The rolling mist seemed to reveal the past of the female ghost.
The cold wind blew away the thick snow, floating on my rosy cheeks. I followed my father's back in front of me, walking through the vast expanse of white. When I looked back, my home became blurred in the heavy snow.
She was only seven years old that year.
The little girl understood many things, but also some things she didn't understand. She followed her father to the town and entered a warm and bright room. She was asked to sit outside and talk to an old man. There were many beautiful clothes, crowns, gongs and drums around her. At the door of a dark house on the other side, a child who looked similar to her was looking over at her.
Soon, her father came out with a rustling bag and squatted in front of her.
"Don't blame Dad... and don't blame your mom. You're born here and listen to your uncle. You'll stutter, but it's better than starving at home, okay?"
She knew that she had been sold. Her eyes were red, but she didn't cry. She timidly followed her father to the door, twiddling her fingers, standing in the wind and snow.
Still she couldn't help crying out, "Dad! When will you come to pick up Yuner?"
Her father left without saying a word. The old man in the house came over and pulled her in. The old man was not kind. He whipped her with a long thin whip and beat her. The more she cried, the more she cried. He would not stop until she stopped crying.
Later, she gradually understood the meaning of what her mother said when she left: "You have to be obedient and sensible outside, so you won't starve." The number of other children in the yard gradually decreased. Some were not suitable for this line of work and were sold to brothels. Two years later, she was also sold to a drama troupe in Hegu County.
Her original name was changed to Hong Lian. She warmed up her voice, sang songs, and practiced the basic skills she had practiced in the courtyard. If she was lazy at all, she would be beaten and scolded. Three years later, when she was twelve years old, she went on stage to act in plays, sang small roles, and finally got some small tips.
Looking at the copper coins accumulated in the small wooden box, it was the happiest year for her. Later, because of her beautiful and gentle voice, she was valued by the troupe owner. At the age of sixteen, she became a famous Huadan in the Li family troupe. Perhaps it would not be long before she really became a Zhengdan.
He exchanged the money he had saved over the years into silver, picked a good day, and took a rented carriage back to the house of his childhood memories, wanting to see his parents and his younger brother.
However, the person who received her was her neighbor. It turned out that her house had not been repaired for many years and had collapsed. She also learned from the neighbor that her mother died when her brother was one year old. Less than half a year later, her brother fell ill again. Her father believed in the masters in the temple and donated incense to ward off evil, but her brother's illness was not cured. After a long time, he was sent to the town's clinic, but it was too late to save him.
After his brother's death, his father finally came to his senses and took the hatchet from home to the temple to kill. However, he was beaten by the people in the temple until his head was covered in blood. He was carried back by the villagers and followed him in less than half a day.
Instead, the people in the temple said that he was the one who broke in with a knife first and was beaten as a bandit, so the government did not pursue the matter any further.
There is no one left at home.
Hong Lian held the wooden box and listened to her neighbor's story while she suppressed her tears. Her tears fell on the wooden box. When she left, she left the wooden box to her neighbor and knelt in front of the grave of her parents and brother for a long time. When it was almost dark, she left in a carriage. She was afraid that she would never come back to the small village that was gradually going away.
After returning to the troupe, she seemed to have grown up, and she sang happily. Her reputation became more and more famous, and more and more people came to support her. The gold, silver and jade hairpins collected in the brand new wooden box became more and more valuable, but the expectations were gone. But at least, she lived better than her parents… God gave her a beautiful face and a moving voice as a reward for her. The troupe owner Li Yunxiu once said, if God has rewarded her with food, but she can't even hold a bowl, then she should not live.
Not only did she have to eat, but the entire troupe also had to eat. After receiving the invitation to celebrate the birthday of Mr. Chen from Fushui County, the entire troupe became busy and even carefully choreographed "Nan Jun Wen Shou" as the finale.
Hearing the enthusiastic cheers from the audience, she knew that the play was a success and that it wouldn't be long before the whole of Fushui County would know of her fame.
The famous actress had her own small room to remove her makeup and change clothes. She was humming a little tune. A figure passed by outside the window, then pushed the door open and came in. It was a drunk scholar who said he liked her.
Hong Lian knew him, he was Mr. Chen's only son, but it was impossible to say that she liked someone the moment she met him. She pushed the scholar away with both hands and said, "Mr. Chen, you go out first..."
The scholar refused. Seeing that there was no one around, he smiled with his drunken face, rushed over to her, picked her up, threw her on the table, and impatiently reached out to unbutton her pants.
Hong Lian hit him with her hands and kicked him with both feet: "Master, Hong Lian is just here to perform, not a prostitute in a brothel... Please let me go... Get out..."
