I used folk talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Chapter 35 The Cat-Carrying Demon, Slaughter Comes Knocking

Jiang Jun looked past the crystal coffin lid and at the person lying inside.

The mortician was very skilled, and he restored the deceased, who had fallen to his death, to look almost exactly as he did in life.

There were many different rumors circulating in the class group about Jia Ke's death. The most widespread rumor was a sex scandal.

He had an affair with another woman's wife, and just then, she ran into her husband coming home. So he climbed out of the window, broke through the insulation, and fell to his death.

Jiang Jun despised this kind of person, but since they were classmates, he still had to see him off.

He sighed, picked up three incense sticks from the altar, lit them with the candle flame, bowed three times, and inserted them into the burner.

"What's the child's name?" He patted the little boy's head and asked Zhou Ping.

"An'an..." Zhou Ping's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, but very firm. "His name is Zhou An."

Jiang Jun nodded, and seeing that more relatives and friends were coming, he didn't say anything more. He patted the child's shoulder and turned to leave.

An hour later, as darkness fell, no one came to mourn.

Zhou Ping helped Zhou An to his feet, and suddenly noticed a small pendant around her son's neck: "What's this?"

She picked it up to examine it; it was a small octagonal net woven from tree branches, exquisitely crafted, with a delicate texture and a rather unique appearance.

Zhou An raised his hand and held the pendant in his palm. His dim eyes brightened for a moment, but he remained silent.

Zhou Ping knelt down and said gently, "An'an, Mommy said that if you find something that doesn't belong to you, you have to return it. You can't keep it for yourself..."

Zhou An held the pendant and shook his head.

"You didn't find it? Which customer gave it to you?"

Zhou An nodded.

Zhou Ping couldn't remember who gave her the child, but she raised the child herself. Although the child was different from other children, he was not a bad person and would not lie.

"Then Mom misunderstood you." She ruffled Zhou An's hair. "But remember, you should thank people when you receive gifts."

Zhou An fiddled with the pendant on his chest, as if he hadn't heard.

"Hey you! Bring your child over for dinner!" Jia Ke's mother bossed him around from behind.

Noticing the pendant around Zhou An's neck, she frowned: "Wearing such rubbish on a child, aren't you worried about cleanliness! Throw it away right now!"

Zhou An turned his head away, ignoring her. Zhou Ping remained silent, pulling the child to get the boxed lunch.

The lunchbox was piled high with prawns, abalone, braised chicken, and tofu, its aroma enticing. Zhou An's nose twitched, and joy appeared in his eyes.

While eating herself, Zhou Ping fed him, saying, "Cheer slowly and thoroughly, and take a few more bites."

After the mother and son finished eating, they returned to the crystal coffin to keep watch.

Zhou Ping thought to herself: Once the Jia family's money arrives, I'll enroll An'an in a special education class; I can't delay any longer...

The mourning hall was gloomy, and a chill crept up from the soles of my feet.

Several relatives and friends set up a table and drank and played cards. The sound of the cards was particularly crisp in the empty hall.

"Creak—"

The door to the mourning hall was pushed open by the wind, and the darkness outside rushed in like a tide.

The square and the distant cemetery were completely swallowed up; even the streetlights looked as if they were shining through a layer of dirty glass, dim and murky.

"Little Black! Little Black, where are you?"

A clear, childlike voice drifted in from outside the door.

A little boy peeked in. He was wearing faded old clothes and carrying a bulging schoolbag.

His face was unnaturally pale, with a shy smile on his lips, like a lost child, or something... that shouldn't have been there at all.

"Uncle, have you seen my cat?" He walked up to Jia Ke's cousin and asked, looking up at him.

Jia Ke looked down and met those dark eyes. The pupils were lifeless, like two dry wells.

His heart skipped a beat, as if something had gripped it: "Go away! There are no cats here! You go to..."

Before he could finish speaking, he casually swung his arm, and the child cried out "Ouch!" and fell straight to the ground.

The backpack zipper burst open, and a black cat darted out.

"Meow—"

That meow, like a baby crying or a woman sobbing, echoed repeatedly in the mourning hall.

