You're Still Alive!

"Fugui? Surname Liu? The Liu family's child?"

Chen Shi only felt that this name sounded somewhat familiar, then suddenly felt a roaring in his mind, opening his eyes wide as he looked at the skinny boy before him.

He remembered—Sanwang had once said that the last missing child belonged to the Liu family, and his name was Fugui!

And the child before his eyes was named Liu Fugui!

Could it be that in this village, there were two Liu Fuguis?

Probably not!

That skinny boy named Liu Fugui walked toward the village, and seeing that Chen Shi hadn't moved, he hurriedly waved at him, smiling. "Chen Shi, come over here, I'll introduce you to some good friends!"

Chen Shi hesitated for a moment, then followed him toward the village.

He had originally thought he would gain a living, breathing friend; now it seemed this friend was likely not so living and breathing.

"Master Chen!" Sanwang shouted loudly.

Chen Shi turned a deaf ear, continuing to follow Liu Fugui, while Heiguo trotted closely behind Chen Shi with a heart full of nervous apprehension.

That skinny boy walked very fast, and the other people in the village acted as though they couldn't see him at all, letting him jog all the way to the center of the village. The houses in Huangyang Village, like those in other villages, were built in concentric circles surrounding Godmother.

Chen Shi looked ahead and saw a temple standing amidst the ruins left behind by an ancient palace.

The temple must have been built later; although it was already quite ancient, compared to the ruined walls, it should have been much younger.

Enshrined within the temple was a cross-legged bronze statue, left from an unknown era. The statue was carved in the likeness of a peculiar deity with indigo skin and long fangs protruding from its mouth, measuring over six feet even while seated. If it stood up, it would likely be more than a zhang high.

This was the Godmother of Huangyang Village.

Chen Shi followed Liu Fugui into the temple and saw that various offerings—chickens, ducks, geese, fish, shrimp, crabs, melons, fruits, pears, and peaches—were piled high in front of the bronze statue, forming a most abundant spread.

Sitting behind the offerings was a fat man with big earlobes and a chubby head. One hand grasped a plain-water chicken, his wide mouth stuffing it in as grease drooled all over. His other hand clutched a melon while his shifty little eyes darted about, terrified that someone might snatch his offerings.

This roly-poly fat man should be the divine manifestation condensed from extraordinary power.

Chen Shi looked toward the corner of the temple, where several children were hiding and speaking with Liu Fugui.

"His name is Chen Shi, childhood nickname Xiaoshi, and he can see me!"

Liu Fugui was very excited, saying to the other children, "Mom and Dad can't see me, and the villagers can't see me either, but only he can see me! He can definitely see you all too!"

Those children immediately looked at Chen Shi, revealing hopeful expressions.

"Brother Xiaoshi, my mom has been searching for me like she's gone crazy, and she's been crying for so long!"

A child hurried to Chen Shi's side, tears rolling down as he spoke, choking out, "When I watch Mom cry, I want to cry too. I hugged Mom's leg and told her, 'Mom, I'm right here,' but she just can't hear me, and she can't see me! Can you help me go find my mom?"

Another child's eye rims were red. "My mom and dad can't see me either!"

The child behind them said, "My mom's eyes are almost blinded from crying!"

Chen Shi's heart sank. These four children must be the four missing ones.

They had already turned into ghosts, which meant he had still arrived too late.

All four children were dead.

"As the Godmother worshipped by the villagers, shouldn't you have the responsibility to protect them?" Chen Shi turned around, looking at the fat man gorging himself behind the offerings.

The fat man stopped feeding himself and turned his head, his gaze fierce.

Heiguo hastily rushed in front of Chen Shi, baring its teeth and growling deep in its throat.

The fat man snorted. "I am only responsible for driving away evil spirits; other matters have nothing to do with me! Little ghost, for the sake of Chen Yindu, I'll spare you this time! If you show disrespect to me again, I'll eat you up, and Chen Yindu won't even dare let out a fart!"

He turned his head back and continued eating and drinking heavily.

Chen Shi was slightly startled. "Other matters have nothing to do with you... Could it be that the ones who murdered these four children aren't evil spirits?"

The Godmother of the village had the responsibility of banishing evil spirits, but if the harm wasn't done by evil spirits, then there was no need for Godmother to take action unless the villagers offered sacrifices.

Chen Shi had previously found it strange to hear about evil spirits acting up in broad daylight.

According to Grandpa, evil spirits only appeared at night because there was a peculiar power in the moonlight.

For evil spirits to appear in broad daylight was extremely rare.

The fat man turned a deaf ear to his words and offered no reply.

