Chapter 78 Life is coming soon
Drowned? Granny Zhang's eyes widened.

It’s not her fault that she behaved like that. She clearly saw the old drunkard in the morning, so how could he fall into the river and drown?

If this person is really dead, then who could he be seen this morning?
Granny Zhang suddenly felt a chill on her back. The thick cotton-padded jacket could not protect her from the cold wind. No matter from above or below, a chill ran through her heart.

She just felt numb all over, and her toes and fingers all felt tingling.

"Of course he's dead. He's been buried for several days." The guest ate wontons without looking at Granny Zhang's pale face. The spoon stirred the bowl a few times and suddenly pulled out a medium-sized poisonous centipede.

"Grandma, how come there is this thing in your wontons? I eat here often, how could I be so careless?" The customer threw the centipede to the ground in disgust and looked at Grandma Zhang with some dissatisfaction.

After all, she found a bug in her food. Granny Zhang felt cold all over but still put on a stiff smile as she replied, "It might have accidentally fallen in when I was preparing the soup earlier. I'll spare you the bowl of wontons."

"Alas, there is nothing I can do. I know it's not easy for you, and it's not easy for me either. So let's just leave it like this." The guest swallowed the soup and water in one gulp. Before leaving, he looked at the centipede, thought about it, and caught it again.

"You little trick is trying to trick me. Take it back with you to eat with your wine." With that, the guest left calmly, put on his bamboo hat, and slowly disappeared in the mist and rain.

Granny Zhang turned the soup over, fearing there might be some worms in it. Sure enough, she found a few dead worms, all of which were turning over in the soup, but she thought she had not noticed.

After getting rid of the bugs, Granny Zhang sat on the stool in a daze, holding the umbrella over herself to protect herself from the rain.

Jinling is shrouded in mist and rain, and I don’t know how many people’s dreams have been lost.

Only Granny Zhang felt cold in her heart, thinking about what happened today. She was sure that she was not mistaken, the man she met in the morning must be an old drunkard. Not to mention his figure, she could even recognize the smell of alcohol.

But just now the coolie said that the old drunkard fell into the river and drowned. How could she see if he drowned?

"Drowned? Really drowned? How many days have passed since he drowned?" Granny Zhang muttered to herself.

I was not at ease doing business this morning. My usual skilled movements were no longer so familiar and I made many mistakes in my haste. After I apologized and waited until the drizzle got heavier, I finished the business.

After selling the wontons, Grandma Zhang carried her load and prepared to go back.

Feeling depressed, he asked someone to grab the burden and let him down as soon as he turned the corner.

"Aunt Zhang, you are in big trouble!" The speaker was an old woman wearing thick clothes and her face was full of wrinkles. She had kind eyes and a lively look.

Granny Zhang knew her. She was the old lady from the scholar's family at the end of the alley. Her son passed the imperial examination a few years ago and lived a decent life. I heard that the old lady's family performed rituals and worshipped the mountain gates, and they had been to all corners of the country. She had seen a lot and knew a lot. If she encountered some trivial matters on weekdays, she could find her and they would all be solved.

After hearing what the old woman said, Granny Zhang stood still and asked in a panic, "Grandma, I am in great trouble? What do you mean?"

"How could I lie to you? Look, there are black lines from your eyes to your nose. Your death is really approaching. Your eyes are dark and you have lost all your energy. I'm afraid some monster has entered the house and sucked the energy from you!" The old woman's words made Grandma Zhang shudder.

She looked around and felt eyes staring at her from all directions. She felt a chill in her heart and whispered to the old woman, "Old lady, please don't lie to me."

"We are neighbors, how could I lie to you? If you don't believe me, go home and drink some rooster blood with soup. Then see if there will be black spots on the back of your hand." The old woman said earnestly, patted the back of Grandma Zhang's hand and left.

Granny Zhang returned home anxiously, and her daughter-in-law came out to greet her with a smile.

"Mom, you're finally back. You must be exhausted. Take a rest."

"Hey, mother, you're not tired." Hearing her daughter-in-law's caring words, Grandma Zhang felt a little comforted. No matter what, the daughter-in-law she married is a good one.

Putting the load in the kitchen, Granny Zhang looked at the pot on the stove and suddenly remembered the old woman's words.

She thought for a while, then told her daughter-in-law to buy a chicken to nourish her son and daughter-in-law.

The daughter-in-law smiled and said yes, then watched Grandma Zhang leave and turned back to her room.

Granny Zhang quickly came back with a rooster and picked up a knife from the kitchen. She cut the chicken's neck with the knife. The chicken's blood dripped into the bowl, slowly leveling the bottom of the bowl.

Looking at the chicken blood in the bowl, Granny Zhang's hands trembled a little. She picked up the bowl, put it to her mouth, and drank it all after thinking it over.

Smelling the fishy smell of chicken blood, Granny Zhang quickly drank a few sips of water.

Looking at the back of his hand again, just as the old woman said, blue spots appeared on this already weathered back of his hand.

Granny Zhang screamed in shock, and the bowl fell to the ground with a thud. Her son, who had just returned home, ran in and looked at his mother with concern, "Mom, are you okay?"

Granny Zhang subconsciously retracted her hand to cover the blue spot on her hand. She forced a smile on her face and said to her son, "Nothing happened. I just accidentally touched my hand when I was killing the chicken and dropped the bowl."

After some explanation, he finally comforted his son. He calmed down and cooked a meal. After eating, he found an excuse to go out and came to the scholar's house at the end of the alley.

The scholar's courtyard was quite large, with an eight-diagram mirror hanging at the door and door gods posted on both sides, which had just passed the New Year and had not been blown away by the wind and rain.

I reached out and knocked on the door, and soon it opened with a click.

The old woman showed her old face and looked at Granny Zhang seriously: "Do you know the result?"

"Grandma, please save me." Grandma Zhang's emotions suddenly broke down and she couldn't control herself. She held the old woman's hand and knelt on the ground.

"I don't want to die yet. I haven't held my grandchild yet. I can pay any amount of money, please save me, old lady."

"Hey, come in." The old woman sighed and opened the door a crack.

As soon as Grandma Zhang came in, the door slammed shut.

Not long after, a drunk man staggered in, wandered around the door, and then walked away. However, there was a pool of stinky water on the ground at the door.

Granny Zhang followed the old lady into the hall and saw that the living room was terrifying. Candles were lit on the two shelves, and the dim light illuminated the room. There were various statues of gods on all sides, like fierce demons, looking down from above.

In the center was a celestial king, holding a large snake in his hand and holding a precious sword. He had a green face, fangs, and eyes like a fierce lion. He stood quietly in front, watching the two people coming in.

When Granny Zhang saw everything in this room, she was horrified.

For some reason, the moment she entered the room, all the statues seemed to look at her.

"Kneel on the ground and kowtow three times first." The old woman walked to the side, picked up three incense sticks, lit them and said slowly.

(End of this chapter)