Chapter 32: The Truth About Zhong Kui

  "I saw everything that just happened," said Wang Jue.

  "Ah?" I don't know how much he understands about these things, nor do I know how he will interpret what just happened. But seeing him suddenly appear in the hospital room, I feel a bit guilty. Because he drove to Wangcheng to find my sister for me to be discharged from the hospital, and as soon as I arrived at the hospital yesterday, I should have gone to see him, but I completely forgot about him.

  "I'm fine, just a slight concussion and some minor scrapes," he said with a smile, as if seeing my embarrassment. "I don't know who that person was earlier, but I do know your sister really did get poisoned by the gu insect, she told me herself. She went to Wangcheng to find the Miao girl who cast the spell."

  "Have you found it?"

  Wang Jue shook his head and said, "Miao's brother has passed away, she went back to her hometown for the funeral."

  I dejectedly buried my head in my hands, wondering why heaven was always so unfavorable to us. "Did elder sister tell you how she got poisoned?"

  Wang Jue nodded and walked over to the sofa, sitting down beside it. "I know your sister returned to Wangcheng from a message I got from her colleague. You were hospitalized for more than two months, but she never came to visit you. When I couldn't contact her suddenly, I was afraid she had abandoned you, so I asked around about her whereabouts. A friend of mine works at the newspaper office, and through this friend, I inquired about your sister's situation from her colleague. The colleague said that during that period, your sister wasn't quite normal, often spacing out, sometimes for as long as half a day, no matter who called her, she wouldn't respond. Sometimes when she easily came back to herself, your sister would always say someone was chatting with her. One day, after returning from the mental hospital, she suddenly became normal again. Whether it was her eyes or speech, there wasn't that previous dazed feeling, and her thinking was especially sharp. She told her colleague that she had been poisoned by a gu insect and now needed to return to Wangcheng to find the Miao woman who had cast the spell to help her undo it."

  "After hearing this, my professional sensitivity as a psychiatrist told me that your sister shouldn't be alone on her way back to Wangcheng. If she had another episode halfway, it's likely she'd get into danger in an unconscious state. So, I took leave from the hospital and drove to Wangcheng to catch up with your sister. Her colleagues said she might have gone to Wuzhuang to find a Miao woman surnamed Hua. When I arrived at Wangcheng, I asked around for where Wuzhuang was. Fortunately, it wasn't hard to find. Once there, I quickly found out about the whereabouts of Hua and your sister. The Miao woman had already left for a funeral, and your sister was sitting alone in front of her house, staring blankly. I gave her an injection of Lithium, and after a while, she finally came around."

  After hearing his and my sister's experience, I felt even more ashamed for not visiting him in the hospital yesterday. I don't know how to make up for it, so that the belated thank you would seem sincere. Never mind, great kindness doesn't need thanks, I'll keep it in my heart.

  Later, your sister told me a lot of things. She was the one who got you into trouble after you had an accident. At that time, she was doing a column on Miao people's living habits, and the editor-in-chief provided her with leads to come to Wu Village to interview Miao women. At first, the Miao woman was very friendly to her, and they chatted happily about marriage topics, even showing off the silver ornaments she wore when she got married. Halfway through, the photographer and other friends of the Miao woman left the room one after another. When only your sister and the Miao woman were left, the Miao woman took out a specially made cup, poured some special drink into it, and asked your sister to drink it, saying it was specially prepared for her. After drinking it, your sister had no memory of what happened next.

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