Chapter 4: The Unexpected Turn of Events

  Heaven has unpredictable wind and cloud, people have unexpected disaster and blessing; when life is full of beauty, who would have thought that suddenly a change would occur. Ruthless floodwaters invade, home gardens are shrouded in dark clouds; village plagues spread, countless neighbors die. In the mountains, mournful birds fill the fields, on the roads, white bones are everywhere.

  It was said that when Yue Fei was seven years old, Mr. Wang left Xiaotang Village. In order to let his son learn more things, Yue He discussed with the neighbors and decided to invite another teacher.

  That autumn, Yonghe Township suffered a rare flood disaster in history. The crops were washed away by the flood and nothing was harvested. After the flood, another epidemic broke out, and countless people fell ill. This plague was more terrible than the flood beast, and no one survived.

  Although Xiaotie Village is located in a remote area, it was also unable to escape the disaster. Yue He unfortunately contracted the plague and, in order not to infect his wife and children, refused to let them approach him, taking care of himself instead.

  After autumn, the grain is not harvested, life has no way to continue, let alone treat illnesses? In Xiaotun Village, every day someone's precious life is taken away by the plague, every day is filled with endless crying and wailing.

  Although the young Yue Fei was helpless in the face of the plague, he could see the fear in people's hearts from the desperate eyes of the villagers, and his inner self was strongly shocked.

  "If only there was some kind of magical medicine that could save the villagers' lives, how wonderful would that be! Unfortunately, I'm still too young and don't understand anything. When I grow up, I must study medicine to help people." Yue Fei thought to himself.

  In the blink of an eye, more than a month has passed. The once bustling and peaceful Xiaoyi Village is now empty and desolate. People are either fleeing their homes to escape famine in other lands or have had their precious lives taken away by the plague.

  Yue He saw that his time had come, and in order not to implicate his wife and children, he secretly walked out of the house and came to the riverbank beside the village. Seeing the river water flowing slowly, he thought of Yue Teng, remembered the scene when he put Yue Teng into the river, and remembered the words spoken by the old monk.

  "Teng, where are you? Are you doing well now? It's not that your parents are heartless, but we have no choice and are forced to do this. I hope that when you grow up, you won't blame us. Father has come to apologize to you. Fei, listen to mother's words carefully, study hard, and become a useful person. The future of our family depends on you. Your father is useless and can no longer send you to school or protect you and your mother. From now on, you must take good care of your mother. I hope that one day you two brothers will be reunited and achieve great things. If this happens, I can die in peace."

  "It seems that all this is fate, the old monk said that for every month I raise Yueteng, I will lose five years of my life. Five months is exactly twenty-five years, and now it has come true. I don't blame anyone, only myself for being too muddle-headed and not listening to the old monk's advice. Perhaps this was destined from birth. Now that things have come to this point, I can no longer drag down the mother and daughter. I must make a painful decision. This illness is incurable, and it's just a matter of time before I die. It's better to die early and be released early." Yueteng thought about this, closed his eyes, and jumped into the river.

  As night fell, Mrs. Yue didn't see her husband's face and felt uneasy in her heart. She brought little Yue to her husband's isolation room to take a look. Who knew that as soon as they entered the door, they found the house empty.

  "Fei'er, have you seen your father?" asked Mrs. Yue.

  Yue Fei shook his head, he had wanted to ask about his father, but not seeing his father's shadow made him feel strange. "Mother, where did Father go? Is he better? Why isn't he lying in bed?" Yue Fei asked.

  Madam Yue saw that her husband was not lying on the bed and knew something was wrong. Her husband might have gone to seek death.

  "Feier, search carefully and see if your father has left any letters or even just a few words," said Yue's mother.

  Yue Fei listened and searched everywhere for his father's letter, but after rummaging through all the boxes and cabinets, he couldn't find any letter.

