Chapter 19: Disembowelment

The woman’s words heightened the eerie atmosphere to the extreme, blending with the incense, spirit money, black veils, and umbrellas all over the mountain, making it even more astonishing and terrifying.

“You...you... are you human or a ghost?” Wen Yao, trembling, pointed at her nose.

The woman didn’t speak, just smiled at Wen Yao. They melted into her smile, and when they came to their senses, her figure was nowhere to be seen.

She was like a beautiful ghost coming and going without a trace—a fleeting glimpse, then disappeared.

“Where is she?” Wen Yao searched around several times but couldn’t distinguish anyone because everyone was dressed in black. Finding someone different among thousands of people was quite difficult.

“Don’t look for her. Didn’t she tell us her name?” Di Jiang said.

“Dong Yezhen? But isn’t she in the grave!” Wen Yao exclaimed, “If she really were Dong Yezhen, could she bear to see her own child burned alive? Besides, if she were, she should be a wandering ghost now!”

“Whether she is Dong Yezhen remains unknown, but she definitely isn’t a ghost.”

After Di Jiang finished speaking, Zhong Xu nodded as well, “Ghosts can’t escape my eyes; she’s a living person, just like us.”

“Let’s go ask what exactly happened to this Dong Yezhen.” With that, Di Jiang walked forward. She quickly approached a group of gossiping women and soon infiltrated their circle.

“Who is being buried?” Di Jiang blinked, her eyes full of curiosity, appearing innocent and inexperienced, giving off the impression of an ordinary traveler.

Seeing Di Jiang, the women didn’t repel her but immediately told her about the strange events that had occurred in Xianliang City recently.

“Our Miss Dong from Dong Family Fortress has really harmed people!”

“She used to be gentle and sensible, well-read and famous for her beauty and talent! Who would have thought she would do such shameless things!”

“It’s true! Not only did she harm herself, but also many people in the city!”

Di Jiang listened to their chatter for a while but still didn’t hear the key point. So she interrupted, “What mistake did this second miss commit that made the entire city mourn for her?”

“This is truly a bizarre event! It will scare you to death!” Aunt San said.

“Auntie, please speak slowly.” Di Jiang chuckled, pretending to listen attentively.

“Dong Yezhen was once a renowned beauty. Unexpectedly one day, she became pregnant with a ghost’s child! Her belly grew bigger each day. Meanwhile, many infants went missing in Xianliang City. People thought they were abducted by human traffickers, but unexpectedly, human bones and the half-eaten corpse of a child were found in this young lady’s room!”

“Yes! I also heard that the person who discovered Miss Yezhen that night was Young Master Liancheng. When he saw her, she was squatting in a corner gnawing on something. Young Master Liancheng called her several times, but she didn’t hear him! He found it strange and went closer to check. To his surprise, she was gnawing on a child’s finger! Blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth!”

“That’s right! Then Dong Yezhen was caught, but she kept shouting that she wanted to eat human flesh and drink human blood, refusing to eat anything else!”

“Her belly was much larger than others’. In less than three months, it seemed like she was about to give birth. We guessed it was because she absorbed the essence and blood of children, which made her grow so fast!”

“Yes! After Master Dong invited the Daoist, the Daoist immediately knew she was carrying a ghost fetus and would give birth soon.”

“Ghost fetus?” Hearing this, Di Jiang frowned again and asked, “What is a ghost fetus?”

“A ghost fetus is a child born from unclear relations with ghosts!”

“Are there really such things?” Di Jiang pretended to be surprised but inwardly laughed.

Having a child with a ghost?

Hmph, if that were possible, the ghost clan would have gone haywire long ago.

Aunt San continued, “Later, Daoist Ma came up with a good solution.”

“What solution?” Di Jiang feigned astonishment.

“That is disembowelment! Dig out the ghost fetus in advance, burn it on the spot, thus preventing the ghost fetus from being born and stopping a calamity that would devastate all life!”

