143: Skulls and portraits
Just as Xie Ning had said, that cloud of black mist held no killing intent.
After condensing, its strength surged, yet it simply remained in place, staring at the group and their Demon Tamers Beasts. Its crimson eyes flickered with violence and confusion, but it made no other move.
After a moment of stalemate, the black mist flew out from the village entrance and left Pingan Village, its destination unknown.
At this, Wu Tian's group finally breathed a sigh of relief. He gave Xie Ning an annoyed look before turning to leave with his team.
“Let's go too.”
With that, Xie Ning rode White Fang back the way they came, while Qin Tianyu, who had no mount, could only take 'bus number 11'—running the whole way back.
On the way back, some villagers boldly opened their doors to peek. Upon learning that the malevolent ghost had been driven away, they all let out a long breath of relief.
But strangely, they didn't seem particularly happy about it. One local even asked Xie Ning, “Did you injure that ghost?” and his expression certainly didn't suggest he hoped it was injured.
Instead, it was more like asking about the injuries of one's own child.
Carrying these doubts, Xie Ning returned to Uncle Li's house. Su Qin had long been waiting anxiously and immediately pressed for details the moment they returned.
Xie Ning gave a general overview while observing Uncle Li's expression. From the latter's reaction, Xie Ning felt more and more that something was fishy.
“Uncle, do you know that malevolent ghost?” Xie Ning suddenly asked.
Uncle Li's hand paused while brewing tea, and he then said, “I don't know it; I only heard about it recently.”
“I see.” Xie Ning nodded... Late at night, the moon was bright and the stars were few.
The people of Pingan Village had already fallen asleep. There were no lights in the village; under the moonlight, everything was peaceful and quiet in all directions.
However, Xie Ning and the other two had not yet slept. Using the moonlight, they walked along the stone-paved paths of the village alleys. The hard stone slabs made 'rustling' sounds as they moved, which felt quite eerie in the dead of night.
Finally, Xie Ning arrived outside an old-style tiled house with mottled walls and a door left slightly ajar.
“Big Brother Xie, why are we here? I feel like...” Su Qin looked left and right. The faint sound of chirping insects made him shiver, and he hurriedly rubbed his arms.
Qin Tianyu also asked, “What did you discover?”
“Mm.” Xie Ning looked at the dilapidated tiled house before him and said, “Tonight, those wandering souls specifically avoided this house in their movements. I don't believe for a second that this house has nothing to do with the malevolent ghost incident.”
After speaking, he slowly drew the changhong sword without making a sound. Then, with a wave of his hand, flames ignited with a 'whoosh,' illuminating the door.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Su Qin cried out in surprise, then quickly covered his own mouth.
“What is it?” Xie Ning asked hastily.
“No—nothing. I thought those were ghost handprints; it was just a false alarm.” After saying this, Su Qin pointed with his finger.
Xie Ning and the other looked over. On the lower half of the two mottled, paint-peeling wooden doors covered in various graffiti, there were about a dozen small, grayish handprints. At first glance, they really did look a bit creepy.
Qin Tianyu reached out and pushed the door. The rusted hinges let out a piercing 'creak'.
The wooden door slowly opened, and the three of them lightened their footsteps as they walked inside.
By the flickering light of the flames, they saw everything in the room.
The room, which was less than thirty square meters, was filled with many pieces of old furniture. The furniture was covered in a thick layer of dust and draped in spiderwebs. Occasionally, traces of snakes or rodents could be seen, along with a few scattered mouse droppings in the corners.
Clearly, this house had not been lived in for a long time.
But what caught the attention of the three was not these things.
In front of them stood an altar table—a red-lacquered wooden table specifically used for offering incense to deities.
On this altar table sat a picture frame containing a black-and-white photo of a Girl with a sweet smile. Under the reflection of the firelight, that smiling face flickered between light and shadow.
Unlike the other furniture and the dusty floor, the altar table and the Girl's photo looked very clean, as if someone had just wiped her face a second ago.
At that moment, Su Qin's foot kicked something. He looked down, and his face instantly turned pale with fright. He gripped Xie Ning's arm tightly, shivering all over.
“Xie—Xie...”
Xie Ning's arm hurt from the grip, and he asked with a frown, “Su Qin, what are you doing?”
“Foot... there's something under my foot!”
Xie Ning looked down and saw a skull by Su Qin's foot. The skull's mouth was open, and Su Qin's step had landed right inside its mouth. At first glance, it really did look like he was being bitten by the skull.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but smile faintly. “Alright, it's just a skull. It's already dead, not a ghost or monster.”
