It was already late when I got home. I carried the Flesh-and-Blood Urn into my room, stuffed two balls of cotton into my nostrils, and put on two layers of masks before reopening it.
Even so, the stench still hit me in the face, burning my eyes.
The man who had set up the "Extinction Curse" at Li Na's grave had used the vengeful spirits of those who died tragically—trapped inside this Flesh-and-Blood Urn—as the core of the formation. My next move was to completely enrage those spirits. That way, the one who made this urn would suffer the full brunt of their wrath—possibly so much that he'd lose his life.
The only way for him to survive would be to retrieve the urn and find a way to calm the spirits inside. But since the urn was now in my possession, he'd have to find me first. When that happened, I could use it to bargain for Li Na's soul. Once I had her life-soul, I could finally learn the truth about why she killed herself.
Enraging the spirits inside was easy—just toss something filthy inside, like feces or urine.
After opening the urn, I leaned over and poured in a stream of fresh boy's urine—enough to make those "gentlemen" choke on it for days.
I had barely finished when Uncle Hu, who lived in the next room, shouted, "Young master, what the hell are you doing in there? It stinks to high heaven!"
Yeah, this thing was potent. The smell carried so far that even he could catch it. I quickly slammed the lid back on and shoved the urn into a corner.
After half a day's work, I was exhausted. I opened the window to air the place out, lay down, and was out like a light.
I didn't expect the same dream to come again that night.
In it, Li Na appeared, dripping wet, tears in her eyes. She kept repeating three words: "Help me…"
This time, I gave her a firm answer. "Don't worry, Li Na. I will save you."
I didn't wake until noon the next day.
As soon as I got up, Uncle Hu called out a greeting before heading off to buy groceries for lunch.
I noticed my phone had a ton of unread QQ messages.
It turned out Liu Peng had been chatting away with classmates since around eight in the morning, bragging about how I'd gone to Li Na's grave last night to break the curse. He'd even spiced up the story so much that he'd practically turned me into some legendary figure.
Back in school, I was practically invisible—no one paid me much attention. But after Zhang Yunyao exposed my identity at Wang Chaoyang's banquet, people's attitudes had clearly shifted.
When I logged in, I found plenty of friend requests waiting. I couldn't be bothered, so I just set myself to invisible and logged out.
That was when a knock came at the courtyard gate.
Thinking it was Uncle Hu, I went to open it, but standing there were several strangers.
Their faces made it clear they weren't here for tea and cookies.
The one in front was bald, with a face like a slab of meat and a scar across his cheek. He carried a metal case. Behind him stood four burly men, each looking at me with open hostility.
"Who are you looking for?" I asked.
"You're Wu Jie, right?" The bald man eyed me coldly.
"That's me. What do you want?"
"Let's talk inside," he said, striding into the courtyard as if he owned the place, his men following close behind.
My face hardened. I followed them in and sat down on a stone stool.
It was obvious they were here to cause trouble.
"Say what you came to say," I told him, voice cold.
Without a word, the bald man set his case on the stone table, flipped it open, and pushed it toward me. Inside was a neat stack of cash—half a million yuan.
"This is fifty thousand US dollars," he said. "Take it. I'm here to tell you something: from now on, the Li family's business has nothing to do with you. Don't stick your nose in again." His narrowed eyes glinted like shards of broken glass.
I smiled faintly. "Tell me—who sent you?"
"You don't need to know. Just take the money and stay out of it."
"And if I don't?" I asked, meeting his gaze without flinching.
The moment I said that, his face and those of his men darkened. One of them even reached toward his waistband.
"What's going on here!?"
The shout came from behind me. Uncle Hu was striding in from the gate with a basket of vegetables, and in a few quick steps, he planted himself between me and them.
"We came here to warn Wu," the bald man said coldly. "This is the first and last time—stay out of the Li family's business."
"Get the hell out of here!" Uncle Hu barked. "Do you know whose place this is? If you want to die, do it somewhere else!"
With that, he kicked the money case off the table, sending it skidding across the yard.
The bald man's men bristled, their tempers flaring.
"Fine, you asked for it! Take them out!" the bald man snapped.
One of the thugs rushed forward, but Uncle Hu hurled his basket of vegetables into them, then charged. His shoulder slammed into the lead attacker, launching the man five or six meters through the air. He hit the ground and didn't get up again.
Another man came at him with a knife. Uncle Hu caught his wrist, twisted hard—crack—and the man's scream split the air as the blade clattered to the ground.
Uncle Hu snatched it up, rolled to the side, and slashed another man's thigh. Blood sprayed across the courtyard.
In one smooth motion, he drove the knife into the shoulder of the last attacker.
I just stood there, stunned.
Uncle Hu… was this fierce?
Four men down in less than a minute.
Then he turned and strode toward the bald man.
The thug leader, who'd been all swagger a moment ago, actually stumbled back a few steps under that murderous glare. "Y-you… you can't hit me—violence is against the law…"