Chapter 38 Demons and Monsters: Welcome to the City of Bones.
"Spare me! Spare me, hero! Heroine, spare me!"
The sharp pain in his neck startled the man, sobering him up completely.
"If I hear you swearing again, I'll kill you!" Bai Yuheng patted his mouth against the hilt of her sword and said coldly.
"Okay, okay! It was my fault for being so talkative, I won't say it anymore..." The man covered his crotch, which was wet and hot, and begged for mercy while trembling.
Bai Yuheng removed the golden silk binding him and put it back in her wrist.
The man collapsed to the ground with a thud, his eyes wide open. Those around him, seeing the deeply stained area, couldn't help but frown and cover their noses in disgust. At that moment, he didn't know whether to feel ashamed or embarrassed. He quickly took advantage of the swords being out of his hands and scrambled away.
"Are you alright?" Bai Yuheng turned to Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan and asked, "Are you hurt?"
"Hey! It's nothing! This guy's all bark and no bite. Seeing that we're dressed nicely, he didn't dare come up," Cui Mingcan waved his hand and said.
"Yu'er, you were so cool just now!" Cen Ying looked at her with bright eyes, grabbing her sleeve and flicking it back and forth.
With a swift, fluid movement, he bound the man and pressed a sword against his neck.
Bai Yuheng chuckled, pinched Cen Ying's smooth cheek, and couldn't help but exclaim, "You're supposed to be even braver than me! I had no idea your little mouth was so sharp! You scared me so much I couldn't even speak properly!"
Cen Ying raised her head slightly and said with considerable pride, "It's alright, it's alright. When I was a child, I lived in the village with my uncle for a period of time. Back then, we often caused trouble and were scolded by the villagers. We would just imitate them and scold them back."
After saying that, she smiled shyly.
"Let's not talk about that!" Cen Ying waved her hand and got down to business, "By the way! How's your investigation going? Have you found anything out?"
“Speaking of which, Grandma was just getting started when that scoundrel interrupted her. You’ve come at the perfect time! Let’s listen to what Grandma has to say.” Cui Mingcan said, then ran over with a grin, her words as sweet as honey, and said, “Good sister, shall we continue talking about Chenjia Village?”
Granny Zhang felt relieved after this. Seeing that they were quite skilled and so willing to listen to her story, she smiled kindly and said, "Alright, alright! As long as you don't mind this old woman talking too much!"
Bai Yuheng walked over, sat on the stone steps beside her, and said with a smile, "How could that be! We are so grateful that you told us all this!"
Cui Mingcan chimed in, "That's right! You have no idea, we've been asking around the whole way, and hardly anyone is willing to talk to us!"
Grandma Zhang smiled and said, "That's because they're also afraid of you outsiders!"
After rambling on for a while, Granny Zhang got back to the main topic:
"It is said that Chenjia Village was haunted by ghosts because of their many evil deeds. Heaven opened its eyes and took them all away!"
The four of them sat down together and listened.
"In Chenjia Village, there lived a family named Chen Zongbai, who had two brothers, Chen Changsheng and Chen Ping'an. The elder brother was good at business, and the younger brother was good at studying. The family lived in harmony. The elder brother was engaged, but before the bride could marry into the family, she was killed by bandits while traveling as a merchant. However, the Chen family was kind and knew that the bride was an orphan who would have a hard time after losing her husband before marriage, so they gave the marriage to the younger brother. Who knew that after the bride married into the family, the two elders were attacked by wild animals while working outside and lost their lives." Granny Zhang sighed, saying that the woman was unlucky and had encountered such things. Even if she wasn't a jinx, people would say she was. "Then the villagers started saying that the woman was destined to bring misfortune to her husband and family. To put it bluntly, she was a jinx who would harm the whole village!"
Cen Ying said angrily, "Everyone's death is predetermined, and there are reasons for their deaths. They didn't just die suddenly, yet they insist on pinning the blame on an innocent woman! It's outrageous!"
