Flowers of the Departed Souls - Chapter 22

Luo Xiaofeng ran wildly, tearing through the murky village like a fugitive, the wind whistling past her ears. Half of the cold, pale moon was buried in dark clouds, and a large black bird circled high in the sky for a long time.

She ran and vomited, eventually reaching the inn, trembling all over. But she dared not stay in the room alone. If she couldn’t speak about what had just happened, she felt she would go insane immediately.

She knocked on Chi Ziming’s door. He was now the person she trusted most. In her heart, she even regarded him as an older brother, even though she had always pushed him away, never confided in him, and had been quite impolite to him. She felt apologetic towards him, but that didn’t stop her from gradually developing a sense of dependence.

Chi Ziming looked at her in surprise. She was trembling all over, like a wounded rabbit chased by a hunter. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Luo Xiaofeng collapsed into his arms and began to cry. For a moment, Chi Ziming was a bit stunned, but in his heart, she was still a child, a stubborn child, and deep down, she was actually more fragile than anyone.

Chi Ziming waited until her emotions had calmed down, then patted her shoulder, looking directly into her eyes. “Tell me, what happened?”

Luo Xiaofeng bit her lip, shaking her head, not uttering a word. She truly didn’t know how to talk about Grandma eating rotting limbs, or the terrifying hair growing on Grandma’s hands. She didn’t even know if Grandma was still the Grandma she knew, but she genuinely wanted to know the truth.

Just then, a knock sounded from outside. Chi Ziming opened the door; it was Kelou. “Excuse me, you two are making too much noise; you’re disturbing me. Can I help? Xiaofeng, why are you crying?”

By this time, Luo Xiaofeng had gone through an intense internal struggle. Her gaze slowly changed from flickering to very determined. “I want to tell you something. Come in. Close the door. I don’t want a fourth person to know.”

But then, a shout came from below. Someone was calling Luo Xiaofeng’s name—it was Grandma. Luo Xiaofeng’s face changed drastically, trembling all over. She waved her hand. “Say I’m not here, please. I don’t want to see her.”

Chi Ziming and Kelou exchanged glances. Kelou thought for a moment. “The old lady found her way here in the middle of the night. You should go down and explain.”

Luo Xiaofeng quietly pleaded, “No, please, say I’m not here.”

Chi Ziming pondered. There might be something unusual going on. “How about this: I’ll go down. I’ll tell her you’re asleep and ask her to go back. We can talk about whatever it is tomorrow, okay?”

Luo Xiaofeng nodded. “Okay, thank you, Brother Ziming. Oh, be careful.” Chi Ziming looked at her puzzled, then went out and closed the door.

Chi Ziming walked into the courtyard. The moon was now hidden by dense clouds, leaving only a sliver of light, faint and ethereal. The lights from those two rooms on the third floor shone down, along with the very diffused light in the courtyard. Under the converging lights, the old lady’s face appeared very erratic, cast with strange, dim shadows, like an illusory, gray figure. Chi Ziming thought it might just be the lighting, making the old lady look so odd.

The old lady, leaning on her ebony cane, hobbled towards Chi Ziming. “Tell my granddaughter to come down. I have something to tell her.”

Chi Ziming’s tone was apologetic. “She’s very tired and already asleep. She seems a little unwell, probably from being too exhausted these past few days. Also, you know, with so many things happening, you should let her rest well. Let’s talk about it tomorrow, Madam. Or, no, how about I see you home?”

The old lady sighed. “You still need to tell her to come back with me. This place, it’s not somewhere to stay.”

“Why isn’t it a place to stay?”

The old lady gave him a cold look. “So many things have happened. Do you think it’s still possible to stay? Xiaofeng has been with me since she was little. I can’t watch anything happen to her. If she doesn’t come down, I won’t go back.”

This old woman was unexpectedly stubborn. Chi Ziming was truly at a loss. “How about this, I’ll go check if she’s awake.”

When Luo Xiaofeng saw Chi Ziming enter, she eagerly asked, “How is it? Did she leave?”

