Sympathize with the unfortunate, be angry at the unjust

Thinking back on the experience by the creek that day, I felt a chill not borne from the cold. It's not that I'm afraid of how unnatural the other party might be; after all, with so much debt, I'm hardly bothered. Ever since I greedily took this Hundred Avoidance Knife, these ghosts and ghouls have become no strangers to me. Now, I wouldn't say I'm numb to these encounters, but I've definitely built up some resistance. So, even if it were a ghost, it couldn't scare me to death. However, what I fear the most is something standing right before me, indistinguishable as either human or ghost, startling me out of nowhere—that's truly frightening!!

That powdered old hag was one of them, leaving a psychological shadow no less significant than that of the grinning corpse. Upon hearing Qingyi's tone as if he wanted to summon something, I immediately got a bit uneasy.

Zhang Jinya seemed to notice my discomfort, poked my arm, and then whispered to me with a grin, "Scared of what, I'm telling you, as long as Qingyi's here, you'll be fine! Not to mention that powdered old hag, you didn't see how Qingyi dealt with it that day, a slap directly to the ground!!"

I instinctively looked up at Qingyi. He still wore that expressionless face, showing no sign of a master's demeanor, so I grabbed Zhang Jinya and asked, "Is he powerful?"

"Powerful! How could he not be?! See that sword on his back? That sword has a more sinister aura than your Hundred Avoidance Knife; it's lopped off the heads of not one hundred, but at least eighty zongzi (a term for zombies)!"

Zhang Jinya sniffed, "Ever heard of the drought demon? That sword once chopped a drought demon into eight pieces!!"

I immediately took a sharp intake of breath. The "Drought Demon" is written about in "The Secret Techniques of Faqiu"; it starts as a risen corpse known as a "big zongzi," also called "white jiangshi," covered in white hair and not a big threat, sucking the blood of cattle and sheep. If it survives several years, it sheds the white hair for several-inch-long black hair, becoming a "black jiangshi," which is still not a big threat. Occasionally it avoids living humans, even sucking human blood in people's sleep. Nowadays, the "unidentified creature attacking livestock" incidents and sightings of "wild men" largely involve black jiangshi. After decades, it sheds the black hair and starts moving primarily by hopping with long and quick leaps, fearing sunlight yet no longer fearing any humans or animals. These types are known as "hoping zombies," and they're very aggressive; it's easy to lose your life handling them. When a hopping zombie has consumed human blood and moonlight for over a thousand years, it becomes a "flying zombie" with agile movements, leaping over roofs and trees, and sucks life essence without leaving external wounds, which makes it difficult to deal with. If a flying zombie absorbs human essence for several more centuries, it turns into a drought demon! As written in "The Secret Techniques of Faqiu," a drought demon has a fierce appearance, with a green face and sharp teeth eating humans alive, able to change its form, and causing drought and plagues within hundreds of miles when it appears!!

When I first read about the drought demon, I just smiled and flipped the page because I thought such a thing couldn't possibly exist. Now, Zhang Jinya suddenly talking about Qingyi splitting a drought demon alive made me feel it was incredibly unbelievable.

"Anyway, with Qingyi here, you can relax, he truly is a master."

Zhang Jinya patted my shoulder proudly: "Even if that grinning corpse comes again, I guarantee it won't leave with its life!!"

After hearing this, I immediately felt relieved. As long as my life was safe, clinging to Qingyi wouldn't be a problem in the future.

Qingyi looked at the two of us, then silently took out a small jade bottle from his bosom, opened the lid, and immediately a black gas floated out. It twisted and turned in mid-air and, upon touching the ground, transformed into a woman with a swoosh!

I recognized this woman at a glance; she was the powdered old hag who spoke to me by the creek that day. She still wore the face of Qin Hongmei, but the face had several damaged areas, revealing several holes, and was covered in a layer of white frost—or rather, a dense layer of white powder, which was eerily unsettling.

Seeing the powdered old hag, I instinctively shrank back, although I had the great master Qingyi by my side, I was still somewhat afraid.

As soon as the powdered old hag emerged, she stared at me, and seeing me stepping back, she waved her hands frantically, "Don't be afraid, I won't harm you anymore, really."

Seeing her act like this eased my mind somewhat. It seemed the powdered old hag must have undergone quite some punishment at the hands of Qingyi, or she wouldn't be acting this way.

"Evil creature, kneel!" Qingyi bellowed, "Speak, why did you harm people in Dingtao Village?"

The old hag seemed truly terrified of Qingyi. At his roar, she trembled all over and knelt down quickly, kowtowing to Qingyi: "Taoist priest, I'm sorry, I… I really didn't mean to harm people, I just wanted to make myself more beautiful and couldn't help it."

"Couldn't help it? Do you know that because of you ten people have died unjustly?"

