90 Red eyes
◎It's Sister Mu! ◎
Uncle Zhao's family was just an ordinary farming household, and they didn't have any extra guest rooms for Du Zhijin, so they arranged for her to share a room with Zhao's daughter, Xiao Cui. Zhao Xiao Cui was already married, and her husband, who had married into the family, was Zhou Shitou, who had gone to the city with Ying Jianhua. At this moment, in order to make room for her, she could only spend the night in the woodshed.
Du Zhijin felt very bad about this and offered to pay for the room, but Zhou Shitou said, "I was bitten by a poisonous snake before. If it weren't for Doctor Ying's help, I would have died long ago. You are Doctor Ying's friend, so it is only right that we take care of you now that he is gone."
She froze on the spot after hearing this. Seeing this, Zhao Xiaocui quickly urged Zhou Shitou to leave, saying, "Oh dear, you should leave now! Why bring up something you shouldn't have said?"
After sending the person away, she said apologetically, "Miss Mu, please don't take it to heart. Just stay here and relax, it's alright. Tell me what you want to eat or where you want to go, make yourself at home, okay?"
Du Zhijin nodded and silently helped Zhao Xiaocui make the bed. The bed originally had a straw mattress and a large square pillow, a common type in rural areas. But after her arrival, the Zhao family brought out their best bedding to entertain her; judging by its bright red color, it was probably part of Zhao Xiaocui's dowry when she got married.
The quilt was a bit old, but well-maintained, showing that the owner cherished it. She ran her fingers over the rough yet fine stitches on the quilt and thought that the Zhao family was willing to treat her with the best things, not because she was anyone special.
Rather, it was because she was Ying Jianhua's friend.
In this small mountain village, Dr. Ying was the only doctor, and a younger generation whom many villagers had watched grow up, or a childhood friend. After his "death," she inherited the villagers' care and kindness towards him.
Kindness is reciprocal. The villagers of Wuling Village treated Amo this way, so how could Amo treat them any differently? Therefore, she couldn't let the monster succeed.
She saw it clearly then; Xingyue hadn't missed, it had definitely pierced the eye socket. As for why Niu Shoutian only suffered a scratch, she guessed it was related to the monster's magic.
She asked, "Little Cui, how long has Uncle Niu been sick?"
"Just call me Xiao Cui." Zhao Xiao Cui turned over and said, "I don't know how long Uncle Niu has been sick... probably about ten days."
Ten days or so? If it were half a month, that would coincide with the time Lu Ping left. In other words, Niu Shoutian contracted the disease after Honghua spread the news.
That eerie crimson color was definitely not caused by conjunctivitis.
Du Zhijin: "By the way, Xiao Cui, is Honghua's family still around? They're the ones living next to Doctor Ying."
In her memory, the Huang family, young and old alike, were always eager to join in the fun. For example, when she was mistaken for a thief by Ying Jianhua, Uncle Huang limped ahead of her. But tonight, after causing such a commotion, she hadn't seen any members of the Huang family, which was highly suspicious.
Did Honghua move away with her parents after realizing something was wrong?
Upon hearing this question, Zhao Xiaocui's smile froze. Even without candlelight, Du Zhijin still caught the fleeting look of unease on her face.
After a moment, she sighed, "Alas, I know you and Honghua are close, and I won't hide it from you. Actually, Uncle Niu wasn't the first person in the village to get conjunctivitis; Honghua was. Everyone else was infected by her. Strangely enough, the others who got sick gradually recovered, but Honghua just couldn't get better. So her mother locked up the yard and kept her inside to recuperate."
"What!" she exclaimed in astonishment, pressing for an answer. "What exactly happened?"
Zhao Xiaocui comforted her: "Don't worry, I'll tell you slowly. Here's what happened. During the Zilan Bathing Festival, her family went to the city to play. But there were too many people, and some bastard got sick and kept going around. The child was weak and caught it easily. At first, her eyes were red and swollen and she couldn't see clearly. Later, she couldn't hear and her throat hurt. She then developed a high fever and fell ill."
"It's just bad luck. All the doctors in the city went to jail because of Prince Chengduan's affair. After they got out, some of them fled to other prefectures for refuge. The remaining few charge exorbitant fees, which are unaffordable for ordinary people like us. We had no choice but to try to raise money while we were still struggling. Who would have thought that before Honghua recovered, the children she played with also fell ill. Aunt Huang is a kind person and believes that the illness was caused by her children. She insists on paying compensation and can't be persuaded no matter what. With more than a dozen children, each child would cost one string of cash, which wiped out our family's savings. Unable to raise money for treatment, Honghua has had to stay at home."
Mentioning Honghua's current situation, Zhao Xiaocui sighed deeply, feeling very sorry for her: "Alas, poor child. Miss Mu, you must not go near the Huang family these days, be careful not to get infected. With Doctor Ying not here, none of us dare to get sick."
After saying that, she was annoyed with herself for speaking out of turn and shut her mouth in embarrassment.
Du Zhijin didn't open his eyes until everyone was fast asleep.
She held her breath, tiptoed around Zhao Xiaocui, and landed without making a sound.
