The old man hunched his back, yawning and looking drowsy, with a comical mustache at the corners of his mouth.

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, amazed by this old man... He emerged from underground?

Who is he?

The Land God?

"Princess,why did you wake me up at this late hour? It's freezing cold in the dead of winter. You're trying to kill me!" The old man spoke while shivering, pretending to be cold.

Liu Qingqing said, "I called you out for a reason! I want to ask you something, and once you answer honestly, you can go back to hibernating!"

The old man exhaled heavily and rubbed his hands together. "Go ahead and ask, I will tell you everything I know!"

Liu Qingqing didn't beat around the bush and directly asked him, "Where did Xie La'er's curpse go? Who stole Xie La'er's curpse ?"

The old man rolled his eyes and coughed twice. "Um... I've been hibernating all this time... I'm not very clear about this matter!"

Liu Qingqing raised an eyebrow in frustration. "You live in the corner of Xie's family courtyard, and Xie La'er's curpse was stolen right under your nose. How could you not know?"

The old man forced a smile. "I really don't know... I'm getting old, and I sleep deeply..."

Liu Qingqing smiled slyly, blinking her eyes. "Oh, I see. Since you love sleeping so much, how about I let you sleep forever?"

Although Liu Qingqing had a smile on her face, everyone could sense the threat in her words.

The old man trembled and quickly changed his tone. "Ah, let me think, let me think. I'm getting confused with age. I think I remember... Yes, I remember..."

"Speak!" Liu Qingqing suddenly raised her voice sternly.

The old man licked his lips and obediently said, "It was a yellow-skinned demon, missing half of its mouth, calling itself 'Yellow San Ye'!"

As soon as I heard 'yellow-skinned demon,' my head buzzed. Damn it, another yellow-skinned troublemaker causing problems from behind. Are they deliberately targeting me?

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I curiously asked, "Didn't Old Master Ku kill a yellow-skinned demon in the Yin Tomb before?"

The old man said, "The one killed in the Yin Tomb was Yellow San Ye's wife, Yellow San Nai Nai. Yellow San Ye came to Hongqi Village this time to avenge for his wife!"

Damn it!

I involuntarily shivered. This yellow-skinned demon really wouldn't give up!

Uncle Qi sacrificed himself, killing a small yellow-skinned demon to save me and Fatty, which led to Yellow San Nai Nai's appearance and ultimately caused Uncle Qi's death. Afterward, Yellow San Nai Nai led us into the Yin Tomb, intending to kill us. Luckily, Lame Ku appeared in time and killed Yellow San Nai Nai. I thought this matter was over, but now Yellow San Ye has emerged to avenge his wife .

This is truly a never-ending cycle of revenge!

Liu Qingqing's eyes flickered. "The Huang family has always been petty and vengeful. This time, my husband has really brought a great disaster upon himself!"

The old man hugged himself, shivering in the cold. "princess, I have told you everything I know. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Wait!" Liu Qingqing stopped the old man with her hand. "You haven't told me where Yellow San Ye took Xie La'er's corpse!"

"Well... Well, I really don't know about that..." The old man looked troubled.

"Are you sure you don't know?" Liu Qingqing raised her palm threateningly.

The old man closed his eyes. "I truly don't know, princess. Even if you kill me, I still wouldn't know! I have been hibernating under the walls of Xie's family courtyard all this time. After Yellow San Ye took Xie La'er's corpse away, I didn't know where he went!"

Liu Qingqing stared at the old man for a while, then dropped her arm. "Get lost!"

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you princess." A gray smoke emanated from his body, and he quickly disappeared, leaving only a gray shadow crawling on the ground.

As I looked closely, the gray shadow turned out to be a large gray snake, about the thickness of an arm. It slowly crawled under the wall of Xie's family courtyard and disappeared into a hole.

It suddenly dawned on me that the old man from earlier was actually this big gray snake.

The nest of the gray snake was right under the walls of Xie's family courtyard, and it knew best about the disappearance of Xie La'er's corpse. That's why Liu Qingqing called it out for questioning.

Liu Qingqing was a spiritual snake and considered the leader among the snakes. Even an old guy like the big gray snake, who had cultivated its skills, would respectfully address her as "princess" when they met.

Now we finally understood how Xie La'er's corpse went missing. It was all because of Yellow San Ye's mischief. Although our doubts were cleared, there was still a pressing question left unanswered: where did Xie La'er's corpse go? Mayor Yu asked me to find it within two days. Where should I even begin?

Liu Qingqing comforted me, saying, "Don't worry for now. At least we have figured out the truth behind this. This whole thing is Yellow San Ye's doing, and you haven't done anything wrong!"

I nodded. It proved that the "Book of the Three Pure Ones" was correct. However, no one expected Yellow San Ye to interfere and set me up, making it impossible for me to stay in Hongqi Village without losing face.

It was already late at night, so we decided to wait until tomorrow to search for Xie La'er's corpse. Liu Qingqing and I returned home.

She comforted me and made me a bowl of fried eggs before I lay down to rest.

As I closed my eyes, I had a nightmare. Xie La'er, covered in blood, stood in front of me, staring at me with lifeless eyes. Blood dripped from the corners of his eyes, falling onto the ground with a dripping sound. He didn't speak, just stared at me intently.

I asked him, "Uncle Xie, do you have something to tell me?"

Suddenly, Xie La'er pounced toward me, reaching out his hands covered in corpse spots and tightly gripping my neck.

He choked me, and I struggled to breathe. My face turned red, and I couldn't make a sound, only flailing my limbs on the ground.

Xie La'er's throat trembled strangely as he spoke, "Return my corpse... Return my corpse..."

His face quickly decayed, with large pieces of skin peeling off, revealing white fat maggots falling out.

A thumb-sized maggot landed on my chin and slowly crawled into the corner of my mouth...

"Ah!" I finally screamed, waking up from the nightmare. I sat up abruptly.

The sunlight outside was bright, but I felt chills all over, with my undershirt drenched in cold sweat.

Before I could regain my composure, I suddenly heard my mother's scream from the courtyard, "Ah!"