Chapter 58 Little Dinggua's "Incense Scent".
The peasant woman limped from inside the house to the entrance of the cave dwelling, looking somewhat uneasy: "That man went to town to get medicine last night, why hasn't he come back all night?"
She stared at Bai Yuan's back as he stood in the kiln courtyard, and just looking at his slender and graceful figure, she couldn't help but admire him in her heart.
Although the girl looked slender and thin, she didn't have the slightest bit of delicate fragility. Instead, she gave off an unusual aura. Her thin, sharp back exuded a cold and fierce energy, making people feel that getting close to her might cut their hands.
In short, this girl exuded a cold and aloof aura, making her seem even more unapproachable than the nouveau riche landlord in town.
So the peasant woman didn't dare to get too close to her, and only spoke from a distance: "Did you get lost? Or did something happen to you?"
"I'll go out and check. The people inside haven't woken up yet. Could you please keep an eye on them?" Bai Yuan said, then stepped out of the kiln courtyard and followed the wheel tracks to search.
There were two earthen kilns on the slope above. An old man wearing a burlap turban stepped out of the kiln and was loading heavy bags onto a mule. Hearing a noise below, the old man stopped what he was doing and looked at the stranger.
Bai Yuan walked straight ahead without looking to the side, occasionally passing by two villagers carrying baskets. A donkey cart carrying heavy wine jars turned from a side road and drove over the cart tracks without hesitation.
The donkey cart kicked up clouds of dust, and Bai Yuan stopped, staring silently at the crisscrossing ruts on the dirt road for a long while. Only after the dust settled did she begin to walk, just as she passed a young boy running swiftly down another side road.
The boy was not tall, wearing a drab old cotton-padded jacket, his trouser legs tightly tucked into his shoes and socks. He swung his legs and ran wildly, his cheeks and nose red from the cold wind, as if he had some extremely urgent matter to attend to.
The boy, panting heavily, ran all the way to the original village. After asking the old man who had finished loading his belongings onto the mule about Wang Dacai's home, he plunged into the cave dwelling below, shouting repeatedly.
"Grandpa! Grandpa! Aunt Wang!"
At that moment, the peasant woman was cooking in the kitchen. At first, she didn't pay much attention when she heard someone calling her grandfather, but when she heard that the person seemed to be calling her as well, she limped out with a stick in her hand to check the situation: "Hey, Little Dinggua, what brings you here?"
Little Dinggua ran up to the peasant woman, sweating profusely, and said breathlessly, "Auntie, where's my... my grandpa? Please let grandpa come back with me quickly. That damned Hu Laizi almost beat his wife to death. They're waiting for grandpa to come back and save her."
Aunt Wang was stunned upon hearing this: "Hu Laizi... no, your grandfather, didn't Doctor Ding go back last night?"
Xiao Dinggua is the beloved grandson of Doctor Ding. Almost everyone in the surrounding villages who has been treated by Doctor Ding knows him.
Little Dinggua didn't react for a moment: "What? No."
Last night, someone suddenly banged loudly on the door of the pharmacy in the middle of the night, waking the grandfather and grandson from their sleep. They hurriedly asked Doctor Ding to come and make a house call.
Little Dinggua groggily propped his head up from under the covers, seemingly used to this scene, and mumbled a question about where his grandfather, who was packing his medicine box, was going.
The old man patted his head affectionately and told him to lie down in bed and continue sleeping, saying that he had to go to Wang Dacai's house in the original village. As a result, he stayed there all night.
Similar things had happened before. Because it was too late to travel at night, Grandpa would sometimes be allowed to stay at home by kind patients, so Xiao Dinggua wasn't too worried this time.
Just as dawn broke, someone carried Hu Laizi's wife, who was covered in blood and on the verge of death, to the pharmacy. Xiao Dinggua rushed over to find his grandfather and went back to save her.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Wang suddenly had a bad feeling: "Dr. Ding didn't go home last night?"
"He didn't go back. Isn't Grandpa with you?"
Aunt Wang panicked immediately: "He came to my house to see a doctor and then took a carriage back overnight." But after the two of them left, not only did the older brother who went to town to get medicine not return overnight, but the doctor Ding who came to see the doctor in the cave also did not return overnight. "Oh no, oh no, I'm afraid something really happened. The older brother who went to get medicine still hasn't returned."
