Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 378 - 15 Water Corpse (Conclusion)
Chapter 378: Chapter 15: Water Corpse (Conclusion)
Chapter 378: Chapter 15: Water Corpse (Conclusion)
Li Yan and Cha Xiaodao exited the room, surrounded by many maids and servants, with both the head of security and Yu Jie also present, all staring eagerly at the two of them.
“Lord Governor, you have worked hard on the investigation. Have you found any clues? I’ll immediately dispatch people to follow up.”
The old man was very respectful, his usual habit of speaking in four-word phrases now corrected.
Li Yan was very straightforward, “The old lady may have been harmed by an evil spirit.”
The expressions of everyone present changed drastically. Madam Zhen’s death was already mysterious, and now that even the official had said so, it was likely very close to the truth.
Li Yan spoke solemnly, “Head of Security Lin, I have a matter I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Lord Governor, please speak. I shall comply with whatever you ask.”
“My brothers and I would like to conduct a covert investigation tonight. If there really is an otherworldly being, we shall deal with it, as a way to honor Madam Zhen’s hospitality.”
Head of Security nodded repeatedly, “Good, good, I’ll go make the arrangements right away.”
“However, if it’s just us, the evil spirit might not show itself.”
Head of Security Lin blinked, “What do you mean, Lord Governor?”
Li Yan was patient, “Human beings naturally seek good fortune and avoid calamity, and ghosts do the same. Last night, only we and the old lady stayed in the main quarters, and we are still alive, yet the ghost did not harm us. Head of Security Lin, do you know that civilian officials and military officers carry with them a Dragon Tiger Qi which spirits and gods shy away from? If it’s only the two of us in the room, I’m afraid that we’ll end up empty-handed, with the evil spirit failing to appear.”
“Then, what does the Lord Governor suggest… ”
“I’m thinking of inviting a living person, preferably someone from the mansion, to stay in the old lady’s room tonight. If they encounter the evil spirit, they should shout out loud, and we will come immediately to slay the fiend on the spot.”
“That makes sense! That makes sense!”
Head of Security Lin nodded. He looked towards the people in the mansion, but saw their faces pale as sheets.
They spoke of an evil spirit, and without it, all was fine, but if it were real, wouldn’t that be courting death?
The gaze of Li Yan made everyone draw back, and Yu Jie’er, with her eyes red and swollen, tried to speak several times, only to be choked by fear, her grandmother’s gruesome death looming before her eyes.
There was an awkward silence for a good while, and Head of Security Lin was also feeling very embarrassed, but since the villagers were unwilling, he couldn’t force them to face certain death.
“Make way! Make way!”
Suddenly, someone squeezed through the crowd. It was Cao Yongchang.
Upon seeing that it was a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old, Head of Security Lin scowled and scolded: “A young brat who knows no manners, how dare you interrupt the investigation of the Lord Governor! Where are your parents? Take him away immediately.”
It turned out that Cao Yongchang wanted to speak with Li Yan, but was blocked by him. Cao Yongchang shot a glance at Head of Security Lin and mimicked the old man’s tone: “Head of Security for Niucun, all words and no backbone, wooden-headed.”
“You! You you you you you you you!”
“Head of Security, calm your anger.”
Upon hearing Li Yan’s words, Head of Security Lin could only stop talking and hang his head in dejection.
Cao Yongchang didn’t continue to hold a grudge against Head of Security Lin; instead, he looked directly at Li Yan and thumped his chest, “You need a living person, don’t you? I’m up for it!”
…
In the afternoon, the sun sank in the west, and the sky was darkening but not yet dark.
“I’m telling you now. We won’t be inside the room, so if anything happens, you need to adapt accordingly.”
Cha Xiaodao warned, and from nowhere, he produced a sugar pill, “Eat this.”
[Forty-Eight Varieties of Medicinal Candy]: After consumption, one’s hearing and eyesight become sharp and punches and kicks swift.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.
Cao Yongchang was obedient and took it without question.
“Put this on.”
Li Yan pulled out a dark red coin.
[Victory-Defying Coin]: A treasured item from Madam Shi of the South Seas, Queen Yan. The wearer can break all Victory-Defying witchcraft spells. A witch with less skill than Madam Shi will be backfired upon.
“I’m lending it to you, so give it back after you use it,” Li Yan said sternly.
