Nowhere is painless.

When I woke up again, I found myself in the village chief's house. My whole body ached, especially around my chest. Breathing was painfully difficult.

"Finally awake, get up quickly. It's just some chest contusion and congestion affecting circulation, but it's not fatal."

At that moment, a voice suddenly reached my ears. Turning my head, I saw Zhang Jinya sitting beside me, his eyes reddened and his face weary.

I felt dizzy and weak, and it took me a while to clear my thoughts. I then managed to sit up on the bed and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Two days and two nights."

Zhang Jinya sighed and said with a wry smile, "If it weren't for Qingyi gathering herbs in the mountains to brew a decoction for promoting circulation and dissipating contusions, you might not have woken up even after two days!"

I shook my drowsy head vigorously, "Qingyi? Who is Qingyi? Did he save me?"

"Qingyi is a friend of mine. Well, he didn't save you. At most, he treated your wounds. If anyone saved your life, you should really thank Heizi. Without Heizi, you would have already become wild beasts' food by now."

Zhang Jinya said solemnly, "Alright, now tell me what exactly happened that day, and why there was such a strong stench of death on you!"

That day…

Memories flooded into my mind, and I gradually recalled the events of that day - it seemed that in the final moment when I fell, it was a woman who stood in front of me. She intercepted the smiling corpse, otherwise, I wouldn't be alive!

However, I only saw her back and couldn't even recall what clothes she wore that day. I just had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

So, who exactly was she?

My mind was in turmoil as I recalled and recounted the events that happened after we parted by the creek that day.

"How strange, so the woman saved you?"

Zhang Jinya frowned thoughtfully and after a long wait, he sighed softly, "Impressive. That smiling corpse daring to appear during the day indicates at least hundreds of years of cultivation. For that woman to deal with the smiling corpse, she must be quite skilled."

He patted my shoulder and smiled, "Alright, stop thinking about it. Since that woman saved you, it's likely she harbors no ill will towards you. You'll probably meet her again in the future, and everything will become clear then. As for the issue with the smiling corpse, let it go. I'll ask Qingyi to prepare something powerful to remove the stench of death from you once and for all, so it won't constantly threaten your life. I guess it acted because it saw the stench being removed from you."

"That's best."

I gave a wry smile, feeling fortunate to be alive this time. Thinking back, it all still makes me shudder. I don't ever want to experience something like this again. Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered Heizi saved me and asked about what happened after I fainted and how I ended up back in the village.

"It was quite nerve-wracking, even for me."

Zhang Jinya grimaced as he said, "That day, weren't you dragged away from the village chief's doorway by that smiling corpse impersonating me? At that time, Heizi was in the village chief's courtyard and could smell you and the smiling corpse from afar. According to Zhou Jing, Heizi suddenly went mad, smashed through the courtyard gate, and ran towards the back mountain. Zhou Jing couldn't hold him back and had to quickly come to find Qingyi and me. But right because of that gate smashing, the wounds Heizi got from fighting Erniu that day burst open. He bled all the way, and Qingyi and I followed the blood trail to find you and Heizi. By then, it was almost dark, you were unconscious, surrounded by four wolf corpses, and Heizi, covered in wounds, guarded you. When we tried to help you, we were almost bitten by Heizi. You should have seen Heizi's eyes at that time, terrifyingly bloodshot. I guess Heizi found you and happened to encounter the mountain wolves. To prevent you from being taken by the wolves, Heizi fought with them in the woodland, letting his ferocity fully out. Whoever touched you had to fight for your life with him. It took us awhile to calm him down before he finally let us take you away."

Talking about that day, Zhang Jinya was visibly moved, clearly greatly impacted by the event, but he also seemed a bit jealous of my relationship with Heizi.

Feeling indescribably touched just from hearing Zhang Jinya's account, I could imagine the scene at that time. To save me, Heizi actually fought and killed four wolves head-on, likely directly confronting the pack. Just thinking about it made my heart ache, and I immediately asked, "How's Heizi doing now?"

"He's probably still sleeping. After he got injured, Qingyi applied some medicine on his wounds. According to Qingyi, it's nothing serious and he should be fine in a few days. However, because of the medicine, he's been very sleepy, awake for only three to four hours a day, mostly squatting by your door."

