Chapter 10

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan felt as though a basin of icy water had been poured over his head, chilling his entire body to the bone.

In a daze, it felt as though his soul had been scared out of his body. The only reason it had not fled was because this was not reality, and his body was not here.

"Run!"

Li Zhuiyuan grabbed Qin Li's hand and sprang to his feet.

But before they could take more than a few steps, the old women who had been washing bowls with sand all rose together and blocked their path.

No matter how Li Zhuiyuan shoved or rammed their seemingly shriveled, aged bodies, they remained utterly unmoved.

In his despair, the thought that came to Li Zhuiyuan's mind was: No wonder Great Grandfather's paper crafting business was so good. The materials and workmanship really were top-notch.

In truth, forcing his way through had never been an option. He was still small and had no strength to speak of, and he did not know any of Great Grandfather's or Liu Jinxia's methods.

He had originally thought he could avoid this incident by hiding, and he had nearly succeeded, only to fail at the final step.

He turned to look at the Cat-faced Old Woman, forcing himself to calm down as his mind rapidly searched for any useful knowledge.

There was no need to search too hard. He had only read one book, an introductory encyclopedia at that... and only four volumes of it.

Nothing made one regret not reading more than needing knowledge. Now, he could only force what he knew to fit.

And Li Zhuiyuan really did find something that seemed to match.

The twelfth entry of Volume Three of Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu recorded a special kind of Death Collapse—the Corpse Demon.

When someone carrying deep resentment floated in water and came into contact with the corpse of some animal similarly tainted by sinister filth, the two could merge by chance and form a bizarre existence that was neither human nor demon.

Such Death Collapses possessed certain special abilities. For instance, the Corpse Demon mentioned in the book had appeared around the Changbai Mountains in Northeast China. It was a fusion of a human and a Yellow Immortal, capable of creating misty barriers and bewitching people's minds. In the end, it had been destroyed by the righteous path.

Li Zhuiyuan did not know what exactly "the righteous path" meant, nor did he think there was any need to know. Every Death Collapse entry ended with the same phrase: "destroyed by the righteous path."

Whether it had truly been destroyed, which sect had done it, whether it had been monks, Taoists, lamas, or sorcerers... none of that mattered. It seemed the handwritten book's author simply used "destroyed by the righteous path" as the period at the end of every entry.

The Cat-faced Old Woman before him looked very much like a Corpse Demon.

But if he wanted to force the concept to fit, he first had to confirm that she had died in a river. If she had died somewhere else, then she was not a Death Collapse and did not belong in Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu.

Yet the old woman's clothes were spotless, and her gray-white hair was fluffy and dry. She did not look anything like a water ghost. Little Yellow Oriole, soaked from head to toe, was the standard model.

Li Zhuiyuan felt... this was beyond the syllabus.

The Cat-faced Old Woman drew back her extended head, bent down, and picked up a piece of tiger-skin meat and a chicken leg from the ground.

Those two things on the floor were how she had noticed that something was wrong, because they did not fit the simple logic of her dream.

"Such good food. How could you waste grain like this? You ought to suffer..."

She stopped before saying the final word. Clearly, given her current identity, saying those two words would have been the true taboo.

She opened her mouth without caring about the dirt and stuffed the meat and chicken leg inside, chewing with great enjoyment and intoxication.

"If only I'd had a bowl of corn porridge back then."

Reminiscence filled her eyes. As she curled up in bed and stared at the tightly shut door, that had been her greatest wish for a long time, even... an extravagant hope.

But in the end, she had not received even a grain of rice or a sip of water.

The Cat-faced Old Woman looked at Li Zhuiyuan again, but before she could speak, he beat her to it.

"Hello, Grandma. Happy birthday."

The Cat-faced Old Woman: "..."

That birthday greeting left even the Corpse Demon speechless.

After a long while, the Cat-faced Old Woman reached out and extended her hand before Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that the back of her hand was covered in fine fur as well, and her nails were long and sharply pointed.

He did not dodge. He let her hand touch his face.

That familiar sensation of ice pressed against his face returned, exactly like what he had felt in Liu Jinxia's hall that day.

