Seeing that the woman had put her pants back on, Jiang Ning acted decisively. She emerged from her hidden space and, using her hand like a blade, struck forcefully at the back of the woman's neck. The woman didn't even have time to cry out before collapsing limply to the ground.
Jiang Ning picked up the bamboo strip and filled in the hole the woman had dug. Then, with a look of disgust, she used the bamboo to pick up the "sanitary pad" that had fallen on the ground. The blood-stained cloth emitted an unpleasant odor, and Jiang Ning, fighting her nausea, used the bamboo to stuff it into the woman's clothes.
How should she deal with this woman?
Jiang Ning narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment, then the corner of her mouth curled up slightly as an idea came to her.
Crouching down, Jiang Ning grabbed the woman's arm and in the next instant, brought her into her hidden space. Knowing the force she had used, Jiang Ning was certain the woman wouldn't wake up until early the next morning, so she wasn't worried about her discovering the secret of the space.
It was always daytime in the space, allowing Jiang Ning to clearly see the woman's face. She was someone Jiang Ning hadn't seen before, appearing to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
She looked like a normal person, so why would she resort to such dirty tactics?
Jiang Ning turned away in disgust and used her space to travel quickly. In the cold, eerie night wind, Jiang Ning passed through the pitch-black forest and came upon a brightly lit pond.
She had arrived.
This was the place.
The place where she had killed He Wen.
Jiang Ning brought the woman out of her space, deliberately placing her in the exact spot where He Wen had died.
Since she understood how to cast evil spells, she must believe in ghosts and spirits, right?
Imagining the possible scenarios for tomorrow, Jiang Ning's smile deepened. Satisfied, she turned and left.
Back in the house, Liu Ming'an was sleeping soundly, his body sprawled awkwardly across the bed, completely unaware of what had transpired outside. Jiang Ning pushed him to one side, got into bed herself, and before long, Liu Ming'an unconsciously moved closer, clinging to Jiang Ning's arm as he had done before.
The night was deep, and Jiang Ning, exhausted from her excursion, fell into a deep sleep soon after lying down.
"Chirp chirp! Chirp!"
The crisp sound of bird calls rang in her ears as Li Xiangyun slowly regained consciousness. Finding herself lying on the ground, she was momentarily disoriented.
What happened? She clearly remembered sneaking to Liu Ming'an's house, intending to bury a menstrual blood-stained cloth behind his house to bring him misfortune. Why was she sleeping here?
Having slept outdoors all night, Li Xiangyun's clothes were damp with dew. She sat up, massaging her numb arm that had lost feeling from being pressed against the ground. She tried to recall the events of the previous night.
She had gone to Liu Ming'an's house, walked to the back, dug a hole with a bamboo strip, and even taken off her pants to remove the cloth. But what happened after that? Why was she here? Why couldn't she remember anything?
Li Xiangyun rubbed her arm, feeling a sharp pain at the back of her neck. She assumed it was from sleeping on the hard ground. The forest in front of her was still dim, with birds hopping about and calling. Li Xiangyun stood up, confused, and caught a glimpse of something bright in her peripheral vision. Turning her head, she saw it was a pond.
A pond?
Her heart suddenly leapt into her throat. Li Xiangyun's pupils dilated involuntarily as she swallowed hard. She looked around uncertainly, finally confirming that this was indeed the pond's edge!
The pond's edge she had visited two days ago! The pond's edge where someone had died!
Li Xiangyun became even more terrified when she discovered that the menstrual blood-stained cloth was in her own bosom, and that she had been sleeping in the exact spot where HeWen's body had lain!
Every hair on her body stood on end. The morning breeze blowing through the forest felt like a ghostly wind to Li Xiangyun, chilling her to the bone. It seemed as if countless invisible eyes were watching her from all around.
"Ah! Ghost! Help! Ghost, there's a ghost!" The woman's shrill screams startled the birds in the forest, causing them to take flight.
Because someone had died at the pond, the villagers instinctively avoided the area. As a result, Li Xiangyun had to run stumbling for nearly half a mile before she finally encountered another person.
