After a long while, seeing that the old woman was still motionless, Wang Er suddenly revealed a look of joy and said to himself, "It's the New Year, and it's so cold. I don't know where she came from or how long she's been drifting. Last night there was lightning and thunder in the sky, and it was a torrential downpour all night long. She must be dead, right?"
Even Huan'er, who was extremely nervous, spoke up and asked, "Madam, this young lady, she..."
Just then, before Huan'er could finish speaking, Wang Er suddenly and impatiently reached out and ripped off the pure white veil covering the woman's face. He was immediately shocked by the face and covered his nose, turning his face away. At the same time, he exclaimed in disgust, "Wow, so ugly!"
Huan'er, upon seeing this, swallowed hard, seemingly stunned.
The old woman, who was crouching beside her, trying to feel the woman's extremely faint pulse, was also stunned by the face that suddenly appeared before her, muttering to herself, "Could it be her? How could this be..."
Upon hearing this, Huan'er asked in surprise, "Does the old lady recognize this woman?"
"Don't say anything more, her pulse is very weak. Take her back quickly and treat her immediately, otherwise her life will be in danger," the old woman said solemnly.
At this moment, Huan'er patted Wang Er on the back, who had been standing there with his back turned, and said, "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and carry her back."
Upon hearing this, Wang Er immediately turned around and angrily said, "You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting? You want me, Wang Er, to carry this water ghost? Why should I carry it? If you want to carry it, go ahead and carry it yourself. I'm not carrying it. It's already bad luck for me, Wang Er, to run into this water ghost so early in the morning, especially during the New Year. If I have to carry her now, won't I be unlucky for the rest of my life?"
"You... Wang Er, are you going to carry it or not? If you don't, don't ever set foot in my house again, and don't ask us for anything..." Huan'er angrily pointed her finger at Wang Er's nose again, as if she really had no way to deal with this lazybones.
However, Wang Er seemed completely unconcerned about what the little girl in front of him was saying. He just rolled his eyes and suddenly a strange smile appeared on his face, as if he had made up his mind.
Then, he quickly bypassed Huan'er and came to the old woman. He squatted down and said with a smile, "Madam, you just said that this ugly girl's days are numbered and her life is in danger. If we carry her back, what if we can't save her and she dies in your 'Buddha Temple'? Wouldn't that be an eyesore and a filth to your place? Why don't we... why don't we hand her over to Wang Er? Wang Er can carry her to the back mountain and bury her. That would be doing a good deed, and she would be able to rest in peace. It's better than leaving her corpse exposed in the wilderness, dying without a complete body."
As they talked, Wang Er unconsciously began to shift his cunning eyes to the woman's other wrist, which had not been examined.
He stared wide-eyed, his round eyes practically bulging out of their sockets, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth. He gazed with delight at the dazzling seven-colored gold and jade bracelet tightly encircling the woman's wrist, and secretly reached out to touch it, wanting to take it off and possess it for himself.
At this moment, the old woman looked at Wang Er with great envy and curiosity, and slowly looked in the direction he was looking. She then discovered that on the other hand of the woman, which she had not taken the pulse of earlier, which was slightly pressed down, was a bracelet that she would never forget in her life.
She immediately reached up and lifted the black veil from her hat, her eyes widening in astonishment as she stared at the bracelet. She froze, stunned once more. "This person, this bracelet…it really is her…"
If at first glance this face seemed vaguely familiar, now, with that seven-colored jade bracelet she would never forget until her death, who else in this world could this woman be but her? And weren't there rumors that she had already…
Just as the old woman lifted the black veil of her hat, gazing intently at the multicolored gold and jade bracelet on the woman's wrist, lost in thought and stunned, Huan'er, standing beside her, asked with great curiosity, "Madam, are you also interested in that bracelet...?"
"Stop! Don't touch that bracelet on her wrist!" Huan'er called out in time, and just as Wang Er had grabbed the woman's wrist and was about to remove it, the old woman suddenly shouted to stop him.
Wang Er, already feeling guilty for doing such a thing in broad daylight, was so startled by the old woman's voice that he fell heavily backward into the muddy puddle next to her.
After a night of torrential rain, the ground was covered in yellow mud. The mud splattered everywhere, splashing all over his face and body.
Huan'er was so surprised that her mouth dropped open, and then she covered her nose and burst out laughing.
There was only a narrow patch of grass by the river, barely big enough to fit a woman's body.
