Chapter 12: A Haunted Courtyard

Old Liu was startled abruptly.

Who is this so thoughtful, knowing that I, the Second Uncle, didn't bring paper?

I was originally going to make do with a corn leaf, but this is great; it's truly a case of getting exactly what one wishes for.

Although he didn't know who was outside, the Second Uncle still happily said, "You little comrade really have high awareness and noble character; you must be commended!"

Because the Second Uncle had been straining too hard, he was now somewhat exhausted and spoke in a soft, whispering voice, so Shazhu outside couldn't tell who it was at all.

However, hearing some movement inside, Shazhu suppressed his laughter, stuffed the prepared yellow paper in, and said leisurely, "You should use this yellow paper instead!"

"It can serve as toll money for the little ghosts on the road to the Yellow Springs!"

Shazhu hissed his voice.

He shoved the yellow paper in abruptly, and instantly, cold sweat broke out on the Second Uncle.

This wasn't any ordinary yellow paper; it was clearly the yellow paper money burned for the dead during tomb-sweeping before the Liberation!

This is something strictly prohibited nowadays; could it be that Zhao Gangzi was right about encountering a little ghost in the middle of the night?

The Second Uncle now only felt a chill on his back, and the next moment, a hand covered in blood stains reached in abruptly, its red, dried skin turned inside out.

Then,

A pool of thick blood flowed in from the doorway, trickling in streams right under the Second Uncle's soles.

He had already been squatting for a long time, and his heels were numb; now, his legs went limp, and his whole body trembled.

"I... holy crap..., I am a staunch materialist warrior..."

Liu Haizhong's throat went dry.

He felt as if something were wrapped around his neck; he had only heard the older generation talk about this scene, calling it something like a ghost delivering paper—once you take the paper, you don't have many days left to live...

"Zhao Gangzi, do you want to choose the yellow paper or the red paper?"

"Hurry up and choose!"

"Hehehehehehehehe..."

Shazhu stretched his bloody hand inside to grope around, and the Second Uncle was also terrified; squatting on the pit, cold sweat poured down, and he couldn't even make a sound when he wanted to call for help.

Next, Liu Haizhong felt a cold hand groping his body, moving continuously upward from his ankles.

Old Liu didn't dare to breathe, and Shazhu seemed to have touched two soft things, then showed a look of disgust, suppressed his nausea, and gave a violent tug.

"Awoo!!!"

A strange cry came from the latrine.

Splash, splash.

The sound of something falling into the water rang out.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Shazhu hurriedly took back all the yellow and red paper and ran away in a flash without stopping for a moment.

While running, he shouted loudly, "It's bad, it's bad!"

"Zhao Gangzi fell into the latrine!"

"Everyone come and see!"

Shazhu was overjoyed, wishing he could run through the Front Courtyard, Middle Courtyard, and Back Courtyard to notify every single household.

With that kind of noise, it was definitely Zhao Gangzi who had been scared into falling into the latrine, and upon hearing someone outside shouting that Zhao Gangzi had jumped into the latrine, Jia Zhangshi rushed out first, shouting: "Good! Good! Heaven has eyes, it has avenged our family."

"What is it? Gangzi fell into the latrine?"

The First Uncle pushed the door open and came out.

But as soon as he saw Zhao Gangzi holding his stomach at the doorway, the corners of his mouth, which had already turned up, instantly drooped back down.

"Zhao Gangzi? What's going on? Why are you here? Didn't you fall into the latrine?" The First Uncle had a bad premonition.

"First Uncle, I have truly disappointed you."

"The person in the latrine is certainly not me, and I don't know what happened either," Zhao Gangzi's lips curled into a cold sneer.

In the current situation, one could guess what happened with their toes; it was definitely this old thing who had used a dirty trick.

It was just a pity that Heaven protected him, letting the Second Uncle take the hit instead.

Yi Zhonghai: "Then the person in the latrine is..."

Splash!

"Dad!"

"My old~ fa~ther... ah!"

Liu Guangfu and his brother on the side knelt down instantly.

On the other side, Shazhu washed his hands and scurried to the Back Courtyard, originally wanting to continue shouting the news that Zhao Gangzi had fallen into the latrine, but when he saw the completely unharmed Zhao Gangzi, he was instantly dumbfounded.

Didn't this kid fall into the latrine?

I was the one who pulled him down with my own hands; did I see a ghost in the middle of the night?

"Yo, isn't this He Yuzhu? What did you just say? Your hand doesn't hurt anymore, right?!" Zhao Gangzi said with a half-smile.

"Holy crap, I might have recognized the wrong person; as long as you're okay, Gangzi!"

Shazhu swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said subconsciously.

Afterward, his gaze turned to the First Uncle, and Yi Zhonghai's expression had already changed; he glared fiercely at Shazhu, then urged anxiously: "Hurry up and take people to save him!"

"My dad! Son is coming to save you! There's still a share of our family's property for me, you can't give it all to the eldest brother..."

"Second brother is right! Dad, we're coming!"

Liu Guangfu and his brother grabbed manure forks and ran toward the latrine with red eyes.

Meanwhile, Zhao Gangzi, who was standing on the side like nothing had happened, had received 1000 points of Hatred Value for no reason, and it was from Shazhu at that.

This made Zhao Gangzi very unhappy; it seemed that Old Liu falling into the latrine was definitely related to him, so he patted Shazhu on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Zhuzi, it seems you are very happy that I fell into the latrine?"

"Do you think this business with the Second Uncle has something to do with you?"

"How is that possible? Gangzi, don't you know me? I, He Yuzhu, have always acted in an upright and honorable manner; how could I possibly dress up as a ghost to scare others?"

Shazhu hurriedly explained himself at length.

But Zhao Gangzi already understood; the brat actually dared to dress up as a ghost, which was engaging in feudal superstition, and if things went wrong, he could end up facing a firing squad.

Seeing that Zhao Gangzi did not have much of a reaction, Shazhu hurriedly left the Back Courtyard, where quite a few people had already gathered outside the toilet in the Middle Courtyard.

The few members of the Jia Family still thought the person inside was Zhao Gangzi, clapping and cheering; especially Jia Zhangshi, who was jumping up and down outside, clapping her hands.

Even Jia Dongxu had been carried out.

The Liu brothers, having just arrived by the toilet, saw this scene and their faces turned green with rage; holding manure forks in their hands, they were ready to risk their lives fighting Jia Zhangshi.

"Hm? Why is Zhao Gangzi here? Didn't he fall into the latrine?"

Qin Huairu had sharp eyes and spotted Zhao Gangzi in the crowd at a glance.

Jia Zhangshi and her son Jia Dongxu also saw him; so it had been a false alarm, no wonder those two Liu boys were acting so crazy, it turned out that old good-for-nothing Liu Haizhong had fallen into the latrine!

"Stop watching the show and hurry up to save him together!" Yi Zhonghai exerted his influence as First Uncle at this moment, and a group of people kicked open the toilet door.

At a glance, they saw the large manure pit bubbling away.

As for Second Uncle, there was no sign of him at this moment.

"Holy crap, Second Uncle didn't sink to the bottom, did he?"

"That's for sure! The toilet door was locked from the inside, and nobody knows what happened, but he just fell in."

"Shazhu was the first one to discover it, we might as well ask him..."

The group of old women watching the commotion kept chattering away, while Shazhu hid to the side, not saying a word.

It was fortunate that no one knew he was the one who had done this, otherwise, just based on those two foolish boys from the Liu family, they would definitely fight him to the death.