Chapter 3

Home is the last harbor in a person's heart. No matter what happens outside, one can get spiritual comfort and shelter when returning home.

But now,

She has entered the house!

Seeing that he couldn't wake up Cui Guiying, Li Zhuiyuan could only run to the inner room, where his brothers and sisters were sleeping on the floor mats.

"Brother Pan Zi, wake up!"

"Brother Lei Zi, wake up quickly!"

"Sister Ying Zi, wake up!"

Li Zhuiyuan ran through one brother and sister after another, pushing and shouting at everyone, but they were the same as Cui Guiying in the kitchen—they couldn't be woken up no matter what.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the door between the inner room and the kitchen. Little Huang Ying's figure didn't appear there.

"Phew..."

He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, but the next moment he found a puddle of water appearing under his feet, gathering more and more, starting to overflow and flow along the uneven ground.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

Water droplets kept falling on him, soaking his clothes, bringing sticky dampness and greasiness.

On both sides of his vision, a pair of hands appeared.

Finally,

Cold hands grabbed his neck.

Li Zhuiyuan's body trembled, and a strong sense of suffocation struck.

But soon, the suffocation gradually subsided, because these hands didn't stay on his neck for too long and began to slide down slowly.

A shadow appeared from above, and Li Zhuiyuan raised his head with some difficulty.

The person above also slowly lowered her head at this time, wet long hair constantly hanging down, constantly sticking to the boy's face, and like a black giant mouth, covering the boy's head bit by bit,

Until...

Swallowed.

"Old Han, slow down, slow down, my butt is hurting, hiss... it hurts!"

Li Sanjiang hugged Li Weihan's waist with one hand and pulled his buttocks with the other, trying to stick them out as much as possible.

"Uncle, don't move around, if you move again, you'll fall!"

"Pah, you're riding so fast, can I not move!"

After receiving Li Sanjiang at the funeral feast, Li Weihan rode his bike home without stopping for a moment.

The path in the fields was narrow and full of pits, which was really hard for the person sitting in the back. Moreover, Li Sanjiang was old and really couldn't afford this kind of tossing.

Li Weihan was helpless. Seeing that he was very close to home, and the path he took to take a shortcut was becoming more and more difficult, he had to slow down the speed.

"Oh..." Li Sanjiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He touched the cigarette box in his pants pocket and said, "Old Han, let's stop and smoke a cigarette."

"We're almost home, Uncle, let's smoke when we get home."

"Hey, what are you in such a hurry for? Didn't you already call Blind Liu to look? I guess your Little Brother Yuan Hou can eat and run at home now."

"Is Blind Liu really useful?"

Li Weihan didn't believe much in Blind Liu's ability. He had seen the most difficult time for that mother and daughter. If she really had the ability to communicate with yin and yang, why would she let herself fall into such a miserable state?

In comparison, he believed more in Li Sanjiang. After all, he was a professional who retrieved dead falls, and in his memory, his small life had always been very comfortable.

"How to say, that Blind Liu was a person who cheated money in her early years. Later, she figured out some tricks herself. Isn't there such an old saying: hemp rope picks the thin part to break? She just breaks her own first wherever she is. If she breaks too much, she breaks out experience."

"What does that mean, Uncle? I don't understand."

"If you don't understand, forget it. The worst case for your Little Brother Yuan Hou is being cursed. For this kind of thing, she, Blind Liu, can really handle it, looking at the past friendship between you."

"I'm just worried about the child. I'd rather be cursed myself."

"You, Old Han, are really partial. You were partial to your little girl long ago, and now you're partial to your grandson. But that's right, your little girl is also promising. This 28-inch bicycle was bought for you by your little girl early on, right?

But, this curse, it's not that painful. Maybe it's quite enjoyable, like those who hang themselves. Before the rope loop is put around the neck, what they see through that loop is all fascinating things."

"Uncle, this sounds like a good thing?"

