Chapter 31: The Abandoned House and the Decomposing Corpse

The place that the old man took us to was a bit strange. It was a dilapidated house at the eastern end of the market. The closer we got, the uglier everyone’s faces became. Huijue kept chanting the Buddha’s name, and even said something that Su Rou and I didn’t understand.

“If killing one can save a hundred, then this killing is a merciful killing. I was wrong.”

When Huijue spoke, the old man Jiang sighed.

Su Rou and I didn’t understand what Hui Jue was saying, so naturally we didn’t know what the old man was sighing about. As for why everyone’s faces were so grave, we had no idea.

“Sanwa, don’t you think that we two are so stupid, but I feel like they all know something, and we don’t know anything?” The one who said this was Su Rou.

This really spoke to my heart.

However, after studying in the countryside for so many years, I am very familiar with everything in the countryside. I looked around and at the dilapidated house, and while agreeing with Su Rou, I couldn’t help but say, “Su Rou, haven’t you noticed? Where are we going?”

Su Rou slapped his thigh and said, “Isn’t that Wang Laizi’s house? Why are we here?”

Su Rou often skipped school and was more familiar with the countryside than I was. Wang Laizi was a relatively well-known figure in the countryside, and people didn’t like to interact with him because he was lazy, dirty, and had a strange smell on his body for a long time.

In fact, his life could be the same as the people in the village. He also had land, but he was lazy and didn’t plant it. After his parents died, he lived a life of begging and collecting junk. Not only did he do this in the village, but also in the nearby town.

After all, how much money can be made in a market?

After a long life of begging, coupled with poor hygiene, he contracted leprosy, which appeared on his head and body. He still had a wife, but no one knew where he got her. She was crazy and not very clear-minded, and was as dirty as he was.

For these reasons, the villagers did not like to have contact with him. His dilapidated house was never visited by anyone throughout the year, unless the village needed to notify him of a meeting.

I and Su Rou were still wondering when Hu Xueman came up to us and said, “You said that Wang Laizi might have died.”

“What? Dead?” Su Rou and I shouted at the same time.

“That Fa Yu has brought up a trace of the hungry ghost’s blood. If it hadn’t eaten anyone, the blood would have been green. That’s why your master had to kill it!” Hu Xue Man sighed.

“Then how did my master know that something happened to Wang Laizi’s family?” Now that my master and the old man Huijue are in a bad mood, I asked Hu Xue-man directly.

“Although your master’s divination skills are not as good as those of the top few people, he can still calculate this little thing. Besides, Master Huijue’s ability to see through things is not for show. What’s the big deal?” Hu Xue-man said one sentence and didn’t say anything else.

At this point, I finally understood the reason. My master must have been surprised by the ferocity of the hungry ghost, so he intercepted a bit of its blood and then had to kill it. The old man Huijue has always been compassionate, and he thinks that the hungry ghost can be saved if it can be saved. If it is not necessary, why should it be scattered? As a result, after knowing the truth, he would say those inexplicable words.

After the truth was revealed, my heart and Su Rou’s heart grew heavy. I would rather be as ignorant as before.

“Sanwa, the bearded man just said that he might be dead. Is it possible that he’s not dead? Wang Laizi is fine, but his wife is really pitiful.” Su Rou said to me, a little unhappy.

Yes, Wang Laizi is really hopeless, but his wife is really pitiful because she is delirious. When Wang Laizi brought his wife home, some people in the village wanted to report him, but Wang Laizi said, “What’s the use of reporting him? If they put me in jail, who will feed her? She’s not pitiful on the streets, you sons of bitches.”

These words really stopped people from thinking about reporting it. This woman was crazy and stupid, who could bear the responsibility? Later, when the villagers saw that Wang Laizi really didn’t abuse this woman, they let it go.

An old man in the village said, “If I knew he dared to abuse her, I would definitely report it.”

This statement also expressed the thoughts of many villagers.

Just as we were thinking about Wang Laizi, our group had already reached the dilapidated courtyard. My master was walking in front, and he didn’t knock on the door. He just pushed it open.

Wang Laizi’s house is a place that even thieves don’t want to visit!

As soon as we entered the courtyard, a strange smell hit us. The courtyard was filthy, and it was full of junk that Wang Laizi had collected from somewhere. I was almost dizzy from the smell.

Old Jiang looked up at the house in the yard and said, “Go in.”

The tone was indescribably heavy, and everyone kept quiet. They followed the old man into the house. Hu Xueman walked in front, kicking the door open with a violent kick. As soon as the door opened, a strange and extremely foul smell hit them in the face!

Before entering the room, the crispy meat had already spat out the noodles it had just eaten with a loud “wow” sound at the door. Then it was me, then the boy, and the others were fine. They had stronger concentration than the three of us!

The smell left a deep impression on me. In later years, when people asked me what the most unpleasant smell in the world was, I would say without hesitation: “The smell of a corpse!”

That is the unique smell of a rotting corpse.

Old man Jiang’s face twitched, but he remained calm. Huijue just recited a Buddhist mantra. I was used to it. He had recited countless mantras on the way.

At this time, someone covered his nose with his sleeve and groped for the oil lamp in the room. Under the light, everyone’s psychological feelings were better.

Under the light, there was a messy main room, and no one was seen. Old man Jiang didn’t say a word, and walked towards the left wing. This dilapidated house had a total of three rooms.

The people hurriedly followed, and I and Su Rou had already had a bad feeling, but we still followed, just walking behind.

Before we even entered the room, the people in front of us retreated, running to the door, and the sound of dry retching came one after another.

Su Rou hesitated to go in, but I pulled him in. As soon as we entered, I regretted it. This was the first time I had ever seen such a tragic scene in my life. There were two corpses that had already decayed to varying degrees. One was lying on the bed, and the other was lying on the ground. They were all killed by disembowelment.

The one lying on the bed was Wang Laizi’s crazy woman. There was no sign of struggle, just a look of extreme fear frozen on her face.

The one on the ground was Wang Laizi. From the messy traces in the room, it can be seen that he tried to run, but there was no room to run, and he died like this. The expression on his face was so disturbing that anyone who saw it would feel the same way.

It was clearly a combination of disbelief, fear, and resentment.

“Amitabha.” The old man Huijue said a Buddhist mantra. As soon as his words fell, I and Su Rou ran out and vomited with the people outside.

Unfortunately, the smell had already made me and Su Rou vomit, and now all we could do was dry heave.

“What a miserable thing.” It was only after a long time that I recovered, and Su Rou directly blurted out a sentence.

“Yeah, it’s really fucking miserable.” I never had a good impression of Wang Laizi, but at this moment I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him. After all, it was a human life.

Besides, I could feel the pent-up anger in the courtyard.

“It’s a good thing that the hungry ghost was burned alive. If it were me, I would have cut it alive with a knife.” Su Rou said with clenched teeth.

When a person’s psychological pressure reaches a certain level, they really need to say some foul language and harsh words to release it. Su Rou and I had obviously reached this critical point.

Old man Jiang and Huijue came out. I don’t know what state they were in, but they were able to remain calm in the face of this scene. I don’t even want to think about it. There was blood everywhere, slimy intestines, and some pieces of internal organs.

“This kind of hungry ghost has been extinct since the Ming Dynasty, at least this blood-eating hungry ghost is so, I didn’t expect it… this encounter has caught me off guard, sigh…” Old Jiang’s tone was full of heaviness.