Chen Shi inquired, "Fugui, how did you die?"

Liu Fugui was startled, saying timidly, "Brother Xiaoshi, I... am I dead?"

"Don't be afraid yet. Think carefully, how were you abducted?"

"I was peeing, and then everything spun around and I didn't know anything else. I must have fallen asleep, and I don't know how long I slept before I woke up. Then I heard my mom and dad calling my name..."

Hearing this, Chen Shi perked up. Hearing parents call one's name indicated that the place where the incident happened wasn't far!

Liu Fugui said, "I climbed over the wall and saw Mom and Dad looking for me. I told them I was right here, but they couldn't hear or see me. Brother Xiaoshi, am I really dead?"

Chen Shi asked doubtfully, "You climbed over the wall? Whose wall did you climb over?"

"Just that abandoned house in the village where no one lives."

"The Tian family's abandoned house?"

Liu Fugui nodded and said, "Right, that family's surname is Tian. I met these few in the Tian family's place too." He pointed at the other children.

Chen Shi looked at the other children and suddenly said, "You four come with me. Let's make a trip to the Tian family's abandoned house."

He led the four children out of the temple. Outside, people were packed densely; the villagers were all gathered outside the temple, not even daring to breathe loudly, staring straight at him.

Chen Shi looked back and saw that only Liu Fugui was following him, while the other three children were trapped by the temple threshold and couldn't jump out no matter what.

Chen Shi returned to the temple and said, "You guys come out with me. Let's go take a look at the scene."

One of the children said, "I can't get out. When I walk to the threshold, it gets higher and higher, blocking us!"

The other two children nodded repeatedly.

Hearing this, Chen Shi looked at the fat man behind the offerings.

The fat man said lazily, "Others eat meat while I drink soup. These three little ghosts are dead, and their souls have been sacrificed to me. You can't take them away."

Chen Shi asked doubtfully, "Why can Fugui leave?"

"He's not dead yet, only his soul has left his body."

The fat man said, "When he dies, his soul will also belong to me."

Chen Shi looked at him deeply, made no attempt to take the other three children away, and said to Liu Fugui, "Let's go to the Tian family's abandoned house!"

He walked outward, and the villagers proactively cleared a path. Liu Fugui hurriedly followed him through.

"Is this little talisman master going to cut it?" someone worriedly said.

"There's nothing in the temple except him talking to himself there. He probably has mental problems."

Chen Shi turned a deaf ear, letting Liu Fugui lead the way, and quickly brought him before the Tian family's abandoned house.

This abandoned house was also made of earthen walls without a single brick, constructed from mud and gray mortar, simply topped with beams and covered with straw to form the front hall.

The door of the front hall was locked with an iron chain, and the chain was already covered in rust.

There was an old locust tree in the courtyard, extremely tall and verdant, almost covering the entire courtyard.

Further inside, things could not be seen clearly.

Chen Shi was in no hurry to go in. He put down his book box, took out a small knife, and Heiguo quickly stepped forward, letting him make a cut to draw blood.

"Heiguo, I've wronged you. I don't have meat from an exotic beast here, but I'll make it up to you when we get back."

Chen Shi ground the ink, mixed the cinnabar and black dog blood, and instead of using talisman paper, he walked straight to the door of the Tian family's abandoned house, raising his brush to draw talismans on the door.

He circulated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art, and starlight from all around swarmed over, transforming into the Big Dipper Seven Stars around his body while divine light suddenly appeared behind his head, condensing to form a divine shrine.

Chen Shi held a single breath, his intent reaching the brush tip and his qi reaching the brush tip. Wielding the brush with one hand in a dragon-flying and phoenix-dancing motion, he quickly drew a Shenshu Diagram on one door panel, then let out a breath as the divine shrine at the back of his head retreated and disappeared.

Currently unable to retain true qi, he could only rely on a single breath to make his divine shrine manifest; once this breath dissipated, the divine shrine would also disperse.

Chen Shi took another breath, loaded his brush with ink, and the divine shrine reappeared, drawing a Yulei Diagram.

These two diagrams were the Door God Talismans painted on the peachwood talismans.

As the two diagrams formed, a faint divine light burst forth from the doors, growing increasingly pale before the divine light blended into the air, hard to discern with the naked eye.

Chen Shi exhaled foul air and said, "The peachwood talismans didn't react at all. It seems there are no evil spirits whatsoever in this abandoned house."

If there were evil spirits, they would inevitably trigger the peachwood talismans, causing the two door gods on them to leap forth and banish the evil spirits!

