Li Mazi skillfully fetched a bucket of water from the ancient well. What made me curious was... what was he trying to do by fetching water in the middle of the night?
Next, he poured the water into a big pot and added some firewood so that he could light a fire.
Although his actions seemed somewhat unnatural, one could tell that he was very familiar with them. Nevertheless, I couldn"t make any sense of what he was trying to achieve.
Then, he started to loudly cry while facing the well. After he was finished crying, he abruptly laughed. The scene was as scary as one could imagine.
I took a deep breath and decided to wake Li Mazi up to put an end to this matter.
But, just as I got closer, Li Mazi held his belly and started to painfully roll on the ground.
His expression was one of agony, as though he was experiencing some excruciating pain. The strangest thing was that his mouth was wide open like he was screaming, but no sound came out of his throat.
Li Mazi"s actions gave me a scare, and I subconsciously retreated two steps.
Li Mazi rolled in pain under the moonlight. Then, after some time, he resisted the pain and got up. He soaked the towel in hot water, covered the crotch of his pants, and started to rub it gently.
He was exerting all his strength and concentrating his efforts on the lower part of his body. After going on for quite a while, his whole body suddenly relaxed. He lay on the ground and gasped for breath as though he’d finished some strenuous exercise.
In the meantime, I was shocked... because I’d finally figured out what Li Mazi had been trying to do earlier—he was giving birth!
There was no mistaking it. All the actions just now were the actions a pregnant woman would perform during childbirth.
Now that the delivery was complete, Li Mazi naturally lay on the ground, exhausted.
At this time, I had a sudden realization. I had an idea as to what that embroidered shoe might be...
Was this the rumored "Mother-Child Flesh Mark"?
Since I’d discovered the origin of the embroidered shoe, there was no need to make Li Mazi go through all this suffering. At this time, he’d already taken out that pair of scissors, ready to cut his "umbilical cord".
I rapidly ran back to the room, grabbed all the vegetable oil in Li Mazi"s home, and poured it on his head and the embroidered shoe.
In the past, my grandfather had told me that what gave birth to the "Mother-Child Flesh Mark" was the resentment of a pregnant woman. The hate a nine-month-pregnant woman would feel if she were to die during the delivery was very difficult to dispel. Very often, this hate and resentment would permeate the clothing that the victim was wearing back then.
This clothing contaminated with resentment then took the name of "Mother-Child Flesh Mark".
All those that came in contact with the "Mother-Child Flesh Mark" would get affected by a strange form of somnambulism, and start to perform all the actions the pregnant woman had performed before her death. For example, was.h.i.+ng the dishes, doing the laundry, giving birth to a child, and so on.
Although it wouldn"t directly endanger a person"s life, it might cause them to go crazy.
It wasn"t difficult to deal with the "Mother-Child Flesh Mark". What it feared the most was oil, and as long as one sprinkled some of it on the person affected by somnambulism, they would immediately wake up.
Sure enough, Li Mazi immediately returned to his senses when I poured the oil on his head. He wailed and got up from the ground, scrambling away from the well.
I quickly chased after him and stopped him. "Li Mazi, calm down. Everything is fine!"
Only after I’d rea.s.sured him did he calm down a little. He grabbed my arm and said, "Little Brother Zhang, you surely know how to deal with this shoe, right? s.h.i.+t, just now, I really felt as though I was a pregnant woman giving birth to a child..."
I solemnly said to Li Mazi, "Li Mazi, listen to me. This thing you chanced upon is called a "Mother-Child Flesh Mark", and it"s a rather sinister otherworldly item. I don"t have complete a.s.surance of dealing with it just yet. Anyway, I need you to get me some breast milk and olive oil. I don"t need much, just 30 ml and 50 ml of each is enough. Now, go. Otherwise, it might be too late."
After hearing my words, Li Mazi was dumbfounded. "I can buy olive oil at the supermarket, but where am I supposed to get breast milk? It"s not like I can milk it out."
I was nervous already, and Li Mazi still had the time to make jokes. I got angry and told him, "If you don"t know where to find those things, don"t bother, and I won"t be bothering to deal with this matter, either."
Then, I reminded him that if he couldn"t find what I’d requested within half an hour, not even if my grandfather were to come would we be able to save the situation.
After seeing my expression, Li Mazi also understood that the situation was serious. Therefore, he didn"t waste time and immediately rushed out.
At the same time, I hurried back into the room. Li Mazi"s son was already awake at this time, and he looked at me with eyes full of fear.
I swiftly untied the rope binding his body and said, "Go to a heavily populated area and don"t return home tonight. If you don"t see your father or me tomorrow, don"t come looking for us. We"ll come back on our own."
Li Mazi"s son was also aware of the strange events that had taken place in the past few days. After seeing my serious expression, he was frightened and repeatedly nodded his head.
After seeing off Li Mazi"s son, I didn"t waste time and searched for another barrel of vegetable oil in the room. I cut a hole into it and threw the embroidered shoe inside.
I carefully observed the shoe and discovered that the red color above gradually faded. At the same time, the yellow-colored vegetable oil gradually became blood-red.
I gasped. If this shoe was really the so-called "Mother-Child Flesh Mark", I wasn"t sure I could get rid of it.
I kept observing the embroidered shoe. The shoe was currently immersed in the cooking oil, not moving in the slightest. The surrounding quietness was almost scary, and even the sound of my heartbeat was audible.
Ten minutes... twenty minutes... twenty-five minutes... time pa.s.sed by, but I still didn"t hear Li Mazi"s voice from the courtyard.
I was currently burning with impatience. Keeping things under control for around half an hour wasn"t difficult, but it was unknown if the oil container could keep the embroidered shoe suppressed after this half an hour was over!
I inwardly cursed Li Mazi"s eighteen generations. The remaining time quickly flew by, and in the last three minutes, Li Mazi finally returned. He was gasping for breath as he barged into the house, handing me a bottle of olive oil and another one of milk. "f.u.c.k, I"m dead tired. I made it in time, right?"
I didn"t have the time to manage Li Mazi. I directly poured the olive oil and breast milk into a washbowl. After mixing them up, I soaked the embroidered shoe in the liquid.
Speaking of strange things, as soon as I placed the embroidered shoe in the washbowl, the liquid inside started boiling.
The embroidered shoe moved up and down in the liquid, without sinking.
After seeing the scene, Li Mazi was dumbfounded. "This... just what is happening?"
My palms were sweating, and I didn"t dare to look away from the washbowl.
Only when the liquid stopped boiling—and the embroidered shoe sank—was I able to heave a sigh of relief. I squatted down and wiped the sweat off my forehead. "Success."
Li Mazi also heaved a sigh of relief. "Good, good."
"Good your sister." I glared at Li Mazi. "This method can only suppress it for a limited amount of time; it can"t suppress it forever! After 10-15 days, this embroidered shoe will start causing trouble again. At that time, you won"t get rid of it even if you move house."
Li Mazi was dumbfounded and asked, "What should we do next?"
I took a deep breath and said, "First, we have to make sure that what we’re dealing with is indeed the "Mother-Child Flesh Mark"!"