【Upstairs, which nine openings are the “nine orifices”? Could someone explain?】
【Two eyes, two ears, a mouth, a nose, and the three down below.】
【So in a bit, her eyes, nose, and mouth will start bleeding too? That’s terrifying. Run!】
【Are you high? How does a nosebleed turn someone into a blood corpse? Can you have a little faith in science?】
【Last time, when Chu Thịnh fucked his grandma, you all said the same thing. So which matters more in the end, science or staying alive?】
【The trolls are at it again, insisting there’s a blood corpse and that Mộ Dung Nguyệt didn’t see things. Give me a break, you guys.】
Grandpa irritably shook my hand off.
“If something’s wrong, say so. Otherwise, let go of my chicken feet!”
My lips trembled.
“Grandpa—blood—she’s bleeding from the nose!”
Grandpa was still engrossed in examining the embroidered shoe in his hands.
“You’re old enough to wipe your own nose. Don’t bother me.”
I was so frantic I stamped my foot and snatched the embroidered shoe from his hands.
“It’s not me! It’s Liễu Oánh—Tôn Khả Khả’s sister-in-law is the one with the nosebleed!”
I pointed at the door. Grandpa shot me an annoyed look.
“Whoever’s bleeding, you don’t have to— Huh? Who did you say?!”
13.
A chair was blocking the doorway.
Grandpa and I stood in the study, staring at Liễu Oánh, our legs trembling uncontrollably.
There was no back door. Grandpa and I exchanged a glance, perfectly in sync, then began edging along the walls toward the gate, one to the left and one to the right.
Whether she was a blood corpse or not, we’d get out of there first while she hadn’t noticed us!
Liễu Oánh sat with her eyes closed, leaning back in the chair, a tissue still on her face.
I held my breath.
Three steps.
Two steps.
One step.
Once we got around the chair, we’d be right at the front door.
Just then, Tôn Khả Khả suddenly stared at her phone and exclaimed.
“A blood corpse?”
“Hahahaha! Oh my God—what are you people even talking about, Mộ Dung Nguyệt!”
Tôn Khả Khả was sitting on a bamboo stool beside the chair, reading the chat on her phone and laughing so hard she slapped her knee.
She laughed until she was crying, then showed Liễu Oánh the screen.
“They’re saying you’re a blood corpse. That’s hilarious! Hahahaha!”
Chat.
【Oh man! They made up a story about a blood corpse behind her back, and now the person herself caught them. I’m embarrassed for Mộ Dung Nguyệt!】
【For real! That’s got to be mortifying!】
【What are you all talking about? Embarrassed? I’m just scared for the streamer. Please, run!】
【Scared +1.】
【Scared +10,086. I’m ready to throw my phone.】
【I can’t with these people. I don’t know what kind of spell Mộ Dung Nguyệt has them under, but blood corpses don’t exist, let alone corpse creatures. Get a grip!】
【Posting a picture of Einstein to let the light of knowledge shine on you all!】
Tôn Khả Khả doubled over, laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.
“I have to hand it to Mộ Dung Nguyệt. Her talent for making things up is even better than it used to be.”
“Let me tell you: back in high school, we went on a field trip and one of our male classmates came down with a fever. Mộ Dung Nguyệt tried to ward off evil spirits with a chopstick.”
“Guess what happened?”
“The guy got even sicker! His parents came to school the next day, and his mom slapped Mộ Dung Nguyệt several times! She even demanded that her grandfather pay them compensation!”
“Hey, Mộ Dung Nguyệt, did you forget the self-criticism you wrote all those years ago? Now you’re here pretending to be some kind of mystic!”
“And bleeding from all nine orifices—what is this, a sci-fi movie?”
14.
Actually, after I used a chopstick to ward off evil, Trương Hạo got better. His condition worsened later because he ate spoiled raw food and developed acute gastritis.
When his parents found out, they came to my house to apologize.
Tôn Khả Khả deliberately left out what happened afterward, making the viewers misunderstand me.
But I couldn’t be bothered to argue with her, because Liễu Oánh suddenly sat up and looked at us.
“Bleeding from all nine orifices?”
She raised a hand and pulled the tissue from her nostril.
“Like this?”
Under the moonlight, Liễu Oánh’s face was deathly pale. She stared at Tôn Khả Khả and struggled to blink.
Two streams of bloody tears ran from her eyes.
