The Rural Doctor of the Mountain Spirit

  My grandfather was stripped of his clothes by my parents and hung on the old pear tree in front of our house.

  After seeing this scene, my hands covering my mouth began to tremble and I let out a loud cry. And my parents, upon hearing my cry, lost their grip, and my grandfather's body fell from the old pear tree to the ground once again.

  "Little Forest, don't look, go back inside quickly." In a daze, I heard my mother's tearful voice: "We didn't want to do this either, but if we don't, we and our village will..."

  My mother's voice was choked with emotion and she didn't finish what she was saying, while my father used his large palm to cover my face.

  I don't know how I got back home, and the events that followed are already unclear. The next morning, I opened my eyes to find the house had returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

  But my sore throat is reminding me that I screamed last night.

  As usual, I got up from bed and my mother had already prepared breakfast. Usually, when I get up, my father has already gone up the mountain to work with his farming tools. But today was strange, my father was also sitting at the table, and when he saw me, he hurriedly asked me to sit down.

  When I had breakfast, my parents' faces were smiling, but I could see that they were forced. Even so, I still ate with a distracted mind, repeatedly recalling what happened last night.

  I had just taken two bites and put down my rice. I wanted to go out and take a look at everything I saw last night, wondering if it was all just a dream?

  But I had just run to the door, only to find that my home's door was full of nails, and the door had been completely nailed shut. I reached out to pull it, but the door didn't budge at all.

  "Koshiba, you don't have to go to school for a few days, just stay at home." My father's voice came from behind me.

  I turned around and saw that my parents' faces were somewhat pale. Over the past few days, their complexions had been getting worse day by day, and by now they had completely lost all human semblance.

  I really wanted to ask why, but I didn't end up asking in the end.

  After entering the house, I found that the water tank in my home was already full of water, including the bucket, which was also filled to the brim. It was clear that my parents had made preparations long ago.

  I don't know why my parents nailed the door shut, not allowing me to go out, and they themselves didn't plan on going out either. I vaguely guessed that they didn't want to see something that shouldn't be seen. Like, for example, my grandfather's corpse hanging from the old pear tree.

  Three days have passed in the blink of an eye, and I've been staying at home all this time. In the end, I didn't ask anything, when I was hungry, I ate; when I was thirsty, I drank water; when I was sleepy, I slept.

  On the third night, I was woken up again by a strange noise while I was sleeping soundly. I got out of bed and saw my parents standing carefully in front of the door, removing the nails from it.

  This door has been nailed for three whole days, are they finally going to remove the nails tonight?

  I stood in the darkness, not disturbing them. In fact, over the past few days, I feel like I've become a different person altogether. Before Grandpa died, I was timid, self-abased and loved to cry, but now, I feel like I've become somewhat indifferent. No matter what happens, my heart won't be stirred up too much anymore, it's very calm.

  Soon, my parents removed all the nails on the door. They turned their heads and took a look inside the house, then suddenly walked over. Taking advantage of them not finding me, I quickly turned around and ran back to my bed to lie down.

  Before long, my parents came to my bedside. I heard them say: "It's okay, Little Forest hasn't woken up yet, let's hurry."

  After finishing this sentence, I heard the distant footsteps of my parents. And I quietly opened my eyes and got out of bed lightly. In one breath, I ran outside, the first time I left the house in three days.

  As soon as I got out of the house, I saw my parents standing under the old pear tree. And on the old pear tree, a corpse was hanging straight up. My parents were stealthily taking down the corpse.

  I stood in the darkness, once again covering my mouth with my hand, preventing myself from shouting out loud.

  I don't know how long it took, but finally my parents took down Grandpa's body from the old pear tree. At that moment, I saw clearly that Grandpa's body had completely stiffened, like a piece of wood. My parents carried it, step by step, towards Grandpa's mourning hall.

  In the darkness, I followed quietly. Not yet at the mourning hall, but already heard the somewhat hoarse crying voices of my parents.

  "How did our dad die and still suffer this injustice? Are they satisfied now?" This was my father's voice.

