The standing soul
The day before Xiao Mei and Wang Ge were to leave Taoyuan Village, they got up very early.
Wang Ge started boiling water, steamed sweet potatoes, corn, and two eggs. After changing into his outdoor clothes, he sat on the edge of the bed and said, "I've prepared breakfast in the kitchen. You can get up and eat it later. I'm going to the village committee to talk to my uncle about our departure tomorrow. Let's see if we can treat them to a meal tonight, as a matter of courtesy."
Xiao Mei sat up, still wrapped in the blanket, half asleep. She nodded blankly and said, "Okay, I'll pack my things and go see Fei Fei to see how she's recovering."
Wang Ge instructed, "Then don't bring her candy or snacks again!"
"Oh!" Xiao Mei explained, "That's because when I was sick, the more I ate, the faster I recovered!"
Wang Ge, worried that the wind at the door might blow on her, helped her wrap the blanket tightly. "I remember my grandfather telling me that when my uncle was a child, he would always ask for candy and other things whenever he got sick. As a result, his throat would get stuck, his tonsillitis would get worse, and eating a lot of things would cause indigestion and make his stomach even worse."
Xiao Mei leaned against him and said, "You seem very affectionate towards your uncle, but he seems cold towards you."
Wang Ge: "Grandpa said my uncle lacked love growing up, so he wasn't very good at expressing himself. He was forced into becoming village chief, since Grandpa initially wanted him to leave the village and see the outside world, and he'd been training my dad to learn village management. But who would have thought..."
Xiao Mei covered his mouth with her hand. "You're going to cry again! No!" She added, "Go to the morning meeting early today. I want to go to Grandma Zhao's place this afternoon. I'm still a little short of the lucky bags I embroidered for two friends. Let's go pick them up together and then say goodbye."
Wang Ge: "Okay! I'll be going now!"
Xiao Mei made a simple plan for her day, and thinking that she could leave this strange village tomorrow, she felt very comfortable!
After a quick wash, she ate a few bites of breakfast and discovered the eggs weren't even fully cooked! She opened her phone, sent a message to Wang Ge, and complained: "The eggs are raw inside!"
Wang Ge: [Then don't eat it. I'll steam some egg cake for you when we get back!]
Wang Ge: [Hehe]
Wang Ge: [Forgiveness-seeking emoji]
"Tch! Smiling face!" Xiao Mei tossed it aside, wiped her hands, and changed into a bright red coat, expressing her good mood for the upcoming departure!
She first went to Wang Qi's gift shop. She didn't make many friends in the village, but Wang Qi was one of them. He was always smiling and said a lot of good things about Wang Ge in front of her.
Xiao Mei said with a smile, "I'm here to do some shopping today! Wang Ge and I are leaving tomorrow! Come visit Changjing again sometime!"
After looking around, Wang Qi said in a low voice, "Those elders of Wang Ge's are not easy to get along with. It's better to leave sooner rather than later!"
Xiao Mei selected a bunch of items that caught her eye, and then he painstakingly packed them all into gift boxes and delivered them to the old house, because she wanted to go to the tavern next door to buy some drinks and was afraid she wouldn't be able to carry them all.
When Qiu Chen heard that she was leaving, he felt a little regretful and said, "If I had the chance, I would really like to take you to meet my boyfriend! I don't know if you will be able to come back for the wedding."
"Anyway, I have their contact information!" Xiao Mei joked, "I heard you two fell in love at first sight in the car! That's pretty cool!"
Qiu Chen was a little embarrassed and said awkwardly, "Did Wang Ge tell you? That's so mean!"
Xiao Mei: "So you're going to the county town early today?"
Qiu Chen nodded: "I heard there's a really good movie out there! I'll take her to see it! Last time I told her you helped me, and she specifically asked me to send you extra wine! Don't worry, it's all good quality!"
Xiao Mei smiled and readily accepted, saying, "Then I won't be polite! But don't let anyone bully you again!"
Qiu Chen: "From now on, I'll stand up for myself! I won't let them bully me anymore!"
