Could a coffin lid really become a spirit and come looking for revenge?
And why did it say it was this strange old woman's grandson? Why had it locked itself up in such a cruel way?
The bizarre scenes unfolding before him, along with the intense unease welling up inside him, dealt another heavy blow to Hu Ma's mind, which had only just recovered.
Fear, confusion, bewilderment—these emotions made his vision swim with stars once more, and dizziness swept over him like a tidal wave.
But this time, he forced himself not to faint and struggled to keep his eyes open as he looked at the old woman.
The old woman standing by the door had been staring at Hu Ma with a sinister gaze the whole time. Beneath her tangled, filthy hair, her eyes seemed incapable of moving.
She saw that Hu Ma was swaying on the verge of collapse, yet still hadn't fallen unconscious. A complicated look crossed her eyes.
After a long while, she slowly lowered her eyelids and said flatly,
"You woke up sooner than I expected, and you've got more energy than I thought. Looks like you're almost better."
"..."
She's finally willing to talk?
Hu Ma forced himself to stay alert, realizing that this time was different from before.
He had screamed at the old woman countless times. Sometimes he had fainted; sometimes he had woken up in agony. When she came near, he had even tried to struggle and fight back. But the old woman had always watched coldly without reacting. For a while, he had even suspected she couldn't speak.
Hu Ma fixed his gaze on her and asked in a trembling voice, "You... what's happening to me?"
"Why did you lock me up?"
"..."
"You're sick."
The strange old woman slowly walked over and sat down on a small stool. In a low voice, she said, "I'm treating you."
"Treating me?"
Hu Ma's voice cracked. "You call this treatment?"
You'd pierced my collarbones and hung me from a beam, chanted scriptures and burned talismans day and night, doused me in hot oil, and tortured me by flaying my skin and tearing out my tendons—yet you said you were treating me?
This was clearly torture, wasn't it?
Or maybe you were using some kind of unholy method on me?
The old woman seemed to guess what he was thinking. Her voice was ominously low as she said, "You're very sick."
"?"
Even the sickest person didn't need to be hung up for treatment, did they?
Hu Ma felt his head spinning with confusion. He threw caution to the wind and shouted, "Stop acting all spooky! You... you should let me down first..."
"..."
As the old woman listened to him shout, she merely kept her face stern and slowly set down the bundle she had carried back.
It was as if she had returned to ignoring everything Hu Ma said, just as she had before.
But the little girl with two tiny pigtails suddenly piped up, "Brother Hu Ma doesn't remember Grandma."
"The Meng Family sent a ghost to kill Brother Hu Ma, but Grandma is really powerful. She called Brother Hu Ma's soul back."
"But Brother Hu Ma kept trying to run away, so Grandma fixed Brother Hu Ma's soul in place with his body."
"Every day, Grandma helps Brother Hu Ma chant the Soul Calming Incantation, gives Brother Hu Ma medicinal soup, and even cuts meat from Lord Tai Sui for Brother Hu Ma to eat. Now Brother Hu Ma finally doesn't run around anymore, but he doesn't recognize Grandma or Xiao Hong Tang."
"..."
By the end, she seemed distinctly unhappy, her little mouth puckered into a pout.
But what she said left Hu Ma feeling utterly bewildered.
What was all that supposed to mean?
His mind couldn't help but return to the buzzing chants he had heard nonstop these past few days, the strange talisman water and medicinal brews he had been made to drink, the twisted visions, and the repeated torture. Fear beyond words rose within him at the thought of this nightmarish predicament.
"He's only just had his soul settled. It's normal that he doesn't remember things."
As the little girl spoke, the old woman's face darkened. She slowly took things out of her bundle.
There were incense sticks, candles, joss paper, and a large, square piece of meat wrapped in red paper. Grease had soaked through the paper.
Her voice was slow, and a long time passed before she said, "He'll get better."
"The Hu Family's last surviving heir won't be killed by the Meng Family..."
"..."
By this point, Hu Ma's mind was a tangled mess. He remembered how, in those scattered memories, the old woman had stared at him with the sinister look of someone glaring at an enemy. He could barely control himself and almost shouted at her, but just as the words reached his lips, he suddenly realized something.
He pressed his lips together slightly, then looked up at the old woman and ventured, "Then..."
"Since I'm better now, can you..."
"...let me down?"
"..."
Everything else could wait. If they insisted on telling him this, then getting them to remove those two hooks was the priority.
As he watched anxiously, the old woman's expression seemed to darken. She slowly shook her head.
