I did not move, bending slightly and placing both hands on the lid of the coffin.
If the coffin were opened, might there be something related to Yu Xiuxiu that could be helpful, perhaps even upon perception!
Even, I could help Yu Xiuxiu like how I helped the vengeful ghost?
But just as I was preparing to exert force, a sharp pain shot through my wrist!
A muffled groan escaped me, and I immediately let go of the coffin lid, my right hand instinctively covering my left wrist.
The source of the pain was unmistakably the location of the Qin Xue Shou Huan band.
The vengeful ghost doesn't want me to open the coffin?
The next moment, a soft hiss, as if something was scraping against the wood.
My pupil shrank abruptly, and I stared fixedly at the coffin.
But the sound, disappeared again...
It was as if I had just imagined it.
Shaking my head, I still fixedly stared at the coffin.
That level of caution makes it impossible to mistake for an illusion...
There's actually something inside the coffin?
The vengeful ghost is blocking me because that thing is dangerous?
My heart was pounding so fiercely, it seemed to be right in my throat.
I must be mistaken? This isn't Yu Xiuxiu's coffin?
Another icy sensation came, seemingly in a hurry.
I didn't linger in the attic any longer, just taking Yu Xiuxiu's spirit tablet with me and crawling out through the hole in the tile roof, then covering it back up with all the tiles.
After jumping down from the roof, I closed the door to Yu Xiuxiu's house and left hurriedly in the direction of my own home.
The night, grew even deeper.
By the time I returned to the courtyard, it was already past midnight.
Before, there wasn't much feeling, but now, a solitary courtyard in the dead of night felt particularly desolate and cold.
I returned to my own room, closed the door.
The space became smaller, enclosed, and I felt a lot more peace in my heart...
Turning around, I narrowed my eyes and shivered.
Without warning, a man appeared behind me.
A pale face, long and thin, along with similarly long eyes, giving off a sinister feeling.
His cheeks were dry and flaky, and he stood on his tiptoes, his heels not touching the ground.
My breathing slightly steadied.
"Thank you," I said sincerely.
The vengeful ghost helped me twice.
Faced off against Wei Youming in the training hall.
And previously, once when he stopped me from opening the coffin.
Although I cannot command him directly, his help has been quite helpful.
"It won't wake up, a head can't devour Wu Zhongkuan," the vengeful ghost murmured.
My heart skipped a beat.
Is he talking about Old Gong?
Furrowing my brow, I remained silent for a moment.
"You shouldn't have come to this village. Jin Yang is in chaos, and there's a lot you can do."
"There are too many ghosts in this village. Some are even more terrifying than that mad ghost, more so than me, more so than Wu Zhongkuan, by tenfold or more."
"You're courting death."
"If you want to die, don't drag me along. Just throw me out of the village."
The vengeful ghost moved closer to me, leaving only a hand-width distance between us. His pale and sunken face was nearly touching mine!
"You guys killed my brother."
"You, though you've helped me, but if you die, I'll still be glad."
His tone became even colder, as if it was creeping into my ear one strand at a time.
Suddenly, I remembered the old man who guards the funeral home!
Indeed, the vengeful ghost appears youthful.
But that old man has guarded the funeral home from his youth all the way to old age.
Once a person dies, everything is fixed, but the living have none.
"I didn't kill him. Han Q, neither did he. It was because he wanted you to leave Qijiang Village."
I exhaled, not frightened by the vengeful ghost.
Maybe, he does have no good opinion of me.
But I think more that the existence of this Qin Xue Shou Huan band makes him, even if he doesn't have any good opinion of me, at least he has to protect me.
This is why he helped me twice!
"Is that so? If Han Q had just been a bit more obstinate..." the vengeful ghost said again.
"If you had understood your brother's heart, you wouldn't have killed Han Q. You would have left Qijiang Village long ago, and the one suffering, would only be Han Shuang." I narrowed my eyes instantly!
Why should this vengeful ghost think that Han Q should die to allow him to come out?
Then why did he stop Han Q at that time?
I am not just cold, but there are other thoughts in my heart.
Even with the Qin Xue Shou Huan band, this vengeful ghost…… is still untrustworthy, uncontrollable……
Untrustworthy, uncontrollable, that's a potential hazard.
He was forced to help me. When he can do so, perhaps the result will be quite different.
The vengeful ghost vanished in a flash, and my wrist felt icy and heavier.
Closing my eyes, I took a long while to calm myself down.
I made some arrangements inside the house. I scattered the ashes of the black dog in the corner of the inner wall, and placed two black donkey shoes at the threshold.
This way, even if there are vengeful ghosts with blood grievances, they won't want to come into my house.
In itself, unless there is a blood feud with ghosts, and they become fixated on it, ghosts won't pursue it relentlessly.
Excluding this point, ghosts will also avoid things that make them uncomfortable.
The two things I wanted to do before returning to the village were: 1) Find something belonging to Yu Xiuxiu. I have already found it, though it can't be of much use at the moment, but it has at least been accomplished.
The second thing is to kill the old man who killed Liu Guan.
That is a major hazard, I need to conserve my energy and get rid of him!
Back on the bed, drowsiness overwhelmed me, and I fell asleep.
During this nap, I dared not sleep too deeply, keeping my eyes half-closed.
