The sound of a pole hitting the ground outside could be clearly heard. The old lady's hand shook, and the cup fell, breaking into pieces with a "pop".
She closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them again, she stared blankly at the fragments on the ground: "It's broken."
Su Er: "May peace come to you every year."
"..." The old lady who had been in a daze suddenly came to her senses and looked over in disbelief: "You are not mute!"
wrong.
Although the voice just now was clear, it was obviously a male voice. Not only was he not mute, he was also a man!
She was not stupid to have survived until now. She stood up from her chair excitedly and grabbed Su Er's shoulders fiercely: "You will be punished for colluding with lies!"
Su Er said calmly: "If you don't tell me, who will know?"
The old lady was stunned.
Soul: "If you break the rules, you have to be caught red-handed. I lied to your face, but there shouldn't have been anything dirty around at the time."
As he spoke, he glanced at the red pendant.
With this thing protecting you, no ghost can get close to you.
The old lady had been scheming her entire life, and even her own son, transformed into a ghost, couldn't do anything to her. Suddenly, she was being toyed with by two youngsters. She gnashed her teeth in hatred and said, "Just wait for death!"
Su Er looked at Ji Heng, who was not so compassionate. His tone was particularly cold: "Your thing can protect against ghosts, but not against people."
He bent down to pick up a broken piece of cup on the ground, gestured with it in his hand, and glanced at the old lady, who couldn't help but take a step back.
"If I kill you, I can fulfill the ghost's wish and steal the amulet, killing two birds with one stone."
For a moment, the old lady couldn't tell whether the ghost outside the door was more terrifying or the person inside.
One plays the good cop, the other the bad cop. Su Er said at the right moment, "We have committed sins of murder in vain. What's the difference between us and ghosts?"
Seeing someone speaking for her, the old lady nodded quickly.
Su Er smiled and said, "Don't be afraid. Open the door and acknowledge this formal marriage."
"But, but you're not allowed to marry a man in this town?"
Wife?
Soul tried his best to ignore this new name.
"That's all right." He gave a soothing smile. "It was all your idea, so naturally you have to take full responsibility."
The old lady's eyes widened.
Soul: "It's just an extra charge."
Even if this incident had not happened, the other party was the person Zhou Linjun wanted to kill the most, whether alive or dead.
She placed her hand on the door, hesitant to push it open. Although the ghosts couldn't harm the old lady these years, they would come and scare her from time to time. She had already become a little mentally weak: "Can I..."
Ji Heng stood behind him at some point, flipping the porcelain piece deftly between his fingers.
Su Er added fuel to the fire: "After being persecuted for so many years, it's time for you to stand up for once."
The door finally opened.
The bones in the yard were bluish in color, and small insects were densely packed in front of the fallen white banner. From a distance, it looked like a moving scroll, but a closer look was terrifying.
After the extreme fear passed, the old lady's condition eased a little, but she still subconsciously opened her eyes and didn't look at the maggots that made her scalp tingle.
"I'm afraid you'll be lonely in the underworld..." The porcelain piece was placed silently against her waist. The old lady gritted her teeth and said, "I've found a marriage for you."
A shadow flashed before their eyes, and before they could even blink, the skeleton had closed several feet between them, only to be stopped an inch in front of the old woman. With a flash of golden light, the skeleton retreated to its original position, the bones in its neck shifting as it let out a low, animal-like growl.
Seeing this, the old lady's eyes revealed a hint of pleasure: "I gave you your life, I have the right to take it away."
If I hadn't reported it first, I would have been killed by this evil creature.
There was no friendship between the mother and son, but the skeleton remained unmoved. Instead, he calmly asked, "Father didn't owe you anything. Wasn't he poisoned to death just the same?"
Over the years, no one has killed anyone else, and it is not in a hurry. More murderous intent is flowing towards Sur.
Su Er paused after each word: "You want to... kill your wife and mother?"
The fire in the brazier had long been extinguished, and a faint smell of burning lingered in the air, reminding them of what kind of farce had just taken place here.
"Wife?" The skeleton suddenly laughed hoarsely, which was even more painful to hear than those sharp voices. For some reason, his attitude suddenly changed: "The marriage is completed. Next should be the wedding night."
Soul's fingers inadvertently rubbed through his pocket, sliding over the outline of the stun gun, and responded.
Ji Heng did not interfere with his choice, and whispered a reminder: "Ghosts exist because of obsession."
Su Er was slightly startled, his eyes filled with realization. No wonder the ghosts who made mistakes in life had no regrets after death. The skeleton's obsession was the rules, and it could not break them at will.
With this calculation, the chances of survival are quite high.
Ji Heng quietly handed Su Er a talisman: "This can delay the accident for a few seconds."
Soul: "It may take several seconds to run out."
Ji Heng: "I'll be guarding the door. This is enough time for you to shout."
Suer thought about it and felt it was a safe option.
The skeleton crawled into the room in a twisted manner.
Sur was a little disappointed that he didn't go to the cemetery. At night, evil spirits roamed the town, and the cemetery was much safer.
The door closed again, but this time the people inside and outside had switched roles: Gui and Su Er were inside, while Ji Heng and the old lady were in the courtyard. Too much had happened tonight, and the old lady, her age, mentally stimulated and physically struggling, left her in the other room, panting.
