Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Since you dared to raise a Ghost Mother, aren’t you afraid she’ll come back for revenge? Does your village have any way to subdue her?”

“There is no way. What way could there be? The Ghost Mother is trapped in Xiaoyang forever, trapped in Xiaoyang forever… that’s what the book says.”

“What book? Let me see it!”

Some villagers were clutching their heads and weeping, while others lay wounded on the ground, wailing in pain. Fifth Grandpa’s face was deathly pale. Looking like he had lost his soul, he walked behind the altar and pulled out a thin booklet from beneath the statue of Shennong.

I flipped the booklet open. It contained only a few sentences and some diagrams.

The Ghost Mother was one of Chiyou’s three great generals. Her bloodline was unique, something an ordinary person’s body could not withstand. Only through the intermarriage of the Gui Gu and Xiaoyang tribes was there a minuscule probability of a Ghost Mother being born.

A Ghost Mother’s nature was too ferocious. Before she grew powerful enough, the Xiaoyang tribe would watch over her-serving as both jailers and guardians. Once her strength grew enough to sweep through the Xiaoyang tribe and break free from her prison, nothing in the mortal world would be able to stop her.

I flipped through a few more pages. The beginning sections all discussed the origins of the Ghost Mother and the rules of the Ghost Aunt Clan. However, the very last page recorded something else entirely.

“Do not go near the ancient pool.”

“What is the ancient pool?”

“It’s just a deep pool between our village and Stone House Village,” Fifth Grandpa replied. “There’s nothing special about it, but the people in our village never go that way.”

I leafed through the book twice more but still couldn’t find a way to restrain the Ghost Mother. Just as I was about to question Fifth Grandpa further, a sudden knock echoed against the doors of the Ancestral Hall.

“Fifth Uncle, it’s Pingping. I’m back. Open the door.”

A low, heavy voice sounded from outside the Ancestral Hall. Everyone screamed in terror, huddling together while clutching their incense sticks.

Fifth Grandpa’s voice trembled as he shouted, “Pingping! You’ve already married a Wild Man. Don’t come back to the village. Just go!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the voice outside vanished.

Fifth Grandpa had just breathed a sigh of relief when, in the next second, the wooden doors shattered into pieces.

Wang Cuiping stood at the entrance, her appearance different yet again. She was completely naked and stood over two meters tall. Her skin was an unnatural shade of bluish-purple, and a pair of fleshy wings protruded from her back. Her belly was still as bloated as a woman in her tenth month of pregnancy, and infant spirits were crawling all over her body.

“A ghost!”

The villagers let out ear-piercing screams.

The infant spirits lunged toward the Ancestral Hall, but when they reached the threshold, they all dropped to the ground. They stared hesitantly at the burning incense in the villagers’ hands, seemingly afraid to get any closer.

Fifth Grandpa was overjoyed. “Don’t be afraid, folks! She doesn’t dare come over!”