Chapter 21: Ah Zhu sees the appearance of Lu Hun...

When Azhu saw Lu Hun appear, she shrank back slightly. Like a trapped deer, she stared intently at Lu Hun, her youthful face contorting as if she would suddenly turn into a rotting corpse again at any moment. But she quickly remembered something, looked back at A Lang and A Yu... and the sleeping A Hu, and in an instant, she hurriedly regained her youthful composure.

Lu Hun followed her gaze and glanced at the three children.

Seeing that Ah Zhu kept backing away, he didn't say anything more and simply called out, "Po Jun."

Ah Zhu's expression changed.

He lowered his head and exhaled a wisp of black smoke into Afu's face.

Afu suddenly jumped up from the bed.

The child's eyes were closed, but he had already rushed to the Po Jun sword, which had revealed its true form, and hugged it tightly with both hands.

Taking advantage of the break, Ah Zhu headed towards the window.

Lu Hun calmly said to Wei Yin, "Peace talisman."

Wei Yin immediately understood and quickly went over to hug Afu. After Afu touched the amulet around her neck, she immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Lu Hun drew the sword from A Fu's hand, and then, just before A Zhu was about to break through the window, he swiftly held the Po Jun sword in front of A Zhu's face.

Ah Zhu had no choice but to suddenly stop moving.

Ah Lang frowned. Without further hesitation, he instructed his sister, "Ah Yu."

Ayu quickly pulled the small teapot out from under her pillow and called to Azhu, "Sister, I have water here."

Wei Yin stared at A Yu and the others in disbelief. When did these two children hide? And what were they planning to do?

Lu Hun also frowned slightly.

Ah Zhu rushed over immediately, and Ah Yu quickly picked up the tea lid. However, Ah Yu soon discovered that all the water in the small teapot had been spilled out at some point.

Ah Lang's little face also changed color.

Ayu stared at the teapot, her eyes red with anxiety: "What happened... I was so careful when I placed it, where did the water go? Sister, I..."

"It must have been spilled by Ah Fu when he was fighting with us for the bed," Ah Lang sneered.

With no way to escape, Azhu was given no further chance to run away. Lu Hun ignored the two children, Alang and Ayu, and transformed his longsword into a bone umbrella once more. He then threw the umbrella at Azhu. Wei Yin thought that Azhu would reveal her decaying body and struggle for a while, but unexpectedly, Azhu only hurriedly turned around to look at Alang, Ayu, and Ahu, as if she wanted to say something. However, before she could speak, the bamboo bone umbrella that Po Jun had transformed into had already abruptly absorbed her.

Ah Lang and Ah Yu shouted in unison, "Sister!"

-

Daylight had broken, and a sliver of sun, like a runny egg yolk, peeked out from the horizon, illuminating the farmhouse. In the center of the outer room, a rough little teapot sat on a bamboo table. Around the table stood Hu Datian, Hu Dali, and Liu Shi, while Wei Yin stood to the side.

At this point, Liu finally couldn't hold back anymore. She pointed at A Lang and A Yu's noses and launched into a tirade of abuse: "If you two wanted to die, fine, but thankfully my A Fu is alright, otherwise I would have made you two pay!"

Hu Dali initially dared not speak, only glancing silently at his elder brother Hu Datian. Hu Datian was even more silent than him. After all, they were brothers, and Hu Dali felt a little sorry for his brother's appearance. Once Liu had vented her anger enough, he immediately stood up and advised his wife, "Afu's mother, let it go. Alang and the others are still young and don't know anything. They've probably been bewitched by Azhu..."

"Confused? I don't think they're being blinded at all; they're doing it on purpose!"

As she spoke, Liu even started to cry with lingering fear. Turning to Hu Datian, she said angrily, "Brother, you really should discipline these two children. If the water in the teapot hadn't been spilled last night, Ah Zhu would have run away. To be honest, these two kids have always been hostile towards my Ah Fu, especially Ah Lang. Back then, when you let Ah Fu go to school but not Ah Lang, he was already resentful. Now I realize they've been wanting to kill my Ah Fu for a long time. They have such vicious hearts..."

As Liu's words became more and more outrageous, Hu Datian's head throbbed with pain. He had been exhausted by Azhu's matter these past few days, and now that it was finally resolved, he was finally at ease. However, thinking of Azhu, he was so sad that he couldn't speak.

Ayu was a bright and cheerful child. Seeing Liu rambling on in front of her father, she couldn't hold back and said directly, "Second Aunt, don't beat around the bush! Father, my second brother and I only did this because we felt sorry for our sister and didn't want her to be taken in."

Ah Lang was originally expressionless and did not intend to pay attention to Liu's anger. But when Ah Yu spoke up, he pulled Ah Yu over and walked to Hu Datian: "Father, this matter has nothing to do with Ah Yu. It was my idea."

