Chapter 79: Update Tomorrow, Here is a 7,000-word Chapter First

Zhang Enpu returned late the following day. In the interim, Young Master Liu and the others had considered searching for him, but they worried about Village Head Tian’s safety, and moreover, they had no idea how to deal with the Hanba (drought demon), so they hesitated, daring not to go.

"Old man, what happened to you?" The first person to spot Zhang Enpu was Tian Guoqiang, who hurried to help him up. Zhang Enpu was covered in filthy blood—some his own, and some clearly from the black dog.

"Cough, cough." Supported by Tian Guoqiang, Zhang Enpu finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed unconscious. For a man past fifty, suffering such grievous injuries and remaining comatose for two days, merely returning was already a miracle.

Ma Xiaoyan stared at the shocking wounds covering Zhang Enpu, fighting back the urge to vomit. She stammered, "Is... is... is he... dead?" Young Master Liu shot her a look, then quickly checked for breath in front of Zhang Enpu’s nose. Thankfully, a faint breath remained, easing his tension. "Quick, get him to the hospital," he commanded, then hoisted Zhang Enpu and bolted outside.

"Wait." Just then, Tian Guoqiang called out to Young Master Liu, asking, "If we take him to the hospital, what are we going to say if they ask what happened?"

"This..." Young Master Liu had been too worried about Zhang Enpu’s injuries to consider this. Tian Guoqiang’s reminder snapped him to attention. Right, if anyone asked, what excuse could they give? Say he was injured by a ghost? Perhaps only a ghost would believe that, but they certainly couldn't admit they were responsible. This question truly stumped him.

Village Head Tian, his face frighteningly pale, faintly opened his eyes in Young Master Liu’s house: "Big nephew, where are you all?" The Village Head called out in a hoarse voice, but the surroundings echoed with emptiness; there wasn't a single shadow, much less a response.

"Is anyone there?" he called again, but still no reply. He was utterly weak; after just a couple of shouts, he felt completely drained. He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't obey, forcing him to lie back weakly. He vaguely remembered drinking with Young Master Liu that night, then encountering that female ghost... and after that, nothing until he woke up now. But it felt like a long time had passed.

Outside, Ma Xiaoyan cried out excitedly, "We don't have to take him to the hospital!" She even sounded rather pleased.

"What?" Young Master Liu exclaimed in shock. "Not taking him to the hospital? Are we just going to let him die? I won't do something so cruel."

"Idiot," Ma Xiaoyan lightly tapped him on the head, leaving him utterly bewildered. "Aren't you also a barefoot doctor? Why don't you just operate yourself?"

"Right, how could I be so dense?" Young Master Liu smacked his forehead, chastising himself for panicking and forgetting this simple fact. But his joy was short-lived as his brow furrowed again. "I know a few folk remedies, enough for a cold, maybe, but Uncle Zhang, he..."

Hearing Young Master Liu’s hesitation, both Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang were at a loss. They feared taking Zhang Enpu to the hospital might bring trouble, yet Young Master Liu’s medical skills were only middling; saving the old man seemed harder than ascending to heaven.

"What should we do now?" Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang looked at each other, their gaze finally settling on Young Master Liu.

"Why are you looking at me?" Young Master Liu turned his head away, admitting internally that he was deeply conflicted.

Seeing that Young Master Liu hadn't made up his mind, Tian Guoqiang finally gritted his teeth and said, "Young Master, we'll follow your lead. If you say we take him to the hospital, we’ll do it. Even if we run into trouble, we’ll face it together."

"Mm," Ma Xiaoyan nodded in affirmation.

"By the time you finish discussing where to go, this old carcass of mine will probably be paying respects to the Jade Emperor," Zhang Enpu suddenly stirred, his voice faint as thread.

Young Master Liu gently adjusted Zhang Enpu’s posture to make him more comfortable, asking, "Uncle, are you alright? Don't scare us!"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough," Zhang Enpu coughed, specks of blood seeping from his mouth. "I’m fine; the King of Hell won't claim me yet. Maybe it’s because I’ve done too many wicked deeds in this life," he managed a wry smile.

Young Master Liu knew Zhang Enpu was joking, but his concern for the old man’s safety left him no mood for jesting. He quickly urged, "Uncle, tell us, what should we do?"

