Chapter Twenty-Two: Blood Feud

I knew that Granny Li had sent everyone away because she wanted to speak to me about this.

But why did Granny Li warn me, forbidding me from approaching her?

I hesitated, but Granny Li sighed and said, “Child, people are people, ghosts are ghosts. A ghost only clings to a single obsession. The reason I had you pick up the hairpin is related to all this. She’ll always help you, but remember what I say: do not speak to her. Do you understand?”

Confusion welled up within me. I bit my lip, neither nodding nor answering...

“Promise Granny Li. Once the matters in your village are resolved, I’ll tell you the reason.”

“If you don’t listen, I’m afraid you’ll bring danger not only to your father and Aunt Hui, but also to those around you. Do you understand?”

Granny Li’s expression grew solemn.

“She’s a ghost, after all, and—”

She left her sentence unfinished. Uneasiness stirred in my heart. Granny Li was right; she’s a ghost...

A ghost I’d only met once.

Why did I feel, deep inside, that she was good? Why did I long to be close to her?

I recalled the first time I saw her; had Wang Deshui not patted me, I might have wandered into the ghost woman’s yard.

Quietly, I said, “I understand, Granny Li. I’ll listen to you.”

Granny Li’s face softened. “Just now, was it Old Zhou’s ghost who came looking for you?”

A chill ran across my face. “If not for her, I might have lost my life.”

Granny Li sighed. “No need to examine the body, I am certain now that Old Zhou’s life was stolen by someone. As for why he sought you alone, do you know the reason?”

I was stunned, shaking my head, saying I didn’t know.

Granny Li looked at me deeply. “Because you too have stolen his life.”

My face changed slightly. “I didn’t—”

My words stopped abruptly. My expression turned grim. “When I was very young, I took Old Zhou’s longevity bowl on his eightieth birthday...”

“But everyone in the village took one that day.”

Confusion clouded my face. I bit my lip. “Why did he single me out?”

Granny Li shook her head. “It’s not the same. The bowls others took were meant to be given away. You didn’t take one—you stole the bowl he used for eating, didn’t you?”

“He’s seeking you for one of two reasons: either he can’t find the true culprit who stole his life, or he found them but can’t take his life back. You’re just a child; it’s much easier for him to reclaim a little something from you.”

My heart pounded, unease growing stronger.

I gritted my teeth and whispered, “He was chased away just now...”

“He’ll come back. The whole family will come... This must be settled. Return a bit of life to him, and he won’t torment you anymore. Otherwise, your father and Aunt Hui could be in danger.”

A jolt of fear shot through me. Was I really to return Old Zhou’s life?

How much would satisfy him?

Remembering that nearly drained sensation before, goosebumps rose on my skin.

Granny Li gestured for me to go to bed—when I woke, I was to retrieve the longevity bowl I’d stolen on Old Zhou’s birthday. After dawn, we still had to check on Carpenter Wang’s house.

The old village chief had invited a master whom Granny Li knew.

But we needed to see whether there was anything wrong with Carpenter Wang’s corpse.

Hearing this, I finally understood why my father and Aunt Hui felt safe leaving Aunt Wang at Granny Li’s house.

Granny Li returned to her room.

I didn’t go to sleep.

At this moment I felt incredibly energetic; the breath I’d absorbed from Old Zhou didn’t just heal my arm—I now realized I felt more alive than before.

I had hidden the stolen longevity bowl in the rice vat; I went to the kitchen and dug it out.

It was a fine enamel bowl, glossy and intact despite years of use.

Cradling the bowl, I returned to my room, replaying Granny Li’s words in my mind. Though I was afraid, for the sake of my father, Aunt Hui, and to be rid of Old Zhou’s haunting, I had to do this.

Granny Li would never harm me.

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My mind wandered uncontrollably to that woman. I pulled the hairpin from my chest.

The silver hairpin was slightly tarnished, with a bit of grime in the crevices.

It looked as though it hadn’t been used for many years.

The tip was carved like a peacock feather, intricate and elegant, the middle engraved with fine patterns resembling fish scales.

Only now did I notice, on the reverse side, two delicate characters were inscribed.

“Chan Shu.”

The name was ancient and elegant. I murmured it aloud.

Suddenly, pain shot through my hand—I hadn’t noticed the sharp end of the hairpin had pricked my finger, drawing a drop of blood.

I quickly sucked the wound and spat the dirty blood onto the floor. “Her name is Chan Shu?”

She couldn’t be from Granny Li’s village, nor could she be the ghost woman.

How could the ghost woman possibly be such a young, beautiful woman?

If she were, Granny Li would have told me long ago.

I stared at the comb, lost in thought for quite a while.

From the yard, suddenly came the sound of a door opening.

My heart skipped. Who went out?