Hu Datian frowned: "You two are too foolish! Father only had someone take Azhu away to dispel her resentment; he wouldn't do anything to her! You almost harmed everyone, including Azhu!"

Ah Hu woke up and stood cautiously at the doorway of the inner room, watching everyone. Although he couldn't understand why his second aunt was scolding his older brother and sister, he mustered up his courage and ran up. His small body stood firmly in front of Ah Lang and Ah Yu, pleading with Hu Datian, "Father, Father, please don't scold my second brother and third sister anymore. It's Ah Hu's fault, it's Ah Hu's fault..."

Ah Fu ran out of the house and saw Ah Lang and Ah Yu being scolded. He watched with great interest. When Ah Hu ran over to plead for them, he was even more pleased to add fuel to the fire.

"Uncle, Ah Hu says it's his fault, so you might as well hit him!"

Ah Hu glared at him angrily.

Upon hearing this, Ah Lang shot Ah Fu a cold, disgusted look. Ah Fu felt a chill run down his spine from the look and dared not interrupt.

Hu Datian sighed and looked at the three children in front of him. Liu Shi was still full of resentment, looking like she was demanding an explanation from Hu Datian. Hu Datian could only say, "Sister-in-law, A Lang and A Yu are only twelve years old. They don't understand anything. They were raised by A Zhu since they were little. They have a good relationship with A Zhu, so naturally they can't bear to see A Zhu like this..."

"Big brother!"

"Alright." Hu Datian was exhausted. "They're still young and don't understand the risks involved. Fortunately, Azhu has stopped now, so it's alright."

Seeing his elder brother's state, Hu Dali, unusually kind, spoke up, "Alright, Afu's mother, why are you arguing with the two children? Now that everything is alright, Afu has been quite frightened these past few days. Let's take him home quickly to calm him down, lest he develop any health problems."

Liu pouted, clearly dissatisfied, but what could she say when Hu Datian and Hu Dali had already spoken? So she glared at A Lang and A Yu with annoyance, and reluctantly pulled A Fu away.

Liu finally left. Hu Datian told Hu Dali about Wei Yin's plan to send Azhu to Pudu Temple for a Buddhist ceremony, and asked if he wanted to go with her. Hu Dali immediately shook his head, afraid that Hu Datian would let him have any more contact with Azhu. "Brother, you go by yourself. Afu was frightened again last night, and I have to go back and check on him."

Hu Datian stared wide-eyed and sighed.

Ah Lang and Ah Yu were still standing in front of him with their heads down. Ah Hu nervously held Ah Yu's hand. Hu Datian waved his hand and said, "You two can go out first."

Before leaving, Ah Lang and Ah Yu glanced at Wei Yin with a hint of something in their eyes, but they didn't say a word and led Ah Hu out.

Wei Yin stared thoughtfully at Ah Lang's mature back. Did they really not understand? Two twelve-year-old children had already planned to hide the teapot to help Ah Zhu escape. If they didn't understand anything and just couldn't bear to see Ah Zhu being captured, then how did they know that Ah Zhu would have a strong ghostly aura and be able to escape when she got wet?

"lady?"

Hu Datian's voice woke her up.

Wei Yin looked over.

Hu Datian said, "This time, we owe a great debt to Madam. Madam said before that she wanted to send Azhu... to Pudu Temple for a ritual to help her pass on to the afterlife. Azhu should be alright, right?"

Wei Yin shook his head: "Don't worry, Uncle Hu, everything will be fine after we resolve Azhu's resentment."

"That's good, that's good." Hu Datian's habitually furrowed brows finally relaxed a little. He gratefully wanted to reward Wei Yin, but Wei Yin refused them all. He told Hu Datian to first prepare an urn to put Azhu's bones in and to hurry to Pudu Temple before the sun was too strong, otherwise Azhu's ghost would not be able to stand outside when the sun was fully up.

Hu Datian went out, and Wei Yin pushed open the door to the inner room and went in.

On the wicker chair with a cushion, sat a handsome young man. Lu Hun sat quietly with his head down, holding a book in his hands and flipping through it. His brow bones appeared high and deep due to his excessive thinness. At first glance, it was the "Zuo Zhuan" that Ah Lang had been reading last night. The bamboo umbrella that the Broken Army Illusion Sword had conjured was casually placed aside by him. After Ah Zhu was taken into it, wisps of black energy were faintly wrapped around the umbrella, and it vibrated restlessly from time to time, almost shaking to the ground. Lu Hun ignored it and focused on flipping through the book in his hands, not noticing Wei Yin's arrival for a moment.

Half an hour later, he realized someone was beside him. Just like when he was studying at school, he subconsciously looked straight at Wei Yin with a dazed expression.

After a moment, he snapped out of his reverie, closed the book, and casually handed it to Wei Yin.