"A good thing is certainly not worth talking about. Just treat it as the child having a symptom on the grave. Which village doesn't have a few naughty unlucky ones every year? It's just a minor illness."

"By the way, Uncle, how do you plan to deal with that dead fall?"

"Deal with?" Li Sanjiang's emotions suddenly fluctuated, and his tone became severe, "Do I feel that my life is too comfortable, so I have to rush to deal with that kind of dead fall that can walk in the water?"

Hearing this, Li Weihan's heart tightened, and his speed increased again.

"Hey, hey, hey! Slow down, slow down! Old Han, what are you going crazy about again? No matter how powerful that dead fall is, you ran away anyway, so it's nothing big. Can she still chase to your house?"

"We're here!"

The 28-inch bike arrived at the dam, and Li Weihan got off immediately to support the bike.

Li Sanjiang jumped off the back seat and kept rubbing his butt.

Li Weihan: "Guiying, Guiying!"

"Coming, coming, keep your voice down, don't make noise, the children are all asleep." Cui Guiying walked out and greeted Li Sanjiang first, "Uncle, you're here."

"Hey, I'm here." Li Sanjiang didn't dawdle either, flicked his sleeves toward the inside, "Go, see the child first."

Coming to the door panel, Li Sanjiang squatted down to check Li Zhuiyuan's situation.

"Should I wake the child up?" Cui Guiying asked.

"No need. The child is fine, not cursed anymore. Has Blind Liu been here?"

"She has." Cui Guiying told the story of the afternoon.

Li Sanjiang nodded after listening: "That is, Guiying, you were kind and generous before, willing to let Old Han go to help them mother and daughter. This is how the virtue is reported to the children and grandchildren."

"Look at what you're saying, Uncle, it's not worth anything."

"It's worth too much. If it were someone else in the past, do you think she, Blind Liu, would be willing to take action?

That is, this human debt, she has to pinch her nose and admit it even if she is unwilling. She must be feeling aggrieved and regretful in her heart, and now she is probably at home wiping tears and howling about her bitter life."

"Uncle, sit." Li Weihan handed a small stool to Li Sanjiang's butt, and took out a cigarette to help him light it, then turned to his old woman, "Guiying, get some food to pad his hunger."

As he said, he glanced at the locked cupboard.

Cui Guiying took the key to open the lock, took out chicken cakes, biscuits, etc., and spread them in front of the two, and said to Li Sanjiang very apologetically: "Uncle, there's no meat at home."

There were more than ten children living at home, how could there be any leftover dishes from the night before? Even the pickled vegetable vat was bottoming out quickly, but there was no meat for offerings.

Li Sanjiang pointed to the cupboard where snacks were locked: "Is there meat floss?"

"There is." Cui Guiying nodded immediately, "Can it work?"

"Anyway, it's meat, just make do with it."

"Alright."

Finally, a plate of meat floss was placed on the plate, and the offerings were ready.

A rough iron bucket was carried in from the dam outside by Li Weihan. This time, without reminder, he put the iron bucket in the corner of the kitchen wall himself.

Underworld money was still a rare thing at this time, and one had to go to the underworld shop in town to buy it. Villagers didn't want to use it for small sacrifices, but yellow paper and ingots were almost in every family's stock.

Gold and silver ingots were all folded by women themselves on weekdays. As for yellow paper, it could be put in a basket by the toilet as toilet paper.

Li Sanjiang first lit the two candles on the offering table, then lit a few sheets of yellow paper with the candle flame, then waved them quickly in front of the offering table, muttering words, and then ran back to the corner to throw the half-burned yellow paper into the iron bucket as a fire seed. Cui Guiying immediately put other yellow paper and ingots into it to burn.

Li Weihan took a thin wooden stick to stir the paper inside. After confirming that it was fully burned, he carried the iron bucket outside to pour out the paper ash.

When he came back, he saw Li Sanjiang taking out a bell from his pocket, and was digging into it with his gray-black fingernails, finally getting the cotton ball stuck inside out.

