“Oh my god!” Granny Fan’s pupils contracted like needles as she screamed out in shock. Her elderly face, previously flushed red like a pig’s bottom from excessive exertion, instantly turned the color of blackened liver. Not only that, but the wrinkles on her face seemed to deepen considerably, so deep they could trap flies—truly “profound beyond measure”!
In contrast, the female ghost’s body was as soft and pliable as noodles, twisting and turning as she floated down from the ceiling. With just a couple of wriggles, she reached Granny Fan’s side. Most curiously, the ghost resembled a piece of modeling clay, boneless and soft from head to toe. At this moment, her body stretched like taffy, growing longer and longer. Finally, she tightened her body and coiled around Granny Fan like a zongzi rice dumpling.
Though this process seemed complicated, to Liu Dashao—who was closest to them—it appeared as nothing more than a flash of white light. And with every twist of her body, the ghost’s joints emitted a crisp “crack” sound. After six such snaps, poor Granny Fan had already been bound up tightly like a fattened pig ready for slaughter.
As the ghost neared completion of her task, she began to giggle maniacally, her expression as nauseatingly cloying as a spoiled child seeking attention. Her voice sounded like the grating screech of a steel saw, making one wonder whether her vocal cords were leaking air or damaged. Naturally, such speculation lasted only a second, because what happened next immediately left everyone stunned into silence.
Suddenly, the ghost’s head shot out from her abdomen, her neck stretching like a pig’s large intestine, reaching two or three meters in length. Her hair wasn’t idle either—it was already long enough, but now it extended all the way to her heels. Hiding her bloodless, paper-white face within her hair, only two blood-red eyeballs remained visible, creating the illusion of being in the depths of hell.
“Wahahaha…” The ghost licked her lips in satisfaction while dragging Granny Fan up into the air like a dead dog with the lower half of her body. Her body swayed as she stared amorously at the others huddled in the corner. Dog Egg’s father, the most timid of them all, had already lost his composure. With a wet pair of trousers, he frantically searched for a hiding place. Probably overwhelmed by fear, he actually dove headfirst into the arms of Xiao Ma’s mother, squirming and burrowing in without any intention of coming out. Xiao Ma’s mother’s face instantly turned half red. With a sharp swing of her hefty arm, she flung the old rascal to the ground with a loud “thud.”
As for Village Chief Tian, he was already having a bad day. Just moments ago, someone had accidentally kicked him awake, but as soon as he sleepily opened his eyes and witnessed the ghost’s head extending, the predictable result was immediate—he foamed at the mouth, rolled his eyes, and fainted dead away again. Liu Dashao, however, was a man of experience, possessing a strong mental constitution. At the very least, he was far more capable than his father. Right now, he was guarding the beds of Tian Guoqiang and the others, clutching a bottle of cooking oil in his hand, calculating where on the ghost’s body he should smash it when the time came.
Watching her captured prey, the ghost laughed with increasing smugness. However, she clearly failed to notice that the tightly wrapped Granny Fan had just flashed a fleeting smile.
“Halt! Demon, take this!” Suddenly, Granny Fan shrieked. Her silver hair stood straight up as she shouted. At the same time, the ghost shrieked like she had been electrocuted and flung Granny Fan away. Due to her frailty, Granny Fan couldn’t adjust her posture mid-air, though she did attempt a minor adjustment—by releasing a fart. Predictably, with a thunderous “bang,” her back slammed into the wall, rolling like a ball across the cement floor for several rotations before finally coming to a stop. Watching Granny Fan spin across the ground, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but angrily exclaim: “What the hell are you doing? We don’t have time for bowling now!”
Now, Granny Fan looked utterly disheveled. Covered in dust and dirt, her shriveled old mouth was bleeding profusely, a thin line of blood trickling down her lips. As for the ghost, she had no idea what had struck her. A red mark had been seared into her pale body, the edges burnt and blistered. Several surrounding patches of skin had melted like mud and slumped to the ground, causing the ghost to grimace in pain. Upon closer inspection, the red mark was revealed to be exactly where Granny Fan had held the copper coin used to subdue corpses.