Zhang Enpu said, "Go to my place and fetch a few sheets of Huang Biao paper. This is the key."

"Okay." Young Master Liu agreed and headed towards Zhang Enpu's alley residence. He had encountered the old man there before and knew the way well enough. In no time, he returned with a stack of yellow paper.

Aided by Young Master Liu, Zhang Enpu struggled to sit up. Holding a sheet of Huang Biao paper between two fingers, he began scribbling and drawing on it. He muttered an incantation, and soon the talisman burst into flames. After the paper ignited, Zhang Enpu rapidly chanted another spell and brought the burning talisman toward his wounds.

Zhang Enpu was already severely wounded; further burning his injuries with the flaming talisman might easily cause him to kick the bucket instantly. Young Master Liu instinctively wanted to stop him, but remembering that Zhang Enpu wasn't reckless, he presumed the old man had his reasons and restrained himself.

The talisman hissed as it burned against the wounds, making Ma Xiaoyan, being a girl, want to retch, so she turned her face away. Under the talisman’s searing heat, plumes of black vapor rose from Zhang Enpu’s injuries—utterly bizarre. Even stranger, the wounds scorched by the talisman magically healed, leaving not a trace behind. In moments, all dozen or so gashes on Zhang Enpu's body were completely mended under the fire.

Watching the wounds close at a visible rate, Young Master Liu and Tian Guoqiang stared, speechless. Damn it all, this was too damn miraculous! Disbelieving, the two vigorously shook their heads, but when they looked again, the wounds were still visibly healing. This time, they were forced to believe, feeling a deep, heartfelt admiration for Zhang Enpu’s divine power.

Though the external injuries were gone, the internal ones were harder to mend. Zhang Enpu remained terribly weak. Following his gestures, Young Master Liu and the others settled him comfortably in his home.

Crash!

After settling Zhang Enpu, the three hadn't even managed to exhale before a sound like a thunderclap sent their already elevated hearts soaring into their throats.

"Bad! Village Head Tian!" Young Master Liu dragged the other two towards his own house. He recognized the sound's origin as his home, and Village Head Tian was still inside; immediate dread struck him.

When the trio rushed back, they found Village Head Tian collapsed near the coffee table. The stainless steel cup used for water lay shattered on the floor, warm water soaking the ground.

Village Head Tian woke up. The three were overjoyed and quickly helped him sit up, but the Village Head still showed no color in his face, his consciousness muddled. He kept mumbling, "Water... water..."

"Quick, get water!" Young Master Liu urgently called. Ma Xiaoyan soon brought a cup of water. After drinking, Village Head Tian fell unconscious again. Once the immediate crisis passed, the three finally let out a long sigh of relief.

As dusk settled, the three sat on the floor in the living room, their faces etched with worry.

"Young Master, what do we do now?" Tian Guoqiang broke the silence first. "The only person who could help, Old Man Zhang, is also severely injured. Are we just supposed to sit here and wait to die?"

Young Master Liu gently patted Tian Guoqiang's shoulder. "Guoqiang, there must be a way. There has to be." After a moment of thought, he added, "How about this: Guoqiang, you take your dad to the city, and Xiaoyan, you stay at your relatives' place for a while. I'll handle this matter alone."

"No way," Tian Guoqiang refused instantly, a hint of anger rising in his voice. "What do you take me for? At this moment of life and death, can I just abandon my brother?" He snorted heavily and turned his head aside, clearly genuinely upset.

"Me too," Ma Xiaoyan clung tightly to Young Master Liu’s shoulder. Liu Da Shao used to be carefree, but only these past few days had she felt the genuine, deep-seated care emanating from him. "No matter what happens, I'm staying with you."

"You all..." Young Master Liu suddenly stood up, his emotions exploding, and roared, "Get out! I don't know you people! Get out of here!" He tried to push Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang toward the door.

"Young Master, don't be like this," Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang quickly restrained him. "We know how you feel, but don't forget, we are friends, we are family. If it were you, you wouldn't leave us like this either."

"Get out! I don't have relatives like you! Get out!" Young Master Liu struggled, roaring in anger.

"Young Master..." Ma Xiaoyan slumped onto the floor, tears streaming down her face. "Please, stop this, okay? No matter what, we stay with you."

