The old house had completely turned into a sea of flames.
Waves of heat scorched the old man's withered body.
His skin quickly turned red, his sparse hair curling and emitting a burnt, acrid smell.
"No, no! We really didn't mean it..." the old man shouted in panic, "We thought you were trying to steal something, and we got angry..."
"Still not telling the truth?"
Hu Zi grabbed the old man's head and pressed it into the fire.
"Dad..."
The old man's two sons cried out in trembling voices, wanting to run but unable to escape.
That strange hair seemed to tighten around their flesh, causing more pain the more they struggled.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
The old man, unable to bear it any longer, pleaded loudly for mercy.
Lu Fei nodded slightly.
Huzi threw the old man to the ground like he was tossing trash.
"Old bastard, be smart and tell the truth, and you'll suffer less!"
The old man now looked pitiful, but just a moment ago he was about to burn them alive in the old house.
"We were afraid of that porcelain basin."
The old man said with a trembling voice.
"Oh?" Lu Fei slightly raised his eyebrows, holding a black umbrella and standing in front of the flames, his face shrouded in shadows, but his eyes were especially bright.
"Continue."
"That porcelain basin was mixed with the ashes of the dead, it's extremely ominous. Whoever touches it will have bad luck..." The old man's face turned red, "We were all scared of it, so we specifically threw it outside the village, didn't expect you to pick it up..."
"Wasn't it thrown at the crossroads on purpose so someone would pick it up?" Lu Fei chuckled.
"We..." The old man was speechless, lowering his head embarrassed, "We were really scared... It wasn't intentional to set the fire, we just heard you say that burning fire could ward off evil spirits, and in a panic, we..."
"That's not right!"
Lu Fei narrowed his eyes, feeling that the old man was still not telling the truth.
Wanting to get rid of an evil object is understandable, but setting someone on fire is going too far.
The evil aura is in the porcelain basin, not in the person.
If they were going to take action, wouldn't it have been better to wait until they tried the small stove in the house?
What reason could make them so anxious?
"Master Yuan, all the information you gathered during the day came from this old man?" Lu Fei looked at Master Yuan.
"Yes! They were especially enthusiastic at the time…" Master Yuan reacted quickly, "Was everything this old fool said a lie? Damn it, old man, you're trying to harm me!"
He was furious. He, a professional con artist, had actually been deceived by this old man.
Da Zhu was completely stunned, his mind unable to process what was happening.
"Old man, explain clearly, what's the deal with this porcelain basin?"
The old man stammered and averted his eyes.
"Old turtle, I think you've lived long enough!" Hu Zi, without another word, grabbed the family of three and pushed them towards the raging fire, "Hu Zi Lord will send your whole family on their way, all together."
"Dad, say something…"
The old man's two sons panicked.
"It's all the misdeeds of our ancestors. What can't be said? Haven't they caused us enough misery already?"
"This bone china was fired by our ancestors!"
When the two sons said this, everyone was shocked.
The old man closed his eyes, a look of despair on his face.
"I'll tell, I'll tell. Let go of my two sons, I'll tell you everything." The old man said weakly.
Lu Fei waved his hand.
Huzi and Heifa then let go of the two people.
"You two, leave quickly. Go as far away as possible and never come back." The old man waved his withered hand at them.
"Dad…"
With tears in their eyes, the two sons took one last deep look at him, turned, and ran.
"Boss, you're really letting them go?" Huzi asked.
"They don't matter." Lu Fei waved his hand indifferently and looked at the old man, "Can you tell us now?"
The old man sat desolately on the ground, staring at the blazing old house, and spoke hoarsely, "The bone china was made by my grandfather. In fact, our family is the one with the poorest craftsmanship in this village."
"Their family is the one with the best skills."
"Their family always mocked my grandfather, making it impossible for him to earn money, and he couldn't hold his head high in the village. Our family has always lived a hard life."
"One day, an old beggar came to the village. My grandfather, being kind-hearted, gave the old beggar a meal. In gratitude, the old beggar told my grandfather a method for making bone china."
"Bone china made from human ashes has a spirit."
"My grandfather then went to a mass grave and found some bones of the deceased. But the bone china he made was always missing something."
The old man gazed at the house in flames, his eyes filled with hatred.
"They came again, mocking my grandfather for his delusions, saying he would never make fine porcelain."
"My grandfather could no longer bear it and got into a fight with them, accidentally pushing them into the kiln."
"At that time, a batch of porcelain was being fired in the kiln, and the fire was very intense. They never got up again... When the fire was extinguished, the quality of that batch of porcelain was surprisingly good."
"It turned out that human bone porcelain needed a live person as the catalyst."
"Grandfather sold those pieces of bone china and made a lot of money, but our family still did not become rich..."
The old man paused at this point.
"Several people fell into the kiln one after another. Was it an accident or on purpose?" Hu Zi snorted coldly.
The old man's family was responsible for the human casualties, and they were the ones who fired the bone china. To escape the retribution of the bone china, they threw the porcelain at the crossroads.
Perhaps he believed that only when the person who picked up the porcelain died could their family be free from misfortune.
"Is that kiln still there?" Lu Fei only cared about this; the past right and wrong had nothing to do with him.
"It is."
The old man nodded gloomily.
"Lead the way!"
Lu Fei stared at him.
The old man was taken aback for a moment, then got up and started walking towards his house.
Their house was particularly shabby and dilapidated.
"It's this furnace."
The old man pushed open the back yard door, and by the wall was a small kiln.
The kiln bore traces of smoke and fire, but it was evident that it hadn't been used for many years.
"Huzi, light the fire."
Lu Fei took out the bone china basin.
As soon as the old man saw the basin, his eyes changed instantly.
Huzi found some firewood in the yard, threw it into the furnace, and lit it. The flames illuminated the dim courtyard.
Lu Fei picked up the basin and moved it closer to the furnace.
The milky white porcelain body reflected an eerie glow in the firelight.
Amidst the flickering flames, it seemed as if terrifying ghost faces were appearing on the surface of the porcelain.
As if sensing something, the yin energy stirred restlessly, and those ghostly faces opened their mouths wide, as if roaring and howling.
"You're scared, it's working."
Lu Fei felt a great sense of assurance and placed the porcelain basin into the stove.
The porcelain basin began to shake violently, and the yin energy gushed out, forming several long tongues that wrapped around Lu Fei's hand.
At the same time.
The old man suddenly extended his withered hand and pushed towards Lu Fei.
"What the hell, old turtle! Are you looking to die!" Hu Zi was shocked and hurried to stop him, but he was tightly held back.
Turning his head, he found it was Da Zhu with a blank stare.