The next day, the sky was already bright!
Stepping out of the room, the sun shone on me, giving a soothing warmth that felt incredibly comfortable.
I cleaned up the courtyard again, making it spotless, before heading to the kitchen to boil a bowl of noodles.
Having eaten, I sat in the hall thinking about how to deal with the old man.
The vengeful ghost is definitely not someone I can rely on.
The concept of 'ground qi'—if I reveal it in front of the vengeful ghost, it would still require me to deal with the vengeful ghost.
His behavior made me completely unable to trust him.
The saying is true after all, "When it's time to cut, don't hesitate, or else you'll suffer from its turmoil!"
I made my decision decisively.
After that, I got up and left the courtyard, heading straight to the widow Liu's house.
When I reached the front of Widow Liu's house, I pushed open the door.
The empty courtyard appeared clean and tidy, completely different from mine.
In places where there are ghosts, they are often abnormally clean.
I didn't go straight to the second floor; first, I placed the eight-character banners in all directions of the courtyard.
Even though it is far away from everywhere in Lao Guai Village, I can't relax, and I need to be fully prepared.
After that, I went up to the second floor, the room where Liu Guan lived.
However, the room was empty, and there was no body of Widow Liu.
There was an altar at the head of the bed...
I was stunned, and then I remembered a detail.
When I left Lao Guai Village, Yu Xiuxiu said that she would go help with the burial of Liu Guan.
Clearly, her body had already been buried.
The courtyard was still clean; whether or not the body was buried didn't matter.
I offered four incense sticks to Liu Guan, worshipped a bit, and then left her room.
From then on, it was just waiting quietly.
Time passed, and I waited until past noon.
Actually, at noon, I was still afraid that the old man might suddenly appear and be more vigilant than ever.
He didn't appear.
Time passed extremely slowly, and I waited until nightfall.
The sky grew dark and gloomy, with a thin layer of mist covering the moon, a ghostly moon.
I thought that the old man would have arrived by now.
I was sitting right in Liu Guan's house, which was definitely a provocation for him.
But the old man... hasn't appeared yet...
The night grew deeper and deeper, until the midnight hour.
Finally, there was a faint noise at the front door of the courtyard.
It seemed like someone was softly knocking on the door.
I frowned instead.
Does the old man need to knock on the door to come here?
Since he knocked, it's more likely that it's not a ghost but a person.
The villagers are not very cautious, they even dare to come to a place where it's haunted.
I was about to get up and tell the person knocking at the door not to come to such a place.
But instead, I heard a hoarse, dry whisper.
What was said was not very clear.
I listened carefully, but I still couldn't make out what he was saying. I had already walked up to the front of the courtyard.
I reached out and opened the door.
A person was standing straight and stiffly outside the door.
The wind grew even colder.
The person was dressed in a set of all-black clothes and wore a black round hat on his head.
He looked like he had caught a cold, his face was very pale.
His eyes appeared tired, lacking much strength.
"You... hi," the man greeted weakly, managing a smile on his face.
My brows were furrowed, and my tone was cold and harsh: "This place is not very good. Which family do you belong to in the village? Don't you know that Liu Guan's house is haunted? Being sickly, go home immediately. Don't wander around aimlessly at night, let alone come here!"
"Hisss..." The man rubbed his shoulders and shivered, his face showing a bitter smile.
"Brother, I can't go back," the man sighed again.
"Can't go back?" I showed a slight confusion.
"Oh, my wife, she doesn't recognize me anymore. She doesn't even want to marry me yet."
The man looked particularly dejected, slumping his shoulders even more.
"Not only does she not recognize me, but when I go to find her, she treats me very cruelly. Not only cruelly, but she locks me up in a dark and small room."
"Okay, I can't leave, just being locked up like that, day after day, year after year, I can't bear it."
"Brother, you don't know, it's just a small room. People are cramped there and look like they're not human anymore."
The man opened up and began to complain about his situation.
"Women are so ungrateful!"
"I was married according to the traditional customs with three scrolls and six gifts! But because I died, she won't marry me!"
"Not only does she not want to marry me, but she even forgot who I am!"
"Lately, she has started to remember a bit, but instead of thinking about what she should do to me, she has her eyes on other men!"
"Brother, do you know how much I suffer!"
"I just wish I could kill her! And even more, I wish I could kill that evil lover of hers!"
In an instant, my back was covered in cold sweat.
Is this a ghost?
It's strange. A ghost knocked on the door...
It should not be looking for me, but I did talk to him as a ghost.
This is quite troublesome...
"Ri ri ri..." The coughing sound seemed to come from behind.
For a moment, a chill rose in my heart.
When did the old man enter the courtyard!?
"Brother, what do you think? Should the lover be killed?" The man widened his eyes and stared at me blankly!
"He deserves to die! There's a head for every crime, and there's a creditor for every debt. You should go find him!"
I spoke quickly.
I spoke quickly. "I think it's simple. First, send this ghost away. Don't let things get complicated."
I need to deal with that old man!
I didn't expect that the man in front of me suddenly started laughing. As he laughed, tears of blood suddenly streamed down his face!
"Yes, the lover deserves to die!"
"Why did you have to be the lover!?"
His voice became extremely shrill, filled with resentment and hatred!
His hands suddenly shot out and clamped down harshly on my neck!
