We tiptoed out of the room. In an attempt to not be seen by the other villagers, Yin Xinyue took us on a small path. Soon, we reached Fourth Uncle"s house.
The rhythmic knocking sounds came from the room inside. I muttered to Yin Xinyue, "You really can"t hear anything?"
Yin Xinyue shook her head, confirming, "Yeah, nothing."
It"s strange. Why am I the only one who can hear it? I silently pushed the window open and peeped in.
Fourth Uncle was sitting in the same position as the day before; he was sitting on a chair, holding a stick and hitting the wooden fish.
Although I had told Yin Xinyue and Li Mazi Fourth Uncle"s strange situation, when they saw him knocking on the wooden fish, their mouths were glued open in disbelief.
Yin Xinyue was about to scream so I hurried to cover her mouth. "Be quiet, don"t talk. Get your phone and quickly record what he is doing."
Yin Xinyue took out her phone, aimed it at Fourth Uncle and began recording. I could tell Yin Xinyue was terrified. Her hands were shaking so much I ended up having to record it all myself.
Fourth Uncle knocked for several minutes before holding up the wooden fish and blowing into it. He continued like that for a while. All of a sudden, he dropped the wooden fish and opened his eyes, looking in the direction we were hiding in.
My heart skipped a beat. s.h.i.+t. We have been busted!
I wondered if the wooden fish had spotted us or if it was Fourth Uncle himself.
While I was thinking of what to do next, Fourth Uncle slowly got up. What is he doing? I was so anxious. Is he about to attack us?
To be safe, I rushed Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue to the courtyard next door and observed Fourth Uncle from there instead.
Fourth Uncle walked out with the wooden fish stuck on his forehead. He was staggering as if he was drunk.
The wooden fish was adhered to his forehead, and no matter how hard he shook his head, it didn"t fall off.
He began coming towards the corner, picking up an iron shovel. I was startled. Instinctively, I thought that he was about to attack us. So, I drew the dagger I had kept at my waist.
However, Fourth Uncle was not bothered by our presence in the slightest and he turned around and left the courtyard.
It was pitch black outside, the dead of night, we could even hear wolves howling. What was he about to do with that shovel? Was he going hunting? Well, if he wanted to hunt, he wouldn"t have picked up a shovel.
I didn"t like to overthink it. Li Mazi, Yin Xinyue and I continued to follow him. Fourth Uncle lurched and knocked on someone"s door. When the door opened, he said, "Wake up and get to work…"
The villagers looked at Fourth Uncle strangely, like they were horrified. Fourth Uncle had his eyes shut and a wooden fish stuck on his forehead; his appearance made people shudder.
I was afraid that they would wake up Fourth Uncle from his parasomnia, so I stood behind him, softly whispering to the villagers to ask them to do what Fourth Uncle said.
The villagers were stunned. However, they seemed to know that it was the road-blocking ghost so they all listened to Fourth Uncle"s order. They found their shovels and followed him outside.
Fourth Uncle yelled and summoned all the people in the village. As it was the middle of the night, it caused a huge commotion.
I asked Yin Xinyue to comfort the villagers, telling them not to be scared. The road-blocking ghost was controlling Fourth Uncle. We wanted to see what it wanted and if anything dangerous were to happen, I was there to help.
After Yin Xinyue had comforted them, people felt better, walking behind Fourth Uncle to the road leading to their village.
The cold moonlight shone on them, but the shadows from the trees" leaves and branches blocked and hindered it, creating a big net of shadows.
I was worried that something dangerous might happen. I asked the villagers to stay and wait by the village entrance while Li Mazi and I walked behind Fourth Uncle.
When Fourth Uncle came to the ditch where many traffic accidents had happened, his mouth curved into a bizarre smile. He then put the shovel down, saying, "The luck of this place isn"t good. Whenever someone drives past, they will become somewhat dazed, and it"s easy to fall into the ditch. If we fill the ditch, we won"t have to worry anymore..."
When I heard that, gooseb.u.mps rose on my skin. It wasn"t Fourth Uncle"s voice at all. It was the voice of a senile woman! Although it was a little hoa.r.s.e, it had a touch of kindness.
The villagers were scared, their faces turned pale.
While trying to fill the ditch, Fourth Uncle sighed, "It"s just a pity that my son died young, but it was his destiny."
I was shocked. I knew the road-blocking ghost had just spoken!
She was truly someone who had achieved enlightenment. Although the villagers had treated her, their benefactor, badly and they had even killed her "son", she still repaid their grudge with kindness. She still cared about the villagers" welfare.
I wondered what the villagers were thinking? They all looked frightened and couldn"t process what they were seeing, s.h.i.+vering in fear whilst watching Fourth Uncle.
Fourth Uncle used his shovel to dig up soil and began to fill the ditch. I wiped my tears, grabbing the shovel from a man standing nearby. I walked forward and helped Fourth Uncle fill the ditch.
After a while, the other villagers finally began to help, hurrying to us. At this moment, it seemed as though everyone was working together to help fill the ditch.
Seeing the ditch about to be filled, Fourth Uncle suddenly trembled. He fell on the ground, his limbs convulsing.
I immediately ran towards him and tried to help him.
The wooden fish finally fell off his forehead.
Fourth Uncle opened his eyes, drowsily looking around, his voice faint. "Where am I? I… I saw an old nun."
I asked, "Fourth Uncle, do you remember that we have just filled the ditch?"
Fourth Uncle hesitated then said, "I have a faint memory of it."
He looked at the site where people were working hard, his eyes reddening. "Warrior, is it actually like what you said?"
I nodded, "I"m afraid so."
Fourth Uncle kneeled, screaming and crying, "Blame me! Blame me! I mistook our benefactor!"
I picked up the wooden fish, handing it to Fourth Uncle. "Let it rest, too!"Fourth Uncle nodded, burying the wooden fish in the ditch.
Afterward, Fourth Uncle returned to the village. Then, he held another feast to show his grat.i.tude to the wooden fish. At the end, the villagers gathered to bury the python"s skeleton in the ditch.
Later on, Yin Xinyue told me that no more traffic incidents have occurred in that area. An investor had come and built roads in her hometown, helping out the village ma.s.sively.
I strongly believed that it was the old nun who had protected them…There is a lot of darkness in life. But we should not ignore the light just because of the darkness. Just because there are bad people, we shouldn"t conclude everybody comes to us with bad intention.
Please be more forgiving and less harming! One shouldn"t hurt the kind people"s heart.