59: Struggling to Survive

Cao Guangshan had an accident.

I never expected my intuition to be so strong; I stood stunned for several seconds before coming to my senses.

On the way, I asked the village chief what had happened to Cao Guangshan. He said he didn’t know yet. Villagers returning from outside found someone lying face-down at the village entrance, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Cao Guangshan.

After Uncle Qian's incident, everyone in the village knew that Cao Guangshan had been staying at my house. That’s why they came to inform me.

The village chief muttered that maybe Cao Guangshan was ill; there were no wounds on his body, but no matter how loudly they called him, he wouldn’t wake up. His breathing was barely perceptible.

Weak breathing and complete unconsciousness immediately reminded me of the fat man still inside the house—when someone’s three souls and seven spirits are lost, this is how they look. I couldn’t help feeling anxious, hoping Cao Guangshan wasn’t suffering the same fate.

Several villagers had gathered at the entrance. The clinic doctor was already examining Cao Guangshan. When we arrived, he stood and shook his head, saying, “Strange, I don’t know what’s wrong. Aside from weak breathing, everything else is normal.”

I pried open Cao Guangshan’s eyelids and felt his temperature, confirming he was just like the fat man—his three souls and seven spirits had been taken.

As expected, the culprit must be Grandpa Qin.

“Haven’t you called for emergency help yet?”

I looked up and asked. The village chief said they were about to, but I told him there was no need.

“His soul has left his body; taking him to the hospital won’t help. Let’s carry him to my house first.”

The village chief was skeptical, grabbing my arm, “Ziwu, don’t joke about this. He’s a police officer. If you’re wrong, this will escalate.”

Cao Guangshan was from another village and a police officer; if anything happened to him, the chief would be implicated. I understood his concern and replied, “Do you still doubt my grandmother’s abilities? You’re well aware of everything that’s happened in the village lately. We already have a friend at my house in the same state—his soul has left his body.”

Seeing his hesitation, I grew impatient. “If anything goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility.”

“Alright, everyone heard it. Ziwu said he’ll take full responsibility if anything happens to the officer—it has nothing to do with me,” the chief declared loudly, as if afraid the villagers might not hear.

His attitude made me furious. I bent down, lifted Cao Guangshan onto my back, and ignored them.

Just last night I was worrying that, after the fat man’s accident, Grandpa Qin’s next target might be Stone. I’d been anxious, but I never imagined he’d go after Cao Guangshan.

Thinking about what I’d asked Cao Guangshan to do, I felt guilty—had I not sent him to investigate Xu Buhuo, Grandpa Qin might not have acted. Now, not only is the investigation’s outcome unclear, but Cao Guangshan’s soul has been taken.

Connecting Xu Buhuo’s collusion with Grandpa Qin, I couldn’t help but wonder if Cao Guangshan’s soul was taken on Xu Buhuo’s orders.

Since discovering their secret dealings, I’ve been off-balance, especially in Xu Buhuo’s presence—nervous, tongue-tied, unnatural. Xu Buhuo is a master of the occult, skilled in reading faces and intentions; if even Stone can see something’s wrong with me, Xu Buhuo surely has noticed.

Thus, targeting Cao Guangshan must have had a purpose: robbing him of his soul so I’d be forced to keep doubting Xu Buhuo’s identity.

Yet, faced with reality, I had no choice but to keep letting him handle things.

Back at the house, Xu Buhuo examined Cao Guangshan, confirming my suspicion: his soul had been taken.

I watched as Xu Buhuo drew protective charms on Cao Guangshan’s forehead, my hand gripping the spring knife in my pocket.

A surge of impulse made me want to pull out the knife and finish Xu Buhuo. Seeing his hypocrisy pained me deeply.

But in the end, I held back.

Now, two people lay unconscious in the hall. Tomorrow, Grandpa Qin’s deadline arrives, and the location of the bronze key remains unknown. I couldn’t steady myself to stand or sit, restless and frustrated, desperate to find something to occupy my mind but unable to decide what.

I had already made up my mind. No matter what Xu Buhuo says, I’ll hand the bronze key to Grandpa Qin first and save the fat man and Cao Guangshan. As for stopping Grandpa Qin from sacrificing villagers to open the treasure, that can be dealt with later.

Such thoughts are a gamble.

Grandmother is my only hope to turn all this around. Knowing her well, since she faked her death to lure Grandpa Qin out, she must have anticipated he’d target me and my mother to obtain the key.

Though she transformed my father into a corpse demon to protect us, I believe she knows that’s not foolproof—it can only stop visible threats.

For people like them, harming others invisibly is as easy as eating or drinking.

I’m betting that all this is under grandmother’s control—otherwise, why did I discover the secret chamber at that specific time and not earlier or later, and why did she prompt me to help awaken it?