  I didn't hear my mother's voice, only his soft sobbing. Finally, I walked out of the mourning hall and saw my parents dressing up my grandfather's body. After a while, they finished dressing him up and put his body into the coffin, sealing it again.

  It wasn't until the rooster crowed that my grandfather's mourning hall returned to its original appearance. My parents, with exhaustion etched on their faces, slowly walked out of the house.

  I returned to bed when it was already somewhat bright outside. However, my brain was buzzing and I couldn't fall asleep again.

  Who exactly is "they" in my father's words?

  I fell asleep in an unconscious state. When I woke up, there were already many people in my house making a noise.

  These people are from our village and were hired by my father to help carry the coffin. At this moment, they are still haggling with my father over the price.

  "Everyone says that this old madman is being unreasonable. You think you can get rid of us with just a little money? This is a matter of life and death."

  My father remained silent on the side, while my mother opened her mouth and scolded: "Left an old lunatic, right an old lunatic, this person is dead, can't you let go? Everyone is from the same village, in the past Xiao Saner didn't help you less, did your conscience get eaten by a dog?"

  Xiao San'er is my father's nickname, and everyone in the village calls him that.

  As soon as my mother's words came out, those nonsense guys immediately shut up, leaving only one guy with a lewd face smiling slyly.

  "Hey, sister-in-law, why are you so angry? If Xiao San really has no money, we can all just make do. But, sister-in-law, in the future, you have to treat us a bit better..."

  This man is a notorious rascal and scoundrel in our village, I didn't expect my father to actually invite him too today, probably because he couldn't find anyone else.

  Just as the rascal said "you'd better be nice to us from now on", I saw my father's face suddenly change, my father who had never lost his temper before, actually lost his temper at that moment.

  Before that rascal could react, my father let out a fierce howl like a hungry wolf and knocked him to the ground.

  Since I got married, my father has always been good to my mother and never allowed anyone to bully her. But at this moment, this rascal clearly overstepped the line.

  However, after all, the relationship between my family and the villagers was not good. After my father knocked Pu Pi to the ground, several people immediately lined up with Pu Pi and beat my father. A few others stood by and watched, even applauding.

  I watched helplessly as all this happened in front of me, watching my father being beaten until he was covered in blood. My mother also stood by, trying to rush forward several times but was slapped back by a few men.

  I don't know how many times they hit him, but those guys finally stopped and my father lay motionless on the ground. They smiled at me and my mother, then left.

  My father got up from the ground, already exhausted, but he was very stubborn and insisted on standing up. Then, amidst my cries and mother's shouts, he resolutely picked up a shovel and went into the main room.

  We followed him and saw Father digging a hole in the main room with an iron shovel.

  "Never mind, there's no one to carry the coffin, let's just bury Dad in the hall." These were my father's words. My mother and I stood by, both of us crying.

  It wasn't until the afternoon that my father finally finished digging the hole, just large enough to lower the coffin into. My parents, both of them, removed the footrests from under the coffin and with great difficulty, they managed to slide it in. And I stood by, feeling utterly hopeless.

  The sky is getting dark, and a mound of earth has appeared in the main room. The mourning hall has finally become a graveyard.

  And my grandfather was buried in the main hall of our own home.

  After we finished worshiping, we left the house. As soon as I entered the house, my mother said to my father: "What do we do now?"

  "My father sighed: 'Dad's grave is buried in the house, it can't be lived here anymore. Pack up our things, we'll leave tomorrow.'"

  "Where are you going?"

  My father shook his head and didn't say anything.

  The next day, I was woken up early by my parents. As soon as I opened my eyes, my parents had already packed two bundles.

  We left the home we had lived in for nearly ten years with our parents. I was reluctant to part with it and looked back at it one last time.

  We came all the way to a withered old tree near my home, on which grew my grandfather's face.

  We originally wanted to pay our last respects to Grandpa, but who would have thought that when we arrived in front of this withered tree, we found...

  On the withered tree, my grandfather's face shed two lines of bloody tears.