The carriage stopped in front of her farmhouse, and Qin Qing went over and knocked on the door.
"Hello, is anyone home? We're not bad people, we're just passing through and would like to ask for lodging for the night. We'll be leaving tomorrow."
There was no sound from inside for a long time. Qin Qing knocked a few more times but still received no response. Feeling a little strange, just as she was about to give up, a pair of aged hands opened the large wooden door.
Then a wrinkled face appeared, as black and dry as tree bark, with cloudy eyes staring straight at Qin Qing, making her feel uneasy...
"Um... Hello Auntie, our family is just passing through and would like to stay at your house for one night. We will leave tomorrow and will take care of our own food, so please don't worry about it."
Upon hearing this, the old woman glanced at the few people who were sticking their heads out of the carriage. Seeing that they were children and women, her eyes widened slightly, as if she were somewhat surprised. Then, a seemingly kind smile appeared on her lips, and her voice was hoarse and weathered.
"Oh, no, you're all guests, please come in! It's just the two of us, my husband and I, at home, it's not very lively."
As she spoke, the old woman opened the door, and Qin Qing finally saw her hunched back and short, thin body. Looking inside, the small courtyard contained only a doghouse and a chicken coop, eerily quiet! It seemed that no poultry had lived there for a long time.
Qin Qing led the carriage inside, tied the reins to the large tree on the left side of the courtyard, and after doing all this, the people in the carriage got off.
"Grandma, it smells awful."
After Xiao Muxing came down, she stood directly next to Qin Qing, her little hands tightly gripping Qin Qing's clothes, her eyes filled with strong disgust, and she spoke very uncomfortably.
Upon hearing this, Qin Qing took a deep breath, but only smelled a faint stench, which she couldn't quite describe, only that it was somewhat fishy and foul.
"It's probably some poultry droppings. It'll be fine once we go inside."
The old woman beside her heard this clearly. She turned around, a glint of light flashing in her eyes. When she saw Xiao Muxing covering her nose with both hands, she instantly understood. The wrinkles on her face creased up again, and she smiled.
"That's how country folk are. It may smell a bit, but you can bear with it! If the young lady doesn't like it, she can open the window at night. I also have a garden in my backyard, and the flowers are blooming beautifully."
When the old woman spoke of the garden, her eyes lit up with an astonishing excitement, which made Qin Qing feel nervous. He couldn't help but furrow his brows and instinctively hid Xiao Muxing behind his back.
"No need, thank you, Auntie. May I ask which room we'll be staying in for the next few nights?"
The old woman was not angry when she was refused. She looked at her calmly and then pointed to the house on the far left with her withered yellow finger.
"You can sleep in that room; it's my son and daughter-in-law's wedding room, but they haven't been back for a long time..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Qing quickly interrupted her before she could continue.
"Thank you, Auntie. It's getting late, so we'll go to bed early."
Then, she picked up Xiao Muxing and walked inside, with Shaoyao and Qin Zifeng following closely behind. After hesitating for a moment, Zhang He walked to the old woman's side and whispered.
"Auntie, are there any other rooms? I... am not feeling well."
Qin Qing didn't turn around when she heard the voice, but she gradually became disappointed in Zhang He. Perhaps she was a good daughter-in-law and a good mother, but to her, Zhang He was not a good daughter-in-law at the moment.
In the quiet of the night, the family lay asleep on the earthen bed, while Qin Zifeng slept on a makeshift bed on the floor beside them, the faint chirping of crickets all around them…
Qin Qing drifted off to sleep, but had a nightmare in the middle of the night. She woke up with a start and couldn't fall back asleep; all she could see when she closed her eyes was the old woman's terrifying and eerie face…
Just then, a strange, fishy stench filled the air, utterly nauseating and foul! Qin Qing couldn't help but turn her head, and saw the half-open window. She was puzzled; she had made sure to close the window before going to sleep!
After all, it was so cold at night, and she certainly didn't want to freeze to death. Plus, the old woman reminded her to open the window at night, so she was even less willing to open it!
Seeing this, she still got up to close the window, but a pair of small hands tugged at her arm. Qin Qing looked down and saw that Xiao Muxing was pale and hugging her arm, her body trembling slightly, as if she had been frightened.
"Ah, Grandma... there's someone at the window... I see them!"
Qin Qing didn't want to scare herself, but Xiao Muxing's appearance really didn't seem like a joke. She was wondering if she had been frightened by the old lady during the day.
"Squeak..."
With a sound, the window was suddenly opened, and a pitch-black human head stood on the windowsill, its scarlet and turbid eyes wide open, staring straight at the people inside the room.
Qin Qing was startled and almost screamed. Xiao Muxing behind her turned pale with fright and clung tightly to Qin Qing's waist.
Perhaps because the room was too dark and the figure couldn't be clearly seen in the faint moonlight, the figure lingered for a while before walking away...
Seeing this, Qin Qing breathed a sigh of relief and finally realized that something was wrong. The villagers who had been ignored and the village itself were too strange! Especially that old woman with a wrinkled face, she was sure that the person at the window just now was her!
Thinking of this, she gently patted the peony beside her, only to find that the peony was gone?! She was immediately alarmed. Feeling in the dark, she picked up Xiao Muxing and walked towards Qin Zifeng. The touch under her feet made her breathe a sigh of relief.
"Zifeng, wake up! Something's wrong here. We need to get out of here!"
Qin Zifeng opened his eyes groggily, and before he had fully recovered from his sleep, he blurted out something without thinking.
"Grandma... ugh... it smells awful!"
Having heard this phrase several times tonight, Qin Qing finally noticed it and frowned slightly. She clearly only smelled a slight stench, so why did Xiao Muxing and Qin Zifeng both say it smelled terrible?
"Put everything else aside for now, you two go out first and wait for me by that car. Don't let anyone see you!"
Qin Zifeng sensed the seriousness in her words, quickly regained his senses, took Xiao Muxing's hand and nodded.
Qin Qing opened the door and, seeing nothing amiss by the moonlight, quickly dismissed the two children while she stealthily slipped into the earthen house on the right…
Their room was on the left, the middle room was where the old woman lived, and the mud house on the right was the one Zhang He had requested.
To get to Zhang He, Qin Qing had to pass by the old woman's house...
Noticing that there was still a faint light in the old woman's house, Qin Qing could only carefully walk over along the wall, making sure not to make a sound.
It wasn't that she was afraid the old woman would take action—after all, she was just an old woman—but many people had seen them swaggering in during the day. In this strange village, who knew if they were already being watched!
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