PWE – Chapter 160

Hou Dayong felt a chill run across his scalp at the scream.

He reached out and grabbed the cord of the bedside lamp, pulled it, and the room instantly lit up.

Looking toward the window, he saw a child perched on the windowsill.

The child looked about five or six years old, dressed in a red bellyband and shorts. The bright red was garish, lacking any sense of beauty, and in the darkness, it even looked a little eerie. His complexion was unusually pale, a gray-white that made Hou Dayong immediately think of a corpse.

What was most unsettling were the child’s eyes—they glowed a faint green. That eerie green gaze made Hou Dayong’s breath catch.

Even though Hou Dayong had seen a lot in his life, he was genuinely frightened by the child at this moment.

His eyes widened, and his voice wavered: “Who are you? Whose child are you? What are you doing at my house in the middle of the night?”

The child stared at both Hou Dayong and Qin Xiaoling with those green eyes, a flicker of defiance in his gaze. Then he jumped down from the windowsill and vanished instantly.

Startled by the child’s movement, Hou Dayong quickly threw off the covers and moved to get out of bed.

But Qin Xiaoling grabbed his wrist. “Don’t… don’t go over there.”

Her voice trembled, and her face was pale with fear as she glanced toward the window.

The child was terrifying, looking far from human, more like… a ghost.

Hou Dayong frowned.

He looked at his wife and said sternly, “I’m going to see what’s going on.”

He gently pried her hand away and hurried toward the window.

Qin Xiaoling bit her lip. “Dayong…”

Fear gripped her. Tonight, she felt, they might really be seeing a ghost.

She had never believed in ghosts before, but tonight… she believed.

Shivering, she followed him, putting on her shoes, her steps unsteady as they approached the window.

Hou Dayong looked down from the window.

Below, there was nothing but dense darkness.

He frowned and scanned the distance. Mist hung in the air, obscuring everything, but his instincts told him eyes were watching him from the fog.

He froze for a moment, then reached out and shut the window.

They usually left the window slightly ajar for fresh air; having it closed tight felt stifling. But this time, Hou Dayong locked the window, shutting it completely.

Qin Xiaoling came up beside him, unable to bring herself to look outside. She asked, her voice tight, “Did you… see anything?”

Hou Dayong steadied himself.

He held her close and walked back to the bed, his expression serious. “I didn’t see anything.”

Qin Xiaoling swallowed hard.

After a moment, she asked, “Dayong… what do you think that child… was?”

Hou Dayong frowned.

He didn’t answer immediately, instead walking to the bed first. Then he said, “As much as I don’t want to admit it… I think that child… might have been a ghost.”

If it weren’t a ghost, how could it have been so terrifying? How could such a small child jump from that height and disappear without a trace?

They were on the third floor. Even an adult jumping from that height would be injured or worse.

Qin Xiaoling already had a suspicion, but hearing her husband say it aloud made her heart skip a beat. She could hardly believe it.

She sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the blanket. “How could there be ghosts? In this world… I thought ghosts only existed in stories.”

Hou Dayong also sat down on the edge of the bed.

He frowned, thinking for a moment, then grabbed the talisman beside the pillow. “We’ve never seen a ghost before, but ever since we had this… that ghost came. I don’t think this is a peace talisman—it’s a summon-ghost talisman!”

A summon-ghost talisman?

Qin Xiaoling was horrified. She looked at the talisman in disbelief. “No way… The squad leader’s wife has no grudge against us, why would she give us a summon-ghost talisman? That… that must be a misunderstanding. Maybe that ghost came on its own, maybe…”

“Enough. At dawn, I’ll go ask the squad leader’s wife myself!” Hou Dayong said, gripping the talisman tightly.

After that, the couple couldn’t sleep at all.

No matter how tired they were, sleep wouldn’t come.

They sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for daylight.

Finally, around six in the morning, Hou Dayong could no longer sit still.

He put on his clothes and military cap. “I’m going to the squad leader’s house.”

“Wait, I’ll come with you,” Qin Xiaoling quickly dressed, glancing at her husband.

She no longer felt the house was safe; she didn’t dare stay there alone.

Especially since it was still dark—she feared that little ghost might return.

Hou Dayong understood her fear and nodded. “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

They left the house fully dressed, without even washing up, and went straight to Zhan Zeyan’s home.

Zhan Zeyan was in the kitchen, finishing breakfast.

Just as he was about to eat, someone knocked at the door.

The knock was hesitant yet urgent, as if afraid of disturbing anyone but eager to get a response.

Zhan Zeyan frowned, set down his bowl and stepped out of the kitchen.

At this early hour, who would come knocking?

Before he reached the living room, Xiao Wange emerged from the bedroom.

She wore pajamas with a coat over them.

A faint smile curved her lips as she said lightly, “Looks like they can’t wait as long as I thought.”

Zhan Zeyan paused mid-step.

He turned to her. “You knew someone would come knocking this early? Do you know who it is?”

Xiao Wange smiled.

She had set up a barrier at Zhaozhao’s room door so sounds from outside wouldn’t disturb him.

Walking toward the sofa, she smiled, “It’s Deputy Commander Hou and his wife. Go ahead, open the door.”

Zhan Zeyan looked puzzled—Hou Dayong and his wife? Why are they here so early?

He didn’t overthink it and opened the door.

Outside, Hou Dayong raised his arm, about to knock again, but the door opened before he could.

Seeing Zhan Zeyan’s serious expression, Hou Dayong’s initial anger and indignation dissipated.

He pressed his lips together and said, “Good morning, Commander Zhan.”

Zhan Zeyan looked at Hou Dayong and Qin Xiaoling with a wry, almost ironic smile. “Yes, very early indeed.”

