Chapter 21: Xie Hong's Burial Sparks Another Trouble
This is the first time such a rare thing has happened in Gouhe Village. The wedding and the funeral were held in just half a month, which is simply unheard of.
They have a custom here that the younger the deceased, the sooner they should be buried. For those who are seventy or eighty years old, it's considered a happy funeral, and they can be buried for two or three days without any problem. During this time, they will hold a big banquet and invite villagers to share in the so-called joy.
Xie Hong was only twenty-five years old. People generally believed that he died young and had a lot of resentment. They did not want to be associated with bad luck, so he had to be buried as soon as possible.
The coffin was originally prepared for the old lady herself. A decent coffin would take several days to make, even with a skilled craftsman. Xie Hong died suddenly, and there was no time to prepare such a coffin. She couldn't borrow one either, so she had to reluctantly give the coffin in her own house to Xie Hong.
The burial process was going smoothly until something went wrong the next morning.
When the master craftsman was closing the coffin lid, his hand slipped, the lid tilted, and the whole thing fell to the ground.
The old lady was shocked and said that Xie Hong died with his eyes open and was unwilling to be buried.
As for why she died with her eyes wide open, the old lady pointed the finger at Zhu Mingyue again: "It's a pity that my Hong'er was killed by him right after getting married. Since we can't be husband and wife in the mortal world, let him go down to be buried with Hong'er. I suppose Hong'er can leave in peace with someone to accompany him on his journey to the underworld."
Zhu Mingyue: !!!
The old man is determined to hold him accountable, isn't he? If Xie Hong dies with his eyes open, he'll drag him down with him. If he dies with his eyes open, who will he drag down with him? Will he seek revenge on her?
The old woman waved her hand and ordered, "Da Shuan, Er Shuan, go and tie him up, quickly!"
As soon as he finished speaking,
With a click, the coffin lid was closed, this time sealing it tightly. Xie Hong's two uncles looked at each other, both seeing embarrassment on each other's faces.
So, should we arrest this newlywed niece-in-law or not?
Arrest her, of course you should arrest her. The old lady has long disliked Zhu Mingyue. Now that her grandson is gone, having a male daughter-in-law in the Xie family would be an eyesore.
As for letting Zhu Mingyue go, the old lady never even considered it. The person she bought with four bushels of rice couldn't be wasted. If he was useless in life, she would send him to be buried with her, at least squeezing out the last bit of value from him.
Zhu Mingyue gritted her teeth, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the axe tucked behind Xie Pei's waist.
He made up his mind that if the other party made a move, he would take advantage of Xie Pei's inattention to snatch the axe and chop wildly, fighting to the death with the other party.
At the crucial moment, Xie Pei spoke up.
“This is the Xie family’s territory; you have overstepped your bounds.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Mingyue glanced at him gratefully, disregarding the fact that he had taken lives on his hands, and moved behind him as if grasping at a lifeline.
The old lady exploded: "I am Xie Hong's maternal grandmother. It is none of your business to interfere in my arrangements for Xie Hong's funeral."
An outsider? The implication was simply that he was being called a bastard and had no blood relation to Xie Hong.
"Fool! What are you standing there for?" The old lady frowned and ordered, "Stuff this bitch in a cage and drown her. Hong'er can't wait any longer."
That damned old woman! Who on earth couldn't wait? If you don't like him and want him dead, just say so. Xie Hong is already dead, yet she's being dragged out as a pretext.
Zhu Mingyue was so angry at the old lady's arrogant face that she could only glare at her from behind Xie Pei.
Xie Hong's two uncles always listened to their mother, and after a moment's hesitation, they finally set off.
Zhu Mingyue swiftly pulled out Xie Pei's axe, gripped it tightly with both hands, and held it upright in front of her: "Anyone who dares to touch me, I'll kill them. Try me if you don't believe me!"
Xie Pei raised an eyebrow. This sister-in-law, who was usually so soft-tempered that she would cry at the slightest provocation, had actually shown some backbone for once.
Uncle Xie Hong dared not make any rash moves, for fear of hurting himself.
The old woman was afraid of dying, and the first thing she did when she saw the axe was to hide behind the door.
"This is outrageous! Xie Pei, take his axe away!" The old lady herself didn't dare to go near, but kept urging others to do the same.
Xie Pei had no good feelings towards this family; in fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were practically enemies. So why would he listen to her?
With a cold face, he snatched the axe from Zhu Mingyue's hand and threw it away forcefully.
The axe flew past Xie Hong's second uncle's face and flew backward, finally embedding itself straight into the wooden door, the handle trembling slightly.
The old lady screamed, pulled her hand away from the door, and broke out in a cold sweat from fright.
Xie Pei: "I won't interfere with Xie Hong's affairs, but if you try to reach into places you shouldn't, don't blame me for turning my back on you."
The old lady's tone was clearly less forceful than before, but she still couldn't help but argue: "I won't interfere in the Xie family's other affairs, but he is Xie Hong's male wife, so why can't I interfere?"
“He is now a member of the Xie family. As a member of the Xie family, his life and death are not for your Xu family to decide.”
After Xie Pei finished speaking, he remained silent, but stood in front of Zhu Mingyue as if he would protect him to the end.
"Yes, yes, very good!"
"Hong'er has just passed away, and you're already putting on airs like the head of the Xie family. You must have been hoping for his demise all along!" The old lady stared at Xie Pei, but pointed at Zhu Mingyue: "If you protect this jinx like this, be careful he doesn't just bring misfortune to Hong'er, he might turn around and kill you too."
