Chapter 7 The Night Visitor: He Must Kill Her.

Zhong Ying returned home in a daze, carrying a jar and a basket. The little boy, who had been waiting alone at home for a long time, ran over and hugged her leg, complaining in a tearful voice, "Auntie, why did you take so long to come back? I thought you weren't coming back!"

"I also thought I was almost not going to make it back..." Zhong Ying murmured weakly.

Zhong Guoqiang wiped away his tears with his little hand and eagerly took the things from Zhong Ying's hands, "Auntie, I'll take them to the kitchen for you!"

After saying that, he started moving eagerly.

Zhong Ying pondered all the way back about how she had miraculously escaped death from the ghost who wanted to kill her. Could it really be because she had exposed the ghost's "indecent" behavior that it ran away in shame and anger? No way, no way? Then this ghost has pretty high moral standards.

That's true. People are conservative at this time, and they'll be conservative ghosts even after they die.

Moreover, what kind of evil spirit would not feel sorry for her not being able to continue her studies just because she is a woman?

Zhong Ying felt less afraid of the ghost after thinking about it, and she straightened her back a bit. Suddenly, a saying came to mind, and she sighed, "Kind people are bullied, and kind ghosts are ridden."

After saying that, Zhong Ying realized that replacing "horse" with "ghost" in her original sentence was inappropriate and made the whole sentence sound strange. She quickly corrected herself, "Pah, pah, pah, what do you mean by riding? Why would I ride it..."

Zhong Ying had only just found a glimmer of hope; that dead man was still a "beast" ready to bite off her neck at any moment. And she, the prey, wanted to ride on his head? Did she think she wasn't going to die fast enough?

In any case, Zhong Ying breathed a sigh of relief. A gentle breeze blew across her sweaty back, bringing a touch of coolness. She had temporarily escaped a disaster.

——

As night falls, the village is quiet, and the people who have worked hard all day are fast asleep.

A dark patch silently seeped into the rammed earth, and strangely, droplets of water condensed on the mud wall beside it, unnoticed by the sleeping girl.

The fine, dense water droplets seemed to converge in one place as if by their own consciousness, slowly condensing into a blurry black shadow.

Once completely solidified, the man's pale face and eyes were like still water, dark and sinister, unable to let in a ray of light. He stood silently by the bedside, looking down at the girl who was fast asleep and completely unaware, his killing intent surging and overflowing in his chest.

Before today, Li Linshi had never imagined that he would break into a girl's room late at night, but he couldn't wait any longer.

He must kill her.

This is what she owes him.

During the day, Li Linshi practically fled in panic. By the time he came to his senses, he realized he had missed his chance.

So Li Linshi broke his own rule and broke into a woman's house late at night, but this way she could no longer say those things that would affect him.

Under the pale moonlight, a hand so white it was almost transparent reached out towards the person on the bed. The five fingers, with their distinct knuckles, were spread out like a hunting net, their target being that slender neck.

He carried with him the damp, chilly air of the Ganlin Riverbed, making even the sweltering heat of the summer night give way.

According to Zhong Ying, she has adapted well to almost all aspects of her life now, except for the lack of modern appliances. Especially in June, she can't sleep well at night because of the heat and misses the air conditioner very much.

Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about it during the day that she dreamed about it at night. She suddenly dreamed that her humble room was equipped with an air conditioner, and the cool air was blowing out of the machine. Before long, the whole room was cool.

Although still asleep, Zhong Ying's consciousness knew she was having an absurd dream. Where would air conditioning come from in 1968? But it was just a dream, and she didn't mind indulging in such a beautiful dream. Like drawing a cake to satisfy hunger or imagining plums to quench thirst, she actually felt much cooler, and even the frown on Zhong Ying's brow relaxed in her sleep.

Cold fingers gripped her neck.

Li Linshi felt his calm emotions surge again, and a long-lost sense of excitement swept through his body.

Zhong Ying even dreamed that the modern-day pillow from her bed appeared on her bed, and it magically turned cool and refreshing, sticking to her neck. It felt even cooler, and she immediately hugged the pillow to her chest as before, and couldn't help but rub it against her cheek, letting out a comfortable sigh.

Li Linshi froze, not understanding why things had deviated from his expectations.

His arm was held in the girl's arms, and his hand, which had originally wanted to strangle her, was pulled to the side of her face. She even affectionately rubbed against him.

The dog, who was sleeping in its kennel by the door, suddenly twitched its nose and smelled a strange, slightly unusual scent of river water in the air. It immediately woke up alertly and started barking wildly.

"Woof—woof—"

Brown Sugar emerged from its kennel, but instead of barking at the gate, it barked incessantly at a house inside the yard in the dead of night.

Before long, the whole family was woken up by the dog's noise.

