Chapter 17: Madam Zhang’s Memories

Seeing the scalp beneath his foot, Li Si felt somewhat nauseated. He sat by the well and began enduring his discomfort, slowly untangling the hair from his foot. While he untangled it, he occasionally touched that cold, soft scalp, making his own scalp feel somewhat numb.

Finally, after quite a while, he finally untangled the hair.

Li Si breathed a sigh of relief, pinched the hair with the scalp attached from the ground, and upon looking closely, only felt it was even more disgusting. With a casual toss, he threw it back into the well.

At this moment, Li Si seemed to think of something again. He hurriedly searched his clothes for a cloth pouch and discovered that the Protective Talisman was, miraculously, still dry.

Seeing that the Protective Talisman was not wet at all, the huge stone in Li Si’s heart finally fell to the ground. Fortunately, for some unknown reason, this Protective Talisman could not be soaked by water. Otherwise, the danger he was in would have increased greatly.

“Obtained the Drowned Ghost’s memories. Do you wish to view them?” Suddenly, at this moment, a message rang out in his mind.

Li Si was just about to wring out his clothes when this information suddenly entered his mind, and his movements paused. He suddenly remembered that in that game, when ghosts ate ghosts, they could obtain soul points and memories. In plain terms, after the ghost controlled by the player ate a ghost, it would break down soul points, memories, and similar things.

Li Si immediately became somewhat curious. He rather wanted to know exactly how these memories were viewed. After deciding in his heart, he willed it and chose to view them.

Suddenly, Li Si’s vision went black. A scene that seemed somewhat familiar appeared before his eyes. It was precisely inside the Zhang Residence, and ahead was a vast crowd of people.

Everywhere were red silk and red lanterns, a scene full of joy. Congratulatory voices came from time to time. A wedding was being held here.

He looked at his own hands and found that he was still himself. However, when he looked at other places outside the wedding scene, he discovered that the other areas were all blurry.

Li Si walked into the wedding scene and saw a man and a woman bowing to heaven and earth. Li Si knew the man. He was precisely Squire Zhang in his younger days. He had also just seen the woman’s corpse. She was Squire Zhang’s former wife. It seemed this was the scene of Madam Zhang and Squire Zhang’s wedding.

“Second bow, to the high hall!” a person whose face was completely blurred shouted loudly.

Squire Zhang and Madam Zhang bowed to the elders seated in the place of honour.

“Husband and wife bow to each other!” With this loud shout, the two also began bowing to each other. At this moment, Li Si saw the joyous expressions on their faces. They looked extremely happy.

Suddenly, the surrounding scenery gradually blurred. Li Si only felt as if he were inside a mass of chaos.

“She gave birth, she gave birth! Madam has given birth!” A joyful voice rang through the space.

Li Si felt the chaotic world begin to brighten. At this moment, he was standing inside Blue Flower Courtyard. Beside him stood a group of people, among whom a young-looking man was pacing back and forth, his expression anxious and uneasy. This young man was precisely the young Squire Zhang.

At this moment, upon hearing that joyful voice, he immediately could not hold back. Taking three steps as two, he headed into the room.

Li Si also followed him inside at this moment. In the room, he saw the young Squire Zhang stride to the bedside and urgently ask the faceless midwife beside him, “How is my wife? Is she safe?”

The faceless midwife smiled and said, “Mother and child are both safe. This is the first time I have delivered a child so smoothly.”

At this moment, Squire Zhang paid no attention to the infant held by the midwife beside him. He directly held the pale-faced woman’s hand on the bed and said with heartfelt distress, “My wife has suffered. We only need one child. We will never have another in the future.”

The woman on the bed looked at Squire Zhang, and warmth also appeared in her eyes.

Seeing this, Li Si felt somewhat strange in his heart. The Squire Zhang he had interacted with today had not had this face. Today, from his words to his expression, Squire Zhang had seemed eager for his former wife to die early and be reborn sooner. He even wished he could tear Madam Zhang into pieces and grind her bones to ashes.

While Li Si was pondering, the people around him changed once again. Squire Zhang, Madam Zhang, the midwife, and the others all vanished like bubbles, but he was still inside Blue Flower Courtyard.

“This meat is truly delicious. I have never eaten such delicious meat before.” At this moment, an excited voice came from outside the door.

Li Si walked out and saw Squire Zhang sitting alone beside the stone table in the courtyard, eating a dish heartily.

At this moment, he felt somewhat puzzled. Was this not Madam Zhang’s memory? Why was Squire Zhang the only one here?

Li Si looked around, then suddenly discovered that a hole had appeared in the window of the room. Li Si walked over and saw an eye staring fixedly at Squire Zhang’s position through the hole.

Is this Madam Zhang? Li Si had this guess in his heart, but he was also somewhat puzzled. Why, when Squire Zhang was eating, was Madam Zhang secretly watching from inside the room?

Why did they not eat together?

Li Si walked closer to Squire Zhang and looked at what he was eating. It was just ordinary braised pork, but upon looking carefully, he felt a chill rush from his tailbone straight to the top of his head. He only felt so disgusted he wanted to vomit.

The surrounding scene slowly receded. From time to time, the smacking sounds of Squire Zhang eating meat still came into Li Si’s mind. His mind buzzed a little. How could this person eat that kind of meat?

A pale bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky, followed by rumbling thunder. Raindrops struck the ground. It was as if even the heavens could no longer bear to watch.

“Master... Master, don’t... Master...” At this moment, a crying voice entered Li Si’s ears. He looked toward the place where the crying came from and saw a wealthy-looking Squire Zhang carrying a weak woman toward the mouth of the well. That woman kept struggling, but Squire Zhang’s arms were like stone, without the slightest movement.

Squire Zhang reached the well and, without the slightest hesitation, threw Madam Zhang into it. Seeing this, Li Si immediately forgot that he was inside Madam Zhang’s memories. He subconsciously took three steps as two, ran to the well, and looked down into it.

He saw that after Madam Zhang fell into the water, she began swimming upward. It seemed Madam Zhang knew how to swim, so there was no danger.

At this moment, Li Si suddenly felt something flash past beside him and fall into the well. He turned his head, but discovered nothing. When he looked into the well again, he sucked in a cold breath. Below, a strange person covered in mangled flesh had appeared.

This strange person looked thin and weak, and as it moved, its internal organs and bones were exposed from time to time. It walked on the surface of the water, looking extremely eerie. It walked to Madam Zhang’s side, grabbed Madam Zhang’s head with a hand of bone that still had several pieces of flesh hanging from it, and pressed down hard.

When Madam Zhang saw this strange person, she also began struggling desperately in terror. Large splashes rose around her, but it was useless. That strange person’s hand was like steel, constantly pressing downward with force.

Only after Madam Zhang stopped moving did that strange person release its hand. A pair of hollow eyes looked up toward the well, as if it had seen Li Si.

Li Si shuddered in horror. Looking at this strange person’s eyes, he felt as if he had seen them somewhere before.