Shen Cuiyu took out the mission letter again and scrutinized it for a moment. She noticed some aspects that were not mentioned.
"Brother Wu, do you have any siblings?" Shen Cuiyu suddenly asked.
Wu Xingsheng nodded and replied woodenly, "My mother only gave birth to me. After she remarried, she didn't have any children with my step - father. So I'm the only son in the family."
As they were talking, three children suddenly walked out from the inner room.
Not far away were three children, two girls and a boy. One of the girls was taller, and it was obvious that she was the eldest sister.
Wu Xingsheng waved his hand slightly, and the slightly older girl and the little boy came over.
"These are my three children. My eldest daughter is Wu Qiuqiao, my second daughter is Wu Zhaodi, and this is my youngest son, Wu Xiaobao."
Wu Qiuqiao seemed a bit shy. She raised her eyes to glance at everyone and then quickly lowered her head.
The girl called Zhaodi still stood in place. Her eyes were black and white, so when she looked at others, her gaze seemed extremely direct.
Being stared at by such a look for a long time would actually make one feel uncomfortable.
"Zhaodi, your father is calling you. Can't you hear?" Mrs. Deng urged the child a few times, but she seemed not to hear and still stood there, staring warily at everyone.
Mrs. Deng, who didn't get a response, felt a bit embarrassed and directly stepped forward to push Wu Zhaodi.
Wu Zhaodi staggered from the push but still stubbornly grabbed the table beside her and refused to step forward stubbornly.
After a moment of stalemate, Mrs. Deng gave up. She cursed something in her local dialect and ignored Zhaodi.
Wu Xingsheng continued to talk with the celestial masters and let the three children go to play.
Wu Zhaodi's gaze fell on the celestial masters. She openly sized them up, and finally her eyes landed on Shen Cuiyu. Her big eyes stared at her, not looking at her face but at her hairpin.
Shen Cuiyu met her gaze for a moment, then took off her hairpin and took a step forward.
Wu Zhaodi was like a frightened kitten and took several steps back.
After a long time, seemingly sure that Shen Cuiyu meant no harm, Wu Zhaodi timidly stretched out a small hand, took the hairpin, and then ran away looking back three times at every step.
Shen Cuiyu retracted her gaze with a faint smile.
As the only boy among the three siblings, Wu Xiaobao seemed to be especially favored at home. It could be seen from their clothes that the other two sisters were wearing patched clothes, while only Wu Xiaobao was wearing brand - new clothes.
Although Wu Xiaobao was the youngest, he was the chubbiest, with chubby cheeks.
He came in front of the disciples and was restless. He touched this one and that one. Finally, his eyes landed on the Wunuo mask on Dong Fangxiao's waist.
His black eyes rolled, and he suddenly jumped up high, took off the Wunuo mask, and started to play with it in his hand!
Dong Fangxiao wasn't on guard. He only felt a lightness on his body. When he looked down, his precious mask was in Wu Xiaobao's hand, being shaken like a rattle. Dong Fangxiao's heart almost bled!
But he couldn't do anything to a child. Dong Fangxiao had to force a smile and said as kindly as possible:
"Good boy, Xiaobao. Give the mask back to big brother, okay? Big brother will buy you candy..."
Hearing this, Wu Xiaobao's black eyes rolled around, and then he stuck out his tongue at Dong Fangxiao:
"Nyah - nyah, come and catch me!"
Dong Fangxiao:???
While talking and laughing, Wu Xiaobao turned around and was about to run. The Wunuo mask in his hand was on the verge of falling, which made Dong Fangxiao extremely nervous!
He gritted his teeth and was about to chase after the about - to - run - away Wu Xiaobao when he saw Zhong Shengwan in the distance. When Wu Xiaobao ran beside him, he suddenly casually stretched out a leg!
Thud!
Wu Xiaobao fell flat on his face. The mask in his hand flew up and was caught by Zhong Shengwan!
Dong Fangxiao finally let out a sigh of relief. Thinking back on what had just happened, he only then realized it was a bit funny.
Hearing Wu Xiaobao's cries, Mrs. Deng quickly rushed over, picked up Wu Xiaobao lovingly, and asked anxiously:
"What's going on?"
Wu Xiaobao sniffled and was just about to accuse Zhong Shengwan when he spoke first:
"Resurface the floor some other day. It's so bumpy that the child fell."
Wu Xiaobao:?
He couldn't catch his breath and cried even louder!
The surrounding disciples witnessed all this and held back their laughter so hard that their faces were distorted.
Ye Zhiqiu took two deep breaths and then cast an admiring look at Zhong Shengwan, muttering, "I've learned."
After meeting the client and having a brief greeting, the celestial masters didn't delay any longer and immediately began to investigate the environment.
Shen Cuiyu looked at Wu Xingsheng, who looked panicked, and asked straightforwardly:
"Brother Wu, do you still have the corpses of those livestock that died suddenly? Can you take us to have a look?"
"Yes, I still have them! They're in the shed at the back. I... I didn't dare to move them. I've been waiting for the masters to come and take a look!" Wu Xingsheng seemed to have grasped a life - saving straw. He quickly got up to lead the way. "Please follow me, everyone."
Everyone followed him to a simple livestock shed behind the house. The shed was filled with a smell that was a mixture of feed and a faint stench. In the corner of the haystack, there were several dead chickens and a half - grown piglet piled up messily. The corpses were already stiff.
Without a close look, it could be seen that the death of these livestock was extremely strange - their bodies were shriveled, as if their flesh and blood had been drained. On their necks or abdomens, there were two shocking, bone - deep holes, with an ominous bluish - black edge, but there wasn't much blood flowing out.
Wu Xingsheng pointed at the holes, his voice filled with sobs and fear. "At first, I thought it was a wolf or a weasel from the mountains. But... but the blood has been completely sucked out! What kind of wild animal does this? This is clearly... the work of a ghost!"
Ye Zhiqiu, who had been observing silently, squatted down and carefully prodded and examined the wound on the piglet's neck with a bone needle he carried with him. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He suddenly looked up, his face becoming extremely solemn as he murmured:
"The tooth holes are deep, and the blood and marrow are completely gone... This mark, why does it look so much like... the work of a shaded corpse?"
"A... a shaded corpse?" Wu Xingsheng was confused and uneasy about this unfamiliar term. "Master Ye, what is that?"
Zhong Shengwan took over the conversation. His voice was still calm, but the content he said was chilling. "A shaded corpse is a rather tricky type of zombie. It is rumored that when a deceased person has a great unfulfilled wish before death, or the burial place has strange feng shui, the body will not rot, and the hair and nails will still grow. It will instinctively absorb the essence of the sun and the moon, and it will also... absorb the 'vital energy' of living things to nourish itself. At first, it's livestock. After the livestock are all sucked..."
He paused slightly. His gaze swept over Wu Xingsheng and his wife, Mrs. Deng, who was standing behind him with a pale face, before slowly saying the second half of the sentence. "It will be the direct descendants who are related to it by blood. To them, you are a great tonic."