Chapter 25
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“What do you mean?”
Lou Yan stood up, his legs slightly apart, standing upright and poised, ready to attack or defend at any moment, constantly paying attention to every move of Liu Kang.
Fake parents… These words made Lou Yan think of the “real or fake mom” question in Little Ling’s homework book before.
He could be sure that the “real or fake mom” question was not a “ghost story”. For a “ghost story” to kill someone, it needs to establish some kind of connection between the reader/viewer and the protagonist in the horror story, just like in the horror story Li Sanxin read where the protagonist was also a doctor, and the location of death was also in his own private hospital. In addition to this, the “ghost story” also needs to clearly write the death ending of the protagonist in the story, only in this way can the readers who see the “ghost story” also die in the same ending.
Are these similarities just coincidences? Or some kind of suggestion?
Lou Yan leaned towards the latter.
Liu Kang moved his gaze away from Lou Yan and looked at the new grave. “… These two graves were set up by myself. There are only clothes and hats inside, no one is buried. My parents are still living well at home and haven’t died at all.”
“But I know,” Liu Kang’s expression became terrified and frightened. He nervously grabbed his clothes, widened his eyes, and whispered with a trembling voice, “I know my parents are already dead!”
Lou Yan squinted at Liu Kang, his expression unchanged. After a few seconds, he asked, “Why do you say that?”
Liu Kang’s mouth felt sticky from drinking too much beer. He pursed his lips, then opened them again, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, “Four days ago, it suddenly rained in our village. The river rose slightly, and then a red coffin floated down the river. The red coffin got stuck in the river channel of our village, and the villagers pulled it out together. At first, we thought it was someone’s unfortunate grave washed away by the rain and flowed into the river. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an empty coffin.”
An empty coffin, meaning the coffin lid hadn’t been nailed shut.
Liu Kang continued, “The villagers opened the coffin and found no one inside, just a clean new coffin. The wood of this coffin was really good, the best I’ve ever seen in my life. The carvings were also very artistic, the patterns, the words engraved on it, it was really like flowing clouds and water, exquisite craftsmanship. Not only was it good-looking and made of good material, but this red coffin had been floating in the river for who knows how long, soaked in water, yet it wasn’t damp at all. Its waterproofing was amazing. Even the best families in our village who make coffins and furniture don’t have this kind of skill.”
Taking a deep breath, Liu Kang regretfully and fearfully continued, “Big brother, you also know that our village relies on wood for a living. Almost every household is involved in wood-related businesses. Who could resist such a red coffin? The villagers brought the coffin to the ancestral hall. The elders said seeing a coffin brings wealth, so many people went up to touch the red coffin, hoping for good luck. My parents also went up to touch it. At that time, I had just finished using the toilet, and the elders thought my hands were dirty, so they didn’t let me join in the excitement. I regretted it at that time… But that night, I don’t know if it was my illusion, I saw that red coffin in my family’s yard!”
Lou Yan became interested, “And then?”
Liu Kang trembled, his hands wrapped around his strong bear-like body. “I was startled, but when I walked out of the yard, I didn’t find any red coffin at all. I thought I was seeing things, but just before dinner, my parents suddenly became very strange.”
As if recalling a terrifying scene, Liu Kang’s voice trembled, “My parents suddenly had many black spots on their bodies, they didn’t eat cooked food at the dinner table, but instead, they held half-cooked meat without oil or salt and stared at me eating it eagerly, drooling… They looked exactly like my parents, but they made me feel trembling and cold all over. I asked them what was wrong, but they ignored me and instead wanted to go to the ancestral hall to see the red coffin. I got angry and immediately called the head uncle who manages the ancestral hall with my phone, wanting him to destroy that ominous red coffin. But after my parents heard what I said, they got angry, snatched my phone, and… and then… and then they stuffed the phone into my stomach!”
“Stuffed it into your stomach?” Lou Yan was stunned, looking directly at Liu Kang’s belly.
Liu Kang showed a smile uglier than crying, “I’m not lying, they really stuffed the phone into my stomach.”
Lou Yan walked directly in front of Liu Kang, squatted down, and reached out to press around his stomach. Soon, he really felt a hard lump in Liu Kang’s stomach. Following the shape of the lump, Lou Yan realized it was indeed the shape of a phone.
Tears flew from Liu Kang’s eyes, full of grievances and fear. His fat, round face cried pitifully, “After that, I knew they weren’t my parents. They must be ghosts, wuwuwu, they must be ghosts who killed my parents and then possessed my parents’ bodies. I originally wanted to tell the people in the village about this, but I also saw other people in the village with black spots, they might not be human anymore. I dare not stay at home anymore, so I brought food and drink and ran directly to the graveyard… Because in the whole Liushu Village, only here is deserted, only here is the safest.”
Indeed, if Lou Yan hadn’t deliberately searched the entire Liushu Village, he wouldn’t have found this remote graveyard. Even if he found the graveyard, if it weren’t for searching for strange clues, he wouldn’t have ventured deep into the graveyard and encountered Liu Kang.
From this perspective, this place is indeed relatively safe.
Lou Yan thoughtfully thought of Old Wang’s father.
If what Liu Kang said was true, then Old Wang’s father might not be human anymore, right?
What about Old Wang? What about Little Ling?
How many people in this village are abnormal now?
The red coffin…
Lou Yan recalled the information about anomalies in his memory but found no relevant information about the red coffin.
But that’s also normal. There are countless anomalies in the world, and what Lou Yan knows is just a small part of them. Moreover, if the anomalies in Liushu Village are ultimately resolved by Fu Xuezhou, then this red coffin might not “live” until he can gather information.
