Chapter 3

Home was the last harbor in a person's heart. No matter what happened outside, returning home could bring comfort and shelter to the soul.

But now,

She had entered the house!

Unable to wake Cui Guiying no matter how he called, Li Zhuiyuan could only run into the inner room, where his brothers and sisters slept on the floor bedding.

"Panzi Ge, wake up!"

"Leizi Ge, wake up!"

"Yingzi Jie, wake up!"

Li Zhuiyuan ran between one brother and sister after another, constantly shoving and calling each of them, but like Cui Guiying in the kitchen, none of them could be awakened.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and looked toward the door between the inner room and the kitchen. Little Yellow Oriole's figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Whew..."

He breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment, he noticed a puddle forming beneath his feet. It grew larger and larger, overflowing along the uneven floor.

"Drip... drip... drip..."

Water droplets kept falling onto him, soaking his clothes and bringing a sticky, cold, slimy sensation.

A pair of hands appeared on either side of his vision.

Finally,

Those icy hands gripped his neck.

Li Zhuiyuan's body trembled as an intense feeling of suffocation washed over him.

But the suffocating sensation soon gradually faded, because those hands did not remain at his neck for long. They slowly slid downward.

A shadow appeared overhead. Li Zhuiyuan raised his head with some difficulty.

The person above him slowly lowered her head as well. Wet strands of long hair kept falling, sticking to the boy's face, like a black maw gradually covering his head,

Until...

It swallowed him.

"Hanhou, slow down, slow down! The seat's digging into my ass—hiss... it hurts!"

Li Sanjiang had one arm around Li Weihan's waist while his other hand clutched his own buttock, trying his best to raise himself a little.

"Uncle, stop moving! You'll fall if you keep moving!"

"Pah! You're riding so fast, how can I not move?"

After picking Li Sanjiang up from someone's funeral banquet, Li Weihan had pedaled nonstop toward home.

The narrow path through the fields was full of potholes. It was indeed hard on the passenger, and Li Sanjiang was old now. He truly could not take this kind of jolting.

Helpless, Li Weihan saw that home was close, but the shortcut path ahead was becoming increasingly difficult to travel, so he had no choice but to slow down.

"Ow..." Li Sanjiang finally breathed easier. He touched the Cigarette Pack in his pocket and said, "Hanhou, let's stop and have a smoke."

"We're almost home, Uncle. Smoke when we get there."

"Hey, what are you in such a rush for? Didn't you already call Blind Liu to take a look? I reckon your Little Yuanhou is already home, running around and eating just fine."

"Is Blind Liu really that capable?"

Li Weihan did not put much faith in Liu Jinxia's abilities. He had seen Mother and Daughter at their most desperate. If they really possessed the ability to commune with yin and yang, how could they have ended up in such misery?

Compared to her, he trusted Li Sanjiang more. After all, the man specialized in scooping up Death Collapse, and as far as he remembered, his life had always been quite comfortable.

"How should I put it? Blind Liu was a money-grubbing fraud in her early years. Later, she figured out a few tricks of her own. Isn't there an old saying? A rope always breaks at its thinnest point. Wherever she went, things always broke on her first. After breaking enough times, she gained experience."

"What does that mean, Uncle? I don't understand."

"Forget it if you don't understand. The worst that could happen to your Little Yuanhou is getting haunted. Blind Liu really can handle that sort of thing, considering the friendship between your families."

"I'm just worried about the Child. I'd rather the Haunting cling to me instead."

"You really are partial, Hanhou. You used to favor your youngest daughter, and now you favor your grandson. But that makes sense. Your youngest daughter was promising too. This Erbagang was bought for you by your youngest daughter years ago, wasn't it?

"But getting haunted isn't necessarily all that painful. Maybe it even feels good. Like someone who hangs themselves—before the noose closes around their neck, everything they see through that loop is something they're utterly fascinated by."

"Uncle, you're making it sound like a good thing."

"It's not a good thing, of course. Just think of it as the Child getting a touch of graveyard sickness. What village doesn't have a few naughty, unlucky brats like that every year? It's nothing more than a brief illness."

"By the way, Uncle, what are you planning to do about that Death Collapse?"

"Do about it?" Li Sanjiang's mood suddenly changed, his tone turning stern. "Do I look like I'm living too comfortably and rushing to deal with a Death Collapse that can walk in water?"

