I am a fairy in Journey to the West

A strong, rotten stench permeated the dilapidated courtyard, and the neighbors avoided the family like the plague.

Even if they had to pass by, they would cover their mouths and noses, hold their breath, and run away quickly.

Wei Xian knelt in front of the coffin, continuously burning paper money into the brazier, but the blazing paper money could not mask the stench of decay emanating from the coffin.

Wei Xian is a well-known filial son. He lost his father at an early age and was raised by his mother.

Therefore, Wei Xian was extremely filial to his mother. If this had happened decades ago, the government would have recommended him to the court because of his reputation for filial piety.

Unfortunately, the Xiniu Hezhou is now in chaos, with demons everywhere, bandits and mountain thieves roaming the mountains and forests. The government is already struggling to protect itself, so how could it possibly care about a filial son?

Ten days ago, Wei's mother passed away. At that time, the villagers came to help him prepare his mother's remains, collect her body, and put her in a coffin.

Logically, at this point, the body should be laid to rest and preparations should be made for the funeral procession. However, for some reason, Wei Xian decided not to bury his mother.

He believed that filial piety was a fundamental principle of heaven and earth. Although his mother had died, as long as his filial piety was enough to move heaven, he would surely be able to bring his mother back to life.

The village elders scoffed at this, saying that in all their lives they had never seen a dead person come back to life.

However, Wei Xian had relied on his mother since childhood and could not accept the fact that his mother had left him. He insisted on not burying her and insisted on keeping her body in mourning, hoping that his sincerity would move Heaven.

So for the past ten days or so, no matter how much the body in the coffin rotted, Wei Xian stubbornly shared paper money and kowtowed to keep vigil in front of the coffin every day.

When the villagers realized they couldn't persuade him, they gave up and started avoiding Wei Xian's house whenever they walked around it.

Wei Xian stayed at home during this period, not even going to the fields or doing any work. Only when the family was really starving would he take some of the family's grain out to wash and dry.

He became increasingly sinister, exuding an aura of death and a putrid stench.

It was another late night when Wei Xian knelt before the coffin, burning paper money and incense. Then he began to weep over the coffin, saying words of longing as he cried.

After some time, Wei Xian felt a bit hungry, but there wasn't much food left in the house, so he leaned against the door frame to rest.

A gentle breeze blew by, and Wei Xian unknowingly fell asleep. But as soon as he fell asleep, he had a dream.

In his dream, a golden talisman fell on him, and Wei Xian suddenly woke up with a start.

Looking at the coffin in front of him, Wei Xian sighed slightly, wondering why he had such a strange dream.

However, when he looked down, he found that a talisman had appeared in his hand at some point. Except for the lack of golden light, it was exactly the same as the talisman in his dream.

Wei Xian was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized, "Could it really be a divine intervention?"

He picked up the talisman and examined it closely, but he didn't know how to use it. Just as he was studying it, a flame rose from the brazier and landed on the talisman.

Caught off guard, the talisman burst into flames.

Wei Xian exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly threw away the talisman, but unexpectedly the talisman burned in mid-air and turned into a wisp of green smoke that rose up.

The next moment, to Wei Xian's astonishment, a figure emerged from the green smoke.

Wei Xian suddenly stood up, but his vision went black due to hunger. He barely managed to steady himself when he saw that the person had already landed in front of him.

"Wei Xian, a resident of Liuhe Village, Bao'an Prefecture, Xiniu Hezhou, what is your wish?" the visitor asked Wei Xian.

Wei Xian stared blankly at the young man in the Taoist robe before him. After regaining his senses, he hurriedly asked, "Are you a deity?"

The man nodded and smiled, "I am a deity who grants all requests, known as 'Lingtai'. It is your good fortune that you received my talisman. Now, what is your wish?"

Wei Xian asked, "Can any wish be granted?"

"Yes, but think it over carefully. I will grant your wish, but you will have to bear the consequences yourself," Zhuang Yan said with a smile.

Wei Xian paid no attention to Zhuang Yan's next words. Upon hearing that any wish could be granted, he immediately knelt on the ground, pointed at the coffin, and said, "Gods, have mercy! I want my mother to come back to life."

