I become a god in another world

Chapter 712 Recalling the past
Chapter 712

The paper figure Zhang's voice was filled with resentment and malice.

Zhao Fusheng, however, did not take it to heart.

The power of a vengeful ghost is a knife, but whether that knife is used to kill or to defend oneself depends on the person wielding it.

This malevolent power, if it falls into the hands of Paper Doll Zhang, will become a scourge; but in the hands of Zhao Fusheng, it is a law that can save lives.

Paper Man Zhang is obsessed and his faith has collapsed, leaving him with his own logic.

There's no point in talking to him; it's just a waste of breath.

As they were talking, the ghost mother walked toward the paper figure Zhang—this was Liu Wenqing's obsession, and also the instinct of the human-skin ghost mother influenced by the ghost coffin.

The moment the human-skinned ghost mother approached the paper figure Zhang, Zhang's black robe fluttered, and then the ghost mother's appearance changed.

Its black robe was also turning.

Both originated from the same source and belonged to the Ghost Realm of the Capital. Now that they sensed each other's presence, the laws that the vengeful ghosts wanted to merge with gained the upper hand.

Pulled by the ghost robes, the former couple couldn't help but gravitate towards each other.

The demon mother was below, her black robe stretched and deformed, transforming into an open coffin that imprisoned her inside.

The headless body of the paper figure was on top, and the black robe on his body was also stretching out, turning into a coffin lid, pressing him down below.

Once the ghost coffin is formed, it will exert its law of binding and imprisoning evil spirits, merging the two spirits within it.

For everyone, this situation was tantamount to a miraculous escape from a desperate situation.

Everyone couldn't help but show their joy.

However, Zhao Fusheng knew Zhang the Paper Doll's strength well, and knew that this man would not sit idly by and wait for his death.

The former couple is trapped in a coffin, but now they are separated by death.

The paper figure Zhang Guipao transformed into a coffin lid, revealing the patched and mottled corpse beneath.

The corpse was made of countless ghost skins of different colors and textures, some of which were nearly rotten and smelled of death.

His body was exposed to everyone, and he was naturally furious.

A large amount of malevolent energy rushed out of the coffin, almost blowing the coffin lid off.

Just then, the human-skinned ghost mother stretched out her pale arms and embraced Zang Xiongwu's body.

A vengeful ghost clung to them.

Originally claiming to be unaffected by ghosts and vowing to kill all the evil spirits in the world—including his wife and daughters—Zhang, the headless paper figure, suddenly froze.

His thoughts began to wander again, and memories from more than fifty years ago flooded his mind.

The dilapidated Zang family ancestral hall contained a small courtyard, which was the family property passed down from their ancestors. By the time it came into his possession, only a small, secluded room remained.

But the couple managed to make the courtyard very cozy.

He's unlucky.

His parents died early, but fortunately he learned how to make lanterns and paper figures.

Perhaps because he had lost his head, Paper Man Zhang's consciousness was somewhat dulled. These past memories were far away from him, as if they were from a previous life.

He thought and thought, and finally remembered.

The moment they remembered, a strange smile appeared on the faces of those ghosts who had been given the Ghost Soup by Meng Po—a smile that seemed to come from the heart, without any disguise, but it appeared particularly stiff on the faces of the dead.

There is no doubt that this smile was influenced by Zhang the Paper Doll.

Wu Shaochun snorted:
"That scoundrel got off too easily; I wonder what good things he thought of before he died."

Zhao Fusheng dared not relax.

……

At this moment, the paper figure Zhang Xin did indeed recall the past that he had long forgotten.

These past events, like old objects, were piled up deep in his memory, which he thought he had long forgotten.

Memories from many years ago surfaced in his mind.

He was very young then, about thirteen or fourteen years old. He remembers that year when the capital city had a heavy snowfall and extremely cold weather.

He was an apprentice at a paper craft shop in the capital. As the New Year approached, his master, out of consideration for his infrequent visits home, closed the shop early and sent him home.

Before he left, we prepared four kinds of pastries, melon seeds and other dried goods for him to take home.

Paper Man Zhang is lost in memories of the past.

At this time, his parents were still alive. His father rented eight acres of land outside the city and worked from dawn till dusk every day. His mother took care of the household, waiting for him to master his craft so that he could earn wages in the paper-making shop and bring them home.

He thought: When he earns money, he will definitely buy his father a pair of thick boots.

My father wore only one pair of straw sandals year after year. They broke several times, and he always patched them himself with straw.

Straw sandals don't keep out the cold; my father's heels cracked from the cold long ago, and the cracks were hard and cut like knives.

He wanted to buy something for his mother as well.

My family was very poor. My mother often sewed and washed clothes for others to earn money. Occasionally, when she had free time, she would also take on some embroidery work to supplement the family income.

