Chapter 82: Old Lady, Have a Safe Journey!

Liu Dashao returned the next day. In the meantime, Liu and the others had wanted to go searching, but they were worried about the safety of Village Chief Tian, and also unsure how to deal with the Hanba, so they hesitated and dared not go.

“Old man, what’s wrong with you?” Tian Guoqiang was the first to spot Zhang Enpu and hurriedly helped him up. At this moment, Zhang was covered in filth and blood—some his own, and some from the black dog.

“Cough… cough…” Supported by Tian Guoqiang, Zhang Enpu finally collapsed from exhaustion. A man in his fifties, severely injured and unconscious for two days, it was already a miracle that he had returned.

Ma Xiaoyan looked at the shocking wounds on Zhang Enpu’s body, suppressing the urge to vomit, and stammered, “He… he… he isn’t… dead, is he?” Liu Dashao shot her a glare, reached to check Zhang’s breath, and sighed in relief—he was still alive. “Quick, take him to the hospital.” With that, he picked up Zhang Enpu and ran outside.

“Wait.” At this moment, Tian Guoqiang stopped Liu Dashao and asked, “If we take him to the hospital and they ask what happened, what should we say?”

“This…” Liu Dashao had been too worried about Zhang Enpu’s injuries to think of this earlier. Prompted by Tian Guoqiang, he quickly realized the issue. Indeed, what would they say if someone asked? That they were attacked by a ghost? Only ghosts would believe that. But they couldn’t say they had done it themselves either. This was indeed a tricky problem.

Back at Liu Dashao’s house, the pale and frightening-looking Village Chief Tian weakly opened his eyes and called out with a hoarse voice, “Big nephew, where are you?” But around him, only an empty echo responded—there was no one else, let alone a reply.

“Is anyone there?” He continued calling, but still no one answered. He was too weak—only two calls and he felt completely drained. He wanted to sit up, but his body wouldn’t allow it, so he helplessly lay there. He remembered drinking with Liu Dashao that night, then encountering that female ghost… and then nothing, until he woke up just now. But it felt like a long time had passed.

Outside, Ma Xiaoyan excitedly exclaimed, “We don’t have to take him to the hospital anymore,” looking quite pleased with herself.

“What?” Liu Dashao was shocked, “Not take him to the hospital? Do you want him to die? I won’t do such a despicable thing.”

“You’re so dumb,” Ma Xiaoyan lightly tapped Liu Dashao on the head, leaving him puzzled. “You’re not also a barefoot doctor? Can’t you just treat him yourself?”

“Oh right, how could I be so stupid!” Liu Dashao lightly slapped his own forehead, scolding himself for panicking and forgetting this. But soon his face darkened again. “I do know a few folk remedies, enough for a cold, but for Old Master Zhang…”

Upon hearing this, both Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang were at a loss. They wanted to take Zhang Enpu to the hospital but feared trouble, while Liu Dashao’s real medical skills were only mediocre. Saving Zhang Enpu seemed more difficult than climbing to the sky.

“What should we do?” Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang looked at each other helplessly, finally turning their eyes to Liu Dashao.

“Why are you looking at me?” Liu Dashao turned his head aside. Truthfully, he was also in a dilemma.

Seeing that Liu Dashao hadn’t made a decision either, Tian Guoqiang finally gritted his teeth and said, “Boss, we’ll follow your lead. If you say go to the hospital, we’ll go. Even if we get into trouble, we’ll face it together.”

“Yeah,” Ma Xiaoyan nodded in agreement.

“By the time you two decide where to go, I’ll probably already be meeting Lao Tzu,” suddenly Zhang Enpu weakly said, waking up.

Liu Dashao gently adjusted Zhang Enpu’s body to make him more comfortable and asked, “Old man, are you okay? Don’t scare us!”

“Cough, cough, cough,” Zhang Enpu coughed, blood seeping from his mouth. “I’m fine. I’m not dying yet. Maybe I’ve just done too many bad things in this life, so Yama won’t take me.” He smiled bitterly.

Liu Dashao naturally knew Zhang Enpu was joking, but at this moment, he was too worried about his safety to have any mood for jokes. He quickly asked, “Old man, tell me, what should we do?”

Zhang Enpu said, “Go to my house and get some yellow talisman paper. Here’s the key.”

