The Natives of This World Are So Fierce - Chapter 13: Strange Changes at Crooked Loach River
If he disappeared, there would be no telling where to look for him.
Only after a great deal of coaxing-explaining how much he looked like a human child, promising to take him out for ice cream, and offering to count helping Qin Xiaoxia clean the old house toward part of his rent-did Doudou finally agree.
At half past noon.
Doudou was dressed in children's clothes and wore a large knitted hat to cover his big ears.
After another dozen or so reminders, Doudou finally went out with Qin Xiaoxia, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
They had barely stepped outside when they ran into Gou Junbao, who had come home briefly at lunchtime.
"Hey, Xiaoxia, heading out?"
"Ah!"
Startled, Doudou instantly fled back inside and slammed the door with a bang.
That left Gou Junbao and Qin Xiaoxia staring at each other outside.
"Ahem, well, he's a distant relative's kid. I'm looking after him for a while. You know, he's a little timid around strangers..."
"Uh... that seems a bit beyond being timid around strangers."
Gou Junbao watched Qin Xiaoxia laugh awkwardly, thought nothing more of it, and opened his own door to go home.
Then he heard Qin Xiaoxia pounding furiously on the door.
Another ten or so minutes later, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou were walking along the street, looking at the scattered pedestrians.
"See? The outside world might be dangerous, but with me here to cover for you, you're still unlikely to attract attention."
Doudou held on to Qin Xiaoxia's clothes with one hand and happily licked the ice cream in his other, visibly more relaxed.
He only grew wary now and then when one of those steel monsters called cars drove past.
Up ahead, Crooked Loach River was already faintly visible.
Just then, a northwesterly gust blew their way.
"Urgh!" "Urgh!"
Doudou and Qin Xiaoxia both felt sick and nearly gagged at the same time. Doudou even spat out the mouthful of ice cream he had been eating.
"This stink is getting ridiculous!"
Qin Xiaoxia felt like the world was screwing with him.
Crooked Loach River had smelled bad recently, but wasn't today's stench a little too intense?
Qin Xiaoxia had misunderstood, though. The river's pollution had not suddenly grown much worse; his sense of smell had improved dramatically compared with before.
To an ordinary person, Crooked Loach River merely had a fairly strong unpleasant odor.
"Big Cousin... do we really have to go over there?"
Doudou hesitated.
Qin Xiaoxia's nose had never suffered like this before.
The stench of rotten salted fish mixed with fermented, backed-up feces made him want to buy a gas mask.
But he still had his principles. At the very least, since Old Qin's passing, he had never missed cleaning the place once every two weeks.
Through gritted teeth, he forced out a single word.
"Go!"
Rather than turning around as Doudou had hoped, he forged straight ahead.
As they crossed the bridge, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou both held their breath and sprinted across.
Along the way, Qin Xiaoxia also glanced over the river and its banks.
Not a single one of the fishing enthusiasts who used to be a common sight was there. The water looked murky, too, though it did not resemble the polluted rivers he remembered.
After reaching the opposite bank, they sprinted for another half minute, taking only two breaths along the way.
On this side, thanks to the wind direction, the stench was no longer so strong.
Both of them let out huge sighs of relief.
Doudou looked like a foreigner who had swallowed a whole century egg in one bite. The disgust on his face actually made Qin Xiaoxia laugh.
Qing Town bordered the countryside. After they followed the old road for another twenty-odd minutes, most of what lay ahead consisted of old tiled-roof village houses and trees.
And Doudou caught his first glimpse of the old house Qin Xiaoxia had mentioned.
No wonder Qin Xiaoxia kept thinking about the place and never forgot to look after it.
The house really did look quite large. If he sold it, it would fetch a good sum even in remote Qing Town.
Before them stood a building that combined an unconventional Gothic style with traditional Chinese architecture.
It had a square footprint that covered a sizable area, with classical Chinese tower-style projecting eaves running around its perimeter. Yet each of its four corners bore a Gothic spire, while a spired attic in the center rose above the surrounding structure, topped by a spiral-shaped lightning rod.
Though the building was a stylistic mishmash, it should have exuded a unique classical beauty, blending the clash between East and West into harmony. Yet an ordinary person looking at it would often feel a sense of gloom instead, especially with the dead trees standing around the old house.
Among the older residents of the surrounding villages, the building was known as the dangerous "Haunted House." They often warned village children not to go near it. Even now, most people willing to approach were curious passersby, with few locals among them.
Many middle-aged and elderly people in the countryside were superstitious.
In the past, whenever a child drowned in a village, someone would claim it was because the child had previously played near the Haunted House.
Plenty of people scoffed at such claims, but with some things, it was better to be safe than sorry. Best to stay away from the house.
Doudou and Qin Xiaoxia were much more at ease.
One was curious and the other nostalgic. They quickened their pace and soon reached the house.
The house also had a dilapidated boundary wall that served virtually no purpose. Even the iron gate was gone.
The building itself, however, remained intact.
The lock on the pitch-black wooden door was rather unusual, requiring the sort of old-fashioned key often seen in movies.
But Qin Xiaoxia felt that a key like that was practically no protection at all, so a large modern brass padlock now hung on the door as a simple, blunt solution.
Taking out two keys, one old and one new, he unlocked the front door. Doudou finally saw the interior of the old house Qin Xiaoxia had mentioned so many times.
Then he looked at Qin Xiaoxia with naked contempt and distaste.
"Big Cousin, this is what you call regular cleaning?"
Inside the main hall, the dust was thick enough to pile up and make bricks. A few cobwebs hung here and there overhead, and some old-fashioned furniture stood in the corners, mostly covered with cloth. Only a standing clock had much visual appeal.
Qin Xiaoxia did not look the least bit embarrassed.
"Come on. Aside from this front hall, the house has eight rooms of various sizes, three laboratories, four small towers, and a large attic. You expect me to clean the whole place every two weeks? Clearing away all the cobwebs and checking for major damage or buildup is about all that's realistic."
Today's work was no different. Even with Doudou helping, Qin Xiaoxia had no intention of giving the building a thorough cleaning. He still only removed cobwebs and checked for leaks or serious buildup.
Once everything was done and they were almost ready to head back, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou found themselves worrying again.
They still had to cross Crooked Loach River. If only they had brought masks before setting out-no, gas masks.