Chapter Seven: The Third Sister Mountain

  Listening to Yang Ersheng's sobbing account, my second uncle was also stunned at the time. It turned out that this was the case, no wonder Old Lady wanted to fake her own death last night. Old Lady really died with her eyes open, pushed down and killed by her own son. Don't mention whether it was intentional or not, after ten months of pregnancy, raising him with hardships, and giving birth to a daughter-in-law and building a house for the son, how much dedication in a lifetime, only to be pushed down and killed by his son in the end. It's no wonder that Old Lady would not be at peace, and it's no wonder Yang Ersheng was terrified, this is a guilty conscience.

  He let out a sigh, and the second master coldly faced Yang Ersheng with an angry expression, staring at him for quite some time before speaking: "If you had been more filial to your mother in the past, she wouldn't have hated you so much. Even if something unexpected happened, how could she have died without closing her eyes? This is what it means to be unfilial..."

  That's true, Yang Ersheng also looked ashamed, but it couldn't solve the practical problem. Moreover, at this time, Yang Ersheng didn't want to listen to Er Ye's preaching either. He grabbed Er Ye's clothes and begged: "Uncle Er, I've said everything, I really didn't do it on purpose, my mother is angry with me, if you don't help me, my mother will definitely take me to the underworld, if I die, who will take care of the two children? Uncle Er——”

  Yang Ersheng was so frustrated by his crying that Second Master sighed and said, "Ershengzi, whether it's right or wrong, I can't judge. However, your mother's resentment won't dissipate, and on the seventh day of her death, she'll definitely become a vengeful spirit. Once she becomes a vengeful spirit, she'll lose her humanity, and the depth of her resentment is beyond my control. Do you understand? It's not that I don't want to help, but I'm simply unable to. I heard that San Gu Niang lives on the mountain and has some spiritual powers; why don't you go find her?"

  The Second Master finally softened his heart, although he couldn't help himself, but still pointed out a clear path for Yang Ersheng. Yang Ersheng was stunned and actually believed the Second Master's words. The three daughters on the mountain had also heard of that goddess, but it seemed like she wasn't in charge anymore and hadn't been seen coming down the mountain for a long time. For a moment, she stood there blankly, not knowing what to think, before finally walking out in a daze, without even acknowledging me or the Second Master.

  Yang's family finally left, and Second Master let out a sigh of relief. For a while, he couldn't sleep, so he sat with me on the kang, chatting idly about Yang's old lady. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead: "Look at my brain, Xiao Hai! I told you not to go out, but now I remember that the statue of Sanqing Daozu I worshiped was broken last year. You can't stay home anymore. How about this? I'll send you to live with Da Chun in the east village for a few days. After hiding out for seven days, the yin energy will slowly dissipate, and then you can come back."

  At this time, Second Uncle was very resolute and didn't allow me to object. He pulled me to the home of Da Chun in the east of the village. Da Chun is our relative, although we are not close anymore, but it's no problem for him to accommodate me for a few days. Although he wasn't clear what happened, Second Uncle vouched for me and Da Chun agreed, even helping me tidy up a separate room, changing into new bedding, and taking good care of me. However, my heart didn't feel at ease, I really didn't want to stay here.

  Maybe if I had stayed quietly for a few more days, none of the things that happened later would have occurred. But once something has passed, it's impossible to regret it. On the second day, early in the morning, after having a nightmare all night, I didn't expect someone to come looking for me - Yang Ersheng's eldest daughter, Yang Xiufeng. When I opened my eyes, I was startled because the light in the room wasn't very good, and it was still early morning, so at that time Yang Xiufeng looked pale and gloomy, like a completely different person from the pretty girl she normally was. I even thought I hadn't woken up from my nightmare yet. After all, I didn't have much contact with Yang Xiufeng; we used to play together when we were kids, but as we grew older and knew that boys and girls were different, we stopped hanging out together. Moreover, Yang Xiufeng wasn't the type of person who liked to talk or joke around, so basically our relationship was just exchanging a few words when we saw each other - I never thought she would come looking for me.

  "Xiao Hai Ge..." Just as I was silently chanting "Amitabha" to dispel the evil thoughts, Yang Xiufeng softly called out.

  I was stunned for a moment, and only then did I confirm that I wasn't having a nightmare, it really was Yang Xiufeng who had arrived. For a moment, I felt a bit awkward, so I hurriedly got up. When I saw Yang Xiufeng take a step back and turn her face away, from the faint redness on Yang Xiufeng's face, I suddenly realized that I was only wearing this one pair of underwear, and my old face turned red with embarrassment. I hastily put on my horse-riding pants, and only then did I feel relieved: "It's Little Feng, what brings you to find me at such an early hour?"

