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墨書 Inktalez
Xing Ruyi originally did not want to mention the Hu Family again, but unexpectedly, the matter circled back to them.
She looked at A Niu in front of her with a bit of a headache and gently inserted the second silver needle.
The Hu Family raised the Corpse Puppet originally to serve the Yun Family's Master, essentially using this Corpse Puppet to provide sustenance for Lord Yun. Later, due to her own "illness," Moxuyou suggested to the fox to take the Ghost Dan from within Lord Yun, thus ending the Corpse Puppet's path for Lord Yun.
Now that Lord Yun was dead, the Hu Family's Corpse Puppet became useless. Xing Ruyi initially wanted to ask Li Mao and Yin Yuan to deal with this Corpse Puppet as well, but considering the two gentlemen from the Hu Family, she decided to temporarily keep it under supervision so that the Hu Family could reap what they sowed.
Although Xing Ruyi did not pay attention to the Hu Family's affairs, she was well aware that Li Mao had been keeping an eye on them. If that Corpse Puppet committed any wrongdoing, he would not turn a blind eye. However, she did not expect that this Hu Family's Corpse Puppet would be linked to a beggar and Zhu's murder case.
This world was indeed too complicated.
As the silver needle pierced his body, A Niu winced in pain but held back from crying out. Once the pain subsided slightly, he asked, "What is a Corpse Puppet?"
"After Ding Ding died, have you seen her?" Xing Ruyi asked seemingly casually.
"Are you asking about Ding Ding's Ghost?"
"It might be a ghost or something else." Xing Ruyi raised her eyes. "Have you seen it?"
A Niu smiled bitterly. "I saw it once, but I don't know if that was Ding Ding's Ghost."
In folklore, there is a belief in a seven-day return of souls, where after a person dies, the underworld gives them some time to return home and settle any unfinished wishes from their life. However, in reality, the so-called Night of the Returning Souls does not mean that souls can only return on the seventh day; rather, within seven days after death, their souls linger around the place of death, repeating actions they performed before dying.
If someone dies an unnatural death—such as in a car accident or being murdered—the deceased's consciousness or soul may not even realize they are dead within those seven days. Due to certain external factors, some living people might see these supernatural entities and develop a fear of ghosts. Thus, seeing ghosts is generally a privilege enjoyed by only a small number of people.
On Ding Ding's Rebirth Night, A Niu brought some of Ding Ding's favorite foods to the Ding Family's Old Residence. Ding Ding's mother passed away shortly after her birth, and her father succumbed to illness six months after her marriage. Now, all that remained of the Ding Family Old Residence were two dilapidated houses and childhood memories of Ding Ding and A Niu.
That night, A Niu sat in the Ding Family Old Residence for a while and was preparing to return home when a pale-faced woman peeked through the window. In the dim moonlight, A Niu clearly saw that the woman was wearing a bright red robe.
She felt no fear; it was fake. As A Niu looked at that pale face, she instinctively wanted to flee, but her feet felt as heavy as lead and could not move at all.
The woman seemed to sense someone watching her in the courtyard and slowly raised her head with her mouth slightly open. A Niu finally saw the woman's face clearly.
"Ding Ding!"
The woman looked at A Niu; her neck stiffly twisted twice before she let out a cry for help and then leaned forward as if floating toward A Niu.
Face to face, eye to eye, A Niu finally saw the woman's appearance clearly. She indeed resembled Ding Ding, but her face was terrifying enough to make A Niu unwilling to acknowledge her. Just as he was engulfed in extreme fear, he suddenly felt his feet could move again. With a loud shout, he ran frantically towards home.
A Niu recalled that when he turned to flee, it felt as if someone had grabbed his hand, but those hands were icy cold, so cold that he did not want to remember, nor did he want to associate that night with the woman who looked so much like Ding Ding.
Since that night, A Niu's hands began to have problems; first, his fingertips felt cold, then they became numb, and eventually lost all sensation.
"The woman you saw should be Ding Ding, but at that time she was not a ghost; she was a corpse puppet. A corpse puppet is something between a ghost and a corpse; it survives by feeding on the souls of the living. If it has been cultivated, it can even turn a living person into bones. A Niu, you are quite lucky!"
"Why did Ding Ding end up like that? I am a corpse puppet!"
"Naturally, some wicked person turned her into that for some unspeakable purpose." Xing Ruyi did not want to mention the Hu Family; after all, Hu Da and Hu Er were still around. She worried that A Niu might become despondent and develop thoughts of seeking revenge for Ding Ding, which would ultimately harm him.
"Stop thinking about it. The dead are dead; no matter what form they exist in, they can no longer feel the joys and sorrows of this world. Instead, those who are alive should live well." Xing Ruyi pulled out the silver needle and noticed that the blackness at A Niu's fingertips had receded slightly. She finally breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems this silver needle is effective. If you use it a few more times, the poison in your hands will fade away. However, returning to your former self may be quite difficult."
