Chapter 75: Joyful Wedding, Mourning Cry 6 Part 2
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Judging from the subtle differences in the footsteps created by the different walking habits of the two feet, the middle-aged man turned to the left.
There was a small clicking sound when a door was opened, a crisp noise that didn’t seem to come from the door’s hinge but more like the sound of an ornament hanging on the door, possibly made of glass.
Based on the distance he had just observed from the middle-aged man’s footsteps, it was approximately thirty meters away.
So, this middle-aged man, referred to as the “Second Uncle” by the younger generation and of a similar age to the breakfast shop owner, lived on the left side of the fourth floor, thirty meters after the turn. There was a glass product decoration hanging on the door.
It was only after all the sounds disappeared that Yan Shixun’s originally serious and calm expression gradually relaxed. He looked back at Lu Xingxing.
“Has Taoist Song Yi always taught you to confront anything suspicious head-on without considering the environment and consequences?”
Yan Shixun’s inquiry was calm, with almost no change in tone.
But Lu Xingxing felt like he was being mocked by Yan Shixun.
Lu Xingxing’s face instantly turned bright red, and with an unwilling and stubborn tone, he said, “Do you think I’m young and reckless? I don’t overlook anything suspicious!”
“Oh, so you prefer a direct confrontation,” Yan Shixun’s expression remained cold. With the same posture of holding Lu Xingxing’s collar, he raised his hand and pinched Lu Xingxing’s arm.
The sensation he felt under his fingers was soft and fleshy, completely lacking the hard and strong feeling of muscle.
Lu Xingxing stared at Yan Shixun, who was so close, intending to blurt out a question about what he was doing. However, the words inexplicably got stuck in his throat. As he gazed at Yan Shixun’s sharp and overwhelmingly handsome face that was drawing near, his face slowly turned red. He opened his mouth but found himself unable to say anything. His mind had turned into a mush.
“You, with that little frame, think you can handle it?” Yan Shixun didn’t pay much attention to Lu Xingxing’s reaction. He simply glanced at him and made a rough assessment of his combat abilities.
He sneered at Lu Xingxing, “How could Taoist Song Yi entrust you to come here? You do have some talent, but isn’t he afraid of getting his disciple injured?”
Although Lu Xingxing wasn’t Taoist Song Yi’s closed-door disciple, he was the youngest among them.
Based on Yan Shixun’s recent understanding of Taoist Song Yi, the strict and meticulous Taoist Song Yi seemed to care for this youngest disciple, displaying the demeanor of someone who doted on their youngest child.
Lu Xingxing knew that he should respond firmly to Yan Shixun at this moment. However, for some reason, he stammered and simply muttered, “I, I don’t need you to worry!” With those words, he turned and rushed toward the production crew members on the other side.
Yan Shixun raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Why is he blushing?”
Although Yan Shixun had a completely baffled expression, the person standing behind him, Ye Li, had a stern face.
“You touched him.” Ye Li asked Yan Shixun coldly.
It sounded like a question but was more like a statement of fact.
Strangely, Yan Shixun had an illusion that this person seemed somewhat aggrieved?
Yan Shixun felt repulsed by his own thoughts, shivered slightly, and then rolled his eyes at Ye Li. “That’s called touching? What’s with that look in your eyes?”
“Besides, what does it have to do with you?” Yan Shixun inexplicably glanced at Ye Li, then strode away with long steps towards An Nanyuan, who was excitedly waving at him not far away.
Leaving Ye Li alone in the spacious living room, the cold, white, and stark overhead light illuminated his already pale, bloodless skin, making it appear even more like the texture of a statue.
Ye Li’s thin lips were pressed into a straight line as he watched Yan Shixun’s departing figure. There was no warmth in his icy and terrifyingly cold, stern features.
He felt like he might be a little unhappy and wanted Yan Shixun not to touch anyone else in the future.
But where did this emotion come from? What was the cause?
He didn’t know.
The conversation between Yan Shixun and the production crew members echoed from not far away, reverberating through the empty space in layers, making it feel so vast and desolate.
Ye Li stood alone in the empty living room, his expression unusually bewildered and dazed.
……
For An Nanyuan, who was spending the night in a rural household for the first time, everything here seemed to pique his curiosity. He would occasionally ask the young villager beside him a few questions. When he saw the well in the backyard through the window, he excitedly called out to Yan Shixun, gesturing for him to come and see.
“Brother Yan, look, it’s a well. It’s my first time seeing a well for drawing water and drinking. It’s so amazing! How do you operate this? Do you need to use a rope to fetch water from it?”
An Nanyuan enthusiastically pointed at the glass, looking like he really wanted to open the window and go to the well to take a look.