The light rain was fine and dense. Lou Yan reached out to wring the water from his hat, his black hair slightly curled when wet. He wiped his face and put the hat back on.
“Is that red coffin still in the ancestral hall?” Lou Yan asked.
As soon as this was mentioned, Liu Kang’s emotions became very agitated, his expression a mixture of fear and resentment. “It’s gone, it’s not in the ancestral hall anymore! The first thing I did after escaping from home was to burn the red coffin, but when I went to the ancestral hall, I found that the red coffin was no longer there!”
“There must be more than just me in this village who noticed the strangeness of the red coffin. Definitely other people have noticed the changes in the village! Big brother, you have to believe what I say, I’m really not lying, everything I said is true! Believe me!”
Liu Kang finally found someone to confide in, crying uncontrollably, trying to reach out and hug Lou Yan’s thigh, but Lou Yan dodged it keenly.
“Stop crying for now,” Lou Yan handed him a tissue calmly, “Describe to me again what the red coffin looked like.”
Liu Kang took the tissue and fiercely blew his nose, saying in a muffled voice, “I have a photo of that red coffin, it’s on the phone inside my stomach… sigh, if only I could take out the phone to show you.”
Lou Yan raised an eyebrow, pondered for a few seconds, then surprisingly nodded in agreement. “You have a point,” he said.
Liu Kang exclaimed in confusion, looking up at him.
However, Lou Yan continued, “Come with me into the village. I have a way to get the phone out of your stomach.”
Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Liu Kang was hesitant to go back, but when he heard the second half, he immediately got up from the ground. “Let’s go! Big brother, don’t trick me!”
Who would willingly go to their death? In the past few days, Liu Kang had cried so miserably in front of his parents’ grave, crying not only for his parents but also for himself. He felt that with a ghost putting a phone in his stomach, he would die sooner or later.
Lou Yan raised his chin, being cautious. “You walk in front, I’ll walk behind. Our destination is Old Tree Furniture Store.”
Liu Kang wiped his face and led the way out of the graveyard.
The roads in Liushu Village all looked similar, lined with willow trees on both sides, making it easy for unfamiliar people to get lost.
On the way back, Lou Yan familiarized himself with the route once again, memorizing several distinctive landmarks in his mind.
The largest and most ancient building on the east side of Liushu Village was the ancestral hall.
With a guide, the journey was faster than if Lou Yan had gone alone. In less than half an hour, they arrived near Old Tree Furniture Store.
Lou Yan had intended to call Lu Haoxiu to come down, but from a distance, he saw a tall and straight figure standing outside Old Tree Furniture Store—it was Li Sanxin.
He dialed a number on his phone and watched as Li Sanxin lowered his head to touch his pocket and answered the call, “Hey, are you back?”
“Why are you waiting at the door?” Lou Yan asked leisurely, “Look to your right.”
Li Sanxin turned his head to the right and saw Lou Yan standing there making a call. He couldn’t help but smile. “Kid, you’re wasting phone bills when you have money?”
He hung up the phone and walked briskly towards Lou Yan. His open jacket fluttered in the breeze and drizzle, and Li Sanxin held an umbrella and a mask. When he approached Lou Yan, Li Sanxin was about to speak, but then he saw a figure poking its head out from behind a house corner two meters away—Liu Kang, looking particularly sneaky.
Li Sanxin frowned and moved forward to catch Liu Kang, “Who are you?”
Lou Yan grabbed his arm, whispered in his ear, “He’s a villager from Liushu Village, I brought him back. Useful.”
Li Sanxin suddenly understood, and the fierceness on his face turned into a smile. “I see. Want to come in for a sit?”
“It’s better not to let others see him,” Lou Yan said, “Why did you come down?”
“Waiting for you,” Li Sanxin handed him the umbrella and mask, lowering his voice, “Put this on and hold the umbrella to cover your face. After you’ve been out for half an hour, another group of people came to Old Tree Furniture Store, and Duan Zege calculated that the leader is Cai Mo. You’re a businessman and quite famous. Cai Mo might recognize you, so if we want to kill him, we can’t let him identify you.”
Lou Yan nodded in understanding, put on the mask and lowered his hat, “Got it. You go back first. I still need to call Lu Haoxiu down to help, and then I’ll come in after I’m done.”
Li Sanxin glanced at Liu Kang out of the corner of his eye and refused, “I’ll stay here with you.”
Lou Yan didn’t mind, called Lu Haoxiu to come down, and asked him to bring some food. The food was mainly for Liu Kang, as judging from his appearance, he hadn’t had anything to eat for a while.
Soon, Lu Haoxiu came down with a bag of food. Lou Yan draped his arm over Lu Haoxiu’s shoulder and led him into the alley, smiling, “Little Liu, has your ‘Void Grab’ improved a lot?”
Lu Haoxiu straightened his chest, looking puzzled and proud at the same time, “Brother, three days apart, it’s a whole new world. I’m no longer the rookie who first used ‘Void Grab.’ If you want a hammer this time, I won’t give you a wrench!”
“Good,” Lou Yan looked at him with satisfaction, then turned to Liu Kang, “Now, take out the phone from his stomach.”
Lu Haoxiu: “…”
Lu Haoxiu scratched his ear, full of question marks, “Brother, what are you saying? What stomach? What phone?”
“Take a phone out of his stomach,” Lou Yan repeated, then looked at Lu Haoxiu with a carefree smile, “Just be careful not to pull out his intestines.”
Lu Haoxiu: “???”
Liu Kang: “???”
Author’s note:
So, here comes the question, who is more scared, Lu Haoxiu or Liu Kang?
Lu Haoxiu: “QAQ”
Liu Kang: “TAT”
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