Chapter 76 [VIP]

The entire Wang family was shrouded in immense grief and resentment. Wang Laowu, like a wild beast that had lost its mind, paced back and forth in the courtyard with bloodshot eyes.

When he saw neighbors rushing over to offer some words of comfort, he roared at them, "Get out! All of you, get out! What are you watching!"

His voice was hoarse, filled with unvented resentment and anger, as if the whole world had become an accomplice in the death of his son.

He grabbed a stool and slammed it to the ground, sending wood chips flying. The people around him were so frightened that they all backed away, and no one dared to approach.

His wife, on the other hand, has completely gone mad.

She slumped onto the cold, muddy ground in the courtyard, her hair disheveled and hanging down like a clump of withered grass, obscuring most of her face, which was contorted with extreme pain.

She held Baozhu's body tightly, stroking her son's cheeks with her fingers over and over again, letting out incoherent sobs.

Whenever someone approached, she would suddenly raise her head, grab the hem of their clothes, and begin to wail, her voice shrill: "It's that jinx! It's that damned little bitch who killed my precious son! My son... my poor, wretched son!"

She repeated it over and over, as if trying to etch the idea into everyone's mind.

“Last night…if she hadn’t struggled and knocked over the medicine jar, Baozhu wouldn’t have died! It was her! She’s the one who killed him! Why doesn’t she just die! She’s the one who deserves to die!”

Cuilian's cries echoed in the courtyard, each word filled with anguish, pointing all the blame at Yishui.

More and more villagers gathered around the courtyard, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.

"Alas, what a tragedy, the Wang family only has this one son..."

"Yes, it's so pitiful for parents to outlive their children..."

But there were also many numb faces in the crowd. They were used to birth, aging, sickness and death, especially in this poor and remote place, where the death of children was not uncommon. They just watched silently, their faces showing the indifference that had been worn down by life over the years.

Some of them huddled in twos and threes in a corner, their eyes darting around, whispering in hushed tones.

"To be honest, it's really strange that this happened as soon as that girl arrived here."

"That's right, I heard she's cursed with bad luck, bringing misfortune to her parents, which is why she was sold..."

"Wang Laowu's family shouldn't have bought her to bring him good luck. Now look what happened, they didn't bring him any good luck, and instead they lost their son's life."

"A jinx... that's not entirely unfounded. Look at her eyes, they're so gloomy, they look ominous."

The unbridled malice of the crowd was like a series of sharp swords, swiftly and decisively piercing Yi Shui's heart, silently and firmly nailing the label of "jinx" onto the girl.

Jiang Zhuochen and Xu Xing knew perfectly well that Baozhu's death was due to a serious illness that defied all medical treatment, and had little to do with Yishui. But the blame was firmly placed on this innocent girl's head.

The death of Wang Laowu's only son was like a heavy boulder thrown into stagnant water, creating ripples in the small mountain village, but quickly subsiding into a suffocating calm. However, beneath this calm, undercurrents surged.

Time in the illusion began to jump, seemingly several months had passed. The season turned to late autumn, and the mountain wind carried a biting chill.

Yi Shui's situation visibly deteriorated. She was no longer merely locked in the woodshed, but treated like a broken tool, at the behest and abused of Wang Laowu and his wife. Beatings became commonplace, and her body was always covered with new wounds upon old ones. She became more silent, her eyes numb, as if her soul had been ripped away.

Jiang Zhuochen observed silently and discovered that these rumors never stopped, always popping up unexpectedly, disturbing her peace.

What's even more unsettling is that some idle men in the village, or widowed bachelors, have started loitering around the Wang family's neighborhood, intentionally or unintentionally.

When Wang Laowu left with a gloomy face, they would approach him to chat, their eyes always glancing into the yard, offering feigned comfort while their words carried a certain lewd implication.

"Fifth Brother, please accept my condolences... Sigh, these days must be tough for you."

"If you ask me, that girl you bought, although she's a bit tough, is pretty good-looking... You can't just keep her to do nothing, can you? How about... hehe, you lend her to the neighbors to do some odd jobs so your family can earn some money?"

"Get the hell out of here! All of you, get the hell away from me! Stop talking nonsense!"

At first, Wang Laowu would fly into a rage, shout a few words, and then impatiently wave people away. But gradually, whether he heard it too often, tacitly approved, or had ulterior motives, his attitude became ambiguous.

When those suggestive words drifted into his ears again, he no longer immediately cursed them. Sometimes he would just glare at them sullenly and mutter a few words indistinctly.

Then, he slowly and silently took the cigarette offered to him, listening to one incoherent rant after another amidst the swirling smoke, his eyes fixed on his tightly closed front door. It was unclear whether he was weighing his options or making a decision.

This shift undoubtedly fueled the wicked thoughts of those in the shadows, making their prying eyes bolder, and even filling the air with a disgusting and filthy atmosphere.

One evening, Jiang Zhuochen and Xu Xing returned from work and passed by the Wang family's gate. They heard Wang Laowu talking to a strange man inside.

“…Old Wang, your…girl, she can’t do any heavy work anyway, and she’s just sitting around doing nothing…why don’t you let her help me wash clothes and tidy up the house for the next few days? I’ll give you a hundred…” a lewd male voice said.

Wang Laowu grunted a few times, neither agreeing immediately nor refusing.

Jiang Zhuochen and Xu Xing exchanged a glance, a sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.

Sure enough, a few days later, they saw Yi Shui being chased by Wang Laowu to go to the home of Liu the Cripple, an old bachelor at the end of the village, to "help out".

Jiang Zhuochen couldn't sit still any longer, so he pulled Xu Xing along to go and rescue the people.