“Okay.” Liu Dashao responded and went to Zhang Enpu’s house. He had met Zhang in the alley before, so he was familiar with the way. Soon he returned with a stack of yellow paper.

With Liu Dashao’s help, Zhang Enpu艰难ly sat up, pinched a piece of yellow paper between his fingers, and began drawing and writing on it. He chanted a spell, and soon the talisman paper suddenly caught fire. After the paper burned, Zhang quickly chanted another spell and applied the burning paper to his wounds.

Zhang Enpu was already seriously injured. Using burning talisman paper on his wounds could easily kill him. Liu Dashao wanted to stop him, but he thought Zhang Enpu wasn’t a reckless person and must have his reasons, so he held himself back.

The talisman paper burned on the wounds, emitting a sizzling sound. Watching this, Ma Xiaoyan, being a girl, couldn’t bear it and turned her face away. They saw black mist rising from Zhang Enpu’s wounds as the talisman burned them. Strangely, the wounds began to heal miraculously, leaving no trace. Soon, all of Zhang Enpu’s dozens of wounds were completely healed by the burning talismans.

Watching the wounds visibly healing before their eyes, Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang were stunned speechless. “Holy cow, this is too damn amazing!” They couldn’t believe it at first and shook their heads hard. But when they looked again, the wounds were still visibly healing. This time they had to believe it, and they deeply admired Zhang Enpu’s supernatural abilities.

Although the external wounds were healed, the internal injuries were harder to recover. Zhang Enpu was still very weak. With his indication, Liu Dashao and the others settled him at home.

Bang!

Just after settling Zhang Enpu, before the three could catch their breath, a thunderous sound sent their already high-strung nerves skyrocketing.

“Oh no, Village Chief Tian!” Liu Dashao grabbed the two and ran home. As soon as he heard the sound, he recognized it came from his own house, where Village Chief Tian was still inside. He immediately felt something was wrong.

When the three returned home, they saw Village Chief Tian lying beside the coffee table, with a stainless steel cup that had been used to hold water now lying on the floor, spilling warm water everywhere.

When Village Chief Tian woke up, the three were overjoyed and quickly helped him up. But Tian’s face still showed no color, and he was dazed, repeatedly calling out, “Water… water…”

“Quick, get some water!” Liu Dashao urgently shouted. Soon, Ma Xiaoyan brought a cup of water. After drinking, Village Chief Tian fell unconscious again. After the commotion, the three finally let out a long sigh.

In the evening, the three sat on the floor in the living room, looking gloomy.

“Boss, what should we do now?” Tian Guoqiang broke the silence first. “Even Old Master Zhang, the only one who could help us, is seriously injured. Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?”

Liu Dashao gently patted Tian Guoqiang’s shoulder and said, “Guoqiang, there must be a way, there must be.” After thinking for a while, he continued, “How about this—Guoqiang, take your dad to the city, and Xiaoyan can stay with your relatives for a while. Let me handle this matter alone.”

“No way.” Tian Guoqiang immediately refused, slightly angry. “What do you take me for? At such a critical moment, could I abandon my brother?” He snorted heavily and turned his head away, clearly angry.

“Same here,” Ma Xiaoyan tightly leaned against Liu Dashao’s shoulder. Liu Dashao had always been carefree before, but only in these past few days had she felt genuine concern from him. “No matter what happens, I want to be with you.”

“You…” Liu Dashao suddenly stood up, emotionally overwhelmed, and shouted, “Get out! I don’t know you! Get out of here!” He then pushed Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang out.

“Boss, don’t be like this,” Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang quickly hugged him. “We understand your intentions, but don’t forget—we are friends, family. If it were you, we wouldn’t leave either.”

“You get out! I don’t have relatives like you! Get out!” Liu Dashao struggled and roared.

“Boss…” Ma Xiaoyan helplessly sat on the ground, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t do this. No matter what happens, we will stay with you.”

“Brother, wake up,” suddenly Tian Guoqiang slapped Liu Dashao. With a crisp sound, Liu Dashao calmed down. “Do you think if we leave, that monster will let us go? Since we’re involved in this mess, we must see it through to the end.”

“There must be a way, there must be a way…” Ma Xiaoyan murmured.

