"What do you mean, 'how you came, how you go'?" Fang Ming was bewildered.
This little girl was speaking in riddles. Never mind, the diary was more reliable.
"Following Nannan's hint, I planned to search for the old well's opening in the white mist, but I couldn't determine direction in the mist, so that plan failed. Then I thought of the key left by Changsheng, but I didn't know how to use it. In desperation, I could only sit down and try to see if I could leave. Unexpectedly, I actually returned to reality."
"Huh? That simple?" Fang Ming's eyes lit up. Good heavens, if it weren't for the diary, how much time would he have wasted? Who would have thought sitting down would be the way out? He should have run earlier and not bothered with Baimu Village. He felt annoyed.
Following the diary's prompt, Fang Ming sat down.
However, he looked up and saw Nannan again, pondering, "Should I take her with me? This little girl is a descendant of a ferocious spirit. Would it be too dangerous to take her back? And I don't even know how to take her back."
"Carry her and try?" Fang Ming stood up again, held Nannan in his arms, and then sat on the ground.
After all, he and the female corpse had a sort of "acquaintance," and this little girl seemed harmless. She probably wouldn't be dangerous, right?
As Fang Ming sat, his mind gradually calmed, and his head began to feel heavy. After an unknown period, a blinding light startled him awake.
"Am I back?"
Fang Ming opened his eyes. The sun had just risen above the horizon, its light waking him. The desolate ruins of Baimu Village around him confirmed he had returned to the real world.
"It's a bit cold~" Fang Ming was annoyed. Appearing in the wilderness naked in the early morning, wouldn't he be mistaken for a pervert? He needed to find a place to cover himself first.
He looked at his empty arms with some disappointment, but quickly adjusted his mindset. Whatever is meant to be, will be. After all, he and Nannan didn't have much of a connection, and if he couldn't bring her out, there was nothing he could do.
He felt around his side. Fortunately, his cloth bag was still there. Fang Ming reached in, took out the diary, and began to read.
"September 2nd, Sunny. After leaving Baimu Village, I found some clothes and took a car home. On the way, I discovered a strange tattoo on my right arm. Nannan's consciousness emerged from it, and I learned that she had become this kind of malevolent mark and was temporarily parasitizing my right arm."
"Holy cow, she actually followed me out?!" Fang Ming didn't know how to feel. He raised his right arm with a complex expression. Indeed, there was a thin, black tattoo on it.
But now wasn't the time to worry about these things. Fang Ming found a direction. He remembered a small village where he had caught a ride. It was a bit of a distance, though.
And so, a young man ran naked across the flat wasteland early in the morning, forming a striking sight.
An hour later, Fang Ming finally saw a few houses. But the bad news was that he also saw smoke, meaning they were all up. It would probably be difficult to "borrow" clothes now.
Fang Ming cautiously approached a house. A row of clothes was hanging in front of it, but they looked freshly washed, with water still dripping.
He couldn't afford to be picky. He found a hidden spot relatively close, transformed his right hand into a tentacle, and secretly snatched a few pieces of clothing before making a quick escape. However, he knew it wasn't good to steal, so he took out a few banknotes from his bag and placed them under the clothes rack.
"Wuwuwu... Mom! Mom! A big snake is stealing our clothes!" A child playing inside accidentally glimpsed Fang Ming's tentacle and immediately burst into tears, scrambling into the house to find an adult. Soon, a woman came out with the child. The "big snake" was long gone, but the clothes were indeed missing.
"Who the heck stole my clothes?" the woman grumbled. But upon seeing the banknotes under the rack, she broke into a smile and no longer cared about the incident. Her clothes were all cheap stuff, less than a hundred yuan combined. This was a great profit.
Meanwhile, Fang Ming put on the slightly damp clothes. Although he wrung them out for a long time, they were still quite wet. The rest would have to be dried by his body heat.
Fang Ming went to the bus stop to wait for a ride.
"Whoosh—" A moment later, a bus approached and stopped at the station. Fang Ming got on and began his journey home.
After going through so many hardships, he could finally go home. The only regret was not finding more clues about his parents. All he knew was that they were currently left in the "white mist," and their exact location would require further investigation.
The bus was quite empty. It was an early morning bus in a remote area, so besides Fang Ming, there were only two other passengers: two men sitting together. One of them was wrapped up tightly, for reasons unknown.
Fang Ming found a seat far from them and took out his diary to see if there was any new content.
New predictions hadn't appeared yet, and the current prediction time had reset to six hours ago, so the next update would be a long time coming. However, there were new entries on the back pages of the diary. Fang Ming flipped them open to read.
Nannan: Daughter of the Old Well's ferocious spirit, the first pure descendant of a ferocious spirit. Possesses a certain mystical ability, naturally suppressing ferocious spirits. However, due to her young age, she cannot use her powers normally.
Baimu Village: Formed by the resentment of the Old Well's ferocious spirit, used to house Nannan and test her chosen nurturers. Once entered, one must either pass the test or die!
Half-Fierce Body: The main body, under unexpected circumstances, retained a portion of the ferocious seed's physical form. The combination of the two forms a rare half-fierce body. The human body and the ferocious seed form complement each other, compensating for the human body's frailty and the ferocious seed's weakness to daylight. However, the human body can be influenced by the ferocious seed, and those with weak willpower are prone to re-forming a ferocious seed.