"Grandma has noticed that you, Little Kid, aren't just handsome. You're clever too.

That day, when my eldest son was leaving, you deliberately had him wash his hands beside you so Grandma could leave you and return to him, right?"

"I was afraid Grandma might forget the way home."

"Really?"

"And I thought you were more used to having him carry you."

"No..." The Cat-faced Old Woman's finger slid down to Li Zhuiyuan's lips. "Now I prefer having Little Kid carry me."

Then the Cat-faced Old Woman looked at Qin Li, who stood behind Li Zhuiyuan. "What a pretty little girl."

Li Zhuiyuan introduced her, "There's something wrong with her head. She can't talk, has a bad temper, and bites people at the drop of a hat."

"Oh, is that so? No wonder when I saw her during the day, she was sitting there without moving at all. Ah, what a pity. Such a pretty little girl."

As she spoke, the Cat-faced Old Woman shifted her attention back to Li Zhuiyuan's face. "Little Kid, Grandma truly likes you. Stay with Grandma for a while."

"You don't have..." Li Zhuiyuan immediately realized something and changed his words. "All right, I'll keep Grandma company."

He had wanted to say, Don't you have your own grandson? But that would have been like rubbing salt in the wound.

The Cat-faced Old Woman smiled and nodded, then said to Fat Master and the others, "Everyone has worked hard. Let's eat together."

By local custom, once the first and second rounds of diners had finished and all the guests had been served, one or two more tables would be set for the cooks, helpers, and family members to eat.

"Sure thing, old madam." Fat Master and the old women regained their liveliness and began clearing things away in preparation for the meal.

"Little Kid, you come too."

After giving her orders, the Cat-faced Old Woman turned and walked out of the kitchen. Li Zhuiyuan noticed that her footprints were wet, and her cloth shoes were an unusually dark color. They squeaked continuously as she walked, as though they were full of water.

Had he guessed right?

"Come on, Little Kid, time to eat." Fat Master grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's hand, interrupting his thoughts.

Li Zhuiyuan saw that the old women had not gone after Qin Li. Clearly, the Cat-faced Old Woman had no interest in a girl whose head was "not right." He released Qin Li's hand and turned to tell her,

"You go first... no, just stand here and don't move."

They had no idea where they could go anyway. She was safer staying in the kitchen. After all, the old woman wanted him.

Li Zhuiyuan was led out of the kitchen. The exterior, which had once been packed with people, was now deathly quiet.

It was not that there was no one there. On the contrary, there were many people, packed shoulder to shoulder in a dark mass, yet no one made a sound or moved in the slightest.

The tables, chairs, and benches had been cleared away and stacked against the walls. Only two relatively open areas remained.

One held a table laden with food and wine, while the other was occupied by the three performers of Child's Opera.

Everyone else stood densely gathered around them, waiting to watch the after-dinner performance.

Fat Master forcibly dragged Li Zhuiyuan over to the table.

The Cat-faced Old Woman was already seated at the head of the table. She patted the empty seat beside her. "Come, Little Kid. Sit beside Grandma."

Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to sit down. He deliberately glanced back in the direction they had come from, only to discover that Qin Li had not obediently remained in the kitchen. She had followed them out and was standing amid the crowd, watching him.

They no longer cared about you, so why did you have to push yourself forward?

The Cat-faced Old Woman noticed her too and asked with a smile, "Should we call her over to sit with us?"

"No, Grandma. She has already eaten. She has a bad temper, doesn't take well to strangers, and might keep everyone from eating in peace."

"Oh? Then why do you play with her?"

"She's my neighbor, so I take her along."

"Hehe, you really are kind." The Cat-faced Old Woman placed her hand on Li Zhuiyuan's head and gently stroked it. "When my grandsons and granddaughters were young, I raised them too. Back then, they called me 'Grandma' with every other word. But once they grew up, each one wished I would die sooner. They all believed this old hag was the reason they couldn't get ahead, live well, or make money."

Li Zhuiyuan listened quietly.