There were still some unused red candles in the room, and Suer lit them one by one.
With light, the vision is clear and accurate electric shock can be delivered in an emergency.
The candlelight flickered, and the skeleton's hollow eye sockets seemed to glow with life. The voice was like a broken erhu, saying something that had nothing to do with the night: "The one who lights the candle has a choice, but the candle does not."
Just like no child can choose his or her own birth.
"My parents are very strict. They'll leave me out in the sun for the slightest mistake." The skeleton probably wanted to laugh, but without the covering of flesh, the curve of his jaw was extremely scary. "But I don't care. All the kids in this town have gone through this."
"...until one day, I saw my mother poison my father's wine with my own eyes."
The candlelight hurt his eyes. Su Er avoided looking at him and asked, "Why don't you report it?"
Some children might do things against their will out of affection when they see their parents committing crimes, but the Ghost King has very little affection for his parents.
"Because my father was drinking alcohol secretly." The skeleton seemed to think that he had asked a very meaningless question and began to show impatience: "One time during the New Year's Eve dinner, I secretly took a piece of meat to eat before the relatives arrived. My father almost beat me half to death... Drinking alcohol secretly is a much more serious crime."
The skeleton snuffed out the flame of a candle. "Perhaps my family has a habit of stealing. My father stole alcohol, my mother stole love affairs, and later I stole votes. What is passed down in the blood cannot be stopped."
After saying this, it seemed to feel much better, and its tone returned to what it was before, although hoarse, but less aggressive.
Su Er played the role of a listener and did not speak a word throughout the whole process.
The skeleton was very satisfied with the silence: "Since you want to be the chief guard so much, I can help you."
Su Er's eyes flickered: "Really?"
Skeleton: "We are one flesh, and your glory is mine."
Knowing that there's no such thing as a free lunch, Soul waited quietly for the next part. Sure enough, not long after, the skeleton began fiddling with the wick of the remaining candle. "As long as you help me remove the pendant from the old woman."
Soul: "Why me?"
Anyone can do this favor. Just catch anyone who breaks the rules in the town and force him to act according to your instructions. Wouldn't that mean his revenge will be taken sooner?
Skeleton: "I sleep for several years before waking up once, and each time I'm awake for no more than seven days."
It is difficult to encounter anyone breaking the rules during this period. At most, you can seize that little time to scare the old lady. If she can really scare her to death, it would be a good thing.
Soul reminded: "There's no shortage of ghosts in this town."
It's not difficult to order the little devil to help.
Skeleton: "Don't air your dirty laundry in public."
Soul pointed at himself.
The skeleton laughed and said with strong malice: "We are a family now."
"..." Su Er said in a deep voice: "I'll think about it and give you an answer tomorrow night."
The skeleton seemed dissatisfied with his hesitation, and stretched out its hand bones several times, but finally endured it.
The sky gradually changed from being as dark as ink to showing a little light, and then the skeleton quickly crawled out of the window like a snake and disappeared.
Soul opened the door.
Ji Heng: "How did the conversation go?"
Sur: "It tried to kill me several times, but held back."
This was consistent with expectations. Ji Heng said calmly, "Although intelligent ghosts are difficult to deal with, sometimes this is an advantage."
Sur told the Ghost King the details of the deal he proposed.
Ji Heng raised the corner of his mouth: "What do you think?"
Su Er sighed, "If I took the pendant, I would be an accomplice. The crime of murdering my mother-in-law is enough for the Ghost King to kill me as well."
Ji Heng nodded: "It's not easy to think of this."
The pendant must be taken, but how to take it is still under discussion.
At dawn, Wen Buyu ran over, blood scabs forming at the corners of his mouth. "I ran into Wanyi on the road. He said the host asked everyone to go back to Yutang."
Soul glanced at her wound: "Are you okay?"
Wen Buyu: "It's just a minor injury. I'm lucky to be alive."
She didn't want to go through what happened last night again.
After a long pause without hearing Ji Heng speak, Wen Buyu became a little worried and repeatedly assured him, "I haven't told Wanyi anything." After the skeleton left, she was chased by some wandering spirits for half the night. She had no time to think up any conspiracy or trickery. After a pause, she added, "Wanyi probably wouldn't dare to use the host's name as an excuse to deceive people."
Ji Heng's expression showed little sign of faith. He turned his head to Su Er and said, "It's better to go back and take a look. The host this time was too quiet."
Su Er felt the same way. He rarely saw Mr. Shu Hai on weekdays. He seemed to be always in his room reading. After a moment of contemplation, he whispered a few words to Ji Heng, who nodded.
On the orderly street, two figures stood out from the crowd.
Wen Buyu was a little nervous on the way: "Is it okay if Su Er doesn't go?"
Ji Heng: "Leave someone behind just in case."
"But...how are we going to smooth things over if the host asks?"
Ji Heng didn't respond.
I don't know if it's a psychological effect, but the slower I tried to walk, the shorter the road seemed to become. When I looked up again, I was already at the Yutang. Wen Buyu took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Wan Yi and Shen Jiangbei were sitting on a stone bench, along with the host.
Mr. Shuhai glanced around and said, "One more missing."
Ji Heng: "Su Er got married last night. According to the local customs, she can only return to her parents' home after three days."
"…"