chapter 42
Song Xiaotian and I stood where we were, not daring to go over and look, nor to leave.
Because there was no light, we couldn’t be sure whether it was a dead person or a living one.
I thought it looked like a dead body, but Song Xiaotian said… could it be a ghost?
I hurriedly covered his mouth, telling him not to say that word at a time like this.
“Shine your phone over there…”
Song Xiaotian said, “If it’s a dead body, just lying out here in the open, there’s no way the villagers wouldn’t do something about it, right?”
We quickly took out our phones, turned on the flashlight mode, and shone the light in that direction.
The beam from the flashlight soon illuminated everything over there clearly.
It really was an Old Man lying there, his eyes staring straight at us.
We were so startled that we nearly dropped our phones.
He was alive!
“Damn, that Old Man scared me half to death.”
Song Xiaotian immediately dragged me over, ready to lift the door board and rescue the Old Man.
“Hey, Old Man, you saw someone coming, why didn’t you call out?”
As Song Xiaotian and I lifted the door board, we asked the Old Man.
To be honest, the door board wasn’t heavy at all, almost weightless, but maybe the Old Man’s legs weren’t good, so after falling he couldn’t get up.
I noticed there was a picture of a door god pasted on the board-could it be that the door god was pressing him down?
Unexpectedly, as soon as we lifted the board, the Old Man got up by himself, but he seemed very afraid of us and immediately put some distance between us.
Song Xiaotian and I exchanged glances, not quite understanding the Old Man’s behavior.
“Thank you, young men. You’re from outside, aren’t you?”
The Old Man spoke, thanking us.
“Old Man, yes, we’re from outside. Are you alright?” Song Xiaotian tried to go over and help him.
But the Old Man wouldn’t let us get close.
I thought, at his age, is he still afraid of strangers?
This Old Man was odd.
“Young men, don’t come over. I don’t like interacting with outsiders.”
After steadying himself, the Old Man sized us up: “You’re from outside. Why did you come to our village at this hour? What are you planning to do?”
He seemed to think we were thieves, so I quickly explained, “We’re from the city, here to look for someone.”
The Old Man squinted his eyes, “Who are you looking for?”
I said, “Li Xiumei. I’m looking for Li Xiumei’s home. Do you know where she lives?”
The Old Man thought for a moment, then frowned, “I’ve lived in this village all my life, never heard of anyone with a Xiumei girl in their family.”
I thought, if he’s a local, how could he not know Li Xiumei?
But I quickly realized my mistake.
I shouldn’t have asked for Li Xiumei; I should have asked for Li Yujiao. Li Xiumei was the name Li Yujiao took after her crime, so it’s normal that the villagers wouldn’t know.
So I repeated Li Yujiao’s name.
“Yujiao girl…”
The Old Man’s expression changed quickly, “Why are you looking for her? That girl committed a crime years ago and hasn’t been back for more than ten years.”
Song Xiaotian and I exchanged a glance and lied, “We’re police officers, investigating the old case. We want to talk to Li Yujiao’s family to understand the situation.”
The Old Man looked skeptical, “It’s been so many years and you’re still investigating? Didn’t you already know she was the murderer? She hasn’t come back all these years.”
I thought, of course she hasn’t come back-she’s been inside for fifteen years, only dug up recently.
“If we haven’t caught her, we have to keep investigating, to give justice to the victim. We’re just here to understand the situation, hoping you can point us in the right direction, Old Man.”
The Old Man no longer doubted us and pointed out a direction: “It’s right at the East End of Village, just keep walking straight ahead, the most dilapidated house is theirs.”
Although this Old Man kept saying he was afraid of strangers, he was actually quite talkative and continued on his own: “Back then, Li Yujiao committed a homicide, which really ruined her family. Everyone in the village despises them.”
“Later, Li Yujiao’s father didn’t last two years before dying of anger, leaving behind a widow and orphans. Only our family is kind-hearted enough to help them out sometimes. Otherwise, Li Yujiao’s old mother and that fool wouldn’t have survived for long.”
I was a bit curious: “Li Yujiao’s family has a fool?”
The Old Man nodded: “Doesn’t she have a younger brother, Li Liang? When Li Liang was little, he got seriously ill, but they had no money for treatment. Later, somehow they got some money and took him for treatment. His life was saved, but it was delayed too long, and Li Liang got meningitis and became mentally disabled.”
“Everyone in the village says it’s retribution.”
I sighed as I listened.
Li Xiumei, in order to treat her brother, ended up, together with Lv Zhengxian, ruining Du Yuwei’s entire family, but still couldn’t cure her brother.
To be a fool for a lifetime-maybe it would have been better to die and be reborn early.
I thanked the Old Man: “Alright, you should head back soon. It’s not safe to be out in the dark like this.”
The Old Man laughed: “I’m heading back right away. I’m moving house early tomorrow, but I don’t like that place. I thought I’d come out and see if there’s somewhere better, but ended up falling here.”
Song Xiaotian and I didn’t quite understand what he meant.
He said he was moving, so the new house must be finished before he could move in.
Since the new house was done, why was he still out looking?
But when people get old, their words do tend to get a bit muddled.
I asked the Old Man if he needed us to walk him home, in case he fell again.
He said no, then turned and left.
Song Xiaotian and I followed the direction he had pointed out, planning to visit Li Xiumei’s house first.
Li Xiumei had died fifteen years ago, and was killed by Lv Zhengxian. Her family surely didn’t know about this.
Now only her mother and her brother were left. I planned to tell her mother directly about her death, to reveal the truth and say it was Lv Zhengxian who killed her. That way, Li Xiumei’s mother would surely resent Lv Zhengxian, and maybe she’d tell us something useful.
Walking along the country path, late at night, both Song Xiaotian and I felt a bit uneasy.
“Have you noticed how many graves there are in this village…” Song Xiaotian suddenly asked me.
Along the way, we had indeed seen many graves.
I said it was normal. Before cremation was enforced, everyone was buried in the earth. When villagers died, they were buried in the village.
In such a poor place, even now, people are still buried in the ground when they die.
“What I mean is, half the houses in this village are abandoned, and there are more graves than houses… Do you think the people from those houses are all living in the graves now…”
Song Xiaotian’s words startled me. I snapped, “Bro, can you not make wild guesses in this creepy environment?”
Just as we were talking, we suddenly spotted someone not far ahead.
That person was standing by the edge of a well, doing something unknown.
We froze, not daring to go any closer.
Because next to that well, there was also a grave…