  "Terrible, your father might have gone to the riverbank! He's been harboring a grudge against your younger brother all along. Who knows, maybe he's by the river right now, repenting. He knows his illness can't be cured and is afraid of implicating us mother and son, so..." The mother-in-law said this with a burning anxiety.

  "Fei'er, let's hurry to the riverbank and take a look. Your father might have tried to end his life, and if we go quickly, we might still be in time." Yueniang said as she hastily walked out of the house, Xiao Yue followed her mother and ran to the riverbank.

  By the river, there was no trace of Yue and his wife, only a shoe left behind on the riverbank. Madame Yue looked at the shoe and saw that it belonged to her husband, and she immediately collapsed onto the ground, wailing to the heavens. Although Yue Fei was young and inexperienced, when he saw his mother crying uncontrollably, he also understood what had happened.

  "Father——father——" Yue Fei shouted as he was about to jump into the river. Madame Yue rushed forward and grabbed hold of him. "Fei, you're still young, don't do anything foolish. If you leave, what will your mother do afterwards? We'll quickly go find someone to help salvage, perhaps your father is drowned nearby."

  Yue Fei listened and didn't say a word, hastily rushing back to the village. Before long, he brought several villagers over. The villagers knew that Yue He had met with an accident, so they all went down to the river to salvage, and after salvaging for a while, they finally managed to pull out the body. Madame Yue took one look and indeed it was her husband, she cried even more sorrowfully.

  Yue Fei and his mother couldn't swim, they just stared blankly at each other by the river.

  "Dad, how can you be so foolish? You abandoned us and left without a word. What are we supposed to do from now on? Dad, wake up quickly! Dad..." Yue Fei cried out loud.

  Madam Yue thought of her husband quietly leaving, and she was extremely heartbroken. She had originally wanted to follow her husband on the road to the Yellow Springs, but she remembered that seven-year-old Yue Fei needed care and nurturing, so she could only hold back her grief.

  "Feier, your father is gone and won't wake up again. We who are still alive must be strong and continue living. Your father did this because he didn't want to burden us. His illness would have killed him sooner or later, and by going like this, he avoided a lot of suffering. Child, don't cry anymore. We'll give your father a proper burial, that's the least we can do for him. The road ahead is still very long, we must press on."

  Xiao Yuefeng is a filial child, after listening to his mother's words, he understood a lot in his heart. He doesn't want his mother to be sad and worried anymore, he wants to take good care of his mother and be an understanding child.

  "Mother, don't worry, from now on I will definitely listen to you and be a good child, become a promising child. When I grow up, I will definitely do something great, bring honor to our ancestors, and not disappoint your and Father's high expectations." Little Yue Fei wiped away the tears on his face and said firmly.

  The mother-in-law felt extremely pleased after hearing this.

  The mother and son, with the help of the villagers, chose a auspicious location, dug a big hole and buried Yuehe. The mother and son inserted incense on the grave mound, burned some paper money, and Xiao Yue knelt down in front of the grave and knocked his head nine times.

  "Dad, may you rest in peace beneath the nine springs! I've grown up now, and I'll take good care of myself, be filial to Mother, and become a great achiever. I won't disappoint your expectations for me. Also, when I find my younger brother Yue Teng later, I'll bring him to your grave to pay respects. Don't worry, I'll definitely fulfill your wishes." Yue Fei made this vow in front of his father's grave, but unfortunately, it was not fulfilled later on. Instead, he brought only bad news back to his father.

  "Fei'er, now Xiaoyi's place has become a living hell, we can't live here anymore, we have to think of another way." Yues mother said after a moment of contemplation.

  "Mother, I'll follow your arrangement. Wherever you want to go, I'll accompany you there. Along the way, I'll share the joys and hardships with you." Yue Fei readily agreed.

  "Let's go to Qilin Village first, it's your mother's hometown," suggested her mother-in-law.

  "Qilin Village, what a great name, what a great place, I love it." Yue Fei exclaimed.

  After the mother and son made a decision, they packed simple luggage early next day, bid farewell to their hometown, and headed straight for Qilin Village.