“Wahahaha!” This time it was Granny Fan’s turn to laugh triumphantly. She coolly pulled an old tooth from her mouth and arrogantly declared: “Not so impressive, are you? Just a snake spirit!”
However, before she could utter another word, the ghost charged straight at her. Fully aware that this was a moment of life or death, Granny Fan knew that among the nine people present, she alone was capable of putting up a fight. The others were merely bystanders—hardly enough to even serve as a snack for this snake spirit.
If she succeeded today, everything would be fine. But if she failed, well, tomorrow the town’s coffin shop would likely make a small profit. Sigh! She couldn’t even figure out how these fools had managed to provoke her. Could it really be their time to go? Thinking this through, Granny Fan gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and clamped both rows of her teeth together, biting her tongue hard. Instantly, blood flowed into her mouth, spreading a salty, metallic taste across her tongue.
The intense pain also helped clear her dazed mind slightly. Immediately, she opened her mouth and spat a jet of blood straight at the ghost’s head. The ghost hadn’t anticipated this move and was directly hit in the face. As the blood droplets touched her skin, they rapidly seeped into it. Unable to endure the pain, the ghost screamed in agony, clawing desperately at her face, as if the blood were something terrifying to her.
As the saying goes, “A real man never misses a chance to kick someone when they’re down!” Having served as a spiritual medium for so many years, Granny Fan naturally understood this principle well—especially since she wasn’t a man anyway.
Without hesitation, she pulled two extremely fine silver needles from her underwear and plunged them straight into her temples, several centimeters deep, an act so bizarre it defied comprehension. Liu Dashao watched with bulging eyes, thinking to himself that this old woman must have taken the wrong medicine—her method of suicide was certainly unique! But Granny Fan didn’t die as he had expected, nor did she kick the bucket right away.
Instead, her body suddenly stiffened. The veins on her forehead, neck, and wrists bulged like tree roots emerging from the ground. Her face turned a shade of red like cinnabar—not the usual kind of redness caused by shyness or anger, but a color difficult to describe, even more vivid than the red face of Guan Yu, the godlike general. Meanwhile, Granny Fan’s mouth was not idle either, muttering a series of strange incantations. Although Liu Dashao was nearby, he couldn’t understand a word, only catching fragments like “Master,” “divine power,” and the like.
Suddenly, Granny Fan straightened her previously hunched back, her sunken eye sockets now appearing fuller. Lifting her foot, she used her bloodied hand to draw a symbol on the bottom of her shoe. Then, twisting her waist, she delivered a flying kick that sent the ghost soaring into the sky. With a mighty leap from the ground, she raised her left hand in a lotus-finger pose and extended her right hand like a sword finger. With a swift motion, she seized the ghost’s head, pulled out one of the silver needles from her own temple, and plunged it straight into the ghost’s forehead. The impact left a tiny black dot on the ghost’s brow. The dot expanded endlessly outward, like a spreading abscess, soon rotting into a large black hole. Around the hole, streams of black liquid oozed like spider webs across the ghost’s face.
“Damn you, old hag! I’ll kill you for sure!” the ghost screamed in pain, her hair disheveled, her wails echoing throughout the small room. Blood streaks ran down the walls like abstract paintings.
“Ha! Let’s see if you’ve got the guts! Come bite me if you can!” Granny Fan sneered. Earlier, she had used a technique known as “Spirit Possession,” a form of folk magic widely practiced in rural areas, bearing some relation to the Maoshan sect. According to records, Spirit Possession requires first setting up an altar, offering sacrifices, and worshipping deities (or martial spirits of great warriors). Then, specially crafted fine silver needles are inserted into the practitioner’s temples to stimulate yang energy, inviting the spirit to possess the body and greatly enhancing its power. Legend has it that even someone bedridden and physically weak could, for a short time, unleash their full potential, increasing strength and martial prowess several times over. However, this method is not without risk. Improper use can lead to serious consequences, ranging from mental damage to even death. Moreover, the practitioner’s physical strength would be significantly weakened for a long time afterward, often resulting in serious illness. Although Granny Fan had learned this technique long ago, she had never dared to use it—until today, when she had no other choice.
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