  "My dad is sick——" Yang Xiufeng's words made me somewhat perplexed, if he's sick, shouldn't he go see a doctor? Why find me? But thinking about it, Yang Xiufeng wouldn't be so bored. I just quietly waited for Yang Xiufeng to continue speaking. As expected, after hesitating for a while, Yang Xiufeng said in a slightly embarrassed and soft voice: "My dad was scared sick, but he's still thinking about going to San Gu Niang Mountain to find the immortal nun, so——so, Little Hai Ge, can you accompany me on this trip? I'm just a girl and I'm afraid——"

  I was stunned for a moment, I naturally knew the cause and effect, some things don't need to be said too much, but since you're a girl who's afraid, aren't there three younger brothers at home? There are many young people in the village, why come find me? However, looking at Yang Xiufeng's pleading eyes, I couldn't bring myself to refuse. After hesitating for a long time, thinking that this shouldn't conflict with Second Master's instructions, Second Master only said not to go to his place, but didn't say not to go outside. Anyway, it's just to avoid the old lady's ghost, ghosts only remember things from when they were alive, so they shouldn't be looking for me all over the world. Besides, San Gu Niang Shan will return in two days, there shouldn't be any trouble.

  I was lost in thought, and Yang Xiufeng saw that I had been silent for a long time, her heart was already panicked. After all, it's not like we were very familiar with each other after so many years. If I really refused, what would happen? Although she didn't burst into tears at the moment, tears had already started to well up in her eyes and occasionally one would fall.

  I was about to refuse, thinking of Er Ye's stern face, but when I looked up and saw Yang Xiufeng's pitiful expression, I inexplicably nodded my head. Before I could even speak, Yang Xiufeng's face lit up with surprise and she grabbed my arm: "Xiao Hai Ge, thank you for accompanying me..."

  He opened his mouth, but the words he had originally wanted to say were already forgotten. Feeling embarrassed about saying anything else, he gritted his teeth and said, "Anyway, it's only two days, I'll go with you."

  I agreed and wouldn't go back on my word, so I slipped out of the Dachun's house with Yang Xiufeng, quietly heading towards the Three Maiden Mountain under the rising sun.

  Three Girls Mountain, from our village to the south, after crossing a mountain is it, in fact, only tens of miles away, but walking around the mountain road will take 60 or 70 miles, and naturally need two days to go back and forth. Fortunately, Yang Xiufeng was well-prepared, with instant noodles, ham, and mineral water in her backpack, enough for us to fill our hunger. It has to be said that Yang Xiufeng's mind is very meticulous.

  The three girls mountain is said to have a legend, in an unknown dynasty, the mountain originally lived with three sisters. At that time, there were bandits who came to our village to plunder, and the villagers were very afraid. It was these three sisters who fought back against the bandits, and naturally, the result was that the three sisters and the bandits perished together. In order to commemorate the three sisters, the mountain where they died in battle was named San Gu Niang Shan (Three Girls Mountain). I heard that the mountain is very eerie, but when I went there as a child, I didn't discover anything unusual.

  Nothing much happened along the way, just that the mountain road was difficult to walk on. It wasn't until late afternoon that we finally arrived at San Guniang Mountain. San Guniang Mountain is not very big, only tens of meters high, and the top of the mountain is covered with trees, which are now lush and green. At this time, it's impossible to know where the goddess lives.

  "Shenniang lives alone here, doesn't she feel bored to death? Xiaofeng, do you know the exact location of Shenniang?" Looking at the mountain, I felt my legs wanting to cramp up, if we really have to search like this, it's enough to exhaust someone to half death.

  But Yang Xiufeng shook her head, disappointing me: "I don't know either, I heard about the Godmother from my elders when I was a child, but it's been many years since I've seen her, and I don't know if she's still around."

  When I heard this, my face fell at the time. It's been many years since we last met, and I'm afraid it's a matter of life and death. Seeing my worried face, Yang Xiufeng flashed a hint of embarrassment in her eyes, and she said softly: "Little Hai brother, let you suffer with me, I——"

  Yang Xiufeng spoke in a soft and weak tone, leaving me with nothing to say. I temporarily put aside my worries and forced a smile: "It's okay, I wouldn't feel at ease if you came alone as a girl. Let's go find it now before it gets dark."

  Hiking isn't all that great, I'm used to staying in the city, but when I started climbing mountains, I was actually worse than a girl. On the contrary, Yang Xiufeng went ahead and often reached out to pull me up, making me feel embarrassed. But I was already exhausted and couldn't even pretend to be strong anymore.

  Unconsciously, when the sunset was all over the sky, we arrived at the middle of the mountain. There is a stone wall here, but there is a cave on the stone wall. We can take a shortcut by crawling through it and save a lot of walking distance. It's said that three sisters used this place to trap those bandits to death back then. So we decided to take the shortcut too, although the cave was very narrow and we had to crawl through it on our hands and knees, but in this way, we could save a lot of time.

  "I'll go first—" Yang Xiufeng didn't hesitate at all, directly kneeling down and crawling inside, not even thinking of resting for a moment. I could only sigh and follow her in.

  The cave is about 20 to 30 meters long, and although it's transparent on the other side, it's still very dark when you crawl in. If you're not careful, you'll hit your head. Yang Xiufeng and I crawled forward with difficulty, two steps apart, our heavy breathing sounding particularly solemn in the cave.