Chapter 2: The Killer Star

  At this time, the Ye family was in a mess. The two brothers of Ye Cheng sold the five blood spirit mushrooms he had dug up, but it was not enough to compensate for and bury the six strong men who were crushed to death in the tomb. They had to sell their property, patching together from all sides, just to let the few households that lost their loved ones temporarily stop making a fuss.

  Lan's husband, Ye Cheng, had passed away, and now her son was in trouble. Overwhelmed with anxiety, she fell ill and took to her bed, gasping for breath, with more inhalations than exhalations, and it seemed unlikely that she would survive.

  A child with little care, for several days in a row, only had some rice porridge to eat, his stomach was hungry, and his crying grew louder, sounding like it was tearing his heart out from afar.

  Little did the child know, in Wan'an Town, 90% of the people were pointing and scolding him as a "jinx" who had killed his own father. Some even secretly cursed him behind his back, wishing he would starve to death soon.

  Even San Aunt, who had been taking care of the mother and son, couldn't bear the child's constant crying day and night. Seeing Lan Jie fall into a coma again, she picked up the child and brought him to her own pigpen, put the child next to a sow that was nursing four piglets, and said loudly: "Cry, cry, cry, all you know is cry! Aren't you hungry? Then go drink some pig's milk!" After saying this, she turned around and quickly left the pigpen.

  Half a time passed, and Lan's aunt still hadn't woken up. The little boy in the pigpen had stopped crying. Auntie couldn't help but worry, so she rushed over quickly. As a result, she saw that the little boy was lying on top of the mother pig, hugging her and eating with gusto. On the other hand, the four little piglets were scared and hiding far away, not daring to get close. The mother pig lay quietly on the ground, without any signs of discontent.

  Auntie was both angry and amused, after slapping the little boy a few times, she finally put him down. The little boy seemed to have eaten his fill for the first time, he was very happy, and actually smiled at Auntie with a clear and pleasant voice.

  Auntie was shocked and pale, her heart racing wildly, she hastily picked up the little boy and found her husband, telling him everything. The little boy's third uncle also saw the smiling little boy, his face suddenly changed, unable to speak.

  In this world, a child who has just been born for more than a month, how can he laugh so brightly?

  The couple exchanged a silent glance, and the same two words flashed through their minds - Monster!

  Lan's mother finally did not survive, after being in a coma for a day and night, she left behind the little boy and passed away. As if sensing his mother's death, the little boy cried until his face turned blue and purple, almost dying from grief, until his aunt threw him back into the pigpen, only then did he stop crying.

  Ye Cheng and Lan's wife passed away one after another. The doctor who had helped Lan's wife with her pregnancy began to have doubts in his mind, thinking of the strange things about Little Tong. Frightened, he couldn't help but reveal the secret that Lan's wife had given birth to Little Tong after being pregnant for thirteen months.

  The news spread faster than the wind, "a stone stirred up a thousand waves", and the people of Wan'an Town could no longer sit still.

  Two days later, it was heard that the person in charge of the town was secretly discussing this little "evil star" who killed his parents, and many people who loved to watch the excitement rushed to the Ye family ancestral hall.

  After hearing the discussions of the crowd, the most respected elder in the town, Ye Cheng's "Eighth Uncle", slowly stood up from his red wooden chair with a stern expression and said: "Everyone says that being pregnant for thirteen months is not a monster, what is it? Such an ominous star, killing parents and causing six uncles to die, what is the point of its existence? Our town cannot allow it to survive!"

  Several old men echoed in unison. The crowd also shouted in unison.

  "Kill this evil star!"

  "Drown him in the river and see how he can still harm the village?"

  "This little monster should have been strangled to death at birth. Letting him live till now is already letting him off easy."

  "Is it too cheap for him to drown in the river? Or should we throw him into the mountains to feed the wolves?"

  For a moment, public sentiment was stirred up.

  The eighth uncle sat in a big chair, waved his hand, and the crowd slowly stopped shouting. The eighth uncle's face sank, his eyes scanned over the several tall men standing in the front row, saying: "What are you waiting for? Do we need to take action with our old bones?"

  A dark-faced man in black said, "Uncle, rest assured, this matter will be handed over to us younger generations!" After finishing speaking, he whispered a few words to several people beside him, then turned around and walked out of the ancestral hall. Suddenly, more than a dozen men followed him out.

  "Wait a minute, what are you people doing?" came a shrill voice from an old man in the corner of the ancestral hall.

  The man in black stopped in his tracks and replied without turning around, "Naturally, we'll drown that jinx in the river. Can't let him keep harming people, can we?"

  "Harm people? Who did he harm? A little kid who can't even drink enough milk, doesn't even know how to walk, how can he harm people?" That sharp voice rose again, the volume significantly increased.

  The man in black turned his head, his eyes coldly gazing towards the left side of the ancestral hall, where a man in his fifties, dressed as a Confucian scholar, with worn-out clothes and white whiskers, was standing.

  The old man's cheeks were sunken, his face was haggard, and his lips quivered with what seemed to be intense anger.

