Chapter Seven
Oh no! Zhang Yuniang's corpse has become a demon!
As soon as midnight passed, Baozhu, who was hiding behind Aunt Wang's door, smelled a strong demonic aura. The old locust tree in front of the door also changed its usual lush appearance, with blood-red leaves and thick black sap flowing from the trunk.
It's eerie and sinister.
She didn't care about anyone else, but she hoped that the demon corpse wouldn't bite Li Zhi!
Baozhu stamped her foot and dashed off to Li Qing's house.
The mourning hall was in complete chaos. The Li clan members who had come to keep vigil scattered and fled, their screams louder than Zhang Yuniang's barking.
Everyone rushed towards the outside of the mourning hall, as if as long as they ran faster than others, they wouldn't be bitten by Zhang Yuniang.
In no time, everyone scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only Li Qing, who was dumbfounded, Li Yao, who couldn't be pulled away from Li Qing, and Li Zhi, who stood silently in the corner of the mourning hall.
But these three people stumbled upon the scene by accident. They couldn't see Zhang Yuniang's body. She didn't react to the three living people who were not moving, but instead chased after the running mortals.
The people outside were chased around in a chaotic frenzy by Zhang Yuniang, which brought Li Qing back to his senses in the mourning hall.
"You're actually alright." His bloodshot eyes were filled with resentment as he stared intently at the expressionless Li Zhi.
As Li Qing was speaking, the pearl bird quietly slipped in. To prevent Li Qing from suddenly attacking, she used a distraction spell and stood beside Li Zhi, watching the old man who was showing signs of decline with vigilance.
Li Zhi's expression remained unchanged as he softly asked, "Uncle, what exactly did you do?"
As the two faced off, Li Yao, completely bewildered, looked at Li Zhi, then at his father, his already dim-witted face becoming even more dumbfounded.
"What are you talking about! What can my father do!" Li Yao's head started to ache, and he squatted down, clutching his head and shouting.
Li Zhi glanced at Li Yao and said indifferently, "Li Yao is not as intelligent as his elder brother."
Upon hearing the mention of Li Yao's elder brother, Li Qing's eyelids twitched violently. He gasped, clutching his chest, and said, "That beast is certainly inferior, and you are inferior too! If it weren't for... if Han'er hadn't passed away so early, he would have already brought glory to the family and become the top scholar in the imperial examination!"
As he finished speaking, Li Qing became hysterical. Veins bulged on his face, and his eyes were bloodshot: "What right do you have to mention Han'er? Just because of your mother's questionable background? And your crippled father? Everyone's blind! How dare they compare you to Han'er!"
He started yelling and screaming like a madman.
Li Zhi pursed his lips and took a step back.
Li Qing didn't notice that things had quieted down outside; at this moment, the only noisy place in the entire village was the mourning hall.
He pushed away Li Yao, who was crying and demanding an explanation from him—this fool was grabbing his father's hand and questioning him why he called him a beast—and tried to strangle Li Zhi.
But he only took one step forward before stopping.
Zhang Yuniang's corpse climbed up his body from behind, her long tongue wrapped around Li Qing's neck, and her mouth, with its fine, sharp teeth, opened wide to the corners of her mouth.
The next moment, she bit her husband hard.
Li Qing snapped out of his frenzy, his eyes widening in disbelief as he trembled and reached out to touch his neck.
His blood gushed out and was sucked into Zhang Yuniang's mouth.
Her husband's blood soaked her, and her body swelled up more and more, her head swelling until it turned black.
Baozhu, who was watching coldly from the side, thought to herself that something was wrong. Just as she was about to step forward to protect Li Zhi, a talisman flew in from outside the mourning hall.
The talisman burned in the air, and several beams of light appeared, trapping Zhang Yuniang's corpse and Li Qing together. Then, Zhang Yuniang exploded with a bang in the circle of light, turning into a cloud of purplish-black blood mist.
But if you look closely, you'll find that the blood mist is actually made up of countless flying insects.
"Oh no." Baozhu's heart skipped a beat when she saw two ordinary-looking mortals walk into the mourning hall one after the other. She guessed that Li Zhi was already safe and had left like a wisp of smoke.
The leader, dressed in black, held a constantly spinning compass in his hand and frowned as he looked at the tiny insects that kept bumping around in the halo.
"Master Zhang, is this a tree fly?" The master walking behind was a young woman with a round face and her hair neatly styled in a bun. She held paper and pen in her hand and asked the older man in front of her.
