Everyone present was smart.
Except for Niannian, who was innocent and unfamiliar with the ways of the world, the others almost instantly understood the Fatty's mother's thoughts when they saw her intense reaction.
Oh.
She had been so tough when scolding just now, insisting that her son was completely innocent.
She pretended to know nothing.
Now this reaction was like having the word "shielding" printed on her forehead.
Boss Hu, who had been sharing the same bed with Fatty's mother for so many years, knew his wife's temper best.
He quickly reacted.
His face darkened like ink. He stepped forward and grabbed Fatty's mother's wrist.
Then he turned to the nanny and said, "I'm not dead yet! She has no say in this family. Go get a shovel."
Oh.
Not the whole family was pretending to be stupid.
It seemed that Boss Hu really didn't know about this.
The nanny glanced at Fatty's mother. After struggling hard to break free from her hand, she quickly went to the front yard to get a spade.
Without anyone's order, she started digging hard in the corner.
After a few shovels, the originally grayish - brown soil showed streaks of bright red blood.
Watching the corpses of the already dead animals being dug out one by one, Fatty's mother slumped to the ground.
It was over.
All was over.
It was completely exposed this time.
The sins buried in the soil seemed endless.
Kittens and puppies as small as a palm, emaciated adult cats and dogs, little birds, squirrels...
Almost all common and uncommon pet - type animals appeared in front of them.
Without exception, they all died miserably.
Many were disemboweled, revealing the fully - formed or half - formed fetuses inside.
The nanny couldn't hold it anymore and threw the spade aside to vomit.
Boss Hu continued to dig, but soon joined the vomiting group.
Chu Dacheng endured for a while, and then endured some more.
Finally, he couldn't hold it back either.
Shen Weixun looked at the sins all over the ground with a calm expression.
Niannian had a strong endurance and didn't feel nauseous.
Different from Shen Weixun's coldness.
Niannian's eyes were full of pity and sadness.
The state that little Yuantuan showed was very inconsistent with her age.
An ordinary child would probably have been scared to cry at the sight of this scene.
She struggled and wriggled her body, and Shen Weixun put her on the ground according to her wishes.
Little Yuantuan wasn't scared at all.
She only felt the wails and pains from the little animals.
It was so despairing and sad.
All living things had spirits. They weren't humans, but they were also lives.
Niannian took out a talisman paper from her satchel.
Different from the yellow talisman papers she usually used, this one faintly emitted a golden light.
She gently placed the talisman paper in the dug - out pit.
She lowered her head, closed her eyes, and slowly recited the incantation.
"By the supreme edict, I transcend your lonely souls. All ghosts and spirits, all sentient beings in the four realms shall receive grace. Those with heads shall be transcended, those without heads shall ascend. Those killed by guns or knives... All those under the edict shall be quickly reborn. All those under the edict shall be quickly reborn."
Her voice was ethereal, warm, and full of mercy.
It was as if it hit the soul directly, bringing peace and comfort.
Little white lights drilled out from the corpses of the animals.
The color of the light was so faint that it was almost negligible.
But when numerous light dots gathered together, they emitted an extremely powerful and dazzling light.
Shen Weixun watched Niannian's actions, his eyes full of heartache, but he didn't stop her or interrupt her.
Niannian was performing a rite of passage for these animals.
These animals died a violent death. If there were only one or two, it wouldn't be difficult to send them to the afterlife, but there were too many animals here.
Gathered together, it was more strenuous than forcibly transcending a century - old fierce ghost.
This was a great consumption for Niannian.
Shen Weixun knew that after the rite of passage, Niannian would be weak for at least a week.
This weakness wasn't about being unable to move around.
It was almost like being completely paralyzed.
But he couldn't stop her.
This was Niannian's own will, and this was her path.
"By the supreme edict, I transcend your lonely souls. Break free from the sea of suffering and be reborn as a human."
As the last word was spoken, the talisman on the wall instantly turned into ashes.
