Last night, Grandpa had gone to see each of the five Zhang Family brothers, mainly to give them a warning. He wanted to remind the youngest to keep a few local dogs and big white geese at home to stop Yellow Weasels and foxes from coming to cause trouble. But all five brothers thought Grandpa had come to stand up for my father and teach them a lesson. They were so frightened they did not even dare leave their homes.
Early the next morning, the eldest Zhang Family brother wanted to visit the youngest and discuss whether they should go to our house together to apologize to my dad. After all, they lived in the same village, and the brothers had been in the wrong. They were bound to keep running into each other, so they could not leave things this awkward.
But when the eldest Zhang Family brother pushed open the door and looked inside, he was so terrified that he fell flat on his backside. The moment the door opened, he saw the youngest Zhang Family brother hanging from a roof beam, his body swaying gently in the breeze.
The youngest Zhang Family brother had died in a deeply unsettling way. His tongue protruded far from his mouth, his eyes were wide open and covered in red veins, and his face had turned a dark purple.
Even more frightening was the trace of a smile still on the youngest Zhang Family brother's face, the corners of his mouth curled slightly upward.
It was exactly the same smile Ma Laosan's wife had worn when she died.
One look was enough to send the eldest Zhang Family brother running in sheer terror to fetch people from the village.
When everyone arrived in the youngest Zhang Family brother's room, someone soon noticed that he was not the only thing hanging from the beam. There was a Yellow Weasel, too.
The Yellow Weasel hung less than two meters away from the youngest Zhang Family brother, side by side with him.
The Yellow Weasel had traded its own life for the youngest Zhang Family brother's.
The villagers were terrified by the eerie sight. They all began talking at once, but not one of them dared go over and take the youngest Zhang Family brother down from the beam.
Where we lived, Yellow Weasels were known as "yellow immortals," and the villagers both revered and feared these creatures.
Since a yellow immortal had killed him, who dared risk offending it? One wrong move, and they might end up just like the youngest Zhang Family brother.
When Grandpa heard what had happened, he took Granny Liu over to have a look.
The moment Granny Liu saw the Yellow Weasel hanging beside the youngest Zhang Family brother, her expression changed. With fear in her voice, she said, "This is bad. It looks like something terrible is going to happen."
Seeing the youngest Zhang Family brother's body still hanging from the beam, Grandpa swept his gaze over the crowd and said coldly, "There are so many of you here, and none of you thought to take the body down? Is it right to leave him hanging here?"
Still, none of the villagers dared move. Grandpa had no choice but to go over, pull up a chair, and take the youngest Zhang Family brother's body down from the beam. Someone had brought a blanket by then, and Grandpa gently laid the already stiff corpse on it.
All the Zhang Family brothers were there. When he saw Grandpa, the second brother, who had always been a reckless troublemaker, suddenly stepped forward and jabbed a finger at Grandpa's nose. "Old Wu, stop pretending you care! Our youngest brother was killed by someone from your Wu family! Everyone knows your family had a freak, a bastard your daughter-in-law conceived with a yellow immortal! All these years, so many Yellow Weasels and foxes have been bringing things to your house every night. All we did was give your son a beating. Did you really have to get a Yellow Weasel to kill our youngest brother?"
His words immediately emboldened the other Zhang Family brothers, who stepped forward to accuse Grandpa as well.
Grandpa's expression turned icy as he looked at them. "You little bastards. While I was away, you ganged up on my family. You didn't just beat my son, you laid hands on my daughter-in-law and grandson, too. You left your own brother hanging from a beam, and when I helped take him down, you started shouting at me. What, you want to fight Old Wu? Come on, then. Try me."
As he spoke, Grandpa glared sideways at the Zhang Family brothers, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Grandpa already had an imposing presence. When he lost his temper, he radiated such menace that none of the brothers dared say another word.
Granny Liu stepped forward then, too. "Enough. All of you, stop arguing. Show some respect for the dead and prepare his body for burial. The Wu family didn't kill your youngest brother. You offended a yellow immortal, and that brought this disaster down on you. Let the matter end here."
Everyone there knew Granny Liu. She was the most renowned Spirit-Calling Disciple in all the surrounding villages and commanded great respect. Since she had said the Wu family was not to blame, the brothers could say no more.
But the second son of the Zhang Family was still seething. He stared at the Yellow Weasel hanging from the beam, then suddenly did something no one expected. Taking a shovel from behind the door, he knocked the Yellow Weasel's corpse down from the beam.
Even after the Yellow Weasel's corpse hit the floor, the second son of the Zhang Family's anger had not subsided. He raised the shovel and began slamming it down on the body.
Seeing this, Granny Liu hurried forward to stop him. "Don't disrespect the yellow immortal! You've already brought disaster on yourselves. This will bring you terrible misfortune!"
But the second son of the Zhang Family ignored her. As he swung the shovel down on the Yellow Weasel's corpse, he snarled, "This Yellow Weasel killed my brother! Can't I hit it a few times to vent my anger?"
After several blows from the shovel, the Yellow Weasel's corpse had been smashed into a mangled pulp of flesh and blood.
By the time Granny Liu tried to stop him, it was already too late. She could only stare at the bloody pulp and sigh again and again.
Grandpa went home fuming, and Granny Liu left with him. On the way, her expression was grim, and she kept puffing on her long-stemmed pipe.
After they returned home, Granny Liu sat down and sighed. "This is Little Jie's fate. One calamity every three years. Either he dies, or someone else does. Sure enough, another calamity has come to pass. But this isn't over yet. I doubt the Zhang family will have any peace for a while."
Grandpa had come home full of anger. Hearing Granny Liu's words, he asked in puzzlement, "The fifth son of the Zhang Family is already dead. What else could happen?"
Granny Liu shook her head helplessly. "I can't say for certain. No one knows what the yellow immortal is thinking. But the second son of the Zhang Family desecrated its corpse just now. I expect misfortune is coming his way."
"Why does this never end...? Will anything happen to my grandson?" Grandpa asked worriedly.
"I can't say for certain, either. We can only wait and see," Granny Liu said.
As it turned out, Granny Liu's words came true very quickly.
Something terrible happened that very night.
After the fifth son of the Zhang Family died, they had not yet had time to place him in a coffin. Not long after darkness fell, he actually sat up on the bed. He had come back to life.
The sight nearly drove the other sons of the Zhang Family mad with terror.
Before you continue