Chapter 35: The Dark Flower X Qing Jiang's Pregnancy

  Du Jie's father said, "Grandma, I understand that you love us and our children. Which child in the village wasn't raised by you? It's just that this idea of yours is too crazy, we really can't accept it. Even if you really did it, I think the kids wouldn't be willing to eat it either, because they all love you so much, you're their most beloved grandma."

  The old lady thought for a moment and said: "Is that so? Then I was overthinking. In that case, I'll go to the toilet first."

  The old lady walked out of the hall and suddenly used all her strength to crash into the wall.

  No one expected the old lady would be so resolute and use such force.

  The old lady's head wasn't smashed, no blood flowed out, she just fell to the ground, her eyes kept turning white, cerebral hemorrhage, and before she passed away, her last words were: Remember, you must take good care of all the children for me...

  What happened later was exactly what Du Jie saw. Du Jie's father and others adopted the old lady's suggestion.

  Thanks to Grandma, the adults and children in the village spent that long disaster peacefully.

  That dark and rotten soil has given birth to a warm flower.

  But this flower was soon invaded by darkness again and began to emit a rotten corpse gas.

  As the weather improved with the arrival of spring next year, guilt, self-blame and all kinds of fears began to grow wildly in the minds of those people who were in the woodshed at that time, like a desperate blizzard, raging, tearing and exploding on them again.

  Du Jie's father first appeared with symptoms of a dull mouth, eating anything felt tasteless, even later when he ate delicious wild boar meat, it tasted like chewing wax, bland and tasteless.

  Then one day he suddenly remembered that bowl of deep red meat soup with white smoke swirling on that cold night...

  This primitive, terrifying and crazy appetite was originally just a small seed, then quietly broke through the dark soil in the torrent of time, began to sprout, grow, branch out, spread leaves, becoming more and more lush, more and more towering.

  But human nature is on the other side, frantically cutting down this big tree, constantly cutting off those growing branches... The vitality of that big tree is getting stronger and stronger, its leaves are getting more and more luxuriant, and finally one day, the leaves swallowed up the axe that cut down the tree.

  It was eight years after the winter of 1982, in the late summer of 1990, when those who had made their first mistake actively went to find "food", that a student entered Xianren Cave for adventure and never came back...

  After satisfying the perverted and distorted appetite, the big tree began to wither and dry up, and the axe reappeared, continuing to chop down trees crazily...

  They knew they had walked into the abyss, and they didn't want Liu Long Village to continue becoming a hell, so over the years, they gradually sent all the young people out of Liu Long Village, and didn't want them to come back and stay in the village.

  Because they don't want their juniors to become like them either. They deliberately became indifferent, inhumane and unreasonable, one after another, making those young people leave Liu Long Village.

  This is the truth about Yongzhong Village.

  I told Du Jie the truth I knew.

  Du Jie cried and said: "No, this is not the truth. Father must have hoped that I would inherit his will and become a cannibal like him."

  "Really? If you really think so, then eat me now! But before I die, I want to say that the old granny sacrificed herself to save you all. She definitely wouldn't want you to become like this. With her own life, she must have hoped that you descendants can live a healthy, kind and happy life!"

  As I spoke, I also cried. I said: "And your father, they are the same, actually the most painful is not you, but them. For so many years, in order to prevent you from becoming like them, they had to desperately resist their endless appetite on one hand and pretend to be bad guys to hurt you on purpose to make you leave Liulon Village - they are the ones who are most in pain. What kind of power can drive them to do such a thing? That is love.

  Du Jie stared at me blankly, he had already cried into a tearful mess. He said: "Really? Is it true?"

  What happened later I don't know at all, because I fell asleep. When I woke up, I found that I had returned to the Wu Xie Society. Zou Guan said that someone sent me back.

  Three days later, I saw a TV news report that billionaire Du Jie donated all his property to various charitable organizations, especially those focusing on the living environment of left-behind children and free lunch activities.

  His actions shocked the whole world, with some saying he was laundering black money and others claiming he was atoning for his father's sins.

  Only I know why Du Jie did this.

  The Ryūjin Village incident can finally be truly closed, except for the mysterious black monkey that appeared in the stone cave and saved me, all the truth has been revealed.

  I think humans are complex animals, having humanity as well as a cruel side.

  Just like those rotten and dark places where dead people are buried, beautiful and moving flowers will always bloom.