"Brother, wake up." Suddenly, Tian Guoqiang slapped Young Master Liu across the face with a sharp crack. Young Master Liu calmed down. "Do you think that monster will spare us just because we leave? Since we’ve been dragged into this vortex, we must see it through to the end."

"There will be a way, there will be a way..." Ma Xiaoyan murmured.

Slapped by Tian Guoqiang, Young Master Liu sobered slightly. The whole affair started because of him, and he wanted to resolve it alone. Indeed, Tian Guoqiang was right; even if they left, the Hanba might not let them go. He was deeply moved by the loyalty of Tian Guoqiang and Ma Xiaoyan.

"Yes, there must be a way, there definitely will be..." Young Master Liu sank weakly onto the floor, pulling Ma Xiaoyan into a tight embrace. Tian Guoqiang squatted beside them, and the three huddled together, weeping softly—a scene worthy of the end of the world.

"Right, Granny Fan... Granny Fan..." After a moment, Young Master Liu mumbled incoherently, confusing Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang.

Ma Xiaoyan asked softly, "What about Granny Fan?"

"Granny Fan must have a way!" Young Master Liu exclaimed, instantly elated. Ignoring the other two, he sprinted towards Granny Fan's house.

"Granny Fan, Granny Fan..." Granny Fan's door was still unlocked from the inside; Liu Da Shao pounded on it and shouted desperately, but Granny Fan never opened it.

"Maybe Granny Fan isn't home?" Ma Xiaoyan asked, having caught up.

"Yes, yes," Tian Guoqiang agreed.

Young Master Liu shot them a look. "If she wasn't home, did you lock the door from the inside?" He paused, realizing with sudden alarm. After Village Head Tian was poisoned, they had been focused on saving him and completely neglected Granny Fan. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Granny Fan around for days, nor heard any activity from her house. He noticed a small twig stuck in the gap of the door—he had jammed it there two nights ago out of frustration when Granny Fan refused to open up for a long time. But the twig was still there, meaning Granny Fan hadn't stepped outside. Could it be...?

Thinking this, he pounded and shouted with renewed vigor, but after waiting a long time, Granny Fan still didn't open the door.

Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang seemed to recall something too, exchanging horrified glances, unable to speak.

"You two move aside." Since Granny Fan wouldn't open the door, Young Master Liu felt a powerful sense of unease. He pulled Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang back and kicked the door hard. The old, weathered door couldn't withstand his force, and with a loud boom, it splintered inward.

"Let's go in." After the door fell, Young Master Liu said.

"Slow down!" Before the trio could enter the main hall, Young Master Liu suddenly held out his hand, stopping Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang. "You wait outside; I’ll check inside first." Without waiting for a reply, he strode in alone.

"Ah..." About a minute later, a scream, utterly heart-rending, erupted from Granny Fan's house—it was Young Master Liu.

"What is it?" Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang cried out in alarm and rushed in. As soon as they entered the hall, they saw Young Master Liu clutching his mouth, his face ashen, staggering backward.

"Young Master, what's wrong? What happened?" Ma Xiaoyan held him steady and hurriedly asked. Tian Guoqiang nodded eagerly, wanting to know as well.

"Mmm mmm mmm..." Young Master Liu, unable to speak, pointed toward Granny Fan’s bedroom with his other hand.

Ma Xiaoyan said, "Let's go look." She started to move past Young Master Liu, but he desperately yanked her back outside. Only Tian Guoqiang managed to enter.

Outside, Young Master Liu immediately collapsed onto the ground, vomiting violently. Ma Xiaoyan frantically patted his back, repeatedly asking what happened.

"Ah..." Another agonizing shriek followed. Young Master Liu hadn't finished vomiting when Tian Guoqiang screamed. In an instant, Tian Guoqiang bolted out of Granny Fan's house, then also threw himself onto the ground, retching as if trying to expel every meal from the past few days. His face was frighteningly pale, his expression one of intense agony.

"What's wrong with you two? What on earth happened?" Ma Xiaoyan grew frantic. Both men had run out screaming from Granny Fan's house and were now vomiting; only she remained in the dark.

"Granny... Granny Fan... she, she, she..." Tian Guoqiang was too choked up to speak clearly due to the vomiting.

Ma Xiaoyan grew even more anxious. Hearing Tian Guoqiang's fragmented words, she sensed something terrible and asked urgently, "Calm down, speak slowly. What happened to Granny Fan?"

