He and It Chapter 210: Inquire Here (38)

Chapter 210: Inquire Here (38)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

“You know nothing at all…” The Ghost Mother’s voice was a hoarse, rasping sound in her throat. “You know nothing at all…”

Liu Fuguang pushed away Yan Huan’s arm. Yan Huan was reluctant to let him go and tried to keep him away from the Ghost Mother, but Liu Fuguang insisted on extricating himself and approached the burning wreckage.

“You did not willingly offer yourself,” he said quietly. “I know.”

“What else do you know…” The Ghost Mother laughed in a gasping manner. “Stop pretending here! You are all the same, all the same…”

Although she was on the verge of dispersing, the resentment in her tone was still as intense as ever, and burned with a relentless ghostly flame that made one’s heart tingle.

Liu Fuguang was silent for a moment before he said, “I will not make rash judgments…”

The Ghost Mother twisted her mouth into a grimace and said, “If you have the heart, come and see my memories. Let me see…”

She suddenly fell silent, her deathly pale throat choked on something, then a large amount of black-red blood poured down her chin.

“…Let me see if you are truly benevolent or merely hypocritical!”

When a soul remained restless after death, it indicated that the person’s resentment was strong to a certain extent. Not to mention, the Nine Children’s Mother was a vengeful spirit worshipped as a deity. Cultivators, especially, avoided being entangled with mortal ties, and none of them would be foolish enough to dare explore the memories of such unclean spirits.

She originally only wanted to ridicule the Taoist priest before her. However, Liu Fuguang discarded his sword, stepped forward, and truly placed his warm fingers, extremely gently and without hesitation, on her temples.

“Okay,” he said.

Yan Huan hurriedly shouted, “Fuguang!”

But Liu Fuguang’s actions were too swift. He didn’t hear Yan Huan’s plea to stop. He was instantly enveloped by a mist thick as gray paste.

Memory is actually an unreliable witness. People can have thousands of thoughts about the same thing, resulting in thousands of different recollections. When faced with a ghostly spirit that is extremely paranoid and cruel, ordinary people should not trust their narratives.

However, the Ghost Mother’s memory didn’t reveal any twisted abnormalities, it was merely very dull in color, like a play composed in black, white, and gray.

Liu Fuguang had already seen the main characters in the play.

A small village with a tranquil river running by its side, a gentle breeze blew, and wheat fields rolled across the farmland. It created a truly idyllic scene. On that day, the village bustled with activity as a new bride was brought in.

A dark-colored bridal sedan carried the bride like a large and heavy stain. The groom was overjoyed, but his face was unclear. The bride was lifted from the sedan, crossed over a brazier, and surrounded by a crowd of laughing men, women, and children.

“The bride is about to unveil her face!” A snotty little boy urged eagerly. The groom lifted the veil, and both he and Liu Fuguang saw the face of a young girl, heavily powdered and coated with thick lip paint, almost like a coarse, peeling mask, that obscured her every emotion.

“The bride is truly beautiful!” everyone said.

When the veil was lifted under everyone’s watchful eyes, the bride had to be inspected by her parents-in-law. The matchmaker cheerfully circled around the bride three times and suddenly slapped the girl’s backside with a loud, forceful smack, and said, “Such broad hips! She’s good for bearing children!”

The crowd burst into hearty laughter. The groom grinned proudly, while the bride trembled quietly and said nothing. The caked on makeup made it hard to tell if her face was flushed like a pig’s liver, but she lowered her moist eyelashes and seemed on the verge of tears.

The lively feast lasted all day. During the bridal chamber ritual, the bride was customarily made to eat raw dumplings, and then asked if she was pregnant. The mother-in-law, a dominant woman, insisted that the bride eat all four raw dumplings, symbolizing that everything would be smooth and plentiful. The bride kept her head down and endured it all.

It wasn’t until just before she entered the bridal chamber that the bride cleaned her face, which allowed Liu Fuguang to see her true appearance.

She was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate brows and eyes, and uneven teeth. Her lips were slightly thin, and the excessive rouge applied by her maid made her look like she was wearing an old, peeling mask.

“…” The groom’s lips moved, and he uttered two words. However, Liu Fuguang couldn’t hear what he said. “Let’s sleep!”

His frown slightly eased at that moment.

Indeed, the two words the groom spoke were likely the bride’s real name, but the memory was blurred. Perhaps as a ghostly spirit, the Nine Children’s Mother had long forgotten her own name.