Li Weihan's heart tightened at that, and he pedaled faster again.

"Hey, hey, hey! Slow down, slow down! Hanhou, what the hell are you doing now? No matter how fierce that Death Collapse is, you escaped, so there shouldn't be any problem. Could she possibly follow you all the way home?"

"We're here!"

The Erbagang rolled onto the yard, and Li Weihan immediately got down to steady the bicycle.

Li Sanjiang jumped off the rear seat and kept rubbing his butt.

Li Weihan called out, "Guiying, Guiying!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Keep it down, don't shout. The children are all asleep." Cui Guiying came out and first stepped forward to greet Li Sanjiang. "Uncle, you're here."

"Yep, I'm here." Li Sanjiang did not waste words, merely flicking his sleeve toward the inside. "Come on, let's see the Child first."

When they reached the door board, Li Sanjiang crouched down to examine Li Zhuiyuan's condition.

"Should I wake him up?" Cui Guiying asked.

"No need. The child is fine now, no Haunting left. Blind Liu came by?"

"She did." Cui Guiying explained what had happened that afternoon.

Li Sanjiang nodded after listening. "That's because you were kind and generous in the past, Guiying, and let Hanhou support and help Mother and Daughter. That's why this happened today. The virtue you accumulated has blessed your descendants."

"Listen to you, Uncle. It wasn't anything much."

"It was a great deal. If it had been anyone else back then, do you think Blind Liu would have been willing to help?

"It's only because she owes you a debt of gratitude that, no matter how unwilling she is, she has to swallow it. She's probably feeling terribly wronged and regretful right now, crying at home about how miserable her life is."

"Uncle, sit." Li Weihan placed a Small Stool under Li Sanjiang's butt, then took out cigarettes and lit one for him. He turned to his wife. "Guiying, bring out some food to fill our stomachs."

As he spoke, he glanced at the locked cabinet.

Cui Guiying unlocked it with a key and took out egg cakes, biscuits, and the like, laying them before the two men. She said apologetically to Li Sanjiang, "Uncle, I'll buy some meat tomorrow, then invite you over for a proper drink."

"Ah, why fuss with all this? Put it away. How can I steal the children's food?"

Li Weihan pried open a biscuit tin, took out a biscuit, and handed it to Li Sanjiang. Then he picked up the metal box and looked at it, saying, "Guiying, once the biscuits are gone, remember to keep the tin. It'll be good for storing needles, thread, and buttons."

"I know."

Li Sanjiang swallowed the biscuit in a few bites. When Li Weihan offered him another, he pushed it away and patted his trouser leg. "All right, the Child's fine. I'm heading home."

"I'll ride you back, Uncle."

"No, no. I'm not riding anymore."

"Then I won't ride. I'll walk you back. Guiying, bring the flashlight."

Just then, Li Zhuiyuan, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly convulsed. His breathing grew heavy, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

Li Sanjiang immediately sat back down and checked on the child.

Li Weihan anxiously asked, "Uncle, the Child is..."

"It's nothing. He's probably having a nightmare. That's normal. At first, when someone gets haunted, they think that filthy thing is beautiful, that it's enchanting. Only when they come to their senses later do they realize they should be afraid. It's no big deal. The Child will forget all about it after a few days."

Li Weihan and Cui Guiying nodded. Naturally, they hoped the child was all right.

"Ah!"

Li Zhuiyuan cried out, sitting upright on the door board and gasping for air.

"Little Yuanhou, Little Yuanhou." Cui Guiying stepped forward and hugged Li Zhuiyuan, lightly patting his back. "It's all right now. Don't be scared, Child. Grandma's here, Grandma's here."

Li Zhuiyuan first looked at Cui Guiying, then at Li Weihan. Finally, his gaze fell on Li Sanjiang's face, whom he was seeing for the first time.

Li Sanjiang pointed at his red bulbous nose and smiled. "Little Yuanhou, I'm your Great Grandfather."

Li Zhuiyuan blinked, then seemed to recall what he had experienced in the dream. He immediately turned toward the back door and pointed. "Little Yellow Oriole, Little Yellow Oriole! She came into the house!"