Zhuang Yan glanced at the coffin and said, "The dead cannot be brought back to life; this is the natural order of things." Wei Xian said, "But you just said that any wish can be granted, Immortal."

Zhuang Yan asked, "That's right. So, bringing people back to life goes against the natural order, and the consequences can be quite severe."

Wei Xian said, "I am willing to bear whatever the consequences may be. Please, gods, resurrect my mother."

Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "Alright then, since you insist, I will grant your wish."

After saying that, Zhuang Yan raised his hand and pointed at the coffin, then said to Wei Xian, "Alright, she has come back to life."

"Huh?" Wei Xian stood there, stunned. "So fast? Just like that?"

Zhuang Yan retorted, "What else do you want?"

Wei Xian said, "We shouldn't set up an altar or perform any kind of ritual."

“I am a deity, so all procedures will be simplified.” Zhuang Yan said, lifting Wei Xian from the ground. “Your mother has been resurrected. Go and see her.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Xian's doubts immediately turned into excitement. He quickly stepped forward, about to open the coffin, but unexpectedly, the coffin lid creaked open a crack first.

"Mother!" Wei Xian exclaimed excitedly, then pushed the coffin lid open.

In an instant, a cloud of dark mist spewed out from the coffin, and then the walls of the entire room were immediately covered with frost.

Wei Xian didn't notice anything amiss; he simply reached in to help his mother.

But the next moment, the person in the coffin sat up abruptly, and rotting flesh with maggots fell off with a 'whoosh'. Bones and bloody flesh were still connected, and two eyeballs hung on the face, with maggots crawling in and out of the eye sockets, and white liquid was flowing out.

"Son." The corpse in front of him opened its mouth and cried out, and maggots and bodily fluids instantly flowed out.

"what!!!"

Wei Xian's screams echoed throughout Liuhe Village. He was pale and staggered backward until he crashed into Zhuang Yan.

He turned around abruptly and exclaimed, "Lingtai Immortal, how did my mother become like this?"

Zhuang Yan said, "She had been dead for more than ten days, so it's normal for her body to decompose. Isn't she resurrected? Why do you look so unhappy?"

Wei Xian cried and said, "Can't she be resurrected to look like she did when she was alive?"

Zhuang Yan said, "Why didn't you say so earlier?" Then he comforted her, "It's okay. She is your mother after all. Although it's a little scary, you'll get used to it."

At this moment, Wei's mother's corpse crawled out of the coffin and walked step by step toward Wei Xian. Under her feet were flowing corpse water and maggots, and her body was covered with rotting and smelly flesh.

"Son, are you hungry? Haven't eaten yet?" Mother Wei asked Wei Xian with concern as she walked.

Wei Xian gagged, his whole body trembling with fear. Suddenly, he screamed, pushed Zhuang Yan aside, and ran out of the house.

When Wei's mother saw her son run out of the house, she quickly called out and chased after him, saying, "Son, don't run so fast, Mother can't catch you, wait for Mother."

But the more she called out to Wei Xian, the faster he ran. He quickly reached the gate, hurriedly opened it, and was then startled to find that the area outside was already filled with villagers.

Upon seeing Wei Xian, the village elders standing at the front hurriedly asked, "Wei Xian, what's wrong? You were shouting so loudly just now, we were worried something had happened to you, so we came to check on you."

Wei Xian rushed out and cried out to the villagers before him, "My mother...my mother..."

"Alas, the dead cannot be brought back to life, Xiaoxian. I watched you grow up. You can't go on like this. You have to live your own life. You still have a long life ahead of you. You should let your mother rest in peace as soon as possible." Another old man said to Wei Xian with pity.

But Wei Xian didn't say anything, he just kept turning around and pointing into the courtyard. The crowd didn't understand what he meant, so they looked up into the courtyard.

The next moment, Wei's mother's terrifying figure rushed to the door. Her two eyes, which were hanging on her face, swept over everyone and finally turned to Wei Xian's direction. "Xian'er, what are you doing there? Come here quickly, Mother will cook for you."

Then, countless screams, some long and some short, echoed throughout the entire Willow River Village. (End of Chapter)