Chapter 11 Enigma

  I saw off Zhao Yuner, and my heart was uneasy and my mood was extremely low. I thought that Second Uncle might have really brought back something terrifying from the Lion's Tooth Ridge last time at Old Master Hong's funeral.

  "Brother, what's wrong?" asked the little sister who had been following behind me, seeing that my face was pale with worry.

  I turned my head to look at the little sister who was a head shorter than me, saw that her face was full of unease, and seriously asked while holding her hand: "Little sister, do you feel like something is off about Second Uncle? Especially at night!"

  "Ah?" My little sister was startled by my sudden question and trembled all over, stuttering and unable to speak. Looking at her like this, I knew she must have also sensed that something was off about Second Uncle, perhaps she even knew more than me.

  Now seeing little sister's flustered appearance, I certainly won't be wrong. I asked: "Little sister, am I your older brother?"

  The little sister lowered her head and nodded, looking a bit wronged, saying: "Of course."

  "You actually treat me like a brother, then tell me the truth, do you know something?"

  Little sister looked up at me with a serious expression and hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Brother, there's something I don't know if I should tell you, I'm really scared..."

  "What's wrong! Don't be afraid, I'm here for you. Whatever it is, don't keep it in your heart, I'll protect you." Suddenly, a stone was hung up in my heart, and indeed, little sister had been hiding some things from me without letting me know.

  "Brother, that night when you and dad came back from outside to collect tuition fees, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and found an extra person in my room..." Little sister said, her whole body trembling, then she pulled on my arm. Although it's daytime now, I can tell that little sister is still very scared at this moment.

  I reached out and patted her head to comfort her, but I didn't ask any questions. Little sister is not in a good mood now, so I have to patiently listen to her tell the whole story.

  The little sister took a deep breath and continued: "That night, I woke up to find the room pitch black. As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized there was someone else in the room. I couldn't see his face clearly, but from that familiar figure, I knew who it was - it was definitely Dad."

  "Second uncle? I was afraid you'd catch a chill, so I went to your room to cover you with a quilt. Don't think too much about it," I comforted her, not wanting my little sister to be fearful.

  "Brother! Not true! Dad didn't come to my room to cover me with a blanket!" Little sister suddenly became emotional, lifted her head and her bright eyes actually welled up with tears, pitifully saying: "Dad sneaked into my room, his behavior was very scary, like a mouse walking without making a sound, and he sniffed around the walls of my room as if there was something delicious in it. When I woke up and saw Dad like this, I didn't dare make a sound and continued lying in bed. Dad kept sniffing and sniffing until he reached my bed, and then he stopped moving, staring blankly at me from the side of my bed. The room was very dark, but I could feel Dad's eyes watching me."

  "That Second Uncle hasn't done anything out of line either, little sister. You know what kind of person Second Uncle is better than I do, you're his own daughter, he won't harm you."

  "Brother, listen to me finish. At that time, I was so scared that I quickly closed my eyes. Then I heard a low and eerie laugh from Dad. The strangest thing is that the laughter didn't come from Dad at all!" Little sister said in terror: "Dad laughed for a while and then kept jumping into my room to do some weird dance. It's really scary, and what's even weirder is that every night since then, I've found Dad coming to my room once, doing the same thing. Brother, do you think Dad is possessed by a ghost?!"

  "How is that possible? Little sister, you're thinking too much, just sleep in brother's room tonight." I replied with a forced smile, but my heart was racing like crazy. Hearing what little sister said made me think of the incident three days ago when Second Uncle ate chicken blood and all the village dogs died, and also what Zhao Yu'er said about seeing Second Uncle as a ghost in the haunted cave. Now I'm convinced that Second Uncle might really be possessed by a ghost, but I couldn't tell this to little sister, nor could I tell Second Aunt before I figure out what's going on.

  "Feathers, Ren'er has been looking for you two for half a day, so you were here all along!"

  Behind my back, I suddenly heard the cold voice of Second Uncle. Little sister was so scared that she directly buried herself in my arms. I turned around to see Second Uncle's silly face full of smiles staring at me and little sister. Seeing little sister's frightened look, he stretched out his hand to touch her, "Yan'er, what's wrong?"

  Unexpectedly, little sister dodged second uncle and ran to my back, fearfully burying her head in my back, I could feel the little sister's body trembling with fear.

  "Second uncle, how did you get here? Little sister was scared by last night's events and is clinging to me." I wanted to pull the little girl behind me out, but unfortunately this little girl really stuck to me this time.

  "It's okay, Yan has been timid since she was a child. Yu, you must take good care of your sister." Second Uncle seemed to not take this matter seriously.

  "Second Uncle, did you look for me for something?"

  "Some are looking for you, Erniang said that the chickens at home were sucked by a weasel and all died. At this moment, your Erniang is sulking at home, I feel distressed when I see it, so I'm looking for you to go to the market to buy some chickens back to raise, rural people can't live without raising some chickens and ducks," said Second Uncle.