"Ding ding ding..."

Shaking it lightly, the sound was crisp.

Li Sanjiang untied the bell rope and walked to Li Zhuiyuan: "Come, Little Brother Yuan Hou, raise your right hand."

Li Zhuiyuan followed instructions, watching Li Sanjiang tie the bell to his wrist.

Immediately after, Li Sanjiang took the incense burner from the offering table, thought about it, broke all three incense sticks by a large section, leaving only a little end, and re-inserted them into the incense burner.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, take this."

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and held the incense burner.

Cui Guiying finally understood something at this time. She instinctively wanted to lean forward, but was grabbed by the wrist by Li Weihan and pulled back hard.

"How can you let Little Brother Yuan Hou..."

Li Weihan glared at his old woman hard.

Li Sanjiang reached out, covered Li Zhuiyuan's ears, then raised his head, looked at the couple, and asked very casually: "Ask you one last time, do it or not."

"Do it!" Li Weihan answered immediately.

"If Little Brother Yuan Hou has something..." Cui Guiying shook her arm, wanting to break free from her old man's restraint.

Li Weihan said in a deep voice: "If there is no such thing, nothing will happen. If there is such a thing, if you don't do it, Little Brother Yuan Hou will also have something happen. That thing is staring at our Little Brother Yuan Hou!"

Cui Guiying heard this and stopped struggling, her arms hanging down.

Li Sanjiang smiled and said: "Old Han, think clearly. If the matter leaks out, it won't be easy to get along in this village in the future."

Even if there is no dead fall at all, and everything is a nonsensical joke made by everyone, but you set up this kind of movement at home and want to perform that kind of ritual to others, if people know about it, this big hatred will be settled!

"Heh." Li Weihan also snorted, "Uncle, I'm not afraid of Great Hu Zi's family, I also have four sons."

In the countryside, the more adult sons a family has, the more confident they are.

Although his four sons were not model filial sons, and there were many quarrels between the daughters-in-law, when the old Li family encountered something from the outside that needed to be supported, these four sons would inevitably stand out to face the outside world together.

"Alright, do it!" Li Sanjiang let go of the hand covering Li Zhuiyuan's ears, squatted to the child's ear, and instructed: "Little Brother Yuan Hou, Grandpa will walk in front later, you follow behind, walk slowly, don't spill the incense burner, understand?"

"Hmm, understand."

"Good child, obedient."

Li Sanjiang took Li Zhuiyuan out the back door, turned around, looked at Li Weihan and Cui Guiying who followed, and said: "Wait at home, don't follow. If there are too many people, it's easy to be seen, and I'm afraid of scaring her."

"Hmm, Uncle, I'll leave it to you."

"Close the doors at home."

"Alright, Uncle."

Li Weihan pulled his old woman back into the house, and then closed the doors and windows.

Outside under the night sky by the river, only Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan were left.

"Wait for me a while, Little Brother Yuan Hou."

Li Sanjiang greeted, and went down to the riverbank alone along the blue stone brick steps. Only to see him squatting down and constantly scratching the water surface with his hands while whispering something.

Separated by a bit of distance, the sound was deliberately suppressed very low, and Li Zhuiyuan couldn't hear what was said.

While talking, Li Sanjiang's body began to lean backward, and he made a gesture to run several times, as if the thing under the water might come out and pounce on him at any time.

Finally, Li Sanjiang finished speaking, ran up quickly, and was still panting.

"Alright, Little Brother Yuan Hou, I'll walk in front, you follow behind, walk well, no matter what happens next, no matter what sound you hear, you must hold the incense burner well, don't look back, understand?"

"Understand."

"Hmm, obedient."

Li Sanjiang walked to the front, pulled out a distance of about twenty meters, turned his head, and waved at the child, signaling that he could follow.

However, Li Zhuiyuan stopped in place and didn't move.