Little Dinggua suddenly panicked, her lips twitching downwards, on the verge of tears, but the noise at the door temporarily interrupted her. Little Dinggua turned her head, and after just one glance, she was completely stunned. She saw a man of unparalleled beauty slowly walking out, leaning against the doorframe, as if he had some difficulty moving. Little Dinggua had rarely seen such a face, and she believed that the most beautiful things in the world were gold, jade, and precious stones, and this man was like the most flawless white jade, exquisitely carved.
His complexion was a bit too pale.
Zhou Yaren's hearing was still not very good, but she still managed to hear the whole story and knew that the two people were there because she hadn't returned home all night. So she said, "Don't panic. Maybe they went to see a doctor somewhere else on the way. Let's go out and look for them."
For some reason, the moment this person spoke, it was as if a pillar of support had been inserted into his heart. Xiao Dinggua inexplicably calmed down and immediately stopped his chaotic thoughts.
"Yes, yes, don't worry, go and look for him first." Aunt Wang nodded repeatedly, and added, "Because that older brother hasn't returned yet, the girl went out to look for him this morning."
Because of a sprained ankle, Aunt Wang could not move easily and could only watch the two leave one after the other.
Little Dinggua was anxious to find his grandfather, so he walked faster and faster, rushing ahead and looking around while shouting, "Grandpa, Grandpa..."
Little Dinggua would ask everyone he met, "Uncle, have you ever met my grandfather?"
"Auntie, have you seen my grandfather?"
The villagers shook their heads, but inevitably asked about it. Those who didn't have anything urgent to do would help look for a while, and other villagers readily agreed to keep an eye out.
Xiao Dinggua ran for two miles in one breath, and only when he looked back did he see the man in blue clothes trailing behind him a few feet away, holding a bamboo cane of medium thickness in his hand, tapping the ground as if probing the way, and following him with some difficulty.
He is blind.
Xiao Dinggua was slightly surprised: "You..." He immediately composed himself, "Well, you... you still look sick, right? You should go back to Aunt Wang's house to rest. You don't need to come with me. I can go find my grandfather myself."
Zhou Yaren tapped the ground with her bamboo cane, not intending to let the child go alone: "I'm fine."
"The mountains and plains are full of ravines and winding paths, making them difficult to traverse." If one were to fall into a ravine without careful attention, how could one possibly recover from a broken arm or leg?
Although Xiao Dinggua didn't say it explicitly, Zhou Yaren understood his implied meaning.
Blind people are always treated specially, so he always behaved like an ordinary person and was rarely noticed. However, recently his hearing loss has become too severe, and he can no longer move as freely as before. He has even become clumsy when walking.
Since this matter was caused by him, Zhou Yaren was clearly not going to stand idly by: "Don't worry, I won't fall, I can keep up with you."
Having said all that, Xiao Dinggua, seeing that he insisted on going with him, didn't say anything more. However, he would turn back to look after taking a few steps, which became a concern. But just as Zhou Yaren said, he walked quite steadily with the help of a bamboo cane and didn't hinder his search for people.
They asked everyone they met, inquiring about almost every corner of the village, but no one had seen Doctor Ding. So they turned back on the same road back to the town.
Perhaps Grandpa has already gone back to the pharmacy, Xiao Dinggua thought to himself repeatedly on the way. Maybe he missed his grandpa who was returning home shortly after he rushed out the door.
As she pondered this, Xiao Dinggua ran faster and faster, forcing Zhou Yaren to quicken her pace.
The two hurried back to the pharmacy, only to find the tiny girl from next door sitting on the threshold, feeding herself spoonful by spoonful.
When Little Bean saw Little Dinggua running back covered in sweat, he immediately stood up and went to greet him, holding a large porcelain bowl. He said in his childish voice, "Dinggua, Dinggua, you're finally back! They couldn't wait for Grandpa Ding to come back, so they just carried him away."
Little Dinggua didn't care about anything else and immediately asked Little Bean, "Hasn't my grandpa come back?"
Little Bean blinked, a grain of rice still clinging to the corner of her mouth. She looked back at herself and then at Little Dinggua, but didn't see Grandpa Ding anywhere: "He's not here."
Little Dinggua persisted: "He hasn't come back yet? Or didn't you see that Grandpa had actually returned?"
The little boy shook his head: "I've been guarding the door the whole time, I know who comes."
Xiao Dinggua didn't believe it, so she bypassed her and rushed home, searching the entire pharmacy, but sure enough, she couldn't find her grandfather.