Qingyi angrily said: "Today, if you don't give a reason, I will make sure you endure all the tortures of the underworld before vanishing forever!"

The powdered old hag shivered even more and hurriedly told her story in full detail.

It turned out, as we had guessed, the powdered old hag was indeed following Qin Hongmei to Dingtao Village. After harming Qin, she stayed in Dingtao Village, because she hadn't fully vented her resentment and couldn't be reborn. She couldn't control herself and began harming people in Dingtao Village.

To get to the root of it, we have to start with the life story of the powdered old hag.

Her real name was Huang Juan, from Jiangxi, who married a man from Nanchang. Her husband was involved in some foreign trade business, and the family was quite well-off. The couple had a good relationship, a happy family, and a comfortable life. There didn't seem to be any reason for discontent until her husband met Qin Hongmei at a nightclub during a business entertainment night a year ago.

Although Qin was from Dingtao Village, she had been living with her uncle in the city since childhood, and, without parental discipline, had frequented places like KTVs and nightclubs from a young age. She was pretty, knew how to dress up, and had full command of the skills and experience to lure men. After just one meeting, she quickly hooked up with Huang's husband. After all, Huang's husband was a successful businessman, highly sought after by modern-day female college students.

After that encounter, Huang's husband started to neglect her, going out with Qin three or five times a week, rarely spending more than three days at home in a week!

Huang may have been a housewife, but she was no fool. How could she not notice? They'd shared a bed for over a decade!! It's just that she was naturally timid. Instead of taking drastic measures against her husband's infidelity, she blamed herself!

Maybe she wasn't pretty enough!

Maybe she didn't manage the household well enough!

Otherwise, why would her husband go out and support a female college student?

Right, that's what Huang thought. She blamed and pitied herself endlessly, bottling up her resentment and never daring to argue with her husband, which not only failed to win back his affection but led to an escalation. He simply bought a place to live with Qin outside and became too lazy to come home.

Even Huang's patience had its limits, and she confronted her husband and Qin where they lived, bringing their child along. Without a word, her husband simply slapped her and threw her out in front of their child. Not only that, but Qin was relentless in her mockery, calling her an old-hag and saying that not even giving herself away for men would get her any takers.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Huang drowned herself in the river that night.

As one who died with resentment, belonging among those who died unnatural deaths, her life's accumulated resentment lingered, preventing her from passing to the other side, ultimately transforming her into the powdered old hag.

What followed was straightforward. After becoming the powdered old hag, Huang sought out her husband, revealing her true form, and scared the man to death. She then went after Qin Hongmei, only for the woman to narrowly escape.

Having fled from death, Qin found refuge back in Dingtao Village, with Huang pursuing all the way there; the rest of the story had been made known to us.

After hearing Huang's story, I had a complex feeling inside.

Pity for her misfortune, yet anger at her failure to stand up for herself!!

She was indeed pitiable, no doubt, but if she had not been so weak in life, perhaps she wouldn't have ended up this way. People have choices in life, yet as a woman, she chose the most humiliating way—silence, compromise!!

If she had been a strong woman, would her husband dare to treat her like that?

Even Qingyi, after listening, was silent for a long while before softly saying to the old hag, "Your past life should not entangle with your death. No matter who you were, once a person dies, their life ends. Even in your plight, you had no right to harm others, and now you've caused the death of more than ten people, become smite-worthy, unable to be reborn. Therefore, I cannot let you remain. Do you understand?"

The powdered old hag bowed to Qingyi, "My wish is fulfilled, I am at the Taoist priest's disposal."

Qingyi nodded and used the jade bottle to capture the powdered old hag and then left.

After he departed, I couldn't help but ask Zhang Jinya, "What did Qingyi mean by dealing with her?"

"What? Feeling sympathy?" Zhang Jinya glanced at me, "Everyone has their own misfortunes, but that's no excuse to hurt others. Did you not think of how unjust the death of Erniu and the others was? By dealing with her, Qingyi obviously meant soul dispersal!!"

Startled, I asked, "Didn't you say it's best not to disperse their souls? It harms one's virtue!"

"This powdered old hag has gained some power and cannot be reborn. If she's not dispersed, she'll continue to bring misfortune to the living!" Zhang Jinya glared at me and lowered his voice, "As for harming virtue, Qingyi is the least afraid of that. He's already squandered all his virtue. Once, to save someone, he battled in and out of the underworld seven times in one night, leaving the underworld officers weeping. Do you think such a person still has any virtue?"

I was speechless and somewhat impressed by Qingyi's power. It seems "Zhao Ritian" refers to such people, as if they wouldn't even spare the heavens...

"Alright, don't think too much about it, you rest first!" Zhang Jinya patted my shoulder, "I'm going to see the village chief soon for our reward. Once I get the money and we pack, we're heading back tomorrow. My buddies are all here; it's time to explore the Qinling tombs!"