"Come, follow me, Little Brother Yuan Hou."

"But..." Li Zhuiyuan wanted to tilt his head, but he remembered Li Sanjiang's instructions, so he just held the extinguished incense burner with one hand and pointed to the river surface with the other, "Not waiting for her?"

"Wait for whom?"

"Her, Little Huang Ying."

"Little Huang Ying, what's wrong?"

"She didn't follow."

Li Sanjiang froze, walked back, lowered his head and looked at Li Zhuiyuan seriously, and asked: "Little Brother Yuan Hou, do you know what we are going to do?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, and nodded again.

Li Sanjiang looked at Li Zhuiyuan with some surprise, muttering: "You child, like your mother, smart."

Immediately, Li Sanjiang seemed to think of something, stared at Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, and asked: "Can you, feel her?"

"Hmm."

"She... where is she now?"

Li Zhuiyuan opened his mouth and didn't speak, as if thinking, and as if waiting, and then, he said:

"She's here."

"Where?" Li Sanjiang was shocked.

"Just in the water..."

"Phew..." Li Sanjiang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now she's behind me."

Li Sanjiang: "..."

Li Sanjiang subconsciously wanted to move his line of sight, looking from the side of Li Zhuiyuan's head to behind him, but he restrained this impulse.

However, even without looking, his nose smelled a rich corpse smell. He was too familiar with this smell.

She, really came.

Li Sanjiang swallowed nervously. He wanted to terminate, but thinking of the consequences of termination... Damn it, why should Old Han's family bear the sins created by others!

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, remember what Grandpa just said."

"Hmm."

Li Sanjiang closed his eyes, raised his hands high, and slowly stood up. The corpse smell was even richer.

He turned around, opened his eyes, and walked forward for a distance. This distance was the observation distance he faced when poling the boat against those dead falls.

After a deep breath, he opened his eyes and looked back at his behind.

Little Brother Yuan Hou was standing there holding the incense burner. Behind him was a piece of black that the moonlight couldn't penetrate.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, follow well."

"Hmm."

"Hmm."

Li Sanjiang began to move forward. The sound of "ding ding ding" came from behind.

He didn't take the village road, but deliberately walked along the river or drilled into the small woods. Even if there were no pedestrians in the middle of the night, he had to be as careful as possible and must not let outsiders know.

After walking halfway, Li Sanjiang stopped, and the bell sound behind him also stopped.

Li Sanjiang looked back. Li Zhuiyuan was still standing there separated by twenty meters. Behind the child, he vaguely saw a human figure, sticking very close.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, continue to follow, we're almost there."

"Hmm."

"Hmm."

Li Sanjiang continued to lead the way. He walked and stopped, and the bell behind him also rang and stopped.

Finally, after bypassing a fish pond, he could reach Great Hu Zi's door. This fish pond was actually his family's.

This time, Li Sanjiang didn't stop, but continued to walk along the edge of the fish pond. But during the process of walking, he slowly turned his head and looked behind him:

Under the pale moonlight, Li Zhuiyuan was holding the incense burner, looking at the grandfather leading the way in front from time to time, and looking down at the road under his feet from time to time.

This road was not easy to walk, and it was easy for a child to slip and fall, so he walked very seriously and carefully, but he still couldn't avoid the swaying of his body.

Behind him followed a woman in a cheongsam with wet long hair.

The woman looked like a blind person, unable to see the road ahead.

And when a blind person was led by someone, they would often grab the other party, so the woman's hands were grabbed on the boy's shoulders. When walking, her body followed the little boy, deep one foot and shallow one foot, constantly swaying.

Li Sanjiang swallowed. He stepped into the air while walking backward and almost fell, but after a sway, he stabilized his balance.

Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan wanted to stop.

Li Sanjiang hurriedly said anxiously: "Little Brother Yuan Hou, don't stop, continue walking, stabilize, we're almost there."

"Hmm."

"Hmm."