"Good Child, you had a nightmare. It's all over now. Your grandma already drove her away. She won't dare come looking for my Child again."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Cui Guiying with some doubt. "Really, Grandma?"

Li Weihan breathed a sigh of relief. "Looks like the Child really was frightened by a dream. Heh heh."

Seeing events unfold exactly as Li Sanjiang had said they would, Li Weihan and his wife finally felt completely at ease.

Only Li Sanjiang followed the direction of Li Zhuiyuan's finger toward the back door, his expression gradually growing serious.

"Hanhou, give me the flashlight."

Li Weihan did not hand it over, instead saying, "Uncle, I said I'd take you home."

"Give it to me!"

Li Sanjiang snatched the flashlight away.

"Uncle, I'll take you home. You've been drinking, and walking at night..."

"Move aside!"

Li Sanjiang shoved Li Weihan away and headed straight for the back door.

"Uncle?" Li Weihan looked at his grandson, then immediately followed.

Li Sanjiang stepped over the Door Threshold and came to the riverbank directly opposite the back door, shining the flashlight below.

"Uncle, is something else wrong?"

Li Sanjiang spat on the ground and lowered his voice. "It's normal and harmless if the Child dreams about anything else, but dreaming that the Death Collapse followed her into the house—that's terrifying."

"What? It really followed us home?"

Li Sanjiang raised a hand, signaling Li Weihan to be quiet. He continued sweeping the flashlight over the boat and the nearby river surface, but after searching several times, he still found nothing.

Li Weihan asked softly, "Uncle, there's nothing there."

"Shh. Hanhou, do you hear it?"

Li Weihan listened carefully, then shook his head. "Uncle, hear what? I don't hear anything."

"Heh." Li Sanjiang rubbed his nose. "On a summer night by the river, how could it possibly be this quiet?"

Li Weihan understood at once. Yes, his home was far too quiet. Usually, the cicadas and frogs sounded as if they were holding a grand meeting every night, yet tonight there was not a single sound. It was dead silent.

Now, looking again at the calm lake surface and the swaying aquatic grass, Li Weihan felt frightened. That Death Collapse might be hiding somewhere nearby.

Li Sanjiang turned and went back inside, saying to Cui Guiying, "Guiying, bring me a bowl of Yellow Wine."

"Ah, should I fry some peanuts and eggs for you too, Uncle?"

"Go get the wine, stop talking!" Li Weihan urged her. He naturally knew that Li Sanjiang was not asking to drink.

Cui Guiying brought over a bowl of Yellow Wine. Li Sanjiang took it and crouched before Li Zhuiyuan, smiling as he said, "Little Yuanhou, this might hurt a little. Don't cry out. Bear with it, understand?"

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Li Weihan and Cui Guiying, then nodded to Li Sanjiang.

"Good boy."

Li Sanjiang poured the Yellow Wine over Li Zhuiyuan's neck. The child instinctively shrank from the sting, but Li Sanjiang immediately grabbed his arm with his left hand and vigorously rubbed his neck and shoulders with his right.

The old man's hands were covered in calluses, thick and rough, like sandpaper scraping at his skin. Li Zhuiyuan was in great pain, but obediently only pressed his lips together hard.

After rubbing the Child's neck and shoulders until they were bright red, Li Sanjiang brought his face close and inhaled forcefully through his nose.

After inhaling, Li Sanjiang's eyes widened. He gently pushed the Child away and fell back onto the floor.

"Uncle, Uncle?" Li Weihan hurried over to support him.

Cui Guiying checked Li Zhuiyuan's neck instead. Her heart ached for him, but she knew something had changed again. She did not dare say anything, only silently stroked the child's head.

"Cigarette. Hanhou, give me a cigarette."

"Right."

Li Weihan immediately lit one for him.

Li Sanjiang took a deep drag and exhaled through his nose.

Li Weihan noticed that the hand holding Li Sanjiang's cigarette was trembling.

"Guiying, take the Child inside." Li Sanjiang pointed toward the inner room. "Close the door."

"What exactly happened now?" Cui Guiying could no longer hold herself back.

"Do what Uncle says." Li Weihan quickly waved at her to hurry.

Cui Guiying took a deep breath, then picked Li Zhuiyuan up and carried him into the inner room, closing the door behind them.

Only the two men remained in the kitchen.

"Uncle?"

