Chapter 93 Suspended Soul Silk Seeks a Lodging
Shao Yanzhe knew that the reason these villagers had revealed their machetes was probably to intimidate them, not because they actually wanted to do anything to them.
They followed the villagers into the village. Along the way, most of the houses in the village were pitch black, with only a few having lights on.
Shao Yanzhe was not surprised by this. The families in those houses without lights were poor and would usually finish eating before dark and go to bed after dark, so they would not waste lamp oil.
"Why are you all at the village entrance at night?" Zhou Jiming asked curiously.
One of the leading villagers glanced at him and knew that this scholar was no ordinary person. He could tell that the fabric of the scholar's robe was better than the best fabric he had ever seen in the county town.
His attitude became slightly more respectful, and he did not hide anything: "Things have been a bit unsettled these days, so the village chief organized us to patrol the village for several nights."
"I see. So, what kind of ghosts or monsters have appeared in the village?" Zhou Jiming continued to ask.
The man gave him a strange look and said, "We've never seen anything like that in our village, just some petty theft."
Seeing that Zhou Jiming was about to say something, he quickly interrupted him: "Look, the village chief's house is just ahead. He has some spare rooms, you can stay at his house."
Shao Yanzhe and the others subconsciously looked ahead and saw a small courtyard house standing about two or three hundred meters away from them.
This small courtyard house is not small in size, and it seems out of place in a village where most houses are made of adobe and a few are made of brick and tile.
The plaque above the courtyard house reads "Bai Mansion," and two red lanterns hang beside it. As the night breeze blows, the red lanterns sway slightly and make a creaking sound.
The leader stepped forward and knocked lightly on the door a few times. Soon the door was opened and a young man came out.
"Uncle Li, what brings you here? Is something wrong?" the young man asked.
The man called Uncle Li quickly shook his head: "Nothing happened! Bai Sheng, don't worry. I saw some scholars at the village entrance. They wanted to stay overnight in our village. You know our family situation; we don't have any spare room, so I brought them here."
Only then did the young man, Bai Sheng, notice the strangers following behind Uncle Li and the others. He sized them up by the light of the red lanterns.
They were dressed in long gowns, exuding a refined and scholarly air; one could immediately recognize them as intellectuals.
Bai Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. This kind of person could not possibly be a petty thief who had been stealing things recently. He must really be a scholar who was passing by and asking for lodging.
In fact, they often received scholars who were passing through and asking for lodging, but these people arrived earlier than in previous years, presumably from the group that set off earlier.
"Okay, Uncle Li, I understand. You all go ahead and do your work. I'll take them inside."
"Alright, then we'll continue our patrol."
After watching them leave, Bai Sheng turned to the group and said, "Please come with me."
"Alright, thank you very much, brother!"
"Don't be so polite, you can just call me Bai Sheng."
Shao Yanzhe and the others followed Bai Sheng into the courtyard.
"You lot probably haven't eaten yet, right? If you don't mind, please join us for some food!"
"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Bai Sheng! Here's our money for food and lodging, please take it!"
Zhou Jiming quickly stuffed ten taels of silver into Bai Sheng's hand.
Bai Sheng glanced down and immediately felt embarrassed: "This, this is too much trouble. It's just a simple meal, no need to pay. You should take the money back!"
As he spoke, he was about to return the silver.
Zhou Jiming refused to accept it at all. What a joke! He never expected to get his money back after giving it away!
Bai Sheng looked at the others with some difficulty, hoping they could persuade him.
"Alright, Brother Bai Sheng, please accept it. There are so many of us, it wouldn't be right for us to eat and drink for free. If you don't accept it, we'll feel embarrassed to stay here any longer," Shao Yanzhe said.
"That's right, just accept it!"
The others also persuaded him, and Bai Sheng finally accepted it.
He led Shao Yanzhe and the others to the front hall, where two elderly people were sitting.
"Father, Mother, these scholars are here to stay the night," Bai Sheng explained to the two elders.
Old Man Bai glanced at Shao Yanzhe and the others, seemingly already used to it, and simply nodded without saying anything.
Old Lady Bai, standing to the side, stared at her fingers with her eyes lowered, motionless, as if she hadn't heard anything.
Bai Sheng smiled at Shao Yanzhe and the others, then invited them to sit down before helping his parents to sit down as well.
Just then, a beautiful lady came in carrying several dishes. She lowered her head slightly, put down the dishes, and went out again.
Bai Sheng explained, "This is my wife. She's very good at cooking. Please have a taste."
"Sister-in-law, aren't you going to eat with us?" Zhou Jiming asked.
"There are still a few dishes that aren't ready yet, you guys eat first, no need to wait for her," Bai Sheng explained, continuing to urge the group to eat.
Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe and the others felt somewhat embarrassed.
Seeing this, Bai Sheng smiled nonchalantly and urged them to eat first.
Shao Yanzhe and the others couldn't refuse any longer, so they picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
After a satisfying meal, Bai Sheng arranged accommodations for the group, and Shao Yanzhe and the others washed up and went to bed.
It was the middle of the night, and the outside was quiet, with a gentle night breeze blowing.
Bang!
