Early the next morning, Hua Guangzong and Xun Xingshun left after breakfast. Except for Xun Liangfen, who stayed behind to take care of Guyu, the rest of the Xun family went to the fields.
Hua Xiangyun naturally didn't want to stand there staring at Xun Liangfen at home, so before Xun Liangfen could call her back, she followed Erni and the others and slipped away.
As soon as they arrived at the field, the elders, including Uncle Xun, took hoes and went to the back mountain to clear the wasteland, hoping to plant more crops in the spring.
“It’s cold outside, you’ll be warmer at home,” Erni said, carrying a hoe. Their task today was to clean the irrigation ditch, a dirty and tiring job that they had to do every year.
"I'll go with you to take a look. Didn't you say that you can catch loaches and eels when you're in the clear water canal?" Hua Xiangyun had finally managed to get out of there, so she definitely didn't want to go back.
“That’s true. Look, we all brought bamboo baskets. We can have extra food during the New Year.” Sanni smiled with great satisfaction. This time of year is what she looks forward to the most.
The group arrived at the irrigation canal section, where each household had been assigned responsibilities, and some families were already working enthusiastically at the canal.
The little baby kept letting out screams, so it seems he's made quite a few discoveries.
The canal had long been drained, and stepping into it meant getting your feet muddy.
The family members took off their shoes and socks, undeterred by the cold touch, and immediately began working as soon as they landed.
Hua Zhian rolled up his trousers and followed him down, not forgetting to tell Hua Xiangyun, "Little sister, you just help out up here. If I find any loaches, I'll throw them up and you can pick them up."
Seeing that the entire section of the irrigation canal had already been assigned by the Xun family, Hua Xiangyun realized that it wouldn't be appropriate for her to go anywhere. "Second brother, you know I'm afraid of those slippery things, so I'll stay on the side and help you pour water!"
Sanni pouted, "You should go back. You can't help here."
With so little work to do, why would anyone need to serve tea and water? City people are so fussy.
Hua Xiangyun ignored her and said to Hua Zhian, "Second Brother, I'm going to take a walk around here."
Hua Zhian stood up and looked around. He felt reassured seeing people working everywhere. "Then don't go too far. Just call out if anything happens."
Hua Xiangyun readily agreed and continued walking along the mountain path behind her.
Seeing her go up the mountain, Da Ni shook her head and went back to doing her own thing. Er Ni said in a low voice, "Big sister, is Xiangyun a little silly? In this weather, the mountain wind can crack your face."
Should we call them back, so they don't suffer later and we don't get blamed?
Sanni said, "They might not listen to you. Besides, they're all wrapped up tightly, with only their eyes showing. How could they possibly get cold?"
Let's get to work quickly. If we don't clear this ditch today, Grandma will be furious when we get back!"
“You forgot, Grandma is lying on the kang now,” Erni felt that her thoughts were somewhat unfilial, but she was also a little gloating. “No one told her, so she definitely doesn’t know whether we’ve finished or not. Besides, with Brother Zhian helping us, how could we not finish?”
Sanni also noticed that her brothers were all working very quickly, especially Hua Zhian, who was quite skilled and no less capable than his brothers. "After city people go to the countryside, they are just like us. Look at how much Zhian does."
Those educated youth in our village are spoiled; they insist that digging irrigation ditches will make them cold and refuse to do it no matter what, yet they always come here envious of our harvest.”
As Sanni spoke, she stood up and looked around, and indeed she noticed something. "Look, those people are strolling over again."
“Anyway, we’ll just ignore them,” Da Ni said, already holding an eel in her hand. “Looks like I’m lucky; I won first place.”
Everyone else was ecstatic. It seemed they had drawn a section of the canal that was full of meat this year. They were all going all out for a bite of meat, and no one cared about anything else.
Hua Xiangyun walked up the mountain path. On both sides of the path, terraced fields had long been opened up. In the past, these fields were used to grow sweet potatoes, corn and the like.
But now they've all been cleared out, and they can be planted as soon as spring arrives.
Just by looking at the manpower alone, one can imagine how much effort the people put in to achieve this scale.
Some of the workers saw her and guessed her identity from her clothes. Some even kindly reminded her, "The village chief's granddaughter. It's cold up here on the mountain. Go back quickly after you've finished looking around, or you'll catch a cold."
It's probably because the city kids are curious about the mountains and want to come up and see. They can understand that. You know, when those educated youth went to the countryside, they thought about hunting in the mountains, but they didn't know that the prey in the mountains was more cunning than people. How could they possibly catch them?
Hua Xiangyun would sometimes stop and chat with them for a few minutes, but most of the time she would walk in silence.
Standing on the back mountain, looking at this forest, it didn't seem very big, but once I actually started walking around, I realized what it meant to "look at the mountain but run to your death."
The sky was still overcast today. Hua Xiangyun and the others arrived in the no-man's land and began to circulate their spiritual energy to speed up their journey to the second mountain peak.
"Come out!" As soon as Hua Xiangyun entered the mountain, she sensed several yin energies.
"Little Miss, what brings you here?" Li Fugui didn't reveal his true form, but the obsequiousness in his tone was obvious.
"I've come to see you," Hua Xiangyun said casually, looking around at the mountain. It looked no different from other mountains, and there were no formations or arrays. So how did these souls end up here?
"Are you allowed to wander around freely?" Hua Xiangyun glanced around and saw four ghostly figures. "You all died in the same year, didn't you?"
“You can see that, little auntie,” Xu Fugui said, revealing a dark mist. “So it’s all fate that we’re here. It’s good that we can have each other as companions.”
However, we can only move around in this area of mountains; it's very difficult to get out again.
Hua Xiangyun: "Then you can still go out."
Xu Fugui said, “We had gone out together before, but as soon as we left this mountain forest, our souls could not be maintained, and they would recover as soon as we returned to this mountain.”
And on that Road to the Underworld, we've guarded many people, all of whom have passed away. We followed behind them, but they were able to step onto the Road to the Underworld, while we could never manage to.
When they came back last night, those few people—no, those few ghosts—talked all night.
This can't go on forever. Although they are very free now, they are not confident.
This young lady might be the only one who can help them find out the reason, and they are determined to find out no matter what.
Hua Xiangyun said, "I haven't noticed anything unusual on this mountain. You've been here for so long, haven't you noticed anything strange?"
Xu Fugui said, "What could be unusual about this? You've seen it yourself. There are so many mountains here. There are no more cemeteries further ahead. No one would go that far to bury someone."
It's strange, though. There used to be some old cemeteries here, but we never saw any of our ancestors there. Maybe they've all been reincarnated.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