"As long as I can move freely and feel pain, I am already content. As for anything else, I do not wish for more at this moment." A Niu gently moved his wrist; there was a slight sting, but this sting made him genuinely happy. For someone who had lost all sensation, even pain could bring joy.
"Contentment is good!" Xing Ruyi's eyes turned slightly red: "I have a niece who was lively and adorable but was harmed by a corpse puppet. Unfortunately, she did not have your good fortune; when I saw her, she was nothing but a skeleton as white as snow and as cold as ice. I cried all night long and howled without the calm demeanor I have now while talking to you. I once thought about torturing that corpse puppet and flaying the person behind it alive. But in the end, I did nothing—not because I didn't want to or couldn't—but because I realized there are more important things than revenge."
"What are those?" A Niu asked with confusion in his eyes.
"To live well and try not to let more people be harmed by corpse puppets. I consider myself half a healer; therefore, what I can do is help more people like you recover their health and inform them that there exists such a monster in this world—one that looks human but can devour a person whole."
"Don't scare A Niu!" Li Mao interjected from the side while patting A Niu's shoulder reassuringly: "As far as I know, these corpse puppets only exist in your area, and there are only a few of them. The most powerful one has already been eliminated by Master; the rest are just insignificant minions. Oh, including your Ding Ding among them. Don't worry; without the strongest one around, these minions won't last long either—they will eventually go where they belong."
A Niu forced a smile; he wondered whether Li Mao was trying to scare him or comfort him.
"Rest assured, A Niu understands what Lady Bai means. Besides, there is an Old Mother at home who needs care; A Niu will not seek trouble with the Hu Family nor do anything foolish like hitting a stone with an egg."
"As long as you understand." Xing Ruyi put away all the silver needles: "Wait for me for a moment; I'll go back to my room to get my medical kit. Fortunately, there isn't much business in my Rouge shop today; I'll go home with you to check on your Old Mother. If your mother's condition is something I can treat, I will do my best—but don't hold too high hopes. I'm not a miracle doctor and can't cure every ailment."
"A Niu knows that Lady is doing her best." A Niu stepped back quietly and stood still.
"Don't move while sitting there; I'll handle getting the medical kit." Li Mao was quick-witted and rushed back into the room to fetch the medical kit before Xing Ruyi finished speaking. "Here it is! Is this the one?"
"Yes!" Xing Ruyi opened the kit to check its contents; everything commonly used was there. "Yin Yuan, do you want to stay at home or come with us?"
"Mother can go with Li Mao; I don't understand medicine anyway, plus I've just been there." Yin Yuan yawned: "I'm tired and want to sleep."
"Then you should be careful." Xing Ruyi thought about what happened with Firefly before and felt uneasy about leaving Yin Yuan alone in Xing.
"It's broad daylight, and we're in our own home. What is there to worry about? Instead, Mother, you should pay a bit more attention to the place you're going. It's quite remote, with hardly any people around. If it weren't for the Poor Families having nowhere else to stay, they wouldn't want to live in that dreadful place. By the way, there's also the Temple of the Goddess. If you finish your consultation early, you might as well take a look. Although it's a bit run-down, the scenery is quite different from other places and has its own charm."
Yin Yuan's words had a deeper meaning, which Xing Ruyi understood but chose not to confront directly.
In the carriage, Xing Ruyi used the opportunity to bring up Zhu's case again and casually mentioned the Temple of the Goddess that Yin Yuan had just talked about.
As she spoke, she kept an eye on A Niu's expression and noticed that every time she mentioned the Temple of the Goddess, his face showed a strange reaction, as if he wanted to say something but held back, almost as if he was wary of certain things.
"I heard from Yin Yuan that your home is very close to this Temple of the Goddess. Can you tell me why it's called the Temple of the Goddess and which goddess is enshrined there?"
"The temple does not enshrine any deities!" A Niu said, lightly biting his lip. "Young master, you are still young and do not understand the complexities involved. In short, if Madam has nothing else to do, it would be better not to visit that Temple of the Goddess."
"Why?"
"Because... because..."
A Niu repeated "because" several times, clearly struggling internally. However, Xing Ruyi's gaze remained fixed on his face, filled with curiosity and inquiry, which inadvertently put pressure on A Niu. To him, Xing Ruyi was a benefactor who treated him; he could not hide anything nor should he. After repeating "because" numerous times, he gritted his teeth and finally revealed what he had been holding back: "According to my mother, what is enshrined in that Temple of the Goddess is not a deity at all but a poor soul—a pitiful person who is treated as a sacrifice by the nearby villagers."
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