The story takes place in the Qing Dynasty Kangxi period. There is a small mountain village near Baling. There is a young man named Ye Haotian in the village. It's hardship.
Despite this, Ye Haotian still had great ambitions, and he worked hard to live and study hard. However, he had no money and no power, and he could not get any honors in the exam because he could not bribe the invigilator. The house leaked and it rained all night, and his mother fell ill at this time. In order to treat his mother's illness, he sold out all the valuable things in the house, but it was still not enough.
Just when he was desperate, a girl named Hongxue walked into his sight.
That night, Ye Haotian, who was drunk in the pub, staggered home. When passing by the village entrance, he lost his balance and fell into a small pit on the side. Looking at the stars in the sky and thinking of his own experience, he couldn't help crying loudly.
At this time, a black shadow appeared next to the pothole and stretched out his hand to him. Ye Haotian was slightly stunned, but still accepted his kindness and was pulled out of the pit. Only then did he notice that the person helping him was actually a young and beautiful girl. She must be a foreigner because he had never seen her before.
The girl has fair skin, a graceful figure, and is dressed in gorgeous clothes. At first glance, she is not an ordinary person. During the conversation, we learned that the girl’s name was Hongxue. She was originally from Xiangfan, and had just moved here with her mother not long ago. She couldn't sleep at night, so she went out to hang out, and heard Ye Haotian crying, so she came to help.
Ye Haotian's face was slightly red, but fortunately Hongxue didn't pay attention, and instead took the initiative to invite him to his home. However, Ye Haotian was concerned about his mother, so he shook his head and refused, but Hongxue did not force him.
Since Hongxue had just moved here and had no friends, she often went to see Ye Haotian in the days that followed, and even took the initiative to pay for Ye's mother to buy medicine. Slowly, Ye Haotian fell in love with this enthusiastic and generous girl, and with the help of his mother, the two slowly came together.
At the same time, when Ye Haotian went to the town to buy medicine, he found that there were many more officers, soldiers and policemen on patrol. After asking, he found out that several young men were missing in the local area. They were neither alive nor dead. Some people suspected them. He was taken away and sold into a black coal kiln. In order to prevent the case from happening again, the government ordered to step up patrols and arrest suspicious people immediately.
Ye Haotian didn't think much about it. After returning home, he found Hongxue waiting for him. When he asked, he found out that Hongxue's mother had agreed to their marriage, but she had to meet Ye Haotian, her prospective son-in-law first.
Ye Haotian was very happy after hearing this, and the two immediately rushed to the town to pick out gifts. Ye Haotian originally wanted to buy some food and supplements, but Hongxue took him straight to the rouge shop and the tailor shop, and said seriously: "My mother loves beauty, so I will give you gifts from now on, just these!"
This made Ye Haotian very unhappy. Yes, everyone has a love for beauty. But Hongxue said that her mother is over fifty. Shouldn't she pay attention to health and longevity at this age? With anxiety and doubts, Ye Haotian came to Hongxue's home.
Her home is located in a remote bamboo forest outside the city, but the decoration of the house is very elegant, both exquisite and beautiful. When the two of them arrived at the door, Ye Haotian saw a very beautiful woman standing outside the door. He thought she was a maid and casually handed over the rouge and gouache he bought.
As a result, the woman and Hongxue both laughed. Then Hongxue stepped forward and took the woman's arm, introducing: "Haotian, this is my mother, not a maid!"
Ye Haotian's eyes widened immediately after hearing this. The woman in front of him was extremely beautiful, with tight skin and a graceful figure. She did not look like a woman in her fifties at all. Standing with Hongxue, she looked like her sister. Ye Haotian was a little confused, but he quickly came to his senses and quickly bowed to salute.
He performed well, and Hongxue's mother was very satisfied. In this way, the two got married soon, and Hongxue also paid for the cure of Ye Mu's disease. In order to create a good reading environment, Hongxue moved back home with Ye Haotian. Since then, Ye Haotian has lived in the same house as his mother-in-law.
His mother-in-law was a pretty good person and often prepared delicious food for Ye Haotian, but as time went by, he discovered something strange.
My mother-in-law loves beauty very much. It can be said that she is crazy about it. She can even change her clothes three times a day. She wears the most expensive rouge and gouache on her face. She always looks very well dressed no matter where she goes. As she became more and more beautiful, she naturally attracted the favor of many men, and they were all young men about the same age as Ye Haotian.
My mother-in-law also welcomes all comers and brings a man home almost every few days. Ye Haotian was a little hard to accept, so he raised the matter with his wife Hongxue, hoping that his mother-in-law would restrain himself, but Hongxue obviously stood by his mother and ignored him.
That night, the mother-in-law took a boy back home again and got into the room. Ye Haotian, who was studying in the house, happened to witness this scene. He didn't want to meddle in other people's business and silently closed the doors and windows. But in the middle of the night, he was suddenly awakened by the urge to urinate. He got up and went to pee in the yard, but suddenly he heard a sizzling sound, as if someone was sawing wood, and the sound came from his mother-in-law's room.
The lights in the room had not yet been extinguished, indicating that the mother-in-law had not rested yet. Seeing no one around, the curious Ye Haotian quietly came to the bedside and broke the window paper to peek inside. As a result, the scene in the room was so frightening that his legs trembled, and he couldn't help but urinate directly.
Under the dim light, he saw the man who had just returned home with his mother-in-law, hanging from the beam, apparently lifeless. The mother-in-law, armed with a sharp knife and a saw, cut open the belly of the corpse, took out the internal organs and bones, and made it into a complete skin.
In addition, there were many white bones scattered in the corner of her room. After doing all this, the mother-in-law took off the skin, propped it up on the bed, and lay down in it.
Seeing this scene, Ye Haotian was so frightened that he peed, and his legs kept trembling. He covered his mouth desperately, not daring to make a sound, and silently retreated to the room.
Finally made it to the early morning of the next day. Ye Haotian got dressed and rushed out without thinking. He planned to report to the county government, but he met a Taoist priest halfway. Seeing his panic, the Taoist priest hurriedly asked him what happened. Ye Haotian didn't think much and told everything truthfully.
After hearing this, the Taoist priest's face changed suddenly, and he said to himself: "It's actually a corpse coffin!"
The so-called corpse coffin is to use other people's corpses as coffins and lie inside. This is a vicious method that came from the Western Regions hundreds of years ago. It is said that the corpse lying in the coffin can absorb the essence of the person who provided the skin and flesh, so that the body will not rot for thousands of years, and the living person will lie in it. , how can you keep your appearance unchanged and live forever. However, there is a time limit for living people, and a skin can be used up to three times. Therefore, if you want to keep your youthful appearance, you must keep killing people.
Ye Haotian was shocked after hearing this. If this is true, then the reason why his fifty-year-old mother-in-law is getting more and more beautiful can be explained clearly. Afterwards, the two came to the government together to report the matter to the government. The officers and soldiers immediately dispatched and successfully arrested Hongxue and her mother. As expected, the murderer of the disappearance was Ye Haotian's mother-in-law, and she had been using this method to maintain her beauty. Hongxue knew about it but did not stop her.
Later, Hongxue and her mother were imprisoned and received the punishment they deserved. Ye Haotian returned home and continued to study hard. Soon after, he successfully passed the exam and became a high official.