Old Man Zhong and Zhong Cheng rushed out of the house with brooms and basins they had grabbed without even bothering to get dressed properly. They were furious and wanted to see which thief was stealing things and disturbing their sleep in the middle of the night.

Startled by the barking, Li Linshi immediately pulled his arm back and fell backward. However, instead of falling flat on his back like a human, he was like a basin of water splashed on the ground. The water droplets splashed up the moment he touched the ground and then disappeared into the soil at an abnormal speed, disappearing without a trace in a few breaths.

As Deng Xia fastened the knotted buttons on her clothes, she walked angrily from the house into the yard, yelling, "Which bastard dared to break into my house in the middle of the night and steal things!"

Zhong Ying woke up groggily, got up, slipped on her shoes, unlatched the door, and poked her head out to ask, "What's going on?"

Zhong Cheng and his nephew Zhong Guoqiang, who sleeps with him, poked their heads out of their window, looking curiously outside.

Zhong Cheng quickly and carefully searched the courtyard, looking for every corner where someone could hide, but found no suspicious persons. "Nobody's here."

He then looked in the direction where the big black dog was still watching warily and growling softly, and said to Zhong Ying, "Did you close all the doors and windows before you went to sleep?"

Does this mean a bad guy got into her room? Zhong Ying was startled awake and thought back carefully, "It was locked properly. I just opened the door and bolted it."

A loud female voice came from over the courtyard wall, "Zhong Lao Er's wife, control your dog! What are you barking about in the middle of the night!"

"You think you have such good ears!" Deng Xia retorted irritably, then glared at Hong Tang, "What are you yelling about in the middle of the night? Are you seeing a ghost?!"

She said it casually, but Zhong Ying was startled.

Old Man Zhong tried to calm things down, saying, "Alright, alright, go back to sleep..."

After saying that, Zhong Chunsheng persuaded Deng Xia, whose eyes were still blazing with anger, to go back inside.

Zhong Xin closed the window and coaxed his sleepy nephew to lie down again.

Zhong Cheng reminded Zhong Ying to make sure the doors and windows were closed again before returning to his room in the northeast corner.

Miao Suyun heard the dogs barking and people talking in the yard, but she was too exhausted to move. Even her fingertips were numb from exhaustion. She only managed to open her eyes to look at Zhong Cheng as he entered the house and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhong Cheng tossed the clothes he was wearing onto a nearby cabinet, lay back down with his muscular upper body bare, reached out and pulled his wife close, and lightly kissed Miao Suyun's sweaty temples. "It's okay, you can go back to sleep."

Zhong Ying wasn't in a hurry to go back inside to sleep. Instead, she beckoned to the big black dog in the yard, "Come here, brown sugar."

The big black dog wagged its tail and obediently went into Zhong Ying's house.

Zhong Ying closed the door, raised her hand to touch her neck, and sure enough, it was wet. Not only that, but when she looked down in the moonlight, she saw a dark wet stain on the front of her clothes. No wonder she had felt that her chest was wet since earlier.

No, choking is one thing, but where else can this ghost go?

Zhong Ying gritted her teeth, feeling a surge of anger.

If it were a human being who did this, Zhong Ying would slap him across the face no matter what, twice with a resounding slap. She would never tolerate such harassment.

"But it's a ghost..." Zhong Ying clenched her fists in anger. It was a dead ghost who wanted her dead. The only chance she could have of survival was the last bit of humanity that the ghost had left.

After taking several deep breaths to suppress the urge, Zhong Ying took out an old winter coat from the wooden cabinet and spread it at the foot of the bed. As if it knew that this was prepared for it, Hongtang obediently curled up in a comfortable position on top of it and lay down.

Although Zhong Ying had actually seen a ghost with her own eyes, she still didn't believe in ghosts and gods. Rather than praying to the mountain god, she thought it was better to pray to a dog. Although she wasn't sure if a dog could really ward off ghosts, at least Hong Tang was a good watchdog and could wake her up so that she wouldn't be unknowingly harassed or killed by a ghost in her sleep.

The next morning, Deng Xia went out of the house to the kitchen to make breakfast for the family. While she was busy, she felt that something was wrong.

Not long after, Miao Suyun quickly finished tying up her hair, washed her face with cold water, and came over to help.

Looking at her daughter-in-law's face, Deng Xia couldn't help but say, "This kid is really good at causing trouble."

It took Miao Suyun a while to understand what she meant. Her face flushed red, and she wished she could bury her head in her neck. "I...I'll go wash the pot!"

Deng Xia watched Miao Suyun's flustered retreating figure and shook her head inwardly. She wasn't mocking her daughter-in-law, just stating a fair point. As she chopped vegetables, she muttered, "That brat, he's always been so strong..."