After being slapped by Tian Guoqiang, Liu Dashao became a little clearer-headed. He realized this whole mess started with him and he wanted to handle it alone. Indeed, Tian Guoqiang was right—even if they left, the Hanba might not let them go. He was also deeply moved by Tian Guoqiang and Ma Xiaoyan’s loyalty.

“Yeah, there must be a way, there must be…” Liu Dashao weakly sat on the ground, tightly hugging Ma Xiaoyan. At this moment, Tian Guoqiang also squatted down, and the three wept together, their sobs and tears creating a scene like the end of the world.

“Yeah, Old Madam Fan… Old Madam Fan…” After a while, Liu Dashao mumbled incoherently, leaving Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang puzzled.

Ma Xiaoyan softly asked, “What about Old Madam Fan?”

“Old Madam Fan must have a way,” Liu Dashao said, suddenly overjoyed. Without waiting for the two, he ran toward Old Madam Fan’s house like the wind.

“Old Madam Fan, Old Madam Fan…” Old Madam Fan’s door was still unlocked but bolted from the inside. Liu Dashao desperately knocked and shouted, but Old Madam Fan never opened the door.

“Could Old Madam Fan be out?” Ma Xiaoyan, who had arrived, asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tian Guoqiang also agreed.

Liu Dashao glared at them and said, “If she were out, who locked the door from inside?” Suddenly realizing something was wrong, he remembered that since Village Chief Tian was infected with the corpse poison, they had been busy rescuing him and hadn’t paid attention to Old Madam Fan. Now thinking back, he realized they hadn’t seen Old Madam Fan in days and hadn’t heard any noise from her house. He noticed a branch stuck in the door crack—it was the same branch he had stuck there in frustration two nights ago when Old Madam Fan hadn’t opened the door. But now the branch was still there, meaning Old Madam Fan hadn’t come out at all. Could it be…

Thinking this, he knocked and shouted even harder, but after waiting a long time, Old Madam Fan still didn’t come to open the door.

Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang also seemed to realize something, looking at each other in horror, unable to speak.

“Step aside,” Liu Dashao, feeling a strong sense of unease, called Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang aside, then kicked the door with all his might. The old, weather-beaten door couldn’t withstand Liu Dashao’s powerful kick. With a loud bang, the door fell down.

“Let’s go in,” Liu Dashao said after the door fell.

“Wait!” Before the three could enter the main room, Liu Dashao suddenly stretched out his hand to stop Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang. “You two wait outside. I’ll go in first.” Without waiting for their response, he walked in directly.

“Ahh…” About a minute later, a scream that pierced the heavens came from Old Madam Fan’s house—it was Liu Dashao’s voice.

“What happened?” Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang were shocked and rushed in. As soon as they entered the main room, they saw Liu Dashao covering his mouth, his face pale, stumbling out.

“Boss, what happened? What’s going on?” Ma Xiaoyan supported Liu Dashao and anxiously asked. Tian Guoqiang also nodded eagerly, wanting to know what had happened.

“Ugh… ugh…” Liu Dashao covered his mouth and couldn’t speak, pointing with his other hand toward Old Madam Fan’s bedroom.

Ma Xiaoyan said, “Let’s go in and see.” She let go of Liu Dashao and walked in, but before she could get past him, Liu Dashao desperately pulled her back out. Only Tian Guoqiang went in.

Outside, Liu Dashao immediately fell to the ground and started vomiting violently. Ma Xiaoyan hurriedly patted his back, anxiously asking what had happened.

“Ahh…” Another scream pierced the air. Before Liu Dashao had finished vomiting, Tian Guoqiang screamed. In an instant, Tian Guoqiang ran out of Old Madam Fan’s house like the wind and also fell to the ground vomiting, as if trying to throw up everything he had eaten in the past few days. His face was pale and terrifying, his expression extremely pained.

“What’s wrong with you two? What exactly happened?” Ma Xiaoyan was getting anxious. Both of them had run out of Old Madam Fan’s house screaming and then started vomiting, leaving her completely in the dark.

“Fan… Fan… Fan Madam…” Tian Guoqiang vomited and couldn’t speak.

Ma Xiaoyan became even more anxious. From Tian Guoqiang’s words, she sensed something was wrong and urgently asked, “Don’t panic, tell me slowly—what exactly happened to Fan Madam?”

