Chapter 23: The Snake Curse

  This sound seemed to come from underground, and also seemed to come from the sky, but finally I felt that neither was true, it seemed to be coming from behind me.

  I was startled at first, and after being stunned for half a second, I suddenly turned around, shone the flashlight over but saw nothing. The sound only appeared once. I suspected that I had an auditory hallucination, so I quickly asked Tiantian what person made that sound just now.

  Tongtong looked at me with a puzzled face, saying where the sound came from, she didn't hear it! Nor did she see anyone or ghosts around. Hearing Tongtong's answer made me feel confused and depressed for a while, I clearly heard that there was a voice, but even Tongtong couldn't hear it.

  Fear comes from the unknown. If this person stood out, it would be fine, but since there's not even a shadow, I'm still a bit scared. I quickly rubbed my clothes and hurriedly escaped.

  I went back to Uncle Ye's house and told him that the snakes had all drowned and been swept away by a whirlpool, sucked into an underground cave to feed the fish. When I told Uncle Ye about this result, he didn't seem happy at all, with a worried look on his face, saying it was really not right to catch those two snakes.

  I said there were only two snakes, now so many of them are still not killed, come as many as you want to kill as many, this world is just talking about skills, do we need to sympathize with these reptiles?

  My uncle said that he wasn't afraid of these snakes, but was worried about the endless revenge. He still wants to live a few more years! After killing those two snakes, so many snakes came to take revenge, and now after killing over a thousand, the mastermind behind won't let it go easily. It seems like this house can no longer be lived in.

  Ye Fei asked her uncle if he was going to move away. Her uncle said of course, he still wanted to enjoy life! He didn't want to fight with snakes every night.

  I asked Ye Fei Jiu when Uncle Zhuang would move away!

  He rolled the tobacco leaves while telling me that after dawn, they would pack up and leave at noon. He said that if they didn't move away, there might be poisonous snakes coming to seek revenge every night, not to mention he still had to go into the mountains to hunt and dig for medicine. It's hard to hide on the first day of the lunar month but impossible by the fifteenth. Looking at this house where I've lived for five years, it's really hard to bear leaving it!

  I apologetically pulled out 500 yuan from my pocket and handed it to Ye Fei's uncle, saying that I was really sorry for bringing so much trouble here, and that this money was compensation for the damage caused by searching for medicine for Xiao Jianzi.

  My uncle said he wouldn't accept anything, saying it was unnecessary. That snake, he had wanted to catch it last year, but it wasn't big enough yet. This time, he felt it was possible to catch it, so he went to catch it. It's all because of greed, and besides, he's already over 60 years old. He should just go back to his hometown and farm the land to support himself in his old age.

  I awkwardly took the money back, feeling quite childish for thinking that everything could be compensated with money. I asked my uncle, "What about Xiao Jian's stutter? Shouldn't we take advantage of her young age to treat it? If she grows up, even if she can speak clearly, it will be hard to change her habit. And what's with this medicine, is it really that unusual? Have you ever treated a case like this before?"

  The old man smiled slyly, revealing his yellow and black teeth, saying that the strange medicine was because the child's illness was strange, she wasn't really mute, but her ability to speak was being suppressed by something. The reason for this can't be said now, it must be cured before I can tell you, otherwise I'm afraid you'll make a mess of things and turn Xiao Jian into a real mute.

  Ye Fei Jiao pulled me to one side and asked if I still remembered the time she fainted after I hit her two days ago. I said yes! Ye Fei Jiao then asked about the medical expenses and pain compensation, and while saying that, she took out 100 yuan from my pocket and put it back into her own pocket, with a good-natured expression on her face, saying "look, I'm not being intentional, compensating you 100 yuan is enough".

  Yefei Jie told his uncle to let me continue searching for medicine, and when the time comes, I can find him to decoct it. He also told me that where there is a spring eye, there must be an underground river, and as long as there is an underground river, there may be crystal fish.

  He said that, and I felt much more at ease. I decided to head back to Ye Fei's grandmother's house first, let Ye Fei and Xiao Jian stay there, and then I could go around searching for the crystal fish. This way, we can also avoid being attacked by these snakes. If it weren't for Tongtong's reminder tonight, maybe all of us would have been bitten by the snakes.

  After daybreak, my uncle packed his things and left home after breakfast. At noon, he pushed a rickshaw back, put the things on it, and pulled it away. Before leaving, he told me that once I found the medicine, I should come to find him, and when I arrive at his village, I won't have to sleep without a bed.

  After Taboo left, I also packed up my own things, a bag with my clothes and Kozue's clothes. As I stepped out the door to leave, that Hestia-like voice rang out again.

  All I heard was: "Do you think you can just leave here and get away? You can't escape no matter where you go!"

  I heard the voice and my body trembled involuntarily, I turned around to look for the person who spoke, but saw nothing. Ye Fei Chui saw me suddenly stop and stand still, looking around, and asked me what I was looking at? Was it money lost?

  Ye Fei's question brought me back to my senses, and I asked her if she had heard a voice speaking just now.

