The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 237 Eternal Life
"Ah, this palm?!" Qi Fei blurted out.

“No wonder you came with the Immortal. I should have realized that something could have led the police to my location.” Old Feng said, his gaze fixed on Qi Fei.

"you know me?"

“You’re a regular in Sanwu Town, of course I know that.”

“We found a dead body in Nancheng. The palm of the body had a special curve, just like yours,” Qi Fei said immediately.

Old Feng wasn't surprised, but asked with concern, "Where did you find it?"

These words left Qi Fei speechless for a moment. He didn't know whether he should tell him that the person was found in his own yard.

“In a courtyard by the Luomeng River,” Zhong Kui said immediately.

"Ah, the Green Dragon Head is trapped, the water ripples and stirs the soul." Old Feng murmured, "This is what you told me back then, Great Immortal, it really is just as you predicted!"

This surprised Qi Fei, who looked at Zhong Kui and asked, "You already knew?"

"I can predict the future, isn't that normal?" Zhong Kui said without any hesitation, and asked Qi Fei in return, "Shouldn't you be concerned about who this wandering soul I'm predicting is?"

"Officer Qi, right?" Old Feng said before Qi Fei could ask. "My name is Feng Yongfu. My younger brother, Feng Yongshou, disappeared 27 years ago. He has been missing for so many years. A few years ago, a celestial being came to Sanwu Town. As soon as he saw me, he knew that someone in my family had disappeared. He also told me what I just said."

He said he would bring my brother back one day, and the immortal kept his word. As he said this, tears welled up in Old Feng's eyes, and his voice began to tremble.

"Why are your palms like this...?" Qi Fei couldn't help but ask.

"Oh! This!" Old Feng said, taking two or three steps to an inconspicuous potter's wheel in the corner. He sat in front of it, turned on the machine, and demonstrated, "Because we learned to make jars from my father when we were very young, when we were throwing the potter's wheel, our hands had to be like this..." Old Feng said, folding his palms, "Shaping along the curve of the jar. Over time, our palms became deformed."

Qi Fei suddenly realized, but in the vast sea of ​​people, the deformity of the hand alone could not prove anything. He pressed on, "Besides the hand, what other features do you, Feng Yongshou, have that can help us identify you?"

Without hesitation, Feng Yongfu said, "One of his lower left molars is decayed and has been covered with silver. Did you notice it?"

Qi Fei nodded in agreement. They had indeed found a tooth encased in silver, and it was almost certain that the deceased was Feng Yongshou.

Nevertheless, Qi Fei was filled with doubts: "From what you're saying, your brother is also in Sanwu Town making urns, just like you? Did you know he went to Nancheng before he disappeared?"

Feng Yongfu shook his head: "My brother never left Sanwu Town in his entire life. Nancheng is neither close nor far from Sanwu Town. I really didn't expect him to die in Nancheng."

Zhong Kui was already sitting in an old-fashioned armchair, smoothing her hair as she said, "I've already heard about Feng Yongshou's disappearance, but I haven't heard about Officer Qi yet. Old Feng, why don't you tell him the story again?"

She gestured for Qi Fei to sit down next to her.

He looked around and realized that at some point, only the three of them were left in the dark old house's living room.

Granny Meng and the Rakshasa seemed to have vanished into thin air.

It seemed that, apart from Zhong Kui, they were neither interested in nor willing to participate in anything else. A few roosters crowed outside, officially signaling the approach of dawn.

I don't know if it's the presence of urns filled with ashes that's causing this place to be so dark and cold.

It's as if the old story needs this setting to fit in.

“If it weren’t for Yongshou’s disappearance, I wouldn’t have been able to inherit this business of selling urns,” Feng Yongfu said, then immediately clarified, “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean to fight for the family business. To be honest, it’s not exactly a respectable line of work. People far and wide can’t do without what we sell, but they also think we’re unlucky, and it’s harder for us to find wives than for others.”

This skill isn't particularly difficult, but it's not exactly easy either. My dad always says that Yongshou is more talented than me.

That's what I really think too.

The urns made by Yongshou are well-shaped and have a good glaze; they sell better than the ones my father made.

Yongshou was a man of few words, but he was single-minded in his work. However, a few months before his disappearance, he suddenly changed.

Those who are often absent-minded will produce jars with various minor problems.

I asked him what was on his mind, but he wouldn't say. He just said he didn't want to do this job anymore.

Later, this situation became more and more serious. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he would wander around the yard alone, muttering to himself.

But as soon as she saw me coming, she pretended to be calm and said that she had just gotten up to go to the toilet.

At that time, my parents were still alive. They saw Yongshou's situation and were worried that the business of selling urns for ashes was associated with evil spirits. They were afraid that he might be possessed by a demon and wanted to take Yongshou to the Wong Tai Sin Temple to exorcise the evil spirits, but Yongshou refused to go no matter what.

I noticed his expression changed completely when he heard the name Wong Tai Sin Temple, so I became suspicious and pressed him to tell me if his worries were related to the temple.

After repeated questioning, he finally stammered that he had seen Wong Tai Sin kill someone.

Once he explained it, we understood.

We live not far from Wong Tai Sin Temple. Yong Shou said that he couldn't sleep that night and went for a walk. He heard noises coming from Wong Tai Sin Temple, so he went in out of curiosity. He saw Wong Tai Sin with his back to him, eating something with his head down. When he looked closer, he found a person lying in front of Wong Tai Sin, who had been disemboweled and had his internal organs pulled out.

He was so frightened that he ran away as fast as he could, not knowing if he had been discovered by Huang Daxian. There was a long-standing rumor in the town that Huang Daxian was a vengeful deity who hated evil, and anyone who offended him would surely die. Yongshou was so afraid of this that he was restless day and night, but he was also afraid of implicating us, so he dared not tell us.

Although Yongshou described it vividly, we didn't take it seriously at the time. We thought that since nothing had happened for so many days, maybe he misjudged us at night.

Unexpectedly, Yongshou immediately said that he had also suspected he was mistaken, but two days later, someone came to order an urn, and that person's appearance was seven or eight parts similar to the one he had seen being eaten by Huang Daxian. He asked the seller for a photo of the deceased, and it was immediately clear that it was the one he had seen. Only then did he realize that he hadn't been mistaken.

"Did he say who that person is?" Qi Fei knew this was no simple matter.

Feng Yongfu shook his head: "If we had known who this person was, we would have gone there when Yongshou disappeared. The person who came to buy the urn wasn't from Sanwu Town; he claimed to be named Dong Nansheng. After Yongshou disappeared, we reported it to the police and mentioned this person's name, but there was no such name in the household registration. It seems he used a fake name." He sighed as he spoke, "Alas, I will never forget that Qingming Festival twenty-seven years ago. We went to Zizai Mountain to pay respects to our ancestors, and the family business needed someone to take care of it. Yongshou volunteered to stay and look after it."