At the same time, a golden light drilled out from Niannian's body and wrapped around the white light group in front of her.
Her eyebrows were knitted into a frown.
Her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.
Shen Weixun widened his eyes and wanted to stop her, but it was too late.
A black hole connecting to the underworld suddenly appeared. The white light drilled in and then disappeared instantly.
Niannian was completely exhausted. She had no strength at all, and her small body swayed unsteadily and was about to fall backward.
Shen Weixun was quick - eyed and quick - handed. He scooped little Yuantuan into his arms, his heart aching so much that he could hardly breathe.
"Why do you have to do this?"
"Senior brother, all living things have spirits. I want them to have a better life in the next life."
Little Yuantuan's small face was pale, and it was even difficult for her to speak.
After a long silence, all the words finally turned into a sigh.
"Alas... You're so silly."
Little Yuantuan was born with merits.
All the senior brothers and the master in the Taoist temple knew this.
Merits were not easy to come by. An ordinary person doing good deeds like handing in lost money or helping an old lady cross the road every day could only accumulate a little bit in a lifetime.
Some people donated all their wealth to do charity, but the merits they accumulated were only a thin layer.
Saving a life could indeed accumulate a lot of merits.
But the premise was that there was no expectation of reward, not a single cent was taken, and no feedback was received.
Little Yuantuan was covered with a thick layer of merit light when she was a baby.
They used to joke and guess that Niannian must have been a remarkable person in her previous life, so she was born with such a strong sense of merit.
Just now, the light that drilled out of Niannian's body was merit.
Shen Weixun remembered asking his master.
Could merits be consumed?
The master gave him an answer.
If one did evil, the merits would naturally be consumed, and the sins would be offset and disappear without even noticing.
If the merits were forcibly extracted, whether voluntarily or not, it was like cutting flesh and bones.
It felt as if the soul was being peeled off.
His little Yuantuan must have been in so much pain at the moment when the merits were extracted just now...
"Senior brother, don't cry, don't cry. I'm okay."
Niannian suddenly saw that her third senior brother's eyes were filled with tears and his eyes were slightly red. She immediately panicked a little.
She instinctively felt that senior brother was crying because of her.
Dragging her weak little body, she tried hard and clumsily to comfort him.
Shen Weixun unconsciously tightened his arms around Niannian.
Their little treasure.
She was always so kind and cute.
She was so pure that not even the purest snow lotus on the Tianshan Mountains could compare.
This was also the reason why they were so willing to protect her and spoil her without a bottom line.
"I'm okay. Senior brother will take you home right away."
Shen Weixun lifted his foot and was about to leave, but just as he took two steps, he suddenly thought of something and stopped.
He took out a small golden knife from Niannian's satchel.
Without hesitation, he cut his finger and waved his hand in the air.
A string of fuzzy characters appeared in the void and flew into Fatty's mother's body.
"I said that if you want to save your son, you have to exchange your life for his. Seeing how much you love your son, I'm sure you're very willing to give everything for him."
"But if you die, there will be no one to take care of your son in the future. For the sake of your deep mother - son relationship, you'll share half of the suffering he endures. Your son won't be in danger of losing his life either."
Leaving these words behind, Shen Weixun didn't hesitate any longer and walked out of the Hu family's house.
If his junior sister couldn't be the bad guy, he would be.
After Niannian sent away all the animal souls, the little fatty was actually out of danger.
But he just couldn't feel at ease if he let this mother - son pair off so easily.
The talisman drawn with blood could be directly imprinted on a person's soul.
Fatty's mother would share half of the little fatty's sins.
In the future, whenever the little fatty committed a sin, Fatty's mother would be the first to bear the brunt of the disaster.
Bearing such a huge debt, the little fatty would only be able to lie in bed for the rest of his life.
And Fatty's mother would be haunted by diseases and be unlucky every day.
This might be more painful for them than death.
From now on, this mother - son pair would torture each other.
Neither of them would be able to get rid of the other.