Chapter 215: Ran Into Evil

In August, although it's hot, there are times when it rains.

Zheng Tan squatted by the window, looking at the scenery outside. A toad the size of a fist calmly crawled from the cement road not far from the door to the other side.

Outside, frog croaks were everywhere.

Xiao Youzi lay on the table drawing, the electric fan had stopped, and the wind outside brought moisture, blowing quite cool.

Zheng Tan looked toward the direction of the wild pond, not knowing where that little girl would go today.

Recently, Xiao Youzi and company only went to catch shrimp every few days, not every day to the wild pond, but Zheng Tan would go over to help that little girl whenever he had time. On sunny days, that little girl would go shrimp-fishing at the wild pond; on rainy days, she might be catching frogs. That little girl looked frail, yet Zheng Tan had seen her a couple of days ago use a broken sickle to kill a finger-thick snake.

At that time, the child showed no fear, and her expression hardly changed throughout; if anything, her eyes held a hint of excitement—after all, snake is meat too. Zheng Tan observed that this little girl was probably long accustomed to it; who knows how many snakes she's cut with that sickle, her courage is great, her fighting ability surpasses that of ordinary kids.

After the rain stopped, the next day Zheng Tan went to the wild pond, waited a while, and then saw that little girl approaching with her 'gear'.

Seeing Zheng Tan waiting there, the little girl's previously furrowed brows relaxed, and she hurried over a few steps.

Although it had rained just yesterday, once the rain stopped the temperature rose quickly, and with half a morning of sun, many places weren't that damp. In a day or two, the frequently used dirt roads would likely be as dry as before.

Tie earthworms, cast the line, then divide the labor. After two or three hours, they could catch some, but the wild pond is only so big; after fishing this long, the haul isn't as good as at the start. That little girl leaves the wild pond only after six in the afternoon each day. Zheng Tan can't; he has to return around five, or else he'll have to listen to Jiao Ma's nagging. Zheng Tan doesn't need a watch; he can estimate the time by looking at the sun overhead.

That little girl also knows that when it's about that time in the afternoon, the black cat must head back. But today is different.

Zheng Tan was watching the rod, staring at the line. When a shrimp bites, the line tightens; a bigger shrimp can even pull the wooden rod. Seeing a shrimp clamped onto the worm, Zheng Tan signaled the little girl to come over.

After pulling up the shrimp, the little girl didn't put the rod back down; instead, she gathered her things.

Pulling in the line this early today?

Zheng Tan wondered.

After packing up, the little girl told Zheng Tan to follow her.

Although he didn't quite understand what the little girl intended to do, the time was still early, so Zheng Tan followed her.

Upon reaching a nearby small grove, the little girl hid the wooden rods to keep other kids from taking them, then quickly processed the shrimp in the bucket, keeping only the meat and some large claws, discarding the rest, so carrying it would save a lot of effort.

While in the grove, Zheng Tan saw that person again; three people were walking together over there. Zheng Tan hid in the bushes, staring at them, and tugged at the little girl who was sorting the shrimp meat, signaling her to hide.

Seeing the black cat so alert, the little girl thought something dangerous was happening; she didn't even bother with the shrimp meat, immediately hiding behind the shrubbery, lying flat on the ground, and peering through the gaps in the bushes.

After those three people had left, Zheng Tan's tensed muscles finally relaxed.

"Who are they? Did they beat you?" the little girl asked Zheng Tan, puzzled.

Huh?

This little girl doesn't know them?

Before, Zheng Tan thought that the little girl's several sisters had been sold by her father to these people, but now it seems different from his imagination. If they'd been sold to these people, the little girl shouldn't be completely unfamiliar with them, right?

For a moment, Zheng Tan really couldn't figure out the reason.

After leaving the spot where the rods were hidden, the little girl led Zheng Tan a bit farther and stopped near a fruit grove. The grove's perimeter was still fenced with metal wire, apparently tightly guarded. There's a small stone bridge here, but the stream that once flowed beneath it has dried up for years, overgrown with weeds. Moreover, this area doesn't seem to see much foot traffic.

The little girl slid down the slope, pushed aside the bushes, and there was a hole. Zheng Tan watched her pull out various odds and ends, plus a small aluminum pot.

Beside the stone bridge lay some blue-gray bricks with blackened burn marks. Zheng Tan watched her arrange the bricks in an 'n' shape, set the small aluminum pot on top, placed dry grass and kindling in the gap below, struck a match to light it, and began boiling the shrimp.

It was just plain boiled shrimp; Zheng Tan looked at it and had no appetite, but the little girl stared at it as if it were a delicacy.

After cooking, the little girl handed Zheng Tan a shrimp ball; he didn't eat it, she finished it all. After eating, she put everything back where it belonged.

The little girl told Zheng Tan this was her 'secret base'; she usually came here at mealtime, only returning home to sleep at night. When mentioning 'going home,' her eyes showed disgust.

The sky was getting late; Zheng Tan couldn't stay here much longer.

After Zheng Tan left, the little girl went to another spot, pushed aside the bushes, and there lay a wide-mouth glass jam jar containing the candy Xiao Youzi had given her—she had already eaten three of them. Seeing the two left, she sighed, hesitated, then picked one up, carefully tore open the wrapper, took out the candy, neatly folded the plastic wrapper, and placed it inside the jar, where four wrappers were already stacked.

With the candy in her mouth, the little girl lay back against the slope; the milky fragrance and sweetness seeping from the candy made her like it so much her eyes narrowed.

At night, Zheng Tan was in a bad mood and couldn't sleep; he went outside to urinate. He wasn't used to the outhouse, but seeing many kids here simply find a spot to relieve themselves, he also ran to a secluded place to do so discreetly.