Sometimes she would get jobs from wealthy families, and if she was lucky, she would receive pastries as a reward for delivering them. Her mother would not eat them herself, but would pack them up and save them for her and her father.

One year, the cakes that were left for him were left for more than two months. When he came back, they were infested with worms. His mother said it was a pity, but urged him to eat more.

Zang Xiongwu thought: When I get my wages, I'll buy my mother some pastries to eat until she gets tired of them.

As he thought this, his steps became lighter, and the long road home turned into anticipation.

He hurried home, where the lights were off.

The dimly lit house was filled with a thick, lingering odor. In the shadows, the father's figure was hunched over, his expression weary. For a fleeting moment, he showed a flicker of excitement upon seeing his son return home, but the light in his eyes quickly dimmed, and he uttered a single word:
"came back."

However, the mother's voice inside the house was somewhat muffled:
"Xiao Wu is back."

"mother--"

Zang Xiongwu's heart sank, and a bad premonition welled up in his mind.

He hurried into the house. His mother was lying paralyzed on the bed, and the room smelled of excrement—his mother had lost control of her bladder.

The father followed him in, complaining with dissatisfaction:
"He's faking illness because he doesn't want to work. He stays at home all day and doesn't even cook."

The mother gave an awkward laugh, her thin arms supporting her on the bed. She tried to get up several times, but eventually collapsed back down, powerless.

Her belly was already very big, and something was growing inside. Every time she moved, her abdomen felt like it was being cut with a knife.

Zang Xiongwu felt a sudden surge of panic.

He sat down next to his mother, whose face was swollen and shiny—her eyes were still loving, and her gaze towards her son was filled with endless reluctance.

"What's wrong?" Zang Xiongwu asked anxiously.

Mother said:
"I don't know how, but my belly got big."

Father's cold words:

"Just lazy and good-for-nothing."

The mother's lips moved, but in the end she didn't dare to refute, and simply looked at her son:
Why did you come back?

Zang Xiongwu said, "The New Year is coming soon, and my master told me to come back and spend time with my family."

Father asked:
When can I get my wages?

Zang Xiongwu replied, "My master said I'm learning well and will be good soon."

Upon hearing this, the father's face showed a look of great relief:

"That's good, that's good. The family can't hold on much longer. The harvest was bad this year, and the landlord said he'd raise the rent. We also have to pay taxes to the Demon Suppression Division. It's a lot of money for a family of three—"

As he said this, he glanced at his mother with a meaningful look in his eyes:
"What if we teach one less person next year—"

He stopped talking immediately after saying that, then looked annoyed and began to mutter to himself:

"If more people pay taxes together, our family will have an easier time."

Zang Xiongwu and his mother both overlooked the meaning behind his words. His mother took his hand with heartache. He was young and had delicate skin, but he worked hard and his palms were covered with cuts from bamboo strips and burns from paste.

Numerous blisters remained on the back of her hands, some becoming old, frightening marks. Touching these hands, tears welled in her eyes.

"My child, are you in pain?"

"It doesn't hurt."

Zang Xiongwu shook his head, then suppressed his unease:
"Mother, have you seen a doctor yet?"

The father frowned, and upon hearing this, he wanted to get angry, but in the end, he glanced at the mother, said nothing, and stormed out.

Mother smiled and said:
"Why should I see a doctor? I can eat and sleep, but I can't do much work anymore, so as not to be a burden to you and your son."

After she finished speaking, she saw the worry in her son's eyes and decided not to continue the topic. Instead, she asked him about his experience as an apprentice in the shop.

One was worried about her mother's health, but dared not ask too many questions, for fear of frightening her mother;

One of them was aware of her own health but didn't want her son to worry about her, so she intentionally changed the subject.

The mother and son hit it off immediately. When Zang Xiongwu talked about his time in the shop, he specifically mentioned that his master was a good person who took good care of him, but he did not mention the times he was beaten and scolded during his apprenticeship.

The mother smiled gently, occasionally patting her son's head and tidying his hair, her eyes filled with unspeakable affection and reluctance.

……

That day, Zang Xiongwu made her bed and washed her body. When he saw her incredibly swollen belly, he felt very anxious.

That day, the family ate the food that Zang Xiongwu had brought back from the shop, and the mother was in a rare good mood.

Unfortunately, her teeth weren't good anymore, and she couldn't chew some of the sunflower seeds, so she lovingly watched her son eat them.

It wasn't until after midnight that she felt unwell and told Zang Xiongwu that she wanted to sleep for a while.

She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Her body was curled up like a cooked shrimp, as if she was being tormented by pain, but she endured it without uttering a sound for fear of disturbing her family.

