Chapter 18 Soul-Devouring Banner: Sister-in-law, open the door, I am my brother!
In the end, Cui Yang ate all the food on the table.
At night, he sank into the soft bed, his body exhausted, but his consciousness growing clearer. Normally, he would have fallen asleep long ago, but today, for some reason, his fingers ached dully, and he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
For some reason, he thought of the fortune teller he met on his way home from get off work. He told him to be careful of his wife. What should he be careful of?
She is so perfect, everything is what he wants, he should be satisfied.
It was late at night, and the eldest son had already finished his homework and fell asleep.
His daughter was silent. She hadn't cried once since he came back. Everything was just as he wanted.
He can sleep peacefully without having to listen to their shouting and crying. All he has to do is go to work and make money.
He suddenly wanted to go see his children, especially his youngest daughter, whom he hadn't seen for three days. The soft and sweet little girl was like an angel when she wasn't crying or making a fuss, and her smile could melt his heart.
He sat up guiltily, blaming himself for being busy all the time. No wonder the children were not close to him.
Since he had his second child, he was dissatisfied with the children's crying disturbing his sleep and had lost his temper several times. His wife then took the two children to sleep on their sides.
He fumbled to get up, but didn't dare make a sound for fear of waking the child.
At this time, the door of the side bedroom was ajar, and the moonlight shone in through the window, illuminating the area near the window clearly.
Cui Yang wanted to confirm whether the children were asleep, so he took a quick look through the crack in the door. Unexpectedly, this one look almost scared him to death.
Next to the small bed, at the junction of moonlight and darkness, there was a small table with a mirror on it. It was the dressing table he bought for his wife.
When they first got married, he didn't have much money, so he bought it online for three hundred yuan. To them at the time, it was already a luxury item.
At that time, his wife cried with joy and complained that he was spending money recklessly. He hugged her and coaxed her for a long time, saying that he would work hard to make money in the future, buy her a bigger house, and build her a dressing room.
Last month, the table leg was broken by my naughty son, and my wife asked angrily if I could help her fix it.
He said he was very busy and had no time to take care of the trivial matters at home, and asked her not to look for him for no reason.
She had fixed the table herself, not being very skilled at it, so she bought a piece of wood and nailed it on. The nails were still half exposed after the repair. Fearing the child would get pricked, the wife covered it with a thick layer of tape.
At this moment, she was sitting at the dressing table putting on makeup, and her pale face was reflected in the mirror.
It's like the cheap white full-face masks sold online, or the plaster dolls used by children to draw on, pure white, without any color at all.
Cui Yang's blood instantly rushed to his head! A biting cold enveloped his entire body, strangling his throat. He stood stiffly at the door of his bed, forgetting even his instinct to escape.
The woman took a white comb and combed her long hair slowly and attentively.
After combing her hair, she put down the comb, picked up a round box on the table, picked out a piece of paste-like substance from it with her fingernails, and then applied it carefully and evenly on her face.
Her movements were solemn as if she was completing some kind of ritual. Her forehead, cheeks, nose bridge, chin... As she applied makeup, the face in the mirror was no longer creepy white, but gradually became rosy.
Finally, she took out a box of red cream, dipped her finger in it, and slowly applied it to her lips. The red was like the color of coagulated blood, and it was dazzling in the moonlight.
After doing all this, she stopped and tilted her head slightly in front of the mirror, as if admiring herself, or as if checking if there was anything she had missed.
Cui Yang swallowed subconsciously, and the breath that was pressing on his heart finally came out. Is his wife still human?
When he was a child, he read "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" and the painted skin ghost in the story was just like that. It was his childhood nightmare and scared him so much that he couldn't close his eyes at night for a long time. Could he have encountered the painted skin?
The person in the mirror slowly raised the corners of her mouth, and it was obvious that she was very satisfied with her current appearance.
Then her smile froze. With a "creak," her neck made a sound that could only be made when wood turned. "Hubby, are you out there?"
Cui Yang pinched himself hard. Calm down! He had to calm down! His children were in that room!
The woman slowly stood up, and Cui Yang suddenly had an idea and turned to go into the bathroom next door.
