Chapter Nineteenth: Escaping from the Wall Root

  In the end, Da Chun Ge chose to believe me, and I carefully told him what had just happened. However, I didn't mention my actions or that the female ghost was San Gu Niang's third sister. Even so, it still scared the couple quite a bit. Adding to this, over the past few days, Lao Yang Jia and Er Da Ye have been acting mysteriously, doing who-knows-what, but looking suspicious nonetheless. And today, it was Da Chun Ge who helped buy the lime powder, which had an eerie setup that sends chills down one's spine when thinking about it now.

  After hearing what I said, the couple fell silent, and they couldn't get angry anymore. All that was left was a fearful and suspicious atmosphere, and they even didn't dare to go back to sleep. Da Chun Ge hesitated for a while before saying: "Xiao Hai, you said the ghost won't come after us, right? That would be fatal."

  "It's not that I'm afraid of you, it's just that you're looking for me, don't be so scared." I wanted to comfort Da Chun Ge, but felt that my explanation was a bit pale and powerless, even I myself didn't have confidence in it.

  After a moment of silence, Da Chun's wife suddenly remembered something and her face turned dark. She trembled with rage as she said: "Xiao Hai, we're all family, you can't lie to your sister-in-law! I'm asking you, why did your second aunt let you live in our house? Is there something going on? You have to tell us clearly, our family has always been good to you. Whatever it is, just give us a shout and Da Chun has never hesitated. You can't harm us!"

  "What's been going on with me, Big Spring and his wife have found out something is off, and suddenly thought of the core issue. He asked me a question that left me stunned. To be honest, I'm a bit ashamed to say this, because we don't even know what will happen when Old Lady Yang's soul returns on the seventh day after her death. Me hiding here isn't a good thing, and I don't dare say whether it will implicate his whole family or not. The question is whether I should tell them everything that happened. After hesitating for a moment, seeing the worry on both of their faces, I couldn't help but sigh: 'Big Spring, sister-in-law, you know how your family feels about mine, so there's no need to say anything more. If not, Second Master wouldn't have let me stay here either. Since we've gotten to this point today, I'll tell the truth - it was Old Lady Yang who came back to life that night, and I was affected by her yin energy. Second Master is afraid that when Old Lady Yang's soul returns on the seventh day, she will cause trouble for me, so he had me hide at your house...'"

  "How can that be, Second Uncle? Isn't this taking advantage of people? It's not right to do things like this—" Before I could finish speaking, Da Chun's wife suddenly shouted out. Actually, these were also the words that Da Chun wanted to say, but he was too embarrassed to speak up as a man. At this moment, hearing his wife say it, Da Chun forced out a smile: "Xiao Hai, if it were anything else, even if I had to suffer a bit and lose some money, your big brother Da Chun wouldn't be afraid. Even if you got into a fight with someone and needed to risk your life, your big brother Da Chun would never back down. But this business with gods and ghosts... really... you also know that this isn't something we can afford to mess with, right?"

  "It's just, Xiaohai, my husband and I can make do, but there are still your two nephews below, if something unexpected happens, what to do? Xiaohai, it's not that we're heartless and unrighteous, it's really sorry, don't blame us——" It was still Da Chun's wife speaking.

  As soon as I said that, I knew it wasn't good. Sure enough, before the words had even left my mouth, two men grabbed me by the arms and escorted me out of the house. Although I felt awkward in my heart, I really couldn't say anything. Staying would have implicated the whole family, and besides, how could ordinary people accept the fear of evil spirits? I couldn't blame Da Chun and his wife, but I was stunned as they threw me out the door. It wasn't until the door slammed shut with a "bang" that I snapped back to reality, standing at the entrance feeling dazed.

  I was stunned for a while, I couldn't blame anything, just sighed and actually Da Chun couple were already good people, but when they encountered such things, it was really impossible to say, after all, it had exceeded their tolerance. But now where should I go? The night wind blew up, and I couldn't help but shiver, only to find myself standing at the door wearing only a pair of underwear.

  Although it's not yet dawn, it's almost time for daylight. I couldn't just wander around the village like this; it would be too humiliating. The old masters and young gentlemen might see me and make a joke out of me. My face twitched with anxiety as I hastily turned back to knock on the gate: "Dachun, brother, give me my clothes!"

  Unfortunately, the couple was hiding in the house and didn't dare to come out. When they heard me shouting, they even covered their ears and hid under the quilt. Da Chun hesitated: "Wife, are we being too much? It's not good to explain this to Second Uncle."

  "What's to be done, this is such a strange and scary thing, we can't do anything about it. Xiaohai said that he was affected by the evil spirit of Old Lady Yang, and who knows, maybe he'll even bring her ghost here. Haven't you seen how scared the Yang family people are? If we let Xiaohai stay in our house, what if something really happens, what can we do about it? I've said before that for other things, like when you stood up to Li Shengli and got into a bloody fight with him, I didn't stop you. But this thing, we can't get involved." Actually, Dachun's wife wasn't an unfeeling person either, but she was really scared by the ghost.