A chill ran through everyone present at the same time.

Zhou Ping didn't care about any of that, because Zhou An was severely allergic to cat fur. She quickly grabbed the child and hid in a separate room on the left side of the mourning hall.

"Dead cat! Get out of here! And you brat, isn't your cat right here? Take it and get out of here!" a relative shouted, mustering his courage.

The black cat ignored him.

It leaped suddenly, soaring over ten meters, and landed steadily on the crystal coffin lid. It crouched directly above Jacques' face, lowered its head, and breathed heavily into his mouth and nose.

"Bang!"

Jia Ke's body sat up straight, the coffin lid was knocked off and crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

The black cat pounced precisely on his face, its limbs digging into his flesh, and its tail wrapping around his neck.

"Ah—it's come back to life!"

Someone screamed and rushed toward the door.

The door slammed shut with a "bang," as if it were welded shut, and no matter how much people pushed or shoved it, it wouldn't budge.

Jia Ke was pulled out of the coffin.

His face was still the one the mortician had worked on, but his eyes were open, the pupils vertical, yellowish, like a cat's. A slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth, as if he were smiling, or perhaps sniffing something.

The first person he went to was his mother.

Raise your hand and twist.

Blood splattered onto the ceiling.

"Murder! Murder!"

The funeral hall erupted in chaos. Some were crying, some were shouting, and some collapsed on the ground, unable to even crawl.

Someone pulled out a strange object in an attempt to defend themselves.

Jia Ke simply turned his head and let out a mournful meow at the man, and the strange object shattered on the spot.

Some people also carry talismans with them.

However, the "Gui Bu Xu" sticker needs to be pasted on the window to ward off ghosts outside.

The "Divine Rooster Talisman" is specifically designed to counter the Five Poisons. When it faced the Cat Demon, it only emitted a slight flame, briefly shielding its master before burning itself to ashes.

The only usable item, "Gui Jianchou," is something everyone dislikes because it's prickly. They either didn't bring it or stuffed it in their bags, making it difficult to find in the chaos.

Amidst the chaos, the cat-faced Jaco went on a killing spree.

"Where's that little bastard!" Jia Ke's father, his eyes red, searched everywhere for the little boy with the schoolbag. "Catch him!"

"There!" someone pointed to the corner of the wall.

Several people rushed over and grabbed him.

Before their hands could even touch the child, they all stumbled.

The boy's backpack fell to the ground, and everyone simultaneously tripped and fell face-first into the mud.

The black cat, driving the corpse, has already caught up.

Inside the cubicle, Zhou Ping, her eyes closed and trembling, pressed Zhou An tightly against her chest: "An'an, don't be afraid..."

The small pendant suddenly lit up. The soft, clear light, like ripples on water, enveloped the mother and child.

Fifteen minutes later, the commotion at the mourning hall stopped.

Then came two screams from the cubicle on the right. The person hiding there was also dead.

"Creak—"

The sound of the door hinges turning was exceptionally clear in the deathly silence.

Zhou Ping shuddered and hugged Zhou An even tighter.

A chilling aura slid in, circling around her and Zhou An.

The scent clung to her skin, cool and sticky, carrying the distinctive musky and putrid smell of a cat.

"Meow?"

She could even detect the doubt in the cat's meow, like a hunter chasing after a scent that had disappeared, circling around in place.

After an unknown amount of time, the chilling atmosphere finally dissipated.

There were rustling sounds coming from the mourning hall, like something being dragged on the ground, or like bones colliding with each other.

Zhou Ping dared not open her eyes. Holding the child, she drifted off to sleep in fear.

The next day, as sunlight streamed through the windows, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupted from the funeral hall: "Murder! Murder—"

Zhou Ping mustered her courage, opened her eyes, gently put the child down, and secretly glanced towards the mourning hall.

The remains, torn apart by bones, were neatly arranged in three circles around the crystal coffin. Two of the bodies knelt upright, facing the coffin, as if in repentance.

Inside the crystal coffin, Jia Ke lay quietly, a strange smile playing on his lips.