He pushed open the window, Zheng Tan came out from the backyard and ran outward. He didn't want to stay nearby; since he couldn't sleep anyway, he ran farther to stroll around, taking the opportunity to relieve his urgency.

For Zheng Tan, village nights aren't particularly quiet; insect chirps and frog croaks continue, with occasional dog barks. In the darkness, his movements aren't hindered; sometimes he encounters cats kept by other villagers, even provocative ones, but Zheng Tan isn't in the mood to pay them any mind.

Blowing in the evening breeze, he strolled a bit, then found a spot to relieve his urgency.

As Zheng Tan was in the middle of it, his ears twitched—someone was coming this way. He hadn't planned to pay attention, intending to go back after finishing, but the sound he heard made his steps to leave halt.

What a coincidence. I ran into him once during the day, and now again in the dead of night.

Zheng Tan hid to the side, waiting for those people to approach.

Only two people came over: one was the person Zheng Tan knew, whom he had once shoved into the artificial lake; the other seemed to be a local villager, speaking with an accent. Both reeked of alcohol. Their conversation consisted of village gossip and some risqué jokes, but Zheng Tan noticed the villager addressing his companion as 'She Tou'.

Zheng Tan didn't hear them discuss any core issues; he felt a bit disappointed. Still, it was rare to run into them again, and they were drunk—late at night, for Zheng Tan it was heaven-sent opportunity; not giving them a lesson would leave him feeling uneasy.

After thinking, Zheng Tan suddenly remembered what the kid next door had written in his diary. According to that description, there should be a trap around here.

Zheng Tan sneaked up from the side to get in front of them; ahead along this dirt road there is a fork. According to the kid's diary, behind the fourth-to-last household's house, between the backyard fence and the dirt road, they dug a pit. They wouldn't dare dig openly on this dirt road—they'd get beaten. Digging a little off the road, some villagers turn a blind eye, since they only travel on the dirt road; as for the side, it's obvious that pits have been dug there—even weeds haven't grown.

However, late at night, especially after drinking, consciousness isn't that clear, and they fail to notice or remember that 'obvious' trap.

Zheng Tan easily found that trap, about three to four meters from the dirt road; the surrounding weeds were plentiful, indicating few people come this way. The kids' trap is simple: they dug a roughly half-meter-long square pit, set a few thin sticks across it, and covered them with grass. Zheng Tan also smelled a foul odor coming from inside; he guessed those little rascals occasionally piss here, otherwise just a hole would be too simple, making their effort wasted.

Zheng Tan tested the load-bearing capacity of the thin sticks; he would surely fall if he stood on them, let alone an adult.

The two over there drew nearer. Zheng Tan hid on the opposite side of the dirt road from the trap.

Although they'd drunk, 'She Tou' still had some alertness; he kept feeling someone was watching him. He shone his flashlight around, seeing only a few jumping insects, and nothing else.

Could it be that he's drunk too much?

"What's wrong?" the villager who was speaking animatedly saw She Tou stop and asked.

"Nothing." She Tou shook his head and continued walking.

The villager also didn't mind, and carried on with the unfinished talk.

Nevertheless, She Tou still had a strange feeling.

"Click!"

A faint sound came from beside.

"Who?!" She Tou looked toward the source of the sound, but when he swept his flashlight over, all he saw was the wooden fence of the vegetable garden that this household had enclosed.

Villager was about to say something when Snake Head raised a hand to stop him; the hand not holding a flashlight felt out a dagger from his waist, first looking in the direction opposite the wooden fence, making sure no one would ambush from behind, and seeing that no one could hide here either, he turned and walked toward the vegetable garden, where there were plenty of places to hide, such as the outhouse, and also a simple wooden shed.

Zheng Tan hid in the grass clump; this height of grass could indeed conceal a person, but it was just enough to hide a cat. At the same time, Zheng Tan felt in his heart that this person's vigilance was indeed high; last time he managed to push him into the lake was probably mostly luck. However, this worked out well—he only threw a clump of earth in that direction and the man went over there. At the same time, reasoning from the other side, could it mean that this guy had done something guilty, so he had to be extra careful?

That villager, seeing this situation, swallowed his saliva, looked around—pitch black all around; even a spot one meter away he couldn't see clearly, only the area illuminated by the flashlight was somewhat visible. He didn't have a flashlight, followed Snake Head over, but didn't dare get too close to Snake Head, for fear of hurting himself—what would he do then?

Zheng Tan watched Snake Head approach the trap from that side, but Snake Head's path was slightly off from where the trap lay; if he went straight, he would probably just pass by the edge of the trap.

Snake Head felt certain someone was hiding nearby; that feeling of being watched just now probably wasn't his imagination, and regardless, it was better to stay alert.

"Pfft!" a faint sound came from the direction of the wooden shed.

Snake Head tightened his grip on the dagger, took a few steps toward that side, deviating slightly from his original path, and called out toward the wooden shed: "Come out, I see you……"

He hadn't even finished saying "you" when Snake Head felt a strong force strike his lower back.

This time Snake Head wasn't knocked over directly; he merely shifted two steps to the side in a reflexive dodge. Under normal circumstances he could have kept his footing, but the ground where his feet landed gave a few crisp "crack" sounds, his foot sank, and his whole body toppled sideways.

Snake Head knew the villager stood not far behind him; he had just confirmed there was no one else back there, so he hadn't paid much attention to his rear, yet this situation still occurred.

As he fell, Snake Head cursed in his mind: "Damn it, second time! Besides that time when he was inexplicably shoved into the lake at Chu Hua Da Xue, this is the second time he's been hit for no reason!"

What the hell is going on?!

Has he been hit by evil?! (To be continued...)

ps: (4.5)