Zhuzi, who had gone out early to graze his cattle, saw the seemingly deranged Li Xiangyun and kindly asked, "Sister Xiangyun, what's wrong so early in the morning..."
Before he could finish, Li Xiangyun, upon seeing a living person, rushed towards him like a drowning person grasping at a lifeline. She grabbed Zhuzi's arm tightly, her face filled with terror, repeatedly muttering about ghosts.
"Where's the ghost? Sister Xiangyun, don't scare me." Zhuzi, not yet fifteen, felt a chill run down his spine at Li Xiangyun's incoherent behavior.
"It's He Wen's ghost! It's He Wen, he took me to the pond's edge. He Wen, it was He Wen! I slept by the pond all night for no reason. Look, my clothes are all wet. It was He Wen's doing! He wants to harm me, he wants to harm me..."
Li Xiangyun spoke disjointedly, extending her sleeve to Zhuzi's eyes to prove she wasn't lying.
Zhuzi's expression changed at the mention of "He Wen." It was he who had called the officials to examine the corpse two days ago. Hearing Li Xiangyun's words, although they were jumbled, it didn't seem like a joke. Her clothes and hair were indeed wet, as if she had spent the night outdoors.
Zhuzi, being just a child, panicked and stood there, his face pale.
Seeing that Zhuzi believed her, Li Xiangyun let go of him and continued shouting "Ghost! Ghost!" as she headed home. Along the way, she grabbed anyone she encountered to recount her story of being taken to sleep by the pond by a ghost.
Within half a day, the story had spread throughout the village. Some believed it, some didn't, but everyone was uneasy. For a long time afterward, people avoided that pond.
Liu Ming'an only heard about this incident two days later when he encountered Third Great Aunt while fetching water.
"Ming'an." Third Great Aunt spotted Liu Ming'an first. She looked around, and seeing no one nearby, approached him and greeted him in a low voice.
Liu Ming'an was puzzled by the old woman's cautious manner, but before he could ask, she whispered, "Have you heard about what happened to Li Xiangyun?"
Li Xiangyun? Liu Ming'an shook his head.
"I thought you might not know." Third Great Aunt chuckled, a glint of pride in her eyes.
Liu Ming'an smiled and asked, "I haven't been out for the past couple of days. Third Great Aunt, what happened?"
Third Great Aunt didn't keep him in suspense. Lowering her voice even further, she said, "On the night you had that argument with Li Xiangyun, she encountered a ghost! Somehow, in the middle of the night, she ended up sleeping at the spot where He Wen died. Some say it's He Wen's ghost trying to use her body to return to the world of the living."
This sounded somewhat absurd, and Liu Ming'an wasn't sure what to say. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Is that really true?"
"It's true!" Third Great Aunt's tone was certain, as if she had witnessed it herself. "Many people saw her running home from the pond's edge that morning, looking as if she had lost her soul. It must be because she had cursed He Wen as a short-lived wretch before, and her words came true. Now He Wen has come for her. You know how Li Xiangyun cares about her reputation. If she hadn't been scared out of her wits, why would she act like a madwoman, screaming and shouting in front of so many people? And let me tell you, from that morning when she returned home until now, no one has seen her leave her house."
Third Great Aunt wasn't one to exaggerate, so Liu Ming'an believed her to some extent.
"Ming'an, this old woman is telling you all this idle talk to warn you. Although you haven't done anything to trouble your conscience, He Wen was a scoundrel in life, and his ghost is probably out to harm people now that he's dead. Your house is the closest to that pond. Be careful, and don't go to the nearby forest to collect firewood anymore. It's best to avoid that area."
Third Great Aunt advised earnestly, and Liu Ming'an nodded repeatedly, "Thank you for the warning, Third Great Aunt. I'll keep it in mind."
Third Great Aunt added, "To say something you might not want to hear, what happened to Li Xiangyun is actually good for you. You offended her that day, and by rights, she would have sought revenge. Now that she's scared out of her wits and hiding at home, she naturally can't harm you."
Liu Ming'an just smiled without saying anything.