The sky was just beginning to lighten, the sun hadn't risen yet, and it wasn't that hot. Deng Xia first added half a bowl of bran to the two chickens in the house, then quickly started preparing food for the people. She didn't throw away the chopped vegetable stalks, intending to feed them to the dog. "Miao'er, go and bring me the bowl of brown sugar—"

After Deng Xia finished speaking, she realized what she had been feeling was wrong all along.

Where is her dog?

Miao Suyun, who had gone to the doghouse to get the usual porcelain bowl for brown sugar, disregarded her embarrassment and hurried back, exclaiming, "Mom, our dog is gone!"

Although Deng Xia had scolded Hongtang loudly last night, she panicked when she heard that the dog was really gone. "Damn it! The thief didn't come to steal anything last night, he came to steal the dog!"

As she spoke, Deng Xia's thoughts raced towards the worst possible scenario, and in just a few moments she seemed to see her dog, which she had raised for eleven years, end up in someone else's stomach.

With tears in her eyes, Deng Xia forgot all about cooking and grabbed a cleaver to head outside. "I'm going to go door to door and see which house is wafting the aroma of meat right now. I'll chop their door into pieces!"

Startled, Miao Suyun rushed to stop her, crying, "Mother, Mother! The knife! Put the knife down!"

Zhong Cheng, who had come to help carry the bowls, was startled when he saw his mother's posture as soon as he reached the kitchen door. "Mom, what are you doing with a knife? Did Aunt Fan next door upset you again? You can't fight someone with a knife!"

Zhong Guoqiang, whose stomach was rumbling with the aroma of food, wanted to ask for some, but when he saw his grandmother holding a kitchen knife and looking like she was about to fight someone, he burst into tears.

Zhong Xin, who was a step behind, quickly pulled his nephew away. His mother got angry and scared the child to tears.

Zhong Chunsheng squeezed into the kitchen, reaching out to Deng Xia to give him the kitchen knife she was holding. "Honey, what are you doing? Here, give me the knife. Is there anything I can help you with..."

Zhong Ying was awakened by the chaotic noise. With her shoulder-length hair unkempt and still half-asleep, she came out of the room and asked, "What's going on now?"

With tears welling in her eyes and a mixture of grief and indignation, Deng Xia said, "Our dog... is gone—"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw the big black dog coming out of the house with her daughter.

Deng Xia: !

The grief vanished, replaced by overwhelming rage. Deng Xia forgot she was still holding a kitchen knife and charged at her daughter, yelling, "You brat! How can you let a dog sleep in someone's house! I was so worried when I saw the dog was gone this morning, I thought someone had stolen it last night and cooked it!"

Startled, Zhong Ying opened her eyes wide and turned to run around the yard.

My goodness, her mother is way fiercer than a ghost!

The ghost only wanted to strangle her, but her mother grabbed a kitchen knife!

Nowadays, whose dog doesn't sleep in someone's house?

Zhong Ying couldn't argue like that; she was speechless. At that moment, she suddenly thought of that dead ghost again. At least she could say these things in front of him, since she had already revealed all her secrets to him.

"Mother, the knife! That's my little sister! Put the knife down!" Miao Suyun anxiously called out as she chased after Deng Xia.

Zhong Xin disregarded his nephew and rushed out from the side to hug his mother; Zhong Cheng, with his long legs and big strides, caught up in a few steps and snatched the kitchen knife from his mother's hand.

Deng Xia then remembered that she was still holding a kitchen knife. She let her still-frightened son take the knife away. Deng Xia caught up with Zhong Ying and slapped her arm instead.

"Do you know that your mother almost went to someone else's house to fight this morning...?"

A day in the Zhong family's life begins in chaos.

Li Linshi sat on his own grave, which had been piled up again to form a circle two days earlier, watching the lively scene at the foot of the mountain.

“Look at this family, they’re not particularly bad people. I’ve watched Yingni’er grow up since she was a child. Although she’s been spoiled and a bit immature, it’s really too much to blame her entirely for your death. She just wanted to marry you, she didn’t want you to die.”

Li Linshi's handsome face, as white as a sheet of paper, showed no expression whatsoever that a living person would have. He listened to these words with a blank expression, completely unmoved.

The ghost on another grave nearby sighed, "Ah, never mind. You probably think that since Yingni and I are related, I'm speaking up for her. Well, I won't say anything more. I just hope you can slow down, observe more, and then decide whether you really want to take action."

Li Lin remained silent, making no move.

But the back of my hand still felt like it was still covered with that delicate, feather-like sensation.

A note from the author:

----------------------

Li Linshi: (Collapsed) A treacherous scheme! She's used such a treacherous scheme again!

Zhong Ying: (Breaking down) You pervert! You pervert!!