PWE – Chapter 34 I heard grandma crying

Because it was still early in the morning, there were hardly any people outside.

Xiao Wange and Zhan Zeyan ran down the road, unseen by anyone.

If anyone had seen them, they probably would’ve been scared to death — Zhan Zeyan’s speed was unnaturally fast, and that red figure beside him looked eerie and terrifying.

When they reached Hongta Mountain, it was shrouded in heavy morning fog. It had rained after midnight, so the mountain forest was damp everywhere, and walking through it quickly soaked the hems of their pants.

Zhan Zeyan had been chasing the red figure through the woods for some time when he suddenly stopped, his gaze fixing on a small child standing ahead.

The child was wearing only thin clothes — so thin that just looking at him made one feel cold.

Zhan Zeyan stared at the child for a few seconds, then suddenly strode forward and shouted loudly, “Zhaozhao!”

Only after calling out did he suddenly realize something — Zhaozhao was now nothing but a soul. Yet somehow, he could see him.

He was shocked, but there was no time to think about it now. He kept his eyes fixed on the child, afraid that he might vanish at any moment.

“Daddy…” Zhaozhao’s eyes lit up when he saw Zhan Zeyan. He immediately started running toward him. “Daddy, you came! I got lost just now — I didn’t know how to get down the mountain, but you came to find me! Did you come just to pick me up? You’re the best, Daddy!”

Zhan Zeyan instinctively reached out his arms, ready to catch the boy as usual.

But when Zhaozhao leapt into his arms — he passed right through him.

Just like a ghost walking through a wall, the boy went straight through Zhan Zeyan’s body.

Zhan Zeyan froze for a second, then quickly understood — the child was a soul. Souls have no physical form, so of course he couldn’t touch him.

Zhaozhao, however, was stunned too.

He looked down at himself in confusion, then raised his head and asked in surprise, “Daddy, how… how did I just go through you?”

Clearly, Zhaozhao didn’t realize he was a spirit now. He thought it was his real body that had done it.

Zhan Zeyan pressed his lips together, just about to explain — when Xiao Wange caught up to them.

Seeing Zhaozhao, she called out anxiously, “Zhaozhao!”

When the boy saw her, his eyes lit up again. “Mommy!” He ran toward her, wanting a hug.

But as Xiao Wange looked at his faintly translucent form, her brows furrowed. She quickly bit her fingertip and drew a talisman on her palm with her own blood.

Zhan Zeyan glanced at her movements, a bit taken aback. She can draw talismans with her finger?
If she could do that, why had she asked him to fetch a brush earlier? He’d thought talismans could only be drawn with brushes.

After finishing the sigil, Xiao Wange opened her palm, facing Zhaozhao. She recited an incantation under her breath, and the glowing talisman shot toward him, imprinting on his body.

The moment it landed, Zhaozhao’s form solidified — he quickly gained a tangible body.

“Mommy?” Zhaozhao looked confused, staring at where the mark had struck.

Xiao Wange walked up and scooped him into her arms. “You little rascal — why did you run up the mountain?”

He was a living soul — and living souls, or new souls, have no physical form. To manifest a solid body, a spirit needs to reach a certain level of strength. Like Taotao — after turning into a ghost, he’d cultivated into a fierce ghost before he could appear physically.

But for Zhaozhao, a young soul, that wasn’t possible. He could only rely on external power to gain substance — and even that would last no more than an hour.

“Mommy…” Zhaozhao snuggled into her arms. Now that he was tangible again, he began to feel the chill.

He looked down at his clothes. “I should’ve worn more. I should’ve put on the padded jacket you bought me, Mommy.”

He’d left in such a rush that he’d forgotten it entirely.

At that moment, Zhan Zeyan came over.

Looking down at the boy, he said, “Your mom asked why you came up the mountain. Why don’t you answer her?”

Zhaozhao burrowed deeper into Xiao Wange’s arms and quickly said, “Mommy, I saw Grandma. I just saw Grandma on the mountain.”

At that, both Xiao Wange’s and Zhan Zeyan’s expressions darkened.

Xiao Wange fixed her gaze on the boy. “You saw your Grandma? Where did you see her?”

Zhaozhao pointed up the slope. “Over there, higher up the mountain.”

Zhan Zeyan’s brow furrowed slightly.

Following the direction of Zhaozhao’s finger, he turned back to Xiao Wange. “My mother’s buried up there.”

Her eyes hardened. “So she summoned him? But your mother’s been dead so long — she should’ve reincarnated by now. How could she still be here? Unless… she died unjustly. Or someone has bound her soul to this mountain.”

Zhan Zeyan’s face darkened. “Died unjustly?”

His mother had drowned — she’d fallen into the river by accident. At the time, he’d been away with the army. By the time he rushed home, she had already been dead for two or three days. The village chief and local party secretary both said she’d slipped while washing clothes.

There’d been similar accidents before, so although he’d grieved, he hadn’t doubted it.

But now… it seemed there was more to it.

And if someone had trapped her soul here — that was even more sinister. His mother had always been kind and gentle, never quarreled with anyone. Who could possibly hate her enough to do such a thing?

“I heard Grandma crying when I was asleep,” Zhaozhao said. “She was crying really hard — really, really sad. I wanted to see her and make her feel better, so I followed the sound up the mountain.”

He paused, then added, “When I got there, I saw Grandma sitting on her grave, crying. She said someone used magic to trap her there — that she couldn’t leave. And also…”

“And also what?” Xiao Wange pressed, staring at him.

Zhaozhao continued, “Grandma said someone pushed her into the water. She said she was pushed.”

The moment he said that, both Xiao Wange’s and Zhan Zeyan’s faces grew grim.

Xiao Wange murmured, “So it’s true. Your mother really died unjustly.”

Not only that — someone had trapped her soul here. Which likely meant that the one who bound her was the same person who killed her.

“Did Grandma tell you who pushed her?” Zhan Zeyan asked.

Zhaozhao shook his head. “No. Grandma said that person was very evil, and told me not to worry about it yet. She thought Daddy wasn’t home — she said when Daddy came back, he should come up the mountain. She said she’d tell Daddy herself and ask him to avenge her. She told me not to tell anyone else, only Daddy.”

Xiao Wange could understand the old woman’s concern — she was afraid the culprit might harm Zhaozhao if he spoke. So she’d told him to keep quiet.

Now Xiao Wange really wanted to know who had killed her.

“We’re already on the mountain,” Zhan Zeyan said, turning to her. “Should we go see my mother’s grave?”

Xiao Wange frowned. “Better to take the child back first. His soul’s been out of his body too long — that’s dangerous.”

She didn’t spell it out, but Zhan Zeyan understood immediately.

He nodded. “Then we’ll come back later.”

He took the boy from her and wrapped him tightly in his army coat.

The three of them — two adults and one child — hurried down the mountain. But when they reached their courtyard gate, they ran into Xu Meifeng.

She was holding a cabbage, clearly just back from the fields.

Seeing Zhan Zeyan, she gave a thin, fake smile. “Zeyan, you’re back.”

Xu Meifeng didn’t dare look him in the eye — she always felt guilty and uneasy around him. After all, she’d beaten and scolded his son so cruelly before, and everyone in the village knew it. She was sure Zhan Zeyan knew too, and that he resented her for it.

After speaking, she glanced at Zhaozhao, wrapped tightly in Zhan Zeyan’s arms, and forced another smile — even more insincere this time. “What’s this? Zhaozhao’s up so early too? Where are you all off to, this early in the morning?”

Xiao Wange shot her a sharp look — and in that instant, seeing the karmic debt of a life clinging to Xu Meifeng, a terrifying possibility struck her.