Xiao Mei was carrying a box of wine, thinking that she would go to the county town tomorrow to find a courier to mail it back, so as not to carry it on the way and get exhausted.
As soon as she returned to the old house, she saw the gift boxes that Wang Qi had sent at the gate of the courtyard. She carried them in one by one, looked at the messy room, took out her suitcase, and prepared to put away the clothes she didn't need first.
Suddenly, a figure burst in through the courtyard gate and rushed into the main room. Xiao Mei was just about to go out when she noticed that the suitcase was blocking the door, so she bent down and moved it aside, placing it next to the bed.
A ghostly male voice echoed from outside: "The Book of Immortality! Where is the Book of Immortality!"
She recognized the voice as that of Wang Ge's uncle, Wang Shao.
Xiao Mei watched him frantically rummage through the small room from the doorway. Seeing that he was heading straight for her room, she deftly moved her suitcase, hid under the bed, pulled the suitcase back, and blocked the gap by the bed.
Wang Shao pushed open the door and pulled open all the drawers and cabinets. "Where is the Book of Immortality! Save my child! The Book of Immortality!"
"Enough!" came another woman's voice from the courtyard.
Wang Shao's manic state was too frightening, and Xiao Mei moved warily toward the foot of the bed.
The woman stood in the doorway: "Get out here!"
Wang Shao knelt down with a thud, crying, "My child's health is deteriorating day by day! River God, save my child!"
The woman laughed and said, "I told you, if you kill Wang Ge, I'll help you!"
Wang Shao stood up abruptly, "Then you have to promise me you'll save my child!"
The woman sneered, "It's none of your business to order me around! Don't forget that I still have evidence against you for killing Wang Huai, Li Chun, and Wang Lin. Just behave yourself as the village chief!"
Wang Shao shouted, "I don't care! I also know you're a fake river god! The bodies of Wang Sui's family are still in my father's coffin! Aren't you afraid to tell everyone?!"
Woman: "Can you even get out of this door? Deal with Wang Ge first! Then I'll save your child!"
After the two left, Xiao Mei emerged from under the bed in shock, quickly turned on her phone to call the police, gave them her address, and hung up. She then anxiously tried to call Wang Ge back, but no one answered.
She rushed into Wang Shao's house and found that apart from Wang Fei lying in the hospital bed, there was no one else there.
Seeing her increasingly haggard appearance, Xiao Mei couldn't bear it. She gently wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Feifei, I'm sorry. If it's true, then what your father did almost ruined Wang Ge's life. I had no choice but to do this. When your sister comes back, I'll find a way to take you out of the village to the hospital. The people here are too brainwashed because of the Book of Immortality. I will definitely find evidence there, break the River God, and take you out. Wait for me."
Xiao Mei picked up a shovel from the yard and went to the tombstone on the back hill inscribed with Wang Lin's name. She knelt down reverently, kowtowed three times, and said, "Grandpa! I'm sorry! I just wanted to verify if what they said was true! If you blame me, please come find me!"
Now, as long as she finds evidence, she plans to work with the villagers to catch the fake river god who has been taking advantage of the chaos, and then take the opportunity to rescue Wang Ge!
As the soil was dug away, revealing the wooden coffin, Xiao Mei took a deep breath, pried up the nails with a shovel, and used all her strength to push open the coffin lid.
Three corpses lay quietly inside.
So this really is a family of three, including the dog?
The Year of the Dog has not come back to life at all!
As the sun was about to set, she quickly snapped a few photos, closed the coffin lid, knelt down, and said, "Wait until I rescue Wang Ge! I will definitely come back to apologize to you!"
She returned to the old house, picked out the heaviest hammer from the yard, carried it on her shoulder, and headed towards the River God Temple.
On the way, Xiao Mei continued to call Wang Ge, but his phone was switched off. Not only that, she bombarded the police with calls, but no one answered!
With no way out, she chose the last option.
"Thump—bang—" Two hammer blows shattered the River God's shoulder. Xiao Mei stood on the offering table and shouted to the villagers below, "Tell Wang Shao and Wang Sui to get over here!"
Villagers tried to stop her, but she slammed a hammer down on them, yelling, "Get out! Let Wang Shao and Wang Sui see me!"
