Upon hearing my words, Ge Wang also sighed, took a deep drag on his pipe, and then spoke:
"You're right, I do know a little bit."
"I want to know what happened after that bride died?! How come the villagers seem to know nothing about it, and who got her that coffin? That coffin clearly helped to fuel her resentment!"
I immediately launched into a barrage of questions.
Ge Wang gave a wry smile and looked at me:
"Ask one question after another, don't throw them all out at once."
"The bride died and the next day she turned into a zombie and began killing people."
"In just one day, the groom and his gangster friends all died tragically."
Hearing this, Li Huai and I all breathed a long sigh of relief.
That's how it should be. The grievance should have its source, and the debtor should be held accountable. He should be killed.
"And then what happened? Did she start killing indiscriminately?"
I paused for a moment, then asked.
When a vengeful ghost has just died, it may retain some consciousness and seek revenge on those who harmed it.
But after killing people, her ferocity, malevolence, and resentment grew stronger, and she began to kill indiscriminately, friend or foe!
Old Ge nodded.
"That's right. After killing those culprits, the villagers inevitably began to suffer as well."
"Fortunately, she had only recently become a vengeful ghost, and her resentment wasn't too strong. The villagers invited a master from the neighboring village, and he successfully suppressed her."
Hearing this, Li Huai and I exchanged bewildered glances. Was it really that simple?
I couldn't help but ask, "Was the coffin, and the countless inscriptions of the Rebirth Mantra and the cinnabar lines on it, all done by that master?"
Ge Qiang exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded with a grave expression.
I immediately understood, and asked with certainty, "That master, is his surname Li?"
"That's right, his surname is Li, and he's from the neighboring Li Family Village."
Upon hearing Ge Qiang's affirmative answer, both Luo Tianhe and Li Huai looked at me with surprise.
Li Huai couldn't help but ask:
"Brother Yan, how did you know that master's surname is Li?"
I rolled my eyes at him and said irritably:
"Didn't we find out in the illusion that the bride's surname is Li, and that master is probably her father!"
"Why would her father want to turn his daughter into an even more ferocious ghost? And why would he use such twisted talismans for the dead and dead wood to make her coffin?"
Luo Tianhe asked, looking puzzled.
"Of course, it's for revenge."
I spoke slowly and deliberately, and upon hearing this, Luo Tianhe and Li Huai's expressions of confusion deepened.
Seeing that they were about to ask me again, I quickly explained before they could:
"This master must have loved his daughter very much. He gave the bride all the betrothal gifts and even provided a dowry. But he married her off to this beast's family. Don't you find that a bit suspicious?"
Upon hearing this, both of them nodded involuntarily.
That's true. In normal rural areas, when a daughter gets married, the betrothal gifts go to the bride's family.
The fact that this father was willing to let his daughter take the betrothal gifts shows that he must have loved her very much to do that.
"There is only one possibility: the villagers lied to him, saying that this man is of good character and will treat his daughter well."
"Moreover, it is very likely that the whole village conspired to deceive him, otherwise he would not have let his daughter marry into this place so rashly."
After I finished speaking, Luo Tianhe and Li Huai suddenly realized what I meant.
"I understand now. He wants his daughter to transform into an even more ferocious ghost and slaughter everyone in the village, leaving no one alive!"
Li Huai blurted out what I thought was the truth.
I stared straight at Ge Wang:
Am I right?
Ge Wang nodded with a complicated expression, and after a moment he spoke:
"You guessed right."
"Haha, well done! That's how it should be done—we must nip it in the bud!"
Luo Tianhe suddenly burst out laughing.
Hearing his laughter, Ge Wang's expression became even more complicated. He sighed deeply before continuing:
“I know you know what she went through and you must feel sorry for her.”
At this point, Ge Wang suddenly changed the subject:
“But not everyone in the village is bad; there are always a few innocent people. For example, those children—they know nothing about this. Do you think it's appropriate to kill them all?”
Hearing Ge Wang's words, Luo Tianhe waved his hand dismissively and said:
"A child of a bad seed is a bad seed."
"Heh, so all those honest people in the village should die too? They're just oppressed and afraid to speak the truth!"
"What's more, some people don't even know this woman is going to marry into their village. Should they die too?"
Upon hearing this, the three of us fell silent.
I remember back at the banquet, when the three of us stabbed Ge Qiang and that group of thugs to death.
The villagers cheered, clearly indicating that they were the oppressed.
Some kind people reminded us to run away quickly. Although they didn't have the courage to stand up, at least they weren't bad people at heart.
It is indeed wrong to condemn someone outright.
Seeing that the three of us had fallen silent, Ge Wang continued:
"After his father did it, the village was indeed calm for a while. Everyone thought that nothing had happened until that day when a villager hanged himself from his own tree."
"What's even more terrifying is that every night people hang themselves from the trees, their deaths incredibly gruesome, their eyes wide open as if they've seen a scene from hell."
"And do you know what's even scarier? The village is trapped in a maze, everyone is stuck inside, and no one can find a way out!"
Upon hearing this, the three of us exchanged glances and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
In that sense, those who died first were the luckiest.
At least you don't have to be immersed in this terrifying atmosphere every day, waiting for your death to come.
“I was only three or four years old at the time.”
At this point, Ge Wang seemed somewhat dazed, as if he had returned to that terrifying time.
Luo Tianhe's expression suddenly became strange. He thought to himself that he had just cursed him, calling him a bad seed.
“You have no idea how desperate we were back then. All the exits from the village were shrouded in mist, and everyone who tried to leave would turn back.”
“Every night someone dies. People are afraid that they will be the ones to die, but they also hope that they will be the ones to die.”
Ge Wang's voice was somewhat deep, making us all feel as if we were there.
The thought of living in the village he described...
That was truly like living in hell.
I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine and a pang of heart palpitation.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