He was so frightened that his legs went limp, and he practically lay facedown on the sink, trying to steady his voice: "I'm going to the bathroom, are you still awake?"
He is regretting it so much now. Why did he throw away that business card?
His finger hurt again, the finger that touched the business card. It was in excruciating pain, as if reminding him to seek help quickly and find the fortune teller.
The woman stood quietly at the door, motionless, as if listening to something.
Cui Yang held his breath, his heart pounding, afraid that she would notice something was wrong.
He never knew that time could pass so slowly. Every second was torture for him. Just when Cui Yang was about to collapse, the woman slowly turned around and walked back to the room.
Cui Yang was gasping for breath, his nerves were almost broken, and cold sweat soaked his back.
He forced himself to calm down, walked to the side bedroom door, and tried to sound normal: "Wife, something urgent happened at the company, and the boss asked me to work overtime. You go to bed first, and you don't have to wait for me."
From inside the door came his wife's gentle response: "Okay, go ahead, and be careful on the road."
Cui Yang didn't dare to respond again. After leaving the house, he almost crawled into the elevator, and started running like crazy after walking out of the apartment door. He had to find the fortune-telling stall as soon as possible.
There were not many people in the snack street late at night. The evening breeze blew, rolling up a few pieces of waste paper, making it look particularly desolate.
He looked around but couldn't find any trace of the fortune-telling stall, so he could only look for it according to the address he remembered. Finally, he saw a dilapidated house in a remote alley.
"Master? Are you there?" Cui Yang called out tentatively. He had never seen any master living in such a shabby place. He even suspected that he had remembered it wrong.
Jiang Yuan was sitting cross-legged in front of the ancestral tablet and meditating. Unfortunately, he had eaten too much at night, and people tend to feel sleepy after eating too much. Then, Sect Leader Jiang fell asleep under the gaze of his ancestors while sitting there.
Duan Anluo also covered the child with a bed sheet, fearing that he would catch a cold.
Jiang Yuan was awakened by the sudden shouting. He reluctantly got up and opened the door. Seeing Cui Yang's pale face, Jiang Yuan frowned and asked, "Is it you? You came so soon?"
He doesn't like people who don't believe in the master. He is the master's diehard fan, a protective vest. The master said that whoever he dislikes should be attacked, otherwise his Tao heart will be unstable, and he wants to say a few words to Cui Yang.
"Yes, it's me!" Cui Yang no longer cared about Jiang Yuan's attitude and grabbed his arm. "My wife...she's not human!"
Jiang Yuan's arm hurt from being grabbed by him, and he frowned and pulled his hand back: "What's wrong?"
"She has no face! No, not face... She has no facial features! She's white, snow-white! Like painted skin!" Cui Yang babbled incoherently, his eyes red. "My children are still at home, please go and save them!"
Duan Anluo lazily walked out from the back. He yawned and his eyes fell on Cui Yang: "You said you were scared and worried about the child, but from beginning to end, you never asked about your wife. Don't you remember?"
Cui Yang was stunned and realized that he had indeed subconsciously ignored his wife.
He murmured, "Is she really my wife?"
Duan Anluo smiled faintly: "Isn't the way she is now what you have always wanted?
She is gentle and virtuous, can cook and dress up, is always bright and beautiful, and is a face to be taken out.
She can also take care of children, help them with their homework, soothe them and keep them quiet, and keep the house spotless.
He is considerate of you, never complains, never argues with you, never complains about how little you earn, and never even asks you for living expenses.
Cui Yang's face became paler and paler. Yes, he didn't give any living expenses this month. Where would the money for the child's milk powder come from?
How did he buy the food he ate?
Duan Anluo looked at him and advised earnestly, "Since she's so perfect, what does it matter whether she's human or not? Go back and live a good life with her. She's already very tired. Don't be so naive."
Cui Yang's legs went weak and he almost knelt down before Duan Anluo. "Master, please stop joking. I'm really scared to death."
Duan Anluo stared at him for a few seconds and suddenly asked, "Which is better, your previous wife or your current one?"
Cui Yang opened his mouth, his mind telling him to say "Of course the original one is better", but the words got stuck on his lips.
My wife nowadays is really perfect. She takes care of all the housework, never complains, and takes good care of the children.