Liu Fuguang couldn’t and didn’t wish to see the ensuing events. The wooden bed quickly began to shake vigorously. It creaked loudly, with a harsh noise mixed with the intermittent sobs of the woman. The coarse wedding candles sputtered with bursts of sparks, and the candle tears reflected on the window, murky like blood.

Even though he was now in the state of a ghostly observer, he still felt a need to escape the oppressive atmosphere. Liu Fuguang turned his gaze outside and was suddenly shocked to see, under the moonlight, a group of women crouched by the window, eavesdropping. They were openly and loudly commenting; laughing and saying crude things like “such strength” and “The bride is so lucky.”

…What kind of nonsense is this!

Liu Fuguang’s brows furrowed even more. The rural courtyard was simple and cramped. Standing there, it felt like the sky and earth were closing in on him, suffocating him to the point of wanting to leave.

He suddenly thought of Yan Huan. If that troublemaker were here, he would probably have killed a lot of people just because of his facial expressions. Then, he wondered – wouldn’t such ignorant malice be a part of Yan Huan too…?

After she endured the wedding night, the bride changed out of her wedding dress and into plain cloth clothes. At that point, she could no longer be called the bride but should be referred to as the new daughter-in-law.

The new daughter-in-law, being submissive and cautious, adjusted to her husband and in-laws over time, and gradually revealed some of the lively traits typical of her age. The young girl, fond of flowers and prettiness, clumsily navigated the path of marriage under the harsh and high-pressure treatment from her mother-in-law, as she learned to please her husband and in-laws. She styled her hair in braids like the other village wives and, while resting in the fields, secretly listened to how they “kept their husbands in their grasp.”

Her previously unrecognizable husband began treating her better, believing that “a man should take care of his wife.” The household gradually fell into order, and she started to smile more. Her steps became lighter, as if carried by a breeze, a breeze with the fragrance of flowers.

Life improved! The new daughter-in-law was full of energy, and eagerly took on household chores and worked diligently in the fields. She even ate the family’s leftovers while she sat on the kitchen floor, and found them tastier and sweeter.

However, at that time, rumors began to spread in the village for some unknown reason. What were the rumors about? They claimed that the new daughter-in-law was improper and must have been involved with other men outside!

The “evidence” was neatly compiled—why did the new daughter-in-law always smile so cheerfully? A proper woman, exhausted by managing the household and working the fields, wouldn’t be so frivolous every day. Clearly, something was amiss. Moreover, at her young age, why did she eat and drink so much? Even pigs knew that women typically ate little. Clearly, she had a secret kitchen where she cooked for others.

There was even stronger evidence that she lacked shame, as she would stare openly at men without feeling embarrassed or avoiding them. Was there still decorum and propriety? 

The gossip spread overnight throughout the village. For the new young daughter-in-law, it was a disaster of catastrophic proportions. Her father-in-law glared at her with a dark face, his eyes digging into her youthful, smooth face. Her mother-in-law cursed her as a “slut” and “shameless hussy” a hundred times over. As for her husband, he did not say a word but handed a stick of firewood, stripped of branches, to his mother.

“Not behaving properly as a wife! You deserve to be beaten!”

The new daughter-in-law cried hysterically and incoherently defended herself, but the mother-in-law grabbed the firewood stick and started hitting her on the head and face.

“Dare to defend yourself? Defending is defiance, and defiance is a grave offense! New daughter-in-law, you are unfilial and rebellious; you deserve to die!”

“Smash that unguarded mouth of yours, smash that face of yours that seduces men…” The mother-in-law cursed and beat her, and to prevent her from avoiding the punishment, her husband and father-in-law joined forces to hold her hands and feet.

By late at night, the cries and sounds of beating and cursing that echoed through the neighborhood finally ceased.

The new daughter-in-law was covered in wounds; on the brink of death. It was indeed not a good thing for a new bride to die so soon after marriage, so the mother-in-law grudgingly administered some herbal medicine over several days.

Perhaps because she was still young and had strong recovery abilities, the new daughter-in-law, who had walked through the gates of hell, eventually recovered.

She lay in bed for about a week, and the village gossip finally reached its conclusion. It turned out that a scoundrel at the village entrance, known for his habit of spreading vile rumors about women, had spread the slander, which ultimately tarnished the new daughter-in-law’s reputation.

Upon realizing that the entire family had wronged his wife, the husband first remained silent but later came to terms with it. A wife, like a mule, needs both affection and discipline; otherwise, she might become too domineering. The mother-in-law felt happier. She’d always disliked the new daughter-in-law. Now she could finally set some rules and show her who was boss.