Finally, after bypassing the fish pond, Li Sanjiang arrived in front of Great Hu Zi's dam.

It was already the second half of the night, and not only were the lights off at Great Hu Zi's house, but there were no lights in the nearby houses, and no figures could be seen.

Li Sanjiang turned sideways, squatted down, spread his left hand toward Great Hu Zi's house and his right hand toward the direction where Little Brother Yuan Hou stood, and opened his mouth:

"Offerings for you today, sacrifices for you next year, the human feelings are done here, are you satisfied?

Whether it's yin or yang, you have to talk about reason!

Report grievances if you have grievances, report hatred if you have hatred, everyone in the world has a bitter life, you must not implicate others."

After Li Sanjiang finished chanting, he secretly glanced at the direction of Li Zhuiyuan, and found that there were still two figures, one big and one small, standing there, very quiet.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, kneel down."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't kneel, but stood there holding the incense burner.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou?" Li Sanjiang urged in a low voice.

"Grandpa... I can't kneel."

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to kneel, but there was force on his shoulders pulling him, making him unable to go down.

Li Sanjiang took a deep breath and immediately chanted:

"The child is still young, the child is ignorant, the child doesn't owe you, the road is brought to you, the door is pointed to you, do you really want to ignore the reason?"

After speaking, but over there, there were still two figures, one big and one small.

Li Sanjiang's eyes showed anger. He withdrew his hands that were originally spread out to "build a bridge," and stabbed his ten fingers into the ground, with a lot of black mud embedded in his fingernails.

"You are the one walking underwater, I am the one floating on the water. I give you face but you don't want it, I talk reason to you but you don't listen, then good, you force me to overturn the table and let's all go to the Dragon King to reason!"

Li Sanjiang's whole temperament became solemn. He had always not wanted and dared not face that one directly, but the matter had developed to this step, and it was no longer up to him. He couldn't bring this dead fall out and then bring it home.

However, at this moment, only hearing a "creak," Great Hu Zi's big iron gate was opened.

Li Sanjiang looked over and found two people standing behind the door. It was Great Hu Zi and his youngest son. Both of them only wore big underpants, with bare upper bodies and bare feet.

For a time, Li Sanjiang felt a bit terrified in his heart. He was doing this secretly, and if he were discovered by people face to face, it wouldn't be easy to clean up afterward.

But soon, Li Sanjiang found something wrong.

Only to see Great Hu Zi and his son, the two people didn't even look at him standing outside the door, but walked in a daze toward the fish pond direction.

When passing in front of Li Sanjiang, Li Sanjiang found that both of them were walking on tiptoe with their heels off the ground.

The father and son walked side by side like this, swaying, but they would never fall. After walking to the edge of the fish pond, the father and son didn't stop, but continued to walk down.

Stepping into the water, continuing to move forward, the water surface submerged their knees, submerged their waists, submerged their shoulders, and finally... submerged their heads.

"Plop!"

Li Zhuiyuan felt a looseness on his body and sat directly on the ground. Seeing this, Li Sanjiang ran over immediately to protect the child.

"Child, are you still okay?"

Li Zhuiyuan didn't answer, but pointed forward blankly.

In front was Little Huang Ying's figure. Her arms were stretched forward, her hands spread out, as if she were groping. Although she walked very slowly, she also came to the edge of the fish pond, and then, walked into the water.

As if sensing the water under her, she slowly lowered her arms, and her walking became more and more stable.

She began to twist her waist, as if she were dancing the dance she had danced yesterday on this dam facing this fish pond.

Her dance was still not very professional. Now that her joints were stiff, her dancing was naturally even less standard, but she danced very devotedly.

Her figure in this night, sometimes submerged, sometimes abrupt, flickering.

Every time she appeared, the water surface submerged a few more points on her body.

Gradually, the legs under her cheongsam slits could no longer be seen, the hips she twisted could no longer be seen, and the chest she had hardened with clothes but wasn't very high could no longer be seen.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and carried the incense burner.