"Hanhou, this is troublesome.

"Blind Liu must have cleared the Haunting from Little Yuanhou that afternoon. Since she did it, she wouldn't have left it unfinished.

"But just now, my nose smelled corpse stench from the child's neck again. I've scooped up Death Collapse all my life. Let me tell you, the stench of a corpse soaked in water is different from the smell of a dead body elsewhere. My nose cannot be wrong."

As Li Sanjiang spoke, he turned to Li Weihan and said gravely, "That Death Collapse really followed you home."

Upon hearing that, Li Weihan immediately stood and took down the firewood axe from atop the cupboard. There were many children in the house, so such things could only be kept high up.

"Damn it, I'll fight that thing to the death!"

Li Sanjiang narrowed his eyes, took another drag of his cigarette, and slowly said, "What if she doesn't come out?"

"What?" Li Weihan did not quite understand. "Wouldn't it be good if she didn't come out?"

"She'll stay beside your house where you can't find her, watching your family. One day, two days, three days... First Little Yuanhou, then Xiao Panhou, Xiao Leihou, Xiao Huhou... then Guiying, then you.

"Other families worship gods and Buddhas for protection. Your family has effectively enshrined an evil, filthy thing.

"Before long, people will fall ill, suffer bad luck, and... the family will be ruined, everyone dead."

Li Weihan asked blankly, "Then what do we do? I... I'll stop living here and go stay with my son?"

"If she could follow you once, why couldn't she follow you a second time?"

"Uncle, is there any other way?"

"There is a way." The cigarette ember at Li Sanjiang's lips flickered in and out.

"Uncle, you have to help me." Li Weihan crouched beside Li Sanjiang. If anyone else had said these things to him, he would have suspected they were deliberately trying to scare him for some ulterior motive. But Li Sanjiang would never do that.

"A Death Collapse that walks in water is full of resentment and hard enough to deal with. But one that can follow someone home... it's the first one I've seen in my entire life. It's evil beyond belief."

"But Uncle, every grievance has its source and every debt has its owner. What does this have to do with my Little Yuanhou?"

"Heh." Li Sanjiang gave a cold laugh, rubbing his fingers together as he crushed out the cigarette butt. "I reckon she wants to settle her grievance with the right person, but she can't find her enemy, so she latched onto the first person she encountered and refuses to let go."

Li Weihan seemed to have thought of something, his eyes filled with hesitation and contemplation.

Li Sanjiang continued, "That Death Collapse was the woman who danced and sang at Big Beard's funeral yesterday, right? You told me about her on the way when you picked me up. What was her name, Little Yellow Oriole?"

"Leihou said he saw her, but I didn't go to Big Beard's house yesterday, so I'm not sure."

"It was Little Yellow Oriole. Leihou might have seen wrong, but Little Yuanhou wouldn't. When he woke from his dream, he called out Little Yellow Oriole's name."

"Mm, that's true."

"Didn't you say the villagers saw Little Yellow Oriole slipping into the woods with Big Beard's youngest son last night? During the day, people from the White Cloth Band went to Big Beard's house to make a scene, and Big Beard even paid them to settle it.

That means he had something on his..."

Li Sanjiang forcibly swallowed back the word "ghost." At a time like this, it was better to mind taboos.

"...That means he had something on his mind and felt guilty. Heh, with the way his family acts, if they really hadn't done anything dirty, why would they cave so easily?

Big Beard, Big Beard—wasn't he just like the bandits in Northeast China before liberation? Damn, he acted like a thug. Who knew how many sins he'd committed."

At that, Li Sanjiang paused. He reached into the tin box in front of him for another biscuit, took a bite, and smiled. "These biscuits have a strong milky flavor. They can't be cheap. Your youngest daughter mailed them, right?"

Li Weihan took out a cigarette and lit it. Then he took several quick, hard drags before wiping his forehead and eyes with his hand. When he looked at Li Sanjiang again, his eyes were bloodshot.

"Uncle, do you not trust Hanhou's character?"

Li Sanjiang picked up another biscuit without replying and kept eating.

Li Weihan continued.

"Uncle, back then, when I was trying to arrange marriages for my four sons, things were truly hard.

