Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was raining when Qi Niang returned to the graveyard.

Only this time, she didn’t walk here. She was wrapped in a straw mat and tossed aside like trash.

Her face was unrecognizable, her limbs twisted at unnatural angles.

Soaked by the rain, her body soon became bloated and pale, a sight so gruesome it even unsettled a Bone Demon like me.

Yet, there were those who weren’t afraid. They stumbled through the mud, throwing themselves onto her body in a fit of wailing.

“Mother, Mother…”

“Don’t leave Liu’er and little brother behind, Mother…”

The crying was relentless and incredibly noisy.

Looking at the two brats beside the corpse, I found it impossible to sleep through the racket.

The older girl looked to be about four or five years old, gaunt and dressed in rags.

She tried to pull Qi Niang out of the straw mat, but her small, frail frame only caused her to tumble into a puddle.

The younger one was a baby boy who couldn’t even walk steadily yet.

He couldn’t speak either; he just sucked on his finger, staring blankly at his older sister.

The two children remained drenched in the curtain of rain. Heavy droplets pelted Qi Niang’s eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

I thought the siblings would leave once they had cried their fill, but they seemed to have taken root.

When they were tired and sleepy, they curled up next to Qi Niang’s corpse. When they were hungry, they ate grass, dirt, and gnawed on tree bark.

By the third day, the sky cleared, and the sun blazed overhead.

The siblings could no longer cry; they were on the verge of following Qi Niang to the grave.

While they were unconscious, I approached them.

The little girl opened her eyes, seemingly catching sight of me.

“Mother.”

She was about to cry again, but her throat could hardly produce a sound.

I looked at her closely.

This girl looked exactly like Qi Niang.

The same large eyes, the same face shaped like a full moon.

A hazy memory surfaced of the time Qi Niang brought me peaches to eat.

I sighed.

I possessed Qi Niang’s foul, rotting corpse and crawled out of the straw mat.

The little girl’s half-closed eyes flew wide open.

First, I picked up the feverish little boy and dug the mouthful of dirt out of his mouth.

Then I picked up the girl and let her lean against my shoulder.

As she made a move to cry, I spat at her.

“Cry again, and Mother will eat you both.”

Chapter 2

I am a Bone Demon.

For as long as I can remember, I have lived in this graveyard.

No one can see me, much less hear me speak.

I know not where I came from, nor where I am going.

I spent years, decades, or perhaps centuries alone in this graveyard.

That was until a little Qi Niang, as pink and tender as a peach, came with her family to tend the graves.

She held a crisp peach, skipping and running all over the place.

She accidentally tripped, and the peach rolled right in front of me.

I picked up the peach and took a bite. The sweet, fragrant juice filled my mouth.

“So sweet,” I blurted out.

The sun was shining just right, and Qi Niang stared at me blankly.

I froze too.

Countless people had come and gone through this graveyard, and no one had ever seen me.

But she seemed to see me.

I finished the peach and tossed the pit aside.

It traced a beautiful arc through the air and hit the head of an adult weeding in front of a grave.

The adult clutched his head and looked around, muttering, “Must be a ghost.”

I raised an eyebrow at Qi Niang.

She could indeed see me, as she covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“I’ll come again next year.”

“I’ll bring you more peaches.”

Later, she did come every year, and she always brought me peaches.

However, she could never see me again.

I thought my long life as a demon had returned to its cold silence until my demonic power would eventually dissipate.

But now, I am in a drafty thatched hut with a leaking roof, staring down two little peach-like brats who look just like Qi Niang.