  The man in black smiled faintly, his eyes gleaming with a sinister light. "I was wondering who it could be," he said. "So it's you, Jiang Xiuren. Tell me, sir, if that demon hadn't descended upon the world, how would Ye Cheng and his brothers have died one after another? And how would six of our fellow villagers have mysteriously perished in the tomb? Should we show mercy to a jinx like him?"

  The old man's yellowish eyeballs suddenly bulged, his beard trembling as he pointed at the black-clad man and the dozen or so people behind him: "What kind of monster are you? I think you're the ones who are harming people. Ye Cheng fell off the cliff, what does it have to do with Little Tong? Before this, there were also people who fell off the cliff, should we blame it on Little Tong too? As for those six fellow villagers, I think it's because the grave diggers were lazy and didn't pack the soil tightly, that's why the accident happened, and it has nothing to do with Little Tong!"

  Before the man in black could speak, a loud voice came from the crowd. A hunchbacked bald-headed man shouted: "Jiang Xiucai, you're talking nonsense! I, Wang Tuozi, have been following my master to build tombs since I was ten years old, and over thirty years have passed without any accidents. Even your wife's tomb chamber was built by me, how come it didn't collapse? Why didn't you say it wasn't solid back then?"

  As soon as the words fell, another red-robed fat man with a pockmarked face took over the conversation in an eerie tone, saying: "Old Jiang, you're really something. This bane has been born for just over a month and has already killed eight people. If we wait for him to grow up, I'm afraid our fellow villagers in Wan'an Town will be killed off one by one."

  The crowd suddenly burst into a flurry of discussion, with some people cursing Jiang Xiucai and even shouting to throw Jiang Xiucai and the infant into the river together.

  Jiang Xiūcái's face turned iron-green, his right hand trembling as he pointed at the red-robed fatty and said: "Wáng Yǒucái, you ungrateful thing, don't forget that I saved your life back then, and even gave you your name. Today you dare to say such things - has a dog eaten your conscience?"

  The fat man in the red robe scolded loudly, saying: "Was it me who asked you to save me back then? Even if you didn't save me, others would have! Besides, you've been freeloading at my house for a year, that's already enough to repay your debt of gratitude. What more do you want? Look at the crappy name you gave me, 'Hua' (meaning wealth), haha, which eye did you see me getting rich with?"

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiucai's face turned iron-blue and instantly flushed red. His right hand pointed at the red-robed fatty, his lips trembling as he couldn't utter a single word!

  Old Man Ba coughed a few times, and the crowd immediately fell silent again, casting their eyes from Jiang Xiucai to Old Man Ba. Old Man Ba struck his dragon-headed cane heavily on the ground twice and said, "Alright, stop arguing. For the safety of everyone in town, this jinx must be eliminated."

  The man in black glanced at Jiang Xiucai with disdain, turned around and waved his hand to several people beside him, and walked out of the ancestral hall in big strides. This time, there were more people following behind him.

  As the crowd dispersed, Jiang Xiucai slowly walked out of the ancestral hall, his steps unsteady and his face filled with sorrow. He seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. His lips trembling, he said: "Child, although I've never seen you before, from your cries, I know that if you were alive, you would be a great person! It's my fault that I couldn't save you. I've wasted my life reading the classics, and now I'm useless. The sages can't even help me, let alone you!"

  Jiang Xiuzai stopped in his tracks, a violent coughing fit, and threads of bright red blood flowed from the corner of his mouth! Jiang Xiuzai didn't care about him either, looked up at the sky, saw that the sun was shining brightly, and a hint of indignation flashed in his turbid old eyes. He said: "Blind old heaven, if you really have a way, you should bring down thunder and strike all these stupid bastards who are blinded by greed to death! Child, you must remember, next life when you're reborn, don't be human again. In this world, it's hard to be human, harder to be a good person, and even harder to be a good person for a lifetime..." His voice was initially indignant, then despondent, gradually sinking lower and lower until it was almost inaudible!

  Ye Cheng's two brothers and their wives were discussing in a low voice, worrying about Lan's funeral, when a large group of men suddenly rushed into the old courtyard, led by that black-clothed man.

  Before anyone in the house could stand up, the man in black had already stepped into the small grass hut with big strides. His cold and gloomy gaze swept across the entire hut, finally falling on Ye Cheng's face. "Where is that little scourge?" he asked. "Where have you hidden him?"

  Seeing the crowd's menacing appearance, the four people in the house felt a surge of tension. Ye Cheng's older brother muttered: "What are you doing? What kind of evil star?"

  "What a nuisance! It's that little brat who cries and wails day and night, disturbing my sleep!" Fat Wang Youcai in his red robe shouted impatiently.

  "Right, it's that little scoundrel, hand him over quickly!"

  "Hand it over, hand it over, where did you hide it?"

  "Huh? That's strange! This little scamp must have known everyone was coming and didn't cry!"

  Everyone of you says one word, I say one sentence, and we loudly quarrel.

  The end of this chapter!