Curse

Zhang Lingshan's heart sank.

He followed the path the crowd had made for him and walked to Li Fu's front door, peering inside.

There, three corpses hung high from the three beams in the room.

Each corpse stared with bulging, purpled eyes, fixing their gaze straight at Zhang Lingshan's home.

The feeling was impossible to put into words.

The three pairs of eyes were clearly only looking in one direction, and from so far away, no one should have been able to make out their eyes at all.

Yet everyone inexplicably felt that they were looking at Zhang Lingshan's home.

It was a force of hatred capable of warping people's perceptions.

Who knew why they bore such immense hatred toward Zhang Lingshan's family.

Whoosh!

All of a sudden.

The three corpses seemed to sense something. With a whoosh, they turned their heads in unison toward Zhang Lingshan.

The crowd suddenly understood.

So they had not been looking at Zhang Lingshan's home. They had been staring at Zhang Lingshan!

"Xiao Shan, what happened? Weren't things fine before? I'd advise you to burn some paper offerings for the Old Li Family and say a few kind words. Ask them to let you go."

"Yeah, yeah. Didn't you promise to help their family before? Wasn't Xiao Dong brought back by you? Since you brought him back, that should have been a good thing. Why do they hate you so much?"

"I think there must be some misunderstanding. Hurry and burn some paper, kowtow a few times, and explain it clearly. Let their family of three leave in peace and stop lingering here."

With everyone talking over one another, Zhang Lingshan's mood grew increasingly heavy.

Suddenly, someone beside him shouted, "Move aside! This house has already been sold to our Three Rivers Gambling House. What are you all crowding around here for?"

"Three Rivers Gambling House?"

The crowd immediately parted, letting the people from Three Rivers Gambling House enter.

The one who came in was an acquaintance. Zhang Lingshan had seen him yesterday—it was Feng Zai.

Feng Zai glanced at Zhang Lingshan and recognized him too, but he ignored him. Instead, he looked toward Li Fu's home, his brows instantly knitting together as he cursed, "Damn it, I knew that old bastard was looking at us funny yesterday. So this was what he had planned—his whole family of three killing themselves together and leaving us a haunted house. Hmph!"

He sneered, then waved to his companions. "There are dead people here. Call the Yamen to deal with it. Once everything's cleaned up, we'll come back to take possession of the house and land. Let's go!"

After saying that, he looked at Zhang Lingshan again, a strange meaning flickering in his eyes.

As though he were looking at a dead man.

Zhang Lingshan's heart tightened. He hurried after Feng Zai, pulled out a piece of broken silver with his right hand, and tried to tuck it into Feng Zai's robe. In a low voice, he said, "Brother Feng, a small token of respect. Please accept it."

"Don't! I can't take a dead man's money."

Feng Zai hurriedly stepped aside. He had intended to leave at once, but perhaps Zhang Lingshan looked pitiful, so he kindly reminded him, "They cursed you with their lives. Pray for your own fortune. Go to one of the temples outside the city and ask for a few talismans. If you're lucky, they might help you cross this perilous pass."

"A curse?"

Zhang Lingshan's face darkened to the extreme.

The ones bullying people had clearly been Three Rivers Gambling House. The ones extorting their house deed and land deed had also been Three Rivers Gambling House.

Shi Lei was the one who had taken their twenty taels of silver.

Yet Zhang Lingshan was the one suffering misfortune.

What the hell was this!

If he had known, he should have ignored Li Fu's tearful pleas and driven him out with a stick.

Zhang Lingshan felt utterly stifled.

But now that things had come to this, regret and frustration were pointless.

Besides, even if he really had driven Li Fu out with a stick back then, Li Fu would surely have blamed him for standing by and watching him die. In the end, he still would have dragged his wife and child with him to the Yellow Springs and cursed Zhang Lingshan.

In short, what had happened had happened. He could only count himself unlucky.

The most urgent matter now was finding a way to lift this curse.