"Granny Fan... she's... she's dead... ugh."

"What?" Ma Xiaoyan's face turned ashen. "Granny Fan is dead? How could Granny Fan die?"

Young Master Liu said, "When I went in just now, the room was pitch black and filled with a foul stench. I felt uneasy right away. When I pulled the light switch, guess what I saw?"

"What did you see? Just tell us, don't keep us in suspense."

"I saw... I saw..." Young Master Liu struggled to suppress his pain. "I saw Granny Fan lying in bed, completely cold, dead. What was disgusting was that her body had already decomposed, covered in maggots, and rats were crawling over her..."

"Stop talking..." Before Young Master Liu finished, Tian Guoqiang interrupted him, "Ugh..." He started vomiting again.

"Ugh..." Young Master Liu vomited once more.

Ma Xiaoyan, already pale at the news of Granny Fan's death, became violently ill after hearing the gruesome description of the decomposition. Although she hadn't seen it, the sheer disgust in Young Master Liu's narration, combined with the slightly lower tolerance girls sometimes have compared to boys, made her unable to hold back.

"Call the police quickly," Young Master Liu said after finally calming down from the vomiting fit.

The police from the town station were remarkably fast, arriving in less than an hour. After carefully examining the scene for clues, they concluded that Granny Fan died of natural failure of bodily functions, ruling out homicide. However, the fact that her death went undiscovered for so many days, leading to severe decomposition, caused the officers considerable frowning.

"Where are Fan Xidou's relatives?" an officer asked Young Master Liu. Fan Xidou was Granny Fan’s given name.

Young Master Liu replied, "She had one grandson, but he's working outside."

"Can we contact him?"

"No."

Granny Fan’s parents and husband had long since passed away. She had no close relatives, and her only grandson was working elsewhere and unreachable. The police would naturally handle the funeral arrangements. Fortunately, Granny Fan had already prepared a plot and a coffin. With the police's assistance, a hasty burial took place that very night.

At Granny Fan’s burial, aside from a few very reluctant officers, only Young Master Liu, Tian Guoqiang, and the other youngsters were present. Perhaps this was what they meant by, "When the person is gone, the tea goes cold." When people are alive, they remember your kindness and usefulness. Once dead, you are entirely erased from their minds. Humans, sometimes, are pragmatic creatures. Young Master Liu suddenly thought: If Village Head Tian weren't bedridden, he probably would have come to pay respects, right? Yes, maybe.

The grave was small, just a mound of earth, but it was a prime burial site—a 'grotto within a grotto'—carefully selected by Young Master Liu using all the Feng Shui knowledge Granny Fan had taught him in just a few short weeks, meant to gather the wind and accumulate water, with two dragons pointing at the eyes. Young Master Liu dug a crude pit with his shovel and placed Granny Fan's coffin inside. The coffin was ordinary redwood, not worth much.

"Old woman, safe travels!" With that, Young Master Liu cast the first shovel of dirt onto Granny Fan’s face.

He continued shoveling earth onto the coffin, watching it slowly disappear under the yellow soil. A surprising sadness welled up in Young Master Liu's heart. After setting up the simple headstone bearing the inscription "Tomb of Granny Fan," he felt as if raindrops were striking his face. He instinctively licked his cheek—it was salty. Tears.

He bowed three times before the tombstone. After finishing, he noticed faint traces of blood on the small stones in front of Granny Fan's grave. Young Master Liu wiped the blood from his own forehead and turned to leave. This mischievous, roguish old woman, who had treated him like a junior family member, was now leaving behind only this mound of earth and a headstone.

Experiencing separation by death for the first time in his life, he finally grasped something his peers hadn't understood.

Turning back, the sky was clear and bright!

Because he hadn't had time to refuse the mission Granny Fan had entrusted to him.

Therefore, he could only use everything he had learned to turn the world upside down!

Late at night, the villagers had long departed. Young Master Liu, Ma Xiaoyan, and Tian Guoqiang stood silently before Granny Fan's grave. The dim candlelight flickered in the breeze, almost extinguishing several times but managing to burn on. Although Granny Fan was not related to him by blood, she was, after all, a casual master he had only recently acknowledged. Yet, her kind face was deeply imprinted in Young Master Liu's mind, refusing to fade. Moreover, he vaguely sensed that Granny Fan's death was connected to the troubles he had encountered. Sometimes, he even believed she died because of him, filling him with an unbearable guilt—a guilt he hadn't felt even when Zhang Enpu was gravely wounded saving him.