Yan Shixun’s gaze briefly flickered to the well outside the window, and he snorted, “Don’t look at the well at night. You can go see it tomorrow.”
“Ah…” An Nanyuan, who had originally wanted Yan Shixun to accompany him to take a look, appeared somewhat disappointed. He elongated his voice and looked at Yan Shixun with pleading eyes.
The young man who had been introducing An Nanyuan with a smile, feeling somewhat embarrassed, coughed and said, “That well can’t be used for water. It’s not a water well.”
Not a water well, and it was placed in the courtyard?
Yan Shixun furrowed his brow and shifted his gaze to the young man.
The oppressive feeling brought about by Yan Shixun’s gaze was so strong that the young man, who had never encountered someone like him, subconsciously took a step back. He couldn’t help but explain, “This well is used for warding off evil spirits. It can’t have water; the master said having water would bring bad luck…”
Mid-sentence, the young man suddenly realized he might have said too much and hastily covered his mouth, feeling regretful. He no longer cared about chatting with An Nanyuan or inquiring about city matters. He quickly found an excuse, saying he needed to help clean the rooms, and then hurriedly left.
An Nanyuan watched the young man’s retreating figure, muttering somewhat inexplicably, “Why did he run off so quickly? Is there a ghost chasing him?”
However, Yan Shixun raised his hand and opened the window, eliminating the barrier of glass and allowing him to look directly at the well in the backyard.
Indeed, it was not a water well.
Assisted by the light emanating from the room, Yan Shixun saw that the well was covered with a slab of stone about half a meter thick. The well had an octagonal shape, and the portion above ground was adorned with different patterns on each side. There were numerous inscriptions and what appeared to be childlike doodles.
However, at a glance, Yan Shixun recognized that the eight sides of the well were constructed according to the Bagua, with each side bearing a different set of symbols. The seemingly random doodles were, in fact, inscriptions.
From the few inscriptions visible at his current angle, Yan Shixun identified them as various protective charms, such as exorcism charms, ghost-repelling charms, calming charms, and Double Ninth Festival charms…
It didn’t seem like they were meant for “protecting the home,” as the young man had claimed.
Instead, it appeared more like they were meant to “deter ghosts.”
Moreover, the slab of stone, which was about half a meter thick, revealed the intentions of the builders.
—To prevent whatever inside the well from escaping.
However, the young man’s explanation was correct; if this well was indeed meant to deter spirits, it couldn’t contain water.
Water represented Yin and would disrupt the Yang, making it ineffective at deterring ghosts.
But… would ordinary people keep a spirit-deterrent well in their own yard?
Furthermore, judging from the patterns and the Bagua formation, the master that the village head had hired to construct this spirit-deterrent well was a true expert.
Such a meticulous effort…
Yan Shixun frowned as he gazed at the well, silently contemplating and forming a conjecture.
—What did the village head’s family encounter before? A ghost or something else?
Why were those youngsters reluctant to get married, and why did they know about Yang Guang’s story? Were they using Yang Guang’s story as a warning?
After all, from their earlier conversation, it was clear that these youngsters were no older than twenty-five at most, and Yang Guang had fled the village nearly thirty years ago. In theory, these youngsters would not have had the chance to learn about Yang Guang and his wife’s story.
The village where Yang Guang’s wife, Yang Hua, came from was nearby, and when these youngsters said they didn’t want to get married and mentioned “harming themselves and others,” they were likely referring to the events in Yang Hua’s family, where three female members were ordered to be buried alive by the clan leader.
Unless something else happened with Yang Guang and Yang Hua’s family afterward, and it became such a significant scandal that even those born several years later learned about it.
Or perhaps, it was the middle-aged man known as “Second Uncle” who told them.
Yan Shixun remembered that Yang Guang had mentioned his intention to return to the village after settling Yang Hua, wanting to rescue Yang Hua’s younger sister, Yang Duo. However, out of caution, Yang Guang hadn’t gone directly to Yang Hua’s village but had inquired about the situation with a friend in his own village. At that time, the friend had a strong reaction and was well-informed about what had happened in Yang Hua’s family.
If that was the case, could the “Second Uncle” be the friend Yang Guang had sought out back then?
Yan Shixun took one last glance at the well and decided to climb out of the window to carefully inspect the backyard.
Just then, the youngsters who had been kicked out to borrow blankets in the village and returned with their blankets. Laughter and loud conversations filled the yard.
The village head and his wife also emerged from the kitchen, carrying steaming hot food.
“Come, everyone, have a meal. You must be hungry after traveling all the way here.”