Only then did Su Qin summon his courage to move his leg. Seeing that the skull didn't react, he finally felt at ease.
Seeing his cautious manner, Xie Ning couldn't help but tease, “Su Qin, you're far too cowardly. Even Xiao Ya is braver than you.”
“Everyone has things they're afraid of. Even if I'm a guy, it's unavoidable,” Su Qin replied indignantly.
Xie Ning smiled slightly.
By this time, Qin Tianyu had already walked out from the inner room and shook his head. “Everything inside is normal.”
Xie Ning nodded. “From the look of it, that ghost might be related to the Girl in this photo, as well as the bones on the floor. It seems we need to go ask the villagers.”
“That child is named Xiao Ru. The head on the floor belongs to her father.”
An aged voice came from behind them, giving the three of them a start.
The three didn't focus on the information in the words but quickly turned their heads to see an old man leaning on a cane standing outside the door.
“Grandpa Village Chief, why are you here?” Su Qin asked.
The Village Chief walked unsteadily into the room. Su Qin hurriedly went forward to support him and lead him to the altar table.
He wasn't in a hurry to speak. Instead, he raised his cane and struck the skull twice with a heavy thud. Only then did he look at the funeral portrait on the altar and say slowly, “The child on the table is named Xiao Ru. She was a villager of our village and committed suicide four years ago.”
“Suicide?”
Xie Ning and the other two were stunned, looking at the Village Chief with faces full of confusion.
“Yes, suicide...” The Village Chief's neck stretched out like an ostrich as he opened his two cloudy eyes, trying to see the young Girl's smiling face clearly. He slowly began to tell the story behind it.
It turned out that Xiao Ru was originally the daughter of Old Wang from the village. She grew up with a boy named Yang Kai, making them childhood sweethearts. Who would have thought her father was an Old Drunkard? For the sake of drinking money, he wanted her to marry into another, wealthier family in the village to get more money for alcohol.
In her desperation, on her wedding day before she was even married off, Xiao Ru ended her life with a pair of scissors. The joyous occasion turned into a funeral.
Hearing this, Su Qin said with complicated emotions, “Then her father must have been overcome with regret, having driven his own daughter to death.”
“Regret?” After hearing this, the Village Chief raised his cane and struck the skull a few more times, asking, “Would you? Old Wang, would you regret it? You drove your own child to death—did you regret it?”
Only then did the three realize that the skull at their feet actually belonged to Xiao Ru's drunkard father.
“Children, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. This drunkard only felt Life Qi—anger—but no regret. Well, it makes sense; seeing the money that was about to be in his hands just disappear like that, how could he not be angry...”
Xie Ning and the others: “...”
“Then, what about Yang Kai? The young man who liked Xiao Ru.”
“He hacked to death the entire family of the man who was supposed to marry Xiao Ru. Men, women, old, and young—he didn't spare a single one...” The Village Chief looked melancholy and glanced at the skull on the floor again. “The Old Drunkard's head was also hacked off by him and thrown into this house.”
These words made the three take a deep breath.
Su Qin then asked, “What happened to him afterwards?”
“Later, he ran away. After such a big thing happened, how could the village dare to keep him? Where he is now, whether he's alive or dead, no one knows.” As the Village Chief spoke, he bowed to Xiao Ru's funeral portrait.
Xie Ning looked around the room, which no longer felt the slightest bit eerie, and asked again, “Then does this house have any connection to the malevolent ghost?”
At this question, the Village Chief paused and waited quite a while before answering:
“There are rumors in the village. Some say Xiao Ru turned into the malevolent ghost, but she still fears her father, so she doesn't dare pass by this house. Others say it's the family that was innocently hacked to death, who have come back as vengeful spirits to claim lives. As for which is true, I'm old and I don't know...”
After the Village Chief said this, he seemed unwilling to answer any more questions. He stood up and walked toward the outside, warning them:
“Children, regarding the matter of the malevolent ghost, just do what you can. Don't stay in this house too long; the Yin Qi is heavy. There's nothing much to investigate here. Please, as quickly as you can, help us kill that life-claiming malevolent ghost.”
Watching the Village Chief's departing figure, the three looked at each other.
Su Qin was the first to shiver, saying tremulously, “Xie—Big Brother Xie, why don't we just leave? I feel like it's really creepy in here...”
“Let's go.” After Xie Ning spoke, the three walked out of the house.
At the doorway, Xie Ning turned back and looked once more at the Girl in the funeral portrait who was smiling brilliantly under the flickering light, then slowly pulled the door shut.