Chapter 40: Livor Mortis

"Let's go inside and take a look first." I motioned for the woman to hold her words.

Since we had already arrived here, we might as well check things out. Some matters probably couldn't be explained clearly by her anyway, and staying there would just be a waste of time.

Upon entering the courtyard, a black dog was tied to a pear tree.

That large black dog did not bark at me or the old man; instead, it was howling fiercely toward the house.

Purebred black dogs were quite rare nowadays, so I hadn't expected to find one here.

The barking grew louder and louder. Without hesitation, the old man and I rushed forward in a single bound.

Inside the house, a man in his fifties was tied to a chair with several thick hemp ropes, struggling violently to break free.

"Old Zhang, go!"

Seeing that he was about to break free from the ropes, the old man and I moved to his left and right respectively, grabbed a rope, and bound him securely back against the pillar once again.

The fifty-year-old man, whose surname was Zhou, had the corners of his mouth pulled down into an inverted triangle, and saliva kept dripping from his mouth.

"Suppress!"

I took out a talisman paper and slapped it onto his forehead.

Only then did the man surnamed Zhou quiet down.

Just moments ago, he had possessed supernatural strength—clearly a sign of demonic possession.

I stepped closer to him and caught a faint scent of decay. Glancing at his neck, I was surprised to find several dark spots.

These were post-mortem lividity spots, which usually only appeared on the dead.

"How long has your husband been falling ill like this?" I asked, turning to look at the woman standing nearby.

"He was in a deep sleep for three days, and it's been four days since he turned into this state. Master, how is my old man?" the woman asked anxiously.

"Prepare for his funeral."

I didn't want to deceive her. Even if the old man wasn't dead yet, with his soul separated from his body for seven days and his physical vessel withered away, he couldn't escape his doom.

"Clatter!"

The cup of water slipped from the woman's hands and shattered on the ground. "My old man was just fine! He's just falling sick, how could he possibly die?"

"You must be frauds!" The woman grabbed a broom and began driving the old man and me toward the door. "If you want to cheat people out of money, just say so! How dare you curse my old man as dead?"

"Have you ever heard of anyone cursing people like that? Get the hell out of here, both of you, as far away as possible!"

Crying and cursing at the same time, the woman chased the old man and me all the way outside the front gate in one breath.

"Little brother Jiang, you need to be a bit more tactful when saying things like that. Coming out with it so bluntly is hard for anyone to bear," the old man said.

The old man and I hadn't even been inside for ten minutes before we were kicked out.

Indeed, my tone had been somewhat inappropriate. For an elderly couple, their partner is deeply embedded in their bones. Telling them bluntly to prepare for funeral arrangements was indeed rather jarring.

However, I had deeper concerns. If I eventually used my methods to drive the evil spirit out of the old man's body, what would happen if he still couldn't survive?

By then, if they demanded that the old man's life be paid for by the old man and me, getting entangled in that mess would be even worse!

"Let's find somewhere to rest first. We probably won't be able to head back today."

I checked the time; it was around seven o'clock in the evening.

The unregistered taxi we had taken had already returned, and no cars could be hailed around here at this hour. We had no choice but to wait until tomorrow morning.

There was a motel in the town, though the conditions were rather crude, costing eighty yuan a night.

I booked two single-bed rooms so the old man and I could stay temporarily.

Right downstairs from this motel was a country-style restaurant. After checking in, the old man and I went downstairs to grab some food.

They served ordinary home-cooked dishes, which didn't cost much.

I ordered four dishes and a soup, and we chatted while eating with the old man.

"Little brother Jiang, our trip today was practically in vain. It's a shame about those hundreds of yuan spent on the taxi," the old man said with some regret. "Next time I take on a job, I'll make sure to keep my eyes wide open."

"It wasn't in vain. Tonight, sleep a bit lighter. In case something happens, I'll call you, and you must come out immediately to meet up with me," I told the old man.

"Little brother Jiang, have you figured something out?"

The old man's interest was piqued as he leaned closer to ask.

"It's not really figuring something out. This is a classic case of demonic possession. A human physical body also has its limits; a malevolent spirit can stay in it for at most seven or eight days—that's the absolute limit. Now that the flesh is collapsing, that evil spirit will likely try to break out tonight," I deduced.

"Didn't we stick a piece of talisman paper on him? Can it break out that easily?" the old man pressed further.

"None of the spirits that dare to cause chaos in broad daylight are easy to deal with. That talisman paper won't hold out for long." I gazed toward that courtyard, where another car had just pulled up in front of the gate.

A man of about forty, dressed in yellow Taoist robes, walked inside.

Seeing that Taoist-robed man, the old man blurted out, "Little brother Jiang, something is definitely going to happen tonight!"

Was Zhang Yuxuan so certain that trouble was brewing?

"Do you know that man?" I asked.

"Of course I do! That fellow used to steal jobs from me quite often. He's also from the ancient capital, named Xie Dajun. Outside, he bills himself as the 'True Man Xie of Zhongnan Mountain,' but in reality, he has zero competence—all he knows is how to boast and bullshit." The old man spilled all the background information on that person, a hint of disdain evident in his tone.

It seemed that this person used to be of the same ilk as the old man, wandering around under the banner of subduing demons and exterminating devils to swindle money.

However, since the old man was now partnering with me, he had stepped up a tier, which was why he now looked down upon charlatans.

"Are you two gentlemen discussing the matter at Zhou Shunzi's place?"

Suddenly, the owner of the country-style restaurant walked over holding a bottle of Erguotou liquor, sat down at our table, and joined the conversation.

The Zhou Shunzi he mentioned seemed to be none other than the man surnamed Zhou who was possessed by a ghost.

"Boss, how much do you know about this?" I countered.

"I know quite a lot." The owner opened the Erguotou, poured a glass for himself, and offered to pour one for the old man and me as well, but we both declined.

Getting drunk ruins matters!

Drinking as he spoke, the restaurant owner said, "This story has to start from a week ago. Our village is adjacent to the Qinling Mountains. What's most abundant in the mountains?"

"One is game meat, and the other is wild medicinal herbs from the mountains. Gathering these things earns you much more money than running this country-style restaurant of mine. During the farm slack season, Zhou Shunzi also went up the mountain to gather herbs. But since too many people were picking them, the herbs nearby were practically exhausted, so he had no choice but to go to some farther mountains."

"That day, Zhou Shunzi left the house at six in the morning, and by past eight in the evening, he still hadn't returned. His wife started panicking. There are plenty of wild beasts in the Qinling Mountains; it's fine during the day, but at night you have to be terrified. His wife asked everyone in the town to help search. I was there at the time. Scores of people, holding flashlights, scoured several mountains and searched for nearly the entire night without finding a trace of Zhou Shunzi."

"It wasn't until the following evening that Zhou Shunzi suddenly returned. I still remember him standing alone at his front gate, neither knocking on the door nor calling out to anyone, just standing there like that."

"Woof, woof, woof..."

Just as the restaurant owner was speaking, a chorus of dog barks erupted from the courtyard of Zhou Shunzi's house.

"Right, and there's the barking of dogs. That night, their dog barked so fiercely that it kept many people in the town awake, and some even shouted that they would slaughter his dog for meat the next morning."