  Da Chun didn't say another word, just covering his ears in embarrassment at my shouting. Out of sight, out of mind, the couple was really scared from that night on and didn't turn off the lights until a long time had passed. The strange occurrences over the past few days made them believe in these things, and besides, they had heard many stories since childhood and believed in the existence of ghosts.

  It was just that the couple felt a little guilty towards me, so they were too embarrassed to listen to my shouts, but it was hard for me. I called out at the door for a long time without anyone responding to me. Before long, the sky had already begun to brighten, and I could only helplessly prepare to leave. Along the way, I still sneaked around like a thief, heading towards Second Master's house.

  In the summer, dawn breaks quickly. Although it's less than a mile from Dachun's house to Erdawu's house, I walked hastily and didn't arrive quickly. As soon as the sky brightened, there were people in the countryside who took advantage of the cool morning to work in the fields until 12 o'clock before returning home for lunch. Then they wouldn't go back to work in the fields for half a day, but by that time some people had already gone down to the fields with their hoes.

  It was a very ordinary morning, and some people even chatted for a bit after meeting. Who knew that I had been careful enough, but still got caught? Here, I was hiding in an alley with my butt sticking out, hoping to wait until the two people on the main road passed by, and then sneak back home while hugging the wall. But who would have thought that the door behind me suddenly opened, and Auntie Li from next door came out carrying a hoe? As soon as she stepped out, she saw a little brat wearing only underwear, bent over with his butt sticking out, hiding in the corner of the wall, looking at who-knows-what.

  Fat Aunt is not an ordinary person. To say nothing of the past grievances with our Liu family, Big Spring Brother was beaten up by the second master and their young son, ending up with a bloody head, and still refusing to speak when they meet now. Just saying that Fat Aunt is someone nobody in the village wants to mess with. Once you provoke her, she'll cry, make a scene, hang herself, curse on the street, and invoke ancestors - all sorts of unreasonable things she can do. Moreover, Fat Aunt is indeed a formidable figure, only slightly inferior to Big Spring's wife. Ordinary people really can't beat her, making her one of the village's tough ones.

  At this time, I saw that I was squatting with my butt and didn't know what to do. From behind, it's natural that you can't recognize me by looking at my butt. The first feeling is that this is not a good thing, maybe it's the kind of person who peeks through walls and kicks widows' doors. For a moment, Auntie's sense of justice came up, and she didn't care about anything else. She rushed to my back in two steps, swung her hoe and hit my butt hard.

  That was quite a blow, and I couldn't help but let out a pained cry as I suddenly darted forward. This startled two elderly villagers who were walking by, and they both turned to stare at me in unison. They stood there in stunned silence for a moment, while Auntie Pang also realized it was me. Although the two families didn't get along, she still didn't have any ill will towards me, a child. However, her expression wasn't pleasant at that moment. As soon as she saw me, she shouted: "Xiao Hai, you little scamp! Tell me, what are you doing here so early in the morning, staring around like a fool?"

  As soon as the words fell, I suddenly discovered my cool pose and couldn't help but snort: "You stinky brat, don't you have any shame? Wearing just a pair of shorts and running all over the world. Look at me, I'll take you to find your uncle to reason with him, what kind of child is this?"

  I was stunned at the time, I didn't know how to face it, and for a while, I didn't even know what to say. However, Auntie's loud shout startled all the neighbors, and soon people started opening their doors to see what was happening. They didn't know who Auntie was quarreling with this time, but they came out to watch anyway. It's human nature to be curious, regardless of age or gender. The originally quiet morning became noisy, with adults and children, old men and women, big girls and young wives all coming out to take a closer look.

  Looking at the familiar faces around me, I really want to cry. What's coming is coming, and hiding won't help. How am I going to face people after this? The most hateful thing is that those young wives are all covering their mouths and laughing. Is it that funny? I lowered my head, not daring to look at the people around me pointing and whispering, and didn't even know what to do.

  I feel like a monkey in the zoo, surrounded by people in the center, I can only be glad that I'm still wearing my pants, otherwise it would be unbearable. Just as I was about to calm down and explain, Auntie Wang grabbed me by the neck: "Go find your uncle to talk to, you little scoundrel, you don't learn any good things."

  It was as if I had been stimulated by this sentence, and I suddenly shook off Auntie's hand, squatting on the ground, not knowing whether to cry or laugh: "What's wrong with me? What did I do wrong? Why didn't I learn well? Who did I provoke? Early in the morning, I was thrown out like this by Big Spring Brother and his wife. Thinking about going home and losing face, I tried to avoid people, but Auntie caught up with me. How could I not learn well? You think I wanted to be like this? I...I'm also helpless, you're too much! What's so funny? Am I still wearing these pants?"