Two lines of clear tears slid down from the old man's eyes, and he howled in unwillingness:

"No matter how deep the hatred, why must you target the children, how can you harm the children!"

...

Fengdu, Ghost Street.

This county town remains peaceful and harmonious most of the time, although in recent years, more tourists from outside have come, the town is truly bustling only during holidays or temple fairs.

On a usual day, the weather forecast had continuously predicted sunny days, but in reality, a few consecutive heavy overcasts appeared.

Fortunately, the locals are long used to this and do not criticize the weather bureau for inaccurate forecasts, for there has long been a saying:

Fengdu's weather depends on the mood of the Great Emperor.

Finally, the rainbow faded, and the rain stopped.

The sun finally appeared, and on the dreary Ghost Street, some people emerged.

Gradually, people noticed that many ghost statues and sculptures outside the shopfronts had cracks, and many statues in the tourist areas also showed signs of cracking.

In the town center, there used to be a sculpture with a ghost head atop, a landmark.

The ghost head, at an unknown time, fell from its high place to the ground, not hurting anyone nor making any sound.

When a construction team brought tools and a crane to reposition and install it, upon touching it, they discovered fresh red liquid gushing out, pooling in a large area before flowing into the creek alongside the street, dyeing downstream red.

The young people merely found it unusual, using it as anecdote for entertainment.

Families with elderly people placed fire basins outside their houses, burning candles and paper.

While burning and kowtowing, they chided the indifferently skeptical young people beside them:

"You fools don't know anything, it's the Great Emperor's wrath, his wrath!"

...

Alii was playing the piano.

But today, her piano music was interrupted multiple times by noise.

These noises didn't come from within her heart. In fact, ever since the youth forcibly captured an entity's true form using the Fengdu Twelve Commandments, these days, her heart has been eerily calm.

At night, even in that dream, nothing stirred outside the threshold, even the whispers were gone, and instead, it was so quiet that she felt uncomfortable.

One noise came from the second floor, where every now and then, a hint of killing intent would emanate from her grandmother.

Another came from the kitchen, where the kitchen door was sealed with a talisman, and Aunt Liu would meticulously unseal and reseal it every time she went in or out.

Originally, there was another one in the yard, but Uncle Qin left the house yesterday.

The loudest noise came from the third floor.

The room where the ancestral tablets were enshrined was locked.

For the first time, when Alii wanted to take some tablets for materials, she didn't get her grandmother's permission.

Alii did not insist and went back downstairs.

Because she could sense that behind the door, many terrifying things had appeared.

Her grandmother had ordered Uncle Qin to fetch special objects from the old residences of the Qin family and the Liu family.

Alii could no longer play the piano; with so much "chatter," she couldn't do anything at ease.

The old her would not have been disturbed by these, instead long accustomed to them.

Now, after gradually getting used to the quiet, she found it hard to go back.

Alii got up, left the piano desk, and walked out of the study, just in time to meet Aunt Liu, who had just applied the kitchen sealing talisman paper.

Aunt Liu gave Alii a faint smile, and Alii looked at her and smiled too.

Aunt Liu suddenly felt a pang of pain in her heart.

Alii was becoming more obedient and normal, and how wonderful would it be if such peaceful days could last forever.

Aunt Liu knew that the old lady probably regretted in her heart as well.

Actually, Aunt Liu misunderstood.

Alii's smile was not aimed at her personally, but at their actions.

The girl knew what they were worried about and preparing for, but from the girl's perspective, it was all meaningless.

How could he fail, and how could he possibly lose?

She returned to her bedroom, took out her sketchbook from under the bed and placed it in front of her, turning its pages.

There were only four pages, but she savored each one.

When she turned to the blank page of the fifth,

She began to look forward to,

what should be drawn on this picture?

...

Aunt Liu came to the second floor.

Winter had set in, and the old lady's wicker chair was also covered with a blanket.

Aunt Liu's gaze settled on the right side of the armrest below the blanket where there was a slight long shape protrusion.

She knew it was a sword.

The old lady had long sealed it up in the Liu family's old residence, the last time it was taken out was when Ali failed Zou Jiang.

Ali was severely injured and on the brink of death, lying inside being treated urgently by herself.

The old lady placed the sword across her knees, sitting at the door for the entire night.

In the morning, Ali pulled through and his life was saved.

The old lady then sealed that sword back in the old residence.

After that night, the former Miss Liu was gone; she had completely become the matriarch of the two families.

The eldest lady could throw tantrums without care, but as the matriarch, she had to endure for the sake of the family.

Today, the sword was brought back again.

Some things eventually could be seen to happen from the start, without much hesitation or waiting.

For instance, this time, the sword was not placed across her knees but was positioned at her right side underneath her, ready to be drawn at any moment.

Aunt Liu came over to make tea for the old lady.

The old lady did not drink, only sat there gently rocking in the wicker chair.

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