Not only did you let me farm your fields, every time I worked as your helper, you'd also give me a bit of labor pay. When Guiying came to help you with Paper Crafting and paste glue, her skills were so rough I was embarrassed to watch, but even then, Uncle, you still paid her wages.

Later, after we got through the hardest days, I stopped farming your land, because I knew you could collect more grain rent by leasing it to someone else. As for Guiying, I was too embarrassed to let her keep coming. I was afraid she'd end up like before, earning work points with the production team.

I truly couldn't bring myself to keep taking advantage of you, but I've always remembered your kindness in my heart.

I said it before: when your legs and feet no longer worked well someday, I, Li Weihan, would take care of you and see you through your final years.

Uncle, you have to trust Hanhou's character."

Li Sanjiang nodded.

"Heh heh." Li Weihan chuckled twice and reached for a biscuit too. He hadn't eaten anything since the afternoon and was truly hungry.

Smack!

His hand was slapped, and the biscuit he had just picked up fell back down.

Li Sanjiang stood and said, "Eat my ass. Save some to arrange on the plate as offerings."

Li Weihan froze for a moment, then understood. After all, he had once worked as Li Sanjiang's helper for quite some time.

When he opened the inner room door, he saw Cui Guiying standing there, holding Child and leaning forward slightly.

Once the door opened, Cui Guiying hurriedly smoothed the hair beside her earlobes and asked, "Are you done talking?"

Li Weihan said, "Guiying, come out and help set up the Offering Table. Little Yuanhou should sleep first."

At that moment, Li Sanjiang's voice came from behind them. "Leave Little Yuanhou here for now."

Li Weihan turned to look at Li Sanjiang, frowning. But after hesitating, he seemed to make some kind of decision and signaled for his old wife to bring Child out.

Li Zhuiyuan had slept from the afternoon until now, so he wasn't sleepy. He obediently sat on a Small Stool and watched the adults bustle about.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Li Sanjiang pointed at the Offering Table Li Weihan had moved outside the back door and cursed. "Do you want everyone outside to see? Move it back in and set it up here!"

This was a rural plain, with no mountains, ravines, or tall buildings to block the view. Visibility was excellent. If they lit candles and burned paper money outside, anyone who came out at night to take a piss could spot it from far away, and word would spread quickly.

After all, what normal family made offerings and performed rites in the dead of night?

Li Weihan immediately carried the table he had just moved outside back in and placed it against the wall near the back door.

Cui Guiying began arranging the offerings. There were four plates, filled respectively with biscuits, egg cakes, peanuts, while the fourth was empty.

"Uncle, there's no meat at home." Cui Guiying looked at Li Sanjiang. "The cured pork and salted meat are all gone."

With more than ten children living in the house, how could there possibly be leftovers kept overnight? Even the jar of Pickles ran dry quickly. But offerings without meat would not do.

Li Sanjiang pointed toward the cabinet where snacks were locked away. "Is there meat floss?"

"Yes." Cui Guiying immediately nodded. "Would that work?"

"It's meat, anyway. It'll do."

"Alright."

At last, a plate of meat floss was set out, completing the offerings.

Li Weihan carried a crude tin bucket in from the yard outside. This time, without needing any reminder, he placed it himself in the corner by the kitchen wall.

Spirit money was still considered a rare item at the time and had to be bought from a funeral goods shop in town. Villagers were generally reluctant to use it for small rites, though almost every household kept Yellow Paper and paper ingots in stock.

The gold and silver ingots were usually folded by the women themselves. As for Yellow Paper, it could even be kept in a basket beside the toilet and used as toilet paper.

Li Sanjiang first lit the two candles on the Offering Table, then used the flame to light several sheets of Yellow Paper. He quickly waved them before the Offering Table while muttering under his breath, then rushed back to the corner and tossed the half-burned Yellow Paper into the tin bucket as kindling. Cui Guiying immediately added the remaining Yellow Paper and ingots to burn.

Li Weihan used a thin wooden stick to stir the papers inside. Once he made sure they had burned thoroughly, he carried the tin bucket outside and dumped out the ashes.

When he returned, he saw Li Sanjiang pulling a bell from his pocket and digging at it with his gray-black fingernails. At last, he removed the cotton ball stuffed inside.

"Ding, ding, ding..."

With a light shake, it gave a crisp sound.