“Madam Fan… she’s dead… *ugh*…”

“What?” Ma Xiaoyan turned pale. “Fan Madam is dead? How could Fan Madam die?”

Liu Dashao said, “When I went in just now, the room was pitch black and had a foul smell. I immediately felt uneasy. When I turned on the light, guess what I saw?”

“Tell me what you saw! Don’t keep us in suspense!”

“I saw… I saw…” Liu Dashao tried hard to suppress his pain and said, “Fan Madam was lying on the bed, her body cold, already dead. Worse, her body had started to rot, covered in maggots, and mice were crawling all over her…”

“Stop! Don’t say anymore…” Before Liu Dashao finished, Tian Guoqiang interrupted him and vomited again.

“Ugh…” Liu Dashao vomited again as well.

Hearing that Fan Madam was dead, Ma Xiaoyan turned pale. Hearing that her body had already rotted and was so disgusting made her vomit uncontrollably as well. Although she hadn’t seen it herself, Liu Dashao’s description was so vivid that, as a girl with a weaker tolerance, she naturally couldn’t help but vomit.

“Quick, call the police,” Liu Dashao calmed down after vomiting.

The public security officers from the town police station were remarkably fast. Within an hour, five officers arrived and carefully examined the clues. Finally, they concluded that Fan Madam had died of natural causes due to bodily failure, ruling out foul play. However, the fact that no one had discovered Fan Madam’s death for so many days, and that her body had decomposed so severely, made the officers frown.

“Where are Fan Xidou’s relatives?” One officer asked Liu Dashao. Fan Xidou was Fan Madam’s real name.

Liu Dashao replied, “She has a grandson, but he’s working away from home.”

“Can you contact him?”

“No.”

Fan Madam’s children and husband had died long ago. She had no other relatives except her grandson, who was working away and couldn’t be reached. Therefore, the officers had to handle her funeral arrangements. Fortunately, Fan Madam had already prepared her grave and coffin, so with the help of the officers, she was hastily buried that night.

When Fan Madam was buried, besides a few reluctant police officers, only Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang were there. It was said that when a person dies, the tea cools. Probably, this was the meaning. While alive, people remember your kindness and usefulness. Once dead, you are completely erased from their minds. Sometimes, people are just such pragmatic creatures. Liu Dashao suddenly had a thought: if Village Chief Tian wasn’t bedridden, he would surely come to see her, right? Yeah, maybe.

The grave wasn’t big, just a mound of earth, but Liu Dashao had used all the feng shui knowledge Fan Madam had taught him in just a few weeks to carefully choose a good spot for this old master—hidden from the wind, with two dragons pointing to the eye, making it a prime burial site. Liu Dashao dug a rough hole with a shovel, placed Fan Madam’s coffin inside. The coffin was made of ordinary redwood, not worth much.

“Old lady, may you have a smooth journey!” Saying this, Liu Dashao threw the first shovel of earth over Fan Madam’s face.

Then he continued throwing the earth onto the coffin one shovel at a time, watching as the coffin was gradually buried in yellow soil. As he stood up the grave marker, looking at the words “Grave of Old Madam Fan” on the stone tablet, Liu Dashao suddenly felt something wet on his face. Water flowed down his cheeks. Instinctively, he tasted it—it was salty. It was tears.

He kowtowed three times to Fan Madam. After finishing, he noticed some bloodstains on the stones in front of the grave. Liu Dashao wiped the blood from his forehead and turned away. This old woman, who had been stingy and unscrupulous but had treated him like family, left behind only a mound of yellow earth and a gravestone.

For the first time in his life, experiencing the parting of life and death, Liu Dashao finally understood something that his peers couldn’t.

Looking back, the sky was clear and bright!

Because he had no time to refuse the mission entrusted to him by Old Madam Fan.

So, he had no choice but to use all his knowledge to turn the world upside down!

Late at night, when the villagers had long gone to sleep, Liu Dashao, Ma Xiaoyan, and Tian Guoqiang stood quietly in front of Old Madam Fan’s grave. The dim candlelight flickered in the wind, nearly extinguishing several times, but it continued to burn. Although Old Madam Fan was not a relative, she had become his mentor in name only after a recent meeting. Yet her kind face was deeply etched in Liu Dashao’s mind, never to fade. Moreover, Liu Dashao vaguely felt that Old Madam Fan’s death was related to the events he had encountered. Sometimes, he even believed that she had died because of him, feeling an indescribable sense of guilt. Even though Zhang Enpu had been seriously injured saving him, he had not felt such guilt.