Fierce Mark: A symbol formed by a ferocious spirit residing on the main body. It is not harmful in itself, but once a ferocious spirit inhabits it, it can assimilate the human body, causing the human body to form a ferocious seed.
...
"Is there really no problem?" Fang Ming closed the diary and looked at his arm, feeling a bit worried. With both "treatments," wouldn't he turn into a ferocious seed in the real world?
The bus rumbled along and finally reached the train station. Fang Ming got off, bought his ticket home, and waited in the departure hall.
"It's those two again?"
Fang Ming was surprised. He saw the two men from the bus in the same waiting hall. However, Fang Ming was only surprised and felt it was a coincidence.
But what Fang Ming didn't expect was that he encountered the same two men on the train.
"Are they following me?" Fang Ming sat on the train, observing the two men from the corner of his eye. He now carried a "big secret" and had to be vigilant in such situations.
"That man has a strong aura of resentment," Nannan's clear voice suddenly sounded in Fang Ming's mind.
"Which one?" Fang Ming came back to his senses. He wasn't too surprised by Nannan's sudden speaking, as the diary had mentioned she would awaken.
"The one wrapped up in clothes," Nannan continued. "I estimate he'll turn into a ferocious seed within two days, though it's highly probable he'll fail and die."
"What?" Fang Ming was surprised but showed no outward reaction. He continued to ask mentally, "You mean he's come into contact with something extremely resentful?"
"Mm..." Nannan's voice faded again. "I'm sleepy... I'm sleepy."
"Asleep again? Hey, hey?" Fang Ming rubbed his forehead. Why did this little girl sleep so much? He still had many things he wanted to ask.
A few hours later, the train's speed gradually decreased.
"Dear passengers, we have arrived at H City East Station. Passengers alighting..."
Fang Ming slung his cloth bag over his shoulder and followed the crowd. At the same time, his eyes kept on the two strange men. As expected, the two men followed directly behind him!
"They really are after me?" Fang Ming's heart jolted. He quickened his pace, weaving through the crowd. Using the terrain of the station, he quickly lost the two men.
"Little tricks, trying to fight me," Fang Ming scoffed. He got out of the station, hailed a taxi, and headed straight home.
"Driver, to Bei'an Street."
"Got it." The taxi driver responded, and the car slowly merged into traffic, heading for its destination.
"Young man, you live on Bei'an Street?" the taxi driver asked curiously on the way.
"Yes, my home is there," Fang Ming replied.
"Enviable! The demolition office issued a notice this morning. Bei'an Street will be demolished soon. Another windfall!" the driver exclaimed.
"What? Bei'an Street is going to be demolished?" Fang Ming frowned. Why so sudden? He hadn't received any news about this when he left for Baimu Village yesterday.
"Of course. Alas, when will it be my turn to be demolished," the driver grumbled.
"Driver, do you know the reason? This is too sudden."
The taxi driver thought for a moment: "I heard that a developer took a liking to this area and offered a very high price, so the municipal government made a last-minute decision."
Fang Ming remained silent after hearing this. Who cared? As long as they paid well, let them demolish it. He just had a feeling that something different was going on.
Half an hour later, the taxi stopped in front of a funeral parlor. This was the only business his parents had left him, but it usually didn't make ends meet, with hardly any business in a week.
Bidding farewell to the driver, Fang Ming walked to the entrance and pulled up the roller shutter. Two large paper figures were placed at the entrance, with two rows of paper wreaths neatly arranged inside. Paper money and the like were stacked on the surrounding counters, covered in a thin layer of dust.
"I'm back!" Fang Ming stood at the entrance and sighed. Then he walked through the shop to the backyard.
The backyard was also simply furnished, with two small bungalows and a small courtyard. A peach tree was planted on the left side of the courtyard, bearing many fruits. On the right side, a small vegetable patch was cultivated with eggplants and greens.
Since Fang Ming didn't have much money, he saved as much as possible on daily expenses, so he specially dug up the courtyard and paved it with cement, creating this vegetable garden.
"Clean up and get some sleep." Fang Ming yawned. The journey had been exhausting. Sleep was the most important thing now that everything else was settled.
"Oh, right, the shop door in front isn't closed." Fang Ming slapped his forehead and had to turn back to close the shop door. Although he doubted any thieves would break into a funeral parlor to steal, he still needed to maintain basic safety awareness. Besides, if some mischievous child came in and caused trouble, he'd have nowhere to cry.
As he passed through the door between the courtyard and the shop, Fang Ming heard someone calling from inside.
"Is anyone here? Boss? Boss?"
"Yes, yes, coming." Fang Ming hurried over. The person was a middle-aged man.
"I need 20 white candles, two oil lamps, a portion of clean oil, two bundles of paper money, five white garments (paper clothes), and one tael of cinnabar and槐脂墨." The man briskly listed the items he needed.
Fang Ming's heart stirred slightly. Well, this wasn't for a funeral.
But he wasn't the sheriff of the Pacific, managing everything. As long as people wanted to buy, he would sell. Fortunately, they came to his shop; other funeral parlors might not have these items.
"Here you go. That's two hundred and thirty-one. Let's round it down to two hundred and thirty." Fang Ming prepared the items, wrapped them, and handed them to the man.
The man paid and left with the goods. Fang Ming watched his retreating figure, deep in thought. "Forget it, time to sleep. My life is more important."