Chapter 62: Li Xi and Wang Wei

Li Yan thought to himself.

He saw that when the old matriarch of the Wang family first arrived at the Wang family courtyard, she was only sixteen years old. She was exceptionally pretty, so much so that describing her as a flower in full bloom would hardly be an exaggeration.

The very first scene in his memory was her wedding to her husband, who was none other than Old Master Wang’s father. They held a traditional Chinese wedding. The old matriarch of the Wang family was named Li Xi, and Old Master Wang’s father was named Wang Wei.

Li Xi and Wang Wei were childhood sweethearts who married young. Initially, they were deeply in love. Combined with the generous betrothal gifts from Wang Wei and the dowry from Li Xi's maternal family, her procession of dowry items stretched for miles in a sea of red. Li Xi lived a contented and blissful life in the Wang family courtyard. She was the sole mistress of the manor, blessed with an amiable personality that endeared her to everyone in the household.

The couple accompanied each other through the years, sharing joys and hardships until deep into their old age, when Wang Wei passed away due to an illness. Left behind, Li Xi struggled bitterly to hold the entire household together. Her health had always been robust with no underlying issues, yet she died suddenly.

Seeing this, Li Yan found it extremely strange. "She was smiling, full of life, and talking animatedly just yesterday; how could she be dead today?"

Li Yan continued watching. By now, the scenes in his memory had automatically shifted to the interior of the Wang family courtyard, where Li Xi’s corpse was lying.

Li Yan hurried to zoom in on the image. He saw numerous wounds covering Li Xi’s body. These injuries looked as though they had been inflicted by a whip.

"How strange. She was the mistress of the manor; who would dare beat her?"

Beyond the whip marks, there were various other wounds on her body as well, presenting a shocking and harrowing sight. Li Yan felt that something was amiss; a crucial part of the process must be missing. Li Xi’s memory was likely incomplete.

Li Yan formed a hand incantation and silently chanted, "Complete the memories, complete the memories."

After chanting silently for a long time, the scenes in his mind began to shift. A wealth of additional memories appeared within the vision. Li Yan quickly fast-forwarded the memories to the period just before Li Xi’s death.

He discovered that, after all, Wang Wei was also a fickle-hearted man. Though Wang Wei and Li Xi had spent decades deeply in love at first, as Li Xi aged and her beauty faded, Wang Wei began to disdain her and sought to take a new woman.

However, Li Xi refused to allow it. In response, Wang Wei imprisoned Li Xi and began subjecting her to daily beatings. Some of the lash marks on her body were indeed inflicted by him.

However, Wang Wei did not intend to torture Li Xi to death. After torturing her for a short while, Li Xi relented and agreed to let him take a new woman. Once his goal was achieved, Wang Wei chose not to make things difficult for her any longer and returned to treating her as he had before.

Even so, the women Wang Wei subsequently brought home and made his concubines would all mock Li Xi and bully her. Whenever Li Xi sought to punish them, they would run off to complain to Wang Wei. Every single time, Wang Wei would reprimand Li Xi severely in front of everyone.

Each time, Li Xi felt thoroughly humiliated, yet there was little she could do. Gradually, the servants in the manor also began to openly and brazenly bully Li Xi.

Li Xi’s once-robust constitution began to deteriorate. She started coughing from time to time. On several occasions, she wanted to summon a physician, but the people around her simply refused to act. With no other choice, she attempted to go out herself to call for a doctor, but she found herself entirely unable to leave the threshold. The servants in her quarters blocked her way, refusing to let her pass. Upon questioning them, she learned that Wang Wei had issued a strict order placing her under house arrest in her room, forbidding her from stepping outside her door under any circumstances.

Feeling helpless, Li Xi could only ask a servant to inform Wang Wei that she had fallen ill. To her astonishment, upon receiving the message, Wang Wei paid it no mind whatsoever, merely instructing the servants not to let her out and forbidding them from calling a physician.

Although her illness eventually subsided without timely medical treatment, Li Xi harbored a deep resentment toward Wang Wei because of this incident. The moment her house arrest was lifted, she rushed outside. Wanting to escape a household that felt suffocating to her, she went to a nunnery, hoping to take monastic vows and become a nun.

Unexpectedly, the people at the nunnery refused to accept her. Li Xi racked her brains in utter bewilderment, unable to understand why they wouldn't let her take vows. Yet, she was powerless to change their minds. Since they refused to let her become a nun, she had no choice but to seek alternative solutions.

As Li Xi wandered outside, she spotted a man wearing a blue Daoist robe who was setting up a fortune-telling stall. Half-doubting, she walked over to the stall.

No sooner had she arrived than the fortune-teller looked straight at Li Xi and told her that her marriage was unhappy, that she led a miserable life, and that she was constantly subjected to abuse and the like. He even pointed out that her outing today was an attempt to escape that household, yet she had failed to find a way out.

Upon hearing this, Li Xi immediately concluded that this man truly possessed extraordinary skills. After all, she had never spoken of these matters to a single soul; only she knew about these things.

Li Xi began to place her trust in this fortune-telling master. She handed him some money, pleading with her to point out a path for her. To her surprise, the master refused to accept her money. Initially, Li Xi thought that perhaps the master felt he could not handle the matter, which was why he declined her payment. But much to her amazement, the master actually offered her a way out.

He instructed her to go to an abandoned factory in the eastern suburbs at midnight and look for him there. By then, he would have his own ways of helping her break free from her predicament.

Even though Li Xi felt it sounded dangerous, she decided to take the risk anyway. After all, this might well be her only chance. Li Xi was keenly aware of this.

Having memorized the time and location, she left the place immediately and returned home.

Upon her return, she behaved uncharacteristically by preparing a large feast of delicious food for everyone. Her demeanor even reverted to her former gentleness, becoming serene and devoid of contention. Whatever Wang Wei said to her, she no longer cared. Yet the others sensed nothing amiss; they simply thought she had finally come to terms with her situation.

At midnight, acting on their agreement, Li Xi sneaked out of the house and arrived at the abandoned factory in the eastern suburbs.

She had expected that what awaited her would be a new lease on life, but she never imagined that the demon awaited her instead.

Upon entering the abandoned factory, the entire space was reeking of a terrifying stench of blood, mixed with a pungent, biting odor. Li Xi covered her nose and, after mustering up the last of her psychological resilience, forced her way inside the factory.

There was no lighting equipment whatsoever within the entire building. Li Xi could not see clearly what was inside, nor did she know the real name of the master. She simply searched and called out in the gloom.

No one answered her.

Li Xi felt a flicker of annoyance, suspecting she had been stood up. But upon second thought, she decided it would be best to leave this place first. It looked gloomy and eerie, hardly resembling anywhere pleasant.

Yet, just as Li Xi turned to leave, strange footsteps echoed behind her.