Wei Yin didn't think much of it and subconsciously took it, saying, "I've asked Hu Datian to prepare it."

Lu Hun hummed in agreement.

Wei Yin glanced back outside and vaguely heard the three children talking. She said, "Last night, Ah Lang and Ah Yu seemed a bit off with Ah Zhu. Not only were they not afraid of Ah Zhu, they even hid water to help her escape. Ah Lang, in particular, was far too mature for a child of ten or so. Moreover, I noticed that the way Ah Zhu looked at Ah Lang and the others didn't seem like she wanted to kill them. Instead, she seemed afraid that she would frighten them, but they said they couldn't bear to see their sister like that..."

Lu Hun listened quietly to her words without saying a word, but stared blankly at the Zuo Zhuan in her hand.

After a long while, he suddenly seemed to come to his senses and spoke, but what he said left Wei Yin somewhat confused.

"A Lang has read this volume of Zuo Zhuan several times, but he has flipped through the section about Zheng Bo Ke Duan Yu Yan at least dozens of times, so those two pages are a bit blackened."

When Wei Yin opened the section Lu Hun had mentioned, she noticed that the two pages were noticeably more yellowed than the others, with some areas even turning blackish-yellow.

She suddenly remembered that she had seen Ah Lang watching the same passage last night.

Lu Hun continued, "Don't you think this part is somewhat similar to the Hu family?"

Wei Yin frowned and began to think. Zheng Bo defeated Duan at Yan. Her father had told her this story when she was little, holding her on his lap. Her memory wasn't bad, and she remembered it immediately.

According to the Zuo Zhuan, when Duke Zhuang of Zheng was born, he was frightened by a difficult childbirth. As a result, Wu Jiang disliked this son and favored her younger son, Gongshu Duan. Later, when Duke Zhuang ascended the throne, Wu Jiang conspired with Gongshu Duan to depose him.

"Duke Zhuang was born suddenly, which startled Jiang Shi, hence the name Wusheng. Wu Jiang disliked him and loved Gongshu Duan..." She paused, then immediately made a connection: "Hu Datian took good care of Hu Dali's family, which sometimes made A Lang and the others feel very wronged."

"Later, Wu Jiang conspired with Gongshu Duan to depose Duke Zhuang." Lu Hun emphasized.

Wei Yin: "If Wu Jiang is Hu Datian, then Gongshu Duan is..."

“It’s Hu Dali, Liu Shi, and Afu,” he said bluntly, then suddenly turned to Wei Yin and stared at him: “Who are you calling Duke Zhuang?”

Wei Yin's mind clicked, and she carefully chose her words to voice her guess: "...A-Zhu?"

"In the end, Duke Zhuang defeated Gongshu Duan, but Duke Zhuang of the Hu family is now dead." Lu Hun lowered his head, turned his back, and stared intently at the window, muttering to himself, "Wu Jiang and Gongshu Duan plotted to depose Duke Zhuang. Wu Jiang, Yu, Gongshu Duan... So, back then, was it really just Hu Datian's idea to marry Azhu to the River God?"

Wei Yin stared at him blankly.

At that moment, someone came in from outside.

It was Ah Lang. Ah Lang carried a black lacquered white porcelain urn to the door. He glanced at Lu Hun's pale face. Last night, the two children woke up suddenly in the middle of the night to help Ah Zhu, which forced Lu Hun to show himself in front of them. Now, seeing the child still looking at him, she was about to explain that he was her cousin, but Ah Lang had already moved his eyes away without caring.

"Madam, Father has already brought the urn. He asked if it is suitable for you?"

Wei Yin looked at Lu Hun.

Lu Hun nodded to her.

So Wei Yin went to take it.

After delivering the items, Ah Lang didn't say anything else and turned to leave. However, before leaving, he seemed to notice that they had taken his book, but he didn't make a fuss, and his cold little face showed no emotion.

This was the first time Wei Yin had seen such a thoughtful child. She frowned and said, "Last night, Ah Lang and the others wanted to save Ah Zhu. Will they... should we keep an eye on them?"

While she was speaking, Lu Hun had already taken the bone urn from her hands. He walked to the side, opened the lid of the urn, and silently picked up the bone umbrella. He slowly swept his hand across the umbrella, and saw a wisp of black energy flow into the urn from his hand—this must be A-Zhu's soul. He then transformed the bone umbrella back into the Po Jun sword and carefully carved words on the urn, stroke by stroke, with the blade. After finishing the carving, he closed the urn. Wei Yin thought he hadn't heard her words and was about to ask him again when, after doing all this, he seemed to have just heard Wei Yin's question and softly replied:

"No need. I have already used the Po Jun seal to seal A Zhu's urn. Until the day the resentment is resolved, no one can release her."

A note from the author:

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