Just a dozen meters away, beside Li Na's solitary grave, a figure appeared—hair loose and wild—standing motionless.
On such a dark night, in the middle of a deserted field, seeing a shadowy figure like that out of nowhere was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
But after my experience helping the Zhang family relocate their graves, I had faced worse horrors. I stayed relatively calm.
Liu Peng, however, couldn't suppress a startled cry when he saw the figure. Grabbing my arm, he stammered, "Wu Jie… I… I think that looks like Li Na!"
Before I could answer, Li's father rushed toward the figure, tears streaming down his face.
"Nana… it's all my fault. All these years, I was too busy running my business, not caring for you enough. But I had no choice… I had to feed the whole family, pay for you and your sister's schooling… What happened to you? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to do something so foolish?"
Uncle Huzi, worried for Li's father's safety, moved to stop him. But I shook my head.
"No need. There's no danger. That's just a remnant of Li Na's soul."
A remnant soul, born of resentment, is simply the manifestation of lingering grievance.
Humans have three souls and seven spirits. The three souls are the Heavenly Soul, the Earthly Soul, and the Life Soul.
The seven spirits are: Tianchong, Linghui, Qi, Li, Zhongshu, Jing, and Ying—representing joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire.
What we were seeing was just a trace of Li Na's Qi spirit, sustained by her resentment. It had no real power and could dissipate at any time.
Normally, when a person dies, the Heavenly Soul returns to the heavens, the Earthly Soul goes to the underworld, and the Life Soul lingers around the grave. The seven spirits scatter upon death.
But Li Na was different. She had taken her own life, wronged and filled with resentment. That resentment had kept part of her soul from dispersing.
Worse still, someone had tampered with her after death—setting a deadly Extermination Hex.
This curse manipulates the victim's Life Soul, forcing them to destroy their own family until every last one is dead before it will end.
I couldn't understand why anyone would target a family like Li's. They hadn't offended anyone powerful—so why such a vicious act?
As I pondered this, Li's father reached out toward the remnant soul. But it suddenly scattered into nothingness.
"Nana… Nana…" He searched frantically, tears running down his cheeks, but she was gone.
I walked over, patted his shoulder, and said solemnly, "Uncle, it's gone. There's something I haven't told you—Li Na's death is suspicious, and your second daughter's madness is indeed connected to it…"
"But the two of them were so close. How could Nana harm her own sister?" Li's father interrupted in disbelief.
"That's exactly the problem. We need to find out why Li Na killed herself. Her Life Soul has been seized by someone, so I can't question her directly. The person also placed an Extermination Hex at her grave—if left unchecked, your whole family will die within a month. Li Juan will die within seven days, and then you and your wife will lose your minds. After that… no one will escape."
Li's father stared at me, stunned. "Why would anyone do this?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. But we must first break the curse."
"How?" Liu Peng asked.
"I have my ways. First, I'll dismantle the Extermination Hex around Li Na's grave."
I stepped to the small mound of earth—no tombstone, just a rough burial. I took out my compass, scanning the surroundings.
The site wasn't particularly good or bad—just a random spot for the burial. But every grave has its feng shui.
I noted that the site's configuration made the north, northwest, and west positions ideal for the curse's focal points—perfect for maximizing its lethal effect.
After confirming, I put away the compass, paced out the calculations, and stopped. "Here," I said.
Uncle Huzi immediately dug with his dagger. Less than a foot down, we hit something.
It looked like a sword hilt topped with a snake head, tongue flicking. I pulled it out—a blunt dagger-like talisman, etched with dense runes.
"What is it?" Liu Peng reached out, but I stepped away. "Don't touch it—heavy with death energy."
"Why can you touch it?" he muttered, but Uncle Huzi's glare shut him up.
"This is a Funeral Nail—one of three talismans used in an Extermination Hex. The other two should be in the northwest and north."
With the first nail removed, the surrounding energy shifted, and the curse on Li's father weakened.
We moved to the northern spot. This time, Liu Peng volunteered to dig.
That's when things went wrong.