Chapter 53: Three Days’ Deadline

A normal person’s eyes can never truly turn black. At this moment, my mother’s eyes were just like that—an unsettling darkness I had only seen once before, when Uncle Zhongfu was possessed and driven to suicide.

I realized at once: my mother was possessed by a ghost. Snapping back to myself, I hurriedly said, “My mother’s been possessed! Hold her down!”

When someone is possessed, they themselves feel nothing. I watched my mother closely, fearing the ghost might make her harm herself.

“Heh heh.”

My mother suddenly laughed, a chilling sound almost identical to Uncle Zhongfu’s laughter before he tried to kill himself. It sent a shiver down my spine, scalp prickling. Cao Guangshan and the others looked terrified.

I expected my mother to do something drastic, but she stayed seated, her pitch-black eyes fixed on me. I had no idea what the ghost intended or how to drive it out.

The atmosphere in the room grew unspeakably strange.

“Heh heh.”

My mother gave another sinister laugh and said, “Ziwu, if you want your mother safe, find the bronze key near your grandmother, then wait for me to come take it.”

The way she spoke felt eerily familiar—though the voice was a woman’s, her tone was exactly like Grandpa Qin’s.

I understood: Grandpa Qin was controlling the ghost to converse with me.

All this trouble, just for a bronze key?

I thought back carefully—since childhood, I’d never seen a bronze key near my grandmother. “I don’t know what bronze key you’re talking about," I replied. "I’ve never seen any key.”

“Hmph. If you haven’t seen it, search for it. When you find the key, you’ll know it’s what I want. You have three days. Remember, if you haven’t found the key in three days, I’ll show you what true despair is.”

With that, my mother’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed. I rushed to her side, pried open her eyelids, and saw that the ghost seemed to have left.

Ghosts bring cold; wherever they go, the temperature drops. As the room warmed again, I knew the ghost had departed from my mother. I nodded to Uncle Sun Lin and the others—everything was alright.

I glanced at the spells written on my mother’s brow, palms, and soles to prevent possession. I couldn’t fathom why the spells had failed. Before leaving, Xu Buhuo had considered this possibility and prepared accordingly.

Clearly, Grandpa Qin anticipated this, sabotaging the protection so the ghost could possess my mother and speak to me directly.

If he could control possession once, he could do it again. I knew next time, Grandpa Qin would force the ghost to harm my mother.

Recalling his tone during the conversation, I sensed his true nature had been revealed. He was no longer the person I once knew. Having ruthlessly killed Aunt Wang and Liu Laizi, it was obvious he wasn’t merely threatening me to frighten me.

As the room settled, Cao Guangshan asked if, once dawn broke, we should alert the authorities and dispatch people to search for Grandpa Qin, hidden in the shadows. If we caught him, he wouldn’t be able to do a thing.

For a moment, I considered agreeing, but instinctively shook my head.

Science can explain many things, but some are beyond its reach.

Grandpa Qin is no amateur. He’s someone even Grandma fears, someone Xu Buhuo couldn’t contend with. I never doubted his ability to harm others—if he wanted to kill, he could do it without leaving a trace.

And if he truly wanted to hide, even overturning the whole village and its surroundings wouldn’t uncover a single clue.

My mother’s safety was in Grandpa Qin’s hands. Taking action would only provoke him. I couldn’t gamble with my mother’s life; I’d rather play along.

The bronze key near my grandmother.

I racked my brain but still couldn’t recall any bronze key near her. Yet, I was certain this so-called bronze key was tied to her secret.

The old house had been set ablaze. Looking back, it was likely Grandpa Qin’s doing, his aim to find the bronze key hidden by Grandma.

So many lives lost just for a key—I couldn’t comprehend how important it must be, for Grandpa Qin to be so ruthless.

With all that had happened, the four uncles and Cao Guangshan had lost any desire for sleep. After instructing them to watch over my mother, I went to my room, determined to search the things brought from the old house for any sign of the bronze key.

I was curious about what the key looked like—Grandpa Qin had said that as soon as I saw it, I’d know it was what he wanted.

I turned over all the books and notes, found nothing, then focused on the wooden chest beside me.

When I brought it back, I’d wanted to see what was inside—why was it so heavy? But with everything happening, I’d never had the chance.

The wooden chest was secured with a small brass lock. There was no key, so I fetched tools and forced it open.