  "All the chickens in our house are dead? When did it happen? Weren't they fine last night?" I asked, puzzled and suspicious that the chickens at home were sucked to death by a weasel, thinking of Second Uncle's licking chicken blood last time, feeling a chill in my heart, wondering if Second Uncle had sucked all the blood out of the chickens at home. Looking at Second Uncle's old face with a few wrinkles, I still couldn't believe that Second Uncle was a ghost.

  "It was probably around 5 or 6 in the morning, who knows, anyway your aunt found all the chickens dead when she went to feed them that afternoon." My uncle stopped for a moment, pulled out 200 yuan from his waistband and handed it to me, continuing: "Your aunt gave you 200 yuan, go take a look at the market and see how many chickens you can buy with this money, just buy as many as you can..."

  "Second Uncle, 200 coins is too much, we can buy a whole bunch of chicks for that price... why do we need to raise so many chickens at home..."

  I didn't say a word, and Second Uncle took out another ten Mao Zedong notes from his other pocket and handed them to me. He said anxiously, "Don't be stingy, this is 1,200 yuan, go to the market and see how many big roosters you can buy with it, as many as you can!"

  I stared at the money in my hand, still in a daze. When did Second Uncle have so much money? My university tuition was still a problem, and now he's giving me over a thousand to buy big roosters at the market - I could buy seven or eight with that amount! But why are they all buying big roosters? One big rooster per family in the countryside is enough for the morning alarm. What's even more suspicious is that Second Uncle mentioned that the big roosters have a throat that can swallow water, which doesn't sound right to me.

  "Second uncle, why buy so many big roosters?" I didn't point it out and continued to say: "Buying so many big roosters, how can I carry them back by myself? Does second uncle still have something to do? Why not go to the market with me?" In fact, I wanted to ask him why he didn't buy them himself, but instead gave me money to buy.

  "Your second aunt is heartbroken, I have to go back and comfort her, you can just take Erniang to the market." As Second Uncle spoke, his eyes slightly avoided mine. Such a small detail didn't escape my notice. Looking at Second Uncle's expression, it seemed like he didn't dare to go to the market, fearing something.

  "Feather, this matter is now left to you, you must bring back the big rooster." Second Uncle said and didn't wait for me to respond, he turned around and walked towards the village.

  After Second Uncle left, Little Sister cautiously emerged from behind me, tugged at my clothes with a complex gaze and whispered: "Brother, I don't dare go home..."

  "Why don't we go home now? I'll take you to the market to have some fun, today is a good day since it's market day. What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you."

  "Brother, you're so great!" My little sister excitedly jumped around me, her mood improving a lot.

  And on my way to the market, I couldn't help but feel down, always thinking about Second Uncle's situation. I just can't figure out why Second Uncle didn't dare come to the market himself to buy a chicken.

  "Hey, you two little rascals, don't block the way! You'll make me miss my timing and I'll have to drink the northwest wind again today!" Just then, a voice shouted from behind.

  Little sister held a candied hawthorn in her hand and was chewing on one, she turned her head back with discontent and shouted: "What's wrong with you? You're carrying so many things and walking, can't even let others pass halfway."

  I turned back to take a look, and it was actually a Taoist priest, no, should say a swindler, a fortune teller. The little girl's dissatisfaction with the old man is also understandable, originally today was a market day, the road was narrow, people were coming and going, the old man held a sign in his right hand "Listen to one word, can avoid disaster, calculate a divination, can ensure safety, one divination for ten yuan!" while holding two cages of chickens with his left hand, blocking half of the road.

  "Little girl, how dare you speak like that." The old man was extremely dissatisfied with what the little sister said, he walked up to her and glared at her, originally thinking he would retort a couple of sentences, but unexpectedly turned around without saying a word and squeezed past us to walk forward.

  "Wait," I hastily called out to him.

  Little sister looked up at me with a puzzled expression, not understanding why I stopped the old man.

  "Little doll, what business do you have with me?" The old man turned his head, and a hint of sharpness flashed in his cloudy eyes, as if he was somewhat wary of me.

  "How much for the chicken?" I asked. Second Uncle wants to buy a chicken back, no matter what, he has to buy one back, especially now that we know Second Uncle is not a normal person, even more so we have to satisfy his demands. If those chickens at home weren't sucked dry by the weasel but were sucked dry by Second Uncle instead, then there wouldn't be any chickens left at home now. I dare not imagine what kind of over-the-top thing Second Uncle would do.

  The old man stared at me for a long time, sighed and said: "I won't sell you this chicken. You're going to die soon, what's the point of eating chicken?"

  "What did you say?" I asked in surprise.

  "Oh my, how can you talk like that? Don't rely on your age to bully me and curse my brother. My brother is fine, how could he be dead? You're spouting nonsense!" The little sister became anxious upon hearing the old man's words.

  "I'm telling the truth, young one. Don't just talk about your brother, you're the same too. Your forehead is dark, disaster is approaching and you don't know it yet. Most of the people around you are possessed by evil spirits and you still don't know!" The old man shook his head and ignored us after finishing speaking.