Confrontation

"Such a venomous woman is sure to bear a venomous seed. You mother and daughter can reunite in my belly!"

That day, after devouring Pan Chunping, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger casually swallowed the trembling little girl she had been shielding behind her.

The memory faded. The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger withdrew its focus, said nothing, and simply exhaled a puff of green smoke that wreathed Pan Chunping.

As the green smoke seeped into her body, she seemed to forget something and instead thanked both the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger and Lin Chan.

After that, she no longer dwelled on Xing'er, and her form slowly dissipated.

Just before her spirit scattered completely, Pan Chunping smiled softly and murmured:

"Xing'er, you're all grown up now. Keep your eyes sharp, marry a good man—don't end up like your mother, who chose the wrong one."

Lin Chan found this odd and turned to the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger, asking:

"What did you do to her?"

"I... I told her that her Xing'er was taken in by a kind family and has grown into a fine young woman. Knowing her daughter is doing well, her obsession dissolved, and she naturally entered the cycle of reincarnation."

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger stammered, sounding guilty.

Lin Chan didn't take its word for it. He used his [Karma Eye] and saw that the tiger's Bad Karma had increased.

This hypocritical tiger—true to form, not a word of honesty.

Still, Lin Chan had no need to pursue the matter. If the tiger could fool itself, why should he meddle?

Lin Chan himself was in a tight spot, merely buying time with the four Grief Ghosts while he figured out how to deal with the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger.

Now, one Grief Ghost had already slipped away, leaving Lin Chan with only three ghosts' worth of time.

Seeing Lin Chan's expression unchanged, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger thought it had fooled him and dropped the matter of Pan Chunping. It turned to the Head-Wrapped Old Woman and said:

"Do you have anything to say?"

Old Woman Liu had already prepared her defense. When the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger asked, she blurted out:

"Great King! I have nothing to say. You are a tiger, so you don't understand human customs. A married woman follows her husband's fate. Since my daughter-in-law married into my family, she became one of us. After my son died, I had the right to decide her fate—to marry her off to a hunter in the mountains. That hunter was hardworking and could provide for her. Her life would have been better. Otherwise, staying in her husband's home would have invited gossip, and the clan would have targeted and bullied her."

"When I was young, I also lost my husband. But I had a son, so my mother-in-law didn't marry me off. If I hadn't borne a son, I would have wished for my mother-in-law to marry me into a good family. Staying in the husband's home only brings suffering. As a child, you obey your parents; once married, you follow your husband's family's arrangements. That's how it's always been. I don't see what I did wrong."

Old Woman Liu was at her wit's end. She didn't know how else to explain, because in their moral framework, what she had done wasn't considered a great evil—it was understandable.

But the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger clearly wouldn't understand.

"That's not what your daughter-in-law said!"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger glared fiercely at Old Woman Liu, then exhaled a puff of white smoke. A young peasant woman materialized.

She was also hideous—Grief Ghosts accumulate resentment, and their appearance reflects their hearts; none are pleasant to look at.

"Great King!"

The peasant woman quickly bowed to the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger.

"You once said your mother-in-law was harsh to you and sold you to a hunter for a few taels of silver as a bride price. Now I'll let you confront her face-to-face. Whoever lies will have their soul scattered!"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger addressed the peasant woman.

"Mother-in-law!"

Seeing Old Woman Liu, the peasant woman flinched, guilt creeping into her voice.

"Daughter-in-law, if you hadn't sent me a dream that day, telling me you were miserable in the mountains, I never would have gone looking for you and ended up in the Great King's mouth!"

Old Woman Liu said, her face full of resentment.

She had always treated her daughter-in-law like her own daughter. If the young woman hadn't been unable to bear widowhood and kept wanting to remarry, she would never have married her off.

But she never expected her daughter-in-law to plot against her!

"Lies! You're lying! Great King, don't believe her! She sold me to an old hunter! If not for her, how would I have been eaten by you?"

The peasant woman immediately retorted.

"I ate you because you were having an affair with your brother-in-law. Your new husband asked me to devour you!"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger no longer trusted the peasant woman's words. It performed a Soul Search on her.

Soon, it found the memories of the peasant woman and Old Woman Liu together.

Though Old Woman Liu was a harsh mother-in-law, she hadn't mistreated her daughter-in-law after she entered the family. She handled all the cooking and fire-lighting herself.

Even after her son died, Old Woman Liu initially wanted her daughter-in-law to remain chaste, to preserve her good name.

The peasant woman, however, despised the poverty of her home and didn't want to live as a widow. She persuaded the old woman to marry her off.

That way, she could bring in money to support the family and escape widowhood.

Old Woman Liu disagreed at first, but under her daughter-in-law's persistent coaxing, she eventually gave in.

Seeing this, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger didn't want to watch any further.

With a swipe of its tiger paw, the peasant woman scattered into a cloud of dust, her screams echoing through the ruined temple.

"Old woman! I wronged you!"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger took the initiative to admit its mistake and returned Old Lady Liu her freedom.

The resentment dispersed, and Old Lady Liu turned back into a kindly old woman. She wanted to say something, but looking at the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger's fierce face, she ultimately just lowered her head and uttered:

"Many thanks, Great King!"

Then, she drifted out of the temple.

As she walked, Old Lady Liu murmured:

"Tiezhu, Mother is coming to find you."

Tiezhu was her son's childhood name. Her spirit still had a little time before it fully dissipated, and she wanted to return to her homeland.

Having eaten the wrong person twice in a row, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger began to feel uneasy.

But the remaining two—one it had personally witnessed killing a brother, the other a wealthy landlord with a notorious reputation—couldn't be wrong.

"Everyone makes a misjudgment now and then. Eating the wrong two people is no big deal."

With that thought, the Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger steadied itself and looked at the Brocade-Robed Magnate, Wang Yunji.

"Your turn."

Wang Yunji's expression didn't change; he simply said:

"Your reply, Great King, I don't know what to say."

"Tell me why you mixed gravel into the famine relief grain, or recount one good deed in your life that could offset your evil deeds."

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger said.

Wang Yunji fell into a contemplative pose again, but after a long while still couldn't sort out his thoughts, and said:

"Great King, why not let Brother Zu speak first!"

"What a fuss!"

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger cursed, but still indulged Wang Yunji, letting him think a bit longer.

Wang Yunji's hesitation was also a good sign—it meant the man had committed so many evils that recalling even one good deed was difficult.

The Four-Eyed Fierce Tiger turned to Zu Moyan and said:

"You betrayed your friend—I saw it with my own eyes. Surely you can't argue that!"

"What the Great King saw is not false. I did kill my junior brother, but there was a reason."

Zu Moyan had possessed cultivation in life, making him far more lucid than other Grief Ghosts. He had long figured out the whole story of this matter.