small village so that my two gambling sons won’t be able to find me. From now on, it’ll just be my son and me living a good life.”

"Xiangqin was very happy to hear my plan and immediately went to ask around for the place."

But then something unexpected happened.

"For the first two days, Xiangqin just had some bad luck, such as cutting her hand while cooking, falling flat on her face, and breaking the rope when drawing water from the well."

"A few days later, the misfortune got worse... until she went to the vegetable garden to harvest vegetables, a rock fell from the mountain and crushed her to death!"

"Her face... not a single good inch of skin was left! Even the most skilled mortician in the mortuary couldn't restore her appearance!"

"It's all that 'Good Luck Tea''s fault! It's 'Bad Luck Tea'! It's 'Devil Tea'!"

Seeing the old woman who was overly agitated and swaying as if she were about to fall apart, Ruan Qing quickly tried to calm her down, fearing that she might suddenly explode.

Liu Yunqing agreed with the old woman's statement, but still asked:

"How can you be so sure it's a problem with the 'Lucky Tea'? Couldn't it just be that Xiangqin was having a bit of bad luck?"

The old woman's eyes sharpened, and she immediately objected:

"Impossible! Xiangqin has been known for her good luck since she was a child!"

"She was popular with people since she was a child, and was loved by children and animals. Every time she came to the back mountain, she would find good things, and she always escaped danger."

“If you don’t believe these things, there’s one more thing.”

“When the villagers brought Xiangqin’s body back, I changed her clothes and found that she, such a plump child, had become skin and bones in just a few days, as if she had been drained dry by something.”

As the old woman finished speaking, her whole body began to tremble violently, and she gasped for breath as if she couldn't catch her breath.

Liu Yunqing frowned, gently tapped her back with his finger, and a large mouthful of bloody phlegm was violently coughed up.

The old woman stopped Liu Yunqing's movements, staring into her eyes and saying:

"Don't waste your energy. If it weren't for waiting for someone, I would have given up on life long ago."

"If you... if you have any conscience, then... then stop letting that 'Lucky Tea' harm people again!!!"

After the old woman finished speaking her last word, her eyes widened, her body stiffened, and she breathed her last.

Even though cultivators are used to life and death, the two still felt very uncomfortable in the face of such an old woman.

After a moment of silence, the two buried the old woman's body next to Liu Xiangqin.

The two had just finished their prayers when they received a distress message from Zhuo Ying.