Li Sanjiang untied the bell's cord and walked over to Li Zhuiyuan. "Come, Little Yuanhou. Raise your right hand."

Li Zhuiyuan obediently did as told and watched Li Sanjiang tie the bell around his wrist.

Then Li Sanjiang picked up the incense burner from the Offering Table. After thinking for a moment, he snapped off most of the three incense sticks, leaving only tiny ends before reinserting them into the burner.

"Little Yuanhou, hold this."

Li Zhuiyuan stood and held the incense burner.

Only then did Cui Guiying finally understand something. She instinctively tried to step forward, but Li Weihan grabbed her wrist and yanked her back hard.

"How can you let Little Yuanhou..."

Li Weihan glared fiercely at his old wife.

Li Sanjiang reached out and covered Li Zhuiyuan's ears. Then he raised his head, looked at the couple, and asked casually, "I'll ask you one last time. Are we doing this or not?"

"We're doing it!" Li Weihan answered immediately.

"If something happens to Little Yuanhou..." Cui Guiying shook her arm, trying to break free from her old husband's grip.

Li Weihan said in a deep voice, "If there's no such thing, then nothing will happen. But if there is such a thing, then even if we don't do this, Little Yuanhou will still get hurt. That thing has its eyes on our Little Yuanhou!"

Hearing that, Cui Guiying stopped struggling and let her arm fall.

Li Sanjiang smiled and said, "Hanhou, have you truly thought it through? If this gets out, it won't be easy for you to get along in this village afterward."

Even if there were no Death Collapse at all and everything was just absurd nonsense everyone had stirred up, if they made such a commotion at home and performed that kind of ritual on someone, then once people found out, this would become a deep grudge.

"Heh." Li Weihan snorted too. "Uncle, I'm not afraid of Big Beard's family. I have four sons too."

In the countryside, the more grown sons a family had, the greater their confidence.

Though Li Weihan's four sons were no models of filial piety, and there was plenty of friction between their wives, if the Li family ever faced trouble from outsiders and needed someone to stand up for them, those four sons would definitely unite against the outside.

"Fine. Let's do it." Li Sanjiang removed his hand from Li Zhuiyuan's ears, crouched beside Child, and instructed him, "Little Yuanhou, Great Grandfather will walk in front later. You follow behind, slowly. Don't spill the incense burner, understand?"

"Mm, I understand."

"Good child. Be good."

Li Sanjiang led Li Zhuiyuan out the back door, then turned to Li Weihan and Cui Guiying, who had followed them, and said, "Wait at home. Don't follow us. Too many people will make it easier for others to spot us, and we might scare her."

"Mm, Uncle, we're counting on you."

"Close all the doors at home."

"Alright, Uncle."

Li Weihan pulled his old wife back inside, then shut all the doors and windows.

By the river under the night curtain outside, only Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan remained.

"Wait for me a moment, Little Yuanhou."

After giving him a heads-up, Li Sanjiang went down the bluestone brick steps alone to the riverbank. He crouched there, repeatedly brushing the water's surface with his hand while speaking quietly.

He was too far away, and his voice was deliberately low, so Li Zhuiyuan couldn't make out what he was saying.

As he spoke, Li Sanjiang began leaning backward. Several times, he looked as though he was about to run, as if something beneath the water might leap out and pounce on him at any moment.

At last, Li Sanjiang finished. He hurried back up, breathing heavily.

"Alright, Little Yuanhou. I'll walk in front, and you follow behind. Remember, no matter what happens next, and no matter what sounds you hear, hold onto that incense burner tightly. Don't turn around under any circumstances. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Mm. Good."

Li Sanjiang walked ahead, putting about twenty meters between them. He turned back and waved at Li Zhuiyuan, signaling that Child could follow.

Yet Li Zhuiyuan remained where he was and did not move.

"Come on, follow me, Little Yuanhou."

"But..." Li Zhuiyuan wanted to turn his head, but remembered Li Sanjiang's warning. Holding the extinguished incense burner in one hand, he pointed at the river with the other. "Shouldn't we wait for her?"

"Wait for who?"

"Her. Little Yellow Oriole."

"What about Little Yellow Oriole?"

"She hasn't caught up."

Li Sanjiang froze for a moment, then walked back. Looking down at Li Zhuiyuan carefully, he asked, "Little Yuanhou, do you know what we're going to do?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, then nodded.

