Someone continued, “That’s right, our ancestral teachings say, ‘Everything has flaws; when something reaches its peak, it begins to decline. Even the way of heaven has flaws; perfection is doomed to destruction.’ Our The Bell Family is blessed with outstanding people and talents in every generation. To avoid heaven’s jealousy of talent, the position of clan leader alternates between the talented and the foolish. This rule has been passed down for generations!”

David Bennett asked skeptically, “You call that a place full of talent?”

He then grinned at William Clark: “Then I must be a talent too! I’m stronger and smarter than all of them!”

“Richard Bennett isn’t just smart, he’s wise.”

“Thank you.”

Charles Foster frowned and said, “That shouldn’t be, but your clan leader’s ghost must be hiding in this Vajra Bell. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself.”

He let go of the underworld messenger, who immediately walked across the Bridge to Heaven toward the Vajra Bell and reached out to grab it.

The Vajra Bell opened, and a large, blurry black shadow appeared.

Charles Foster said triumphantly, “See? I told you! This is Samuel Bell’s ghost. Underworld messenger, take him!”

He commanded the underworld messenger with great authority!

But the authority lasted only three seconds!

After the black mist appeared, it scattered, turning into clusters of black fog like little piglets.

The fog clusters landed and swirled, transforming into the shapes of infants. Their features gradually became clear, then twisted. With strange, sinister faces, they looked at everyone and suddenly began to climb rapidly around the ancestral hall.

“They’re not Samuel Bell’s ghost? They’re infant spirits!” Charles Foster was stunned. “Why—why are there so many infant spirits?”

Clang!

With a crisp sound, the Vajra Bell fell to the ground, and the child possessed by the underworld messenger suddenly fainted.

David Bennett was instantly furious: “The underworld messenger ran away!”

Chapter 012: A Fierce God on the Back

Not only did the underworld messenger run away.

The The Bell Family people ran too.

A whole room full of little ghosts!

Even the underworld messenger was scared off!

Heaven gave them time to escape. After the infant spirits emerged, they didn’t attack the crowd but rushed straight to the big red coffin, lifted the lid, and tore the corpse inside to pieces.

Shredded clothes, hair, and flesh flew everywhere, leaving the inside and outside of the coffin in utter chaos!

Destroying the corpse to erase evidence.

This was a hatred as deep as the sea!

The The Bell Family people scrambled and crawled to escape, with Robert Bell’s grandson leading the way.

No one knew who was last, but whoever it was, they weren’t much of a person—they actually pulled the door shut and, judging by the sound, even locked it with a ‘click’.

Robert Bell, with his bad leg, was left behind. He stood inside the door and shouted, “Damn our ancestors! You don’t care about outsiders or your own people? The clan leader is still inside!”

Inside the ancestral hall, a cold wind blew, and even William Clark got goosebumps on his scalp.

Henry Bell’s wife had once warned them, saying she’d seen many ghost babies—in fact, she’d seen many infant spirits.

Unfortunately, the three of them thought she was talking nonsense and didn’t pay much attention.

Charles Foster fell into self-doubt, muttering, “Impossible, impossible, where is Samuel Bell’s ghost?”

William Clark calmly asked, “Uncle Cao, what if Samuel Bell didn’t wait for the underworld messenger to give up searching for his ghost after seven days, but entered the empty fetus ahead of time?”

Charles Foster exclaimed, “Impossible! It takes effort for a ghost to enter an empty fetus, and within seven days after death, the underworld messenger comes for the ghost at night. How would he have time to do it?”

“What if he entered the fetus during the day?”

Charles Foster shook his head. “It takes great cultivation to release a ghost during the day. Samuel Bell was just a country bumpkin—absolutely impossible!”

The young woman hesitated to speak.

William Clark suddenly looked at her. She said timidly, “I rang the bell at noon on the second day. That was the clan leader’s instruction before he died.”

Charles Foster was petrified.

“I should have thought of it earlier,” William Clark slapped his forehead. “These infant spirits were sealed in the Vajra Bell. How could Henry Bell’s wife have seen them? She must have run into Samuel Bell’s ghost leaving his body and sealing the infant spirits that day! It wasn’t the infant spirits haunting her—one of them used her body to escape!”

“Now you realize?” David Bennett shouted. “The child’s dead and your grandma’s here. When snot’s running into your mouth, you finally wipe it—what were you doing earlier?”

William Clark ignored him, having come up with an even more terrifying theory:

“If Samuel Bell’s ghost could reincarnate at noon and seal infant spirits, he must have great cultivation! Then, if the The Bell Family clan leaders have alternated between geniuses and fools for generations, all those genius clan leaders—including Samuel Bell—are the same person reincarnated!”

“And these infant spirits are the ghosts of those who failed to reincarnate in the past, usually suppressed in the Vajra Bell. That’s why, after being released by the underworld messenger, they were so furious and destroyed his corpse!”

Charles Foster also understood now. He exclaimed, “So that’s it! Xiao Qi, this isn’t just a little ghost case in a village—it’s a major case for the whole dynasty…”

He was about to say more when a crowd of infant spirits crawled out of the coffin, clinging to its edge like a pack of black dogs, staring at them.

Every infant spirit had once been pitiful.

But once they became infant spirits, they became terrifying.

Now, the pitiful ones were the people in this room.

And once the infant spirits left the ancestral hall—

Then the pitiful ones would be everyone in the world!

Without seeing their mouths move, a chorus of crying erupted from all directions: “Waaah waaah, waaah waaah!”

Some cries were weak, some shrill, some hoarse and desperate.

Some sounded like a dull knife scraping bone, some like fingernails scratching jade, some like an old cat wailing.