Little Bean, holding her half-eaten rice bowl, tilted her head at Little Dinggua, who was wandering around the pharmacy, and said, "Grandpa Ding isn't here. Where did Grandpa Ding go?"
Then she turned to Zhou Yaren, who had caught up with her, and asked, "Who are you? Are you here to see Grandpa Ding for treatment?"
“No,” Zhou Yaren replied softly, “I came back with Xiao Dinggua.”
Xiao Dinggua stood with his back to the medicine cabinet, sniffing. His eyes were already slightly red, but he held back his tears and kept trying to think positively. His grandfather had only been gone for one night; he had probably gone to see a doctor at one of the surrounding villages and would probably be back soon.
But after waiting for less than fifteen minutes, he became restless and couldn't sit still any longer. He suddenly stood up and said, "No, I still have to go find Grandpa."
Zhou Yaren then stood up, holding her bamboo cane, and followed Xiao Dinggua out the door.
Xiao Dinggua ran a few steps and then suddenly stopped, turning back to Zhou Yaren and shouting, "You don't need to follow me. You can't see the road anyway. I'll find it myself."
Zhou Yaren had just opened her mouth when she said, "I need to find someone too..."
Little Dinggua had already turned and run away.
Zhou Yaren sighed helplessly, tapped her bamboo cane and followed. Because she was walking too fast, her chest felt tight and she couldn't catch her breath. Every now and then, Zhou Yaren would cover her mouth and cough.
They took the same road leading to the original village. Xiao Dinggua planned to ask around in a neighboring village, so he turned at a fork in the road.
Perhaps due to her poor health, Zhou Yaren began to break out in a cold sweat. While coughing, she suddenly caught a very faint scent of incense mixed in with the chilly air.
Little Dinggua saw a passerby ahead and grabbed him, asking, "Have you ever seen my grandfather?"
"Your grandfather?"
Zhou Yaren looked up following the cool voice and met Bai Yuan's gaze. Suddenly, an inappropriate image flashed through her mind, and she blushed instantly.
“Yes, my grandfather, a little old man about this tall!” Little Dinggua gestured with his hand above his head. “His cheeks were very thin, sunken in, he wore a blue cotton shirt, and there were two patches this big on the right sleeve elbow, and he had medicine hanging on his shoulder…”
Before he could finish saying the word "box," Xiao Dinggua noticed that the other person was carrying a dusty medicine box with a patch of sheet metal on the side. The sheet metal was worn shiny and smooth, just like the one his grandfather carried.
Little Dinggua suddenly rushed towards the medicine box and hugged it tightly: "This is my grandpa's, it's grandpa's."
Bai Yuan let go the moment he grabbed the medicine box.
Little Dinggua looked up and asked, "Where's my grandpa? How did his medicine box end up in your hands?"
Bai Yuan withdrew his gaze, looked directly at the child in front of him, and answered briefly, "I picked him up on the road."
"You found it...?" Little Dinggua suddenly became fierce, like a fighting rooster with its feathers standing on end, glaring and emphasizing, "Grandpa never leaves his medicine box when he goes out to treat the villagers, where did you find it?"
As he spoke, he opened the medicine box and rummaged through it. There were very few herbs left inside, and the box was damaged somewhere, with the lid not closing properly.
Xiao Dinggua panicked, and those bad worries could no longer be suppressed: the medicine box was broken and left on the way, could it be that Grandpa really had an accident?
Zhou Yaren cleared her mind of all unnecessary thoughts, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly walked towards Bai Yuan: "What happened?"
"I'm not sure. I found some messy footprints and bloodstains near the medicine box. They must have encountered something last night."
"There's still blood?"
"Not much, just a few drops, but the people and the carriage have disappeared without a trace."
The moment he heard the bloodstains, Xiao Dinggua started wiping away tears: "Could it be—that my grandpa has been robbed? Could he already be in danger?"
The two suddenly disappeared without a trace, and no one dared to easily determine what they had encountered. However, Bai Yuan lingered there for a long time, vaguely sensing something unusual, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it: "Did you smell anything?"
Zhou Yaren had already smelled it: "The smell of incense."
Bai Yuan asked, "Did some villagers come here to pay respects to their ancestors not long ago?"
Zhou Yaren chimed in, "Or perhaps there's a temple nearby?"
So he turned to ask the local boy, Dinggua, who was so engrossed in his grandfather’s encounter with the villain that he ignored him and was now sobbing sadly while hugging his medicine box.
