Chapter 33: A Sense of Déjà Vu

"Stop the chatter, hurry up!"

The female corpse had reverted to her previous tone. I had no choice but to carry her into the ancestral hall. I had expected some kind of accident or obstruction, but there was none. It went smoothly—no different from how I would enter on my own. This made me curious: were the village ancestors afraid of this corpse, or was she simply allowed to enter?

Forget it. I was exhausted.

I placed her on the ground and collapsed, gasping for breath as I stared at my trembling legs.

"What's next? What are the other two conditions? Just tell me now so I can finish them all at once. Doing them one by one is a waste of time."

The female corpse's voice rang out. "It's not time yet. For the second condition, go to the well in the corner and fetch some water!"

I was familiar with this. My grandfather had been bullied by the villagers because of this very spring well. Thinking of this, I clenched my fists. I stood up on weary legs, walked to the well, and began to draw water, bucket by bucket.

"This second condition is simple enough. You just wanted spring water?"

She didn't reply. When I returned to her side, I picked up the ladle, ready to help her up, but her voice came again.

"Go fetch the spirit tablet of the highest generation."

The highest generation? That would go all the way back to my great-great-grandfather’s generation, wouldn't it? Because the ancestral hall was built so long ago, the tablets were arranged in a pyramid shape. The higher the shelf, the higher the generation. It reached nearly four meters high, right up to the roof. The building itself had been constructed taller than standard houses from the start. There was no way to reach them without climbing up like stairs. But doing that would be highly disrespectful to the ancestors.

"I'll go find a ladder. Wait a moment."

With that, I walked out of the ancestral hall.

"BOOM!!!"

A thunderclap shook the sky outside, startling me so badly that, with my already weak legs, I nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Crack—"

Then came flashes of lightning. What was going on? It had been sunny all day. Even though it was night now, there hadn't been any sign of rain. Why did it suddenly turn like this?

I shook my head. A louse doesn't fear more bites; I had encountered enough strange things today. I had to find a ladder first. I remembered that when Er-Pang and I used to sneak into the ancestral hall to steal offerings, the cleaner used a ladder. It should be behind the hall.

Turning the corner, I headed to the back of the hall. Sure enough, there stood a red, paint-chipped ladder in the corner against the wall. I walked over quickly, lifted the ladder, and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, a strange sound reached my ears.

"Crunch—crackle—"

I frowned and looked toward the source of the noise. In the vacant lot behind the ancestral hall, something appeared to be crouching.

"Looks like a person..."

I walked over, still carrying the ladder. "Hey? Who's there? It's about to rain, why haven't you gone home yet?"

I continued walking as I spoke. "Is that you, Second Uncle?"

The figure had a hunched back. The only hunchback in the village was my father’s friend, whom I called Second Uncle.

"Second Uncle, why aren't you saying anything? Is... holy crap!!!"

As I spoke, the figure stopped moving and slowly turned its head. It wasn't the movement that shocked me—it was that the head had turned, but the body hadn't moved at all! A full 180-degree rotation!

The pale face staring back at me was the Village Chief!

"Village Chief? You... how... you..."

"Heh, heh..."

A dry, rattling laugh emerged from his throat. The next second, with his face still turned toward me, he began to crawl backward, his limbs moving like a spider's, nimble and rhythmic. He was incredibly fast!

As he moved away, I finally saw what he had been doing: he had been crouching there, devouring the chest of a woman!

Er-Pang was right. Both the Village Chief and Widow Wang had turned into corpses!

Seeing this, I hoisted the ladder and ran toward the ancestral hall. "Help! That woman inside, hurry, there's a spider-monster eating people!"

I shouted at the top of my lungs. After running a few steps, I felt a heavy weight on me—and it wasn't the ladder.

"Heh, heh—"

That crunching sound returned. I looked up and saw the Village Chief, like Spider-Man, his legs hunched, his hands gripping the ladder on my shoulder, letting out a greedy laugh.

"Damn you, you really think you're Spider-Man!"

I shoved the ladder off, sending it crashing to the ground, where it fell apart. I then bolted toward the hall. The Village Chief leaped down, landing steadily on all fours. His head looked like it was dangling loosely. It made me wonder if the head of Liu Deshui, whom I had encountered earlier, had fallen off the same way. I had read about reanimated corpses in books; there were many kinds, but this was very strange.

Once he hit the ground, I turned and sprinted toward the hall where my backpack was. I had a corpse-suppression talisman inside! It would come in handy.

I dashed inside, ignored the female corpse, grabbed the talisman, and rushed back out. Before I could reach the spot, I heard Er-Pang scream.

"Holy crap! What is that thing? Village Chief, what happened to you?!"

I picked up my pace. Reaching the clearing, I saw Er-Pang sprawled on the ground, and the Village Chief jumping toward him like a spider.

I shouted, "This talisman of mine is no ordinary charm! By the power of the Big Dipper and the Heavenly Guards, let the heavens be clear, the earth be spirit-filled, the living be immortal, and the ghosts be destroyed! By the command of the Divine Soldiers, obey at once!!!"

"Boom!"

The corpse-suppression talisman flew out, striking the Village Chief in mid-air.

"Smack!!!"

The Village Chief was slammed to the ground as if hit by a giant flyswatter. He began to writhe on the ground, his skin swelling up like the throat of a toad, pulsing in and out. It was absolutely disgusting.

Er-Pang scrambled to his feet and ran to my side. "Tian-Gang, what's going on? Why did the Village Chief turn into this?"

I frowned deeply. "Something isn't right. This is different from a normal reanimation. I suspect Liu Deshui up on the mountain died from the same thing."

Before I could finish, the Village Chief's skin swelled to its limit. Then—

"BANG!!!"

His entire body exploded like a balloon!

Instantly, the area was covered in flesh, blood vessels, and a thick, green, viscous fluid. Er-Pang and I scrambled to shield our heads. When everything finally went quiet, a foul stench filled the air.

This scene... I had seen it before! When the big white rat shielded me from Liu Deshui, and I went down the mountain afterward, I had seen a lot of that same green blood and flesh.

It seemed I could now confirm one thing: Liu Deshui had been infected with this same specific corpse poison, just like the Village Chief.

What on earth was going on? If the Village Chief was infected by Widow Wang, who infected her? Was it Liu Deshui? Or had other villagers been affected too?

And my grandfather... what about them?