Master Zhang hummed in agreement and turned to explain to the younger generation, "Master Pei, observe these tree flies. Do you notice anything unusual about them?"
Master Pei put away her paper and pen, and solemnly stepped forward to observe. After a moment, she hesitated and said, "This tree fly is bloodthirsty, unlike what is recorded in the book. It seems to have been mutated by someone using flesh and blood."
Master Zhang nodded solemnly and said, "That's right. When that old man came to the Temple of Strange People for help, I felt something was wrong. His body was filled with resentment and blood, unlike ordinary evil spirits. After thinking it over, I realized I couldn't wait until tomorrow to set off. Fortunately, we arrived in time, otherwise the evil spirit would have been saturated with blood and become completely demonized."
The two Taoist masters were so engrossed in studying the tree flies within the halo that they completely ignored the two people remaining in the mourning hall. Even though Li Yao was an idiot, he was so terrified by the horrific scene that he stammered, "Was my father eaten by my mother? Why did my mother become like this?"
Zhang Tianshi exclaimed "Ah!" and scratched his head, as if he had just noticed Li Yao and Li Zhi. He nodded to the two of them and explained to Li Yao in a good-natured manner, "Are these your father and mother? They must have tried to harm people with tree flies, but they were backfired. Your father was indeed eaten by your mother, you see..."
Zhang Tianshi pointed to the two corpses in the halo, reduced to skeletons by tree flies, and said with a smile, "Actually, your mother was eaten too."
Li Yao stared at Zhang Tianshi in disbelief. He paused for a moment, and large tears streamed down his face from his eyes, which were far apart, as he cried out in pain.
Zhang Tianshi ignored him and turned to look at Li Zhi with interest: "This young master is quite composed."
Li Zhi said gently, "Not at all, the two Celestial Masters are even more composed."
“Of course, that’s what we do.” Master Zhang waved his hand dismissively. “Ordinary people like you, young master, are rare.”
The unconventional Zhang Tianshi said to Li Zhi with great interest, "I think you have quite a talent, young master."
Li Zhi smiled and said, "I dare not accept such an honor."
Master Zhang grunted, scratched his head, and was about to say something more when he was abruptly interrupted by Master Pei behind him.
“Master Zhang, it’s not too late to find the true form of these tree flies before we start talking.”
Master Pei frowned, his round face full of disapproval.
Zhang Tianshi quickly turned around, looked at the tree fly gradually losing its vitality in the circle of light, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly said to Li Zhi, who had silently walked to his side, "What do you think?"
Li Zhi remained silent, raising an eyebrow slightly as he looked at him.
Pei Tianshi, standing to the side, was utterly dumbfounded. The mourning hall reeked of blood, with two skeletons, a cage of tree flies, and a man who seemed to be either insane or mentally unstable wailing incessantly. Her temples were throbbing, yet Zhang Tianshi remained nonchalant and carefree.
Master Pei simply snatched the compass from Master Zhang's hand, turned around, and walked out of the mourning hall.
It was late at night, and the villagers outside the mourning hall were holding torches, illuminating the village brightly.
Accompanying the two celestial masters were several burly men who were currently dealing with the villagers who had unfortunately been bitten by Zhang Yuniang because they were too slow to run away.
Blood was everywhere.
People were wailing everywhere.
Master Pei's brows furrowed even more, and her eyes almost burned with fire.
At this point, there was no need for a compass anymore; the naked eye was enough to detect that something was wrong with the old locust tree in the village.
Master Pei first took out cinnabar and talisman paper from his satchel, drew a talisman paper and pasted it on the old locust tree from a distance, then instructed the strong man who came with him: "Dig up that tree by the roots."
The burly men nodded, took out shovels from the mule cart, and began working around the old locust tree.
Seeing this, the villagers who had been watching quietly gathered around and all looked at the old locust tree.
"This was originally a sacred tree in the village," an old man murmured.
Master Pei, with his sharp ears, looked at the old man and asked, "Why do you call it a spirit tree?"
"When villagers encounter major events, they come to offer sacrifices to it and ask for its protection."
"It's quite effective; nothing strange has ever happened in our village."
"well."
Before the old man could speak, the surrounding villagers began to explain to Master Pei in a flurry of voices.
"So that's how it is," Master Pei realized. The old tree had gained a spirit after being touched by incense, but all that spiritual energy had been used by people to perform rituals.
Zhang Tianshi strolled out of the mourning hall and saw Pei Tianshi making a serious show of handling the matter.
