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墨書 Inktalez
Ma Tao's home was located on the outskirts of Sister-in-law Village, on a slightly elevated hillside. The entire house was made of earth and appeared to be on the verge of collapse, as if it could fall apart at any moment.
Knowing that there was no one at Ma Tao's house, Xing Ruyi confidently conjured a Ghost Fire. The eerie blue flame flickered gently in the night breeze. With the light, she could see her surroundings clearly, but what surprised Xing Ruyi was that she actually saw a person.
A woman dressed entirely in black, with disheveled hair. Because of her dark clothing, she seemed to blend into the night, making it difficult to notice her unless illuminated by the Ghost Fire. Due to the woman's unkempt hair, Xing Ruyi couldn't see her face clearly but sensed that the figure standing at the door was somewhat angry.
"Who are you?"
As Xing Ruyi took a step closer, the woman unexpectedly reached out with two bony arms and pulled hard on one of Xing Ruyi's arms with hands that had inch-long nails, desperately trying to drag her inside. Though confused, Xing Ruyi could sense that this Black-Clad Woman meant no harm.
Inside the house was even darker, filled with a musty odor mixed with the stench of animals and the decay of accumulated blood over the years. Once inside, the Black-Clad Woman released her grip and bent down to search for something in a corner. Sure enough, after a short while, she held out an object with both hands towards Xing Ruyi while casting a wary glance at the window.
The wind suddenly picked up and then just as suddenly fell silent. Xing Ruyi distinctly felt a Vengeful Spirit pass by gently and then leave just as softly. The Black-Clad Woman seemed unable to speak; she opened her mouth and made incoherent sounds while gesturing with her fingers in the air.
"You want me to look at this?" Xing Ruyi asked as she examined the object in the woman's hands.
It was an old blue cloth-wrapped package containing a brand new pomegranate-red skirt.
In the Golden Tang Dynasty, pomegranate skirts were highly favored by young women. This type of skirt, colored like pomegranate red without any other hues, often made the wearer look charming and beautiful. There was even a poem from that time that described how "the dark brows outshine the daylily's color; the red skirt is envious of the pomegranate flower," referring specifically to this pomegranate-red skirt.
Seeing that Xing Ruyi was fixated on the skirt, the Black-Clad Woman cautiously pointed outside. Almost instantly, an unusual shade of red flashed through Xing Ruyi's mind as she looked into the woman's eyes and asked, "Hui Niang?"
The Black-Clad Woman nodded silently.
"Who are you?"
This was the second time Xing Ruyi had asked those three words. The Black-Clad Woman glanced at her, pointed to herself, and then opened her mouth.
The woman's tongue had been gruesomely cut out.
"It’s Ma Tao!" It wasn't a question but a statement of certainty. Although she didn't know what kind of relationship existed between this Black-Clad Woman and Ma Tao, her familiarity with finding this package in Ma Tao's home indicated that their connection was indeed unusual.
The woman nodded, fear flickering in her eyes as she grasped Xing Ruyi's hand with fingers as thin as twigs.
The fox has come!
Li Siniang and Shengzi dragged the half-unconscious Ma Tao along with them!
Even Chang Tai and the villagers who had been trapped in Sister-in-law Village came!
The originally dark courtyard was suddenly illuminated by torches. Xing Ruyi held the hand of the woman in black with one hand and supported a blue cloth-wrapped bundle with the other as she walked into the courtyard, stepping into the light.
With just one glance, Wang Peng exclaimed, "Isn't that Cui'er, who went missing from the neighboring village? How did she end up like this?"
"Her name is Cui'er?"
"Her full name is Cui Cui, the daughter of Old Ma's family from the neighboring village. She went missing two years ago while going out to buy medicine for her mother and never returned." Wang Peng stepped forward to confirm, "That's right, it's her! Old Ma was a carpenter; I even asked him to help me make a cabinet back then."
"Yes, yes, I can testify! When Wang Peng's family was making cabinets, Cui'er also came to help her father. She was quite pretty, and many unmarried young men in the village came to see her. Some even boldly proposed to Old Ma. Then later, Cui'er went missing, and her mother couldn't bear the blow and passed away too. Old Ma lost his daughter first, then his wife; he completely lost his spirit. A while ago, I went to the neighboring village to inquire about some supernatural occurrences and saw him once; he looked just like my grandfather."
Upon hearing these words, Cui'er tightened her grip on Xing Ruyi's hand. Tears welled up in her dry eyes, and her whole body trembled slightly. Her mouth opened slightly but could only produce hoarse sounds.
"What happened to Cui'er? How did she become mute?" Wang Peng scanned Ma Tao's courtyard and suddenly slapped his thigh hard: "I understand now! It's that scoundrel Ma Tao! He kidnapped Cui'er and caused her to end up like this!"
As soon as Wang Peng said this, the villagers from Sister-in-law Village became indignant.
"I knew Ma Tao was no good! Everything strange happening in this village is related to him! As for the supernatural occurrences here, aren't they all because of Ma Tao? And Hui Niang—Hui Niang's situation—"
Just as he was getting worked up, someone beside him suddenly tugged at him forcefully. The air grew strange as silence fell. A breeze inexplicably picked up, a chill slowly seeping into everyone's hearts. The villagers who had been outraged over Cui'er's situation unconsciously huddled closer together. Cui'er clearly sensed something; she raised her head and pointed behind the villager who had just spoken.
