Zhao Jianguo has gotten himself into a rut, insisting that it's all his fault.
I struggled to keep my body afloat, helping to lift Zhao Laoshuan's body while trying to organize my thoughts.
"Why is your dad bothering you?" I took a breath. "This matter needs to be looked at from two perspectives. On one hand, it's Old Li's doing, and on the other hand, it's Old Liu's doing."
Although Zhao Jianguo said he didn't believe it, he couldn't help but listen attentively.
Luo Tianhe and Li Huai also looked over; to be honest, they were quite curious as well.
At first, the two of them thought that Zhao Jianguo was an unfilial son, which was why the old man was haunting their family after his death.
After all, they had heard plenty of stories about unfilial sons and daughters-in-law who would cling to their deceased parents.
“Let’s talk about Lao Li first.” I slowed my pace. “When a person has just passed away, their soul is not at peace, especially someone like your father who lived in the countryside his whole life, but closed his eyes in a city hospital instead of at home. That’s called dying far from home.”
"In this situation, it is easy to get lost, or to instinctively want to go home to see one's spouse, son, or grandson. This is a common obsession among many elderly people and is not uncommon. In old terms, this is called 'returning home' or 'collecting one's footprints'."
“Return the spirit, collect the footprints…” Luo Tianhe suddenly interjected, “I’ve heard the village elders talk about this. It’s true, it usually happens on the seventh day after death.”
"That's right. In this situation, the elderly usually won't harm anyone. It's just that family members might feel a little cold, have nightmares, and weak children might be frightened. After a while, their soul will go wherever it should go and they will be at peace."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jianguo first nodded, then shook his head: "But you know what happened later. Not to mention that I wouldn't harm anyone, my whole family was almost destroyed."
"That's all the work of that son of a bitch, Lao Liu!" My tone turned serious. "Your father died a natural death. His soul should have been in a daze, slowly dissipating, or going to where it was meant to go. But Lao Liu took your father's body out and used seven soul-suppressing nails to seal his joints and meridians. That's an extremely insidious method!"
I pointed to the gruesome, dark nail holes on Zhao Laoshuan's corpse:
"These nails not only pierced his body, but also nailed down the last remnants of his soul and instincts!"
"Just think about it, your father's soul is forcibly locked in this already dead body, trapped in a body that is neither human nor ghost, unable to move, suffering from evil magic day and night. How painful and desperate must that be?!"
Zhao Jianguo's lips trembled, and tears rolled down his cheeks again.
He had an urge to burst into tears. It turned out that his father wasn't blaming him; it was all that bastard surnamed Liu's fault.
“With their souls tormented like this, their instinct to return home turns into pain, obsession, and resentment. This resentment shouldn't be directed at you.” I sighed and continued.
"But that's exactly what Old Liu wanted. He used evil magic to activate this frozen corpse, and used red wood and things from the temple as a catalyst to forcibly lead your father's soul, like a puppet, to you, the people he loved most in life!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jianguo stomped his foot angrily, gritting his teeth, his hatred for Lao Liu reaching a new level!
If that guy weren't already dead, he would definitely take revenge on him severely!
“Your father was also powerless to control his own destiny. He was just an ordinary person with no particular obsessions. The only remaining consciousness he had was probably the pain of being locked up and the longing for home.”
"But the longing to go home was turned into a knife that harmed his family by that beast surnamed Liu. Only when we pulled out the nails and destroyed the puppet were we able to cut the string and free your father's soul from this painful bondage. Although his body is in this state, at least his soul is free and should be able to rest in peace."
As Zhao Jianguo listened, he slowly squatted down, looked at his father's dark face, gently brushed away the dirt, and burst into tears:
"Father, I'm so sorry. I've made you suffer so much, even after you've left!"
We didn't say anything and just stood silently to the side.
After a while, Zhao Jianguo stopped crying. He wiped away his tears, and his eyes became firm:
“My benefactors, I understand. I will send my father back to his hometown for a proper burial so that he can rest in peace. Every year during the Qingming Festival, I will bring my children back to kowtow to him and burn paper money, telling him that everything is fine at home and that he should stop worrying about me.”
“That’s right!” I patted his shoulder. “If your father could know this under the bed, he wouldn’t blame you. If anyone should blame you, blame that vicious guy and the evil spirit in the temple! Now your father’s revenge is mostly complete. Sending him off properly is the best way to show your filial piety.”
Zhao Jianguo nodded heavily, slowly picked up his father, and continued walking down the mountain.
As they walked, Li Huai suddenly asked, "There's something I still don't understand. Since he's already brought his father's body here, why does he still insist on letting his father's body harm Old Zhao's family?"
"Didn't he say before that he wanted fresh blood offerings to the guys in that temple, and that he was quite happy that a few of us came?"
I quickly replied, "Li Huai seems a bit slow on the uptake."
Li Huai then nodded thoughtfully.
As dawn broke, mist began to rise from the mountains and forests.
Going up the mountain is easy, but coming down is hard, especially at night when you can't even see the road clearly.
After walking for several more hours, we finally reached the foot of the mountain.
From afar, I could see Fatty Wang's bulky figure, leaning against the car, fast asleep.
"This deserter didn't even drive away?" Li Huai was a little puzzled. He thought the guy had already run away, but he didn't expect him to be waiting for them here.
"Driving away like that? Do you think I'm stupid? Getting out of the car without taking the keys out?!" Luo Tianhe cursed, then rolled up his sleeves and walked towards him. "This guy, he just ran off without saying a word. I'm going to teach him a lesson!"
"Alright, let him off the hook. I wasn't really expecting him to be of any help anyway. It's good enough if he doesn't cause any trouble." I grabbed Luo Tianhe, then stepped forward and slapped him hard to wake him up.
"Oh, sleeping so soundly?"
Fatty Wang groggily opened his eyes, saw it was us, and a flash of fear quickly crossed his eyes, followed by a look of joy:
"That's great! I knew you guys were lucky and would be alright!"
"Get lost! Don't spout this nonsense. We haven't settled the score with you for abandoning us and running away back then!"
I cursed back angrily.
Director Wang, to his utter dismay, knelt on the ground, weeping and pleading, "Brother, I was a coward, I was scared, I was wrong, please forgive me this time!"
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