“Brother Fu, Brother Fu…”
A half-grown boy hiding in the bushes pointed at the thatched hut in disbelief, utterly shocked.
The door of the thatched hut was wide open. Hu Chunhua stood at the entrance with her back to them, hands on her hips, shouting and yelling into the house. And they could see everything inside clearly. Several old women were gathered around a chair, and tied to that chair was Yun Feng.
They had also witnessed the entire binding process.
So now these half-grown boys were stammering as they spoke.
“Don’t shout…”
Fu Zai’s expression was serious as he watched the scene inside the thatched hut. He couldn’t figure out what these people were trying to do.
Were the people inside bad guys? But he knew all of them!
The one with her hands on her hips at the door was Hu Chunhua. The one tied up was his cousin Yun Feng. And those old women were witch doctors from the surrounding villages.
In short, Fu Zai knew every single person in that house. They had tied up his cousin Yun Feng—surely they weren’t kidnappers?
Even though Fu Zai was still the ringleader of the kids, he was already in middle school. He was a real man now. He knew all about kidnappers and such.
“Come on, Brother Fu. Your cousin’s been tied up. Aren’t you going to save her?” the first boy who had spoken asked again.
Fu Zai shook his head. He thought to himself that his mother had said this cousin wasn’t a good person. He didn’t like her either. There was no way he was going to rescue her. Those witch doctors inside had tied her up very efficiently. If he went over there, he’d be walking right into the lion’s den.
“Don’t call me Brother Fu. You go—hurry and tell your mom to bring some people over.”
Even though all these little boys called him Brother Fu, Fu Zai was smart. He knew something was wrong here, and the right thing to do was to call the adults quickly.
The boy didn’t waste any time. He took off running toward home. Luckily, everyone was barefoot, so their footsteps made no sound. No one noticed that over a dozen little boys were hiding in the grass outside the door.
—
Inside the thatched hut, no one was paying attention to what was happening outside. They were too busy talking among themselves.
“Girl from the Hu family, this ritual of yours won’t be easy to perform,” said a trembling old woman—the owner of the thatched hut—to Hu Chunhua, who was still cursing.
Hu Chunhua rolled her eyes. “I don’t have any money. I can only give you this much. You’ve already tied her up and agreed to do the ritual. You can’t raise the price on me now.”
With that, Hu Chunhua turned to look at Yun Feng, who had already wet herself in fear, and let out a cold laugh.
“Did you think I was stupid? Getting me to say that Yun Su was possessed by a water ghost, then begging me not to tell anyone. You were trying to make me look like a fool, weren’t you? You wanted me to cause trouble for Yun Su, to find a witch doctor to perform an exorcism on her. And you put on that whole act. Did you really think I was dumb enough to fall for it?”
Yun Feng, with a stinking rag stuffed in her mouth and her whole body tied to the chair, felt her vision go black after she realized what was happening. She struggled in the chair, trying to break free. But her pants were wet and terribly uncomfortable. What terrified her even more were Hu Chunhua’s words.
When had Hu Chunhua become so smart?
As if reading Yun Feng’s confusion, Hu Chunhua let out another cold laugh. “Thanks to your cousin Yun Su, actually! If she hadn’t sent me to detention, I never would have met a good sister there. She’s a real sister. After she helped me analyze everything, I realized that I’d been used as a pawn by you.”
Thinking back to those fifteen days in detention, Hu Chunhua felt utterly hopeless. If she hadn’t met Sister Hong inside, she never would have made it through.
—
Sister Hong was very smart. As soon as she heard what had happened to Hu Chunhua, she analyzed it for her. She said that Yun Feng, this so-called good friend, was the real culprit behind her misfortune. Without Yun Feng’s goading, Hu Chunhua never would have thought of pushing Yun Su into the sea so that her brother could play the hero and rescue her.
And then, after Hu Chunhua actually pushed Yun Su into the sea, Yun Feng jumped in herself, trying to get a good reputation for saving someone.
Hmph, Heaven had eyes—Yun Su swam back up on her own.
Even though Hu Chunhua also hated Yun Su, she resented Yun Feng even more. If Yun Feng hadn’t staged that whole falling-into-the-sea drama, her life wouldn’t have turned out like this. And her brother wouldn’t have had to suffer either.
Thinking of her brother’s miserable state, hiding at home now, Hu Chunhua slapped Yun Feng across the face several times in fury.
Among the witch doctors who had been watching the spectacle, the youngest suddenly spoke up: “Alright, alright. Girl from the Hu family, what’s the point of reasoning with someone who’s possessed? Aren’t we here to perform an exorcism? Hurry up and get started. I still need to go clamming when we’re done.”
The witch doctors in this house were all from the surrounding villages—hereditary practitioners. In the old society, they had done things like spirit mediumship, burning paper offerings, drawing talismans, and beating paper effigies. After the campaign against the Four Olds, they usually stayed in their own villages and didn’t move around much, unless someone secretly came to their door to hire them.
This time, Hu Chunhua had paid them a good sum to come together and perform an exorcism on this girl.
Whether the girl was actually possessed or not—they couldn’t care less. If there was a spirit, they’d exorcise it. If there wasn’t, a little spectacle wouldn’t hurt either. As long as they got a red envelope, they didn’t mind putting on a show.