Once the new daughter-in-law could get up, she immediately went back to work in the fields. A farm family couldn’t afford idle hands.

Perhaps out of sympathy for her plight, some other village wives spoke to her. With her face still swollen and bruised, and her eyes dull, she merely nodded in agreement, unable to speak much.

“Looking like this is much more pleasing,” several women commented. “See, rules must be set!”

One year after the new daughter-in-law entered the household, she was going to the fields with another woman from the village to deliver food when suddenly a group of strong men with wooden sticks and brooms burst out from one side. They grabbed the other woman and immediately began to beat her.

The woman was caught off guard, and the food scattered on the ground. She was beaten and cried out in pain. The new daughter-in-law, not understanding what was happening, shouted for help. Someone quickly pulled her aside and stopped her, as they said with a chuckle, “They’re holding a celebration! When a family’s daughter-in-law doesn’t bear children for years, her husband becomes unhappy and invites people to hold a celebration. Don’t get involved.”

The men grew more aggressive. They punched and kicked while they shouted, “Have a child! Have a child!”

Terrified, the new daughter-in-law felt her hands and feet go cold. The voices sounded like wild beasts laughing. When they saw her fear, the others comforted her and said, “Don’t be afraid. Tomorrow, if you give birth to a big, healthy boy, your husband will treat you even better!”

The new daughter-in-law was stunned and silent. According to the custom, as long as the woman’s husband came out to distribute some melon seeds and dates and expressed his thanks, the celebrants would disperse. However, the beating continued longer and longer until the woman’s face turned ashen and blood streamed from her mouth, nose, and ears. Only then did her husband, unhurried and late, make his appearance.

“Thank you for your hard work!” the man said with polite smiles. “We appreciate everyone’s efforts.”

The men immediately stopped the beating, courteously returned the gesture, and then nodded before leaving. The woman’s husband bent down, casually slung her over his shoulder, and went home.

A few days later, the woman, having been severely injured during the celebration, died from her wounds. The man, though regretful, announced his intention to remarry. The neighbors congratulated him by saying, “Promotion, wealth, and the death of a wife—these are all joyful events in life.”

The new daughter-in-law was so frightened she couldn’t sleep. She stared at the crescent moon in the sky and silently wept.

She didn’t want to be beaten to death in the street, nor did she want to become one of those “joyful events” talked about by others!

Feeling even more vulnerable and desperate, she thought that being weak and submissive might make her husband and in-laws remember her goodness. Perhaps due to her constant prayers to the moon, she became pregnant the following year just when her husband’s demeanor toward her was becoming increasingly harsh.

The whole family was joyous, and she felt she could finally relax. Her mother-in-law even treated her with unusual kindness for a few days and cooked rare eggs for her—egg yolks for her son and egg whites for the daughter-in-law.

However, after nine months, she gave birth to a daughter.

The new daughter-in-law was exhausted and collapsed on the bed. She managed to get up and glance at her daughter, still covered in the birth membrane, before she lost consciousness.

That was the first and last time she saw her daughter.

“Where did you…put the baby?” she asked her husband tearfully in a low voice afterward.

“Sent it to the river god for enjoyment!”

Her husband rolled over in bed and replied irritably. She felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and everything seemed to turn dark; as if she were freezing to death.

Their daughter, her daughter, had just come into the world and was now floating towards the icy, bone-chilling river, sinking further and further down…

In the third year, she became pregnant again.

Having learned from the previous experience, her mother-in-law was more cautious that time and no longer allowed the daughter-in-law to eat any special foods, merely made sure she was full. Her husband’s tone was also threatening as he said, “You’d better give me a son, or else…”

Or else what, he didn’t say.

When the child was born, it was another small, weak baby girl.

Her husband broke his wife’s emaciated fingers and tore the wailing baby away. The calm river surface was disturbed, and there was a splash followed by a thud.

The new daughter-in-law no longer had any hope, only intense hatred that burned fiercely within her!

Her husband clenched his fists and shouted menacingly, “Are you trying to rebel?!”

The new daughter-in-law said nothing more. Previously, she had explored the path of marriage, now she explored for poisonous flowers and herbs on the mountain. The villagers noticed her strange behavior and secretly reported it to her husband.

“Your wife seems to have gone mad!”

Mad?

A mad woman naturally could not be kept.

Her husband immediately made a plan. One day near dusk, as soon as the new daughter-in-law returned to the village, she encountered men who had come to “celebrate.”

