Chapter Nineteenth: The Headless Female Corpse Under the Red Hood

  The stone painting is very lifelike, and it's clear that the person in the stone painting is Lin Mo. Have they also been to the Deserted Sand Maze? I feel a hint of joy in my heart.

  Finally there is news from them, they have also been to the primeval forest, at least now we don't have to search blindly without a clue.

  "Welcome to the Deserted City of Sand." A voice suddenly came from a nearby place.

  "Who?" I turned my head alertly and looked around, but only heard the voice without seeing anyone.

  "For three thousand years, I've been guarding this solitary city alone. Finally, someone has come to keep me company, and it's not just one person, but two! Hahahaha!" The laughter was infectious.

  Two people? Am I not three people myself? And this voice says he has lived for three thousand years, that must be a ghost. I keep guessing.

  "Is there still someone else, male or female?" I asked tentatively.

  "Kid, you should be worried about yourself, not others. Are you saying I let you off or played with you?" The voice turned very ominous.

  "There's a scent on you that I really like. Let's have some fun together first, and then I'll eat you inch by inch."

  This guy actually eats people, hasn't Lin Mo been eaten already?

  "I don't care if you're human or a ghost, come out and I'll fight you one on one."

  "The fire is still quite big, in this maze city everything is up to me, you can't help it."

  "Since you're so hot-tempered, let me help you cool down."

  As soon as the sound was over, I came to a world of ice and snow, where everything was white and frosty. A chill swept over me, and I involuntarily wrapped my arms around myself, shivering all over. Before long, my hands and face were frozen bright red, and I tried to move my limbs to warm up, but it didn't have much effect. A thin layer of ice formed on my skin, and my hair and eyebrows were covered with frost.

  It's so cold, I can barely stand it. I'm curled up on the ice, trying to resist with my willpower, but it seems like my body's endurance has reached its limit.

  Just as I felt like I was about to freeze to death, I returned to the grand hall, my body involuntarily shuddering, with a lingering chill still present in my mind.

  "I suppose your anger has dissipated now." The voice was tinged with playful teasing.

  "You coward, you don't dare come out and instead stab me in the back. What kind of hero are you?" My voice was shaking with rage.

  "When I was defending the city with a million troops, your ancestors hadn't even been born yet. You actually dare to say that I'm not a hero." It seems like I struck a nerve.

  "That doesn't count, heroes don't eat human flesh and drink human blood. You go ahead and eat those two people." I continued to pretend to play along with him.

  "I haven't even had a chance to enjoy them yet, you really look down on me."

  It turned out that Lin Mo was still fine and hadn't been eaten, I felt a surge of joy and a faint smile appeared at the corner of my mouth.

  "You little scamp is trying to trick me into talking." This guy looked at me and smiled as he caught on.

  "You're not too stupid after all." I smiled again.

  This thoroughly enraged him.

  "Listen up, kid. Don't say I didn't give you a chance. I'll give you one opportunity. If you can solve the puzzle that has troubled me for thousands of years, I won't kill you and let you stay with me in this labyrinthine castle for a hundred years. But if you fail, don't blame me for being ruthless."

  Before I could even react, everything in front of me became blurry again, and after that blur, I found myself in another place.

  I'm wearing an ancient long gown, with a big collar, right lapel, cross collar, wide sleeves and a loose belt. On my head is a high hat, this is the attire after the Qin Dynasty, I've seen it in many TV dramas and have some impression. In front of me on the table is a copper mirror, I picked it up and took a look at myself, with a long beard and hair reaching my shoulders, this is exactly what I looked like in ancient times, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  "Master, what are you smiling at?" A woman's voice suddenly came over.

  I stared in the direction of the sound, and saw a woman with a red hood on her head sitting on an ancient-style daybed, surrounded by crimson silk curtains that covered her entire body. She was wearing a bright red wedding dress, with a pair of small golden lotus feet touching the ground, sitting very elegantly and demurely.

  After taking a look around the room, it turns out that this is a bridal chamber. This old ghost isn't bad after all, knowing I'm still a virgin, letting me enjoy myself before harming me. Hopefully she's a great beauty, if not, no big deal, gotta do what a romantic ghost does, hahaha, a strange sense of satisfaction arises in my heart.

  "Daughter, are you calling me?" I said as I walked over while poking my hand.

  The woman didn't speak, still sitting quietly there, motionless. Taking a closer look, the woman's figure was quite good, with curves in all the right places, but strangely, it felt like something wasn't quite right, slightly off-kilter.

  I took a glance to the side and saw a jade Ruyi on the bedside table, probably used for lifting the quilt. It seems that this family is still an official family, using a jade Ruyi to lift the quilt is also a symbol of status. I stretched out one hand to the bedside and reached the jade Ruyi, playing with it in my hand, this thing turned out to be real jade, it must be worth a lot of money. I thought to myself, if it's real, picking it up and leaving would make me rich.

  The woman moved her body slightly, looking a bit anxious, was she eager for me to lift the veil and get down to business? I felt a surge of joy in my heart, immediately using the hook on the bed frame to secure the curtain, I slowly approached the red veil with the jade scepter.

  Gently lifting it up, the red veil was slowly lifted by me, and I could almost see her face. My heart was inexplicably excited, with just one last inch to go before I could finally see her true appearance.

  The red cap was lifted by me.

  Ah......, ah......, ah......, ah....... I let out four cries and was so frightened that I hid under the table.

  This woman has no head. Her neck seems to have been cut off with a sharp blade, and blood is still flowing non-stop. The cutting surface on her neck is from top to bottom, with blurred flesh and blood.

