Chapter 195 Healing

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As dusk settled, the funeral street darkened earlier than other areas.

Most of the shops on both sides had already closed their doors, and the street was deserted.

Chen Mo paused for a moment as he passed Fushou Coffin Shop.

It smelled foul.

Extremely faint, as if seeping from a crack in the door, mixed with the evening dampness, barely perceptible.

If it weren't for his more sensitive sense of smell than the average person, he wouldn't have been able to smell it at all.

Chen Mo stopped and glanced at it from the side.

The coffin shop's doors were tightly shut, and faded door god paintings were pasted on the door panels, with the edges of the paper already worn off.

It was pitch black through the crack in the door; you couldn't see anything.

He had smelled that scent before.

It's right in Liu Sanzhi's shop.

The same.

He felt it was somewhat familiar, but couldn't quite place it at the moment.

Could Manager Liu's death be related to Liu Sanzhi?

Chen Mo's gaze lingered on the door for two seconds before he turned and entered his own Du'e Zhai.

So what if he's dead? As long as he doesn't bother me, that's fine. Before his Dharma form is restored, all he wants to do is stay home and sleep.

His shop was already closed, so he went in through a side door next to the alley and into the backyard.

"You're back?"

Chen Dachuan was squatting in the yard tidying up something when he heard the noise, looked up, and saw Chen Mo's appearance. He immediately stood up.

"What happened to you?" He walked over in a few steps, looking Chen Mo up and down. "Your clothes are torn like this, what happened?"

Chen Mo waved his hand: "It's nothing."

"Are you really alright?" Chen Dachuan didn't believe him. He circled around him, his gaze landing on the cuff of his clothes. "You call this alright? Did you go up the mountain? Did you get into a fight?"

"There was no fight."

Chen Mo's voice was a little hoarse, and his temples started throbbing again, a dull pain spreading from his brow to the back of his head. "I just fell down."

Chen Dachuan opened his mouth, wanting to ask something more, but Chen Mo stopped him by raising his hand.

"I'm really fine." Chen Mo forced a smile. "I'll be fine after a night's rest."

Chen Dachuan looked at his pale face and ultimately didn't ask any more questions.

When children grow up, they won't talk about things they don't want to, no matter how much you ask.

"Alright."

He sighed, "Then you rest, I'll go ask your Aunt Liu to heat up some food for you..."

"No need," Chen Mo shook his head. "I've already eaten. I feel a little dizzy and have no appetite."

Chen Dachuan glanced at him and didn't press the matter further.

Chen Mo then noticed the changes in the courtyard. There was a well with a bluestone well ring at the base of the east wall, which looked newly built.

A makeshift shower shed was also built in the corner using wooden planks.

"When was the well dug?" he asked casually.

"Just last month," Chen Dachuan said, "Your Aunt Liu said it was inconvenient to fetch water from outside, so I figured there was an old well in the yard, so I had someone clean it up and rebuild the well ring, and sure enough, water came out. The water is very clear and sweet."

"The shower room is newly built, so you can shower at home from now on, saving you the trouble of going to the public bathhouse."

Chen Mo didn't say anything. He walked to the well, picked up a wooden bucket, threw it into the well, and drew up half a bucket of water.

The water was indeed clear and cool. He filled another bucket, carrying one in each hand, and headed towards the bathroom.

.....

After taking a shower, my mind cleared up a bit.

He came out of the shed and changed into a clean gray cloth outfit.

Chen Dachuan was no longer in the courtyard. The door to the main room was open, and an oil lamp was lit inside.

Aunt Liu poked her head out of the main room, holding a bowl with steaming water in it: "Xiao Mo, have some hot soup, it's freshly made..."

"No need, Aunt Liu." Chen Mo waved his hand. "I've already eaten, I'm not hungry. You should get some rest."

Aunt Liu glanced at his expression, then at the look Chen Dachuan gave her, sighed, and took the bowl back.

"Then go to bed early and don't stay up too late."

"Um."

Chen Mo responded and turned to go into his bedroom.

He closed the door behind him, walked to the window, and opened it.

The night breeze blew in through the window, carrying the chill of late autumn and the rustling of leaves.

The moonlight outside was not yet bright; a thin, red crescent moon hung in the sky, like a bloody mark dug into the night sky by someone's fingernail.

Chen Mo sat cross-legged by the window, closed his eyes, and placed his hands on his knees.

The sea of ​​consciousness was a hazy gray expanse.

The paper figure stood in the very center, its body appearing and disappearing in the gray mist.

The moonlight outside the window fell on him, and was drawn to him by the Moon Essence Mirror. After being purified, only a trace of spiritual energy remained, like a strand of hair.

He held his breath and carefully extended his divine sense to draw in that wisp of spiritual energy.

There is too little spiritual energy.

So little that he dared not exert force, he could only gently envelop it with his divine sense and slowly send it towards the Dharma image.

The moment the spiritual essence touched the Dharma image, it silently seeped into it.

The small area at the edge of the crack paused slightly, as if it had been held in place by something, and stopped spreading out.

effective.

It's just too slow.

This wisp of spiritual energy, even after filling in only one percent of the crack, had already exhausted his spiritual sense.

Chen Mo took a deep breath, steadied his mind, and continued to draw upon the second wisp of spiritual energy...

.....

In the old alley south of the city, in the secret room of Liu San's shop in the backyard.

The secret room was quite large, covering an area of ​​over thirty square meters. A dim oil lamp hung from the ceiling, casting swaying shadows on the four walls.

The ground was compacted loess, and it was a bit damp.

Five large vats were placed against the wall.

The vat was an old-fashioned water vat, taller than a person, with a mouth large enough to fit an adult.

The jar was covered with a heavy wooden lid, on which was pressed a bluestone slab, with messy symbols drawn on the slab with cinnabar.

In the gap of the lid of the leftmost jar, something slippery seemed to be rubbing against the jar wall, making a very faint rustling sound.

Liu Sanzhi stood in front of the vat, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing two thin, bony arms.

Three sheep were lying on the ground, their limbs bound with hemp rope and their mouths gagged with cloth strips, only able to make muffled whimpers.

The sheep's eyes were wide open The flame of the oil lamp was reflected in his pupils, and the dark line below his neck was clearly visible.

He bent down, picked up a sheep, and lifted the wooden lid of the jar on the left with one hand.

The moment the lid was lifted, a strong, fishy stench hit me.

Liu Sanzhi threw the sheep in.

The sheep didn't even have time to bleat before it was dragged into the depths by something.

A series of soft chewing sounds came from the jar, crunching and crackling, interspersed with the muffled sound of bones breaking.

The sound lasted only a few breaths before quieting down and returning to the sparse, drifting sound.

Then, a sound came from the bottom of the tank.

"Hungry......."

The voice wasn't loud, and it was hard to tell if it was male or female. It sounded like something was mimicking a human voice, forced out.

"Still hungry... I want more..."

Liu Sanzhi ignored it and bent down to pick up the second sheep.

Just then, something suddenly emerged from the jar.

Three or four tongue-like things emerged from inside, covered with dense barbs, as thin as the tips of fishhooks, all tilted in the same direction.

The crevices of the barbs were filled with dark red bits of flesh and white bone fragments, some of which had turned black and smelled foul, clearly remnants of what they had previously ingested.