Chapter 20

After they left, the surroundings became much brighter.

Master Zhang also raised his head, looked in the direction where the two people disappeared, and then looked at me.

Aunt Xue was still slumped on the ground, so I walked over and helped her up. Grandpa also came over to help, and just like that, we, along with Master Zhang, helped Aunt Xue walk to Grandpa's house.

Grandpa Gan and the others were all frightened by Lingling and hid in the house, not daring to come out. When we entered the house, Grandpa Gan hurriedly asked, "Master, is everything done?"

Master Zhang nodded. Seeing this, Grandpa Gan breathed a sigh of relief and became more energetic.

Grandpa Gan found someone to send Aunt Xue back home and arranged a place for Master Zhang to stay. Since it was too late today, Grandpa and I also wanted to stay here for the night.

At night, I kept thinking about Lingling and didn't know when I fell asleep.

"Bang, bang!"

Who is knocking on the door?

I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and found that my grandfather was not sleeping next to me. I thought it was my grandfather outside.

"Bang, bang."

I got down to the ground, put on my shoes, and walked to the front door.

I looked through the crack in the door, and under the bright moonlight, there was a woman, with messy long hair mixed with a few water plants, wearing a white dress covered with blood, water droplets on her body dripping onto the ground, her gray eyes looking at me.

"Ah!" I screamed.

Grandpa was awakened by me, and he quickly hugged me, patted my back, and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Only then did I realize that it was just a dream.

I was so frightened that I lost all desire to sleep and stayed awake until dawn.

When I got up, Master Zhang was waiting for me outside.

"Miss, can you please talk to me for a moment?" He looked at me.

I was a little surprised, but still followed Master Zhang to a secluded place.

He said, "I wonder if the young lady is from my Xuanmen?"

I didn't know what Xuanmen was and shook my head.

He then asked, "Miss, could you please show me the magical instrument you used last night?"

I don't know what a magic weapon is, but I know he is talking about my feather stone.

I took the feather stone off my neck and handed it to Master Zhang.

"Give."

Master Zhang carefully took it and studied the feather-hair stone in his hand. He looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure it out. Then he returned the feather-hair stone to me and said, "Do you often encounter things that are difficult for ordinary people to see?"

I knew what Master Zhang was talking about, so I said, "I can see those ghosts."

"You could also see that guy last night, right?"

"That kind old grandfather?" I asked uncertainly.

When he heard what I said, he knew I had seen it and nodded, as if he didn't want to mention his name.

At this time, I saw Zhang Song peeking at me from behind the courtyard wall.

Master Zhang also noticed Zhang Song and said, "I see that your fate is extraordinary. If you encounter any trouble in this area in the future, come to the White Cloud Monastery on Wulong Mountain to find me."

After saying that, he left.

Zhang Song ran over only after he had walked away.

"Where did you go last night?" I asked Zhang Song with a smile.

He knew I was laughing at him, so he didn't dwell on the issue. Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Are you going home today?"

I nodded and said, "Why don't we go find Maomao to play? He should be home by now."

"No, I have to stay at home to look after the house. My parents have gone to work in the mountains."

After talking to Zhang Song for a few more words, my grandfather called me over there: "Little sister."

"Hey, I'll be right there."

"Then I'll be leaving. Don't forget to come and play with me when you have time." I said goodbye to Zhang Song, returned to my grandfather, and went home together.

When we arrived at the reservoir, we looked at the calm water surface. The sunlight shining on the water emitted colorful rays of light, which was so dazzling.

I held my grandfather's hand and chattered all the way.

When we passed Chunhe Bridge, I suddenly remembered Wang Hao's mother. Only then did my grandfather know that someone had died in the village.

When I got home, I found faint shoe prints still on the door.

It's her!

While my grandfather wasn't paying attention, I covered up the scattered shoe prints with my feet.

"Grandpa, I miss my mom and dad. When will they come back?" What happened yesterday had a great impact on me. I haven't seen my parents for a long time and I really miss them.

Grandpa said, "It's time to come back."

Grandpa doesn’t know why my parents haven’t come back for so long.

After listening to my grandfather, I knew it would be a long time coming.

Grandpa saw what was on my mind, sat under a tree, smoked his pipe, and started to tease me.

My gloomy mood was brightened by my grandfather's two or three words.

The next few days were very calm. I thought she would come again in the evening, but nothing happened.

It wasn't until the seventh day after Wang Hao's mother's death that what was supposed to happen finally happened.

During the day, the villagers went to work in the fields as usual. When they passed by Chunhe Bridge, they saw someone in the river under the bridge again.

Since someone had just died in the village, he hurried back to the village to call for help.

After people were called, six or seven young men went down to the river to retrieve the body. When they pulled it up, they found it was Ma Chunyan from the village.

Ma Chunyan was in her thirties, single, and quite pretty. The men in the village all wanted to take advantage of her, but she was a bitch, and whenever a man tried to take advantage of her, she would be scolded. It was unlikely that such a person would jump off a bridge.

The news of her death spread quickly in the village. That day was the seventh day after Wang Hao's mother's death. Everyone in the village said that Wang Hao's mother had come back to find a scapegoat.

Rumors about how Ma Chunyan died have been spreading one after another.

It was said that Ma Chunyan was being harassed by Luo Erzi, a villager, that day, and she scolded him severely. The men around her laughed heartily at Luo Erzi's humiliation. Luo Erzi, feeling somewhat embarrassed, forcibly hugged Ma Chunyan and began to grope her.

Ma Chunyan was furious and slapped Luo Erzi in the face.

Luo Erzi was awakened from his dazed state by her slap.

Ma Chunyan took this opportunity to run away, crying all the way.

When everyone saw Ma Chunyan running away crying, they didn't take it seriously. They just laughed at Luo Erzi and dispersed.

Ma Chunyan had a strong temper and had never been bullied like this in her life. Although some people tried to take advantage of her, she always scolded them away. She didn't want to be taken advantage of by Luo Erzi today, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

At this moment, a thought suddenly arose in her mind: It would be better to die!

As soon as this thought came to her mind, it occupied her entire brain uncontrollably. She walked to the Chunhe Bridge in a daze and jumped down.

Someone died in the village, and it was suicide. The way of death was the same as Wang Hao's mother's. People were in panic for a while.

The village, which had just been quiet for two days, was once again filled with the annoying sounds of drums and horns.

Since Ma Chunyan was the only one in her family and her parents had passed away long ago, the funeral was held in the grain field south of the village.

Luo Erzi did not come that day.

It was a gloomy day, and the sultry weather made people sweat.

The trumpet and drum players had to drink some water after playing for a while, and this continued intermittently until the evening.

When it was the turn to keep vigil, no one wanted to stay, so at night there was only a lonely coffin left in the mourning hall.