Chapter 19 – Two Fingers (2)
While Grandpa was completely dazed, Old Blindman moved. He grabbed the pearl from Grandpa's hands and was so fast that Grandpa didn't even have the time to pull his hand back. Seeing that he had no way out, Grandpa rushed toward Old Blindman, screaming, "You want to kill me! I'm gonna make you die with me!"
"Put your finger in and you'll lose two fingers," Old Blindman said emotionlessly. "But if you don't, you'll die without a doubt. You chose this path. You have no way to back out."
"You're a demon! And I trusted you so much!" Grandpa yelled.
When he finished, he felt something itchy on his neck. Next, something pulled on his neck, choking him. He looked down and saw that long hair was tangled on his neck. Eyes darting to the side, he saw that the female corpse's mouth was open and her tongue was stretched out. The hair wrapped around his neck was the corpse's long, black hair!
The hair pulled tighter and Grandpa's vision started dimming. Now, he understood that he had to compromise. It didn't matter if Old Blindman was telling the truth or not; he could only trust him now. Without hesitating, Grandpa raised his two fingers and stuffed them into the female corpse's mouth.
This was undoubtedly giving himself up to the predator. As soon as he stuffed them in, the female corpse bit down on his fingers. Stabbing pain spread all over.
Grandpa had no doubt that the corpse had broken his fingers. However, Old Blindman didn't lie. After the corpse bit his fingers, the hair around his neck loosened. Grandpa bore the pain and looked at the corpse. He discovered that her mouth was moving like an infant drinking breast milk. The withered skin was also smoothing back as her mouth moved.
She was sucking his blood!
Grandpa instantly thought of the myths about mummies drinking blood.
If she continued to drink, he would probably get turned into a dried corpse soon!
"What do you want?! How long are you going to hurt me for?" Grandpa yelled at Old Blindman angrily. He didn't blame the corpse for drinking his blood because he knew that the true perpetrator was Old Blindman whom he'd trusted.
"Don't be afraid. You won't die. You already did these two things for me, so you can follow me now." As Old Blindman spoke, he squatted and felt for the female corpse that he'd carried. He gently opened her mouth and put in the pearl that Grandpa had taken out of the naked corpse.
Bearing the fear and pain, Grandpa watched as Old Blindman put the female corpse into the strange coffin. Then, Old Blindman picked up the coffin and put it inside the well again. Grandpa heard a scornful huff travel from the well. Thinking back to how the dragon had looked at him as if he was already dead, Grandpa understood everything now!
This Old Blindman definitely hadn't come to Shilipu by coincidence. It was even less possible that he'd come to selflessly help the poor villagers. He'd come for the gleaming pearl and Grandpa had fallen into his trap right from the start! Grandpa regretted being so stupid and trusting this demon, but he had no way to turn back now. The female corpse was still biting his fingers and drinking his blood. His life was in the hands of Old Blindman now.
Old Blindman finally walked to Grandpa's side. He reached over and flicked the female corpse's forehead.
"Enough," he said softly.
After that, Grandpa felt the pain in his fingers lessen. The female corpse's mouth stopped moving too. She seemed to have stopped drinking his blood. Grandpa immediately wanted to retract his fingers, but he discovered that he couldn't anymore.
The corpse had stopped drinking his blood, but she was still biting down on his fingers.
"Pick her up and follow me," Old Blindman said.