Zang Xiongwu noticed his mother's pain and couldn't sleep well at night, so he kept massaging her body.

She didn't make it through the night.

He started rambling incoherently before dawn.

Zang Xiongwu worked as an apprentice in a paper doll shop and was very familiar with funeral rites. He even presided over funeral ceremonies for others under his master's guidance.

However, his family was destitute and he couldn't afford to prepare funeral clothes or arrangements for his mother's funeral.

Before her death, the mother suddenly regained consciousness.

She looked at her son and said with a smile:

"I'm really good at raising a wonderful son."

She suffered greatly from illness, but she did not complain or blame others.

She experienced the pain of life and her husband's indifference, but she only saw the light and hope in life, as well as the sweetness of life—these character traits greatly influenced the young Zang Xiongwu, enabling him to become a very good and helpful person in the years that followed.

“My son is really promising. He is doing very well as an apprentice now. He will definitely be outstanding in the future.”

"Good boy, Xiaowu. Your mother's health is failing me. If I could live a few more years, I would be able to help you a little."

"If you want to see Xiaowu get married, and if your mother were alive, she could definitely help you raise your children."

……

Mother is dead.

Fearing that the imperial court would collect taxes on the dead, the father dared not make a sound. He secretly loaded the body into a manure cart overnight and sent it out of the city, where he buried it in the land they cultivated.

Zang Xiongwu was young at that time and had not yet become independent. The teenager endured the pain and could only let his father do as he pleased, watching his mother's face being buried in the mud.

Her face was peaceful; she died with her husband and son by her side, and she was at peace.

Instead of being resurrected as a vengeful ghost, she turned into decaying bones and was buried in the earth.

Two years later, just as his mother had predicted, Zang Xiongwu had mastered his skills and was able to stand on his own. When his father died, he borrowed money and personally presided over the funeral.

The money borrowed for the funeral was not paid off for five or six years.

……

A long dream.

Paper Man Zhang suddenly woke up with a start: Why did I suddenly remember these past events?
He looked back on the past, but his state of mind was completely different from back then.

In his early years, whenever he thought of his mother's death, in addition to sadness and pain, he was also determined to work hard and carve out a future that belonged to him, so that his loved ones would never suffer such tragedy again.

This was also the driving force behind his early hard work and hope.

In his later years, he possessed the power to control ghosts, far surpassing his strength in his youth. Yet, when he recalled this past event, he felt an indescribable anger and disgust.

He loathed the world and was angry at his own weakness and powerlessness in his youth.

……

On the top of the ghost tree, the smiles on the faces of all the hanging ghosts froze.

The ghost's lips drooped, and its eyebrows stood up, turning into an angry expression.

The atmosphere within the Ghost Realm has changed.

"not good."

Zhao Fusheng shouted.

Meng Po's soup could not dispel the obsession of Paper Doll Zhang. This person was of exceptional rank and was already an extraordinary being. Although Meng Po's soup was powerful, his obsession was even deeper and could suppress Meng Po's laws.

The vengeful ghosts' faces were filled with resentment and malice, and the paper doll Zhang's voice rang out:
"Heaven and earth are unjust!"

"My mother lived like an animal all her life."

"No, they're worse than animals."

Animals in pain at least know to find a place to lick their wounds and recuperate.

She gained her senses, but despite being seriously ill, she didn't want to burden her family and could only passively wait to die.

This is a microcosm of the millions of people under the rule of the Han Dynasty.

"Laughable humans! Foolish humans! Living like animals!"

“My father was eager to bury my mother as soon as possible, fearing the collection of the ‘dead tax’—little did he know that instead of the ‘dead tax,’ the ‘living tax’ would be collected.”

That year, his father, without waiting for the body to cool, put his mother, who was still warm, onto a manure cart and buried his wife early, all to avoid the dead person tax—but the following year, the Demon Suppression Bureau wanted to collect taxes based on three people.

You can escape the first day of the month, but you can't escape the fifteenth.

This is the foolish way humans think.

……

The paper figure Zhang cursed loudly.

Liu Yizhen asked:

What's wrong with him?

Zhao Fusheng said:

"Perhaps it's the effect of the Meng Po soup that made him remember something, and he's acting crazy right now."

As the group whispered among themselves, the ghost coffin was about to close, and the couple embracing inside were slowly suppressed by the black coffin.

The laws of the Human Skin Demon Mother were activated, and a pale, blood-stained human skin slowly covered the paper figure's riddled, ghostly body.

If things go well, this will be the best outcome.

It's a pity that things didn't work out.

The moment the coffin closed, a malevolent aura slowly rose, impacting the coffin lid and halting the closing process.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Fusheng immediately shouted:

"The week is complete, put on the coffin nails."

(End of this chapter)