Zhang Jinya sighed and said with a wry smile, "I don't know what kind of spell you cast on him. Now, he probably considers you his master. Damn, what is this? I've been taking care of him all this time, personally trained him, and in the end, you just waltz in and steal him away."

"You were simply born to be disliked by people and not loved by dogs, helpless!"

Hearing that Heizi was fine, I felt much relieved. After making a joke with Zhang Jinya, I remembered the purpose of our visit and quickly asked him, "So, was the evil that plagued Dingtao village resolved? What exactly was it that could appear in broad daylight?"

"It's been resolved."

Zhang Jinya smacked his lips and said, "But we still don't understand what it was exactly. Qingyi subdued that thing and has been asking around these past two days, trying to figure out what it was! As for why it dared to appear during the day, I think it's related to its cultivation. Once these dirty entities attain cultivation, they are no longer afraid of sunlight!"

I was about to ask more about the situation then, but just at that time, the door was pushed open from the outside. Qingyi, Zhang Jinya's friend who dressed strangely like an ancient person, walked in. He glanced at us both and said, "Alright, no need to be curious anymore. I've asked many friends and finally understood what it was. It had appeared before, known as Baifen Mother!"

Baifen Mother?

I was stunned, as I had never heard of such a thing. I turned to look at Zhang Jinya, and he also looked puzzled, clearly not knowing what Baifen Mother was either.

After coming in, Qingyi took a seat on a chair to one side, looked at me, and slowly said, "Baifen Mother is actually a kind of ghost. Without exception, they were all people who hated their own appearances to the extreme and died violently. After death, they harm beautiful unmarried girls, collecting their facial skin to paste on their own faces, making themselves more beautiful. Because Baifen Mother deeply resents and hates their own appearance, the resentment and yin energy concentrate on their faces, eventually forming a white powder on their faces. This powder is extremely harmful to the human body. Once applied to the skin, the epidermis and dermis naturally separate from the subcutaneous tissue. Baifen Mother uses this powder to remove people's facial skin!"

Pausing, Qingyi continued, "Because the conditions for its formation are so stringent, such entities are very rare. To my knowledge, the first appearance of Baifen Mother was in 985 AD in Japan, occurring in the palace of Emperor Kazan!"

Emperor Kazan?

Hearing this name, I couldn't help but chuckle, because influenced by my family's interest in history, I have a keen interest in history, familiar with the stories of various countries, including Japan's Emperor Kazan.

His lecherous nature is well-known in Japanese history; on the day he ascended the throne at the age of 17, seeing a maid with an attractive appearance and figure, he couldn't even wait until night, proceeding to have his way with her in public…

Qingyi looked at me sneaking a laugh and slowly said, "The first Baifen Mother was reportedly a woman abandoned by Emperor Kazan. The woman was kindhearted and deeply in love with Emperor Kazan. Unfortunately, Emperor Kazan had no feelings for her and completely forgot her after favoring her once. The woman lived isolated in the inner palace, constantly thinking about seeing Emperor Kazan again, but without success. Thus, she began doubting herself, wondering if she was too ugly? This led to her not receiving Emperor Kazan's affections. Eventually, she died in despair and became Baifen Mother, killing Emperor Kazan's most beloved woman while taking that woman's facial skin. Emperor Kazan, struck by the death of that woman, eventually became a monk!"

I couldn't help but be astonished by the diversity and peculiarities of such dirty entities. I blurted out, "In today's society, can Baifen Mother still appear? If dissatisfied with one's appearance, one can simply undergo cosmetic surgery in South Korea, like breast augmentation or rhinoplasty, ensuring even their own mother wouldn't recognize them. Why harbor such resentment against one's appearance to the point of despair?"

"That's also something I can't understand. Unless the resentment stemming from despising one's own appearance is extremely deep, there's no way a Baifen Mother would form. Otherwise, such entities wouldn't be so rare."

Qingyi shook his head, "Let's not dwell on this. We'll know once we question that Baifen Mother."

Hearing this, my eyes widened, understanding from Qingyi's words… that Baifen Mother hadn't been "sent off" yet?