Chapter Thirty: The Sunny Emotions and Gloomy World

  Good heavens, isn't this Zhang Mei?

  How could she be brought back like this? It can't be good, something must have happened in her courtyard.

  Liu Pang was stark naked, shouting non-stop on the ground. Old Qian said that calling out to your mom is like summoning a soul, and when you call out, our hearts all rise up in anger. Zhao Cai picked up Liu's pants and handed them over for him to wear, and everyone together used their hands and feet to lift Zhang Mei off the ground and quickly carried her back to the small courtyard.

  As expected, it's eerie. The courtyard is filled with a gloomy wind, and the main gate of Zhang Mei's house is wide open, but I remember closing it when we left.

  But as I looked in through the doorway, the hanging frame was gone.

  Zhao's face turned increasingly ugly, and he whispered to me: "Something really bad has happened, what should we do?"

  Zhang Mei was carried into the house and put in her bedroom. She still gritted her teeth, her breathing weak.

  Stepping out of the house and standing in the courtyard, the wind is still howling loudly within the Bagua tree array.

  I took a careful look at the new grave in the south, but Hong Yizi was nowhere to be seen, and the spirit cat had also disappeared. Could it be that Wuyingmen discovered they were deceived and came for revenge? My heart was burning with anxiety, the construction site had stopped work, it was a big deal, now Zhang Mei was in trouble again, one thing after another didn't let people breathe.

  A sudden thought rose, this time, as long as the construction site started smoothly, something went wrong; as long as we started working, strange things happened frequently. It seems like there is no connection, but why is it so coincidental? This is clearly aimed at something and has been trying to hinder the project in every way possible. What is the reason behind this? First, it was impossible to dig, now for the second time, it's impossible to dig again, escalating each time, affecting people, what's next, who knows what kind of chaos will ensue. Thinking about this, my heart skipped a beat.

  Entering the house to take a closer look at Zhang Mei, both her physical body and soul are present. Fortunately, earlier when the zombie passed by, perhaps due to our sudden movement, it didn't manage to bring away the soul of this living sacrifice. However, there is a thin layer of fog surrounding her body that ordinary people can't see.

  No other way, first save Zhang Mei and then talk.

  I reached Zhang Mei's side, pulled up one of her hands and gently placed it on the copper bell in my arms. The copper bell moved slightly, and Zhang Mei's hand clearly felt a warm flow. With a "ya" sound, Zhang Mei suddenly woke up.

  He suddenly sat up in bed, startling everyone greatly.

  I let go of Zhang Mei's hand, but she burst into loud sobs, covering her face with her hands.

  I asked: "Who forced you."

  Zhang Mei shook her head, crying uncontrollably. After a while, she sobbed and said: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."

  Everyone anxiously surrounded Zhang Mei. Old Qian said: "Stop crying, or you'll worry yourself to death."

  Zhang Mei sobbed as she told us an old story that left our mouths agape.

  At that time, Zhang Mei was not yet married and was still a lovely young girl. She had a good relationship with Li Qing from the neighboring village. The boy had feelings for her, and the girl had a sense of justice, so it seemed like a good match. Li Qing's mother had passed away, and he lived alone with his elderly father. With an old man and a young girl, life was more flavorful because of Zhang Mei. One day, after Zhang Mei and Li returned from playing in town, they walked to the foot of Chengzi Mountain. Zhang Mei saw the wild fruit on the mountain and playfully scolded Li Qing, insisting that he go pick some wild fruit for her to eat. Li Qing had no choice but to take Zhang Mei up the mountain to pick wild fruit.

  The steep cliff, the wild fruit is more vibrant in the steepest places, of course, also because it's out of reach for ordinary people. On the southernmost tip of the city wall, a cluster of wild fruit was enticingly red. Zhang Mei jumped with excitement. A couple in love, the girl's hair was disheveled, and the boy naturally didn't care about safety, bravely climbing up. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and as Zhang Mei exclaimed repeatedly, Li Qing climbed up the cliff, picked the wild fruit, a bright red cluster, exceptionally vibrant in his hand. Li Qing was overjoyed, with one hand grasping the long vines on the cliff, and the other hand waving the wild fruit at Zhang Mei, excitement overflowing. This scene was indeed romantic.