Xu Xing grabbed his hand instead, "Do you think this matter can be changed?"

"What if it can be overwritten?" Jiang Zhuochen couldn't bear it. "How will we know if we don't try?"

Xu Xing pulled him back, his fingers tracing the back of his hand. "But you know, this is no small matter."

This must be a crucial turning point in why Yi Shui would retaliate against the entire village, so they couldn't stop it, and it was bound to happen.

“But…” Jiang Zhuochen hesitated. He recalled how, whenever he saw the other person recently, they were either blankly staring or secretly wiping away tears. As bystanders, they had witnessed far too much cruelty in this situation.

"Alright, let's give it a try." Xu Xing looked at her dejected appearance and couldn't bear to see her like that. "Even if we fail, if someone had saved her, maybe she wouldn't hate him so much."

"good."

When the two arrived at Liu the Cripple's house, they could hear Yi Shui's desperate and resigned cries for help from outside the door, intermittent and occasionally interspersed with urgent screams.

Taking advantage of the dim lighting, Jiang Zhuochen pried open the courtyard gate and went inside with Xu Xing, one on each side. Inside, Liu the Cripple's filthy laughter continued, accompanied by soft rubbing sounds.

To avoid arousing suspicion by showing himself, Jiang Zhuochen flicked his finger, extinguishing the light source in the room with a wisp of spiritual energy. Immediately afterward, Liu the Cripple's surprised and doubtful voice rang out. After trying several times and still unable to turn on the light, he spat and decided to just leave it at that.

Jiang Zhuochen's pupils contracted slightly, and he muttered two phrases. Suddenly, thick smoke filled the tightly closed room. He placed the fire talisman in Xu Xing's hand. Xu Xing took it, understood his intention, and immediately walked in another direction.

From inside came Liu the Cripple's curses: "Damn it, where did this cigarette come from? It's ruining my good time!"

Yi Shui's sobs continued, which angered Liu the Cripple. He grabbed the girl's hair and threw her forcefully to the side of the bed.

Yi Shui hit her head on the wall, the pain making her vision blur and her voice quiet down.

Seeing that Yi Shui was no longer moving, Liu the Cripple picked up his clothes and put them on.

Jiang Zhuochen quietly backed away, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xu Xing rush in. He lightly touched the ground with his toes and landed beside Xu Xing, shouting loudly amidst the towering flames, "Fire! Come and put out the fire!"

The fire started in the kitchen and spread all the way to the toilet, burning the firewood and scattered utensils on the outside and then the wooden door. In an instant, most of Liu the Cripple's house was burned down.

Hearing the shouts, Liu the Cripple was terrified. He quickly limped open the door, and thick smoke rushed in, choking him and making him cough uncontrollably.

He didn't have time to think about why the fire started. In a daze, he noticed someone running towards him and shouted, "Help me! Help me out!"

Xu Xing grabbed him by the back of his collar like a chick and dragged him outside without any politeness.

Liu the Cripple staggered a few steps, too preoccupied to retaliate, his face contorted with anxiety as he tried to call for help to put out the fire. Just as he was about to look up, he was struck unconscious on the spot.

The noise woke up the people nearby, and they all rushed over to check it out, throwing on their clothes.

Under the cover of the thick smoke, the two slipped into Liu the Cripple's room. Yi Shui inside was almost unconscious. Xu Xing took a sheet from the side and wrapped it around the girl, and the two of them, each supporting one side, left.

They couldn't go back to Wang Laowu's house for the time being, so they took him to the Li family's house and temporarily settled him in Xu Xing's room.

After making sure the doors and windows were closed, Jiang Zhuochen affixed the sensing talisman to Yi Shui's body, and the two of them left and returned to Jiang Zhuochen's room.

Xu Xing sat at the table, his gaze fixed on the cup in his hand. "Don't you think this is too easy?"

Jiang Zhuochen also seemed vaguely uneasy. "Let's keep watch tonight."

"Um."

Night deepened, and the cold wind howled, pounding against the flimsy doors and windows. Time seemed to stretch out infinitely, each minute and second passing with extraordinary slowness.

The two waited quietly for time to pass. Jiang Zhuochen pressed his fist against his forehead, drowsiness washing over him like a tidal wave. His eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and his head bobbed uncontrollably.

He managed to spare some attention, keeping an eye out for any unusual noises outside the door.

However, apart from the sound of the wind, there was nothing outside the door. It was a silent, unsettling stillness, as if the whole world had been frozen.

This abnormal silence was more nerve-wracking than any sound, yet it acted like a hypnotic spell, constantly intensifying the drowsy atmosphere in the room.

Startled awake once again by the downward movement of his head, Jiang Zhuochen sat bolt upright, his heart pounding.

He instinctively looked towards the door, which was still securely latched. But the next second, his blood froze.

He suddenly looked up and saw that the outside world was already bright, even dazzling.

All sleepiness vanished in that instant, and a chill ran from the soles of Jiang Zhuochen's feet straight to the top of his head. He took a low, sharp breath, his voice unusually clear in the excessively quiet morning.

Xu Xing was awakened by him and frowned at the light outside the door. The confusion he felt upon waking was replaced by a sudden surge of alertness.

They actually fell asleep? Or were they both asleep, completely unaware, sleeping soundly until dawn?

"Oh no!" Jiang Zhuochen hurriedly pushed open the door and ran out. He had taken a stimulant after returning to his room last night, so he shouldn't have fallen asleep.

He pushed open Xu Xing's door, and sure enough, the room was empty. Even the bed was neatly made, as if no one had ever been there.

Xu Xing stood behind him and patted his back reassuringly.

The two went out to check on Liu the Cripple's house, and on the way, they spotted a figure walking towards them from afar.