At first, He Kui shook his head. But when he saw the 

bloodstain

 on the hoe, his eyes opened wide

. He 

couldn’t believe what he saw

 and

 burst into tears. “I 

remember

 now.” 

This hoe was the tool Mr. He used to use when he was alive, and the 

bloodstain

 on it was from Mr. He himself. 

He Kui told us that his father was working 

in

 the field one day

. L

ittle He Kui was playing with marbles in front of his house

 when a

 human smuggler passed by his house and 

tried

 to kidnap him. 

His father came home

 just in time

. He was enraged when he saw the smuggler

 and

 furiously 

hit

 him with his hoe. Although Mr. He managed to save his son and killed the smuggler, he was hurt

. H

is blood dr

i

pped on his hoe. 

“At that time, we 

hadn’t built

 this house yet. 

So m

y father buried the hoe here. It was 

during the olden days, and we

 were in 

a

 rural area that didn’t have police. Moreover, the victim was a human smuggler. That

 wa

s why my father wasn’t arrested for the crime.” 

After talking, He Kui wept louder. With a perplexed face, he 

said

, “Is it because my father killed someone

? Is that why

 he couldn’t rest even after he died?” 

“There’s always a cause-

effect

 relationship. But no matter what, your father 

is

 gone. He shouldn’t endure torment.” 

I comforted He Kui and poured gasoline on the hoe and the fabric, burning 

them

 into ashes. 

Mr. He 

wasn’t the one

 attached to this hoe. It was 

his anger

 that had stayed behind 

from the time

 he killed the human smuggler. That

 was

 why I didn’t show mercy to the hoe. 

And, as the old man’s body had been affected by the hoe, he had troubled his daughter-in-law. 

Now that 

the hoe was burned, she could sleep well at night. 

“Little 

B

rother Zhang, since you

’ve

 burned the hoe

, w

ill Mr. He return?” Li Mazi reacted, patting his thigh with a dispirited face. 

I nodded and explained

, 

“If he 

was

 just a soul, he 

wouldn’t

 come 

now that

 the hoe 

is

 destroyed. But 

h

e’s a walking 

corpse

 now. That’s why he will return with or without the otherworldly item.” 

He Kui knew that his father would come back at night, so he went to buy a lot of offerings. At nightfall, he set up an altar by the hole and offered three joss sticks and two candles. 

At around midnight, the sounds of footsteps came from the hole. He Kui stood up and looked as though he wanted to jump into the hole. 

Li Mazi 

hurried

 to 

stop him

. “What should we do? 

Will

 Mr. He be mad 

now that

 the hoe is gone?” 

I 

made an

 OK 

sign 

and took 

out

 the Emei Piercer, 

waiting

. Soon, a shadow appeared in the hole

. He was bending 

his body

here and there. 

It seemed

 he was looking for the hoe. 

A moment later, he slowly turned as though he was about to leave. I wouldn’t let him leave, of course. From a distance, I stabbed him with the Emei Piercer. 

“A

h

…”

The shadow turned and screamed strangely. H

e thrust his

 hands toward me. I jumped aside

 and tried 

to lure him up. 

The old man had no color on his face, but his eyes were strangely red. He looked at me ma

liciously

. However, he didn’t do anything. 

I was worried. If he didn’t jump up here, it would be hard to get him. To provoke him, I boldly came near him to stab him again. This time, the old man was completely enraged. He grunted and jumped up, 

landing

 on the floor. Then, he crazily aimed at me. 

I turned to Li Maz

i and screamed, “Mazi, light up the candles!”

At the same time, I used the Emei Piercer to 

anger

 Mr. He, making him swing his arms toward me. Every time he moved, he created a waft of wind. However, as his body was stiff, he couldn’t reach me easily. 

Soon, Li Mazi lit up the candles. With the flickering 

candlelight

, I saw Mr. He

’s features

clearly

. He was wearing a black shroud. H

is back was

 hunch

ed, and 

his fingernails were around five or six centimeters long. 

When He Kui saw his father, he cried again

 and rushed 

toward him. I wanted to stop him, but it was too late. 

The old man sneered

 evilly

and

 grabbed He Kui by his neck,

 lifting

 him off the floor. 

“Dad, I’m He Kui, your son! Cough! Cough!” 

He Kui

’s

 face turned red. I cursed under my breath and stormed forward

. I used all 

my strength to stab the Emei Piercer into the old man’s arm. The old man retracted his arms as though he got an electric shock. Li Mazi seized the chance to pull He Kui away. 

He Kui gasped for his breath and said, 

“Master Zhang, don’t hurt my father.” 

Li Mazi panted

 for breath.

 “Are you nuts? 

He’s

 not your father anymore

!

Do you not understand

?” 

The old man was aiming at me, but when he heard Li Mazi and He Kui talking, his malicious eyes d

immed

. With a puzzled face, he turned to He Kui. 

I didn’t expect that the old man 

would

 still be sensitive to his son’s voice. I gestured

 and asked 

He Kui to talk more. 

He Kui moved away from Li Mazi and pointed at the offerings on the makeshift altar

. He said to

 his father

, 

“Dad, I

’ve

 prepared the food

you loved the most. I’m going to 

burn

 a lot of paper money for you. You shouldn’t 

be stingy

. If you want to eat 

something

, just buy it.” 

The old man

was still bewildered, but he was listening to He Kui and looking at the offerings. The evil energy 

around

 him scattered 

quite a

 lot. I exhaled and thrust the Emei Piercer right at his throat. 

Puff! 

Along

 with the wind

’s

 tearing noise, black mist emitted from the old man’s throat. He slowly slumped onto the ground like a deflating balloon. His long fingernails retreated into his skin. 

He Kui knew his father 

was

 gone for real this time. He got on his knee

s and cried

. His wife rushed in from the living room

. She gave 

kowtows to her father-in-law’s body on the ground. 

A moment later, I thought they had cried enough, so I pulled them up. We spent the rest of the night 

preparing

 another grave for Mr. He.

The reason 

Mr. He had become a walking dead was his grave. I checked the

 geomancy

 and chose a medium-quality grave for him. I wanted to ensure that the old man wouldn’t be tortured again. 

However, what made me happy was that after the incident, He Kui and his wife seemed to have changed completely. Every weekend, they would take their daughter to visit Mr. He’s grave

. They would burn 

joss sticks to him

 and tell 

him 

about some

 random family 

affairs

. He Kui’s wife had changed her attitude toward her father-in-law and husband. She often complimented her husband in front of her father’s grave, too. 

When he was alive, even though his stomach was growling, he gave the best eggs to his son. 

When he was alive, he stumbled his way through snows and winds just to take a look 

at his

 son. 

And after he died, he crawled out of his grave just to pluck the grass and take care of his son’s vegetable garden. How could they find a nice father like that? 

The father had brought up his son, and his son 

left 

him 

for

 a faraway place. It 

was one of the greatest

pains

 in this world. 

If one day, you 

find

 that your parents cannot walk anymore,

If one day, you 

find

 that your parents lost their appetite, 

If one day, your parents ask you to 

visit them more, 

Please throw aside anything that burdens your mind 

and

 take your parents to watch a movie, 

have

 a nice dinner with them, and 

hold

 their hands just 

as

 they 

did with you

 when you were a child,

 b

ecause you’re the only thing they have in their last days.