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw the big yellow dog about to bark, but she reacted quickly and knocked it unconscious with a chop to the neck.
As the night deepened and all was quiet, the fog enveloping the village grew even thicker, as thick as a heavy autumn coat, blurring the roof tiles and the old trees along the courtyard walls into indistinct black shadows, even swallowing up the moonlight.
The shadow of the old locust tree at the village entrance swayed in the mist. Even though there was no wind, the shadow cast on the ground seemed to come alive, its branches slowly elongating and silently climbing up the door panel. The talisman paper pasted on the door panel had curled edges, and the cinnabar-painted patterns looked strangely bluish-black in the mist, as if it had been gnawed by something.
As she walked toward the Huang family's house, she began to recall whether it was just as foggy when she was there.
They arrived at the Huang family's residence quickly, but the first thing they saw was a pile of ruins next to it.
Just a few months ago, she was recuperating there, eating rice porridge with Ying Jianhua. Now, however, a fire has burned everything to the ground, leaving nothing but dust.
Du Zhijin stood there gazing for a long time, lost in thought.
This was the first time she had experienced the changes of time and circumstances, so even though she knew in her heart that Ying Jianhua was still alive and well, she still felt a pang of melancholy.
She experienced many partings. First, she went down the mountain to hear the news of her master's death. Later, her master ascended to heaven. The two most important people in her life left her one after another.
What if Amo also leaves before her?
The thought had barely crossed my mind when it was immediately suppressed.
No. They made a wish to heaven that they would never leave each other and would stay together until their hair turned white.
Shaking his head to clear his mind of these random thoughts, Du Zhijin leaped up and landed lightly on the roof.
The Huang family's house had a tiled roof, and she could easily lift a tile to see inside. But there were no lights on inside, and even with her excellent eyesight, she could only vaguely make out the outlines of two people embracing each other.
Honghua and her daughter slept on the couch, while Uncle Huang slept on the floor.
She spared a small wisp of her divine sense to look down and confirmed that although the three people had demonic energy, they were still conscious. She breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Fortunately, this means that the safflower resisted the demon's contamination.
According to Zhao Xiaocui, Honghua was the first to contract conjunctivitis and also the only one who did not recover on her own. Both of these instances of "the first" are strange; there were so many children out on the street together, why was it specifically Honghua?
There's only one reason. That demon sees the red flower as its greatest enemy and must eliminate it to prevent future troubles.
She had previously said that Honghua had the potential for cultivation, and that with a little guidance, the child could comprehend it on her own. However, Du Zhijin did not expect that it was precisely this potential that made her a thorn in the side of the demons.
The so-called "incurable disease" is probably the consequence of the monster's deadly attack.
Guilt washed over him like a tide, slowly creeping into his heart. Du Zhijin lowered his head, gently blew a breath, and a faint golden light fell on Honghua's forehead, disappearing in an instant.
Watching the little girl's brows and eyes gradually relax, she smiled silently.
Sleep well.
Not wanting to disturb this rare peaceful dream, she used the cinnabar she carried with her to write a line on the table, hoping that Honghua would see it when she woke up and come to find her.
Unexpectedly, this word dealt a huge blow to Honghua's parents.
"Oh no! Oh no! Mother of my child, come quick!"
The next day at cockcrow, Uncle Huang rubbed his eyes and got up from his makeshift bed on the floor. He immediately saw the bloody writing on the table and was terrified.
Waking up to find three terrifying blood-red characters less than three feet away would terrify anyone.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Huang and Honghua also woke up and quickly got out of bed to check. The three of them sat around the table, and Honghua was the first to ask, "Did someone come in last night?"
Uncle Huang shook his head vigorously: "How could that be! I was sleeping right by the door, I didn't hear a thing!"
"Then what is this..." Aunt Huang panicked instantly. The family members recalled the strange things that had happened recently, and their eyes gradually warmed.
Is there no escaping it after all?
Uncle Huang asked his daughter in a trembling voice, "Girl, what...what's written on this?"
The couple were illiterate; only their daughter had learned a little from Ying Jianhua.
Honghua wiped her reddened eyes and uttered, "...See you at the grave."
"The grave?!" Upon hearing this, Aunt Huang's vision blurred, and she staggered, nearly falling. Supported by Uncle Huang, she clutched her chest to prevent herself from fainting, while tightly holding Honghua's hand, panicking and helpless: "No, you can't go! We're not going anywhere, we'll stay in the house!"
This is the daughter she raised with great difficulty; she will risk her life to prevent the monster from succeeding!
Unlike her anxious and fearful parents, Honghua sensed something was amiss.
This word looks so familiar... And when I woke up today, my head didn't hurt anymore; instead, I felt completely clear-headed. You see, ever since she got conjunctivitis, she's rarely had the chance to sleep through the night.
Furthermore, which grave is it? There are many people buried on the mountains around the village.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. She leaned on the table and looked around, finally finding a faint white wisp at the foot of the table.
Swords belong to the metal element, and in the Five Elements theory, metal corresponds to white. Therefore, what came last night was not a monster, but Sister Wood!
That shady constable really did bring Sister Mu to her!
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