Tang Yuan slowly opened her eyes. She took a moment to adjust before turning her head and looking around the room.
The first thing she saw was a small old woman sitting cross-legged not far from her, wearing a blue coarse-cloth jacket with a front opening. The old woman’s hair was neatly combed, without a single strand out of place. She was very thin, which made her cheekbones appear especially prominent. Wrinkles covered her face, one after another, and the loose skin around her eyes drooped down, giving her a pair of somewhat triangular-looking eyes. Just sitting there, she gave off an intimidating, almost gloomy aura.
But Tang Yuan knew that this was actually a very kind old woman. She had always treated the original owner and the younger members of the clan especially well.
Looking farther to the right, Tang Yuan saw that quite a few people had gathered.
The entire family of Eighth Grandpa was there—their three sons and daughters-in-law. From First Grandpa’s family, there were also two sons. Even Second Grandpa, who worked as the manager of a bookstore in the city, had returned.
There was also an old man in his seventies. He was one of the clansmen who had fled here with the family all those years ago. Because his family had raised a cow, everyone of the original owner’s generation called him Old Cow Grandpa. He was also a highly respected elder in the clan.
Then there were several of the original owner’s male cousins who had already married.
“Yuan’er! Can you hear your Auntie’s voice? Does your head still hurt?”
Auntie Ma’s voice came from beside her again.
Tang Yuan slowly blinked but didn’t answer.
If she was going to act, she might as well do it properly.
“Oh my goodness, this is bad! Old man, go call the old doctor over again and have him take another look at Yuan’er. She’s already awake, so why isn’t she saying anything? Did she damage her brain when she fell?”
Seeing Auntie Ma panic, Tang Yuan knew she had to say something, otherwise she might genuinely scare the woman into having a heart attack.
Tang Yuan blinked again before slowly opening her mouth.
“Auntie, where’s my Grandpa?”
“What grandpa? Which grandpa? You must still be groggy from sleeping. Your head still hurts?”
Tang Yuan blinked again. She stared at Auntie Ma with her big eyes and answered,
“My own grandpa! When I was little, he would hold me on his lap every day and read books to me. Why can’t I see him? He just told me that after my soul had recovered for another couple of days, he would take me to Fengdu City for a stroll. Why is he gone now?”
“Oh my goodness, child! Your grandfather has been dead for so many years. Where could you possibly have seen him? Did you dream about him?”
Auntie Ma clearly hadn’t realized how serious this was yet.
Tang Yuan pretended to become anxious and quickly said,
“No! I really saw my grandpa! At the time, I was dazed and walking forward. There was a huge fog everywhere, and there were lots of people beside me. They were all wearing white clothes and didn’t say a word. I tried talking to them, but they ignored me. I was scared to death.
“Then I saw my grandpa. He told me that he sensed I was going to suffer a calamity this time, so he went to Judge Cui and checked my name in the Book of Life and Death. He said that my lifespan hadn’t ended yet, but because I’m still young and had suffered such a serious injury, my soul was unstable. I needed to stay in the underworld until my soul recovered before they could send me back. That way, my body in the mortal world would recover faster too.”
The room suddenly fell completely silent.
Everyone had clearly realized the seriousness of the situation.
They all felt that Tang Yuan, who had always been such an honest and simple little girl, wouldn’t make up such a detailed story to deceive them. Besides, she spoke with such certainty and vividness.
The old woman Zhao, sitting behind Eighth Grandpa, was already trembling so badly that her teeth were chattering. Beside her, Eighth Grandpa’s hand holding his tobacco pipe was shaking uncontrollably.
“Yuan’er, don’t try to fool your Auntie. Did you really see your grandfather?”
Even Auntie Ma was obviously frightened now. She asked the question stiffly.
Tang Yuan felt that her acting was getting smoother and smoother.
She glanced around the room. Seeing everyone’s stunned expressions, she decided to add another push.