Ma Xiaoyan was from the same village and naturally familiar with Old Madam Fan. She had always seen Old Madam Fan with a kind face, always smiling at people. She never expected that she would suddenly pass away, leaving her with an indescribable sadness. As for Tian Guoqiang, there was no need to say more—his life was given to him by Old Madam Fan. What more explanation was needed?

“Grandma, take your time. When you get to the underworld, don’t be stingy anymore. Spend money freely. I’ll burn paper money for you every Qingming Festival, making sure you live in a small villa and drive a small car. Next time you meet the two Yama attendants, I’ll definitely ask them to take good care of you.” Liu Dashao slowly said as he burned the last piece of yellow paper in his hand. The more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling that it was his fault that Old Madam Fan had died, making him restless.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Around Old Madam Fan’s grave was a bamboo forest. Suddenly, a strange sound was heard. Ma Xiaoyan tightly leaned against Liu Dashao, clearly nervous, while Tian Guoqiang gradually moved closer to him.

“It’s okay,” Liu Dashao softly comforted them. At this moment, he was immersed in the grief of Old Madam Fan’s death and had no concept of fear.

The rustling sound continued, and the more they listened, the clearer it became, because the sound was approaching them.

Ma Xiaoyan tightly grabbed Liu Dashao’s clothes, her face slightly pale, saying, “Boss, I think we should go back. It’s so dark, and…” Ever since she had seen the Hanba, she had become very afraid of the dark and dared not go home alone.

Liu Dashao gently patted Ma Xiaoyan’s shoulder, signaling her not to panic, and fixed his gaze on the outside of the bamboo forest. Moonlight shone on the ground, hazy and misty. Outside the bamboo forest, someone was walking slowly. The source of the sound was the footsteps of the person walking.

“Boss, I think we should leave,” Ma Xiaoyan pleaded.

Liu Dashao didn’t respond. He was watching the person outside the bamboo forest. By the moonlight, he felt the person was very familiar, but he couldn’t recall who it was for a moment. The person was hunched over, holding a wooden cane, walking step by step. To his surprise, the person was walking toward them.

Seeing the person approaching, Tian Guoqiang also became scared and said, “Brother, I think we should go back. She…”

“Shh, don’t panic,” Liu Dashao quietly said. Then, under the astonished gazes of Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang, he walked toward the person, reached their side, supported their arm, and walked with them.

“What…” Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang couldn’t figure out what Liu Dashao was doing. They looked at the person walking with Liu Dashao in fear. The moonlight was too hazy, and they were in the bamboo forest, so no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t see the person’s face clearly. Soon, the person, supported by Liu Dashao, came to their side. Seeing who it was, they let out a long sigh of relief—it was no one else but Old Master Wang.

“Old man, you’re injured. Why aren’t you resting properly?” Ma Xiaoyan asked with concern, while inwardly amazed. Old Master Wang had nearly had his legs bitten off. In theory, even if he wasn’t disabled, he should at least need a month or two to recover. But how could he be up and about so soon? She couldn’t help but admire Old Master Wang’s recovery ability.

“Cough, cough, cough,” Old Master Wang didn’t respond to her. He gently pushed away Liu Dashao’s supporting hand and walked toward Old Madam Fan’s grave. Under the moonlight, everyone clearly saw a trickle of blood slowly flowing from Old Master Wang’s mouth. Tears had already helplessly streamed down his face. At this moment, he was no longer the old charlatan who had been so lively and talkative, but just a person—someone with emotions, thoughts, joy, sorrow, pain, and grief.

Arriving at Old Madam Fan’s grave, Old Master Wang slowly took incense, candles, and paper money from the bag in his hand. He lit the incense and candles, and one by one, he burned the yellow paper money for Old Madam Fan. They could see tears glistening in his eyes, his lips trembling as if saying something.

After a long while, when the incense burned out, Old Master Wang bowed three times to Old Madam Fan’s grave. “Old lady, may you have a smooth journey,” he said in a mournful tone.