  At this time, something went wrong. The long rattan suddenly loosened, and Li Qing was unstable for a moment, and he fell down all at once. Below was an endless abyss. Zhang Mei was frightened and pale, shouting continuously. Fortunately, heaven pitied him, and there was no danger. Li Qing was caught by a small tree that grew out of the cliff halfway up, to be exact, he sat on the small tree trunk with one leg, his hands grasping wildly, fortunately not falling to the bottom of the cliff.

  Slowly climbing down the precipice, Zhang Mei hurriedly asked if anything was wrong. Li Qing gritted his teeth and covered his body, his face distorted in pain. He still forced a smile and said it was nothing. Zhang Mei looked at him and thought that indeed there wasn't anything major, maybe he just got bruised from the fall.

  The two of them happily returned home. A small episode passed like this. Zhang Mei and Li Qing finally reached the time to discuss marriage, both families were delighted.

  Of course, they had to go for a routine physical examination. Zhang Mei made an appointment with Li Qing, and they happily went to the hospital for the check-up. To make a long story short, after the examination, the two of them were like different people. Zhang Mei was fine, but Li Qing had a problem. What was it? The report said that when Li Qing rode his bike into the tree trunk, he unfortunately hurt his vital part. The doctor said that he might not be able to have children in the future. This sentence was like a thunderclap, and you should know that in rural areas, there are three things that are considered unfilial, and having no descendants is the worst.

  No matter how earth-shattering the emotions are, this is a fatal flaw.

  It's a perfect couple, but now they're all stunned. No matter how hard you try, you can't beat science. The thought of not having children makes anyone's heart knot up quietly.

  Li Qing's elderly father did not know that the old man had worked hard all his life, and all his hopes for a lifetime were pinned on Li Qing's career and family, so as to put a perfect period to this incomplete life of his own.

  There was no news for a long time. Zhang Mei was forced by her parents and had to tell the truth to her mother in a reserved manner. This was unacceptable, and it was impossible to agree.

  Also, Zhang Mei was still a girl with feelings and righteousness, she moved into Li Qing's house without regard. This was a scandal in the countryside. Zhang Mei's mother came to Li Qing's house for a small quarrel on the third day and a big quarrel on the fifth day. She stirred up Li Qing's household until it was in an uproar.

  Here is the translation:

  To put it simply, three things happened. One was that Li Qing went out to work and earn some money because Zhang Mei still promised to marry him, saying they could take their time now that medical technology has advanced. The second thing was a disaster - Li Qing's old father suddenly passed away, perhaps due to a lifetime of worries, thinking he would have a good outcome in his old age but instead it was even more miserable. He died from a sudden illness, or as the villagers say, he was scolded to death by Zhang Mei's mother, or another version is that he was killed by Zhang Mei. In short, he's gone. The third thing was also very sad - Li Qing had an accident while working on a construction site and died too. The compensation money was used to build this small building in front of us, which Zhang Mei thinks was exchanged for his life. Now, Zhang Mei is even more miserable - her parents think she's unfilial and have stopped caring about her, the villagers think she's unlucky, so she became known as a widow among the people, but actually she should be called single because she never had a formal wedding with Li Qing.

  Oh my, no wonder when we first arrived and asked about Zhang Mei, everyone was evasive and unclear. Zhao Cai even strongly advised us not to stay at Zhang Mei's house back then, but it turns out there was this hidden story behind it all.

  Alas, it can't be good. That stone coffin, and the old man I sent to Naihe Bridge when the stone coffin first appeared... Good heavens, could he be Li Qing's father? The old man died with his eyes open, it seems everything has its reason.

  Zhang Mei continued, "Last night I fell asleep and had a dream where two people broke in, lifted me up and took off. I struggled but couldn't move. However, when I saw Li Qing waving at me outside, my heart was still joyful, thinking he had returned. But then everything went black as I was stuffed into a sack. Finally, I felt an intense pain all over my body, like being beaten with thousands of sticks, and fainted. Luckily, you people rescued me. Now I know it's because of my past mistakes. If I had married Li Qing back then, none of this would have happened."