Inside were many things: copper coins used by Xu Bulao for divination, blood-red iron nails, peach wood nails, numerous talismans, a compass, and other ritual items.

These were Grandma’s treasured belongings, painstakingly collected. I took them out one by one, examining each carefully. Finding nothing, I checked the chest for hidden compartments, but there were none.

Where could it be?

Sitting on the bed, my frustration grew. Time was limited; I had to find the bronze key within three days.

From Grandpa Qin’s tone, I was sure “despair” meant more than just harm to my mother—the entire village could be at risk, and the recently appeared Xiaolong and Xiaoling had clearly been controlled by him.

Reality always breeds despair.

Yesterday, after discovering Grandpa Qin’s identity, I’d been secretly pleased, thinking I could finally stop guessing and calmly solve the matter.

But fate always outwits human plans.

This new trouble left me utterly lost.

Two minds are better than one. I found Cao Guangshan to discuss where the bronze key might be hidden.

Cao Guangshan reasoned that since Grandma had lived in the old house, it was the most likely place to conceal the key. But since the house had burned down, we’d have to wait until tomorrow to search.

After analyzing, he added, “If your grandma knew the key was his goal, maybe she didn’t hide it in the old house but brought it here instead.”

Anything was possible. I just wanted to find the deadly key as soon as possible.

Sitting and thinking was useless compared to action. I immediately began rummaging through the house, searching every corner, but still found no bronze key.

Pausing, I considered that someone as skilled as Grandpa Qin could easily divine the key’s location, if it were easy to find. Yet, he hadn’t gotten it, which meant it was hidden in a place not easily discovered. Grandma must have concealed it well, or Grandpa Qin would have found it by now.

As I thought, I recalled something my mother had mentioned: when she went to find Grandma, she hadn’t found her in the house, but Grandma later emerged from inside, suggesting there was a secret room in the old house.

Perhaps the bronze key was hidden in the secret room.

With that in mind, I suppressed my anxiety, resolved to search the old house again at dawn. Now a burned ruin, all that was needed was to clear away the debris—perhaps the entrance to the secret room would appear.

The latter half of the night was quiet, but no one went to their rooms to sleep; we dozed on chairs.

At dawn, after a quick meal, Cao Guangshan stayed with my mother while I took the four uncles to clear the old house.

The old house was ancient. Though the fire had been contained quickly, most of its contents were destroyed. Early that morning, we cleared away all the debris.

Then I went around the ruins, knocking on walls, floors, every nook and cranny, searching for any sign of a secret passage. Nothing.

I’d been hopeful before we began, but now, empty-handed, I wondered if my mother had been mistaken—maybe Grandma had been inside all along, unnoticed. If there truly was a secret room, how could we not find it?

But then I remembered: if there was no secret room, why would Grandma instruct my mother not to speak of it, emphasizing its secrecy?

Unwilling to give up, we searched again but found nothing and returned to the new house.

Xu Buhuo was nowhere to be seen. Looking at my unconscious mother, I slipped into the room to study Grandma’s books, hoping to find a solution.

In all things, one can only rely on oneself. I knew that everything that had happened lately was due to my ignorance, my reliance on Xu Buhuo, leaving me passive and helpless.

If I understood more, I could solve problems myself, instead of anxiously waiting for Xu Buhuo to resolve everything.

As I read, Uncle Sun Lin entered and asked whether anything else would happen—if not, he’d return home, as there were many things to deal with and waiting indefinitely was impossible.

Knowing Grandpa Qin was behind it all, and after last night’s conversation, I was certain we had three days. It seemed nothing would happen in that time—since Uncle Zhongfu’s suicide attempt, there had been no further strange incidents.

I explained the situation to Uncle Sun Lin, letting them decide whether to stay or leave, since I couldn’t be sure if Grandpa Qin would continue using ghosts to kill them.

Ultimately, the four uncles decided to go, saying nothing would happen during the day and they’d return at night. After seeing them off, a troubling thought struck me.

Since Grandpa Qin was the one orchestrating everything, he must have been behind the ghostly suicides of Brother Li and the others. But what puzzled me was: if Grandpa Qin was manipulating things, how had my father known about these events before his death?

Was my father also killed by Grandpa Qin? Perhaps he’d learned Grandpa Qin’s secret, and Qin had silenced him.

Otherwise, how could he have had a black handprint on his body after passing away?