I rushed out, flung open the door, and saw a figure I never wanted to see.

Liu the Funeral Man, filthy from head to toe, with dirt smeared across his face, stood in the yard.

His thin, small frame seemed even more emaciated, nearly reduced to a skeleton.

He walked toward his room, expressionless, as if he hadn’t even noticed me.

I was stunned.

Liu the Funeral Man... was back?

The last time I saw him was with Wang Erjun in the burned house at the village chief’s home.

A chill ran through me, mingled with dread.

Why had Liu the Funeral Man returned?

I always suspected him.

He stole lives.

He set the fire.

Yet there was no definitive proof.

He never defended himself, nor did any other suspicious person appear.

Especially after he vanished, even my father, who refused to believe in such things, began to suspect him.

At that moment, Liu the Funeral Man suddenly strode to the door of a room.

That room had been tidied for Granny Li.

My face changed, worried Liu the Funeral Man might do something.

“Grandpa...” I forced myself to call out to him.

Liu the Funeral Man ignored me, his voice hoarse as he muttered, “Knowing I’m here, why don’t you come out?”

My heart thudded. So, he’d come for Granny Li.

But his tone—did Liu the Funeral Man know Granny Li?

The door swung open, and Granny Li’s plump face appeared, still smiling.

“Leave my house,” Liu the Funeral Man suddenly said.

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Granny Li’s expression didn’t change. “Why?”

Liu the Funeral Man’s face was cold and remote, giving off an even more sinister air.

“Go back to your Wang Family Pass. I won’t repeat myself a third time.”

All these years, I’d hardly heard Liu the Funeral Man speak so much.

At the same time, my father and Aunt Hui’s door opened.

My father frowned, staring at Liu the Funeral Man in silence.

Aunt Hui was stunned, clearly surprised to see Liu the Funeral Man return.

“Father...” her voice was rough, “where have you been these days?” Her astonishment turned to complicated emotion.

Liu the Funeral Man didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on Granny Li.

Suddenly, a resentful voice shouted, “I’ll fight you to the death!”

In the next instant, Wang Erjun slammed open his door, clutching a stool, and swung it at Liu the Funeral Man’s head!

“You killed my father! You must pay with your life!”

Aunt Hui’s face changed, crying, “Erjun! Stop! Things aren’t clear yet—don’t act rashly.”

My father hurried to stop Wang Erjun.

But Wang Erjun was like a madman, impossible to restrain, swinging the stool at Liu the Funeral Man.

Aunt Hui was knocked to the ground; my father stumbled back several steps.

Liu the Funeral Man didn’t move. As Wang Erjun brought the stool down, he raised his hand and caught Erjun’s wrist.

Pain twisted Erjun’s face, but his eyes were filled with hatred and a reckless determination.

“Xie Yuan! Granny Li! Do something! This man killed the village chief’s family and my father! Now he’s back—he must fear Granny Li!”

I clenched my fists, fear still gripping my heart.

But Granny Li had said nothing...

She hadn’t definitively claimed Liu the Funeral Man had stolen lives.

“Father, can’t you say something and clear things up?” Aunt Hui knelt on the floor, clutching Liu the Funeral Man’s leg, crying, “Everyone in the village thinks you stole the village chief’s father’s life. Carpenter Wang died under mysterious circumstances. If you don’t speak, before the villagers come for us, our family will be ruined.”

Liu the Funeral Man frowned, shaking off Wang Erjun’s hand. Erjun staggered to the ground.

No one could have imagined that such strength could come from Liu the Funeral Man’s scrawny body.

“I didn’t do it, nor harm anyone. You don’t understand the matters in the village. In any case, these outsiders must leave.”

Liu the Funeral Man suddenly declared.

My heart skipped. Outsiders? Anyone not from our village was an outsider?

That included Granny Li, the master the chief invited, and the chief’s distant relative, Zhou Gang.

Liu the Funeral Man wanted to drive everyone out?

At that moment, a chilling realization struck me.

When Liu the Funeral Man sent the relics to the village chief’s house, Aunt Hui explained it was to help the old ghost rest in peace, so Old Zhou would reincarnate.

But the whole premise was that he hadn’t returned home before the seventh day, hadn’t turned into a vengeful ghost.

Yet Wang Erjun and I found him in the old house, and not only had he become a ghost seeking vengeance, but his arrangements in the old house seemed intent on turning the whole family into ghosts.

A cold shudder ran through me. I didn’t know if Granny Li realized it. I desperately signaled her with my eyes.

Just then, Wang Erjun scrambled from the floor and rushed out of the yard.

“You’re a murderer! You’ve harmed so many people—how can you lie so shamelessly? I’ll make you pay for my father’s death!”

Wang Erjun reached the door, his eyes bloodshot, shouting his grievances.

Finally, he vanished beyond the threshold.

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