She pretended to look as though she was about to cry and said,
“Why doesn’t everyone believe me? I really saw my grandpa! He told me that because he had accumulated so much virtue while he was alive, the moment he arrived in the underworld, Judge Cui recruited him to work under him as a clerk.
“My grandpa even took me to meet his friends—Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord.”
Someone in the room asked,
“Who are Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord?”
Tang Yuan looked at them with her large, clear eyes.
“Seventh Lord is Xie Bi’an, and Eighth Lord is Fan Wujiu.”
The same person asked again,
“What do those two surnames—Xie something and Fan something—do?”
Second Grandpa, who was sitting beside Grandmother, frowned and answered solemnly,
“You may not recognize the names Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord, but you’ll know their other titles. Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord are the famous Black and White Impermanence.”
As expected of the manager of the largest bookstore in the city—he really was knowledgeable.
The moment he finished speaking, Tang Yuan immediately smiled.
“That’s right! Second Grandpa, you’re so knowledgeable. Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord are the Black and White Impermanence. They were very kind to me. They even took me to a shop outside their residence to buy Extreme Yin Water for me to drink.
“Do you know what Extreme Yin Water is? It comes in a little black bottle. It’s about this long and this thin.”
As she spoke, Tang Yuan gestured with her hands for everyone to see.
“My grandpa said that the little black bottle is made of Black Jade. This kind of bottle can lock in the Yin energy inside the water and nourish a ghost’s soul.
“Oh, let me tell you, that Extreme Yin Water was delicious! Once it entered my mouth, I didn’t even need to swallow it. It flowed straight down my throat into my stomach by itself. After drinking it, my whole body felt so comfortable, as if I were about to float away.”
She had talked so much that Tang Yuan paused for a moment before continuing to gesture as she spoke, completely ignoring the terrified expressions on everyone’s faces.
“Seventh Lord and Eighth Lord bought ten bottles of Extreme Yin Water for me. I thought it tasted good, so I drank five bottles in one go.
“My grandpa even scolded me for being wasteful. He said that stuff was incredibly expensive. You couldn’t buy it with Netherworld currency—you had to exchange merit for it. That’s why ordinary ghosts couldn’t drink it.
“He said that even though he’d been in the underworld for so many years, he’d only managed to drink a few bottles. And I finished five bottles in one go! Poor Grandpa—he was heartbroken!”
After saying this, Tang Yuan even licked her lips as though she were savoring some delicious delicacy.
Suddenly, an idea struck her.
What if they didn’t believe her?
She needed to give them something more convincing.
Tang Yuan suddenly lowered her head and stretched out her right hand.
A thin, cylindrical little bottle appeared in her palm.
It was about the length of a woman’s palm and roughly as thick as a child’s arm.
It simply appeared in her hand, and she openly held it up for everyone to see.
Under the flickering candlelight, everyone in the room saw a pitch-black little bottle resting in Tang Yuan’s hand, shimmering with a smooth, icy luster.
“Oh my goodness…”
Perhaps it was just their imagination, but everyone felt that the moment the little black bottle appeared, the entire room suddenly became colder.
Goosebumps rose all over their bodies.
Only Tang Yuan herself knew where the bottle had really come from.
Back in the modern era, she had bought it from a cultural and creative shop on an ancient street during a vacation.
It wasn’t made of Black Jade at all.
It was simply black obsidian.
“You see? The Extreme Yin Water was stored in this bottle. I remember now! Before I came back, I was drinking Extreme Yin Water.
“Why did the bottle come back with me too?”
The moment Tang Yuan finished speaking, she used her mind to put the bottle back into her space.
To everyone in the room, it looked as though a black bottle had suddenly appeared in Tang Yuan’s hand—and then vanished into thin air.
Oh my goodness!
That was terrifying!
At that moment, Old Madam Zhao suddenly shouted,
“My heavens!”
She rolled her eyes, and with a loud thump, her body went stiff as she collapsed straight onto the floor.