But behind this perfection, she is not human!
His voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. "It's really good now, but..."
"But no matter how good he is, he is not a human being, right?" Duan Anluo sneered, turned around and left. He was sleepy and wanted to go to sleep.
Cui Yang grabbed the corner of his clothes and asked anxiously: "Master, how did my wife become like this? Can she come back?"
"You're asking now?" Duan Anluo glared at him sarcastically, pulled back the corner of his clothes, and patted the wrinkles on it like a piece of dirt. "What were you doing before?"
This sentence was like a slap in the face, slapping Cui Yang in the face. He lowered his head in shame and said, "I'm sorry, I was too scared."
Duan Anluo's words reminded Cui Yang of ten years ago when they had no money and couldn't even have a wedding. She said it didn't matter and she could make up for it when she had money in the future. As long as she was with him, she was not afraid of anything.
I remember that she ate vegetable noodles for three consecutive months to save money on rent.
I remember when he was sick with a cold and about to give up, the two of them used the coins in their piggy bank to buy medicine... At that time, his wife didn't even want to leave him.
Thinking about it now, she quit her job for him and gave birth to children for him, and he also worked hard to make money so that she could give her children a good life.
But I don’t know since when, his wife’s weight in his heart has become less and less. He needs to take care of too many people, so naturally he puts his wife last.
He has been working so hard until now that he has even forgotten his original intention.
Cui Yang slapped himself hard, "This is all my fault! Master, please save my wife!"
Cui Yang raised his head, tears streaming down his face. "I want my old wife who would get angry, nag, and argue with me over the smallest things. Even if the one I have now is great, it's not her!"
Duan Anluo's expression finally softened a bit, and he said calmly, "You still have some conscience. Let's go back."
Cui Yang wiped his face carelessly and stumbled after him: "Where are you going?"
Duan Anluo took down the Soul Devouring Banner hanging on the wall and said, "Of course I'll go back and kill it."
He changed the subject, "But I can't guarantee that your wife will come back, and I'm not sure about your two children either. After all, what child won't cry?"
Unless it's a dead child.
Cui Yang froze, too panicked to stand still.
Seeing the depressing atmosphere, Jiang Yuan walked over innocently and said, "Excuse me, I'll pay you half a year's salary first."
Cui Yang was stunned for a moment, then he took out his phone to transfer the money in a daze. He looked at the balance and said, "Sorry, I don't have that much money right now."
Jiang Yuan turned to look at Duan Anluo, what to do?
Duan Anluo: "Give me as much as you can."
Cui Yang mechanically entered the password and transferred 34,000 yuan.
Jiang Yuan pulled out a bunch of keys from his pocket and shook them: "Add five dollars to the fare. Remember to write an IOU and pay it together with the debt."
There was undisguised disgust in the child's eyes: He wants this and that, and he didn't even notice that his wife has changed so much. Is he really stupid or heartless?
Duan Anluo was amused. Who said Jiang Yuan didn't have a temper? Children are so cute when they are angry.
When I arrived at Cui Yang's house and opened the door, I smelled a strange smell, like some kind of spice mixed with the smell of rotten meat.
Jiang Yuan wrinkled his nose, took out his small broken peach wood sword, took two deep breaths, and wanted to rush in. The master said that if you don't like something, you have to do it, otherwise your Tao heart will be unstable. He has already realized the Tao.
Duan Anluo helplessly grabbed his collar and pulled him back. The child didn't know what was going on and became more and more stunned.
Blocking both of them behind him, Duan Anluo went in first and went straight to the side bed.
The door was ajar, and the smell was seeping out from the gap.
Duan Anluo stood at the door and politely knocked on the half-closed door with the Soul Devouring Banner: "Sister-in-law, are you asleep? If not, come out and die."
The author has something to say:
Thank you all for your support and support. I remember there was a one-click thank you feature, but I can't find it now. Thank you all for your support. Tomorrow is the last chapter before V, Sunday V.
For a long time to come, I won't buy or wear a mask. I don't know why a novice like me who doesn't even dare to go to a haunted house would write supernatural stories. Wouldn't it be better for me to write melodramatic stories? [Breaking down crying]
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