Chapter 237: An Old Acquaintance from a Hundred Years Ago

Lian Xiaoyao and Guo Qiqi were back to back, trying to untie the ropes.

Yi Miao shouted, “Sixth Brother is back.” Guo Qiqi, who had taken care of Sixth Brother for a while, called out, “Sixth Brother, it’s okay. I always knew you had a story. Can you tell me what really happened to you?”

Sixth Brother’s body was riddled with bullet holes, proving that his body wasn’t as hard as it seemed. A typical bronze-armored corpse would be impervious to bullets, but Sixth Brother clearly wasn’t one of those indestructible beings.

The fact that he could still stand was undoubtedly related to the Yin Snake inside him.

Thinking about it, it was truly ironic. The old woman from western Hunan, Ma Ruolan, had spent decades searching for the Yin Snake, only for it to be inside one of the zombies she had raised. It seemed Sixth Brother really did have a story.

I lay on the ground, my body burning as if on fire. The cold stone beneath me offered a sliver of comfort. I watched Yi Miao clutching his bleeding chest and Sixth Brother, who had nearly lost all reason. It seemed this grand reunion would end with all of us dead inside.

I struggled to sit up. “Yi, the Daoist, this is perfect.” Yi Miao, still holding his chest, laughed weakly. “Haha. Perfect!” His face grew paler, almost translucent.

Lian Xiaoyao’s sobs grew louder, while Guo Qiqi struggled with a stubborn knot. “Damn it, you can’t die! And Xiao Qi, you’re the Five Elements Insect Master. If you die, who’s going to deal with that insane insect freak?”

I spat out a mouthful of blood. The steel-wire worms had already crawled up my spine toward my brain—this time, it was serious. Standing motionless, Xie Xiaoyu was like a silent rose, but something glistened in her eyes.

What was that? Tears? Drip, drip, drop, they fell to the ground.

I called out, “I’m sorry, Xiaoyu. I can’t stay with you anymore.” Another spurt of blood escaped my lips. My neck stiffened completely—the steel-wire worms were about to invade my left brain. Yi Miao burst into laughter. “Never thought it’d end like this. We’ll bleed out together. Master Xiao, let me tell you a joke.”

“You… can still tell jokes?” I asked.

“A man got sick. He ate and ate every day until he turned into a pig. Hahaha… hahaha…” Yi Miao laughed uproariously, but by the end, it sounded more like crying.

Somehow, hearing this joke made me feel a little better. “Lian, why aren’t you laughing? Why aren’t you laughing?”

Lian Xiaoyao managed a laugh, but it quickly turned into sobs. Guo Qiqi joined in. “Stop crying! Untie the ropes! Sixth Brother, come help!” Sixth Brother had been standing at the cave entrance for minutes, confused by the scene. He staggered toward me.

Guo Qiqi panicked. “Don’t drink his blood! You can’t drink his blood!”

I didn’t mind. My blood was highly toxic. If Sixth Brother drank it and died, maybe the Yin Snake inside him would perish too. If Yi Miao and I died, and Sixth Brother followed, the girls could escape unharmed.

“Lian Xiaoyao… take care of Xiaoyu for me. She’s still just a girl… she doesn’t understand.” My strength finally gave out, my eyelids growing heavier.

Was that the sound of them eating my brain?

Click, click, click.

Sixth Brother approached, wiping the dust from his face. A miracle happened—his once dark, withered face became clean and smooth, like a girl’s. I must be hallucinating. Sixth Brother tilted my head back and bit down hard. A slippery little snake seemed to slither down my throat. The black steel-wire worm was instantly killed. The faint, elusive snake retreated from my neck, sliding down my spine before settling there.

Strength returned to me. I pushed Sixth Brother away—only to see that within the black robes lay a delicate girl. A girl as tender as a flower, as gentle as water, her eyes no longer green but filled with warmth. The black-clad youth had transformed into a pool of serene emerald. No one could have predicted this.

“You’ve finally come,” Sixth Brother—no, the girl—said.

I didn’t understand how Sixth Brother had become a girl.

I should have realized earlier—Sixth Brother was short, likely female all along.

I embraced her. “Who are you? Have we met?”

The girl replied, “I’m Xiao Wu. I’ve waited a hundred years for you. After you left Camellia Hollow, someone came to raise insects.”

I wondered why Xiao Wu claimed to have waited for me for a century. Had I truly met her before? Or was it my resemblance to someone else? Maybe she didn’t realize I had died and mistook me for that person.

Who could that person be?

I asked, “Are you saying this is the real Camellia Hollow?”

Xiao Wu nodded. “Three Ghost Village is the true Camellia Hollow. The other one came later.” I thought of the camellias blooming on the mountains—this was undoubtedly the real Camellia Hollow.

“And then?”

“Insect Master Guo Tianjie’s experiment went wrong. The entire village died. The Yin Snake entered my body, and after I fell off a cliff, I didn’t decay for days. A kind soul buried me. Later, Ma Ruolan dug me up and raised me as one of the Seven Brothers. My memories survived because of the Yin Snake.” Xiao Wu’s gaze held both resentment and longing.