Begging, she kicked the scholar in the crotch, causing him to take a half step back in pain. Hong Lian quickly jumped down and ran towards the door, but was caught halfway and dragged on the ground.
The scholar, who was hurt, was furious and slapped her in the face with his backhand, causing her cheeks to become red and swollen.
"What's the difference between you being an actor and a prostitute in a brothel?! This young master thinks highly of you, that's the blessing your parents have cultivated!"
"Dad... Mom..." Perhaps it was the pain on her cheek, or perhaps it was the name that was awakened from deep in her memory, Hong Lian suddenly went crazy and hit the scholar in front of her with her head.
"ah-"
The scholar whose nose was broken screamed and immediately dragged Hong Lian to the bed by her hair, picked her up and threw her on the bed. He grabbed a red lotus on the table where the costumes were piled and wanted to tie the woman up.
Hong Lian struggled and cried, trying to grab him with her hands.
"Let me go... Someone, save me... Dad... Mom... Where are you, save Yoona..."
Afraid of being heard, the scholar covered her mouth and nose with the red lotus and shouted, "Stop screaming!" He quickly used his other hand to take off the woman's clothes. As soon as he took off her outer clothes, he found that the struggling body was motionless.
The scholar quickly took his hands and Hongling away.
The woman stared, and fell silent...
The scholar ran out in panic and found his red-faced father and the accompanying Mr. Li. He told them the truth and was beaten by the angry old man. Mr. Li also did not report to the police in the face of dozens of gold ingots.
They dug a mud pit directly in the suburbs, wrapped Hong Lian's body with a straw mat, threw it in, and then buried it.
No one will ever know.
…
The fog rolled in and the crowded crowd fell into silence, which lasted for a long time. Lu Liangsheng was also touched and did not take any further action. He just looked at the stage in the distance.
"This female ghost is quite pitiful, what a pity..." The Toad Taoist woke up at some point.
Lu Liangsheng raised his eyes and looked at the toad sitting on his head: "Master, she is very pitiful, but what do you mean by pity?"
"She... has turned into a fierce ghost and taken several lives. If she kills one more person, she will become a Rakshasa ghost. Then she will never be able to reincarnate, and she won't even be able to be an animal."
The young man looked at the lonely female ghost on the stage and fell silent.
"God is so unfair to her... She encountered such a thing, and in the end she didn't even have a chance to be reborn..."
The centipede's tentacles that were clenched in his hands loosened and then tightened again.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Liangsheng took a breath and spoke to the stage in a serious voice.
"Girl, please forgive others when you can. Today, I am here and I will not allow you to kill anyone. Please leave quickly. If you want to destroy yourself, you can come here!"
The female ghost's figure was erratic. She didn't look at the group of people in the middle. She stared at Lu Liangsheng in the cloak. After a while, she bowed slightly.
"I dare not offend you, sir. I will not let him go today, but you will never stay in this small mansion. Once you leave, I will come again!"
"That's for the future!"
The female ghost raised her face, glanced at the scholar in the crowd, and snorted a few times, "Since the gentleman is here today, I will spare your life for now. After the gentleman leaves, I will come to meet Chen Lang in private."
He bowed to Lu Liangsheng from afar, and his figure slowly disappeared in the mist, along with the stage. The swirling mist and the blowing cold wind around him gradually subsided.
Everyone sitting on the grass in the flower garden breathed a sigh of relief, and sweat began to flow out like water after a floodgate was opened.
"Oh my god, I'm never coming here again. I almost lost my life."
Some people cried out, and some stood up and suddenly spat at the Chen family father and son over there: "They are worse than beasts."
"Yes, this father and son are completely heartless!!"
"Just report it to the police!"
However, Mr. Chen over there ignored the condemnation of this group of people, and hurried to Lu Liangsheng who was on the rock. The old man's son then knelt down and kowtowed to the ground continuously.
"Sir, please save my life. I did this stupid thing after drinking. I will never do it again..."
At this time, the fog had dissipated and the voices of maids and servants could be heard all around. Mr. Chen hurriedly called someone over, brought five hundred taels of silver, and bowed respectfully.
"Sir, please accept this silver."
A pile of white silver ingots were neatly arranged in front of him. Lu Liangsheng came here for them in the first place, and he did help the father and son, so he would be wasting his time if he didn't accept them.
He nodded immediately: "I just came here for a tour. I heard that there was a ghost haunting here, so I came to take a look... It's a pity that I can't stay for long. So, let's do this."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small knife he carried with him from his waist.
"This is something I carry with me. Let your son wear it to prevent the evil spirit from coming back. Don't do such evil things again in the future."
Chen Yaoke quickly grabbed it, tied it around his waist, and kept bowing to Lu Liangsheng.
"Thank you for your teachings, sir!" "Thank you for giving me this item to ward off evil spirits!"
