Chapter 41: Strange Happenings at Night

  Lu Xiaoying borrowed some money from Qian Xiaohong and returned to her hometown without waiting for Qian Xiaohong to ask more questions. In the city, she bought a new set of clothes for her brother and brought several pounds of fruit with her as she happily headed back home - although her mood was still sad, thinking of her brother made her feel a little happy.

  She made use of the "Piercing Clouds and Whirlwind" technique and soon arrived at her hometown. As she approached the village entrance, she took advantage of no one noticing and suddenly flashed to the ground, preparing to head into the village.

  But she didn't expect that as soon as she arrived at the village entrance, she heard the villagers who were about to go to work whispering and discussing while walking. Originally, she had no good feelings towards these people, and now even more so. The disappointment of love made her resentment towards others gradually deepen. Her tragic life experience made her lose another chance to forgive the world again. In her heart, resentment and sorrow wove into an invisible net, tightly wrapping her inside.

  So she didn't intend to listen to what they were saying, but she still heard the general content of what those people were talking about. As she brushed past them, she heard them mention her brother's name, and even more surprisingly, they said that her brother had died, just this morning!

  The news made her shiver all over, and she stood there in shock, watching these people leave the village, the fruit in her hand falling to the ground, apples rolling far away.

  "Is brother dead?!" She muttered to herself, and immediately shook her head, thinking that these people were bored with cursing her brother, because they always bullied him.

  She didn't want to believe what they said was true, she thought it was impossible for her brother to be so unlucky.

  Despite this, she quickened her pace and soon arrived home.

  When she returned home, everything in front of her made it impossible for her not to believe. There were many people gathered in the courtyard, and everyone seemed to be mourning while also whispering to each other, pointing and gesturing at the corpse lying under the earthen wall.

  Indeed, my brother really died, his body was placed in the corner of the wall, covered with a broken mat, two candles were lit at his feet, and a clay pot was placed beside his head, burning paper money inside, with sparks flashing in the pot.

  Her brother's woman - her sister-in-law sat on one side, covering her face with a black handkerchief and crying as if she were dying.

  "Sister-in-law," she thought of crying, but due to her identity, she didn't dare cry. She suppressed her grief and walked to her sister-in-law's side, saying, "What happened to big brother? He was fine just a while ago, how could he have died? I saw him not long ago, although we can't say his body was strong, but it's also impossible for him to die suddenly."

  "Little girl," my sister-in-law stopped crying, only sobbing and saying, "It wasn't long after you came to our house that day that my husband fell ill. He asked me for money to see a doctor. You think with the situation of our family now, where would I get the money? I also thought it might just be a cold or flu, but didn't expect anyone to die."

  Lu Xiaoying silently listened to her sister-in-law's words, her eyes blazing with anger, staring at her still-sniffling sister-in-law, a suspicious gaze scrutinizing her every move.

  Mentioning that there's no money for medical treatment, she already completely distrusts her sister-in-law. Previously, she suspected that her sister-in-law was behaving improperly, but nothing ever came of it, so everyone just turned a blind eye. Now that her brother is dead, his cold body lies there, covered by a white cloth.

  She thought her brother's death was suspicious. At the time, she had clearly given her brother 2,000 yuan, and if he couldn't afford to spend money on medical treatment, then why did he ask his wife for money? Since he was willing to spend money on medical treatment and had already asked his wife for money, why didn't he use the 2,000 yuan she gave him? She couldn't understand these questions. As a result, she looked seriously at her sister-in-law who was grieving in front of her, and suddenly felt that her sister-in-law's grief seemed somewhat fake, but she couldn't quite put her finger on where the fakeness lay.

  Due to poverty at home, my sister-in-law asked a few people to hastily hold a simple funeral for my brother and then carried him up the mountain for a simple burial. The sad funeral ended amidst the villagers' lively eating and drinking, and the village was as calm as if nothing had happened. My brother's wife no longer grieved, but instead laughed and chatted with people every day, walking in and out of the village. This made me feel somewhat displeased: my brother's body was still cold, yet his wife had already become cheerful again. Although her ruthlessness was expected, it shouldn't have happened so quickly!