Soon, her head was also submerged in the water surface. On the water surface, only her arms remained, and gradually her wrists remained, and then her hands remained...

When her hands also slowly disappeared into the water surface, only a clump of black water grass remained.

In the end, accompanied by the last ripple,

Everything,

was gone.

Li Sanjiang carried Li Zhuiyuan on his back and ran away bowing. After running for a long distance, he put the child down, took out his cigarette case while pounding his old waist.

Seeing the child standing there in a daze, he opened up: "Listen to Grandpa, just treat it as a dream. After waking up tomorrow, forget everything."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded obediently, but he felt that he might not be able to forget that picture just now, and it would always be frozen in his memory.

Shaking off the cigarette ash, seeing the child still in low spirits, Li Sanjiang teased:

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, you can think about things that make people happy immediately."

"Happy things?"

Li Sanjiang pointed to the direction of Great Hu Zi's house with his cigarette-holding finger and replied:

"Eat the feast!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====

"Mm, understood."

"Good child, be good."

Li Sanjiang led Li Zhuiyuan out the back door, turned around, looked at Li Weihan and Cui Guiying who had followed, and said, "You wait at home, don't follow. If there are too many people, it's easy to be seen, and I'm also afraid of startling her."

"Mm, Uncle, I'll leave it to you."

"Keep the doors at home closed."

"Alright, Uncle."

Li Weihan pulled his wife back into the house, then closed all the doors and windows.

Outside, under the night sky by the river, only Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan remained.

"Wait for me a moment, Little Yuan Hou."

Li Sanjiang gave a greeting, then went down to the riverbank alone along the blue-brick steps. Only then did he squat down and, while using his hand to continuously sweep the water surface, whisper something.

Separated by some distance, and with his voice deliberately kept very low, Li Zhuiyuan could not hear clearly what was being said.

As he spoke, Li Sanjiang's body began to lean backward, and he made several gestures as if preparing to run, as if the thing under the water might come out and pounce on him at any moment.

Finally, Li Sanjiang finished speaking; he ran up quickly, still panting heavily.

"Alright, Little Yuan Hou, I will walk in front, and you follow closely behind. Remember, no matter what happens next, and no matter what sounds you hear, you must hold this incense burner tightly and absolutely do not look back. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

"Mm, be good."

Li Sanjiang walked to the front, pulled a distance of about twenty meters, turned his head, and waved at Li Zhuiyuan, signaling that the child could follow.

However, Li Zhuiyuan stopped in his tracks and did not move.

"Come, follow me, Little Yuan Hou."

"But..." Li Zhuiyuan wanted to turn his head, but he remembered Li Sanjiang's instructions; he just held the already extinguished incense burner in one hand and pointed to the river surface with the other, "Aren't we waiting for her?"

"Waiting for whom?"

"Her, Xiao Huang Ying."

"Xiao Huang Ying, what's wrong?"

"She didn't follow."

Li Sanjiang was stunned for a moment, walked back, lowered his head to carefully examine Li Zhuiyuan, and asked, "Little Yuan Hou, do you know what we are doing?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, then nodded.

Li Sanjiang looked at Li Zhuiyuan with some surprise and muttered, "You child, you're like your mother, smart."

Immediately, Li Sanjiang seemed to think of something, stared into Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, and asked, "Can you... feel her?"

"Mm."

"Where is she... right now?"

Li Zhuiyuan opened his mouth but didn't speak, as if he were thinking, or as if he were waiting. Then, he said:

"She's here."

"Where?" Li Sanjiang was terrified.

"Just now in the water..."

"Hoo..." Li Sanjiang let out a breath.

"Now she is behind me."

Li Sanjiang: "..."

Li Sanjiang subconsciously wanted to shift his gaze from the side of Li Zhuiyuan's head to look behind him, but he suppressed this impulse.

