Chapter 1: The Reanimated Pig Holder

I am Li Xi, born in a backward, poor, and extremely feudal and superstitious mountain village. The villagers were all genuine farmers, honest and diligent, guarding their three acres of land and living their lives. The village was small, yet its affairs were not few. Occasionally, one might see a few people gathered together, flashing decayed teeth and chatting in vulgar jokes. "Zhang's wife has skin whiter than anything," "Li's widow had slept with some man again last night." Besides the vulgar jokes, they talked the most about my grandfather, Li Guozheng.

My grandfather had been a Taoist priest in his youth. During the Four Olds period, the Red Guards broke into the Taoist temple where my grandfather was, setting it on fire. All the Taoists inside, from the hall master to the young apprentice, were denounced as ghosts and monsters.

They were locked in pig pens, paraded through the streets. The Taoists died or scattered. My grandfather also went mad during that denunciation.

In fact, the little mountain village was no different from the outside. The villagers all knew that my grandfather had been denounced, and that outside, the world was everywhere about overthrowing ghosts and monsters. But the villagers' superstitious thoughts had long been deeply rooted, and it was not something that could be completely changed by one call from Chairman Mao. And whether my grandfather was truly mad, the villagers all knew.

It was about the second year that my grandfather returned to the village when a major event occurred in the village.

At that time, a man named Butcher Bao died, and his death was a bit peculiar. Butcher Bao had slaughtered pigs for his whole life, and with his brute strength, he could kill a three-hundred-jin fat pig alone. But he ultimately died at the hands of the pig itself, because when slaughtering, blood sprayed and he slipped on the ground, and was crushed alive by the still living pig.

After Butcher Bao's death, several crows immediately flew to the door in front of his house and cawed nonstop.

At that time, Butcher Bao's family had placed him in a coffin and were guarding the mourning hall, crying to heaven and earth.

Other villagers came to Butcher Bao's mourning hall, sighing, "This man died so unjustly, perhaps there was a grievance."

Just then, the madman Guo appeared, his hair disheveled.

People, upon seeing Madman Guo, first stared at him for a moment, then directly gave way to Madman Guo.

Madman Guo was not polite at all, directly jumping and skipping like a child to the front of Butcher Bao's coffin.

Suddenly, Madman Guo pointed at the coffin and burst into laughter.

Seeing this scene, the old folks in the village all cursed: "You this madman, you really don't know shame. Someone has died, and you still run to the mourning hall to laugh. Be careful of retribution."

The others also followed suit and cursed: "Drive this madman out."

With that, the crowd surged forward to grab Madman Guo. At this moment, Madman Guo suddenly climbed onto Butcher Bao's coffin, standing on it laughing until he couldn't catch his breath.

The crowd immediately started to make a fuss. Seeing Madman Guo disrespectful to the dead, the people in the hall showed teeth in hatred, wishing to tear Madman Guo into ten thousand pieces. Just as everyone were about to rush up to grab Madman Guo, Madman Guo said a sentence, and everyone backed off.

Madman Guo continued to laugh loudly, suddenly pointing at the coffin under his feet saying: "This man, isn't he dead yet?"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned. Then Madman Guo jumped down from the coffin, laughed three times, and directly ran out of the mourning hall. The villagers stood hesitating in place. After a while, they couldn't help but lift the coffin lid, but Butcher Bao in the coffin was clearly already dead, with no breath left.

The crowd again pointed at the direction where Madman Guo had run off and cursed: "This damn madman Guo, spouting nonsense, talking nonsense, no good end will come to him when he goes out."

But after all, everyone knew Madman Guo was a madman, who would argue with a madman? After Madman Guo left, the coffin was closed again, and the funeral continued.

During this period, Madman Guo never came to cause trouble again, and the coffin of Butcher Bao made no more movements. At that time, people had almost forgotten what Madman Guo said, no one seriously remembered it.

But who would have thought that only three days passed, Butcher Bao's coffin really made a sound.

At that time, it was probably around midnight. The villagers had all gone back to sleep, only Butcher Bao's wife was keeping vigil in the mourning hall. At this time, Butcher Bao's coffin suddenly shook violently, and there was something in the coffin pushing against the coffin board.

Butcher Bao's wife saw this situation, at that time she was scared silly. She trembled, both scared and overjoyed. After all, the man lying in the coffin was her own husband. Butcher Bao's wife braced herself and walked to the coffin and reached out to push the coffin board hard.

But this coffin board was too heavy; it was impossible for a woman to lift it. After pushing several times without success, Butcher Bao's wife turned and ran out of the mourning hall to call for help.

Just after Butcher Bao's wife left, Butcher Bao's coffin suddenly shook violently again. In a short while, the coffin board slammed with a bang, directly flying to the ground. And Butcher Bao actually sat up from inside the coffin.

It was also fortunate that Butcher Bao's wife had already run out of the mourning hall. If she had seen Butcher Bao sit up from the coffin, she would definitely have been scared to death. Because the one sitting in the coffin at this time was not a living person.

Only to see that fangs had grown in his mouth, his face full of fierce light, and layers of red hair and corpse spots grew on his face. This was clearly a zombie.

Suddenly, Butcher Bao jumped out of the coffin, landed, and hopped out of the mourning hall, disappearing into the night.

When Butcher Bao's wife returned to the mourning hall, Butcher Bao was already gone. Everyone looked at the empty coffin, all gasping in a cold breath. Could Butcher Bao have truly come back to life?

At the same time, vaguely, one could see a figure hopping in the village. From far away, the villagers could also feel a sense of abnormal oppression, pressing on the heart, making it hard to breathe.

In fact, no one that night had seen Butcher Bao after his transformation. Of course, except Madman Guo.

In a short while, Butcher Bao's body hopped to the ancient pear tree under the village. Strange to say, on that ancient pear tree were hanging some live chickens, all with their throats slit, blood flowing everywhere. A bloody smell was drifting in the air, it seemed to be exactly to attract Butcher Bao.

When Butcher Bao's body landed under the ancient pear tree, he was just reaching out to grab the live chickens to stuff into his mouth when suddenly a person flashed out from behind the ancient pear tree, and Butcher Bao's body froze at that instant and no longer moved.

That night, the villagers found Butcher Bao's body. They saw the fangs in Butcher Bao's mouth and were startled, then looked at the chicken blood on the ancient pear tree and seemed to understand something. Then someone casually said that he seemed to have seen Madman Guo sneaking around under the ancient pear tree.

After this incident ended, Madman Guo continued to act like a madman, but no one in the village took Madman Guo as a madman anymore. On the contrary, Madman Guo was loved in the village. The existence of Madman Guo in the little mountain village also became more peaceful.

But my birth broke all this, because I killed Madman Guo.

Additionally, a new book has begun. Just like Yin Yang Eyes, I will do my best to write more touching stories, and let us witness it together. Also, I wish all readers a happy New Year in advance. To all the new and old readers, thank you for your continued support; I am deeply grateful.