Chapter 13
Chapter 13
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. During that time, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Old Fourth Tian’s family gradually relaxed, believing Deaf Granny’s evil-warding blade had chased off the filthy things.
Even Deaf Granny herself pushed the matter to the back of her mind and devoted all her attention to preparing for the birth of the next generation.
Ten months pregnant at last, Wang San’s Wife was finally about to deliver.
Inside the house, the laboring woman’s cries were so painful they tore at the heart. Sister-in-law Zhang and Deaf Granny bustled about, tense and frantic.
Out in the courtyard, Wang San, wrapped in a patched cotton coat, paced in tight circles, anxious to the point of near collapse.
Old Li murmured an attempt at comfort. “San’er, don’t panic. The baby will be out any minute.”
But in those days, with medical resources scarce, giving birth was like taking a walk through the Ghost Gate. How could it be that easy?
They struggled for half the night.
Sister-in-law Zhang was drenched in sweat, but what she said next brought everyone to despair.
“The baby’s stuck-obstructed labor! Hurry up and find a ride. Get her to the hospital!”
Wang San felt as if thunder had struck on a clear day. He blanked out for an instant, then bolted outside like he’d gone mad.
“I’ll go borrow an ox cart! Wife-hold on!”
Even Old Li, usually calm as stone, panicked. He took off toward his own home in two or three long strides.
He was rushing back to grab money.
And with that, no one was watching the six-year-old Hua Jiunan.
The little guy slipped into the house on his own.
After such a long labor-and with severe bleeding-Wang San’s Wife didn’t even have the strength left to cry out in pain.
Her face was paper-white as she lay on the kang, barely breathing.
Sister-in-law Zhang spotted Hua Jiunan coming in and immediately drove him off.
“Kids should stay outside! Don’t get in the way!”
Hua Jiunan had always been obedient. He turned to leave at once.
But he kept glancing back every few steps, a thoughtful look settling into his eyes.
When he reached the courtyard, Old Li happened to be returning with the money.
“Xiao Jiu,” Old Li said quickly, “Grandpa’s taking you to Old Fourth Tian’s place for the night. Your grandma and I have to hurry to town!”
From inside the room, Sister-in-law Zhang heard him and called out to correct him.
“Town won’t do! You need the big hospital in the county seat!”
Old Li and Deaf Granny both went slack-jawed.
The county seat?
That was more than three hundred li away!
With the road conditions in 1987, even if they managed to find a car willing to take them, it would still be four or five hours at the fastest.
“Zhang Family’s Daughter-in-law,” Old Li said anxiously, “it’s too far. I’m afraid San’er’s wife won’t be able to hold on!”
“Isn’t there any other way?!”
But Sister-in-law Zhang was just a village midwife. What other way could she have?
Right then, Hua Jiunan spoke up.
“Grandpa, Grandma. I have a way. Bone-Opening Powder.”
The two elders knew the kid was remarkable and immediately pressed him.
“Xiao Jiu, what’s Bone-Opening Powder?”
At that moment, Hua Jiunan looked like a tiny grown-up, his expression solemn.
“One liang of danggui. Five qian of chuanxiong. Eight qian of tortoise shell. A clump of burned hair ash.”
“Add four liang of raw Astragalus. Decoction in water and have her drink it.”
Old Li hesitated, half believing and half doubting.
“This is a matter of life and death. Can we really trust something a child says?”
Hua Jiunan nodded hard.
“Before she drinks it, have Third Sister-in-law hold a slice of the Ginseng King my mom gave me in her mouth. It’ll work. It has to.”
The Ginseng King was a thousand-year-old ginseng that the Snow Corpse had given Hua Jiunan on his fifth birthday.
Even someone on the verge of death could be kept alive for half an hour with just one slice.
At that level, the wild ginseng had, in a sense, already stepped beyond the category of “medicine.”
It was a spiritual object.
And it was the kind of spiritual object no amount of money could buy.
Forget everyone else- even Eighth Master Chang had been jealous of it for ages.
If he hadn’t feared the Snow Corpse, he might’ve already made a grab for it and fled.
Deaf Granny trusted the child without reservation.
“But where are we supposed to find those herbs?”
Hua Jiunan looked completely confident.
“Everything except the tortoise shell, Grandpa and I have collected before. It’s in the yard.”
“I’ll go get it!”
With that, he set off on his short little legs to gather the herbs.
But where were they going to find tortoise shell-especially in the dead of night?
At the critical moment, Deaf Granny heard a voice by her ear.
It was Eighth Master Chang-the one working with their spirit medium.
“Ask that little thing what ‘tortoise shell’ even is. Isn’t it just a turtle shell?”
“And does it have to have a few hundred years of cultivation?!”
On my conscience, for an ordinary case of obstructed labor, they didn’t need any spiritual object at all.
But Eighth Master Chang, eager to show off, went straight back into the mountains and brought back a piece of thousand-year-old earth-tortoise shell.
With everyone working at full speed, the Bone-Opening Powder was soon decocted.
After Third Sister-in-law drank it, the delivery truly went smoothly.
A fair-skinned little girl was born.
Mother and child were safe, and of course everyone was overjoyed.
Sister-in-law Zhang even teased Old Li.
“With skills like yours, Old Man, no one’s going to come looking for me to deliver babies anymore!”
Old Li, who’d ended up taking the credit whether he wanted it or not, flushed bright red.
An old man like him going door to door delivering babies-the image was painful just to imagine.
Sister-in-law Zhang bundled up the placenta and other bloody mess in some old rags, lifted it in her hand, and prepared to leave.
Deaf Granny couldn’t let her work through half the night for nothing. She took out money and tried to press it into Sister-in-law Zhang’s palm.
Sister-in-law Zhang refused again and again, adamant.
“You’re treating me like an outsider, aren’t you?!”
“If you do it like this, then what-if my family ever needs a favor from you and Old Li, I’m supposed to pay too?!”
Seeing she wouldn’t take it, Old Li stepped in to smooth things over.
“Fine. If Zhang Family’s Daughter-in-law won’t accept it, don’t force it.”
“Tomorrow I’ll catch a few rabbits and send them to her place.”
Sister-in-law Zhang beamed. “That’ll do.”
“When you bring them over, I’ll warm a pot of liquor. You can have a couple cups with my man!”
On her way home, Sister-in-law Zhang suddenly felt dizzy.
Then, as if guided by something unseen, she walked to Old Fourth Tian’s gate and threw the placenta into the dried-up well.
Under the ghastly pale moonlight, eerie laughter seemed to drift up faintly from within the well.
A moment later, a woman slowly crawled out.
And then she floated straight toward Deaf Granny’s home.