  So Lu Xiaoying felt sorry for her brother and pitied him, so she wanted to stay a little longer to quietly accompany her brother, also to let her brother leave with peace of mind.

  She returned to the town and lived in that inn again, every morning she went to her brother's grave, lit a few incense sticks and sat in front of her brother's grave, talking to him with extreme sadness, and couldn't help but shed a few tears when she got to the sad part.

  Every day is like this, and I didn't realize that a week has passed.

  She went to her brother's grave early that day, as usual burning incense for him and putting out a few apples. She sat in front of the grave talking a lot until noon when she got up to head down the mountain.

  As she stood up and was about to leave, she suddenly heard the sound of people talking and footsteps coming towards her. Upon hearing the voices, she knew that there were not just one, but two people approaching.

  She hastily hid in the nearby pine forest, wanting to see who was coming up. As soon as she hid, she saw her sister-in-law walking towards her with heavy makeup, followed by a man. Lu Xiao Ying recognized this man, he was Cui Er Gou, the idle and worthless villain from the village.

  "How can Sister be with Cui Erdou?" she thought, "This Cui Erdou has a bad reputation in the village. I've heard before that he was beaten up for flirting with women. How come Sister is with him today? Is Sister having an affair?"

  Thinking of this, Lu Xiaoying decided to hide in the pine forest and eavesdrop on their conversation.

  "Strange, why are there apples in front of this grave? Who has been here to pay respects?"

  "Who's back?" asked Chui Erdou, picking up an apple and taking a bite, "Damn, there are still such good apples."

  "It must be that slut who came not long ago, she said she was a classmate of Lu Xiao Ying's, I don't know if she has left or not?" Lu Xiao Ying's sister-in-law looked around, her expression somewhat flustered, as if she was very afraid of being discovered by others that she had come here with someone else.

  "What's it to you?" Cui Erdou said with a "polite" smile, "Since she's a girl, I saw her and raped her."

  "You dead ghost," Lu Xiao Ying's sister-in-law pinched Cui Er Gou and then used her dark hand to pat Cui Er Gou's shoulder, saying "I serve you but it's still not enough for you, you're eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot."

  Cui Erdou grasped Lu Xiaoying's hand with a lewd smile and said, "Each has its own advantages."

  "Sister-in-law glared at Cui Erdou, then turned to face her brother's grave and said: 'Lu Xiaoping, I'm also helpless. Now that you're dead and a ghost, don't come looking for me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being useless, crippled, and unable to make money. Not only did you secretly hide 2,000 yuan from me, but could I ever forgive you?'"

  "Lu Xiaoping," Cui Erdou said, "you said you'd haunt me even after death, and last night you even appeared in my dream to scare me. Today, I'll trample on your corpse and see what you can do about it? Admit it, I've been messing with your wife, if you have the guts, come out and get me."

  Lu Xiaoying heard these words and became even angrier, clenching her fists tightly and wanting to rush out and scold them severely.

  However, she restrained her emotions. She didn't want to let this pair of shameless people off so easily. She wanted to torment them slowly and surely avenge her brother.

  Then she hid in the pine forest, muttering to herself, and with a wave of her left hand, a gust of dark wind blew towards Saozi and Cui Erdou.

  Cui Erdou and her sister-in-law caught a chill, the two of them had a cold war, her sister-in-law looked around nervously, obviously somewhat afraid.

  "Don't mention it," she said, "how could a sudden gust of cold wind blow in, chilling to the bone."

  "Yeah," Choi Ergou said, shrinking his body, "Damn it's cold."

  "Sister said, 'Do you think there are really ghosts in this world?'"