"I could never understand how they became like that. Perhaps it really was my fault. Maybe I lived too long and sucked away their good fortune. Maybe I wronged them?

I thought it would be better to die early and be reborn early. It would be better for them too. Little Kid, don't you think?"

If you really thought that, how did you become a Death Collapse?

According to the opening principles of Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu, Death Collapses were existences catalyzed by resentment.

Without resentment, how could you be sitting here now? By longing alone?

"Grandma, you mustn't think like that. My mom once told me that when dealing with beasts, reflecting on yourself or trying to understand them is a laughable thing."

"Oh... your mother really made sense." After a pause, the Cat-faced Old Woman laughed to herself. "Hehe, that's what I think too. But I still can't bear it. After all, they were children I raised with my own hands."

"But did they treat you as their mother, as their grandmother?"

"In my eyes, they were still children. And children always make mistakes, don't they?"

"But they've all become grandfathers and grandmothers themselves. They've all been dads and moms too. How could they not understand how you felt? Yet they still did this."

"That's right, they're truly detestable!!!"

The green light in the Cat-faced Old Woman's eyes began to swirl rapidly, and sharp teeth pushed past her lips.

"Little Kid, you're so right, completely right. Grandma likes you so much I can hardly stand it!"

This time, both hands grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's face and kneaded it continuously.

Li Zhuiyuan felt as though his face was about to freeze stiff.

"Grandma... you absolutely mustn't let them off."

The Cat-faced Old Woman released Li Zhuiyuan's face and gripped the tabletop with both hands, her nails leaving ten deep gouges in it.

"That's right. How could I possibly let them off? Those people are worse than us beasts!"

Li Zhuiyuan: Worse than us beasts?

So the dominant force in this Corpse Demon was a cat?

The Cat-faced Old Woman turned to Li Zhuiyuan and said, word by word, "Little Kid, watch carefully. I'll make them pay for what they did!"

Will you let me live long enough to see it?

Li Zhuiyuan immediately chimed in, "Grandma, definitely!"

He did not feel guilty about guiding her hatred just now. He had merely known the answer and filled in the steps to solve the problem.

Even without his guidance, the old woman would have done this. If he had tried to persuade her to let it go, his head would have been the first thing to go.

At that moment, Fat Master asked, "Old madam, can we start eating at this table?"

The Cat-faced Old Woman asked, "Is everyone here?"

"Just us."

"What about the hosts?"

Fat Master scratched his head. "You're the only one from the family. None of your children came."

"Not them. We borrowed someone else's place, their tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks. It would be against the rules not to invite the owners to the table."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "Grandma, they aren't hungry. They're already asleep. Don't wake them."

"How can that do?" The Cat-faced Old Woman suddenly stared at Li Zhuiyuan with a sinister expression. "For this final meal, everyone must be called over. Otherwise, it breaks the rules, and people will criticize us behind our backs."

"There really is no need, Grandma."

"Buzz!"

The Cat-faced Old Woman seized Li Zhuiyuan by the throat with one hand and lifted his whole body into the air.

"Little Kid, that wasn't very obedient of you just now. Hehehe."

At that moment, in the second-floor bedroom, Li Zhuiyuan slept with his forehead pressed against the desk, his face twisted in pain as he began to suffocate.

"Grandma... I was wrong... I was wrong..."

Li Zhuiyuan clutched her hand with both of his, but he could not pry it open no matter what he did. His legs could only kick wildly without purpose.

The feeling of death was so clear.

Qin Li, standing in the distant crowd, began twitching her eyelashes. Her body began to tremble as well, and the shaking grew increasingly intense.

"Smack!"

The Cat-faced Old Woman released her hand. Li Zhuiyuan fell to the ground and, free from her grip, began gasping for air.

She really would kill him!

She was not human. She was a Corpse Demon. Ferocity was her nature!

Li Zhuiyuan turned to look at Qin Li in the crowd. After meeting his gaze, Qin Li seemed to receive some sort of reassurance. She slowly lowered her eyes again, and her body gradually stopped trembling.

In the second-floor bedroom, the pain on Li Zhuiyuan's face slowly faded as he slept bent over the desk, and his breathing steadied.

