At this moment, Li Zhiyuan felt as if a pail of ice water had been poured over his head, his whole body plunged into coldness.
As if in a trance, it seemed like his soul was scared out of his body, and the only reason it wasn’t scared away was because this wasn’t reality; his body wasn’t here.
Li Zhiyuan, holding Qin Li’s hand, got up and ran.
But they had not run a few steps before the group of old grandmothers who were washing dishes with sand stood in front of them, blocking the way.
Their seemingly withered and aged bodies were immovable no matter how hard Li Zhiyuan pushed and bumped against them.
In despair, Li Zhiyuan’s thought was: No wonder Grandmaster’s paper craft business is booming, the materials and workmanship are indeed here.
In reality, there was no hope of forcing through, as he was still young and had virtually no strength. He was incapable of utilizing any of Grandmaster’s or Liu Jinxia’s techniques.
He originally thought he could avoid this incident by hiding. He was almost successful, yet it all fell apart at the last moment.
He turned around, looked at the old woman with the cat face, forced himself to be calm, and then quickly recalled any potentially useful knowledge in his mind.
He didn’t need to rummage too hard because he had only read one book, an introductory encyclopedia... and only four volumes of it.
It really was a case of having too little knowledge when it was needed most, but now, he could only try with the knowledge he had.
And indeed, Li Zhiyuan found something that seemed to be the right match.
The third volume of "Jianghu Chronicles," section twelve, recorded a special type of Corpse Demon.
A person with a deep resentment, floating in water, comes into contact with the corpse of an animal also tainted with an evil aura. By chance, the two merge, creating a bizarre existence that is neither human nor demon.
Such a corpse would possess some special abilities, like the one mentioned in the book, located at Northeast Changbai Mountain, a fusion of a human and Weasel Immortal, capable of creating Myst and manipulating minds, ultimately destroyed by the Righteous.
As for what "Righteous" here meant, Li Zhiyuan was unclear, and he thought it unnecessary to clarify, as every Corpse Demon’s tale ended with "destroyed by the Righteous."
Whether they were really destroyed, by which sect or school, whether by Monk, Taoist, Lama, or sorcerer... none of that mattered, as the author of this book seemed to have used "destroyed by the Righteous" as the period for every tale.
The old woman with the cat face in front of him very much resembled a Corpse Demon.
But if he was to force the concept, he had to first confirm if she died in a river. Those who died elsewhere weren’t considered corpses and were not included in the "Jianghu Chronicles."
However, the old woman’s clothes were clean and neat, her hair was gray and fluffy; she didn’t have the appearance of a water ghost at all. It was Little Huang Ying, with her wet body, who was the standard template.
Li Zhiyuan felt... it was beyond his scope of knowledge.
The old woman with the cat face retracted her protruding head, bent down, and picked up a piece of tiger-striped meat and a chicken leg from the ground.
It was through these two items on the ground that she noticed something was amiss because they did not conform to the frugal customs of her dreams.
"What fine food, how can you waste it , this is to incur..."
The last word was halted by the old woman with the cat face. Clearly, for her current status, those words were the real taboo.
She opened her mouth, disregarding the dirtiness, and placed the meat and chicken leg into her mouth, chewing with great enjoyment and intoxication.
"How nice it would have been to have a bowl of corn porridge at that time."
In her eyes, there was reminiscence, which used to be her biggest desire for a long time while curled up in bed, staring at the tightly shut door... it was even an extravagance.
But in the end, she did not get a grain of rice or a sip of water.
The old woman with the cat face looked at Li Zhiyuan again, but before she could speak, Li Zhiyuan preempted:
"Granny, I wish you a happy birthday."
The old woman with the cat face: "..."
This birthday wish rendered the Corpse Demon silent.
After a while, the old woman with the cat face stretched out her hand in front of Li Zhiyuan.
Li Zhiyuan noticed that there was also fine fur on the back of her hand and her nails were long and sharply pointed.
Without dodging, Li Zhiyuan let her hand touch his face.
The familiar feeling of ice against his face reappeared, the same sensation he had that day in Liu Jinxia’s hall.
"Granny, I realized, this young lad of yours, not only looks handsome but has a smart mind too.
That day, when my eldest son was about to leave, you deliberately let him wash his hands by your side, so that Granny could leave your body and return to his, right?"
"I was afraid Granny would forget the way home."
"I also thought you were more used to him carrying you."
"No..." The old woman’s fingers slid to Li Zhiyuan’s lips, "Now I prefer the young lad to carry me."
Following this, the old woman with the cat face turned her attention to Qin Li standing behind Li Zhiyuan: "Such a beautiful young girl."
Li Zhiyuan introduced: "She has a problem with her mind, cannot speak, and has a bad temper, prone to biting people."
"Oh, is that so. No wonder when I saw her during the day, she just sat there motionless. Ah, what a pity, such a beautiful young girl."
Saying this, the old woman with the cat face shifted her attention back to Li Zhiyuan’s face: "Young lad, Granny really likes you. Stay with Granny."
"You already have..." Li Zhiyuan immediately realized something and corrected himself, "Okay, I’ll stay with Granny."
He wanted to say you already have your own grandchildren, but wouldn’t that be touching on a sore spot?