PWE – Chapter 97 She was even more formidable than they imagined.

The man paused for a moment, then continued, “Both the village Party secretary and those few people have developed festering sores on their bodies—black sores! Black vapor is even seeping out of them, and it looks especially terrifying. The village barefoot doctor has already examined them, but he said there’s nothing he can do to treat those sores, because they look like some kind of curse.

“And the Party secretary’s condition keeps getting worse. At first, the sores were only on his face, but later they gradually spread over his entire body. The black vapor also grew thicker, to the point that it completely shrouded them. Ze Yan’s wife, we heard that you can catch ghosts. Since you can catch ghosts, then you must also be able to dispel this curse, right?”

Zhao Lijuan reached out and grabbed Xiao Wange’s arm. “Ze Yan’s wife, all my hope is on you now. You must help your uncle, and also those villagers who’ve been cursed.”

Xiao Wange’s expression turned solemn. “If something happened to Uncle, of course I have to help. Come on—take me to see them first. Let me check the situation before saying anything else.”

“Ah, all right.” As Zhao Lijuan spoke, she turned and led the way ahead.

The village Party secretary and the others were all at the barefoot doctor’s place, so Zhao Lijuan led Xiao Wange in that direction.

…

The barefoot doctor’s home was not far from the village entrance. It took less than ten minutes to arrive.

At this moment, many people were standing in the barefoot doctor’s courtyard—most of the villagers had come.

When they saw Xiao Wange return, their faces lit up with excitement.

They had all heard that Ze Yan’s wife could catch ghosts. If she could catch ghosts, then she surely could dispel curses as well. They believed she would definitely help the village Party secretary and the others turn danger into safety, and that she could resolve this trouble.

Everyone automatically made way for Xiao Wange. The child Zhaozhao, who had been in her arms, had already been taken by Zhao Lijuan.

Holding the child, Zhao Lijuan ushered Xiao Wange into the main hall and said, “Ze Yan’s wife, hurry and take a look… quickly see what’s going on with your uncle and the others.”

Earlier, Ze Yan’s wife had said that this might not necessarily be a curse—perhaps it was something else.

But no matter what it was, it was terrifying. All Zhao Lijuan could do now was hope that Ze Yan’s wife had a way to solve it. If there was no solution… she truly didn’t know what to do.

The village Party secretary was placed on a chair in the center of the main hall, and beside him were the villagers who had gone up the mountain together.

At this point, black vapor was already coiling around their bodies. That vapor looked extremely eerie, like sinister energy rising straight out of hell.

Xiao Wange told Zhao Lijuan to hold the child and stand at the doorway, not to bring the child near the Party secretary and the others. Zhao Lijuan nodded—she understood that children shouldn’t get close. If the child got tainted by something, that would be serious trouble.

Xiao Wange walked up to the Party secretary and lowered her gaze to look at the sores. They were black, and the pus flowing out of them was even blacker, like ink.

Her eyes darkened slightly. She took a handkerchief out of her pocket, preparing to dab a bit of the pus with it.

Seeing her about to touch it, the barefoot doctor hurriedly stopped her. “Ze Yan’s wife, don’t touch that! What if you get cursed too? This curse looks extremely vicious—I’m afraid you might also—”

“This isn’t a curse.” Xiao Wange turned to glance at the barefoot doctor and said calmly.

The village head was standing beside the barefoot doctor. Hearing this, he hurriedly asked, “Not a curse? Then what is it?”

Zhao Lijuan and the villagers outside the hall all stared intently at Xiao Wange, waiting for her answer.

Xiao Wange said, “If I’m not mistaken, this black vapor should be baleful qi, and those sores… should be caused by contact with corpse fluid.”

“Corpse fluid?” Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

The village head said, “But how would they have come into contact with corpse fluid? That kind of thing should only exist in graveyards. They’ve never been to a graveyard—how could they have gotten this on them?”

Besides, even if someone went to a graveyard, it wouldn’t be easy to come into contact with corpse fluid. The bodies are buried properly, and the fluid doesn’t just leak out. So normally, even visiting a graveyard wouldn’t result in encountering such a thing.

Xiao Wange frowned slightly. “It should be that pit. The pit they fell into likely contained corpse fluid.”

“But the Party secretary said that pit was newly formed from a lightning strike—everything inside was charred black, and there was nothing there. If there was nothing, how could there be a corpse? You need a corpse for there to be corpse fluid, right?” the village head asked doubtfully.

The others nodded in agreement.

Yes—there had to be a corpse for there to be corpse fluid.

Xiao Wange looked at the village head. “Those corpses may have been buried deeper down. The Party secretary and the others simply didn’t see them. The corpse fluid is infused with very strong baleful qi. Once this kind of qi enters the body, if it isn’t removed in time, the person will die within a single night.”

Hearing this, Zhao Lijuan’s eyes instantly reddened, and tears began to fall.

The families of the other villagers also started wiping away tears.

Zhao Lijuan said, “Ze Yan’s wife, do you have a way to deal with this? I’m begging you—you must find a way to help your uncle and the others.”

The families of the other villagers also began pleading.

Xiao Wange looked at them, her expression solemn. “Don’t worry. I will help remove the baleful qi and corpse poison from Uncle and the others.”

As she spoke, she dabbed a bit of the pus with the handkerchief and examined it carefully, confirming without a doubt that it was indeed caused by corpse fluid.

She turned to the village head. “Uncle, could you help find some yellow talisman paper and cinnabar? A brush would be best as well. I want to draw talismans. Right now, only talisman paper can save their lives quickly.”

In fact, after coming into contact with corpse fluid, many Daoists choose to use glutinous rice to remove the corpse poison and baleful qi. But glutinous rice works too slowly—and the Party secretary and the others couldn’t afford to wait.

Right now, only talismans would do—using the power of the talisman seals to expel these filthy things.

The village head frowned. “Those items are usually only something Daoists have. There are Daoists in our village, but their family just happened to go visiting another village today, so…”

Finding those items right now was quite difficult.

Xiao Wange knitted her brows.

After a second of silent thought, her expression hardened. Suddenly, she used the index finger of her right hand to slice across her left palm. Instantly, a cut appeared, and bright red blood began to gush out.

The village head and everyone else were stunned by the action.

They stared at the flowing blood, momentarily unable to react.

They never expected that Ze Yan’s wife could cut her own hand open with just her finger—it was as if her finger were a blade.

They had only known that she could catch ghosts, but had never seen her true abilities.

Watching her now, they suddenly realized that she might be… far more formidable than they had imagined.

Xiao Wange only wanted to resolve the Party secretary’s problem as quickly as possible.

Once this was settled, she would go up the mountain.

She was now burning with impatience to investigate the situation on the mountain.

She desperately wanted to know what exactly that “big figure” on the mountain really was.

Her right index finger, stained with blood, moved as she used the blood to draw a talisman on the back of her hand.

She aimed the completed talisman seal toward the village Party secretary and the other villagers, then flipped her wrist and formed a hand seal.

Everyone saw the talisman on the back of her hand suddenly emit a red glow. When that red light shone on the Party secretary and the others, the black vapor around them immediately dissipated by a large amount.