I’m betting grandmother started planning after my father died, and it’s impossible she overlooked such obvious risks. Before Grandpa Qin sacrifices villagers with the bronze key, grandmother will surely awaken.

I also realized that, since Xu Buhuo and Grandpa Qin are working together—one playing good cop, one bad—any rumors about opening the treasure with the bronze key and sacrificing villagers must be reconsidered.

Grandpa Qin, playing the villain, must aim to harm. Xu Buhuo, playing the good guy, will emphasize the dangers.

Though I haven’t found the bronze key yet, I expect that once I do, Xu Buhuo will try every trick to get it from me.

They may seem cooperative, but I suspect they’re secretly competing, each wanting the key first.

It’s the final day.

I forced myself to calm down, recalling every moment with grandmother—had I ever seen the bronze key? Was there a special place in our home where it could be hidden?

I couldn’t overlook anything.

In the end, I thought of the most likely spot: grandfather’s coffin.

The old house and the new one had been searched thoroughly, making it almost certain the key wasn’t inside. Aside from those, only the cemetery on the hill remained.

Grandmother’s fake grave and father’s coffin had both been opened recently, but nothing extra was found. Only grandfather’s grave was left.

Especially since I remembered grandfather’s connection to the treasure, I felt more certain the bronze key had likely been placed in his coffin by grandmother long ago.

But thinking about Grandpa Qin’s means, it seemed unlikely he hadn’t checked grandfather’s coffin; yet, they found nothing.

Should I open it or not? I hesitated.

Grandmother’s coffin had been opened just days after her burial; my father’s, after more than ten years, had also been opened. Now I wanted to open grandfather’s. It made me wonder what kind of person I was.

Who would open all their ancestors’ coffins?

If I hadn’t discovered Xu Buhuo’s duplicity, I might have discussed it with him. Now, the pressure was mine alone to bear.

Finally, I made my decision: open the coffin.

With only one day left, I dared not wait any longer. Having searched the house, the only place that seemed promising was grandfather’s coffin.

Time slipped by unnoticed, reaching midnight. My mother, weakened from her soul’s return, went to bed early. Stone, exhausted after the past two days, was nodding off while sitting, so I firmly sent him to sleep.

Soon, only the two unconscious men, Xu Buhuo, and myself remained in the hall. We sat facing each other—he with eyes closed, resting; me staring blankly at the floor.

“Ziwu.”

Xu Buhuo’s voice startled me. I looked up to see him standing, eyes fixed on me. My heart tightened inexplicably, and my voice trembled, “What is it?”

“Now that it’s just the two of us in the hall, is there anything you want to say to me?”

His tone was calm, and his gaze was steady, but turmoil churned within me; I knew Xu Buhuo had sensed my suspicions, wanting to talk it out.

Still trying to win my trust?

Facing his gaze, I truly wanted to spill everything, but the words that came out were, “What is there to say?”

Xu Buhuo smiled, a bit helpless perhaps, and continued, “Are you sure there’s nothing you want to say?”

At this point, I knew I had to keep it up, managing a forced smile, “Nothing to say, just feeling frustrated, not sure how to save them.”

“I just want you to know I never intended to harm you. That’s all you need to know.”

After a brief pause, Xu Buhuo softened his expression, “I’ll go to sleep now. Call me if you need anything.”

I watched his departing figure, his words echoing in my ears.

Never intended to harm me?

He spoke calmly, but it left my heart in chaos.

I couldn’t understand why words had to be so difficult, why some things couldn’t be said outright, but must be expressed in such vague ways.

At this point, I realized Xu Buhuo knew I was suspicious of him, distancing myself, and probably didn’t even know why I doubted him. That’s why he asked at the start, hoping to mend our strained relationship.

Suspicion was exhausting.

The horror of the human heart made me trust only myself.

Never intended to harm me?

I couldn’t fathom how Xu Buhuo could say such heartfelt words. If it were me, I couldn’t play both sides like that.

Soon, I understood why I couldn’t.

It wasn’t stupidity—it was a soft heart.

Left alone in the hall, it was quiet. I rubbed my face to dispel fatigue, walked to sit at the doorway, thinking that since no one was around, I could finally find some peace.

Everything that had happened recently had drained me; despair tempted me to end it all, but time and again, I reminded myself—no matter how hard life gets, I must live.

Looking up at the moon and stars, I drifted into a hazy dream.

The dream was vague. My face felt warm, then grew hot. Wondering what was happening, I suddenly remembered something and woke with a start.

The birthmark left by Jiang Yan on my face was burning fiercely.

Bang.

The courtyard gate, clearly latched, was blown open by a gust of cold wind. A red figure appeared in the doorway.

Jiang Yan, long vanished.

She had returned.