In the dark realm, the faint sound, like the laughter of children, also came to an abrupt end.
A deathly silence.
Then the boy, who was wearing a bright red bib and had his back to us, slowly turned around.
When he turned completely to face us, even after experiencing the horrific death of the drowned ghost, we all instantly felt a chill run from our tailbone straight to the top of our heads, and our scalps almost exploded.
That child's face—no, it couldn't even be called a face.
His entire face, including the skin of his entire head, was completely peeled off!
What's exposed is dark red muscle texture, white fascia, and even slightly pulsating blood vessels.
He had no eyelids; his two wide-open, bloodshot eyes stared straight at us.
He had no lips, and two rows of small, white teeth were completely exposed, with bare gums that were constantly oozing dirty blood.
His red undergarment was stained with dried, blackened bloodstains and some yellowish-white congealed substance resembling brain matter or fat.
Beneath the bodice, one could vaguely see that the skin on other parts of the body was also badly damaged, revealing the scarlet flesh underneath.
His hands were holding something and playing with it.
Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be a small section of intestine that had dried out and turned black, with a few strands of withered grass wrapped around it!
His intestines were still connected to his abdominal cavity, but he seemed to feel nothing at all; they were being pulled and tugged at, then turned inside out.
Because his intestines weren't long enough, he had to reach into his abdominal cavity and pull out another section.
Do you want to play cat's cradle?
He gave us a strange smile and asked us while fiddling with the lace rope in his small hands, which had no skin, nails that had fallen off, and bones that were exposed.
"I...I don't want to play!" Li Huai's voice trembled, and he subconsciously took several steps back in the face of his invitation.
Master Zhang Qingxiao's pupils constricted, and the lightning sword in his hand flashed with purple lightning. His face showed an unprecedented solemnity and suspicion.
Even with all the experience Master Zhang Qingxiao had gained over the years of traveling around the country, exorcising demons and monsters, he had never seen such a bizarre vengeful spirit of a child.
The child's eerie smile froze on his bloodied face. Seeing that Li Huai had run away in fright, he turned his exposed eyes toward Luo Tian and me.
A glimmer of hope seemed to appear in his eyes, and with his small, blood-stained hands, he held out the intestines towards us:
"Hey big brothers, do you want to play?"
Luo Tianhe's Adam's apple bobbed, his face turned deathly pale, and he subconsciously shook his head.
And I saw those intestines connected to the abdominal cavity, being turned around like toys, and my stomach churned.
Perhaps because he saw that Master Zhang Qingxiao looked serious and was an old man, he subconsciously thought that he would not play with him, so he did not ask Master Zhang Qingxiao for advice.
Master Zhang Qingxiao took a deep breath, stepped forward to block our way, and said in as calm a tone as possible:
"Child, are you in pain?"
"It hurts?" The child paused, stopped turning his intestines over, and tilted his skinless head.
This movement causes the muscles and fascia in his neck to twist, producing a slight creaking sound.
I couldn't help but think of my own back; if I turned around like him, I might make the same sound.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel waves of phantom pain.
The child's voice was childish, and his face held a strange innocence: "No, how could playing a game hurt?"
"But on your body, on your face..."
Li Huai couldn't help but speak up.
Suddenly, the child revealed a hint of pride and turned around in front of us:
"Oh, these are the new clothes my mother changed me into. Do I look good in them?"
His voice was childlike, without a trace of resentment or hatred, yet it sent chills down our spines.
New clothes? Does skinning mean getting new clothes?
What kind of distorted cognitive development did this child experience before he died?
"Where did your mother change your clothes?" the Taoist priest asked cautiously, trying to understand the tragedy behind it so that we could purify the poor child's obsession.
The child's eyes flickered, as if trying to recall something.
Instead of conveying images like a drowned ghost, he described them in a naive yet eerie tone:
"It was at home, in the woodshed. My mother lit many candles, but it was still dark."
His description was bland, even carrying a hint of anticipation for the new clothes, but to our ears, it involuntarily conjured up a hellish scene!
"And then?" I felt my voice was terribly hoarse, like the sound of an old, broken bellows.
"Then my mother changed my clothes into new ones, but before changing into new clothes, I had to take off my old clothes. Taking off clothes was difficult, and I felt a little uncomfortable, but my mother told me to just bear with it!"
"I was very obedient. Since Mother said so, I just endured it and didn't say a word afterward. Aren't I amazing!"
His voice held a hint of pride; he paused, then held up the intestines in his hand to us:
"Later, my belly opened up, and the flower rope came out. My mother told me to hold it and play with it, so I did..."
"While playing, I got a little sleepy, so my mother held me and sang to me. I don't remember anything after that. When I woke up, I was here. Although there are still ropes to play with in my belly, I'm a little bored. I miss my friends and my mother."
After he finished describing it, he lowered his head, seemingly a little sad, and began to intently manipulate the piece of intestine.
The woodshed, the mother, skinning, disemboweling—until death, he was indoctrinated with the idea that this was a game, a way to get new clothes.
This child died in extreme distortion, deception, and pain!
He didn't even know until his death that he was being murdered, tortured to death in the most cruel way by his trusted mother!
At the same time, I felt somewhat lost.
The hatred of a drowned ghost is at least targeted, with a clear cause and a clear debtor, but what is this child's obsession?
Is it trust and dependence on her mother, or a love for cat's cradle?
"You beast! That mother is a madwoman, a devil!"
Luo Tianhe gritted his teeth, his voice filled with extreme anger.
But when faced with such evil that defies common sense, anger seems somewhat powerless.
Master Zhang Qingxiao's face was also ashen; he clearly hadn't expected this situation either.
To help the souls of the dead, it is often necessary to resolve their obsessions, but the child's obsession is not about revenge or seeking justice!
"Child, do you know where your mother went after that?" the Taoist priest asked tentatively. "Where did she go after she changed your clothes?"
Upon hearing this, the child turned his head, a hint of confusion seemingly flashing in his exposed eyes.
"Later, my mother seemed to be tired. No matter how I called her, I couldn't wake her up. Then I fell asleep too, and when I woke up, I was here."
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