She couldn’t escape that time. The previous woman had at least endured for two days, but she had just given birth and was in a weakened state, so she collapsed on the spot. Her husband dragged her home and discussed her funeral arrangements with his parents.

“Ancestral grave?” The mother-in-law exclaimed sharply. “This kind of lowly woman, still wanting to enter our ancestral grave? Tell me, what’s the difference between her coming to our home and falling into a pit of misfortune? She’s not lacking food or clothing, and now she’s given birth to two useless children and even wants to take revenge on us! I say, just roll up the mat, throw her into the river behind the house, and let the fish and shrimp feast on her. At least we might catch a few.”

The husband sullenly agreed and was about to get the straw mat when the mother-in-law suddenly thought of something and called him.

“Wait!” she said loudly. Then lowered her voice secretively, “Before you throw her out, I want you to do one more thing…”

“Mother!” The husband was alarmed. “Isn’t that…going to shorten my life?”

The mother-in-law gave him a disdainful look and reproached him, “What do you know! You’re a young man, full of Yang energy. You need to use that Yang energy to suppress her unlucky belly! Otherwise, even if you remarry a beautiful new wife, don’t you fear continuing to suffer and having more useless children?”

The husband was convinced by her words.

“Then…alright!” The man gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. When he couldn’t find anything suitable at home, he went to the village edge and broke off a branch from a locust tree as thick as his wrist, and sharpened it with a knife. He carried the weak and almost lifeless body of his wife, while his parents-in-law supported her, and he also brought the sharp wooden stake as they walked to the riverbank.

The new daughter-in-law gasped and breathed heavily. She looked at him in despair, her once-close partner.

“May you have a better reincarnation in your next life,” the husband said briefly. “We don’t owe you anything.”

The sharp wooden stake was thrust brutally into the woman’s soft lower abdomen, entering at one end and coming out the other. Along with the weapon, the river’s water was tainted with a bloody ripple. It shook and tossed for a while before it slowly calmed down.

Liu Fuguang witnessed everything and understood it all.

That deep river was usually where they abandoned baby girls. Over the years, it had accumulated many debts and sins. The riverbed was the most Yin place, and the new wife dying at the dusk and twilight, pierced through by locust wood, would be consumed by resentment…

With all those ominous factors combined, if she didn’t turn into a vengeful spirit, Liu Fuguang would write his name backwards!

As expected, after the new wife’s death, on the same day of the following year, the usually calm river suddenly flooded, submerged the village and consumed the living. When the family of three climbed onto their roof to call for help, the vengeful spirit followed closely, as she pursued her enemies.

That spirit, capable of provoking natural phenomena, slowly and painfully consumed the three people, as she used her ghostly energy to tear their life veins, and made their deaths prolonged and torturous. She first consumed her former husband, then cut off her in-laws’ eyelids to make them watch their son’s suffering.

After her former husband was half-eaten but still alive, writhing with his spine and remaining lower bones exposed, she proceeded to devour her in-laws. Thus, she tortured the three people to death and swallowed their souls as well.

All the living beings in the village perished. Such large-scale casualties immediately attracted the attention of cultivators. The surrounding towns were also terrified, and feared that the female ghost would come to consume them.

At the same time, a nameless cultivator with an indistinct appearance arrived in the vicinity. Instead of subduing the vengeful spirit, he did the opposite; he made a divine altar for her and gave her the title of “Nine Sons Mother Goddess,” then told the surrounding towns that as long as they worshiped the Nine Sons Mother Goddess and offered their blood, women would give birth to sons, and it would be infallible.

From then on, the ghost mother roamed the mortal realm’s cities. She enjoyed the blood offerings, consumed the faith and fortune of mortals, and took away the unwanted female babies.

In reality, she was not a deity who blessed the birth of sons, she merely followed the wishes of her devotees, and stopped them from having daughters. The poor daughters, the hateful daughters, could be casually discarded and killed.

The memory ended.

As if he was waking from a dream, Liu Fuguang suddenly came to his senses. He opened his eyes to see Yan Huan’s pale, anxious face. He reached out and felt the tears on his face.

He sat up from Yan Huan’s embrace and looked at the ghostly mother, who was silently holding a multitude of babies.

“Yue Niang,” he said softly.

The sky cleared, and a luminous moonlight shone on the earth. The crescent moon was serene, and hung high in the sky as it had for a hundred years.

 

“Yue Niang,” Liu Fuguang repeated. “That is your name, isn’t it?”