Chapter 25 The Past of Blind Li

Chen Mu's consciousness was forcibly dragged into a dream by the power of the bear paw gloves, but upon opening his eyes, he did not fall into the expected Mass Grave.

What appeared before him was actually the dilapidated yet safe small courtyard of Blind Li.

Where did something go wrong?

Wasn't he supposed to be saving people?

Why was he still here?

As Chen Mu was wondering, he suddenly discovered that he had no hands or feet, not even a torso.

He was like a phantom without a physical form, suspended above the courtyard, looking down at everything here.

The flow of time began to change strangely; he seemed to have returned to a long time ago, with fragmented scenes unfolding one by one before his eyes.

The layout of the courtyard was generally the same as it was now, but it did not look as dilapidated.

Standing in the courtyard was a middle-aged couple.

The man was lean, having just returned home carrying farming tools, his eyes filled with the shrewdness and stubbornness peculiar to farmers.

Returning home, he didn't show a smile, staring straight at a boy playing at the neighbor's house, his eyes revealing envy and a trace of imperceptible anxiety.

The woman was drying clothes nearby, her movements nimble, occasionally stroking her stomach, but a lingering shadow of worry remained between her brows.

"There must be a son! Without a son, I can't even stand tall in the village. Who will take care of us when we are old?"

The man sighed, squatted down to feed the Big Black Dog in the yard, but his eyes darted toward the woman.

"Sigh, the children's father, it's all my fault that my stomach isn't up to the task; I've given birth to two, and they are both girls."

"It's my fault to you, I've let down our old Li family."

The woman lowered her head and replied in a low voice, her words full of self-reproach, not even daring to look at her husband.

The old Li family?!

Chen Mu instantly confirmed that this man was Blind Li when he was young, only he hadn't lost his sight yet.

And this woman, between her brows and eyes, looked exactly like the Cat-Faced Old Woman in the dream.

The Cat-Faced Old Woman and Blind Li were actually a married couple?!

So that was why Blind Li's house was the only safe place in Sangye Village?

Chen Mu felt like he had a clue, but it also felt inexplicably strange, so he simply continued to watch.

The scene shifted, and the couple's life unfolded day by day with the desire for a successor to carry on the family line.

They worked desperately and lived frugally.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of traditional Chinese medicine all day, but the small courtyard was always filled with disappointment and depression.

From time to time, a few thin girls would appear in the small courtyard, taking the initiative to help their mother with light chores.

They looked at their parents with wide, watery eyes, wanting to get even a little bit of praise from their faces, but they were always met with their father's impatient scolding.

"Girls are just money-losing goods sooner or later!"

The girls seemed to have long been used to it, or had completely given up, just burying their heads lower and working harder.

The man would occasionally gently stroke the head of the Big Black Dog in the yard, complaining to it about the dissatisfaction of life, affectionately calling it old buddy.

He was actually more affectionate towards the Big Black Dog than towards his daughters.

Finally, the turning point came; the woman was pregnant again.

On the day of the birth, the man paced back and forth outside the room; the midwife came out with a smile on her face, congratulating them that it was a boy.

The man jumped up happily, his face bursting with ecstasy; he rushed into the room, holding the boy as if he possessed the whole world.

The daughters were completely cast into the corner.

The best food, the most attention, unprincipled favoritism, all poured onto the son.

The son grew up spoiled, his features gradually possessing his father's shrewdness, but lacking a bit of his father's diligence, and having more arrogance and a sense of entitlement.

In the blink of an eye, the daughters reached the age of marriage, and the old couple casually picked husbands for them, sending them off in a hurry, like spilled water.

And when the daughters left, they didn't look back.

Later, the son also reached the age to take a wife, and the old couple happily made arrangements, making a big show of it.

They even gave up the main room, moving into the side room, which was the very room where Chen Mu and Liu Ziming were.

That night, the Big Black Dog wandered at the door of the side room for a long time, nudging the door with its head, but did not enter.

The first few years of life were relatively peaceful; when the grandson was born, the old couple hugged that soft and warm bundle, smiling brightly.

At that moment, it was as if all the hopes of their lives had come to fruition.

However, the dream was soon shattered; as the old couple grew older and their illnesses increased, the daughter-in-law's expression grew colder.

She complained that the old couple ate too much and did too little.

The son initially tried to smooth things over, but gradually he began to echo her.

Until the old man developed cataracts and gradually lost his sight, becoming completely useless and a blind man, the daughter-in-law's insinuations escalated to face-to-face scolding.

Blind Li's face was full of humiliation and disbelief, and he could only smoke silently.

The Old Woman would hide by the stove and secretly wipe away tears, muttering to herself:

"We are old and useless..."

"If I had known today, I should have cherished the girls more back then..."

However, there was no way to regret it. The son became increasingly excessive day by day, even starting to withhold food, and not even giving the old couple firewood in winter.

The Old Woman fell seriously ill from the cold, but the son delayed paying for the doctor again and again.

Blind Li was full of helplessness; in the end, the daughter who had already married sent some copper coins, but that was the end of it, with no further follow-up.

Only the Big Black Dog often ran out of the house, bringing back dry branches to the old couple's room to keep them warm.

It is said that everything is just karma.

The Old Woman's illness recurred, and the son's impatience reached its Peak.

This day, the son and daughter-in-law were whispering in the corner, glancing from time to time in the direction of the Mass Grave outside the village.

Their faces were mixed with annoyance and the relief of seeing the dawn of hope.

A few days later, the son stepped into the side room for the first time, with a smile on his face and poison hidden in his eyes.

"Dad, Mom, your bodies are never well, and the house is noisy, so there's no way to rest quietly. There is a quiet place outside the village; your son will take you there to enjoy life."

"Dad, Mom, don't blame me. Only when the family is harmonious can everything prosper. As long as you are at home for one day, this family will be noisy and never have peace."

"Please cherish your son one more time."

After speaking, without waiting for the old couple to react, the son and a few young and strong men used a broken door panel to carry the constantly begging and crying Old Woman and the hopeless Blind Li towards the Mass Grave.

The Big Black Dog barked, biting the son's pant leg and refusing to let go, only to be kicked away.

The people were carried out of the courtyard, and the dog followed.

Their destination was the Death-Abandonment Kiln in the Mass Grave, two half-person-high kilns, which were living tombs built by the son himself!

Blind Li and the Old Woman were stuffed into the two kilns separately, and the openings were blocked with rubble, leaving only a small gap.

The son seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, not even leaving a meal for the two elders, and left without looking back.

The kiln was dark, rotten, and damp.

The Old Woman initially wept and begged weakly, but gradually only breathing remained.

Blind Li fell into a coma earlier, and by the next day, he no longer sighed.

It was just that there was always a rustling sound at the opening of Blind Li's kiln, as if something was digging at the stones.

On the night of the full moon, the opening of Blind Li's kiln was completely dug open. Crouching at the entrance was the Big Black Dog, its two front paws bleeding, having forcibly dragged the unconscious Blind Li out.

When it went back to dig for the Old Woman, it was already too late.

Because a black cat had gotten into the Old Woman's kiln first...