Very soon, the conversation in the main hall confirmed his suspicions.
Wang Cuihua let out a faint hum, turned her head away, and held the frail young man’s hand as she earnestly reminded him.
“My son, Mother have never been educated. I can’t protect you forever, you must learn to judge things on your own.”
“I will remember, Mother.”
The young man lowered his head obediently.
“Enough.”
Seated at the main position, the venomous snake’s eyes rolled. With its thin tail, it deliberately knocked over a folding screen, interrupting their endless chatter with impatience.
“Why must you, Eldest Sister-in-law, speak in such a roundabout way? Are you planning to go back on your word?”
“We agreed from the start. I would bring Kang’er back to life, and you would hand over the He family wine recipe to me.”
“I am only helping out of kindness.”
“How could a mere woman like you possibly manage the estate left behind by my brother?”
The snake slithered up beside the young man, coiling upright. Its massive shadow engulfed both Wang Cuihua and the youth.
“Don’t forget…”
“If I can bring him back to life, I can also make him die again.”
The middle-aged male voice carried a cold threat, striking heavily through the empty hall.
“Eldest Sister-in-law… you’d better obediently hand over the recipe.”
“Your Kang’er is about to get married. You wouldn’t want to lose him again, would you?”
At that, Wang Cuihua’s expression turned ugly. She looked like a mother ready to fight anyone who tried to take her son away.
She gripped the young man’s hand tightly, her gaze fierce beyond measure.
“I can give it to you, but you must guarantee my Kang’er’s safety.”
“Of course.” The snake agreed readily.
Wang Cuihua hesitated for a moment before taking out a yellowed sheet of paper from her sleeve. The moment it appeared, it was snatched away.
Once the recipe was in hand, the snake stopped pretending.
It flicked its red tongue, baring its sharp fangs, its elongated eyes filled with victorious cunning.
“Let’s go, Kang’er. Uncle will take you for acupuncture.”
The venomous snake, Master Zhong, swayed its bulky body in satisfaction as it led the young man out of the hall.
After taking several winding turns, they arrived at a side courtyard.
Wen Shuyu pulled Tang Li along from a distance, quietly following them, trying to overhear more information.
But unexpectedly, as soon as Master Zhong stepped into the courtyard, he produced a lock from nowhere and firmly secured the gate.
Wen Shuyu: …
This Master Zhong was far too cautious.
He understood clearly that the clue likely lay with both the young man and Master Zhong.
But now, with a tall courtyard wall between them, how was he supposed to find a way to escape the nightmare of the Paper Groom?
Just as Wen Shuyu was worrying, a soft hand tugged at his sleeve.
Tang Li pointed in another direction.
Throughout the journey, she had not asked a single question about his strange behavior. She simply followed behind him like a quiet, obedient kitten.
Now, she was even helping him find another way into the courtyard.
Warmth rose in Wen Shuyu’s heart. He reached out and gently rubbed the top of her fluffy head.
A little… too adorable.
Just like the Tang Li from his previous life. If she were a cat, she would be one with sharp claws hidden beneath softness.
When she acted spoiled, she was impossible to let go of, and when she grew angry, she could be merciless.
Someone both lovable and impossible to truly hold onto…
As for Tang Li’s current identity, she was a maid of the He residence, so she naturally knew a hidden path leading into the side courtyard.
Soon, she brought Wen Shuyu to the spot and pointed at it with a smile.
“Door, side courtyard.”
“…”
Wen Shuyu stared at the dog hole in front of him, his expression darkening.
If Tang Li truly had not lost her memory, he would seriously suspect she was doing this on purpose.
“To the side courtyard…”
Tang Li repeated again, eyes filled with confusion as if she did not understand why he was unhappy.
Wen Shuyu sighed helplessly and took out the dagger he always carried for self-defense from his waist, placing it into Tang Li’s hands.
“It’s dangerous inside. Wait outside the wall.”
After speaking, he lifted his robe and crawled into the courtyard.
Just as Wen Shuyu stood up and brushed off the grass clippings on his body, voices drifted over from not far away.
“Uncle… my face hurts…”
It was Kang’er. He was sitting on a stone stool in the courtyard.
On the table in front of him were a bronze mirror and many bottles and jars. They looked like pigments.
“What kind of He family man are you?”
“Can’t even endure a bit of pain. Just bear with it.”
Master Zhong responded carelessly from under a tree.
It was lying lazily in a pile of gold coins, using its tail to count money. It had no time to bother with the foolish youth.
Kang’er looked timid and did not dare argue. He could only rub his face to ease the discomfort.
But after a while, his rubbing grew more frequent, and suppressed groans leaked from his lips.
“Ugh… it hurts…”
Wen Shuyu saw from a distance that Kang’er’s face had turned as pale as paper.
“Sorry, Uncle… it really hurts…”
The area he kept rubbing began to rot bit by bit, until it turned into a dark hollow, and dark red blood dripped from his fingers onto the stone table.
Kang’er muttered repeatedly,
“My face… it hurts so much… I don’t want it anymore…”
As if he could no longer endure it, he suddenly dug his fingernails into his hair and forcibly tore off his own blood-soaked facial skin.