Now that the peachwood talismans were not triggered, it meant there were no evil spirits in the abandoned house.

"Then who on earth snatched the bed-wetting child away?"

Holding the brush and ink in one hand, Chen Shi gave a gentle pinch with the other, snapping the iron chain locking the door, pushed open the room's door, and walked into the courtyard.—Although he possessed no magical power, his strength was growing stronger and stronger.

Heiguo and Liu Fugui hurriedly followed.

The villagers stopped outside the door, not daring to enter.

Weeds and trees grew everywhere in this courtyard, the largest being that locust tree.

Chen Shi came before the locust tree, raised his brush, concentrated his mind, and utilizing a breath of true qi that had yet to disperse, drew the Five Sacred Mountains House-Suppressing Talisman upon the locust tree.

Catching sight of a dry well in the courtyard, he immediately approached it and drew a Well Talisman along the well curb.

With this arrangement, there were peachwood talismans to repel evil in the front, the Five Sacred Mountains House-Suppressing Talisman in the center, and even the water well sealed by the Well Talisman; the Tian family's abandoned house was now as solid as a fortress, impenetrable to external evils. If any evil existed in the courtyard, it would feel itself suppressed by the five sacred mountains, unable to move a muscle.

Chen Shi put away his brush and inquired, "Fugui, where did you wake up?"

"Right in the main hall!"

Liu Fugui quickly walked into the main hall and said, "Right here!"

Chen Shi followed, but Liu Fugui's figure had vanished.

The main hall was empty, containing only an offering table with eight pitch-black memorial tablets arrayed upon it. The tables and chairs were covered in dust, and cobwebs filled the corners.

"Fugui, Fugui!"

Chen Shi called out loudly, yet Fugui, who had just rushed into the main hall, was nowhere to be found.

Chen Shi came to the left side room, suddenly feeling a chilling draft. He saw four pitch-black coffins resting on benches inside this left side room, neatly arranged.

Balling up his courage, he approached them and saw that the nails were still on the coffins; they must have been resting here for a long time.

Chen Shi thought for a moment and did not pry open the coffins.

He came to the right side room, where four more black coffins were also placed on benches, not touching the ground.

Chen Shi furrowed his brow slightly. These eight black coffins should belong to the eight members of the Tian family, placed here in shrouding without being buried for some unknown reason.

There were no signs that the coffin nails had been removed either.

"Fugui clearly came in just now, so how did he suddenly vanish? Unless..."

Chen Shi's gaze landed upon the coffins, and after a moment of hesitation, he prepared to step forward and open them. At that very moment, the barking of a dog rang out. Chen Shi returned to the main hall and saw that Heiguo had stopped outside without entering, simply lifting its head and barking incessantly toward the upper space.

Chen Shi raised his gaze and froze in place.

The roof directly above the main hall's main beam must have been renovated; it wasn't thatched straw, but had been replaced with impeccably flat wooden boards fitted into a gable shape. The boards were very thick, planed to an extreme gloss, and inscribed with terrifyingly red, complex talismans drawn in some unknown type of blood!

The talismans were massive, each one spanning over a zhang across, totaling five talismans.

The structure of the talismans was bizarre; squinting at them, the lines blurred until one seemed to see five ferocious heads with gaping blood-red mouths and tongues over a zhang long, just like ghosts!

Five chains hung down from the mouths of these talismanic ghost heads, and four of the chains each bound a child, with their hands and feet restrained and suspended upside down from the roof.

The upper and lower eyelids of these four children had been hooked by fishhooks, pulling the eyelids wide open, and their noses had also been hooked by fishhooks and yanked upward.

Their mouths had their upper and lower lips hooked at the four corners by four fishhooks, stretched in different directions to make their mouths look enormous.

They hung head-down and feet-up, their bodies slanting downward, while the tongues inside their mouths were pierced by an iron hook being pulled straight down.

The iron hook connected to a thin iron chain, at the end of which was a palm-sized small cauldron.

Their tongues were pulled very long.

The blood dripping from their tongues flowed along the hooks and the iron chains, running down into this small cauldron.

"Fugui!"

When Chen Shi saw the face of one of the children—it was none other than the skinny boy who had wanted to make friends with him moments ago—he hurriedly shouted aloud, "Liu Fugui! Wake up! Wake up quickly!"

That child seemed to hear his call, dazedly rolling his eyes.

A surge of wild elation rushed into Chen Shi's heart.

"He's alive!"

"You're still alive!"

"Don't move, Fugui! I'll get you down right now!"

--The talismans used by Xiaoshi in this chapter will be placed in the chapter notes shortly, welcome to check them out!!