She grinned, fresh blood welling from the corners of her mouth. A moment later, fresh blood spurted from both ears, too.
Tôn Khả Khả was stunned.
“Sis, stop joking!”
The viewers watching on their screens erupted into chaos.
【Holy crap!!! I got so scared I threw my damn apple!】
【There really is a blood corpse! Lam Ching-ying, protect me!!】
【Lucky me, tucked up warm in bed. The Bed God will protect all children.】
【It’s probably fake. What the hell, haven’t Mộ Dung Nguyệt and Tôn Khả Khả been teaming up to mess with us this whole time?】
【Exactly! They went to high school together. They’re treating us like idiots. I’m so pissed!】
【Those fake blood packs are all over movie sets, and you can buy them online!】
【So they’re switching things up now? First they dragged Mộ Dung Nguyệt down, then pushed Tôn Khả Khả to the front, and now the sister-in-law turns out to be the final boss.】
【Mộ Dung Nguyệt isn’t necessarily finished, either. Controversy brings attention. I bet they’ll soon put on a show where all three of them join forces to subdue the blood corpse, and the buzz will blow up again.】
【Prophet upstairs, I believe you!】
Tôn Khả Khả was still holding her phone, the camera pointed at the two of them.
The livestream’s audience kept growing. She turned around and glanced back in a daze, wondering whether they really were staging a publicity stunt.
15.
“Sis, you did this on purpose…”
Before Tôn Khả Khả could finish, Liễu Oánh reached out. Her fingernails suddenly grew long, and she clawed Tô Khả Khả’s heart right out.
The blood-smeared heart lay in her deathly pale palm, still thumping—thump—thump—
Everyone watching the livestream was scared out of their minds.
【Aaaaaah—】
【Oh my God— I almost pissed myself! Help!】
【Call the police! Hurry!】
【What do we do? Where are Mộ Dung Nguyệt and her grandfather? That gate looks just like the one in my neighborhood. I’m freaking out!】
【Are there any masters watching? Go save them, quick!】
【No way! Weren’t they supposed to be drumming up publicity? How did it turn into murder, for fuck’s sake?!】
Tôn Khả Khả’s eyes widened. A choked sound rose from her throat, and her body went limp as she collapsed to the ground.
Liễu Oánh pulled her hand back, looked toward us, and smiled.
Grandpa and I exchanged a glance, then immediately turned and bolted toward the study, slamming the door behind us.
Liễu Oánh didn’t chase after us. Instead, she went over and crouched beside Tôn Khả Khả, lowering her head to the girl’s chest and beginning to suck down mouthful after mouthful of blood.
She was sure we had nowhere left to run, so she could relax and enjoy her meal first.
I was scared shitless.
“What do we do, Grandpa? Tôn Khả Khả—Tôn Khả Khả is dead. She just died like that?!”
“You useless brat! What are you standing there for? Move!”
He hurriedly shoved the desk against the door, leaving only a narrow gap, then set a box of cinnabar on top of it.
Then he hung the ancestral Càn Khôn Kính beside the window and pulled me down to crouch right there.
“When the blood corpse comes in, the cinnabar can blind it. Then we’ll take turns escaping through the window.”
16.
The box of cinnabar in the study was an antique from the Ming dynasty that Grandpa had collected years ago. Cinnabar is intensely yang; if you smash it against the blood corpse’s head, it can weaken her yin energy and blind her for a short time.
Seeing how certain Grandpa seemed, I gradually calmed down too. I crouched and took my phone out of my pocket, then messaged Kiều Mặc Vũ, the geomancer I’d met the last time.
[Kiều Mặc Vũ, there’s a blood corpse at my house. Come save us, quick! The address is No. xx, xx Road.]
Then I thought better of it.
Grandpa had said that people from geomancer lineages all had strange temperaments. If it was a matter of karma, you might as well lend a hand simply because you felt like it.
Besides, we were only casual acquaintances. I couldn’t be sure she’d come every time I called.
But Kiều Mặc Vũ really loved food. She was still in town, and lately she’d been asking me three times a day if there was anything good to eat around here.
I edited the message again.
[Hey, Kiều Mặc Vũ, Grandpa made braised lamb ribs. They’re absolutely delicious! Come over and eat, quick. The address is No. xx, xx Road.]
She replied right away.
[Braised lamb ribs? I’ve never had those.]
[I’ll call a cab!]