Bai Yuan didn't have the patience to wait for him to cry: "Don't rush to cry before we find the person. Once we find them, you can cry or laugh as you please. Answer my questions right now and don't waste time here."
Little Dinggua was intimidated by her unapproachable expression and words. She opened her mouth, blinked a few times, and then stopped sobbing with teary eyes.
Zhou Yaren didn't have time to comfort the child. He gently repeated the question, and Xiao Dinggua was a little confused by it: "Temple? I don't think there is one."
"It either exists or it doesn't," Bai Yuan was not satisfied with this answer. "Where is the grave?"
Little Dinggua wiped the snot bubbles from his nose with the back of his hand and explained while holding back his sobs, "I usually stay in the pharmacy. Sometimes I go with Grandpa to other villages to treat patients, but I rarely come here because there are only a few households living here, so I don't know if there's a temple. But there are quite a few graves. This area is a bit remote, and it gets more and more desolate as you go further in, so people bury their deceased relatives here."
Since the extra child didn't know either, Bai Yuan stopped talking and started looking for the incense smoke.
Since someone had recently come here to offer incense, it's possible they saw the driver and Dr. Ding. Once we find the grave, we can determine whose relatives they are.
But what Bai Yuan and his companions found was not a temple or a grave, but a celestial table set up in the desolate wilderness. On the table was a red cloth, and on it was an incense burner with mottled rust. Inside the burner were three sticks of incense that had long since burned out, with only short, thin bamboo sticks less than two inches long remaining.
Strangely, the fruit plates and candlesticks on the altar were overturned, and dried dates and fruits were scattered haphazardly on the table and the floor, with some even being trampled flat.
Zhou Yaren picked up the wine pot that had tipped over on the corner of the table and smelled it. The pot was empty, and all the wine had spilled out, completely soaking the red cloth and dripping onto the ground, seeping into the yellow mud under the table.
Beside the damp mud, there was a trace of scorched earth, and under the withered branches, there was a clump of ashes that had not yet been completely blown away by the wind.
Bai Yuan glanced at the messy table and said, "There isn't even a solitary grave around. Who would set up a table here to worship?"
Zhou Yaren put down the wine pot, groped for two empty wine cups, and as he lowered his head, a wisp of fabric fluttering in the wind brushed against his shoulder. He paused, turned to the side, and felt for the somewhat rough fabric: "What is this?"
Bai Yuan casually replied, "Soul Banner."
"There are no graves nearby, yet someone has set up an altar and erected a spirit banner here?"
Just as Bai Yuan was about to respond, she caught a glimpse of a dark red postcard under a tree root in the distance. She walked over, picked it up, and flipped it open, immediately understanding what was going on.
“Here is a notice,” Bai Yuan slowly read aloud, “It reads: ‘Since you died young, without understanding the greater good, you rest alone in the secluded spring, where the wind and moon change with each passing day. But the living crave companionship, and the dead find loneliness unbearable. I did not know that a certain family had a daughter, and together with Shuangye, I arranged a marriage for her to meet the spirit. An auspicious day was chosen, the ceremony was completed, and a sacrifice was offered to the spirit…’”
Zhou Yaren frowned slightly after hearing half of it: "Is this a ghost marriage document?"
Little Dinggua, being young and inexperienced, exclaimed in surprise, "A ghost marriage?"
"Hmm." Bai Yuan then stopped reading. Red cloth was being stretched and red candles were being placed on the altar, as if a ghost marriage was being arranged for the dead.
Zhou Yaren asked, "Whose ghost marriage is this?"
Bai Yuan glanced at the handwriting; it contained names and surnames, written in exceptional detail: "Zhang, male, courtesy name Tiezhu, age fifteen, death in Jin. Huang, female, courtesy name Xiaoyun, age seventeen..."
Bai Yuan read this far, then stared at the very familiar name in the first line and murmured, "Zhang Tiezhu."
Zhou Yaren tilted her head: "What's wrong?"
Bai Yuan held the thin, slightly damp ghost marriage invitation in his hand, his fingertips stained with blood: "It just so happens that they are from the original village."
"You know this person?"
"The woman who stayed at our house last night just mentioned him."
The peasant woman said, "Several days ago, a thug wearing an iron mask came to our village and killed Old Zhang's son, Xiao Tiezhu."
Here's a brief explanation of Bai Yuan's case.
The sudden clash of the two events caused Zhou Yaren's emotions to fluctuate greatly, and she almost couldn't react.
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