Chapter Five: Number One Taiping Street

I was pinned beneath that woman, unable to utter a single word. Outside, I heard my grandfather sneer, "I have waited twelve years for you. Now that I’ve finally cornered you here, do you really think I’d let you go?"

"The Yuan family line was supposed to end twelve years ago; today is simply the fulfillment of that calamity."

"If we’re going to fight, then let’s both go down together!"

The woman pinning me down was stunned; she never imagined my grandfather would disregard my life so callously. I was just as bewildered, paralyzed by not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, the sound of hundreds of bells erupted outside the house, ringing frantically. The noise made my scalp prickle and drowned out the roars of the underworld soldiers and the Taoist priests.

Seeming to reach a final resolve, the woman gripped my throat tightly and whispered in my ear, "Yuan Zheng, don't blame me. It was your grandfather who was heartless and refused to save you. If you must blame someone, blame him!"

Back then, I couldn't even catch my breath; how could I care about anything else?

Yet, at that moment, the woman suddenly released her grip. As I instinctively gasped for air, she pressed her lips against mine and forcefully inhaled.

I felt as if all the warmth in my body had been sucked away. A bone-deep chill radiated from my heart, and my limbs felt as if they had frozen solid, losing all sensation. I couldn't even lift them if I tried.

After that single breath, she let me go, wrapped herself in the quilt, and lunged toward the window. I heard a loud *bang*, and she was thrown back onto the *kang* bed, quilt and all.

I struggled to move my eyes and saw her shivering inside the bedding. "Yuan Kaishan, you are ruthless. You even set a trap on your own grandson."

My grandfather didn't answer. Outside, the bell ringing grew more urgent, and heavy, dull footsteps approached the window.

The woman reached a charred hand out from the quilt, groping for my throat. "If your grandfather won't let me live, then you can die with me!"

As I watched that hand inch toward my neck, a pattern resembling cinnabar symbols seeped out from the cracks in the *kang* mat between us. The moment her arm touched the symbols, the bed shuddered violently. With a shrill scream, the woman's arm was severed by the vibration and flung into the air.

"The formation is broken!"

"Get out!"

When the cheers of the underworld soldiers and my grandfather's roar reached me, a thunderous explosion erupted in my ears, and I blacked out on the spot.

When I woke up, the sky was just beginning to brighten. The room was in shambles—the furniture was shattered, and there were scorch marks everywhere. The quilt had been reduced to a pile of gray ash, and the woman was nowhere to be found.

I scrambled up and ran outside, only to be struck dumb by the sight in the courtyard.

The five Taoist priests who had arrived with my grandfather were all hanging dead in my yard. On the doors, the warehouse beams, the trees, and the racks—everywhere a person could be suspended, there hung a corpse with a greenish-blue complexion, blood seeping from their seven orifices. Those five bodies, in particular, stared at me with bulging, fixed eyes.

I stumbled back in terror, only then noticing my grandfather leaning weakly against the doorframe, beckoning me. A priest’s corpse swayed back and forth right above his head.

I rushed over to support him. "Grandfather, are you alright?"

"I’m fine, just a bit tired," he said, gesturing to the corpses. "Am I impressive? I hung them all up. As long as I have a breath left in me, no one will touch you."

He pointed to his pocket. "Take out the wallet. Find the person at the address inside; he will tell you everything."

I supported him, my tears falling uncontrollably. "Grandfather, if I leave, what will happen to you?"

He smiled. "Don't worry, I won't die. I still have to clean up this mess. Go quickly. You can't help me here."

He stroked my face. "You must arrive before dark. That woman in red escaped; she might try to haunt you again. Once you reach the place I told you, you’ll be safe."

"Last night, the Underworld Marshals came. I reached an agreement with them: the underworld will not seek you out until you are thirty-six. But I have to do something for them in return."

"Go and live in the place I told you. Follow that man's instructions."

He shoved the wallet into my hand. "Go! I will find you once I’ve finished my business. Don't worry!"

My eyes burned with fresh tears. "Grandfather, what business do you have to do for them? Is it dangerous?"

He smiled. "Yuan Zheng, remember: a man must walk through fire and steel at least once in his life, and he must bear the weight of both praise and infamy."

"Once you've made up your mind, no matter how difficult it is, you must see it through."

"Go! Don't worry about me. Your grandfather has great abilities! I held off all those underworld soldiers last night; there's nowhere I cannot go."

Reassured by his words, I ran out of the village and caught the first long-distance bus of the morning to the provincial capital.

I didn't stop for a second along the way. By the time I found "No. 1 Taiping Street" on the address, it was already dark.

My grandfather had told me to find someone, but he hadn't told me who. What was I supposed to say when someone opened the door?

I peeked around the entrance for a long while before finally ringing the bell. To my shock, the man who opened the door was "my grandfather."

I was frozen in place. After a few seconds, I tentatively called out, "Grandfather?"

The man opposite me smiled. "You must be Yuan Zheng? You look just like your father. Calling me 'grandfather' is fine, I suppose. Come in, let's talk inside!"

As the old man with a tobacco pipe led me into the courtyard, I realized how he differed from my grandfather.

My grandfather walked with his back straight and a brisk, powerful gait. This old man, however, was hunched over, swaying with every step as if a gust of wind could blow him away.

My grandfather loved to drink but never smoked. This old man’s fingers were stained yellow from nicotine, and he reeked of smoke from a distance—he was clearly a lifelong smoker.

This man was not my grandfather, yet how could he look exactly like him? Even I had been fooled.

The old man brought me into the room, served me water and a meal, and then placed an identity card on the table. "Take a look."

The card clearly read "Yuan Kaishan"!

Wasn't that my grandfather's name?

I snatched the card and examined it carefully. The ID number was identical to my grandfather's.

What was going on?