Chapter 11 The silence leading to the river village in the dead of night...
On the quiet mountain road leading to Hezhuang in the dead of night, Wei Yin walked behind, pressing the peace charm on her chest. Her face was filled with mixed emotions as she looked at Lu Hun, who was carrying a child ahead of her. She couldn't believe that she was walking in such a place with a ghost in the middle of the night. She didn't really want to go with him, but the little boy was in his hands, and Wei Yin couldn't just abandon the child. So she had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow behind him.
The riverbank we just visited is very close to Hezhuang; it's just a short walk along a mountain path.
At first, Wei Yin nervously looked around from time to time. Although the moonlight was shining, everything around her was still a dark blue expanse. She could also hear a few cries from some unknown creature. The strange things that Liu Mama had told her about the river village suddenly flooded her mind uncontrollably. The more she looked, the more her back tingled. Compared to these things, she suddenly felt that Lu Hun, who was no different from when he was alive, was not so scary. So she dared not look around anymore and followed Lu Hun step by step with her head down.
Lu Hun seemed to recognize the child's home. He led her to He Village and then headed straight for a house in the village.
It was a very ordinary farmer's courtyard, no different from any other farmhouse in Hezhuang, except that he was the only one who was still awake at this hour, with a small oil lamp, about the size of a bean sprout, still lit.
Wei Yin walked into the courtyard, but Lu Hun, who was standing in front of her, stopped. After glancing at the courtyard, he placed the little boy back on a clean patch of ground at his feet and then disappeared. Wei Yin could only hear his voice but could no longer see him.
"There is a distinction between Yin and Yang, and I should not have too much contact with strangers. Go and knock on the door."
Wei Yin stared blankly for a while.
I didn't dare say no.
She had no choice but to knock on the door. She knocked a few times, but there was no response. She thought the person inside had fallen asleep. Just as she was about to knock again, a loud crash came from inside, as if something had been knocked over. The fire in the room suddenly went out. It turned out that the candlestick had fallen over. But after a short while, the oil lamp was quickly relit.
Then, a slightly nervous voice, sounding like that of a middle-aged man, came from behind the door and asked tremblingly.
"Who...who is it?"
Wei Yin sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off. She turned to look at the child on the ground and replied softly, "I am from the He family. I just rescued a boy of about seven or eight years old from the river. Is he your child?"
The middle-aged man inside seemed to pause for a moment.
Then, they slowly opened the door a little from the inside.
The middle-aged farmer standing behind the door had a messy, stubble-covered face, a haggard and weathered dark brown complexion, and a thick black ring under his eyes that looked like he had been punched in the eye, as if he hadn't slept in a long time. Because he had come out in such a hurry, he was still holding a pipe of tobacco in his hand, which he couldn't put down.
The person in front of him was none other than the peasant who had returned late from gathering firewood that Wei Yin had seen at the river village on the day he returned to Huangzhou.
Lu Hun appeared beside him that day, but he couldn't see her; she, however, did.
The farmer was stunned to see a very young woman standing alone in front of his house. He glanced at the clear figure behind her before letting out a sigh of relief and cautiously asking, "Madam, you must be mistaken. I do have a young son this big, but he's sleeping in the inner room right now. How did he end up in the river..."
Wei Yin pointed to the ground: "Take a look first, see if the child ran out while playing."
The farmer hesitated for a moment, then went over and picked up the little boy to take a look. When he saw the boy's face, he was completely astonished.
“This is definitely not my son, Ah Hu…it’s my younger brother’s son, Ah Fu.”
Wei Yin was also stunned.
The farmer didn't have time to say much and quickly carried the child into the house.
Perhaps the noise was too loud, because the children sleeping in the inner room were woken up. A child about the same age as Afu rubbed his eyes and ran out of the inner room, still half asleep. When he saw his father carrying Afu in, he stared in surprise.
"Father, what's Brother Fu doing here?"
When the farmer saw his youngest son, Ah Hu, come out, his expression changed in a complicated way. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Go back and sleep with your older brothers and sisters. Don't come out!"
Ah Hu glanced at his father's solemn face, then at the young lady who had entered, frowned in confusion, and retreated into the inner room.
After his youngest son left, the farmer placed his nephew, Afu, on the wooden bed in the outer room, which was probably where the farmer usually slept.
The farmer touched the child named Afu all over.
Seeing the farmer's anxious expression, Wei Yin said, "The child is fine. He just soaked in the river for a while and has now fallen into a deep sleep."
The farmer looked up at Wei Yin and asked, "Madam, what exactly happened? Isn't Afu at home? How did he end up in the river...?"
Wei Yin said carefully, "I bumped into this child on Lantern Street. He had dropped the lantern he was holding. I chased after him and saw him strangely walking into the river in Hezhuang. He almost drowned himself."
