Chapter 190: Suspicion

Instantly, all eyes turned to Cheng Beilin.

The moment Heizi’s mother heard this, she flew into a rage and lunged at Cheng Beilin. She screamed viciously, "You venomous woman! How could you be so cruel, stopping someone from saving my son! You shameless bitch! My son is dead, and it’s all your fault! I’ll make you pay with your life!"

Cheng Beilin never imagined she would suddenly be branded a "murderer." Having never encountered such a situation, she was completely dumbfounded. When she saw Heizi’s mother lunging at her, she was so frightened she froze, completely forgetting to dodge.

No one else expected this sudden turn of events, so nobody was able to stop Heizi’s mother in time.

Su Qing stepped forward and blocked her. "What do you think you’re doing? Losing your son doesn’t give you the right to attack people wildly. If you keep spouting such nonsense, don’t blame me for getting rough."

’If it weren’t for the fact this woman just lost her son, I would have sent her flying with a single kick for all the filth she was spewing.’

"Who the hell are you? You ugly hag! You’re no better, hanging around a woman like that. You cheap whore, get out of my way! If you dare stop me again, I’ll beat you too!" Having lost her son, Heizi’s mother was completely unhinged. Seeing Su Qing block her, she lunged, clawing for Su Qing’s face without a second thought, still spewing vile curses.

"Ah, Su Qing, watch out!"

Behind Su Qing, both Cheng Beilin and Aunt Cuihua tried to pull her back to dodge the woman’s claws. One look at the black grime under her fingernails was enough to know that a scratch would leave a nasty scar, and the wound would likely get infected.

But they weren’t as fast as Su Qing. Hearing the woman’s insults grow more and more vile, Su Qing decided she’d had enough. She sent her flying with a direct kick.

"AH!" Heizi’s mother went sprawling onto the ice from Su Qing’s kick, crying out in pain.

"What do you think you’re doing!" Several of Heizi’s other relatives stepped forward, glaring at Su Qing. "You people from Lihua Village killed our Heizi, and now you’re attacking people? Is there no law?"

Zhao Youcai quickly stepped in front of them. "No one wanted this to happen today. No one expected there to be such a big hole in the ice. As soon as the boy fell in, we were all busy trying to save him. The person your relative was trying to attack is the very one who pulled your son out of the icy water. Don’t you have any idea how cold the water in this Pond is in the dead of winter? What, she saves your son, and now you’re going to turn on her and falsely accuse her?"

Hearing Zhao Youcai’s words, the relatives exchanged glances. Though they were angry that one of their own had been hit, they weren’t completely unreasonable people. No matter how you spun it, there was no justification for attacking the rescuer.

But they still weren’t satisfied. "Still, she shouldn’t have just kicked her like that."

Su Qing retorted, "If that woman hadn’t been spouting such filth, I wouldn’t have kicked her."

"You!" Feeling she was in the right, Heizi’s mother clutched her stomach, sat up, and pointed at Su Qing, ready to start cursing again. Su Qing shot her a glare. "Say one more filthy word, and I’ll kick you again. Try me if you don’t believe it."

Just then, someone hurried to restrain the woman. "She’s the one who brought Heizi out of the water. You can’t treat her like this."

Heizi’s mother glanced at Su Qing, then back at her son lying silent and still on the ice. She broke into a wail. "My poor son... You’re gone, just like that... You’re ripping my heart out!"

Su Qing glanced at the tear-streaked woman and continued, "You said my friend stopped me. She was just worried I couldn’t handle how cold the water was. It was only for a second or two; it had absolutely no impact on the outcome. Besides..."

Su Qing looked at Little Heizi and added, "When I found him, he was at the bottom of the Pond. His ankle was tangled in the water weeds. I had to free him from them before I could pull him up. If you don’t believe me, you can look at his ankle. I was in a rush, so there should still be some weeds wrapped around it. He must have gotten tangled right after he fell in, which prevented him from swimming to the surface immediately. On top of that, the water was just too cold, so..."

Su Qing also found the outcome deeply regrettable. It was a life, after all, and the child had been so young.

Hearing Su Qing’s explanation, everyone quickly looked at Little Heizi’s ankle. Sure enough, there were still some water weeds wrapped around it.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, someone blinked, peering closely at the child’s ankle. "Am I seeing things, or is there hair on his ankle, too?"

"What?!" Hearing this, another person leaned in for a closer look. Sure enough, tangled among the water weeds on the boy’s ankle were several strands of long, black hair. It was clearly a woman’s. The person jumped in fright. "Oh my god, you don’t think it’s a water spirit looking for someone to take its place, do you?"

"What did you just say?" Heizi’s family was furious. They were already devastated by the loss of their child; who could bear to hear him called a replacement for a ghost?

The man had only been speaking off the cuff. Seeing the murderous looks on the family’s faces, he immediately cowered. "I was just running my mouth! I mean, how could a woman’s hair get tangled in water weeds, right? It was just a slip of the tongue, just a slip of the tongue."

With that, the man retreated into the crowd, not daring to say another word. The others glanced at him, grumbling to themselves. ’Some people will say anything. Who brings up such feudal, superstitious nonsense at a time like this?’

Cheng Beilin was spooked by all the talk of water spirits and replacements. She moved closer to Su Qing and whispered, "Su Qing, you... you don’t think there are really such things as water spirits, do you?"

"Of course not," Su Qing quickly reassured her. She glanced at the large hole in the ice, and a thought suddenly struck her. ’Could this hole have been cut to dispose of a body?’

At this thought, Su Qing drew in a sharp breath. She hurried over to Zhao Youcai and said in a low voice, "Brigade Leader, maybe we should call the police."

"What? Call the police?" Zhao Youcai was startled.

Su Qing quickly shared her suspicion with Zhao Youcai. Upon hearing it, he also drew in a sharp breath. But the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. After all, who would cut such a massive hole in the ice for no reason? It was more than large enough to dispose of an adult’s body.

Just then, Heizi’s family came over to demand an explanation from Zhao Youcai. He said, "Let’s just call the police and let them handle it. I suspect someone cut this hole with the intent to harm someone."

"Fine, call the police," Heizi’s family agreed. They couldn’t let their child die for nothing. No matter what, they had to find the person who cut this hole in the ice and make them pay with their life for what happened to their son.