From the time he can remember, Zhou Xiangde has known that his body is different. There is a red birthmark where his right arm connects with his shoulder blade. It originates from his armpit and is about a finger wide. From a distance, it looks like an arm.

The way it had been cut off and then reattached was very frightening.

Therefore, no matter how hot the weather is, Zhou Xiangde never exposes his body in front of others, for fear that this strange phenomenon will fall into the eyes of others.

The bigger shock came from the summer when he was eighteen years old. His grandfather, who had always been in good health, passed away at the age of eighty. When he accompanied his father to change his grandfather's clothes, Zhou Xiangde clearly saw that under his grandfather's clothes

On his right arm, there is also a dark red mark exactly like his own.

His father soon noticed his confused expression. He glanced at Zhou Xiangde and gently rolled up his sleeves.

"Ah..." Zhou Xiangde took a breath of air and almost screamed. There was also such a red mark on his father's arm.

"This... this..." You can imagine Zhou Xiangde's horror. Looking back, his father never seemed to be shirtless in front of others - could it be that the ancestors of the Zhou family did not accumulate virtue, so that three generations of the family suffered from such a serious disease?

"On the contrary." His father obviously guessed Zhou Xiangde's thoughts and shook his head: "This is the mark that the ancestors of the Zhou family can have by doing good deeds and accumulating virtue."

That was seven generations ago. It is said that the ancestor of the Zhou family, Taigong Zhou Ming, went to Shandong alone for the first time to collect accounts after inheriting the family business. On the way back, he passed through Henan. As soon as he entered the country, he found that he was simply

It was like stepping into a hell on earth - Henan had just suffered a locust plague that had never happened in a century. Not only had the grass roots and bark of trees been eaten away, not even a piece of Guanyin soil was left.

There is only one thing left to eat: people.

In such a calamity year, the most unlucky ones are always women - children must be protected because they are related to the heirs who will carry on the family line. Parents must also be protected in high places, otherwise they will inevitably be scolded for being unfilial. So, the only one who can be sacrificed is

, only women are left.

Women were tied to the market one by one, and they even had special names - Cai Ren. The women did not resist, and sat on the ground with numb expressions, waiting for that terrible moment to come. And their husbands

Stay by and wait for the pitifully small amount of money to be collected before exchanging life-saving food.

It was noon, Zhou Ming was hungry, so he went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. He only heard the cook say, "The meat is gone, please stay away from the guests." Then he dragged the two women into the kitchen, muttering.

"First cut a hoof to serve the guests with wine".

Zhou Ming was stunned. Before he could come to his senses, he heard a scream. Zhou Ming quickly ran into the kitchen and saw that both women were tied to the ground. One had her right arm cut off and was rolling and moaning desperately.

One next to him was trembling with fear.

Zhou Ming had never seen such a tragic scene before, and he felt extremely intolerable. Fortunately, he had just collected the bill and had extra silver coins around him. He quickly took it out and gave it to the shopkeeper, and redeemed the two women. After asking, it turned out that they were the two sisters-in-law.

Lou,

The one with a broken arm was her sister-in-law Meng, and the other was her sister-in-law Li. Meng was seriously injured and knew that she had no physical condition at all. She just wanted to die quickly. Zhou Ming gritted his teeth and let the cook stab her in the heart with a knife.

Die peacefully.

Originally, Zhou Ming wanted to send Ms. Li home, but Ms. Li cried and said that even if she went home, it would be nothing more than being sold one more time, and it would be a death sentence. Zhou Ming thought about it and felt that what she said was reasonable. A good person will always do what he wants.

Take Li back to his hometown.

It happened that Zhou Ming had been married for six years, and his wife had never been pregnant. In gratitude to Zhou Ming for saving her, Li volunteered to become a concubine. A year later, she gave birth to a boy. On his right arm, there was a mark like a knife cut.

Red seal.

"So, this is a seal of virtue." Father slowly put down his sleeves: "Although it looks a bit scary, I hope it can be passed down from generation to generation in the Zhou family and prosper forever."

Two years later, Zhou Xiangde's new wife gave birth, and as expected, there was such a red mark on the baby's right arm.
Chapter completed!