  Ye Fei raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked me what sound I was talking about, saying she hadn't heard anything, and wondering if the snakes from last night had scared my brain out.

  I shook my head and asked her to wait for a moment, then turned around and went back into the house. In the house, I asked Tiantian again if she had heard the voice just now, Tiantian said there was no sound, and also asked me if I was scared out of my wits by last night's events.

  Ugh, how could those little bugs from last night scare my smart brain? I really did hear something talking, but why couldn't Ye Fei and Tongtong hear it? Why was I the only one who could hear it? I feel an inexplicable fear, a complex fear that's hard to describe, different from any other time.

  In the afternoon, we returned to Ye Fei Chuo's grandmother's house. Ye Fei Jiao told her grandmother about this matter. The short and stout grandma in front of us was extremely surprised.

  I also told Aunt Ye Fei about the voice I heard twice, and she was even more shocked. She said that I might have been cursed by a snake, and as long as I carry this curse on my body, no matter where I go, even to the ends of the earth, snakes will actively attack me. This is too terrifying, either I spend my whole life in fear and don't dare to go anywhere, or I break this curse.

  Ye Fei Jiao's wife asked me to go wash my face, I immediately scooped a ladle of water from the water tank to wash, after washing my face and returning to the main hall, I saw Ye Fei Jiao's wife had somehow gotten a willow branch. She then poured another bowl of water onto the bench...

  She dipped a willow branch in some water and then swept it across my forehead like she was writing with a brush.

  After glancing at me seven times, Ye Fei and her grandmother both opened their mouths wide, looking at me with a mixture of shock and fear. Their expressions were as if I had suddenly grown a third eye on my forehead, but when I touched my forehead with my hand, I didn't find anything unusual.

  Ye Fei pointed at my forehead and asked her grandma what this thing was! I also asked Ye Fei's grandma what was wrong with my forehead. Grandma hurriedly went back to the room, brought out a mirror, and I snatched it for a look.

  I saw a faint red snake mark on my brow in the mirror, which scared me so much that I went weak in the knees and sat down on the chair. The reason for my weakness was that this red snake mark looked just like the skin of a large red snake I had seen in the cave at home, I don't know what connection it has, but it's scary enough anyway.

  When I picked up the mirror to take another look, the mark on my forehead had disappeared. I quickly asked Ye Fei's grandmother what was going on, and she replied that it would return to normal after drying, and that I could only look at it once a day, using a willow branch dipped in water.

  Ye Fei Jiao's grandma also did this for Ye Fei Jiao and Xiao Jian Qi once, but neither of them had any marks on their foreheads, which means they didn't get bitten by the snake curse, and that made me feel a lot more at ease.

  Was it that red birthmark on my forehead that was the so-called Landlord's doing, and only because of this mark could I hear his voice.

  Ye Fei Jiao's grandma said that it might be true, those vengeful snakes shouldn't have been killed. If they had let go of the over a thousand lives, the kindness would have offset the hatred for killing the two snakes. Ye Fei Jiao's grandma said that I didn't understand that even ants struggle to survive, let alone so many snakes. She sighed that I didn't know how to respect life, so the thing that summoned these snakes had put great effort into planting a snake curse on me. If this snake curse mark isn't removed, no matter where I go for the rest of my life, there will be snakes coming to bite me until I die.

  It's really true that if you don't look for trouble, trouble won't find you! I joked with myself and said why not just become a snake catcher? Every day, move a chair outdoors and sit down, and the snakes will come to me on their own.

  Yefei Ji asked her grandmother what to do, she still wants to hang out with me! As soon as we go out the door, there are snakes coming to bite, how can she hang out with me?!

  I also said that I still want to catch crystal fish for Xiaojianzi to cure his dumbness, and find my sister, and help the little ghost in our house find its parents. In short, I have to go out, and I'm only 15 years old.

  Leafy Ji's aunt asked me to ask her cousin for deworming medicine, then break the snake curse, or wear a full-body iron armor and iron shoes, so that snakes can't bite.

  As soon as I heard this short old woman say that her nephew's deworming liquid, I couldn't help but feel a big headache. The medicinal materials for making the deworming liquid alone took her brother-in-law two years to find, and after two years of effort, only a few drops were made, how could he bear to give it to me? Moreover, they used it all up last night.

  Grandma said it's nothing serious, just let her nephew give me the prescription and decoction method, and I'll go find the medicine myself.

  I'm really discouraged, even the old Miao doctor who spent his whole life catching insects and picking herbs in the mountains found it after two years, and he also has a treasure-seeking wasp. A confused young man like me would take twenty years to find these medicinal materials, I'm afraid that before finding one herb, I'd be bitten by a snake and die outside.

  And even if I'm lucky enough to survive and gather the herbs to make the deworming medicine, I still need to break the snake curse! I asked Ye Fei's grandma how to break this terrifying snake curse.

  Yeh Fei Jie's grandma told me that the only way to break this snake curse is to kill the thing that cast the curse on me. The method is to kill the thing that cast the curse on me.