“Pfft—” Zhou Lanxiang was so furious that a mouthful of old blood sprayed out, splattering all over Wang Chaomei, who had just come over to help her get dressed.
“So this is it. I thought you were being kind, that you didn’t want me to divorce—turns out you want me dead!” Zhou Lanxiang wailed to the heavens. “My poor son—how did he ever marry such a vicious, poisonous bitch?”
“Heh—no one’s more vicious than you,” Shen Fuyao sneered. “I just heard Widow Wang, who was standing in front, say that when she went in, you looked like you were enjoying yourself. She even asked me to ask you—did it feel good?”
She stabbed straight at the heart.
The moment Wang Daren heard this, he clenched his fists and beat Zhou Lanxiang again.
“You damned bitch! You’ve been played rotten and you still want to live? Fine—go die! If you don’t die, my son will be dragged down by a shameless mother like you. I’ll beat you to death!”
Wang Daren was truly ruthless now.
Wang Chaomei hurried to pull him back. Wang Buqun cried, begging Grandpa to stop. Wang Zhuo’er didn’t move. With the soul of an adult and having witnessed that filthy scene today, he fully agreed with Shen Fuyao—this grandmother would be better off dead.
“S-stop… stop hitting me,” Zhou Lanxiang said weakly. “If you beat me to death, you’ll go to prison.”
Wang Daren was the brigade leader and had studied the law. He knew that even if it was his own wife, if she died and someone reported it, he’d still go to jail. He didn’t want that, so he stopped immediately. “Then go drink pesticide yourself.”
“I won’t.” Zhou Lanxiang spat out two more mouthfuls of blood and threatened softly, “If you keep force me, I’ll tell the secret of the Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden.”
Her voice was low, but Shen Fuyao heard it clearly.
In western Hunan, corpse-driving, poisoning with gu, and the Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden were ranked as the three great witchcrafts.
The first two were known even to outsiders; people had at least heard of them and roughly knew what they involved.
Only the Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden was truly mysterious. Legend had it that mountain caves housed mountain gods who, at set intervals, required a bride—and she had to be young, beautiful, and perfectly pure.
These girls were sent into the cave and released only after three days and nights. Without exception, those who came out were like souls lost—walking corpses.
Shen Fuyao had heard her grandmother tell of it. The youngest sister of Wu Shouyi, the Phoenix Brigade leader, had been chosen as a Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden in her teens. After she came out, she became a fool. Now in her thirties, she sat by the doorway every day—no talking, no smiling. She had to be fed even to eat and drink. Fortunately, Wu the brigade leader had a conscience and had taken good care of his sister all these years.
And Shen Fuyao’s good friend Zhang Jing had also been chosen as a Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden—but on the night before she was to be offered to the mountain god, she suddenly went mad.
After Zhang Jing went mad, her family didn’t want to keep such a burden. Without asking for a single cent of bride price, they married her off to Chen Dajun.
By then, Shen Fuyao had already married into the Wang family. She thought that with her friend marrying Chen Dajun next door, she could take good care of Zhang Jing.
But the day after the wedding, Chen Dajun started shouting everywhere that Zhang Jing was a used shoe—not a virgin—and sent her back to her natal family.
No one knew if it was the shock, but Zhang Jing’s madness disappeared overnight. Once she regained her senses, she went straight up the mountain and jumped off a cliff.
Shen Fuyao knew Zhang Jing’s madness had come from something strange, but across two lifetimes she’d never uncovered the reason. Still, Chen Dajun was the last straw that crushed Zhang Jing—he had to die.
The moment Wang Daren heard those four words, his face changed drastically. He glanced at Shen Fuyao and Wang Chaomei and hurriedly sent them back to their rooms with the children.
“Dad, stop hitting Mom. Don’t her to die—today’s mess is all my fault,” Wang Chaomei said. She didn’t want to leave; she wanted to stay and explain everything clearly.
“I won’t hit her. Take the kids back to your room.”