The remark made the couple feel awkward—they knew coming so early was inappropriate, but they had urgent matters. They wanted to understand why the squad leader’s wife’s talisman had summoned a ghost and whether she had done it on purpose.

“I’m sorry, Commander Zhan. We shouldn’t disturb you so early, but we have urgent matters,” Hou Dayong said carefully.

Zhan Zeyan gestured them inside. “Come in. Sit down and explain.”

Once inside, they saw Xiao Wange was already up.

Hou Dayong’s feelings were complicated.

He frowned and greeted her calmly, “Good morning, sister-in-law.”

Although he was angry and wanted to question her, he restrained himself.

Qin Xiaoling also greeted her. “Sorry to disturb you so early, sister-in-law.”

Xiao Wange leaned against the sofa and smiled slightly. “Sit down first. I know you have questions. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Hou Dayong & Qin Xiaoling: “….”

They exchanged a glance, shocked.

It seemed the squad leader’s wife knew they were coming. Could it be she really had given them a summon-ghost talisman on purpose?

“Yesterday, you gave me a peace talisman. We put it by the pillow while sleeping, but around 3 a.m., Dayong and I actually saw… a ghost,” Qin Xiaoling said hesitantly, shivering at the memory of the pale little ghost.

“We’d never seen anything like it before. We never believed in ghosts, but after using your talisman, we…”

“Wait, you mean the talisman my wife gave summoned that ghost?” Zhan Zeyan interrupted, frowning at Qin Xiaoling.

Qin Xiaoling panicked slightly. “No, that’s not what I meant…”

“You did think that,” Xiao Wange said calmly. “If you didn’t think that, you wouldn’t have come here so early.”

Qin Xiaoling’s breath quickened, her face tensing. She tried to explain, “Sister-in-law, I really didn’t mean…”

Even if she had complaints internally, she couldn’t speak that way. Zhan Zeyan outranked her husband, and they worked together.

Xiao Wange said, “It’s fine. Your reaction is normal. But the ghost wasn’t summoned by the talisman. If it weren’t for the talisman, your child… wouldn’t have arrived at all.”

Qin Xiaoling and Hou Dayong were stunned—what does this have to do with a child?

Xiao Wange continued slowly: “You’re both healthy, but married for years without children. Ever wonder why?”

Qin Xiaoling’s throat went dry.

“By rights, your fate with a child had arrived. If not for that little ghost, you would already have a child.”

Hou Dayong’s breath caught. “Sister-in-law, you mean that ghost has been harming us all this time? That’s why we never had a child?”

Xiao Wange nodded.

Hou Dayong was puzzled. “But why? We never wronged that little ghost. Why harm us for so many years?”

Qin Xiaoling nodded in agreement. “Yes, why?”

Xiao Wange smiled faintly. “You had no enmity with him, but you have enmity with someone else. Or rather, you, Qin Xiaoling, have enmity with someone else.”

Her gaze fell on Qin Xiaoling.

Qin Xiaoling froze. “Enmity? I… I’ve always been kind. Who could hold a grudge against me? Who would want to harm me?”

She thought carefully but found no conflicts.

“Hou Commander,” Xiao Wange turned to Hou Dayong. “The person originally betrothed to you was actually Qin Xiaoling’s sister, right? You were supposed to marry her when she turned twenty. But you grew up and ended up marrying Qin Xiaoling instead.”

Hou Dayong’s eyes widened. “You mean… my wife’s sister sent that little ghost to harm us?”

Qin Xiaoling’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Impossible. My elder sister could never do that. She’s always been kind to me. She wouldn’t… send a little ghost after us for years.”

She instinctively thought Xiao Wange was exaggerating.

Xiao Wange said, “How is it impossible? You took the man that belonged to her, took the happiness that was hers. How could she forgive you?”

Qin Xiaoling froze, shaking her head. “I don’t believe it… I still don’t. My elder sister… wouldn’t do that.”

Hou Dayong’s face darkened.

He asked, “Sister-in-law, how do you know it was my wife’s sister? You’ve never met her before, right?”

Zhan Zeyan, sitting beside Xiao Wange, looked at Hou Dayong. “Are you doubting my wife’s abilities?”

Hou Dayong was speechless.

Zhan Zeyan added, “Honestly, I don’t like my wife interfering in your matters. I don’t want her goodwill to raise suspicion.”

Qin Xiaoling and Hou Dayong felt embarrassed, caught off guard.

Xiao Wange said to Qin Xiaoling calmly, “I’m helping you because you are relatively gentle, and because your husband works in the same unit as mine. I want your husband to live peacefully. If he lives peacefully, work goes smoothly, and my husband’s burden is eased.”

Qin Xiaoling: “….” She could hear the goodwill—Xiao Wange genuinely wanted to help.

“Your reaction is normal. If I were you, I’d react the same. But what I said is true—the little ghost you saw was arranged by your elder sister.”

Before Qin Xiaoling could respond, Xiao Wange continued: “After Hou Commander married you, your elder sister was married off to a man from the same village by your parents. That man was the village secretary’s son. On the surface, it seemed a good match. But he’s just a farmer, while Hou Commander is an officer. Your sister toils daily in the fields, while you live comfortably. Your lives differ greatly. How could your sister not have resentment? Moreover, the life you have now was originally hers.”

Qin Xiaoling tensed, especially at the last sentence—it hit her like a heavy blow.

She clenched her fingers, wanting to speak, but the words wouldn’t come.

Xiao Wange was right: she had taken her sister’s happiness. If her sister had married Hou Dayong, she wouldn’t be trapped in the village, toiling in the fields daily.

She suddenly recalled her sister’s words, longing to leave the village and experience life beyond it. Her sister believed life outside would be better.