“What!” Di Jiang was shocked, almost falling off her stool.

She wasn’t inexperienced, but her shout scared Aunt Liu on the other end of the bench. As Aunt Liu stood up, Di Jiang fell to the ground.

They helped Di Jiang up. Seeing how terrified she was, they showed concerned expressions and said, “We didn’t want to do this at first, but later, her belly grew bigger and her strength increased. Once, she broke free from her cage and ran to the streets to find children to eat. Fortunately, Daoist Ma arrived in time, otherwise another child would have died on the spot.”

“There—she is the one—” Aunt San casually pointed, and they saw a trembling little girl not far away, clutching her mother’s thigh. She hid behind her mother, watching Dong Yezhen’s burial, a hint of satisfaction on her face.

“If not for Daoist Ma, she would have been eaten already.” Aunt San sighed deeply.

After listening, Di Jiang was dazed for a long time.

After a long pause, she asked, “What happened next?”

“Under Daoist Ma’s leadership, the frenzied Dong Yezhen was disemboweled, the ghost fetus dug out and sealed in a porcelain jar, which was just burned to ashes.” Aunt San finished, relieved, and smiled, “Don’t be afraid. The gloom over Xianliang City has passed; usually, the folk customs here are simple, and it’s very safe.”

Di Jiang felt a lump in her chest, dizzy and disoriented. She felt as if a large stone blocked her chest, making her mind unclear.

“When… did this happen?” Di Jiang asked slowly.

“It was just yesterday!”

“...” Di Jiang was speechless, regretting that if she had arrived a day earlier, perhaps she could have prevented this tragedy.

At this time, Wen Yao, Zhong Xu, and Changsheng came looking for Di Jiang after she didn’t return for a long time.

When Wen Yao saw Di Jiang, she immediately supported her and asked worriedly, “Boss, what happened? Why does your face look so pale?”

Di Jiang waved her hand and rested for a while before slowly telling the three, “I learned that in Xianliang City, the most prominent family is the Dong family of Dong Family Fortress. Dong Qishan started with smuggling salt. After the founding of Xuanwu, he began legitimate business and now runs a bank with branches in every province, rivaling the wealth of nations.”

“And then?” Zhong Xu furrowed his brows. Seeing Di Jiang so distracted, he was puzzled. Even if the Dong family was wealthy, it probably couldn’t match Yangchun Mountain’s Meng Zichang. Previously, even when Meng Zichang rose from the grave, Di Jiang wasn’t surprised. Why was she acting like this now? This made Zhong Xu even more worried, feeling that this matter must be extraordinary.

Di Jiang swallowed saliva and blankly said, “Master Dong raised two daughters and a son. The one who died was the second daughter, Dong Yezhen.”

“Why did she die?” Wen Yao asked.

“It’s really laughable,” Di Jiang shook her head and bitterly smiled, “People rumored that Dong Yezhen was carrying a ghost fetus, causing public outrage. Thus, they invited Daoist Ma to disembowel her and remove the ghost fetus.”

“What!” Upon hearing this, the three changed color.

“Isn’t it ridiculous?” Di Jiang self-mockingly said, “Dreaming of bearing a ghost fetus is impossible. Yet, they deprived a young woman of her life based on such absurd rumors, cruelly stripping her of her right to live.”

“This is absolutely despicable!” Wen Yao slammed the table and stood up, saying, “I’ll go break that old Daoist’s bones!”

This time, Di Jiang didn’t stop her but smiled and stood up, saying, “I’ll go with you.”

Zhong Xu and Changsheng exchanged glances, thinking: this was the first time they had seen Di Jiang so angry.

By now, the funeral crowd had dispersed. As they walked back to the city, they saw the mourning couplets and black veils removed and gathered in an open area in the city to be burned. The thick smoke rising from the burning black veils covered the sky, and ashes flew all over the city.

It was under these circumstances that Di Jiang and the four arrived at Dong Family Fortress.