Xie Pei didn't care at all; he had never believed in such things.
"That's a matter for the Xie family. From now on, you will have no living relatives here."
What else could the old lady say after all that?
She knew she was in the wrong this time. If she really bypassed Xie Pei and dealt with Zhu Mingyue today, it would be her former family interfering in the affairs of the main family. If word got out, it would not only damage her reputation, but it would also make it difficult for the girls in the family to find husbands in the future.
The old lady finally gave in, snorted coldly, and then ordered, "Start carrying the coffin."
After Xie Hong was buried, the old lady led her large family away from Gou Tou Village in a sorry state. Before leaving, she took the only bag of rice and cured meat that the Xie family had left, saying that the Xie family owed them.
No sooner had they left than news of Xie Hong's death spread throughout the entire village.
On the ridges of the fields in Goutou Village,
Men, women, and children gathered in twos and threes, chatting quietly.
"Have you heard? Xie Hong is gone! He's really gone!"
"Who doesn't know that the Xu family arrived yesterday and the burial took place early this morning?"
“I saw it. The coffin bearers passed by the road in front of my house, and my child saw them. Ugh! What bad luck.”
"You've got it all figured out. What am I supposed to do when I'm only a few meters away from the Xie family?"
"Wouldn't that mean we'd be seeing that jinx every day from now on?"
"I don't know what Xie Hong was thinking, marrying a jinx. It's bad enough that he got himself killed, but now he's really ruined our village. What are we going to do?"
"Just put up with it! Are you suggesting we let the village chief kick us out of the village?"
"Hey! You've finally hit the nail on the head! Let's go find the village chief and drive the jinx out of here."
"Yes! Keeping him around is bad for our village, he should be driven out!"
"Let's go find the village chief."
A group of people marched to the village chief's house in a grand procession. The sight of them startled the village chief's daughter-in-law, who thought her troublemaking husband had gotten into trouble again and someone had come knocking on their door!
The crowd gathered around the village chief, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, and each person shared their thoughts.
The village chief fell into deep thought after hearing this.
Xie Hong's male wife is a jinx, and he knows that.
But since he came to the village, he has never caused any trouble, and he doesn't even have a reason to kick him out.
If he simply drove the person out of the village, and the person then filed a complaint against him at the county government, he, as the village chief, would have a bad reputation with the county magistrate.
His youngest son works as a clerk in the county government, and he can't let him get into trouble.
The village chief has his own selfish motives and would certainly not say this to these villagers face to face.
But the villagers were in a fit of anger at that moment, and they blocked his doorway, demanding an answer from the village chief.
After much deliberation, the village chief decided to send the villagers away first. As for Zhu Mingyue, he would definitely find a reasonable excuse to drive her away.
Little did he know that his actions only fueled the villagers' anger, causing it to burn even brighter, and the "fire" quickly spread throughout the entire village.
You, the village chief, have disregarded the lives of the entire village just to keep a jinx!
At this moment, Wang Dezi stood up from the crowd and said angrily, "If someone is unwilling to be the bad guy, we have to do it even if it's for the lives of our families. Not only do we have to do it, but we have to do it thoroughly! Simply driving people away is not enough."
Wang Dezi may seem unremarkable, but his family background is quite impressive. His father was a well-known fortune teller in the surrounding area, and his ancestors three generations back were even more remarkable, including a Taoist priest from Qingyun Temple.
Later, Qingyun Temple declined, and so did Wang Dezi's family, but their descendants were still highly respected because of their ancestral skills.
Seeing that he had spoken, everyone believed him even more.
Someone asked, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
"Chase that person far away?"
Wang Dezi adopted a mysterious air and stroked his sparse beard: "Not so!"
He then slowly explained, "As you have all seen, Xie Hong was killed in less than half a month, which shows how powerful the calamity star is. In fact, we have already been affected by it."
These words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating a thousand ripples.
Someone immediately burst into tears: "I knew it! My son has been getting hurt and bruised every time he comes back from playing outside lately. Now I know why."
Wang Dezi nodded: "Right now it's just minor bumps and bruises. If the calamity isn't eliminated, it won't be so easy."
“Yes, Dezi is right! When that jinx first arrived in the village, my husband only coughed occasionally, but now the situation is getting worse.”
"What should I do? I don't want to die!"
"Please don't be anxious, everyone," Wang Dezi said, trying to calm the atmosphere. "I have a way to deal with this."
"However, this method is mentally taxing, I'm afraid..."
"Just do your work, I'll pay for it. As long as you can save your life, money is a small matter."
Someone in the crowd responded loudly.
Following closely behind, many others echoed this sentiment, offering to contribute money.
“We’re all from the same village, so I would never cheat you. One hundred coins per family, and I’ll make sure you have no worries.”
...
Wang Dezi was overjoyed, receiving so much money that his hands were sore from collecting it.
He had said long ago that his honest and upright father, who carried a banner around telling fortunes, could only gain some fame but not much money.
He's clever; with just a few words, he can easily fool a bunch of fools into giving him money.
But he wasn't the kind of person who acted recklessly; once he took the money, he naturally had to give an explanation.
His so-called method was to burn down the Xie family's house. Fire can drive away evil spirits and disasters, and it can burn everything, whether it's a person or a ghost, to the ground.
In addition, Zhu Mingyue, as the source of evil, should be trapped on a fire stand, surrounded by piles of firewood, burning from the beginning of the morning until noon. Regardless of whether the person is still alive in the end, the power of the disaster will no longer exist.
Having paid the money, the crowd naturally believed it without a doubt and immediately surrounded the Xie family.
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