I spoke on behalf of that unknown person. “Xiao Wu, I’m sorry. You waited so long.”

“You’ve always been so heartbreaking!”

Xiao Wu slowly closed her eyes, her body dissipating like mist. In the end, the beautiful girl in my arms turned to bones in an instant.

Who could have guessed that, in her final moments, Xiao Wu would transfer the Yin Snake inside her to me?

And who was the person who appeared in Camellia Hollow a century ago?

Was this a karmic debt from a past life?

All love is sin, all people suffer. As the saying goes, the wheel of reincarnation spins too vast—inescapable, unbreakable, impossible to resist.

I stood up, tore off a piece of my clothing, and bandaged Yi Miao’s wounds. He had already lost consciousness—he wouldn’t last much longer. I cut Guo Qiqi and Lian Xiaoyao free and removed the talismans from Xie Xiaoyu’s back—there were at least ten stuck there. Xie Xiaoyu patted my shoulder, picked up Xiao Jian, and held him close.

I gathered Xiao Wu’s remains and placed them carefully in a bundle.

Lian Xiaoyao carried Yi Miao out, but the cave entrance was blocked. A kitten’s meow came from outside. Xie Xiaoyu moved the boulder aside, clearing the path. We emerged from the cave and buried Xiao Wu beneath a camellia tree. Hundreds of ants gathered around her—perhaps the spirits of her long-lost kin.

With great effort, I released the trapped souls from the ants, allowing them to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation—a small act of merit. On the mountainside, a figure with a human body and a dog’s head watched me before disappearing into the forest, followed by the ghosts of Camellia Hollow.

Perhaps the dog-headed statue in the square was the village’s totem—their guardian deity, the Dog Lord.

It was dusk when we emerged. I sterilized a knife in fire, extracted the bullet from Yi Miao, fashioned a stretcher from branches, and carried him back along our original path to the new Camellia Hollow. I retrieved the sleeping snail from the collapsed wall.

Torches lit, we hurried through the night. As we left the old Camellia Hollow, an ancient song echoed behind us—like a memory from the distant past.

I told Lian Xiaoyao, “This time, I’m definitely killing Insect Master Lao Si.” Lian Xiaoyao nodded. “I believe in you.”

The rope down the waterfall had been cut. Desperate, as darkness deepened, a beam of light suddenly shone from below.

“Xiao Qi, are you up there? It’s Ma Ruoxing!” a voice called from the base of the waterfall. After some effort, Ma Ruoxing tossed a rope up, and I descended.

“Uncle Ma, why are you here?” I asked.

Ma Ruoxing replied, “I went to find you on the eighth. Later, I learned Insect Master Lao Si had visited. Worried you couldn’t handle him, I rushed to Jiangnan City, but you were gone. After much searching, I met Daoist Zhen Yangzi and learned Lao Si had come to western Hunan.”

“Uncle Ma, what’s your relationship with the old woman Ma Ruolan?”

“She’s my cousin. But we hadn’t spoken in years.”

We walked quickly as we talked. Back in Camellia Hollow, we hired a car to the Tuo River, paid 500 yuan for a boat, and sailed downstream through the night. The mountains loomed on either side, their beauty unseen in the dark. How many lost souls departed tonight, adding to the sorrows of this world?

Would Yi Miao die too?

By the time we reached the county hospital in Fenghuang at 7 a.m., Yi Miao was immediately admitted. That afternoon, he was transferred to a hospital in Changsha. The bumpy journey took all day, and by the time we arrived, Yi Miao had been unconscious for 24 hours.

Two days later, Yi Miao stabilized. I flew back to Tongren, then hired a car to Fenghuang. Guo Qiqi and Ma Ruoxing were there, and Bai Yueming had been brought back, calling out, “Dad! Mom!”

Ma Ruolan smiled when she saw me. “Here to have me remove the mantis gu’s steel-wire worms?” I shook my head. “No. I’m here to take Guo Qiqi away.”

Ma Ruoxing added, “Sister, let them go.”

Though thirty years younger, Ma Ruoxing was indeed her cousin.

Ma Ruolan scoffed. “Nothing in this world comes that easy. I’ve searched here for years, only for Insect Master Lao Si to steal everything. Do you think I’ll just let this go?” Though hope flickered in Guo Qiqi’s eyes, she clutched her chest at these words. Ma Ruolan had already refused me.

Ma Ruoxing unwrapped two earthen eggs.

“Sister, take these. There must be treasures inside. Let them go.”

At the sight of the eggs, Ma Ruolan agreed to release us. Ma Ruoxing stayed with Bai Yueming, saying he’d remain in Camellia Hollow to accompany his much older cousin. “First, for Bai Yueming’s sake. Second, I suspect Wrinkled Granny Bi Guihua will come soon.”

Guo Qiqi bid a tearful farewell to Bai Yueming. Following the wooden figurine Mo Bai’s request, I left him with Ma Ruolan—after all, he knew both her and Bi Guihua. Being with them made him feel alive, real.

Back in Fenghuang, I asked Guo Qiqi seriously, “Where can I find Insect Master Lao Si? I’m going to kill him.”