  "Never mind, I suddenly feel a bit uncomfortable, let's go back." Cui Erdou glanced around with his cunning eyes and pulled up Lu Xiaoying's sister-in-law to run away. They thought this strange wind must have something to do with Lu Xiaoying's brother Lu Xiao Ping.

  After the two of them left, Lu Xiao Ying walked out from the pine forest. She stood in front of her brother's grave again and gritted her teeth, saying: "Brother, I know that sister-in-law is a cheap person. Since these two cheap people killed you, I will not let them off. If your spirit is still with us, wait and see how little sister avenges for you."

  After finishing speaking, she bowed deeply and turned around to go down the mountain.

  That night, the village was quiet, and after everyone had fallen asleep, Lu Xiaoying sneaked into the village and came to the outside of Cui Erdou's house.

  There were still lights on in the house, and if one listened carefully, they could hear people talking. Lu Xiaoying knew that it must be her sister-in-law and Chui Ergou having a secret meeting again, so she sneered and approached Chui Ergou's house.

  She floated to the window of Cui Erdou, stuck to the window and looked inside, and saw that her sister-in-law was in the house. She quietly killed several chickens and a watchdog belonging to Cui Erdou, cut off their heads, and hung them on Cui Erdou's gate. She also used chicken blood to write "Return my life" on the door. After finishing this, Lu Xiaoying found a place to hide.

  The next morning, Cui Erdou got up very early and as soon as he opened the door, he saw a dead chicken on the door and the skinned head of the watchdog staring at him with its mouth open. He was so frightened that he let out a loud cry, fell to the ground, and fainted for half a day, his mouth agape, eyes wide open, body trembling all over, and even urinated in his pants.

  Lu Xiao Ying's sister-in-law heard the cries in the house, rushed out to take a look, and was also frightened pale, after a long time stuttering: "This... this... what... how is this possible?"

  "Dead chicken!" Cui Erdou said with a trembling voice, "And my dog is also dead! 'Dead chicken' means losing the chance to make a living, and the death of the dog means that I, Cui Erdou, have lost the right to inherit property. Look at the words on the door!"

  "Has Lu Xiaoping really become a fierce ghost?" said Lu Xiaoying's sister-in-law.

  "Don't be afraid," Cui Erdou forced himself to calm down, "It must be those rascals Huang Xiaoguang and Yang Ershun from the village who are playing tricks on us. They know about you and me, I even had a fight with them two days ago, they said they would take revenge on me."

  Lu Xiao Ying was hiding behind a big tree in Cui Er Gou's house, witnessing all of this with her own eyes. She smiled coldly and slipped away quietly.

  Back in town, Lu Xiao Ying returned to the inn to rest. She waited anxiously for nightfall in her room.

  She waited until evening, then went to her own home. Taking advantage of her sister-in-law's absence, she stole a pair of worn-out shoes that her brother had previously worn. At midnight, she hung the shoes on Chui Er Gou's gate and wrote "Wear my broken shoes" on the door.

  When daylight came, when Cui Erdou opened the door, he saw the broken shoes and words on the door again, and he let out another shrill cry, scaring him so much that he shit his pants.

  For several nights in a row, Lu Xiaoying "visited" Cui Erdou's home, each time hanging up some things that her brother had used before he died, and each time scaring Cui Erdou half to death.

  After several times, Cui Erdou was in a daze, even if he saw a real person standing in front of him, he would think it was Lu Xiaoping. If someone called him, he would tremble all over and run home in fright. Lu Xiao Ying's sister-in-law was even more severe, she had already lost her mind, with disheveled hair and clothes, wandering around the village all day, laughing and crying, muttering these few words: It was I who killed Lu Xiaoping, his soul has come to claim my life, I am going to die.

  Seeing the two of them in this state, and their spirits getting weaker by the day, their minds becoming increasingly unclear, Lu Xiao Ying felt that they had been tormented enough. What she would do next was to let these two wretched people die.