Were they afraid of getting caught? Not really. They were all alone in the world. The youngest was already fifty, the oldest seventy. They were old bones. If they could make some money and buy meat to eat, what was there to fear?
Yun Feng had fully grasped her situation. Her eyes stared at Hu Chunhua, who was still laughing smugly, as if she wanted them to pop right out of their sockets.
And it was exactly this fierce, menacing expression that the villagers who had come to rescue her saw when they arrived.
—
“Whoa, is she really possessed?”
Auntie Lin looked at the scene before her, utterly shocked.
Heavens knew just how astonished she’d been when her youngest son had grabbed her while she was weeding in the vegetable garden and told her that Yun Feng had been tied up.
Her youngest son was eight years old, at that age where even dogs find you annoying. He usually loved following Fu Zai around. Fu Zai was a good kid, and Auntie Lin felt completely at ease letting her son play with him.
Half an hour ago, her son had said he was going digging for earthworms with Fu Zai, and Auntie Lin had agreed right away. The earthworms they dug up were for feeding the chickens.
And now her son had come back empty-handed, not only without any earthworms but also yelling for her to bring people to come rescue someone.
Rescue whom?
Grabbing some weapons and rallying the neighbors, Auntie Lin had been thinking about that question the whole way there.
Her son only said that Yun Feng had been tied up at the old witch doctor’s house. That there were several witch doctors there too, and that Hu Chunhua, the one who’d been in jail, was also there.
It was all jumbled and incoherent, but Auntie Lin, who loved a good spectacle, immediately realized it sounded a lot like an exorcism.
When she was a child, the Four Olds hadn’t been abolished yet. She’d seen exorcisms before.
First, they’d tie up the possessed person so they couldn’t move. Then the witch doctors would gather around, chanting scriptures and burning incense. Finally, they’d spit talisman water on the person. In any case, she remembered being quite frightened by the whole production as a child.
Since Yun Feng was involved, she’d also called Yun Feng’s mother, Liu Zhaodi, when she was gathering people.
And so, a group of women armed with makeshift weapons charged straight to the edge of the village.
And there they saw Yun Feng with her eyes looking like they were about to pop out of their sockets, bloodshot and fierce-looking.
In short, it was terrifying.
—
“Oh, my Yun Feng! You poor thing!”
Liu Zhaodi kicked Hu Chunhua, who was standing in the doorway, out of the way and threw herself onto Yun Feng. She was about to start wailing when her hand touched something wet. The smell was strong, and Liu Zhaodi felt a wave of nausea.
But now was not the time to be disgusted.
She wiped that hand on Yun Feng’s clothes, then started working on the ropes binding her, muttering: “Ah Feng, Ah Feng! Don’t be scared. Mom’s here to save you now. Mom’s here to save you now. Every last one of these jail-worthy bastards—I won’t let a single one of them off.”
Yun Feng let out muffled sobs at this, her expression growing even more terrifying.
The people who had come along to help all took a few steps back. They wondered among themselves if she really was possessed. Otherwise, why would Yun Feng, usually so gentle, have turned into such a frightening sight? If Liu Zhaodi went over there, would she be attacked?
Everyone’s hearts were uneasy. No one felt like asking questions anymore.
Seeing this, Hu Chunhua knew there was no chance of finishing the exorcism today. She had wanted the witch doctors to exorcise Yun Feng. She’d heard that some people came out of exorcisms scared witless. Whether Yun Feng ended up stupid or not, as long as word got out that she’d been exorcised today, Hu Chunhua was sure that family wouldn’t dare to keep seeing her.
Yes, Hu Chunhua wanted revenge for being used as a pawn by Yun Feng. Yun Feng didn’t have much in this world, but she treasured her boyfriend dearly.
Since that was the case, Hu Chunhua decided to destroy the thing Yun Feng valued most.
—
But Hu Chunhua’s hopes of getting away were doomed to fail.
Because Yun Feng was quickly untied by Liu Zhaodi.
Then she immediately pounced on Hu Chunhua and started clawing fiercely at her face.
Hu Chunhua wasn’t about to just sit there and take it. She fought back immediately, landing several more slaps on Yun Feng.
The fight was so savage that the aunts and older women who had come along all backed away.
They were afraid of getting caught in the crossfire!
With a few swipes of Yun Feng’s claws, Hu Chunhua’s face was scratched up like a tomcat’s, yowling in pain.
And with a few slaps from Hu Chunhua, Yun Feng’s face swelled up like a pig’s head, squealing and shrieking.
In short, the scene was pure chaos—even more dramatic than a grand opera.
“Ooh… Brother Fu. Is your cousin really possessed? She looks so fierce!” Outside the house, the dozen or so little boys huddled together, squatting behind Fu Zai, all staring at the spectacle inside the thatched hut.
When they saw Yun Feng and Hu Chunhua beating each other until their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them, they wondered if the two had gone completely mad. Even the village idiot didn’t fight like that.
Fu Zai shook off the goosebumps on his body. “Who knows? You all better stay far away from those two from now on. They’re terrifying.”
Fu Zai had been pretty scared by the commotion inside too. He was very glad he hadn’t gone in earlier and had called the adults instead.
And sure enough, even the adults were scared stiff. They stood at the side watching, unable to move.
—
In truth, the adults inside—including the witch doctors—had all been frightened by the sheer ferocity of the two women beating each other.
Leave a Reply