Li Sanjiang stared at Li Zhuiyuan in surprise and muttered, "You're like your mother. Smart."

Then, as though he had thought of something, Li Sanjiang fixed his gaze on Li Zhuiyuan's eyes and asked, "Can you... sense her?"

"Mm."

"She... where is she now?"

Li Zhuiyuan opened his mouth but said nothing, as though thinking, or perhaps waiting. Then he spoke.

"She's here."

"Where?" Li Sanjiang was startled.

"She was in the water just now..."

"Phew..." Li Sanjiang let out a breath.

"Now she's behind me."

Li Sanjiang: "..."

Li Sanjiang instinctively wanted to shift his gaze and look behind Li Zhuiyuan from beside the boy's head, but he restrained the urge.

Even without looking, however, a thick smell of corpse rot entered his nose. He knew that smell all too well.

She had truly come.

Li Sanjiang swallowed nervously. He wanted to stop, but when he thought of the consequences of stopping... Damn it, why should Hanhou's family bear the sins others had committed?

"Little Yuanhou, remember what Great Grandfather just said."

"Mm."

Li Sanjiang closed his eyes, raised both hands high, and slowly stood. The stench of rot grew even stronger.

He turned around, opened his eyes, and walked forward some distance. It was the same distance from which he observed those Death Collapses when he was poling his boat.

After taking a deep breath, he turned back with his eyes open and looked behind him.

Little Yuanhou stood there holding the incense burner. Behind him was a darkness the moonlight could not penetrate.

"Little Yuanhou, follow closely."

"Mm."

"Mm."

Li Sanjiang began walking forward. Behind him came the sound of "ding, ding, ding."

He did not take the Village Road. Instead, he deliberately followed the riverbank or cut through small groves. Even though there were few pedestrians in the dead of night, he had to be as cautious as possible. Outsiders absolutely could not find out.

After they had gone halfway, Li Sanjiang stopped, and the bell behind him stopped too.

Li Sanjiang turned around. Li Zhuiyuan was still standing more than twenty meters away. Behind Child, he could vaguely see a figure standing very close.

"Little Yuanhou, keep following. We're almost there."

"Mm."

"Mm."

Li Sanjiang continued leading the way. He walked and stopped, while the bell behind him rang and fell silent in turn.

At last, once they rounded one more Fish Pond, they would reach Big Beard's front door. This Fish Pond actually belonged to his family.

This time, Li Sanjiang did not stop. He continued along the edge of the Fish Pond, but as he walked, he slowly turned his head and looked behind him.

Under the bleak moonlight, Li Zhuiyuan held the incense burner. At times, he looked ahead at Great Grandfather leading the way, and at times he lowered his head to check the path beneath his feet.

The road was difficult to walk. A Child could easily slip and fall, so he walked with great care and concentration. Yet he still could not avoid swaying as he moved.

Behind him followed a woman in a qipao, with long soaking-wet hair.

The woman seemed blind, unable to see the road ahead.

When blind people had someone guiding them, they often held onto that person. So the woman's hands gripped the Boy's shoulders. As she moved, her body followed the little boy's uneven steps, swaying constantly.

Li Sanjiang swallowed. Walking backward, he stepped into empty space and nearly fell, but after swaying for a moment, he regained his balance.

Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan was about to stop.

Li Sanjiang hurriedly said anxiously, "Little Yuanhou, don't stop. Keep walking. Steady now, we're almost there."

"Mm."

"Mm."

At last, after rounding the Fish Pond, Li Sanjiang reached the yard in front of Big Beard's house.

It was already the latter half of the night. Not only were Big Beard's lights out, but none of the nearby houses in sight had lights on either. There was not a soul to be seen.

Li Sanjiang turned sideways and crouched down, spreading his left hand toward Big Beard's house and his right hand toward where Little Yuanhou stood. He spoke.

"Today I offer to you; next year I will make you rites. I've done all I can for human ties. Are you satisfied now?

Whether yin or yang, reason must be observed!

Take your grievances to those who wronged you, and your hatred to those you hate. Everyone in this world suffers enough, so do not drag the innocent in."

After finishing, Li Sanjiang secretly glanced toward Li Zhuiyuan. He saw that there were still two figures there, one large and one small, standing one behind the other in complete silence.