"I will definitely do more good deeds in the future!"
Under the shadow of the cloak, Lu Liangsheng looked at him coldly, stretched out his hand to take the plate of silver, poured his magic power into the centipede's tentacles, stirred up an evil wind, and blew it over, making it so that everyone could not open their eyes, then he ran away with the silver in his hand.
He threw the dusty bed sheet aside among a clump of grass and trees, and only came out after hiding the five hundred taels of silver.
He blended into the still noisy crowd and called Lu Pan and others, then quietly went over to divide the silver into nine parts and hid them on each of them. When he came back, he heard a commotion in the front yard, and a servant from the other yard came running over and said that Captain Zuo from the yamen had brought people with him.
The sky was dark and the evil ghost retreated. The fear in the hearts of the people eased a lot. Instead, they felt more at ease about the people coming from the yamen and went to greet them one after another.
"Captain Zuo, you've come at the right time. This place is really haunted!"
"Yes, yes, that ghost is really powerful. If we weren't so many people, the Chen family father and son might have been in trouble."
However, no one mentioned the sneaky origins in their conversation. After all, these people still had to make a living here. If Chen Yaoke was arrested, how could Chen Yuanwai let them go
Zuo Zhengyang frowned as he watched these people talking at once, and then he asked his detectives to pull them aside and interrogate them in detail.
Then, he stood at the door and stared at every face as they walked out of the Chen Mansion.
He was an expert in martial arts. That night, when he was thinking about the Chen Mansion case in the yamen, he felt terrified, so he brought people over. Looking at the expressions of these people when they left, he thought that something unbelievable and strange had indeed happened.
After everyone had left, he found Mr. Chen and wanted to continue questioning him, but was refused on the grounds of being tired. He had no choice but to take his people back to the county government office.
On another street not far from him, a group of nine people found an inn, checked into a spacious room, and looked at the five hundred taels of silver piled on the table, kissing and laughing.
"Haha, I've made a fortune this time!" "Why don't you buy some rouge and powder for your wife when you go back home?" "You're a rolling ball, so you'll definitely need food, oil and salt to buy."
"It would be best if we could buy some more cloth and make new clothes for the old and young at home."
"Then we have to let Liangsheng make the decision."
"But speaking of it, that female ghost is really pitiful. The Chen family father and son, especially Chen Yaoke, are so heartless that I wish I could chop him to pieces with a knife!"
As to how to use this considerable sum of money, everyone looked to the young man who would make the final decision.
"We'll see what happens when the time comes. We'll definitely buy things for every household. As for Mr. Chen, it's not something you and I can control. God will take care of him."
Lu Liangsheng smiled at them, sat on the bed with a book in his hands, and read quietly by the oil lamp.
The night becomes darker as time goes by.
The Chen Mansion, which had been quiet, gradually began to hear the sound of wind. A night patrolman carrying a lantern walked past the eaves and suddenly heard a faint chuckle in the wind.
"That ghost... just left not long ago, and it's back again?"
"Go and inform the master!"
Someone ran away quickly, and the man holding the lantern saw from afar something in the dark night sky flying towards the courtyard where Chen Yaoke lived.
Frightened and screamed: "Hurry up and help me—"
The whole compound was in an uproar, and maids and servants rushed over with gongs and drums. Mr. Chen, simply wearing a coat, was supported by someone to the room where his son was. Two strong men quickly broke the door open.
A smell of blood wafted into my nose.
The maid holding the lantern looked inside and let out a scream, "Ah!", and the lantern fell to the ground.
In the area illuminated by the flickering firelight, a figure was lying crookedly between the bed and the ground, with his clothes torn, revealing a large hole in his chest and stomach.
The bloody internal organs were pulled to one side, and not far away, there was a bloody knife.
"My son..."
Mr. Chen howled, his body shook violently a few times, his eyes rolled back, and he fell into the arms of the maid.
In a moment, the whole mansion was in chaos.
The night wind rushed over the eaves.
On the top of a tree that no one noticed, a figure in a white dress was sitting on it, stroking her black hair. She looked at the scene, then stood up and floated away.
…
Outside the chaotic and noisy Chen Mansion, the street was quiet with only the occasional barking of a dog. Inside the lighted paper window, eight big men holding silver were lying on the ground and sleeping soundly, laughing from time to time.
The toad curled up on the pillow opened one eyelid and glanced at the desk.
"What a fool."
He yawned and went back to sleep.
The oil lamp was dim. The boy was lying on the table, already asleep. Next to him was a book with the words "Nan Shui Shi Yi" written on it. He turned a page in the breeze that squeezed in through the window gap.
"Huangchuan has a very evil magic, which can harm people with just a thing on his body. If you are not careful, your intestines will be pierced and your stomach will rot..."