Chopping the Crooked-Neck Tree

"Huff..."

Just as he dreamed of Grandmother, a sudden coolness spread through his chest, and Hu Ma jolted awake.

He found himself sprawled flat on his back in the main hall. No lamp had been lit, and darkness surrounded him. Xiao Hong Tang must have dragged him into the main room.

He reached for his chest and felt that the coolness was coming from the pouch containing pond ash. This chill differed from that of Evil Spirits; it stirred a measure of clarity into his muddled, feverish head.

"Did Grandmother come into my dream to save me?"

Thinking of that dream, half real and half illusion, he forced himself to stand.

He lit the oil lamp and, by its faint glow, found the woodcutting hatchet by the wall. Then he took a deep breath, gripped it tightly, and walked out of the house. Xiao Hong Tang followed curiously behind him. "Brother Hu Ma, what are you going to do?"

"Treat an illness."

Hu Ma clenched his teeth and dragged his body onward.

He was still terribly weak. Every step made him sway, as though his brain might be shaken loose.

His body felt unbearably heavy, as if something were wrapped around it. Who knew what lurked within the shadows around him? It felt as though something would reach out now and then to tug at his arms and legs.

Yet he gritted his teeth, forcing out the fire within the furnace in his body. Step by step, he trudged forward, hauling his heavy body along.

In the distance, he saw that crooked-neck tree, its trunk bent askew, with nothing left but branches.

As he approached, the tree seemed to come alive. Its branches swayed, letting out strange, terrifying laughter.

Hu Ma's body grew even heavier, as if the crushing darkness around him were about to press him flat.

But at the same time, the furnace within Hu Ma began to burn. It could not dispel the sensation of being suppressed by that invisible force, yet it kept him from being crushed before that twisted monstrous tree. Step by step, he made his way to it.

Faintly, he could see traces of burned paper beside the tree. One patch of earth looked freshly turned, as though something had been buried there.

But Hu Ma's head was too muddled to think about such things.

He only remembered Grandmother's words. Tightening his grip on the hatchet, he raised it high and brought it down viciously on the trunk.

Splat!

A great slab of bark peeled away, revealing a pitch-black hollow from which something like blood actually flowed.

At the same instant, Hu Ma heard a shrill, miserable scream beside his ear. His clouded mind suddenly cleared.

Only then did his thoughts begin racing, and Hu Ma understood in an instant.

"Someone's trying to harm me?"

"What method did they use? How did I fall for it without even realizing, nearly dying?"

"Could it be they wanted me dead so they could steal my place in the Red Lantern Society?"

"..."

Cui Xie'er's face surfaced in his mind, and icy rage surged straight to his skull.

He raised the hatchet once more at that bleeding old crooked-neck tree.

"Eeya..."

At the Cui Family home, Cui Family Grandmother, who had rendered great service, had already ordered her daughter-in-law to stew an old hen that had just laid eggs. She sat there with a tiny wine cup, thoroughly enjoying the filial offerings.

She snorted. "The children and grandchildren are still useless. All they know is fighting people. There are plenty of ways to make people afraid to provoke us. Did they not think about how, before the Hu Family came to the village, how many people in the whole village dared to glare and bare their teeth at our Cui Family?"

"Heh, that Old Woman from the Hu Family came looking for me back then, saying my arts were not refined enough, that my methods were too vicious. She said if I kept doing such things, I would surely suffer backlash. I couldn't beat her, so I had no choice but to stop."

"But looking at things now, isn't it her Hu Family that has suffered backlash and been left without descendants?"

"..."

Under the dim oil lamp, Cui Family Grandmother's white hair was disheveled, and her expression was smug.

"I understand, Mother..."

The second son's wife of the Cui Family attended her carefully. "We'll be sure to honor you properly from now on..."

"Ahh..."

But as she held up the freshly warmed wine pot in both hands, about to fill Cui Family Grandmother's cup, she suddenly saw Cui Family Grandmother's expression change drastically. Her hair fell loose all at once. She flung aside the chicken bone she had been holding, clutched her throat, and began convulsing violently.

"Oh no! Mother's got a chicken bone stuck in her throat!"

The second son's wife of the Cui Family was horrified and immediately began shouting.

The Cui Family's eldest and third sons heard her from outside and rushed in, at a complete loss.

"No... no..."

Cui Family Grandmother clutched her neck, her eyes bulging wide and bloodshot as she struggled to say, "Not... a bone..."

She seemed desperate to say something, to make the second and third sons hurry and stop it. But before she could get the words out, Hu Ma stood before the crooked-neck tree with cold eyes and a heart full of fury. He raised the hatchet high and hacked down heavily upon the tree once again.

The old tree shuddered, its branches trembling one after another.

Cui Family Grandmother sucked in a sharp breath and cried out, "Oh, my mother..."

The moment she cried it out, she tumbled off the bed with a thud, knocking over the small table and the large bowl of old hen stew. Broth splashed all over the floor.

At the same time, Hu Ma viciously brought down the third blow.