Chi Ziming shook his head. “She said if you don’t go back, she’ll stay downstairs all night.”

“No, I’m not going back. I really can’t go back.”

Kelou, who hadn’t spoken until now, asked, “How about this: if you don’t want to go with her, you have to tell us why you’re so afraid of your own grandmother.”

Luo Xiaofeng sighed and then had no choice but to tell them everything that happened that evening, making their hair stand on end and giving them goosebumps.

Kelou thought for a moment. “This might be a medical condition. Excessive androgen secretion can cause a series of male characteristics, such as an Adam’s apple, a deeper voice, and coarse hair. Another possibility is a psychological anomaly. She might have been influenced or suggested to, which makes her uncontrollably desire to eat certain things, and the food she eats is not restricted. If it were normal food, you might not think anything of it, but what makes people terrified is that she eats things that normal people find very disgusting or nauseating. I once handled a case where a student, while sleepwalking, went to a laboratory to dig up and eat the tongue of a corpse. I think your grandmother might be ill. The best solution now is for your grandmother to confess the source that caused this pathological condition. Otherwise, your grandmother will truly become possessed and it will get worse and worse.”

Luo Xiaofeng grew increasingly panicked. Was this village truly cursed? Was no one allowed to find peace? Now, there was no longer a stable place for her in this world. If things were truly as Kelou said, she worried for her grandma. Yes, Grandma couldn’t continue in this pathological state.

She bit her lip, silent for a long time. “I’ll go down. But you two must protect me.”

Kelou patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Don’t forget my profession; this is my duty.”

Luo Xiaofeng then went into the courtyard, but as soon as she saw Grandma, she remembered the scene of her gnawing on the decaying corpse. She desperately suppressed the urge to vomit, trying to appear calmer. “Grandma—”

Grandma’s gaze seemed even more benevolent than usual. “You finally came down to see me, Xiaofeng. Grandma should have confessed some things to you earlier, but I was afraid of scaring you, afraid you would dislike me, so I never dared to speak. But the day had to come, and it has. Xiaofeng, Grandma is truly sorry…”

At this point, the old lady’s tears streamed down her face. Luo Xiaofeng’s heart softened. “Grandma—”

“Xiaofeng, Grandma didn’t want to become like this.”

Luo Xiaofeng threw herself into Grandma’s arms and cried. Kelou and Chi Ziming, who had followed Luo Xiaofeng down, also felt a pang of sadness.

“Come back with Grandma. Grandma will tell you everything, okay?” Luo Xiaofeng nodded, then turned to Kelou and Chi Ziming. “I’m going back first. I’ll be back at work tomorrow morning.”

Watching their retreating figures, after a long silence, Chi Ziming asked Kelou, “Looking at her grandmother’s current state, do you think it’s safe for Xiaofeng to go back with her?”

Kelou thought for a moment. “I don’t think it’s right. And now, we can’t catch up to them anymore. Oh, do you know how to get to her house?” Chi Ziming nodded.

Kelou continued, “Several people have had accidents here consecutively, and Luo Xiaofeng is the only one who hasn’t. Don’t you think that’s a bit strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“No living person here can be ruled out as a suspect, including you and Luo Xiaofeng. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you are the only two people alive in the inn. Of course, until we find evidence, we won’t do anything to you. Also, have you noticed that her grandmother is very strange? Even if Luo Xiaofeng wouldn’t do such a thing, it’s hard to guarantee that her pathological grandmother wouldn’t do something unimaginable.”

Chi Ziming also increasingly felt that her grandmother was indeed a bit terrifying, especially that time she looked at her granddaughter, with absolutely no pity. The more he thought about it, the more nervous he became. “Will Xiaofeng be in trouble? We should hurry over to investigate.”

Kelou nodded, ran upstairs to get his gloves and gun, and then ran out of the inn with Chi Ziming.

At this moment, the moon emerged from the clouds, but they didn’t notice the massive dark cloud, which looked very much like a severed black wing, accompanied by a bird’s cry.