"We really did hear Sun Wu's cries for help from inside the house. But it would've taken time to get out and then crawl through the dog hole, so we could only climb over the wall. That spot was completely hidden by the Willow Tree. All I could see was the color of the woman's clothes as she struggled with Sun Wu."
Wen Dian had already described every detail he'd seen, using his hands and feet as well as his words.
If they asked him anything else, he'd probably have to make it up.
"Then Uncle Cai and the others came around from the other side, and the woman ran off. I don't know where she went—she disappeared from view."
Uncle Cai nodded in agreement with Wen Dian.
At the time, he really had looked up and seen Wen Dian and Guo Mu hiding on the wall, too afraid to make a sound.
The two of them had looked shocked when they learned Sun Wu was dead.
Even after hearing the whole story, Zheng Wuyou still couldn't understand.
Could it be that the short woman's silence really meant she was insane?
She could understand how seeing her friends and family wiped out right in front of her might have left the short woman so devastated that she fell silent.
But she had no reason to kill Sun Wu.
Miao Laisheng still stood there with a cold expression, arms folded across his chest and his upper body leaning against the doorframe.
It seemed the matter had nothing to do with him.
When everyone fell silent, he said, "The hired hands should get to work." His eyes lowered as he glanced at the hands of his watch.
Without a care, he turned and left the Wooden House, heading toward Old Zhu's family's home.
"Is that guy really so cold-blooded?" Hu Yu stood beside Zheng Wuyou, staring in disbelief at the back of the man in Navy Blue Pajamas as he walked away as if nothing had happened. She criticized his heartlessness.
Zheng Wuyou shrugged helplessly.
Her expression gave no clue who she felt sorry for.
It felt as if one riddle after another was appearing before her, all guided by the List.
"Let's make progress on the List first."
Zheng Wuyou straightened her pajamas and followed Miao Laisheng toward Old Zhu's family's home.
It was midday, and wisps of smoke rose from the direction of the Zhu family's kitchen.
By the time they had all gathered in front of the Main Hall at Old Zhu's family's home,
the old woman who had chased everyone off with a carrying pole the day before was sitting in the courtyard, where the tables were covered in red cloth.
She held a Smoking Pipe in her withered, yellow right hand, facing everyone with a stern expression.
A brightly colored rooster strolled past their feet as if nothing were amiss,
chasing after the wriggling lunch.
Seeing that everyone had returned empty-handed, the middle-aged man only told them to keep looking that afternoon.
Then he seated them opposite the old woman.
"Useless lot."
The old woman knocked the ash from her Smoking Pipe onto the ground. Her yellow, missing teeth could barely contain the words.
Everything she said was an attempt to browbeat others.
"You... damn it, you old hag!" Hu Yu had long been fed up with the old woman's behavior.
Being inexplicably scolded the day before had been bad enough.
And now, after coming back today, she was being—
As if anyone wanted to come help!
If the old woman was in such a hurry, why didn't she go look herself?
Uncle Cai, who was good at reading the room, promptly caught Hu Yu by the sleeve and signaled for her to calm down. "We shouldn't pick a fight in an unfamiliar place!"
Zheng Wuyou understood what Uncle Cai meant.
They were in someone else's territory. No matter how unfair it was, if they got into a fight with the homeowner, people from all the nearby villages would come running to help.
It was like running into a bear in the wilderness.
Even though the three of them knew that their "friendly" fellow villagers didn't dare leave their homes.
"What! The hired hands have an attitude now? Then give the money back!" The old woman suddenly slapped the table with a sharp crack, making the freshly served vegetable soup ripple.
"Mother! Don't be angry. You'll make yourself ill." A middle-aged woman they had never seen before appeared, her face sallow and gaunt, holding a bowl of freshly cooked rice porridge in both hands.
Her fingertips were already red from the heat, but she carried the bowl to the table as if nothing had happened.
A Basket rested on her hunched back, and a child who looked to be about a year old poked his head out of it curiously.
"Wretched woman! Why did you bring the child out? Didn't I tell you there were outsiders here?" The old woman clearly wasn't happy to see her. She picked up her Smoking Pipe, not even checking whether the end had gone out.
To everyone's astonishment, she swung it hard against the woman's arm.
A spark landed on the woman's bony arm, and she flinched in pain.
"Youcai went to the outhouse. I was afraid you'd get hungry, Mother."
The woman seemed afraid of giving anything away. Her frightened expression lasted only a few seconds before she returned to normal. "I... I'll go back right away."
After calmly setting the bowls and chopsticks on the table, she backed away, bending at the waist.
Like a maid sold into servitude in ancient times.
"You can't even give birth to a boy, and all you do every day is eat! What a waste of food!" The old woman muttered to herself as she pulled the bowl of porridge closer.
Saliva sprayed into the porridge, making Wen Dian feel sick.
The old woman didn't care at all about the disbelief and resentment rising in everyone's eyes.
The middle-aged man seemed to be the Youcai the woman had mentioned. He came from the Backyard, one hand pressed lightly to his stomach. "My stomach's acting up a bit. Mother, let's eat."
As he spoke, he kept watching the old woman's reaction.
Seeing that his mother was busy eating her porridge and had no time to scold him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Who told you to sneak off to the Backyard to eat? Serves you right!" The old woman finished a bowl of porridge.
She spoke as if she'd lose something if she held back a single word.
"Mother... you... you knew?" A flicker of fear crossed the middle-aged man's eyes. His hand froze in midair as he reached for the vegetables.
"She's coming into the family tomorrow, and you had to have your fun today! If she still can't give birth to a boy this time, you can forget about touching that filthy stuff again!" The old woman set her chopsticks down hard against the edge of the bowl. She didn't bother avoiding the others as she spoke. "That wretched woman doesn't deserve to eat at the table. Don't let her have any dinner tonight. She eats so much every single day!"
The old woman kept muttering as she ate, and didn't even wipe her mouth afterward.
There was even a bit of chewed vegetable leaf stuck between her teeth.
She picked up her Smoking Pipe, clasped her hands behind her back, and went inside the Main Hall.
Everyone was left staring at one another, along with the middle-aged man, who kept nodding.
The middle-aged man gave an awkward, sheepish smile, then went on picking vegetables from the plate.
How could anyone be so inhuman?
Zheng Wuyou felt awful. This was only a fictional world, a world created by the Nightmare...
But when she heard the words coming out of the old woman's mouth...
she found herself clenching her fists.
That scene had felt as if it had been prepared especially to move the plot along.
Though Hu Yu and the others were indignant, their minds were still a complete fog.
The scene hadn't mentioned the bride.
Nor had it mentioned the most important hairpin.
It seemed to have nothing to do with the tasks on the List.
Without a word, everyone seemed to reach the same understanding. They quickly ate the porridge-like rice gruel in their bowls, keeping quiet.
None of them were fools, and the middle-aged man's behavior didn't exactly make him seem like a good person.
There were some things they couldn't very well say in front of him.
Only Zheng Wuyou and Miao Laisheng knew.
The warning, "[Nothing the Zhu family says can be trusted]," had really become more credible.
Before you continue