I took a deep breath. I hadn"t expected that there would be road-blocking ghosts here.
After arriving at Fourth Uncle"s place, Li Mazi and I kept yawning. We had been driving for two days and two nights, and we were really exhausted. Fourth Uncle told us to sleep in the main room, and no matter how much we insisted, he wouldn"t let us sleep in the side rooms.
Yin Xinyue said with a smile, "You don"t need to worry too much about it. This is another custom of the Dai Clan. Guests come first. If you don"t agree, Fourth Uncle will feel that he didn"t treat you guys well enough."
Since there was no other choice, we moved to the main room.
However, I couldn"t fall asleep after lying on the bed, and the reason was the beautiful scenery in this remote place. Outside the window was a clear sky and the bright moon, as well as a row of houses projected over the water. It felt like a dream.
I was enthralled by the scenery, and Li Mazi also sighed with emotion, saying, "After I save some money, I"ll marry a woman of the Dai Clan and settle here. It would be really worth it to live in this place."
I snorted. "Hmpf, were you looking for some excuse to bring up the girls of the Dai Clan? I don"t really care if you want to look for a wife from the Dai Clan, but you better tell her that you already have children. If you lie and mess up, Yin Xinyue wouldn"t be able to show her face in the village anymore!"
Li Mazi replied, "Am I really that despicable in your eyes? Also, do you really think that I need to resort to such tricks to get a girl? All that matters are my qualities, alright?"
His confidence is really something...
I slept until noon, and when I got up, I smelled a fragrant aroma. My belly started rumbling, and as I left my room, I saw a table outside with several people surrounding it. Fourth Uncle was also there, and he was discussing in a low voice with the others.
After seeing me, Yin Xinyue came over and asked, "How come you two sleep so much? Fourth Uncle has been waiting for you since morning!"
I felt rather embarra.s.sed and quickly apologized to Fourth Uncle. He said with a smile, "You must be starving, right? Let"s serve the meal first."
After Fourth Uncle briefly introduced the other people at the table, we discovered that they were all elders of the Dai Clan. Since some friends of Yin Xinyue had come to visit, Fourth Uncle decided to invite the elders as well.
They were all very warm, which made me feel awkward.
However, the awkwardness slowly disappeared as we ate, and I started to enjoy the feast.
The food was excellent, and there were several dishes I had never tasted before. The ones that left the deepest impressions were the grilled carp, fried pineapple in bamboo-tube-cooked rice. These dishes were very hard to find in restaurants.
Li Mazi and I ate until we were full, then Yin Xinyue suggested going out for a stroll. I readily agreed and refueled the car, setting out again.
We were having so much fun that we completely forgot about that ghost blocking our path yesterday.
We went on a scenic tour, catching several fishes in a small river nearby. Yin Xinyue looked at us and shook her head. "The villagers are already tired of the food, and yet you treat it like some kind of treasure."
Li Mazi said with a smile, "This seems like a good opportunity to do business! Those ingredients can sell for a lot of money. Why don"t we open a company specialized in supplying ingredients to big restaurants?"
Yin Xinyue shook her head. "We can"t do this. This place is like the granary of the village. If you take all the ingredients here away, wouldn"t it be like stealing their food? Aren"t you afraid of suffering retribution?"
Li Mazi blushed. "I was just joking."
On our way back, we looked somewhat tired. As such, Yin Xinyue said, "You guys better not disappoint the ladies of the village, because there is an event in the evening."
I asked out of curiosity, "What kind of event are you talking about?"
Yin Xinyue replied, "In the evening, my childhood friends will hold a dance to welcome you guys."
When she mentioned the dancing session, Li Mazi got excited. "This evening, invite only the women but not the men. When the time is right, I"ll perform a strip dance to broaden the horizons of those girls!"
I was also a little excited. Since after we had come here, we hadn"t seen any girls from the Dai Clan. How beautiful would Yin Xinyue look after wearing the clothing of her clan? I was really looking forward to it.