"You're better, but it'd be best to keep you fixed in place for a few more days..."
"..."
Just as Hu Ma's spirits sank, she stopped halfway through her sentence, as if she had made up her mind, and suddenly looked at him.
Her gaze was so sharp that Hu Ma hurriedly looked away.
He could feel her eyes scanning him from head to toe. Perhaps she had also seen the blood seeping from his shoulders when he had just tried to pull himself free of the hooks.
Then, to his surprise, he heard her voice soften.
"But being hung up really is uncomfortable. If you want the hooks out, then we'll take them out."
"..."
Hu Ma was taken aback. "Then..."
"I'll do it!"
Just as he was about to ask how she planned to remove them, the little girl in red on the floor suddenly cried out excitedly.
She was tiny, less than a meter tall, with thin arms and legs, but she moved with astonishing agility.
She sprang off the floor and landed on Hu Ma's back.
Her embroidered shoes braced against his shoulders, and her small, pale hands seized the iron hooks. She tensed her body and pulled.
"Pfft..."
A burst of agony shot through him. Before Hu Ma could react, one of the hooks had already been yanked out.
She quickly tossed it aside, then rolled across Hu Ma's back, grabbed the other hook, and did the same.
Blood immediately poured from both shoulders, and Hu Ma felt his body grow lighter.
But then unbearable pain surged into his head. Stars flashed before his eyes, and his body crumpled to the ground against his will.
Right after, he heard a burst of giggling and caught a glimpse of a red blur in his muddled vision.
A bone-chilling cold swept over the burning wounds on his shoulders, one after another, jolting his mind awake.
He opened his eyes and saw the little girl in red licking his wounds.
Her long, thin tongue swept across the wounds, and the gaping holes that had been pouring blood stopped bleeding at once. Even the intense pain eased considerably.
What is this little girl...?
Hu Ma realized something was wrong, but he was too muddled to think it through. The little girl had already flipped him over and was licking the two bloody holes on his back. Hu Ma's body was thin, but still weighed over a hundred pounds, yet she pushed and turned him with ease using her slender arms.
The rapid changes left Hu Ma's thoughts in disarray. He panted heavily.
Throughout the whole thing, the old woman merely sat on the stool, slowly poured herself a cup of cold tea, and drank.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if she were thinking about something.
The room was completely quiet except for Hu Ma's heavy, forceful panting.
She seemed to feel a little more at ease. After a long while, she slowly rose and said to the little girl, "Xiao Hong Tang, keep an eye on your brother. I have to go check the Cui Family's grave."
"Old Master Cui's death was suspicious. I had that locust-wood coffin lid watch him for twenty years, but maybe the thunderstorm a few nights ago washed away the grave mound. The coffin lid came all the way back to me to demand payment, so Old Master Cui's corpse probably won't stay put either..."
"..."
She walked to the door, but then seemed to remember something and turned back to warn Hu Ma,
"You've only just recovered, and you're terribly weak. You'll attract Evil Spirits easily, so don't go wandering outside."
"When Grandma comes back, she'll cure you..."
"..."
Not run?
Hu Ma heard her warning through the haze and thought, I'd have to be an idiot not to run!
Even with his eyes closed, he could almost see the old woman's sharp, icy gaze.
The torment and suffering of the past few days still lingered. The times he had woken in a daze were vivid in his mind, as were the agony of being thrown into a boiling oil pot and the pain of being skinned alive.
It was as if he had to endure the tortures of all eighteen levels of hell every day!
He still remembered the old woman's sinister stare when he was in a daze. He remembered the painful dizziness after they had forced that strange meat down his throat, and the feeling that some kind of monster was growing vigorously inside his body.
He had long since reached his limit. He couldn't begin to imagine what terrifying thing might happen if this continued.
A sacrifice? A soul transfer? Raising a little ghost?
What did she mean when she said she would "cure" him?
So many questions battered his mind, but Hu Ma knew he had only one chance. If they hung him up again, it would all be over.
His panicked mind made him grit his teeth and silently gather what little strength remained in his body, forcing himself to stay awake.
He waited until the old woman had probably gone far away, then suddenly opened his eyes.
As soon as he did, he saw the little girl in red squatting nearby, watching him.
Their eyes met. They stared at each other, neither saying a word.
Hu Ma's heart sank slightly, but he forced himself not to bolt from the room.
The old woman had left, but she had also left this little monster behind to watch him. If he really wanted to escape, he would have to deal with it first.
Before you continue