  But Du Jie's father, and the other villagers, didn't know why, after I knew the truth, I actually forgave them. At least in my heart, I thought they were really pitiful.

  Half a month has passed, and the reputation of our agency has gradually increased. Many people have come to consult with us, but I have refused them all because some of the contents entrusted to us for investigation are really too uninteresting. Most of them are investigating extramarital affairs and catching mistresses, and then there are some cases such as "I suspect I'm a Martian", "My neighbor is actually my husband's gay lover", "I fell in love with my father-in-law", "I fell in love with my tyrannical boss, what should I do?" and other messy cases.

  Moreover, Du Jie later paid all the remaining investigation fees.

  I'd better get some rest now.

  It was near the end of the year when Zou Guan Jia said to me, "Zhu Thirteen, you're not young anymore, it's time to consider getting married."

  I gave him a white eye and said: "I just graduated from college, I don't want to get married so soon."

  "I didn't force you to get married immediately, I just think it's time for you to fall in love."

  I said: "I also want to take a walk, but I need a girl who is willing to take a walk with me!"

  Zou Guan said: "Hu Lan is actually a pretty good choice."

  I shook my head desperately and said, "Although Rouran looks sexy and has a fiery figure on the outside, she's actually a man inside. I don't want to fall in love with a man."

  "Oh, so you like gentle and elegant girls. I've taken note of that."

  It's because I had a conversation like this with Zou Guanjia that now I'm sitting uncomfortably in this romantic coffee shop on Beijing Road, waiting for the "gentle and considerate" girl who is coming to meet me.

  The atmosphere of the coffee shop is very ambiguous, with dim lighting and a faint blue glow emanating from somewhere, accompanied by the seductive aroma of coffee beans and the soft, whispery singing that sounds like a woman's gentle moaning - making it an ideal place for romantic conversations.

  Zou Guanjia arranged for us to meet at 7 o'clock, but it's already 7:25 and the girl still hasn't shown up.

  At 7:40, she finally arrived with a flutter.

  My first impression of her was extremely good, and anyone who saw her should have a very good impression of her: she wore a snow-white blouse with a goose-yellow thin-knit sweater on top, a light blue cotton linen skirt below the knee, and a pair of washed white canvas shoes.

  Her small melon-shaped face, fair and tender skin, with two shiny black braids hanging down on her chest, a pair of dim and hazy eyes.

  I think she looks like a 30-year-old Taiwanese beauty, Xu Ruoxuan, and her dress is like those young girls with sorrowful hearts in Annie Baby's works.

  She sat down politely and introduced herself: "My name is Qing Jiang."

  Qing Jiang's words were few, as if he had a lot on his mind.

  And I'm actually a quiet and taciturn person, so throughout the process we often had awkward silences, making the atmosphere very embarrassing.

  When we were about to part ways, she seemed to have mustered up the courage to tell me: "Actually, if we want to be together, I think I shouldn't deceive you, in case you find out later and get angry - actually, due to physical reasons, I may not be able to bear children. So, so."

  I was shocked by Qing Jiang's confession, and I quickly comforted her: "It's okay, even if we're not suitable in the future, we can still be friends. Besides, medical technology is so advanced now."

  Qing Jiang hastily interrupted me, saying: "No, it's not like that, it's not that I can't get pregnant, but rather that I just can't give birth to the child..." She wanted to say something else, then hastily ran away.

  After returning to the Wu Xie Society, Zou Guan asked me about the progress. I could only say: "Qing Jiang is a pretty girl, but she seems to have many worries. She said that she can't give birth, oh no, her meaning was probably that she can get pregnant, but can't deliver the child - I don't know what she meant by this, could it be that she can conceive inside, but the fetus can't come out from inside? But this doesn't make sense either, isn't it possible to have a cesarean section now?"

  Zou Guan's face sank slightly, and he said, "It seems that the legend of Sha Tian Village is true."

  "Sunada Village? Sunada Village is a village in which place."

  "Did you see the news recently?"

  I'm a bit embarrassed to say: "Recently, I've been busy with the Liu Long Village thing, where do I have time to watch the news? Besides, I never go to watch this kind of gossip news. What village legend, it's like walking into science, and finally after scientific explanation, it turns out to be ordinary things."

  Zou Guanjia said: "No, this is different. In Shatian Village, there was a news report that a woman had been pregnant for 20 months."

  I was startled and said: "20 months, a full 10 months of pregnancy, could she be carrying an alien? 20 months, almost 2 years now."