Cao Yongchang scoffed, “Stingy.”
“That’s enough!” Fully prepared, Li Yan said to Cao Yongchang, “Go in peace.”
Cao Yongchang scratched his head, feeling a bit unsettled.
“It’s not even dark yet, and you’re already this scared? What happened to being all mighty during the day?”
Li Yan teased him.
In a low mutter, Cao Yongchang said, “I’ve got to live up to the sugar water that the old lady specifically instructed to be made for me.”
After saying that, he strutted into the room with an air of bold confidence.
The three corpses had already been carried to the back room by Head of Security Lin, but the atmosphere in the room was still gloomy and foreboding. As the last traces of red sunlight fell behind the mountains, night descended.
At first, it was alright, but as time passed, Cao Yongchang felt increasingly uneasy. He sat on the floor, using the bed as a pillow, knowing that the old lady had died in front of the window, so he kept as far away from the window as possible, his body shivering.
“In the dead of night, this Scholar Zhang removes his robe, oh dear maiden of virtue and chastity, take it off, you will take it off in vain~”
To bolster his courage, Cao Yongchang started to sing the lewd songs he used to hear in the brothel. He was young and inexperienced in such matters, but this was something men just instinctively knew how to do.
As the night deepened, although there was a stove burning inside, the room remained chillingly cold. Cao Yongchang dared not sleep, only waiting for the evil spirit to appear.
“In the fourth watch of the night, Scholar Zhang removes his trousers, oh dear maiden of virtue and chastity, take them off, you will take them off in vain~”
The boy Cao’s voice trembled, yet he sang with articulate pronunciation.
“In the fifth watch of the night, this, this Scholar Zhang, put your, put your thing…”
Pfft pfft
Cao Yongchang felt a burning sensation in his chest but restrained himself from crying out. Reaching out, he touched the red coin that Li Yan had given him.
Though he was nearly in tears from the scalding heat, Cao Yongchang was aware of the coin’s significance; only a truly magical object could become hot like this.
Pfft pfft
A strange noise came from the courtyard, like someone swishing liquid around in their mouth before spitting it out, the effort sounding faint.
Pfft pfft
Knowing that someone had died there, Cao Yongchang wouldn’t dream of acting rashly. He was about to open his mouth when he thought better of it—if he called out and there was nothing there, he would make a fool of himself. Hesitant and indecisive, another sound came from the doorway.
Pfft pfft
Clenching his teeth and feeling a surge of heat in his brain, Cao Yongchang walked to the paper window and poked a hole in it, sneaking a peek into the courtyard.
There, in the square courtyard, stood a hunched over old crone with hair like a broomstick twisted into a two-foot-high bun, toothless with a shrunken mouth, and eyebrows lost from sight.
In the dead of night, in a solitary house, an old woman with a bizarre appearance.
She stood in the courtyard, hopping around like a sparrow with a peculiar step, spouting clear water from her mouth. The pffting sounds were those of her spitting out the water.
Swallowing hard, Cao Yongchang was about to make a sound when the old crone who was spitting water in the courtyard suddenly turned her head and looked towards the window!
The boy reacted quickly, squatting down, leaning against the window pane, and covering his mouth to avoid speaking.
“…”
The upper and lower rows of Cao Yongchang’s teeth uncontrollably chattered, producing a faint sound. Cursing himself internally for his weakness, he bit down on the Victory-Defying Coin given by Li Yan, which finally stopped his teeth from trembling.
“…”
Pfft pfft
The sound of spitting water continued, the old crone seemingly enjoying herself.
Pfft pfft
As if possessed by a ghostly force, Cao Yongchang, with the Victory-Defying Coin in his mouth, recovered some strength. Overwhelmed by fear, his thoughts slowed down, and he instinctively began to rise slowly, pressing against the window pane to look through the hole in the paper.
His gaze moved from the patterns on the window pane, to the white latticed paper window, and finally to the hole in the paper—but Cao Yongchang saw only darkness.
He struggled to peer through the hole, wondering why he couldn’t see anything, when suddenly, the hole blinked—it was an eyelid.
It was the old crone’s eye.
With bulbous nose and dead fish eyes, the face of the water-spitting crone was separated from Cao Yongchang by just a sheet of paper!
A stream of clear water shot straight at Cao Yongchang.
Pfft pfft