Upon hearing this, the farmer's brows, which had relaxed, furrowed again, his face grew increasingly solemn, and his chapped lips trembled violently. He lowered his head and muttered to himself in a low voice.
"It's her, it's her who's back... It must be that child who's back..."
Wei Yin asked, "Is the old man talking about Azhu, the eldest daughter you married off to the River God?"
"How did you know Ah Zhu, Madam?"
The farmer suddenly turned his trembling eyes toward Wei Yin, his face visibly turning pale, as if he were thinking of something terrible.
But soon, the farmer picked up his pipe and took two deep drags. After calming himself down, he deliberately changed the subject, saying, "Thank you, madam, for saving my nephew. Please wait a moment while I go to the end of the village to call Afu's parents over."
As soon as the farmer stepped out, Wei Yin saw Lu Hun's figure instantly appear by the door. He leaned against it quietly without saying a word, as if he had been standing there listening to them talk the whole time. His face was lowered, making it impossible to see his expression.
Lu Hun glanced at the departing farmer, then turned back and said, "This farmer's surname is Hu, and his name is Hu Datian. His wife passed away early, leaving behind four children: two daughters and two sons. The eldest child is named Azhu, who is only fourteen years old this year. The second child is a boy named Alang, who is a twin brother and sister with the third child, Ayu, and they are both only twelve years old. The youngest son is Ahu, who will turn eight this December. Hu Datian has raised all four children by himself. Hu Datian also has a younger brother named Hu Dali, who is the eldest brother. Hu Datian has always been very good to his younger brother. After tending to his own crops, he would help Hu Dali with his work, and sometimes he would even give him money to help him out. To earn more money, Hu Datian often goes up the mountain to hunt and gather firewood, or repairs farm tools for others to earn a penny or two..."
“A-Zhu was extremely filial. After she grew a little older, she helped Hu Datian take care of her younger siblings, manage the household chores, and prepare two meals a day. This year, due to the severe drought, making a living was difficult. Hu Datian had no other choice but to give A-Zhu away…”
He spoke these words while looking down, his voice calm.
Wei Yin was stunned when she heard his words.
The image of the female ghost, still looking like a child, sitting in the corner with her knees drawn up to her chest in front of the stone house flashed through my mind.
She was about to speak when the child on the bed suddenly began to sob and cry with his eyes closed.
Wei Yin was so startled by the sudden crying that she forgot to say anything.
The child was probably having a nightmare; the more he cried, the more his little body started to convulse. Wei Yin saw that he was almost unable to breathe from crying, and thinking of how women comforted their children, she had no choice but to try to pat him.
Whether it was because she used too much force or something else was wrong, the more she tried to coax the other person, the more trembled she became, and the more wildly she waved her little hands, almost messing up her hair.
She had never given birth and usually disliked children. She remembered that when she first married He Wenqing, they lived in Huangzhou. Occasionally, some relatives would bring their children to stay at the mansion, and she would secretly hide away. However, she was very popular with children, and whenever this happened, Wei Yin would try to find a way to leave them to He Wenqing to coax.
Wei Yin was so flustered by the coaxing that she turned her gaze to the only ghost beside her, even though this ghost was actually younger than her.
Lu Hun finally looked up because of her stare.
A moment later, he had no choice but to get up and walk over.
Wei Yin immediately stepped aside, and Lu Hun sat down by the bed, gently raising his hand to pat Afu's chest.
"You need to be gentle, don't use too much force..."
Under his gentle caresses, Afu miraculously calmed down and even comfortably rolled over in his hands, resting his face against Lu Hun.
Fortunately, it is summer, and although the child was in the river, he is healthy and did not have a fever.
However, Lu Hun paused, then suddenly raised his head.
"They're back."
Just as she finished speaking, Wei Yin heard hurried footsteps in the courtyard. Hu Datian led in a stout rural couple, a man and a woman, who must have been Hu Datian's second brother, Hu Dali, and his wife.
The couple paid no attention to Wei Yin and went straight to their son on the wooden bed as soon as they entered the house.
"Afu!"
Lu Hun had already hidden himself away when the couple entered the house. Hu Dali and his wife Liu Shi were completely unaware. Liu Shi even snatched Afu from Hu Dali's hands and hugged him tightly, saying, "My son, I've been looking for you for ages! You scared me to death!"
Hu Dali patted her shoulder in a good mood: "I knew our Afu was a lucky kid, he'll be alright."
"Nothing happened?!" Liu's face changed in an instant. One second her face was covered in snot and tears, and the next she spat a mouthful of rude spittle on Hu Dali's face: "You dead man, I told you to take our son to see the lanterns, but you were busy flirting with some sluts and lost him. You still have the nerve to say that? Let me tell you, if anything really happens to my son, I'll cut off your dog thing and make you eat it yourself!"
A note from the author:
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