The Cat-faced Old Woman said, "Little Kid, children need to be properly taught from a young age."

"Grandma, you're right." Li Zhuiyuan climbed to his feet and returned to the table.

"If you think they can't be taught properly, then drown them early. That way, they won't grow up into heartless disasters. Don't you agree?"

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a plate of braised fish from the table and switched it with the fried peanuts in front of the Cat-faced Old Woman.

Then he sat down and nodded.

"That's right. Yes."

"Mhm..." A smile appeared on the Cat-faced Old Woman's face again. She gently touched the red marks on Li Zhuiyuan's neck. "You're still the obedient one, Little Kid. Did Grandma hurt you just now?"

"Grandma was teaching me. I understand."

"Mhm." The Cat-faced Old Woman looked at Fat Master. "Go invite them. Invite the hosts to eat."

"Sure thing, we'll go right away."

Fat Master and the old women who had been washing dishes each rose from the table and went to call people.

When Fat Master reached the Stairs, the stairs that had previously vanished reappeared. He jogged up them, the fat on his body jiggling with every step.

Upon reaching the Second Floor Balcony, he went to Li Sanjiang's bedroom, pushed open the door, and saw Li Sanjiang sleeping on the bed.

"Come on, time for the banquet!"

Fat Master walked to the bedside and grabbed Li Sanjiang's wrist. Next, he would pull this man's soul out and take it away to the banquet.

However,

all of a sudden,

Fat Master felt the environment around him twist. He had been standing in the bedroom, but now he found himself in a plaza surrounded by towering halls.

Then he saw, directly ahead of him,

an old man in a pair of torn white boxer shorts standing at the front, leading a group of Zombies in hopping.

The old man hopped once, and the Zombies behind him all hopped once as well.

The old man lost his footing when he landed by accident, and the Zombies behind him collectively stumbled too.

The sight frightened Fat Master so badly that he immediately returned to his original appearance—his face white as paper.

Just then, the last Zombie in line reacted the slowest and fell over. Its face turned toward the rear, and it saw Fat Master standing there.

As though it had spotted something novel, the Zombie leaped at Fat Master.

Fat Master immediately started running, and the Zombie gave chase.

Buzz!

Fat Master appeared by the bed, back in the bedroom. He reached up and touched his face, his hand coming away with thick makeup powder. He had been so frightened that his makeup had fallen off.

Thud!

The floor suddenly trembled.

It was as though some enormous creature had landed.

"Come, Little Kid. They've gone to call for help, so let's eat first."

The Cat-faced Old Woman grabbed a handful of dried fruit and placed it before Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan looked troubled. He had tried this stuff before. Forget eating it—even putting it in his mouth was unpleasant.

"Eat..."

The old woman's tone lowered.

Li Zhuiyuan could only pick one up. He swallowed, then put it into his mouth. In an instant, a powerful wave of nausea rose within him, but seeing the old woman's expression, he could only cover his mouth to keep himself from throwing up.

"Mmm, such a good boy. Little Kid, that's how it should be. No matter when, you must never fail to cherish food. In my lifetime, I starved before Liberation. After Liberation, I was a widow raising three children, and we starved too.

"Then, after the children grew up, they starved to death."

"So, Grandma truly knows how precious food is."

Li Zhuiyuan could only nod while fighting back his nausea, but he truly could not swallow this mouthful.

Just then, Fat Master rolled down the Stairs in utter terror, shouting:

"Old Granny, something's wrong! Old Granny, something terrible has happened!"

"What is it?"

The Cat-faced Old Woman stood up. This was her "territory"; she was the one in control here.

Bang!

A pair of long boots came down, landing squarely on Fat Master and crushing him into a pile of scrap paper and wooden strips.

"Ah..."

A chilling guttural sound echoed through the entire hall, causing the temperature to plummet.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head, staring in stunned disbelief at the being that had suddenly appeared before him.

It was a Zombie—

A Zombie dressed in a Qing official's robe, wearing a formal hat adorned with peacock feathers!

—

There would be another update before midnight.