I only felt a heavy pressure on my chest, as if a large stone was pressing down, making it difficult to breathe. My heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped. How could he suddenly appear behind me?
Zhang Pingliang appeared very suddenly, like a ghost, silently materializing behind me. The divination indicated someone was indeed behind me, but when I glanced over earlier, there was nothing. For this blood corpse to appear at this moment, wasn't it trying to kill me?
At such close range, let alone for me, a useless person not skilled in combat, even Zhang Dabiao, in my current predicament, would be unable to escape the attack of a blood fiend. I resigned myself to my fate.
I accepted my master's words that performing a second divination was inauspicious. I simply waited for the blood fiend to strike. Perhaps I would also turn into a blood fiend, or perhaps I would be bitten to death directly.
After waiting for a long time, its attack did not come. Instead, it stood there behind me, like a sculpture. I tried to turn my head, and indeed, it was there, its body half-bent, its empty eye sockets stiffly fixed forward, as if watching the scene in my iron bowl.
I scrambled forward a distance, holding the Yin Yang Iron Wood Ruler in front of my chest, guarding against a sudden lunge. Although I knew it would have little effect.
After a stalemate of more than ten minutes, Zhang Pingliang did not move, still maintaining the same stiff posture. This allowed me to relax my heightened nerves somewhat, and I couldn't help but call out, "Uncle Zhang?"
I had expected him not to react, but to my surprise, he uttered a "Mm" from his mouth. It wasn't loud, sounding as if it came from the netherworld, but in this space where I was the only living person, it was undeniably loud, like a bomb.
"You..."
His "Mm" left me unable to complete my sentence. After all, he was a blood fiend! By nature, they only knew slaughter and lacked the intelligence of some lingering spirits. Yet, he actually replied to me and even knew to respond. This completely overturned my understanding.
Just as I was contemplating how to communicate with him, three more words entered my ears.
"Song... Ming... Yuan..."
Upon hearing these words, I jumped up on the spot as if startled by a mule. This time, I was absolutely certain, and confirmed, that the speaker was Zhang Pingliang, who had now become a blood fiend. If it were only this, I wouldn't have been so shocked, because the three words he spoke were precisely my father's name.
From this, it seemed that even though he had transformed into a blood fiend, he hadn't completely lost his mind as I had imagined, becoming a blood demon that killed anyone it saw.
"You... you knew my father?" I asked subconsciously.
After a good while, Zhang Pingliang spoke again, "Friend... good."
Friend? Good?
Good friend, perhaps?
Since we could communicate, my guard was completely lowered. As long as he didn't attack, everything would be fine. At the very least, my life was secured. Moreover, he and my father were good friends in life, so the possibility of him attacking me should be slim.
With my heart at ease, I suddenly couldn't think of what to ask.
I imagined that my master had likely never encountered a situation where one conversed with a blood fiend. After all, in the realm of the supernatural, blood fiends represented slaughter and had no humanity whatsoever; only blood could bring them deep peace.
Just because I wasn't speaking didn't mean Zhang Pingliang had nothing to say.
"Skin... character... exchange... home..."
Seeing me, Zhang Pingliang took out the white fox skin from behind him. My heart warmed, but then I frowned again because I didn't understand what he meant.
"Skin" was understandable, referring to the white fox skin. But what did "character" mean? Apart from some stains, there were no "characters" on the fox fur! Did he want me to exchange the fox fur for Zhang Dabiao's safety and then go home?
I voiced my thoughts, expecting this to be the meaning. However, after waiting for a long time, I only received one word.
"Stupid..."
I almost spat blood onto the ground, thinking to myself, you speak one word at a time, how could I possibly know what you mean? It was already good that I could guess one or two things. I didn't believe there was anyone in this world who wouldn't tremble or want to flee when facing a blood fiend. The fact that I could stand here without being scared unconscious was already a great deal for me, although I really wanted to run. Sudan Novel Network.
"Uncle Zhang, can you please speak a few words at once? You make me feel a bit stupid! I can't understand your meaning at all."
I didn't dare call him stupid, but rather called myself stupid. Being able to communicate simply was already very good. If I said something wrong and angered him, it would be a loss that outweighed any gain.
As soon as I finished speaking, Zhang Pingliang's stiff body suddenly straightened. His two dark, sunken eyes suddenly turned blood-red, staring intently at me. Two fangs, over an inch long, grew out from his upper lip. It looked like I would meet my end on the spot if I said another wrong word.
His change startled me. I hadn't said anything, just asked him to explain himself more clearly, and now he was about to attack?
"Pig..." The voice was laced with anger, and faintly, with a trace of malevolence.
Needless to say, I must have misunderstood his meaning and angered him. It made sense; if he could communicate like a normal person, why would he speak one word at a time? My question was wrong, and I deserved the scolding.
"Uncle... Uncle Zhang, please calm down. Don't make a move. We can talk this through..." My mouth said this, but I still applied the Heavenly Skill Seal to myself. Even if I couldn't escape, I could at least live a little longer.
"Skin... character... exchange... home..." He repeated the same four words, then held the white fox in his hand towards me again, his meaning clear: he wanted me to take the white fox skin.
By now, I had some idea of what he meant. He probably wanted me to take the white fox skin, which should have some characters on it, and use it to exchange for Zhang Dabiao's safety, and then quickly go home.
When I stated my thoughts again, his expression indeed returned to its former appearance, covered in red fur, and he even said "good."
Using the Yin Iron Wood Ruler, I picked up the white fox skin and placed it on the ground. Zhang Dabiao had told me before that it carried something inauspicious, a curse from the fox clan, so I should avoid contact if possible. He hadn't elaborated on what kind of curse it was.
After placing the fox skin on the ground and smoothing it out, I discovered there were indeed characters on it. However, these characters were obscured by bloodstains, making it impossible to recognize what was written. If only there was water.
Looking at the iron bowl lying askew, I felt a surge of joy. Fortunately, I hadn't thrown it away directly earlier. Although some water had spilled, there was still a little more than half left, enough to clean the bloodstains from the fox skin.
After cleaning the bloodstains, I found that it depicted a person sitting cross-legged, with some black and white patterns. Beside the figure were small, fingernail-sized characters, curved and difficult to discern.
After looking for a long time, I finally recognized the first few characters. This was because they were not modern script, but rather characters from the Yin-Shang period. They were very similar to the characters in the "Wen Wang Yin Shen Gua" (King Wen's Yin Spirit Divination).
The topmost characters, I recognized from the "Wen Wang Yin Shen Gua" that my master had shown me, but I couldn't identify the specific name. I only recognized one character: "Jie" (截).