However, even without looking, his nose caught a rich stench of a corpse; he was all too familiar with this smell.

She really had come.

Li Sanjiang swallowed nervously. He wanted to stop, but when he thought of the consequences of stopping... Damn it, why should the Han Hou family bear the karma created by others!

"Little Yuan Hou, remember what Great-Grandfather just said."

"Mm."

Li Sanjiang closed his eyes, raised his hands high, and slowly stood up. The stench of the corpse became even more intense.

He turned around, opened his eyes, and walked forward a distance. This distance was the observation distance he used when facing those dead bodies while punting a boat.

After a deep breath, he opened his eyes and looked back behind him.

Little Yuan Hou was standing there holding the incense burner, and behind him was a darkness that the moonlight could not penetrate.

"Little Yuan Hou, follow closely."

"Mm."

"Mm."

Li Sanjiang began to walk forward, and the sound of "ding ding ding" came from behind.

He did not take the village road but deliberately followed the riverbank or went through small woods. Even though there were no pedestrians in the middle of the night, he had to be as careful as possible and absolutely could not let outsiders know.

After walking halfway, Li Sanjiang stopped, and the sound of the bell behind him also stopped.

Li Sanjiang turned his head. Li Zhuiyuan was still standing there twenty meters away. Behind the child, he vaguely saw a human figure, standing very close.

"Little Yuan Hou, keep following, we're almost there."

"Mm."

"Mm."

Li Sanjiang continued to lead the way. He walked and stopped, and the bell behind him also rang and stopped.

Finally, after rounding one more fishpond, they would reach the entrance of the bearded man's house. This fishpond was actually his own.

This time, Li Sanjiang did not stop but continued along the edge of the fishpond. However, during the process, he slowly turned his head to look behind him:

Under the bleak moonlight, Li Zhuiyuan was holding the incense burner, occasionally looking at the Great-Grandfather leading the way in front, and occasionally lowering his head to check the road under his feet.

The road was not easy to walk, and it was easy for a child to slip and fall, so he walked very seriously and carefully, yet he still could not avoid the swaying of his figure.

Behind him followed a woman in a cheongsam with wet, long hair.

The woman was like a blind person, unable to see the road ahead.

And when a blind person is led by someone, they often grab onto the other person, so the woman's hands were gripping the boy's shoulders. As they moved, her figure swayed along with the little boy, stepping heavily and lightly, constantly shaking.

Li Sanjiang swallowed. Walking backward, he missed a step and almost fell, but after some swaying, he regained his balance.

Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan was about to stop.

Li Sanjiang hurriedly said anxiously, "Little Yuan Hou, don't stop, keep walking, stay steady, we're almost there."

"Mm."

"Mm."

Finally, after rounding the fishpond, Li Sanjiang arrived in front of the bearded man's courtyard.

It was already the middle of the night. Not only were the lights out at the bearded man's house, but the nearby houses were also dark, and no figures could be seen.

Li Sanjiang turned to the side, squatted down, spread his left hand toward the bearded man's house and his right hand toward the direction where Little Yuan Hou was standing, and said:

"I offer to you today, I send you sacrifices next year. The human favor ends here, are you satisfied?

Whether yin or yang, one must speak of reason!

If you have grievances, go report them; if you have hatred, go seek revenge. All people in the world have bitter fates, you must not hold onto resentment."

After Li Sanjiang finished reciting, he secretly glanced in Li Zhuiyuan's direction and found that there were still two figures, one big and one small, standing front and back just like that, very quietly.

"Little Yuan Hou, kneel."

Li Zhuiyuan did not kneel and was still standing there holding the incense burner.

"Little Yuan Hou?" Li Sanjiang urged in a low voice.

"Great-Grandfather... I can't kneel."

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to kneel, but there was a force on his shoulders lifting him, preventing him from going down.

Li Sanjiang took a deep breath and immediately recited:

"The child is still small, the child is ignorant, the child owes you nothing. I have brought you the road, I have pointed you to the door, do you really want to ignore the Dao entirely?"

