The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 791 - 168: Death is Not Far Away_1

Chapter 791: Chapter 168: Death is Not Far Away_1

After the corpse of Pei Wensheng was moved back home, his face, soaked overnight and torn open by hooks, was so gruesome that it frightened everyone; no one dared to help with the funeral preparations. Even Pei Zongli was afraid upon seeing it.

Mother Qian, pulling Shu Hua with her, mustered the courage to suppress her terror and gave Pei Wensheng a simple cleaning and changed his clothes. They bought a coffin and prepared the body for burial.

The entire populace of Yuanyang County grew afraid. At night, even adults dared not go out, and the several households next to Pei Zongli were especially cautious; they would close their doors as soon as it got dark and even pasted yellow talismans and hung BaGua mirrors in their homes to ward off evil spirits. They discussed in hushed tones, fearful that Pei Wenjie’s vengeful spirit was too powerful and that Pei Wensheng had already been claimed by it, hoping it would not spread to them. "Pei Wensheng didn’t die an easy death either; who knows if he will become some kind of fierce ghost or something."

"He smothered his own younger brother to death at such a young age; it’s very possible he could turn into a fierce ghost, right!?"

Words like this immediately sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

Old Man Chang, hearing the talk among those who came to buy sunflower seeds and sugar-fried peanuts, said irritably, "What is there for grown men to be afraid of! Those of us who don’t do wrongful deeds aren’t afraid of ghosts knocking at our doors in the middle of the night! Besides, a person has grievances to avenge, and wrongs to repay. Those who have done bad things go to hell after death, what’s there to expect about them becoming fierce ghosts! Stop with these wild imaginings and spreading unease!"

Upon hearing this, a few men felt embarrassed, as if they had been chastised by a grown man. But what he said was true; if one went to hell after death, how could they become any sort of fierce ghost!

Then, rumors began to circulate that Pei Wensheng was claimed by his brother’s vengeful spirit because he had smothered him; surely, he had gone to hell after his own death!

When the news reached Taiping Town, the villagers were somewhat skeptical, "Really claimed by a vengeful spirit!?"

"That’s right! I heard that right before he died, he went alone to the wild mountains where Pei Wenjie was buried, and he died not two kilometers from there!"

"Does that mean Pei Wensheng really did smother his own brother? He really was vicious at such a young age!"

"His parents are no good either; each is more sinister and malicious than the other. What kind of good could they have produced!?"

Pei Qian had already sent word to Back Mountain Village, "Pei Wensheng is dead; Lady Chen must be scared to death just hearing the news!"

Pei Qin glanced at her and didn’t respond. Even if Lady Chen wasn’t scared to death, she wouldn’t live long anyway.

"Lady Qian and the others will definitely put this blame on our heads," Pei Qian said with a cold snort, then asked Pei Qin, "Elder sister, do you think there are really ghosts?"

"Yes, they’re right in front of you, stretching out their arms and kicking their legs, like a proper ghost."

Seeing her so certain, Pei Qian was skeptical, "Really ghosts that snatch souls?" She had always thought it was her brother-in-law who had acted, giving them poison.

"Many ghosts know how to snatch souls," Pei Qin said, looking at her earnestly and nodding. Thallium is one of them; its poisonous effect is on par with arsenic, a little bit can lead to a ’ghost shaving your head.’

Pei Qian was still not quite convinced, muttering discontentedly, "If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean Lady Chen will be alright!?"

Lady Chen was far from alright; she hid in her room, scared to go out every day. She had only a few strands of hair left, and her eyes were always cloudy; she could only see indistinctly, not clearly.

Lady Zhu was scared too and even more reluctant to take care of her, "You have good arms and legs, yet you require me, a mother-in-law, to serve you!? Can you really afford that luxury!?"

Every time Lady Chen had a nightmare and said she didn’t kill the person, that it was Pei Wensheng, Lady Zhu wished she could strangle her, accusing her of slandering her grandson. She would slap Lady Chen a few times to silence her, blaming it all on Pei Qin.

The people of Back Mountain Village quickly came to inform them after learning of Pei Wensheng’s death, "...The state of his corpse was horrifying, not far from where Pei Wenjie was buried."

"What did you say!? Wensheng is really dead!?" Lady Zhu, disbelieving, grabbed the messenger to inquire further.

"It’s spread all over the county town; no one was willing to retrieve the body, it was the Government Officer from the County Government Office who helped to go retrieve it. They had to use a hook to pull up the corpse; the body was torn to pieces! It was terrifying!" said the messenger, shuddering with fear.

Lady Zhu turned pale, "How could it have turned out like this!? Someone must have harmed him; it’s certainly those despicable ones who did it!"

Old Pei’s figure seemed unsteady, his mouth opened as if he wanted to speak, but no words came out.

"Ahh, ahh—It wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! Pei Wensheng smothered him! It has nothing to do with me! Don’t come looking for me! Don’t come looking for me!" Lady Chen screamed in terror, continually yelling.

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