She had only one goal: to make the situation as big as possible.
When Wang Shao and Wang Sui arrived, they saw that half of the river god's body had been smashed to pieces, and the ground was covered with broken stones and debris.
Exhausted and drenched in sweat, Xiao Mei arrogantly declared, "Release Wang Ge! If you don't, I'll smash this damn river god into mud today, you believe me!"
Wang Sui remained mysterious, silent and not saying a word.
Seeing this, Xiao Mei slammed the hammer down again, cursing, "Fake River God! Fake Bride! The Book of Immortality is fake! The Resurrection Technique is fake too!"
Seeing the villagers gathered below, she took out her phone and said, "Look for yourselves! The real Wang Sui is long dead! The so-called bride who came back to life is a fake!"
Wang Shao shouted, "What exactly do you want to do!"
Xiao Mei raised her hand and struck again with her hammer, completely destroying the River God's ears. "Don't you understand?! If I don't see Wang Ge alive today, and you won't let us leave, I'll destroy your dilapidated temple!"
Wang Sui stepped forward, a smirk playing on his lips. "You think you can escape?"
Instantly, all the villagers below surged up like zombies, tearing and grabbing Xiao Mei, pulling her off the altar. In the end, she was no match for the onslaught of so many people, and the hammer in her hand was forcibly snatched away.
Zhuang Huan and Wang Bo walked in from outside, pointing at her and saying, "I saw it today! This Xiao Mei and Qiu Chen from the tavern have always had an ambiguous relationship! She betrayed Wang Ge! She betrayed the River God!"
As night fell, the River God Temple was shrouded in darkness.
Xiao Mei cursed, "What nonsense are you spouting! Are you all dead?!"
The next second, she finally realized that she was not facing a simple murder, because Wang Sui transformed into Qiu Chen in front of her and said in a rough voice: "It was all Xiao Mei who seduced me!"
The villagers were outraged. Under Wang Shao's command, Zhuang Huan and Wang Bo, along with several others, surrounded her and tried to tie her hands and feet.
Xiao Mei suddenly realized and exclaimed, "So that's how it is! You wanted to kill me! Not Wang Ge at all! Where is Wang Ge? Is he still alive?!"
No one responded to her.
She struggled and resisted, defiant and unyielding, staring intently at "Qiu Chen's" face, her voice filled with rage: "Just how shameful are you? You can only live hidden under someone else's skin!" Turning to Wang Shao, she continued her tirade: "You killed Wang Ge's family! You murdered your brother and father! You will die a horrible death—"
Still, no one spoke.
Xiao Mei's hands were finally restrained, and she suddenly saw Wang Ge running towards her from a distance!
He's still alive!
Why did the villagers kill her?
She looked at the villagers around her, who were like puppets, in confusion. Suddenly, Wang Ge rushed in front of her and stood there, unable to move anything except his eyes.
Xiao Mei seemed to understand, her shouts filled with ferocity: "You want to use me?! You want him to see me die?! What are you trying to do! What exactly do you want to do to Wang Ge! Who do you want him to hate! Are you going to turn him into a puppet too?!"
Wang Ge stood frozen in place.
Suppressing the sadness in her heart, she pushed everyone away, stood up, grabbed a stone from the ground, and rushed towards "Qiu Chen," only to be restrained by a group of people.
Xiao Mei was completely exhausted. She sneered, her eyes pure black, and said, "I'm not afraid of death. I believe that in the future, someone will continue to destroy this River God Temple just like I have!"
She pointed at "Qiu Chen": "Then I'll tear off your face! I'll expose your ugly, shameful side!"
"Wang Shao! Even if I become a vengeful ghost, I will drag you down to hell with me!"
In her entire life, with an alcoholic father and a missing mother, it seems that she only felt cherished when Wang Ge appeared.
Xiao Mei mustered her last bit of strength to break free from her restraints and embrace Wang Ge. She pouted, feeling wronged, and sobbed, unable to speak. She held his face in her hands, her eyes filled with longing. Finally, she wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with her dirty hands.
What did she say?
She didn't say anything.
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