Grandmother of the Cui Family's body suddenly went rigid. She rolled over and spat out a great mouthful of blood, her face frozen in terror. She was already dead.

"What's happened?"

The Cui Family had never seen anything like this before. They were so frightened that their souls seemed to have fled their bodies, at a complete loss.

But Hu Ma was increasingly beginning to understand what was happening. As those three chops fell, the old tree trembled and blood flowed. And from that flowing blood, he seemed to dimly grasp something.

It was a strange feeling. As he smelled the bloody stench seeping from the crooked-necked tree, Grandmother of the Cui Family's sinister, twisted face seemed to flash before his eyes—the face she had worn when she proposed that idea. He also saw the Cui Family members discussing how to harm him so Cui Xie'er could take his place.

The three chops had already fallen, yet instead of fading, his anger swelled, and murderous intent rose within him.

Gritting his teeth, he brought down another chop.

"Aiya..."

At the Cui Family home, the eldest son had just sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly reached for the pouch wrapped in hearth ash.

But his body suddenly jerked straight, and he toppled stiffly to the ground. The Cui Family hurriedly turned him over, only to find that one of his eyes was staring upward and the other downward, as if he had lost all control. The corner of his mouth was twisted to one side, drool spilling from it.

The third son of the Cui Family was scared out of his wits and shouted, "Quick, go get the clan leader..."

But at that very moment, Hu Ma's face turned cold as he viciously brought down the fifth chop.

Just as the third son of the Cui Family was about to step over the threshold, he suddenly stumbled and fell, smashing his head against the stone steps. Blood gushed out.

Beside the crooked-necked tree, the sixth chop fell.

Behind the village, the fourth son of the Cui Family had been drinking and gambling with others, using the chance to make trouble and throw a drunken tantrum. Suddenly, his body convulsed, and amid the shoving, a sickle sliced into his own neck.

Another chop fell, and the second son's wife of the Cui Family suddenly began trembling all over. With her hair hanging loose, she ran from the house, shrieking hoarsely:

"Don't come looking for me, don't come looking for me! It was my Old Woman's idea—it wasn't me who hurt anyone..."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Before the crooked-necked tree, Hu Ma chopped again and again.

Members of the Cui Family were already collapsing one after another. At the Old Clan Leader's home, the second son of the Cui Family was chatting idly with the clan leader's son, Zhou Datong's father. Seeing his own son listening so attentively from afar filled him with great comfort.

Then, without warning, he heard a woman's shrill wailing in the distant night. It vaguely sounded like his own wife's voice, and he hurriedly rose to his feet.

But the instant he stood, his vision went black. Through the haze, he seemed to see a disheveled monster.

It stretched out two withered, bony hands toward him, crying bitterly, "It was all you Cui Family people who harmed others—you dragged me down with you too..."

The second son of the Cui Family had just opened his mouth to speak when dizziness overwhelmed him. He fell to the ground, his body curling into a ball.

In the main hall, Cui Xie'er was forcing himself to listen as Second Master explained the rules. But after glancing at Cui Xie'er a few times, Second Master also grew restless and could no longer continue. He suddenly said, "I still can't shake this feeling. I need to go check on Hu Ma and see whether his body has recovered..."

Cui Xie'er felt awkward for a moment and was just about to speak when he heard a thud from outside.

He hurried out to look, only to find that his own father had curled into a ball and was clearly about to breathe his last.

His face changed drastically. He rushed forward to help him, but Second Master reacted quickly and grabbed him, staring hard at the second son of the Cui Family curled up on the ground. A rolling yin wind swept through the surroundings.

Second Master seemed to recall some similar scene. Even his voice changed pitch as he suddenly seized Cui Xie'er and shook him hard. "Tell me honestly... Don't cry. Tell me the truth—did your Cui Family do something?"

"Cui Family, run! Run!"

But before Cui Xie'er could say anything, a group of people suddenly rushed in from outside, their faces filled with fear.

"Your mother's gone mad—she stripped naked and is crying outside..."

"Your family..."

"Something happened at your home too..."

Second Master, the clan leader, and the others all stared at one another. Then they suddenly turned and ran, charging out of the courtyard.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The eerie sound of chopping wood gradually became clearer, carrying a cold, death-summoning chill. Some strange power surged through Great Sheep Village beneath the shroud of night. With every chop, another member of the Cui Family collapsed for no reason, as though invisible evil ghosts had silently seized their souls.

Yet Old Fire Pit, upon which Great Sheep Village depended for survival, remained beneath its curling veil of black smoke, unable to react.

Crash...

At last, the crooked-necked old tree could no longer hold itself up. It slowly split down the middle and fell.

That night, Hu Ma chopped thirteen times, cutting down the crooked-necked old tree.

Five members of the Cui Family died, and three went mad.

From then on, among the four great households of Great Sheep Village—the Zhou, Cui, Zhao, and Li clans—the Cuis kept their heads bowed and walked on eggshells, never again possessing their former swagger.