Chapter 45: Folk Forbidden Art: The Three Corpses Blocking Wealth (Part 7)

The shop assistant stared at the bat flying toward her, screaming in terror. Instinctively, she scrambled in every direction, desperate to evade its attack. Panic-stricken and having lost all reason, she stumbled blindly into the middle of the road. No matter how she dodged, she could not escape the strange creature; it seemed as if the bat could pass right through her body. One moment it landed on her chest, only to suddenly appear on her back; the next it was on her head, then instantly upon her face. To the woman, the experience was utterly horrifying. She jumped and flailed, slapping wildly at her own head and cheeks, her mouth filled with panicked cries.

"Help! Help, there's a bat, a bat is biting me..."

Pedestrians stopped in their tracks, watching her with bewildered expressions. They wondered if the woman had lost her mind, shrieking in the middle of the road and obstructing traffic. Many looked on with expressions of disgust. Because she was wearing high heels, her frantic jumping caused her to snap a heel, making her lose her balance and crash to the ground. At that exact moment, a car came speeding toward her.

Seeing the woman fall, the bat ceased its assault and flew toward the oncoming vehicle, vanishing the moment it struck the car. It was a city street with a speed limit of thirty miles per hour; the driver, seeing the person on the road, instinctively slammed on the brakes. Strangely, the brand-new car’s brakes failed at that very moment. No matter how much force the driver exerted, the car would not stop. He could only watch in horror as the vehicle rolled over the woman.

Oddly, after the front wheels passed over her legs, the rear tires came to a firm halt directly on top of her, and the engine suddenly stalled. The tires remained pinned on her legs, and though the driver tried frantically to restart the car, it would not turn over, nor would the vehicle budge. From beneath the car came the woman’s miserable wailing, until she eventually lost consciousness from the pain.

Li Chengfeng, standing not far away, had seen everything clearly. He had wanted to rush over to save her, but it had all happened too quickly. Stunned and filled with a lingering sense of dread, Li looked up at the sign for the Shenghai Gold Shop. He had seen the bat attack the assistant and then fly into the car. Having opened his Heavenly Eyes, he knew his vision had not deceived him. He realized then that the assistant’s sudden miscarriage and this woman’s inexplicable dash into the road were no accidents—they were likely the result of the "Three Corpses Wealth-Blocking Technique."

Wang Bin, also startled by how suddenly everything had unfolded, felt a pang of pity for the woman with her crushed legs and asked with confusion, "What is going on? Is that woman crazy? Why would she suddenly run into the middle of the road screaming about a bat? There wasn't any bat; she was just shouting and lying down in front of a car. Is she trying to commit suicide?"

Li Chengfeng frowned slightly, voicing his deduction. "This must be the work of the Three Corpses Wealth-Blocking Technique."

"No way! Doesn't that technique only block someone's wealth? How could it drive someone insane?"

"It’s not insanity. There really was a bat attacking her."

Because Li Chengfeng had cast the technique on a "Triple Break Day," it could not only break one’s wealth but also shatter one’s body and destiny. The bloody disaster they were witnessing was the "breaking of the body."

Wang Bin asked, wide-eyed, "Then... what should we do? Will the people inside the Shenghai Gold Shop keep having accidents?"

Li Chengfeng nodded. This was something he hadn't anticipated; the folk taboo of the Three Corpses was far more vicious than he’d imagined. It didn't just block wealth; it could claim lives. He had only intended to teach the shop a lesson, not to harm anyone. Now that two employees were hospitalized, he could only wonder what would happen next.

The same ambulance arrived quickly, taking the injured woman to the hospital. Her legs were crushed, and she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. With such a tragedy having occurred, Li Chengfeng and Wang Bin had no heart to continue their errands. Worried that more staff might be harmed, they returned to the fried chicken shop.

Around nine o’clock that night, Han Lili walked out of the Shenghai Gold Shop, and the two security guards on duty locked the doors behind her. Han Lili had lost her former arrogance; she looked haggard and exhausted. Not long after she left the store, she heard the sound of a cat behind her. The cry was hollow and piercing, as if it had come from the netherworld, drilling through her ears and into her brain, causing a wave of discomfort.

Han Lili shivered and turned to look, spotting a scrawny stray cat crouching nearby, staring right at her. With a look of disgust, she spat, "Get lost! Don't follow me!"

As if the cat understood, it suddenly vanished. Han Lili rubbed her eyes in confusion. Where had it gone? It had been right there by the door. She assumed she must be hallucinating from exhaustion and dismissed it. She turned and walked toward her car, failing to notice that the moment she opened the door, the skinny stray cat leaped from beside her feet and into the vehicle.

Li Chengfeng had witnessed the entire scene. He wanted to warn Han Lili not to drive that night, but thinking of her usual arrogant and overbearing demeanor, he realized she would only humiliate him in return for his kindness. He abandoned the thought and watched as she drove away.

As soon as Han Lili reached the main road, she heard the sound of a cat inside the car. She glanced toward the sound and saw the thin cat, which seemed to shift from a blur into a clear form, crouching on the passenger seat. Han Lili was enraged. How had a stray cat gotten into her car and dirtied the seats? She didn't realize that the cat had materialized out of thin air.

"Damned stray, you dare get in my car? I'll smash you to death!"

With her left hand on the steering wheel, Han Lili grabbed a steel thermos with her right and swung it at the cat.

"Meow..."

A piercing screech echoed through the car. The cat leaped into the air, passing straight through the swinging thermos and landing directly on the steering wheel. Han Lili was terrified, her face pale as she slapped wildly at the cat, completely forgetting that the car was in motion. The vehicle lost control, careening across the road. Pedestrians scrambled for safety, and several other cars were struck. Finally, Han Lili’s car plowed into a milk tea shop, leaving the store in ruins and injuring two customers.

Because the speed wasn't high, Han Lili only suffered minor scratches. When she finally calmed down, the cat on the steering wheel was gone. Looking at the carnage on the street and the ruined shop, she realized the magnitude of her disaster.

The traffic police arrived quickly. Han Lili insisted that a cat had jumped onto her steering wheel, causing the accident. But no one had seen a cat. The police suspected her of drunk driving, but blood tests came back clean. They suspected mental instability, but psychological evaluations showed she was completely normal. She kept trying to explain, but no one believed her.

Fortunately, no one was severely injured, and the police did not press criminal charges, settling for having her compensate everyone for their losses. Han Lili was left helpless; her savings of several years were wiped out, including the 800,000 she had swindled from Li Chengfeng and her 50,000 in commissions.

After everything was settled, she thought back to the cat. She remembered clearly that when she swung the thermos, it had passed through the cat as if it were air. Terrified to the depths of her soul, she dared not return to work at the Shenghai Gold Shop. The headquarters had no choice but to send a new manager.

In the days that followed, the Shenghai Gold Shop was plagued by bizarre incidents, with many employees suffering mysterious, bloody disasters. Whenever the full moon shone on the shop’s sign, the night guards could hear the mournful cries of cats, crows, and bats at the door. The guards, terrified, all resigned. Because of the constant string of disasters, the shop was forced to close for reorganization, and news of the events eventually reached the ears of the owner, Deng Sihai.