"Little Yuanhou, kneel."

Li Zhuiyuan did not kneel. He remained standing, still holding the incense burner.

"Little Yuanhou?" Li Sanjiang urged softly.

"Great Grandfather... I can't kneel."

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to kneel, but a force seemed to be holding him up by the shoulders, preventing him from lowering himself.

Li Sanjiang drew a deep breath and immediately began to chant:

"Child is still young. Child doesn't understand. Child owes you nothing. We brought you to the road and pointed you toward the door. Must you truly refuse to heed even a single word of reason?"

When he finished speaking, there were still two figures there, one large and one small.

Anger flared in Li Sanjiang's eyes. He withdrew the hands he had held out to "build a bridge," plunged all ten fingers into the ground, and packed his nails with black mud.

"You walk beneath the water, while I drift above it. I gave you respect, but you refused it. I tried to reason with you, but you wouldn't listen. Fine, then. You're forcing me to flip the table and take this to the Dragon King for judgment!"

Li Sanjiang's entire demeanor turned solemn. He had never wanted to, nor dared to, face that one head-on, but things had reached this point, and it was no longer up to him. He couldn't possibly bring this Death Collapse out only to take it back home again.

But just then, with a creak, Big Beard's heavy iron gate opened.

Li Sanjiang looked over and saw two people standing behind it: Big Beard and his younger son. Both wore nothing but boxer shorts, bare-chested and barefoot.

For a moment, Li Sanjiang felt uneasy. He had been doing this in secret to begin with. If they caught him red-handed, things would be difficult to settle afterward.

But Li Sanjiang quickly realized something was wrong.

Big Beard and his son did not even glance at him standing outside the gate. Instead, they shuffled dazedly toward the fish pond.

As they passed in front of Li Sanjiang, he noticed that both of them were walking on tiptoe, their heels raised off the ground.

The father and son walked side by side, swaying unsteadily without ever falling. When they reached the fish pond, they did not stop, but kept walking downward.

They stepped into the water and continued onward. The water passed their knees, their waists, their shoulders, and finally... their heads.

Splash!

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt the pressure on his body vanish and dropped straight onto the ground. Li Sanjiang immediately ran over and shielded the child.

"Child, are you all right?"

Li Zhuiyuan did not answer. He simply raised his hand blankly and pointed ahead.

Ahead stood Little Yellow Oriole. Her arms stretched forward, her hands spread wide as though feeling her way around. Though she walked slowly, she still made her way to the fish pond, then stepped into the water.

As if sensing the water beneath her, she slowly lowered her arms, and her steps became steadier and steadier.

She began to sway her hips, as though she were once again dancing the same dance she had performed before this fish pond on the embankment yesterday.

Her dancing was still terribly amateurish. Her joints were stiff now, making her movements even less precise, yet she danced with complete devotion.

In the darkness of night, her figure would sometimes sink out of sight, then abruptly emerge again, flickering in and out of view.

Each time she appeared, the water had risen a little higher over her body.

Gradually, the legs beneath the slit of her cheongsam disappeared from view. Then her swaying hips vanished, followed by her breasts—not particularly full, but forcibly accentuated by her clothing.

The water rose past her neck, spreading her hair out around her. She raised both hands toward the night sky, still performing.

Soon, her head too sank beneath the surface. Above the water, only her arms remained, then gradually only her wrists, then only her hands...

When even her hands slowly vanished beneath the surface, only a clump of black water weeds remained.

In the end, with the final ripple,

everything

disappeared.

Li Sanjiang hoisted Li Zhuiyuan onto his back, bent over, and jogged away. Only after they had run a long distance did he set the child down, pulling out a cigarette pack as he rubbed his aching old back.

Seeing the child standing there in a daze, he consoled him. "Listen to Great Grandfather. Just treat it as a dream. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll forget everything."

Li Zhuiyuan obediently nodded, but he felt that he probably would never forget what he had just seen. It would remain forever frozen in his memory.

Flicking away some ash, Li Sanjiang saw that Child was still downcast and teased him:

"Little Yuanhou, think about something that'll make you happy soon."

"Something happy?"

Li Sanjiang pointed toward Big Beard's house with the fingers holding his cigarette and replied:

"Feast time!"