Granny Zhang sighed, "Young lady, you are kind-hearted, but not everyone thinks like you."
"The villagers unanimously believed that she was a reincarnation of a demon who would bring ruin to the Chen family. Therefore, when the second son left home to take the exam, they tied her up while she was pregnant and hung her on the Broken Arm Cliff, praying to heaven to take away the demon and restore peace and prosperity to their Chen clan."
"That Broken Arm Cliff is towering into the clouds and teeming with ferocious beasts. Even the eagles on the cliff can snatch a person away."
After hearing what Granny Zhang said, the four of them gasped and their hearts jumped.
"What happened to that woman?" Cui Mingcan couldn't help but ask, though he already knew the answer in his heart, he still held a glimmer of hope.
"What else could happen? They either starved or died of thirst, or they were eaten by wild beasts. Only a skeleton remained, weathered by wind and rain." "And then? Didn't the second son of the Chen family come back?" Bai Yuheng couldn't help but ask.
"No, he fell off a cliff and died on the way back!"
"Later, the villagers became even more convinced that the woman was a demon, so they went up to Broken Arm Cliff and burned her remains."
“That woman is truly pitiful,” Cui Mingcan said with a low voice, sighing.
Bai Yuheng also let out a long sigh.
Granny Zhang continued, "Later, for some reason, one or two people would go missing from Chenjia Village from time to time. The villagers all thought it was a demon returning to take revenge, so they invited a Taoist priest to perform a ritual to help the spirits pass on. Things were peaceful for a while, but one night a fire suddenly broke out and burned the entire village to the ground."
"When the officials went to collect the remains, they found that nothing was left, not even a bone! Now everyone is saying that she came back for revenge."
"Crush to ashes!?"
Cui Mingcan clicked his tongue in amazement.
Cen Ying said indignantly, "To torture people for no reason and cause the death of both mother and child, if I were her, I would have done even worse and made them taste that pain!"
Cui Mingcan also chimed in, "Exactly! This deserves blood for blood!"
"Grandma, how do you know so much?"
"Sigh, the reason I know so much is because I'm practically half a Chenjia Village resident!" Granny Zhang said, tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke of her past. "My heartless parents sold me because I was a girl! Luckily, the person who bought me was a good person; they fed me, gave me food and drink, and supported my education for a few years! After that family died, a neighbor saw that I was all alone and took me as a child bride for his son. Now, I've finally survived my husband's death and regained my freedom!"
As she said this, her eyes shone brightly, and glistening tears adorned her aged face. To many, the old vegetable-selling woman seemed pitiful, but at that moment she was the most carefree and happiest.
Cui Mingcan apologized to Granny Zhang, who waved her hand magnanimously, saying, "What's this! The hardship is over! Now is the best time!"
They were genuinely happy for her.
Even the gray hair at his temples shone brightly in the sunlight, glittering like gold.
The group asked for more details, and Granny Zhang answered them all without reservation. While they were talking, Bai Yuheng placed a small bag of silver in the dish and suddenly paused in surprise.
It turned out that there were three money bags under the vegetable basket.
Bai Yuheng smiled slightly, looked up at the three people in front of her, and felt a surge of emotions welling up inside her.
"Thank you so much for today!" Bai Yuheng and the other three bowed to her in gratitude.
"It's no big deal. If you have any further questions, you can find me five miles west of the city! That's where I live!"
"good!"
The four bid farewell to Granny Zhang and returned to the inn.
The waiter served the food and returned the kitten to Bai Yuheng, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir. This kitten ran away for a while this morning, and I searched for it for a long time before it came back."
"It's alright, it's good that you're back."
Bai Yuheng carried the kitten upstairs.
She glared at the kitten and pointed at it, saying, "Naughty. If you run away again next time, I'll give you away!"
The cat was exceptionally obedient to her. Upon hearing her words, it stiffened and rubbed against her pitifully, as if it were trying to be affectionate.