  It was a headless female corpse, why could it still speak? My heart rate had accelerated to the point where I was about to lose control. My whole body was drenched in cold sweat, tightly grasping the bench under the table to block my body, not daring to look at the female corpse again.

  "Husband, am I not your wife? Don't you recognize me? Why didn't you save me? You watched with your own eyes as King Zhou beheaded me, and even in death, I won't let you off." The female corpse suddenly stood up, stretched out her hands, and took step by step towards me.

  King Zhou? What the hell? Is this really the Shang Dynasty 3,000 years ago? Who am I, anyway? This outfit, I thought it was just a cosplay or something like that, but it's even more terrifying than I imagined. It's like a headless female corpse seducing me. My mind is filled with all sorts of emotions.

  "Who are you? I don't know you!" I shouted loudly.

  "Wen Zhong, you heartless man! I followed you at the age of 15. Although I was too strict with you in daily life and made you lose face in front of outsiders, but you shouldn't have let King Zhou behead me, did you? Don't you care about our decades-long marital affection?" The woman bowed her body down, her neck already under the table.

  I was so scared that I retreated further back, knocking over the stool behind me, but I didn't care about that anymore, and kept retreating until my back hit the wall.

  Wen Zhong? This name sounds so familiar, the Thunder God in the封神榜 (Investiture of the Gods), the three-eyed monster Wen Taishi. I suddenly remembered a TV series I watched with such a character, because he had three eyes like Yang Jian, so I remember it very clearly. But I don't have three eyes now! The character must have been demonized.

  It was indeed the Shang Dynasty, but I had no idea how Wen Zhong wronged his wife. At this moment, I was extremely panicked because the headless female corpse suddenly fell to the ground and crawled towards me, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.

  "Don't come over, don't come over." I stretched out one hand towards her, while the other hand covered my eyes, this scene was too terrifying.

  He came over and grabbed onto my clothes, her hands were also covered in blood, the clothes had a direct bloody handprint on them. She followed along my clothes, using leverage to try and get closer to my face little by little.

  Ah...

  I found myself on a bed, still wearing ancient attire, drenched in sweat, and sat up with a start, only to realize it was just a dream.

  "Master, did you have a nightmare? A familiar voice echoed in his ears."

  "Lin Mo?" I was startled for a moment.

  She turned her face quickly and it was actually Lin Mo. She was wearing the same decorations as the headless female corpse, frowning at me intensely.

  "Silently, I've finally found you? Where did you go?" I quickly got up and grasped her shoulders saying.

  Lin Mo looked at me with a bewildered expression, "Master, are you feeling unwell? What are you talking about?" He patted my head.

  "Do you know? We were all worried sick because we couldn't find you. Now that's over, come on, let's go back with me." I pulled her and started walking out.

  I walked halfway to the house before I realized something was off. This is ancient times, why would Lin Mo appear here? Is all of this Old Ghost's trap?

  "Who are you?" I let go of her arm and stared at her straight.

  "I am your wife, I will find a doctor for you right away." Lin Mo said and was about to leave.

  I covered my head and knelt down in pain before Lin Mo.

  The doctor came and said I had a nightmare, temporary amnesia. Lin Mo gave me some hope that I would recover my memory. That's when I found out that I was Wen Zhong, the uncle of King Zhou of Shang, the Grand Preceptor of the Shang Dynasty, who conquered half of the kingdom. And she is my wife, known to all in the court and country, that I, Wen Zhong, am a henpecked husband. This time, it was after I won a battle and returned triumphantly, King Zhou led his officials and generals to welcome me outside the city. Then they held a grand banquet to celebrate my victory. During the feast, a colleague joked with me about being afraid of my wife, causing everyone to burst into laughter. My triumphant smile suddenly disappeared, and I didn't know how to respond. When I returned home, I took a long nap, and when I woke up, it was like this.

  Since it's fake, this might be an old devil setting a difficult problem for me to solve. I had no choice but to follow his situation and not wonder why I saw Lin Mo again.

  The next day, early in the morning, an imperial edict arrived.

  "King Zhou has issued a decree that today at dawn, all civil and military officials must bring their wives to pay homage together. No excuses will be accepted for absence."

  What is this old devil up to? Now I can only follow along.

  I brought Lin Mo into the hall.

  Upon arriving at the Golden Temple, we civil and military officials accompanied our wives to pay respects to Emperor Xin. Just as we were about to take our seats, suddenly King Zhou gave a stern order to the soldiers beside him: "Bring that detestable woman up here!" His eyes gleaming with ferocity, he pointed at Lin Mo.

  Lin Mo was dragged by several strong men, with his arms twisted and head locked, from the crowd to the front of the stage. Emperor Xinzhi stood up and scolded: "My uncle has made great contributions to the country, braving guns and arrows, and everyone respects him. How dare you, a woman, bully and humiliate him at home? A general, kneeling in front of you, what a joke! I used to think it was a joke when I heard that my uncle was afraid of you at home, but yesterday I saw it with my own eyes, it's really disgusting!"

  It was during the celebration banquet that Emperor Xinzong saw everything and thought that all officials were playing a joke on me, saying I was afraid of my wife. He, who had always been hot-tempered, wanted to know what my wife looked like that made me so fearful, so he changed into plain clothes and came to my residence. Outside, he saw the scene where I knelt down in front of Lin Mo yesterday, but actually, I was kneeling down in pain.

  "Cut off this woman's head." Emperor Xin pointed at Lin Mo and shouted angrily.