Ma Xiaoyan, being a villager, was also familiar with Granny Fan. She remembered the old woman's perpetually kind smile and cheerful demeanor toward everyone. Now that she was gone, her heart ached deeply. As for Tian Guoqiang, there was no need to elaborate; his very life had been saved by Granny Fan.

"Granny, travel well. When you reach the underworld, don't be stingy anymore; spend freely. On every Qingming Festival, I will burn offerings for you, guaranteeing you a small villa and a car. Next time you meet the two Black and White Impermanence officers, I will definitely ask them to take good care of you," Young Master Liu said softly, burning the last of the Huang Biao paper in his hand. The more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling that he had caused Granny Fan's death became, making him uneasy.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Granny Fan’s grave was surrounded by a bamboo grove. Suddenly, a strange sound echoed. Ma Xiaoyan clung tightly to Young Master Liu’s side, extremely tense, while Tian Guoqiang gradually moved closer to Young Master Liu as well.

"It's nothing," Young Master Liu whispered to comfort them. He was too immersed in the sorrow of Granny Fan’s passing to feel fear.

The rustling continued, and the sound grew clearer as it seemed to approach them.

Ma Xiaoyan clung tightly to a corner of Young Master Liu's coat, her face slightly ashen. "Young Master, I think we should head back. It's so dark, and..." Ever since she had encountered the Hambao, she had become terribly afraid of the dark and dared not go home alone.

Young Master Liu gently patted Ma Xiaoyan's shoulder, signaling her not to panic. His eyes were fixed beyond the edge of the bamboo grove. The moonlight cast a hazy, ethereal glow over the ground, and a figure was slowly making their way through it. The sound they were hearing was precisely that of footsteps.

"Young Master, please, let's just go," Ma Xiaoyan pleaded.

Young Master Liu ignored her, his gaze locked on the pedestrian outside the grove. In the pale moonlight, he felt an odd familiarity with the figure, though he couldn't place them immediately. The person was stooped over, leaning on a staff fashioned from wood, moving forward step by laborious step. To his astonishment, he realized the figure was walking directly toward them.

Watching the approaching person, Tian Guoqiang also grew fearful. "Brother, maybe we should leave. She..."

"Shh, don't fret," Young Master Liu said softly. Then, to the astonishment of both Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang, he walked forward to meet the figure. He reached the person, took hold of their arm, and began walking alongside them.

"What the..." Ma Xiaoyan and Tian Guoqiang were baffled by Young Master Liu's sudden action, staring fearfully at the person accompanying him. The moonlight was too dim, and they were deep within the bamboo grove; they simply could not make out the visitor's face. Moments later, supported by Young Master Liu, the figure reached their small group. Upon seeing the newcomer, they all let out a massive sigh of relief. It was none other than Old Man Wang Banxian.

"Elder, you're injured. Why aren't you resting properly?" Ma Xiaoyan asked with concern, though inwardly she was astonished. Old Man Wang Banxian’s legs had nearly been bitten off; logically, it should have taken at least one or two months for him to recover, even if he hadn't been permanently crippled. How was he up and about so quickly? She marveled at his recuperative ability.

"Cough, cough, cough," Old Man Wang Banxian ignored her. He gently pushed away the hand Young Master Liu had offered for support and walked toward Granny Fan's grave. In the moonlight, everyone clearly saw a thin stream of blood slowly trickle from his mouth. Tears were already streaming down his face uncontrollably. In that moment, he was no longer the flashy, smooth-talking old charlatan of the martial world, but simply a man—a person with feelings, thoughts, joys, sorrows, wounds, and pain.

Reaching Granny Fan’s grave, Old Man Wang Banxian slowly retrieved incense, candles, and paper money from the bag he carried. He lit the candles and began burning the yellow spirit paper, sheet by sheet, for Granny Fan. They could see his eyes shimmering with unshed tears, his lips trembling ceaselessly, as if murmuring a silent address.

After a long while, when the incense finally burned out, Old Man Wang Banxian bowed three times toward Granny Fan's grave. "Old woman, travel well," he whispered, his voice heavy with desolation.