“Young people these days are really something.” He clicked his tongue and turned to Li Zhi, saying, “Back when we first became Celestial Masters, we were all like complete idiots.”
Li Zhi's eyes had been fixed on the old locust tree—Aunt Hou Wang's house—ever since he came out.
Aunt Wang's house is closest to the old locust tree. At this moment, the gate is half-closed, and there are obviously people standing behind it.
I just don't know who's standing behind them.
Li Zhi lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
Suddenly, the burly men digging up the tree shouted, "We've found something!"
The onlookers were immediately agitated.
"What did you dig up?"
Who did this?
"That thing looks like a person to me."
Li Zhi was tall, and even though he wasn't the closest, he still managed to spot the thing they had dug up through the gaps in the crowd.
It can't really be considered a "thing".
Instead, it was a man who looked somewhat similar to Li Zhi during his lifetime.
His face was covered in countless cuts from a knife, making him look gruesome. Although he had been dead for a long time, he still appeared lifelike. This was because countless roots of the old locust tree had penetrated his body, and each one was pulsating, like a heartbeat.
That's not weird enough.
As the strong men carefully dug, the man's body was exposed to their view.
Master Pei bit his lip tightly, causing a stir among the villagers.
"This, this seems to be Li Han! Look at his stomach!"
"Who could be so cruel as to disembowel Li Han!"
"vomit……"
Not only was Li Han's abdomen disemboweled, but his internal organs were also thoroughly cleaned, and his abdominal cavity was filled with hastily written black incantations.
Anyone with eyes can see the ominous meaning in that incantation.
"Wasn't Li Han buried in the ancestral grave on the back hill? I dug the pit myself! How could he be here!"
Some villagers pointed out the problem.
"What grudge could possibly lead someone to dig up a grave and dissect a corpse..."
Upon seeing the black incantation in Li Han's abdomen, Zhang Tianshi was clearly taken aback, frowned, and walked towards the tree.
Master Pei turned to look at him: "Master Zhang, this incantation."
“There is indeed a difference.” Master Zhang stroked his chin. “I think I’ve seen it before.”
“I think I’ve seen this before,” Master Pei murmured.
“It is an offering of a person’s essence, blood, and soul to the host.” Zhang Tianshi concluded, “If the person who drew this incantation had not clearly lacked cultivation, something terrible would have happened.”
As Zhang Tianshi spoke, he stepped forward to rescue Li Han's body from under the old locust tree.
Just then, the gate to Aunt Wang's courtyard creaked open, and a white-haired woman walked out shakily.
Everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to her, and then to Li Han.
The villagers' chatter ceased immediately.
Aunt Wang slowly walked to the old locust tree, where she was stopped by the burly men from the Yiren Temple.
"Aunt Wang," the farmer who had spoken to her during the day said in a trembling voice, "it was you, wasn't it? You hate the Li Qing family, you did this, didn't you?"
"You old bastard, how vicious you are!"
"Li Han was a scholar, intelligent from a young age, and a promising talent for our Li family. I felt his death was suspicious. Did you kill him?"
Aunt Wang was thin and bony, her eyes lowered and she didn't speak, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
This old scoundrel, so easily defeated, actually harmed the village chief's family!
Li Qing was dead, and people were quick to forget that Li Qing had admitted to cursing Li Zhi in the mourning hall. After his death, the village chief of Fuxia Village became an immaculate and virtuous man again.
The villagers were furious and wanted nothing more than to skin Aunt Wang alive.
"You shameless old hag, you gave birth to a shameless bastard, haven't you ruined Li Qing's family enough! You cast this evil curse, almost killing our whole village!"
Aunt Wang shuddered and looked up at the old man who had spoken.
The old man was startled and shuddered at Aunt Wang's gaze, but since the Taoist master had arrived and there were many people around, he figured the old woman couldn't do anything to him, so he continued, "If it weren't for our Li family taking you in, you filthy thing that's been played with and ruined would have died long ago!"
Aunt Wang suddenly attacked, reaching out to grab his arm.
When the crowd tried to stop her, a thin, elderly woman broke free and grabbed the old man's arm.
"My daughter was murdered! She was not immoral!"
The old man was in excruciating pain, his eyes wide with horror. He had never expected Aunt Wang to have such strength, and he cried and begged for help.
Chaos erupted under the old locust tree.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Li Zhi, who was standing on the periphery, quietly entered Aunt Wang's house.
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