While eating, Li Mazi was distracted. He kept looking outside, seemingly waiting for something.
Even an idiot could guess what he was thinking. As such, Yin Xinyue said, "At this time, all the girls are in their homes having dinner, so no one will come out. They"ll start gathering around 9:30 PM."
After the meal, we started chatting with Fourth Uncle, and the topic of conversation unknowingly s.h.i.+fted to road-blocking ghosts.
Fourth Uncle told us that road-blocking ghosts had existed in this place for a long time. Accidents had been happening on that road since he could recall.
I hurried to ask, "Didn"t you ask an expert to take a look at the road?"
Fourth Uncle sighed. "The village tried to look for several sorcerers, but none of those guys was the real deal. Not only that, but they also cheated us of our money..."
According to what their elders had said, an old Buddhist nun once died on that road. She fell from the mountain and rolled to her death onto the road. Since then, the road stopped being a quiet place.
The old people in the village were sure that the Buddhist nun was looking for a scapegoat for her death, and that was why she was harming the people on the road.
I faintly smiled and felt that things weren"t so simple. If the old Buddhist nun just wanted to find a scapegoat, she could kill a few people to relieve her hatred.
However, despite the large number of accidents, Forth Uncle told us that no one had died.
While chatting, we heard the distant sweet laughter of women getting closer. Li Mazi sprang to his feet, clearly excited.
It seemed it was time for the dance by the girls of the Dai Clan!
Fourth Uncle patted my shoulder and said, "Go have fun. Don"t worry too much about this matter."
I nodded and headed towards Yin Xinyue"s room.
Then, I saw more than ten girls in Dai clothing headed in our direction. In the light of the bonfire, their faces looked bright red and they wore a lot of silver accessories that shone brightly on their heads. They were all young and pretty, and I couldn"t help but be infatuated after seeing them.
Li Mazi had already run to greet them.
Yin Xinyue looked at me while smiling brightly. "Brother Zhang, wait here for a moment. I"ll change my clothes and come back."
Then, she ran off. And when she came back, I was stunned.
She wore colorful clothes that wrapped tightly around her body, and her stunning figure looked even better than before. Although there was no skin exposed, she looked extremely alluring.
She wore a flowery hat on her head, which made her small face look even more delicate. Her bright eyes were very charming, and her red lips gently curved in a smile. I was totally bewitched by the scene.
"Am I pretty?" Yin Xinyue arrived in front of me and asked. "Come, let"s go to the dance."
I nodded absent-mindedly as Yin Xinyue"s graceful figure filled my whole mind.
The girls surrounded the bonfire and started the welcome dance. I was moved by their display. I studied their movements and joined the dance as well.
They were very warm, and my shyness was soon blown away.
When we were enjoying ourselves, I faintly heard a voice coming from the village road. "Help!"
I p.r.i.c.ked up my ears but didn"t hear anything afterward.
At first, I thought that I was just hearing things, but not too long after, I heard that voice again.
This time, the voice was very clear, and everyone present heard it.
One of the girls exclaimed, "This seems like Elder Brother Yan Liang"s voice! Today, his family drove the tractor to the town because the children had to see the doctor."
I hurried to say, "You guys get in touch with Fourth Uncle. Yin Xinyue, Li Mazi, and I will go to help him."
Then, I grabbed the duo and headed outside the village.
Li Mazi was in a bad mood. "d.a.m.n, the beauties literally slipped from our hands."
We quickly reached the dirt road outside the village and saw that a tractor had crashed into a big tree. A man was pressed beneath the wheel of the tractor, badly injured.
After seeing us, he immediately called for help.
I gasped. Seeing the situation, I wasn"t sure if his legs, which were under the wheel, could be saved.
The three of us joined forces and pushed the tractor aside. Then, the pale-looking man grabbed my hand and said, "Save... Save my child..."
"Your child?" I asked.
The man pointed at the water channel on the side before closing his eyes, having pa.s.sed out.
Li Mazi switched on the headlights of the tractor.
The scene I saw in the water channel thanks to the light shocked me!