"But after listening for so long, the skull still wouldn't speak."
"At this moment, Cui Lian came out from the kitchen, cursing loudly. 'This dead thing refuses to drink the offered toast and insists on punishment. We've served it good food and drink, and it won't even point us in a direction. What a waste of all that wine and meat! We might as well boil this dead ghost in boiling water, stew its head until its bones are cracked and rotten.'"
"After Cui Lian finished speaking, she grabbed the skull and rushed into the kitchen. A large pot of clear water was already boiling. Cui Lian directly threw the skull into it and continued to curse."
"Li Gui quickly rushed in and used a slotted spoon to retrieve the skull. He coaxed it with a wronged expression, 'Brother, please just point us to the location of Li Kui's treasure. If my wife here truly boils you to pieces, you'll never be reborn. What can be done? You help us make a fortune, and we'll perform a grand ritual for you for seven days and seven nights.'"
"The couple thus played good cop and bad cop. Cui Lian repeatedly threw the skull into the boiling water to stew, while Li Gui constantly fished it out and spoke to it kindly. After a few rounds, Cui Lian stuffed a bamboo slip into the skull's mouth, threw it back into the pot, covered it, and shouted, 'I'll stew you all night. If you don't tell me the hiding place by tomorrow morning, I'll grind your skull to dust, and you'll be a headless ghost for generations.'"
"The couple waited silently in the kitchen. According to folk legend, when they lifted the pot lid tomorrow morning, the direction the bamboo slip in the skull's mouth pointed would be the treasure spot. However, unexpectedly, after only a few minutes of boiling, blood water suddenly gushed out of the pot. This was the couple's first experience with ghosts and spirits, and they were both terrified. After the blood water stopped flowing, Li Gui bravely stepped forward to lift the pot lid. The pot was empty; the skull had vanished."
"The couple panicked and searched the house for the skull, but they couldn't find it anywhere. Suddenly, there was a banging sound at the door. Li Gui looked through the window and saw a headless corpse standing at the entrance, presumably having come to reclaim its head."
"Li Gui was very scared, but when people reach the extreme of fear, they can find a desperate courage. Since the ghost had come to their door, if they wanted to sleep soundly in the future, the only way was to cut the weeds and remove the roots. So, Cui Lian stood behind the door, attracting the attention of the corpse outside, while Li Gui took an axe, left the house through the back door, circled around to the back of the headless corpse at the front door, and with a mighty swing, chopped down the corpse. He then continued to hack at it for a long time, reducing all the bones to fragments."
"After dealing with all this, the couple collapsed at home, weeping in each other's arms. As they cried, they suddenly heard a child's voice from the bedroom."
"The child was only six months old and far too young to speak. Moreover, he had recently been so hungry that he lacked the strength to cry. However, when the couple went to the bedroom, they found the child holding the skull and gnawing on it, having already eaten more than half of it. Cui Lian rushed forward to take the skull, but the child looked up and clearly said, 'You are truly vicious!' Cui Lian was so frightened that she fell to the ground, feeling as if the child was a stranger, no longer her own, but some unknown entity."
"The child continued to speak, his tone extremely resentful, repeating four words over and over: 'Give me back my head!'"
"The couple despaired, knowing that the skull had possessed their child. Li Gui and Cui Lian knelt on the ground, begging for mercy and asking the skull to spare their child's soul. The skull said, 'You destroyed my remains, so I will borrow your child's body. If you want your child to live, you two must offer your own bodies to take his place.'"
"Li Gui and Cui Lian wept uncontrollably. In the end, they agreed and asked the skull how they should replace the child. The skull demanded that the couple sweep up the corpse fragments from outside the door and stew them in the pot. After stewing, they were to eat them. The couple went to the door, collected the bone fragments, put them in the pot, and after only a few minutes of stewing, they became as soft as noodles. The couple, after weeping, ate them. As a result, they both went mad, burst out of the door, and ran wildly into the snowy wilderness, eventually freezing to death by the roadside."
"A nearby warlord's troops came to investigate and found the child inside the house. The troops happened to be planning to train a batch of death warriors. The best death warriors were those raised from a young age, the younger the better, subjected to constant brainwashing and training from infancy. Thus, the child was taken back to the military camp, where he grew up under the care of the warlord's troops."
"Fifteen years later, one day, this child secretly escaped from the warlord's troops and ventured alone into the deep mountains. He soon discovered the treasure secretly buried by Li Kui, becoming immensely wealthy. His descendants became the leaders of a local warlord faction, mining in the mountains whenever they were short of military pay."
"That's the end. The story was so long, it made me thirsty," Cen Yemeng said with a smile.
"I'll go get you some water," Jiang Ye said immediately.
"What do you think? How do you feel after listening to it?" Cen Yemeng looked at Cen Zi.
"A wonderful story!" Cen Zi nodded. "But I feel there are many dark things behind such legends."
"What do you mean by dark things?" Cen Yemeng asked, turning to take the water from her husband. "Thank you, dear."
"Some legends are purely told by idle villagers for entertainment, while others have a special purpose," Cen Zi said. "For example, the child in the story. The story says his parents provoked ghosts, leading to their deaths in the snow, and the warlord's troops took the child to raise him, making it seem like a kind of life-saving good deed, because leaving the child alone at home would surely have led to his starvation."
"Right," Cen Yemeng nodded.
"But, could the historical truth be that the warlord's troops deliberately killed a group of parents in the village to snatch the children and raise them as death warriors? There were no ghosts at all. The Li Gui and Cui Lian in the story were actually driven into the snow and frozen to death by the warlords. If such things happened frequently, and there were Li Gui and Cui Lian's corpses everywhere in the wilderness, the nearby populace would become suspicious. Thus, the warlords spread such stories to cover up their crimes."
"Oh!" Cen Yemeng's expression was one of delighted surprise, as if Cen Zi had uncovered a secret.
Cen Zi was slightly smug. "Besides this explanation, there's another one. The story ends with the child discovering Li Kui's treasure, and his descendants became leaders of the warlord faction thanks to the treasure. So, was this story fabricated to construct the history of a certain warlord faction?"
Cen Zi paused and continued, "In different cultural atmospheres, this story can be interpreted positively or negatively. Some people might think that this child, with the help of supernatural powers, is extraordinary and destined to be a king, making it a positive story. This story might have been created by the warlord to polish his own image. Others might think that this child is essentially an evil spirit, a demon, making it a negative story, possibly used by enemy warlords to slander him."
"You're really quick to react," Cen Yemeng nodded. "There is that layer of meaning. Most people wouldn't think of it."
"I once worked briefly in intelligence. There's a field dedicated to studying rumors, coded language, and psychological warfare. Often, information has a hidden purpose. This information is usually elaborately packaged, widely disseminated, designed to stir emotions, and ultimately used for brainwashing or conveying messages through psychological suggestion," Cen Zi said.
Jiang Ye had been listening the whole time. Initially, he didn't understand why his wife was telling this long story. Now, he suddenly understood.
However, Cen Zi seemed not to grasp it yet; she was still immersed in the second layer behind the story, but Cen Yemeng's intention was the third layer.
Cen Yemeng smiled and turned back, giving Jiang Ye a knowing glance.
Jiang Ye returned the look with understanding, preparing for the killing blow.