  Zhang Mei finished speaking, and we all took a deep breath, these strange things were actually connected to a romantic relationship in the mortal world.

  Zhang's Zhao and Liu Pang also completely turned their spirits at this time, and Liu Pang also believed that these things were really haunted by ghosts, and was frightened with a pale face.

  Zhang Mei's hair was disheveled, and she suddenly pointed her two hands towards the outside of the house, crying out loudly: "There is a ghost in my courtyard, I'm not lying to you, it's been tormenting me every day, I'm really miserable!" Zhang Mei covered her face and wailed again. It seems that this woman had been suppressing an old grievance for a long time, and was now on the verge of collapse due to the eerie atmosphere. Liu Pang was indeed a sentimental person, he was scared out of his wits earlier, but now, stirred by Zhang Mei's wailing, he jumped up again: "Director Qian, Director Li, you have to do something about it! Get rid of that damned thing! How can a ghost harm the living? It's outrageous!"

  I coldly glanced at Liu Pang who jumped up and was looking around for something handy to rush out with, and said: "Who did you hit?"

  Liu Pang stopped in his tracks, and everyone turned to look at me.

  "It's clear what's going on, the yin energy won't disperse and the yang world is hard to move," I said. "Do you dare to make another trip with me?"

  "Go away! Who's afraid of whom now?" Looks like people are emotional animals after all.

  Upon arriving at the courtyard, the group of people did not hesitate and charged straight into the forest.

  "It's cold, damn it, so cold." It was Liu Pang again.

  Going around in circles, damn it, all are trees. I was prepared, saying softly that everyone followed me, my foot stepped on the lotus flower, and suddenly the scene opened up before my eyes.

  Heavens, a stone coffin suddenly appeared, and beside the stone coffin, how bright red it was. Upon closer inspection, heavens, a red-robed figure hung on one side, and a spirit cat lay at the foot of the red-robed figure. The dark wind blew in waves, with faint sounds of wailing passing by.

  "Red Clothes, Ling Mao!" I shouted loudly, but there was no response.

  Suddenly, the stone coffin burst into a loud noise, and the lid opened. A black fog rose from inside, rushing towards us with a loud crash.

  Good heavens! The crowd panicked and hastily hid behind the trees.

  The black fog dispersed, and a chaotic cry filled the air, wailing sounds that covered the sky and earth.

  It's all crows. Crows cry, disaster comes, the old saying is right.

  The bat is messy, change it to a black evil spirit, damn it. I secretly cursed in my heart.

  A murder of crows swooped down, flapping towards our faces. In an instant, I understood that something was wrong. I shouted loudly: "Protect your eyes, the crows are going to peck at them."

  Everyone busily covered their eyes with their hands as a murder of crows flapped about ceaselessly.

  At this time, Zhao took out his lighter and lit it up, shouting "Burn these damn dogs to death."

  The spark was small, but a murder of crows, though initially startled by the flame, flew back with even greater ferocity.

  Lao Qian suddenly took off his upper garment with a whoosh and held it up to Zhao, saying: "Hurry up."

  Zhao Cai followed his words and ignited the upper garment. Hehe, you can't say that Old Qian usually has a good taste, wearing all cotton products, suddenly turning into a ball of fire. Old Qian took it and danced wildly in the air towards the crow flock. The crow flock was afraid of being burned by the fire, scattered with a loud noise, but then came back recklessly.

  "Red Clothes, Ling Mao, you guys are supposed to help! I shouted loudly in desperation, but still there was no response. Damn it, could it be that we're going to get killed?" My heart sank with a mix of shock and fear.

  "A few times you've harmed us, repairing bridges and roads is accumulating virtue and doing good deeds. Whatever comes out, speak clearly, otherwise I'll set fire to the trees." I don't care, shouting loudly.

  Lao Qian's clothes on his hands had been burned to ashes, and the crows were even more ferocious, desperately protecting his face, while his chest and back were scorching hot in pain. Zhang Mei was covering her face with one hand and her chest with the other, looking utterly disheveled. Liu Pang casually touched his head and found it reeking of a foul smell, all bird droppings.

  "I've come to tell you!" A low and ominous voice came over.