After he finished speaking, there were still two figures, one big and one small.

Anger appeared in Li Sanjiang's eyes. He withdrew his hands that were originally "building a bridge," and thrust his ten fingers into the ground, embedding a large amount of black mud into his fingernails.

"You walk under the water, I float on the water. I give you face and you don't want it, I reason with you and you don't listen. Fine then, you force me to flip the table and we'll all go find the Dragon King to judge this!"

Li Sanjiang's entire temperament became solemn. He had never wanted to, nor dared to, face that person directly, but now that things had reached this point, he had no choice. He couldn't bring this dead body out and then take it back home.

However, just at this moment, he heard a "creak" sound, and the large iron gate of the bearded man's house was opened.

Li Sanjiang looked over and saw two people standing behind the door. It was the bearded man and his youngest son. Both of them were only wearing large shorts, bare-chested and barefoot.

For a moment, Li Sanjiang felt a bit fearful. This was something he was doing sneakily; if he were discovered by them face-to-face, it would be hard to end things afterward.

But soon, Li Sanjiang discovered something wrong.

He saw the bearded man and his son, neither of them looking at him standing outside the door, but instead walking straight and dazed toward the fishpond.

When they passed in front of Li Sanjiang, Li Sanjiang noticed that both of them were walking on their tiptoes with their heels off the ground.

The father and son walked side by side like this, swaying, but they never fell. After the father and son reached the edge of the fishpond, they did not stop but continued to walk down.

Stepping into the water, they continued forward. The water surface covered their knees, covered their waists, covered their shoulders, and finally... covered their heads.

"Splash!"

Li Zhuiyuan felt a sense of relief on his body and sat directly on the ground. Seeing this, Li Sanjiang immediately ran over to protect the child.

"Child, are you alright?"

Li Zhuiyuan did not answer but stared blankly as he raised his hand, pointing forward.

In front was the figure of Xiao Huang Ying. Her arms were stretched forward, her hands open, as if groping. Although she walked very slowly, she also reached the edge of the fishpond and then walked into the water.

Seemingly sensing the water beneath her, she slowly lowered her arms and walked more and more steadily.

She began to twist her waist, as if she were dancing the dance she had danced yesterday right here on this courtyard toward this fishpond.

Her dance was still very unprofessional, and now that her joints were stiff, it was naturally even less standard, but she danced with great dedication.

Her figure in this night sky appeared and disappeared, sometimes submerged and sometimes abrupt.

Every time she appeared, the water surface had submerged a bit more of her body.

Gradually, the legs under the slit of her cheongsam could no longer be seen, her twisting hips could no longer be seen, and her chest, which was not very high but was tightly squeezed by her clothes, could no longer be seen.

The water surface covered her neck, blurring her hair. She raised her hands, facing the night sky, still performing.

Soon, her head also submerged into the water. On the water surface, only her arms remained, then gradually only her wrists, and then only her hands...

When her hands also slowly disappeared into the water surface, only a clump of black water weeds remained.

In the end, accompanied by the last ripple,

Everything,

Was gone.

Li Sanjiang carried Li Zhuiyuan on his back and left with a hunched back, jogging. After running for a long distance, he put the child down and, while taking out a cigarette case, pounded his old waist.

Seeing the child standing there in a daze, he comforted him: "Listen to Great-Grandfather, just treat it as having had a dream. When you wake up tomorrow, you will forget everything."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded obediently, but he felt that he might not be able to forget that scene just now; it would always be frozen in his memory.

Flicking the cigarette ash, seeing the child still in a low mood, Li Sanjiang teased:

"Little Yuan Hou, you can think about things that will make you happy soon."

"Happy things?"

Li Sanjiang pointed in the direction of the bearded man's house with his cigarette-holding finger and replied:

"Eating at a funeral feast!"

(End of chapter)