When he returned home.

Zhang Lingyu and Zhang Mother anxiously gathered around him. They had clearly heard the neighbors outside urging Zhang Lingshan to burn paper offerings and kowtow.

"Xiao Shan, what exactly happened?"

"Yesterday..."

Zhang Lingshan did not hide anything and truthfully told them what had happened yesterday.

Zhang Mother collapsed to the ground. "We clearly didn't do anything, yet we've gotten ourselves covered in filth. They didn't dare curse Three Rivers Gambling House, and they couldn't find that Senior Brother Shi Lei of yours, so they poured all their resentment onto us. Heavens, is there still any justice in this world?"

Zhang Lingyu said bitterly, "That whole family is nothing but cowards. They can't afford to offend others, so they bully us instead, treating us like soft persimmons to be squeezed. We're not afraid of them. As long as we lock the doors properly at night, no matter how formidable they are, they can't get in."

"Yes, yes, lock the doors properly. Xiao Shan, come home early these days. Never come back too late. If the weather turns gloomy one day, then we simply won't leave the house at all."

Zhang Mother nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Lingshan said, "Mm, I understand. I'll go to the martial hall first today. Don't worry. The three members of Li Fu's family are targeting me—it has nothing to do with you."

"Brother, don't exhaust yourself too much while training. If your mind is weak, you'll be more easily affected."

Zhang Lingyu reminded him.

Zhang Lingshan forced a smile and said lightly, "It's fine. I know my limits."

With that, he turned and left home, but his expression became deeply grave.

Though he did not want to think about it, the image of Li Fu's family of three looking at him kept echoing through his mind.

In that instant, his entire back had been soaked through. His head seemed to explode, and he lost all sensation, falling into a bloody mire where Li Fu's family of three frantically dragged at him.

Fortunately, that feeling vanished quickly. Otherwise, he would have been dragged down into ruin right then.

And because he had experienced that indescribable scene, Zhang Lingshan firmly believed Feng Zai's words. He truly had been cursed.

Feng Zai had recognized it at a glance, which meant he had seen such a thing before.

And Feng Zai had told him that he could seek talismans from the temples outside the city.

That was one possible path.

He had previously helped his father build Red Leaf Temple on Red Leaf Mountain, so he knew the way like the back of his hand. He might as well go to Red Leaf Temple and ask for a talisman.

But before that, he had to speak with Shi Lei.

That unreliable bastard—if he did not have the ability, then he should not have made such grand promises. He spoke as if Three Rivers Gambling House belonged to his family, yet he accomplished nothing and even got Zhang Lingshan dragged into this.

Damn it.

He was simply screwing people over beyond belief!

Shi Lei had to bear part of the blame for today's misfortune.

Zhang Lingshan hurried to Hong Clan Martial Hall. When he reached the Middle Courtyard, he saw Tie Feng and the other Registered Disciples practicing the Standing Posture, but Shi Lei was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Senior Brother Shi Lei? Hasn't he come today?"

Zhang Lingshan asked Tie Feng.

Tie Feng shook his head. "I haven't seen him. Wasn't he always following you around?"

"Senior Brother Shi Lei should be in the Backyard. He's a formal disciple, so he normally trains in the Backyard."

An older Registered Disciple said.

Zhang Lingshan hurriedly clasped his hands in thanks. He had no mood to worry about the martial hall's rules, so he went straight through the central hall and rushed into the Backyard.

Sure enough.

He saw Shi Lei standing among a group of formal disciples dressed in Hong Clan Martial Hall Training Uniforms. Shi Lei held a Stone Ball in both arms and turned it around and around, his face utterly expressionless. He had none of his former roguish air, as if he had become a different person.

"Hey, what are you doing? Who let you in?"

A formal disciple spotted Zhang Lingshan and immediately shouted sternly.

Zhang Lingshan hurriedly said, "I'm here to find Senior Brother Shi Lei. Something terrible has happened!"