Bai Yuheng patted its head: "Be good, and we'll find you a good home after we've sorted things out."
As soon as she said that, the kitten in her arms started to move around wildly, its fierce expression seeming to accuse her of abandoning it.
Bai Yuheng laughed: "You cat, you're so small, but you have quite a temper."
After being scolded, the kitten angrily struggled out of her arms, turned its back to her, and decided to ignore her for the time being!
When Bai Yuheng saw it throwing such a tantrum, she was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed and placed the food she had prepared especially for it in front of it to make peace.
The kitten ignored her, and the kitten got angry.
"Don't be angry, okay?" Bai Yuheng tentatively stroked its back and said softly, "How about I give you an extra meal?"
The kitten's ears remained unmoved.
Bai Yuheng added, "Then, I won't say anything more about you. You're a cute and well-behaved cat."
The tiny cat ears twitched.
Still not working?
Bai Yuheng chuckled, thought for a moment, and said, "Can you forgive me for not seeing you off?"
"..."
The kitten then turned around.
Bai Yuheng picked it up and buried her face in the cat's chest, giving it a deep sniff.
“…Meow~” The kitten struggled.
Bai Yuheng seemed to see its shy expression and found it adorable, so she kissed it.
Does she seem even more shy now?
"What's wrong?" Cui Mingcan asked as he walked over to her, seeing her talking to herself while holding the cat.
"No, the kitten is just being temperamental."
"Good baby, let Daddy hold you!" Cui Mingcan said fondly, and then reached out to take it from Bai Yuheng's arms.
The kitten glared at him coldly, baring its teeth.
What father? It's like it's their child!
Cui Mingcan found it even cuter after being teased, and exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, this little guy has quite a temper!"
Bai Yuheng nodded with a smile.
This friendly and harmonious scene made the kitten very unhappy.
It broke free from Bai Yuheng's grasp, turned and ran away, disappearing from sight.
"Running so fast!"
Bai Yuheng was about to tell Cui Mingcan to go with it, since they were all at the inn anyway, but Cui Mingcan was worried about his good son, so he waved his hand and said, "You guys eat first, I'll go check on it."
Seeing how much he cared, Bai Yuheng let him be.
"Yu'er, come quickly." Cen Ying finished serving the rice, turned around and didn't see Cui Mingcan, and asked, "Where's that kid? Didn't he say he was looking for you?"
“The kitten ran away, and he insisted on going to find it,” Bai Yuheng said. “He told us to eat first.”
"Alright, let's eat first."
Anping County belongs to Huaizhou. It has many rivers and abundant fish, shrimp and seafood. In the past few days, we have eaten all kinds of food prepared in different ways, and the group has had a great time and satisfied their appetites.
After the three finished eating, they waited for a while, but Cui Mingcan did not return.
"The food's all cold, why aren't they back yet?"
Bai Yuheng glanced at the bright sunlight streaming through the window and asked doubtfully, "Shouldn't we be back by now?"
The three exchanged a glance, and suddenly a bad feeling rose in their hearts.
Just as the three were about to leave, the gray kitten leaped into Bai Yuheng's arms, but Cui Mingcan was nowhere to be seen in the path the kitten had taken.
"Where's Cui Mingcan?!" Cen Ying looked around but couldn't see him. She called out a few more times inside the building.
"Oops!"
"Xiao Can is in danger!"
The inn's long corridor, which was originally as bright as day, was now gradually darkening.
"despair!"
"despair!"
Light yet heavy footsteps approached the three as the corridor darkened.
"despair!"
"Smack!"
A figure emerged from the shadows at the end of the corridor.
Pale, lifeless eyes were staring intently at them.
The man stood in the dim light, his arms outstretched towards them, his wide sleeves hanging down, making him appear enormous.
His scarlet lips parted, revealing a smile that was both eerie and sinister.
"Welcome to the City of Bones, guests from afar."
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Author's Note: There are no rankings this week, just two chapters and 7,000 words each~ [pity]
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