PCJ – Chapter 43 Gloomy Mountain

“You carry the burden, I ride the horse… Ow! Mom, Dad hit me!” Zhang Jiaohua got a heavy pat on his butt from his dad and immediately complained to his mom.

Liu Qiaoye chuckled, “Good hit. Who told you to misbehave?”

“Neither of you is a good person. Always picking on me, a little kid,” Zhang Jiaohua grumbled.

“You deserve it,” Liu Qiaoye’s mood had been heavy, but the brat lightened it up a bit. However, thinking of his nephew, she couldn’t help but worry again, “I wonder how Xizi is doing now? We should have gone to town immediately that day, maybe Xizi wouldn’t be in such a situation.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a fever, right? A shot at the hospital and it’ll be fine,” Zhang Youping quickly reassured his wife.

“How can I not worry? Xianglin said Xizi’s fever hasn’t subsided, even after getting a shot from the doctor. If a child has such a severe fever and it persists, it could damage the brain,” Liu Qiaoye’s worry intensified as she spoke, quickening her pace.

Zhang Youping naturally understood his wife’s feelings and hurried to catch up.

The mountains are secluded and the water is long, but the countryside is so sad. The water of the Lanshexi stream is always whimpering, and the plum mountains are full of melancholy.

When Zhang Jiaohua’s family arrived at the Fengyu Bridge in Lanshexi Village, Zhang Jiaohua suddenly saw a child sitting on the bridge, crying incessantly at the Lanshexi, as if lost.

“Dad, there’s someone on the bridge,” Zhang Jiaohua whispered in his father’s ear.

Zhang Youping was puzzled, thinking someone was bathing on the bridge, but after looking around, he didn’t see a soul. “Nonsense. Where did you see someone?”

Liu Qiaoye was also uneasy, looking around several times, but there was no one in sight!

“But! It’s right there…” Zhang Jiaohua suddenly stopped speaking because he saw the child on the bridge floating up. How could a person fly?

Zhang Youping and Liu Qiaoye both looked in the direction pointed by the child, but there was no one there.

“Whoosh!”

It seemed like someone jumped into the Lanshexi.

Liu Qiaoye quickly shone the flashlight into the creek, only to see a huge water mark right where Zhang Jiaohua had pointed with his finger just now. Could there really have been someone here just now?

“Who? Who’s bathing here?” Liu Qiaoye shouted boldly, but there was no response. The river was empty.

A farmer named Liu Delu, who lived by the Lanshexi Creek, turned on the lights in his house, opened the door, and came out, staring at Liu Qiaoye’s family.

“Oh, it’s Qiaoye. Why are you returning to your mother’s house so late?” Liu Delu recognized Liu Qiaoye at a glance.

“Xizi is sick, so I came back to take a look,” Liu Qiaoye said with a worried look.

“What were you just saying?” Liu Delu asked.

“I heard the sound of water in the river just now, thinking someone was bathing. Maybe it’s a fish,” Liu Qiaoye didn’t want to mention the situation where Zhang Jiaohua claimed to have seen someone on the bridge just now.

“It may not be a fish. The river has been restless lately. It all started from the day Xizi almost drowned in the river. Now no one in the village dares to bathe in the river. They say there’s a water ghost catching substitutes. That day, they failed to catch one, so now they’re angry in the river every day. Many people have heard someone crying on the Fengyu Bridge recently. You really shouldn’t have come here at night,” Liu Delu said with some fear as he looked at the Lan Snake Creek.

“Delu uncle, do you know how Xizi is doing now?” Liu Qiaoye asked.

“I heard he’s going to town tomorrow. He tried to call a tractor today but couldn’t. It’s so hot, going out on the mountain roads. If something happens, it’ll be a disaster,” Liu Delu’s words made Liu Qiaoye even more worried.

“Delu uncle, I’m going home first,” Liu Qiaoye forgot his previous fear in an instant.

After walking far away, Zhang Youping quietly asked the brat, “The person you saw just now, was it a boy or a girl?”

“It seemed like a boy. It looked like Xizi,” Zhang Jiaohua didn’t know what he should and shouldn’t say.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Zhang Youping was startled by Zhang Jiaohua’s words. He knew what Zhang Jiaohua’s words implied.

Liu Qiaoye stumbled and fell, the flashlight in his hand fell to the ground, and he fell down.

“You little brat, I told you not to speak nonsense.” Zhang Youping grabbed the brat from his back and slapped him hard on the butt, making a loud smack.

“It’s clearly because you asked me to say it,” Zhang Jiaohua rubbed his butt and pouted.

Zhang Youping quickly went over to help his wife up, then picked up the flashlight. The glass of the flashlight was broken. It seemed he had to compensate Zhang Dechun with a new one. Fortunately, the bulb was intact. The flashlight still worked.

“Are you hurt?” Zhang Youping checked his wife up and down.

“No, just my hands are a bit numb,” Liu Qiaoye had used her hands to support herself when she fell. This was a main road in the countryside. Previously, the main roads in the countryside were paved with one-meter-long stone slabs. Clapping her hands on the slabs naturally hurt a lot.

“Brat, when you get to the grandpas’ house, don’t mention seeing someone on the Fengyu Bridge just now, okay?” Zhang Youping hurriedly instructed the brat.

“Yuping, my eyelids have been twitching a lot. Could something be wrong with Xizi?” Liu Qiaoye was a bit worried.

“It’ll be fine,” although Zhang Youping wasn’t confident, his tone was very affirmative.

The entire Liu family was filled with worry, as Xizi’s high fever persisted without relief. Various methods from Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and even folk remedies had all been tried, but none had the slightest effect. Even the village’s Dao expert, Guo Daogui, had been called upon to take a look, but nothing conclusive was found. Guo Daogui believed that Xizi had experienced a shock and lost his soul. However, despite performing a ritual at the Fengyu Bridge last night to retrieve the lost soul, it had proven futile. Guo Daogui later mentioned that the spiritual impurities in Lanshexi Creek were too strong. He admitted his lack of preparation and stated his intention to conduct another ritual at Liu Tongmao’s house, where he would request a few magical artifacts from his master. Surely, this would be able to subdue any river spirits.

Liu Biao immediately chastised Guo Daogui for playing tricks and deceiving people for personal gain, even threatening to beat him with a pole. Guo Daogui responded by saying that regardless of how the Liu family sought his help in the future, he would not assist them. He and the Dao experts of this area were of the same sect, and if he felt wronged at Liu’s house, he would seek justice from all Dao experts in the region. He refused to meddle in Liu’s affairs.

Although Guo Daogui’s level of expertise was not high, he had some knowledge. It seemed he sensed that something was amiss with the Liu family’s situation. However, with his level of expertise, he was unable to resolve it. Originally, he had planned to seek help from his sect and find a master to come over. But he hadn’t expected to encounter Liu Biao’s hot temper.

“Biaozi, you shouldn’t have offended Guo Daogui. We’ve tried both Western and Chinese medicine, but none have worked. Perhaps Guo Daogui’s words hold some truth. Now that you’ve offended him, what are we going to do?” Liu Tongmao sat in the courtyard, sighing deeply.

Liu Biao was also extremely anxious. “Dad, I’ve already arranged with Yang Zhigang. Tomorrow morning, I’ll ride his tractor straight to the county town. I refuse to believe that the county hospital can’t cure Xizi’s illness!”