Kang’er was not human at all.
Even Master Zhong, who had been obsessed with counting money, immediately sensed something was wrong.
It spat out the gold in its mouth and rushed to the stone table.
Kang’er—
No, it could no longer be called a human. It was a monster.
Wen Shuyu was extremely glad he had left Tang Li outside.
This scene was too horrifying.
After tearing off its face, the figure continued peeling off skin from its neck, arms, and legs, as though shedding an ill-fitting layer of clothing.
Until its true form was revealed.
Rather than a monster, it looked more like a humanoid mass of flesh with its protective skin removed.
Wen Shuyu covered his mouth and nose, blocking the overwhelming stench of decay.
Amid the piercing groans, he saw something strange embedded in the creature’s chest.
A paper frame, yellow earth, and rotting flesh were fused together, impossible to separate.
What… exactly was this thing?
“What do we do, Uncle!”
The flesh mass cried out in panic, trembling.
“Don’t let Mother find out… please save me… I don’t want to die…”
Master Zhong pressed it down with its tail and picked up a brush with its mouth, dipping it into pigments before painting on white paper.
Soon, it finished.
It placed several sheets of paper on the ground.
Strangely, the seams between the papers melted together on their own, forming an entirely new human skin.
“Put it on.”
Master Zhong threw the skin over.
The creature hurriedly put it on, and in the blink of an eye, it became the thin young man Kang’er again.
“Thank you, Uncle, for saving my life!”
Sunlight fell upon the dark snake, making its scales shimmer with strange, colorful light.
If the earlier scene was horrifying, this one carried an even more uncanny sense of distortion.
The snake stood high above, like a deity of the underworld, calmly accepting the youth’s kneeling worship.
“I told you before, and you forgot again.”
The snake licked its small fangs, its eyes narrowed.
“Do not let the living touch you.”
“Your body is no longer normal. Once it absorbs the aura of the living, it will rot and fester.”
Wen Shuyu suddenly recalled how Kang’er’s mother had tightly held his hand in the hall.
So that was the reason.
Was this the weakness of the Paper Groom?
That was why the young man had suffered so much pain and torn off his own skin.
The “acupuncture” Master Zhong mentioned earlier was likely a lie to Wang Cuihua. In reality, it had been using a brush to paint him a new layer of skin.
As for the rosy complexion Wen Shuyu had seen earlier, it was nothing more than pigment painted on.
Are the events in this dream realm reflections of reality?
It was far too eerie.
Could a human really possess such power to bring the dead back to life?
Kang’er lowered his head and whispered,
“But… she is my mother.”
The snake let out a disdainful snort.
“Do you dare tell her the truth?”
“Tell her that this so-called miracle medicine cannot revive the dead?”
“You were already dead. Half a month ago, you died in bed, your corpse already half-rotted.”
The snake’s voice was ice-cold, pressing down with suffocating pressure.
“Do you dare?”
“I…”
“I just don’t want Mother to be sad.”
The young man’s eyes were filled with sorrow.
“Kang’er, back then you were the one who said you didn’t want to die.”
“You knelt and begged me to save you, to stay by your lonely mother’s side and be filial to her.”
“And now, after enduring a little pain, you regret it?”
The snake’s green eyes locked onto him.
“Besides, it’s too late even if you regret it now.”
“You saw it yourself in the mirror just now. Your flesh has already fused with paper and yellow earth.”
“You are destined to be a half-living, half-dead monster.”
“…”
Kang’er did not dare respond, only lowering his head meekly.
“But in my condition… I’m not even as good as a normal person. How can I get married tomorrow…?”
A flash of panic crossed the snake’s eyes, quickly disappearing.
“Don’t worry about that. Uncle will help you. By tomorrow, you will no longer fear the touch of the living.”
Then it changed tone again, sighing like a caring elder.
“Your mother has not had an easy time raising you alone. Her greatest wish is for you to start a family.”
“The Zhao family is wealthy. Once you marry their daughter, you can use their influence to revive your father’s declining business.”
Kang’er nodded. “Uncle is right…”
Seeing that the youth had taken its words to heart, the snake revealed a satisfied smile and pressed further.
“Do you really think I care about that small recipe?”
“Your father was my own brother. I am your biological uncle.”
“Everything I do is for you!”
The young man nodded blankly.
Though he felt a little sorrowful, if Uncle said that after tomorrow he would be like an ordinary person again…
Then he believed it without question.
Once he marries the Zhao family daughter tomorrow, he could rely on his father-in-law’s support to revive the declining family business.
A faint hope ignited in his heart.
Kang’er had spent the first twenty years of his life bedridden and useless. He longed for his mother’s approval and the admiration of relatives and neighbors.
He wanted success too badly.
Unfortunately, he did not realize that everyone around him harbored their own ulterior motives.
He had forgotten the ones who truly loved him, the ones who only wished for his safety.
Greed had clouded his judgment, guiding him step by step toward ruin.
Ahead of him was not a happy ending.
But an abyss of endless evil.