A heavy thud was heard as Shao Yanzhe sat up abruptly in bed, faintly hearing the sound of sobbing.
"Waaaaah, Father, how could you die? How could you bear to leave your son behind! Waaaaah! My Father!"
"Waaaah, please come back soon! My dear father!"
"Father! How can your son live without you!"
"Waaaaah!"
Shao Yanzhe was taken aback. The crying voice sounded familiar, much like Bai Sheng, whom he had only met today.
He hesitated for a moment, then got out of bed, put on his coat, and went out.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Zhou Jiming and Liu Mingyuan also open their doors and come out.
When Zhou Jiming saw Shao Yanzhe, his eyes lit up. He shook off Liu Mingyuan's arm and moved closer to him, only then feeling that he had become much bolder.
"Brother Shao, did you hear the crying?" he asked softly.
"I heard that, I was just about to go out and check it out."
As Shao Yanzhe spoke, he walked out of the courtyard.
Zhou Jiming and Liu Mingyuan exchanged a glance, and then quickly followed.
At times like this, it's safer to stay behind Shao Yanzhe.
Soon, the three arrived at the front yard, where they saw it was brightly lit. The red lanterns that used to hang were now replaced by white lanterns, and white cloth flowers hung at the entrance. A gentle night breeze blew, causing the white cloth to sway from side to side, creating a strangely eerie atmosphere.
Upon seeing the scene before them, Zhou Jiming and Liu Mingyuan hugged each other even tighter.
Shao Yanzhe looked over and saw that a mourning hall had been set up inside, with white cloth hanging around it and a red coffin in the middle. Bai Sheng and his wife were kneeling in front of the coffin, burning paper money and crying.
He sensed it for a moment and didn't detect any yin energy, so he figured there were no ghosts or monsters here, nor was it an illusion created by ghosts or monsters.
He hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside.
"Brother Bai Sheng, what's wrong?" he asked.
Bai Sheng, who was crying loudly, heard his voice, turned her head to look at him, her face full of sorrow: "My father has passed away."
"I see, Brother Bai Sheng, please accept my condolences!" Shao Yanzhe said with a serious face.
"It's alright. Actually, I was prepared for this long ago, but when the time comes, I still feel sad."
As Bai Sheng spoke, he continued to burn paper in the brazier.
Seeing this, Shao Yanzhe could only offer a few more words of comfort before leaving.
"Brother Shao, what's going on? Why have they set up a mourning hall so late at night? Who died?" Zhou Jiming asked in a low voice.
"It's Old Master Bai."
"I never expected this!"
"Let's go! Since there's a funeral in their family, let's leave early tomorrow morning!"
"good."
The next day, Shao Yanzhe and his group bid farewell to Bai Sheng and left.
Bai Sheng looked somewhat haggard. He looked at the group and apologized, "I didn't expect something like this to happen at home. I'm sorry to have disturbed you all. If it happens again, I will definitely treat you well."
"It's alright! Brother Bai Sheng, please accept my condolences. I imagine Old Master Bai wouldn't want you to be too sad about this."
Shao Yanzhe and the others offered words of comfort.
"Thank you all! Let me see you out!"
As Bai Sheng spoke, he was about to lead them away.
"Village Chief Bai has come back to life!"
A terrified scream echoed throughout the courtyard.
The once noisy courtyard fell silent for a moment, and then the people inside ran outside in a panic. In just a short while, the courtyard was empty.
Bai Sheng was at a loss for what to do upon seeing this.
However, he quickly realized what was happening and immediately ran towards the mourning hall.
Shao Yanzhe and the others exchanged glances but did not leave. Instead, they followed him to see what was going on.
After entering the mourning hall, the group saw that Old Master Bai, who had been lying in the coffin in his burial clothes, was sitting in a chair, with Bai Sheng's wife and mother standing beside him.
When Bai Sheng saw that Old Master Bai was sitting there unharmed, his expression immediately became excited: "Dad! Are you alright?"
Old Master Bai looked at him and slowly said, "I was originally dead. After I entered the underworld, I walked alone on the road to the Yellow Springs. I couldn't help but think that Ah Ying would also have to walk alone on the road to the Yellow Springs after she died. I couldn't bear to see her alone, so I came back and planned to take Ah Ying with me."
Bai Sheng knew that the "Aying" he was talking about was his mother. He subconsciously looked at Bai's mother and saw that she had her head down, so he couldn't see her expression.
For a moment, the entire mourning hall fell into an eerie silence.
As if oblivious to the strange atmosphere, Old Master Bai looked up at Old Madam Bai beside him and asked, "Ah Ying, get dressed and come with me tonight!"
Immediately, everyone looked at Old Lady Bai, waiting for her reply.
Old Lady Bai slowly raised her head, her clear black and white eyes filled with a deathly stillness: "No!"
Old Master Bai's expression changed, and he looked at her, saying, "No, you have to come with me! We have such a good relationship, even if we have to go to the underworld, we'll go together!"
Old Lady Bai remained silent, standing still like a wooden puppet.
Old Master Bai refused to give up: "Ah Ying, say something!"
"What do you expect her to say? Promise to die with you?" Shao Yanzhe couldn't stand it anymore and finally spoke up to defend Old Lady Bai.
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