So he got up angrily, glanced at Huan'er who was covering her nose and chuckling, then looked at himself covered in mud, and shouted at the old woman, "Do you know the saying 'a person scares a person to death'?"
However, the old woman did not laugh at him. Instead, she slowly lowered the black veil from the hat she was holding and said seriously to Wang Er, "Wang Er, you cannot take away that seven-colored gold and jade bracelet from this woman's hand..."
Before the old woman could finish speaking, Wang Er interrupted her disdainfully and angrily, "Why can't we pick them?"
The old woman sighed softly, her heart suddenly filled with intense emotion, but she still feigned calmness as she spoke to him, “This woman is not a ghost, but a benefactor in your life, Wang Er. In this village of Peach Blossom Inn, out of so many people, why did Heaven choose to let you, Wang Er, encounter her today? You yourself said that in hundreds of years, nothing like this has ever happened in Peach Blossom Inn. So, it's not that you're going to be unlucky, but rather that your luck is about to change for the better. However, if you secretly carry her to the back mountain and bury her, or if you become greedy and take the bracelet from her wrist, then you, Wang Er, will truly be in deep trouble. At that time, I fear the entire world will not let you off the hook.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the old woman reached out and helped the girl up by the shoulder. She then said to Huan'er, who was still standing to the side, looking as puzzled as Wang Er, pondering her words, "Huan'er, come and help! The two of us, mistress and servant, can help this girl back. But then, this incredibly good fortune will fall on your head, little girl. Today, your Uncle Wang has really let you off easy, letting you get such a huge advantage for nothing."
Upon hearing this, Huan'er seemed to instantly understand her mistress's thoughts. She quickly showed a happy expression and squatted down to help, whispering in her ear, "Madam, who exactly is this girl? Is she really that capable?"
Just as the old woman was about to say something, Wang Er suddenly rushed over, beaming with joy, and said repeatedly, "I'll do it, I'll do it! How can I, a grown man, let you two women do this kind of physical work? I'll do it, I'll do it! Don't worry, I, Wang Er, will definitely use my steady and fastest footwork to deliver this poor girl to your 'Buddha Temple,' Madam. With a 'living Buddha' here, I believe this girl will be blessed with good fortune and will definitely not die."
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Er swiftly snatched the woman from the hands of the master and servant, picked her up, and ran off without a trace.
Huan'er watched his departing figure, pouting and saying unhappily, "Just now he was complaining that the girl was ugly and wanted to carry her to the back mountain to bury her alive, but now he's changed his tune so quickly and calls her a pitiful girl. This Wang Er, really... sigh!"
The old woman, also through the black veil, watched his departing figure, shaking her head with a helpless smile.
"By the way, Madam, do you recognize that woman? Also, what you said to Wang Er just now, you must have been joking with him, trying to provoke him, right?" Huan'er asked as she helped the old woman carefully trudge through the mud.
After a while, seeing that the old woman was still silent, Huan'er said sensibly, "What's wrong? Is it inconvenient for the old lady to say? Then Huan'er won't ask."
At this moment, the old woman suddenly spoke up, “Huan’er, over the years, although we have nominally addressed each other as master and servant, you should know in your heart that I regard you as my own child.”
"Huan'er knows, and Huan'er also considers the old lady as her own family member," Huan'er said sincerely.
The old woman then turned to Huan'er and smiled kindly, continuing, "What Huan'er asked just now wasn't something I couldn't answer, but rather, even I myself still have doubts about what I just saw. It all feels like a dream, so unreal and unbelievable. Many years ago, everyone rumored she was dead, but I never imagined that after so many years, she would still be alive, and even reappear before me. I'm truly baffled. But what puzzles me most is that after all these years, her appearance hasn't changed at all; she looks exactly the same as she did back then, even surpassing my own beauty. All of this is truly astonishing! If the person before us is really her from back then, then perhaps the sky above us is truly about to change..."
"Madam, Huan'er doesn't understand what you're saying. What do you mean by 'the one before us,' 'the one back then,' and 'the sky above us'? Haven't we always been the same sky that has never changed? How could it change?" Huan'er asked, looking puzzled.
Having said that, the old woman suddenly stopped, looked up at a dense cloud drifting in the distance to the north, and said meaningfully, "The sky now is full of dark clouds, a gray expanse; but the sky to come will be a clear, blue sky, a truly beautiful sky."
The master and servant looked up at the boundless sky together, lost in thought...
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