Chapter 26 Villains and Ghosts
After a night of heavy rain, Guqu Town became much cooler.
Fan Xiaoxiao and her friends were preparing their stall items at the door when Chen Ergou from next door burst out screaming and stumbling through the door. His disheveled appearance and blood-soaked body startled them. Uncle Wang frowned and stepped forward to reprimand Chen Ergou, but the man was faster, grabbing Uncle Wang's clothes and trembling, "A...a ghost! A ghost!!!"
Uncle Wang glanced at Fan Xiaoxiao almost imperceptibly, then abruptly shook off Chen Ergou's hand and shouted sternly, "In broad daylight! Don't talk nonsense here!"
Chen Ergou was thrown off balance by Uncle Wang, but he didn't have time to retaliate. He quickly grabbed Old Zhao, who hadn't managed to dodge in time, and said in a trembling voice, "It's true! Old Zhao! There's a ghost!!!" He looked like he was going crazy.
Old Zhao, overwhelmed by the stench emanating from Chen Ergou, covered his nose and struggled to shout, "There are so many of us here! Where are the ghosts?! And look at yourself! You don't look like a human being at all!"
These words startled Chen Ergou. He glanced around at everyone in a daze before snapping out of it, muttering to himself as if possessed, "That's right, it's daytime now, it won't come. It's daytime now!"
Fan Xiaoxiao smiled and walked up to Chen Ergou, saying, "Uncle, you didn't... take something you shouldn't have..."
Her voice was soft, and despite the sweltering summer heat, for some reason, Chen Ergou sensed a chill in it. Looking at the girl's clear, bright eyes and her excessively pale face, Chen Ergou instantly recalled the bizarre scene from yesterday. A shiver ran through him, and he quickly pushed Old Zhao away, unable to look at Fan Xiaoxiao's face any longer, saying, "I didn't, nothing! I didn't!"
The voice was somewhat hysterical; anyone could tell that Chen Ergou was feeling guilty. Fan Xiaoxiao grinned, revealing her red lips and white teeth, her tone soft and gentle: "Is that so...it's best if there isn't, otherwise..."
Chen Ergou shuddered violently, staggering back several steps before falling to the ground. He didn't bother getting up, however, because he caught a glimpse of Fan Xiaoxiao walking towards him.
This terrified Chen Ergou, who was already quite shaken. He kicked his legs and backed away, shouting in a shrill voice filled with fear, "You...you stay away!!!"
Fan Xiaoxiao scoffed and was about to go forward to scare him, but Chen Ergou flipped over and scrambled away in the opposite direction from them.
She frowned, looking speechlessly at Chen Ergou's retreating figure, and said, "I didn't do anything!"
Old Zhao was completely baffled. He took a few steps forward and looked towards Chen Ergou's house. What he saw almost scared him to death. The door was wide open, and the house was a mess. There were bright red marks everywhere, probably from Chen Ergou himself. In some places, there were long red drag marks.
"Oh my god! This...this is truly a terrible thing!"
Old Zhao shook his head and stepped back, not daring to look into the courtyard again. Aunt Wang scoffed, "That's his own karma, evil begets evil. Let's go do our business, who cares what he's doing? Who knows if he's just playing tricks! Let's hurry, or we'll miss today's business!"
These words reminded everyone, and the group packed their things and headed to the dock. They separated when they were close to the market. Today, they were all out doing business. Aunt Wang, Madam Fan, Xiao Bao, and Fan Xiaoxiao went to their usual spot to sell braised pork, while Uncle Wang and Old Zhao stayed at the market entrance to sell baskets.
After hesitating for a long time, Fan stammered, "Er Ya... why are we keeping this from Old Zhao?"
(End of this chapter)
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