The village head warmly welcomed the crew, saying, “We don’t have anything fancy at home, but this is all we have for now. It’s all grown in our own fields without pesticides, so it’s fresh and organic. Everyone, please don’t be disdain.”
Due to the large number of crew members, the village head brought out large containers for food. The basin was filled with cooked corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and more. The village head’s wife carried a brimming basin of vegetable soup to the dining table. She warmly greeted the members of the production team, without any sense of distance. It made everyone feel like they had returned home, relaxed and at ease, as if they were communicating with their own relatives.
The guests’ eyes lit up when they saw the food.
“This is great! It’s healthy and won’t make you gain weight.”
Bai Shuang praised with a smile, “I couldn’t even find these items when I wanted to buy them before. Since they’re homegrown, they must be very fresh. Having these is really wonderful.”
The village head’s wife was delighted by Bai Shuang’s sincere compliments. She said that if they liked it, they could take some with them when they left. Everything was grown at home, so it wasn’t worth much money. It was just delicious and sweet.
After the production team members sat down to eat, as soon as they tasted the food, many of them were impressed, and they nodded vigorously to each other.
“So sweet, so delicious! Really, it’s delicious!”
“Wow, it really is! I couldn’t find this taste when I tried to buy it before. It’s really delicious.”
Seeing everyone’s enthusiastic response, the village head was also very pleased.
After welcoming the crew members to their seats, the middle-aged man turned around and had the youngsters and women carrying blankets bring them to their respective rooms upstairs. He even reminded them to make sure the blankets were properly arranged.
He appeared to be very warm and hospitable.
Amidst the lively atmosphere, only Yan Shixun’s eyes remained calm, as if he were detached from it all.
While the crew members chatted and laughed in the living room, none of them noticed that Yan Shixun had silently left the room at some point.
Without making a sound, he went upstairs and, based on his previous assessment of the sounds he had heard, he found the middle-aged man’s room and knocked on the door.
The door of the middle-aged man’s room had a string of glass beads strung on a red cord. The fading and worn-out appearance of the red cord suggested that this ornament had been hanging there for quite some time. Judging by the style, it resembled the kind of decorations sold at rural market fairs many years ago.
Some of the glass beads still had words on them. Yan Shixun carefully examined them and deciphered a few: “Guang,” “Hua,” “Han”…
Before Yan Shixun could identify them all, the door was opened from the inside.
The glass beads on the ornament bumped against the door, making the same sound Yan Shixun had heard earlier.
“Yang Tu, is it about what just happened? You came all this way for it, sigh, no need, Second Uncle isn’t upset. Next time, don’t casually mention Uncle Yang Guang’s matters in front of outsiders. It’s okay at home, but if other people or villagers hear, it’s not good. Don’t trust the villagers so much…”
As the middle-aged man opened the door, his gaze slowly shifted from the television in the room. He hadn’t yet seen who was standing outside the door when he spoke, his tone was gentler than when he had been downstairs. It sounded like he was imparting wisdom to a younger generation.
However, when the middle-aged man finally turned his gaze and saw a stranger standing outside, he immediately froze and looked at Yan Shixun in bewilderment.
After a while, the middle-aged man realized, based on Yan Shixun’s appearance and attire, that he was probably from the production crew.
“I’m sorry, I thought it was my nephew coming to find me just now. Are you having trouble finding your room? Let me show you.” The middle-aged man quickly changed the subject, trying to cover up his previous slip of the tongue.
Yan Shixun spoke calmly, “Yang Guang.”
The middle-aged man’s face changed.
Yan Shixun’s slender fingers lightly brushed over the decoration on the door, producing a crisp sound.
He lowered his gaze and smiled faintly, “I know Yang Guang, and I’ve heard him talk about you. He said you’re his most trusted friend, his life-and-death companion.”
The breakfast shop owner and the man were not exactly familiar to him, but based on the shop owner’s description and the man’s previous reaction, he guessed that these two had a close relationship in the past. Otherwise, when the breakfast shop owner returned to the village in danger, he wouldn’t have sought out a friend before going home.
To gather information from a stranger, you first needed to build a bridge between yourselves, so the stranger could trust you. Additionally, giving the other person a label would make it harder for them to refuse.
The middle-aged man’s initially guarded expression showed a slight hesitation. His lips moved, but he didn’t say anything.
“Don’t you want to know how Yang Guang is doing now?”
Yan Shixun raised his gaze to look at the middle-aged man. He could clearly see the uncertainty in the man’s eyes.
The middle-aged man looked at Yan Shixun with a complex expression for a while, then sighed and stepped aside, opening the door. “Come in, it’s not safe out here.”
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