Xing Ruyi saw Hui Niang—a beautiful woman who clearly seemed mentally unstable. She wore a tattered pomegranate-red dress and held a dirty pillow in her arms, standing motionless behind that villager.
"Hui Niang!" Xing Ruyi softly spoke, but the villagers trembled in response. They wanted to flee but found their legs weak; they wished to close their eyes but couldn't lower their eyelids no matter how hard they tried.
At that moment, Li Siniang's question broke the suffocating atmosphere: "What happened to Hui Niang?"
Li Siniang wasn't asking Xing Ruyi but rather the villager who had just spoken. With that one turn of his head, Si Niang's gaze met Hui Niang's crazed eyes. However, Hui Niang could see Si Niang while Si Niang could not see Hui Niang. Hui Niang first looked at Li Siniang, then tilted her head and took a step forward. The faces of one person and one ghost locked onto each other.
Li Siniang clearly felt a chill; she rubbed her arms but kept her gaze fixed on the villager who had just spoken: "You need to tell me what happened to Hui Niang! Is it related to her death? Did Ma Tao cause Hui Niang's death too?"
"Pretty much!" The villager stammered out.
"Uncle Wang, please don't be reckless!" a villager spoke up, his voice trembling.
"What are we being reckless about? It's just a small matter that we've been holding in our hearts, and it's driving us all crazy." The speaker was Wang Peng, who scanned the villagers before him. "Even though we can't see her, everyone knows that Hui Niang died unjustly. She has stayed in the village all these years. Everyone feels guilty in their hearts, which is why we took the initiative to help repair her house. But what's the point of repairing it now that she's gone? We might as well sincerely apologize to Hui Niang, admit our mistakes, and when we meet her again in a hundred years, we can bow down properly. In our Sister-in-law Village, this is the only thing we've done that weighs heavily on our hearts. Hui Niang was kind; she wouldn't hold it against us!"
After Wang Peng finished speaking, he turned to Li Siniang and said, "We know you had a good relationship with Hui Niang. I'll be honest with you: Hui Niang did indeed die in a fire, but it was an accident—really just an accident. We were deceived by that scoundrel Ma Tao."
"Tell me how Hui Niang died!" Li Siniang asked, her body trembling and her hands clenched.
"Alas!" Wang Peng sighed deeply. "Ever since Hui Niang's child died, she went mad. But her madness was different from others; she would often chase after children in the village, causing panic among families with kids. Gradually, rumors began to spread that Hui Niang was stealing children and cooking them at home. We didn't believe it because all the children in the village were fine; although sometimes they would be frightened by Hui Niang, none of them went missing. But even so, there was still some discomfort in our hearts. Then one day, Wang Er's son went missing. We searched everywhere but couldn't find him. Just when everyone was frantic, Ma Tao showed up, dirty and covered in bloodstains. When he learned we were looking for a child, he claimed he had seen Hui Niang take the child away and said he got hurt trying to save him."
"Did you believe him?" Xing Ruyi asked, her gaze growing colder.
"At that time, everyone was anxious about finding the child and didn't think too deeply about what Ma Tao said. I don't know who suggested it first, but everyone went to Hui Niang's house. However, she wasn't home; we couldn't find her anywhere. Wang Er couldn't handle the stress and actually set fire to Hui Niang's yard. Perhaps because everyone had some reservations about the mad Hui Niang, no one stepped forward to stop him when they saw him starting the fire. Just then, Hui Niang returned—just like usual, mad and dirty." Wang Peng paused for a moment before adding, "I remember catching a glimpse of Hui Niang; she had injuries on her body and her clothes were much more tattered than usual. We originally wanted to stop her and ask about the child, but when she saw the fire, she rushed in like a madwoman. Several of us strong men couldn't catch her; we could only watch helplessly as she ran into the flames. At that moment, we wanted to put out the fire too, but it was too intense; there wasn't enough water in the yard to extinguish it. Eventually, as the flames grew larger, everyone gave up on trying to save her. Honestly speaking, at that time, I think everyone felt the same way: someone like Hui Niang—a madwoman—dying wasn't such a bad thing after all. But through the window engulfed in flames, we saw Hui Niang holding onto her pillow and singing softly; that's when we realized she rushed into the fire to save her child! To tell you the truth, by then I already felt some regret."
"What about the missing child? Was it taken by Hui Niang?" Li Siniang asked with tears welling up in her eyes.
"No! Just as the fire was dying down, that child came back. She had gone to play in the woods and accidentally stepped into a trap meant for catching animals; it was Hui Niang who saved her! Ma Tao was there too when Hui Niang rescued her but didn't help at all. Oh, and at that time Ma Tao seemed to be holding something red in his hand; he was scared and didn't get a good look at it either. I guess it was something used for trapping animals."
At this point in his story, Cui Er—who had been silent until now—became agitated. She pointed excitedly at Xing Ruyi's pomegranate-red skirt and then at Hui Niang before finally directing her gaze toward Ma Tao, who was still half-conscious.
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