“Chaomei, Mom’s fine now. Go sleep and don’t worry.”
Only after hearing Zhou Lanxiang say this did Wang Chaomei take the two little ones back. As she passed Shen Fuyao, she said viciously, “Don’t think today’s over, Shen Fuyao. Just wait—I’ll make sure you suffer worse than death.”
“Heh—why wait?” Shen Fuyao snorted. “If you’ve got the guts, make my life miserable right now.”
She went back to her room too.
She knew there had to be something fishy about the Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden. If she stayed, Wang Daren and Zhou Lanxiang wouldn’t talk.
Sure enough, once everyone was inside, Shen Fuyao heard Wang Daren curse in a low voice, “Have you lost your mind? Daring to mention that in front of people. Don’t forget—you were involved too. You got all those drugs.”
The old couple didn’t know Shen Fuyao had sharp hearing and kept talking in the main room.
“Hmph. If you want me dead, I’ll drag someone down with me. Besides you, I’ll pull those leaders down too. I’m your wife—when the time comes, they’ll pin all the blame on you. Just wait for their wrath.”
“You dare?” Wang Daren reached out to choke Zhou Lanxiang. “I’ll strangle you right now.”
“When I did that thing, I already told my brother back home. If one day I suddenly die, it’ll definitely be you who killed me. If I die—or disappear—my brother will report it to the police. Wang Daren, you’ll have to pay for a life with your own.”
Back then, plenty of leaders had been involved. Of course Zhou Lanxiang had left herself a way out.
“Enough. Today Chaomei told me that Zhuo’er and Caifeng are Chaoying’s children—Chaoying’s and the commander’s daughter’s. Chaoying’s even been promoted to battalion commander. Once we deal with Shen Fuyao, Chaoying will marry the commander’s daughter and our whole family will move to the provincial capital. Let our in-law arrange jobs for us there. Once we leave here, what happened today—if you don’t say it, I don’t say it, Chaomei doesn’t say it—who will know? Zhuo’er and Caifeng are young; they won’t remember any of this.”
Zhou Lanxiang coaxed gently, “Once we’re in the provincial capital, our family will live like city people—meat whenever we want, white rice whenever we want.”
Wang Daren had already heard something like this from Wang Zhuo’er. At first he’d thought the child was talking nonsense and only half-believed it. Now, hearing it from Zhou Lanxiang, he believed it completely and nodded in agreement.
Zhou Lanxiang then talked about how Wang Chaomei had drugged Shen Fuyao and Chen Dajun. “I even wonder if it was that little bitch’s so-called ‘best friend,’ that ghost named Jing, coming back. It must’ve been her—she saw us bullying Shen Fuyao and dumped me and Chaomei at Chen Dajun’s door.”
Wang Daren glared. “Don’t talk nonsense. After Liberation, there are no ghosts.”
Zhou Lanxiang didn’t really believe in ghosts either, but today’s events were hard to explain. Unable to figure it out, she dropped it and asked, “Shen Fuyao can’t be left alive. How do we kill her?”
Wang Daren’s triangular eyes shifted. “Isn’t that easy? Once she’s asleep, I’ll lock her in her room and set it on fire.”
“The weather’s dry—fires happen all the time,” he chuckled. “She’s probably not asleep yet—she’s sharp. Don’t light it now or she’ll escape. I’m tired. I’ll sleep for a bit—wake me in two hours.”
Zhou Lanxiang finally relaxed. As long as she didn’t die, it didn’t matter who did. She nodded and helped Wang Daren back to their room.
Shen Fuyao snorted coldly. After waiting more than ten minutes without hearing any movement, she climbed out the window. She needed to return to Phoenix Brigade immediately, get an introduction letter from the brigade leader there, and go to the army.
First, she would ruin Wang Chaoying’s reputation. Once he was dismissed, she would come back and uncover the truth behind the Cave Flower Heavenly Maiden.