The village head continued to puff on his old dry-tobacco pipe.
“Ay, you know the Hu family has had it rough,” the old woman said. “First the man passed away, and now the woman too.” She paused, scratched her head with a needle, and sighed. “Those two poor kids.”
“Yeah,” the village head exhaled a puff of smoke.
“Crack, crack, crack!” The village head tapped the pipe’s bowl against his shoe, knocking out all the ashes. He wrapped the pipe stem with a cloth, stuck it into his waistband, and stood up to walk out.
“Old man, where are you off to?” the woman stopped her sewing to ask.
“What you just said reminded me of something,” the village head replied, turning his head back.
“It seems to be raining outside,” the woman said. “Take an umbrella.”
The village head opened the door and peeked outside. A drizzle was falling. He casually grabbed a big straw hat from behind the door, put it on his head, and strode out. The road was a bit slippery from the rain, and it was dark. He moved slowly after leaving the village gate, but fortunately, the village was small with few households. Before long, the village head arrived at Zhang Daxian’s house. “Dang, dang, dang!” He knocked on the wooden door and shouted, “Master Zhang! Master Zhang!”
A light flickered, and the door opened. Zhang Daxian stood at the doorway and called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s me…”
“Ah, it’s the village head!” Zhang Daxian hurried out.
“Still not asleep? Anything wrong?” Zhang Daxian asked, holding the open door.
“What time is it? I can’t sleep yet,” the village head waved his hand, signaling not to open the door wide. “I won’t come in. I just need to talk to you about something.”
“You say that—just tell me what’s on your mind.”
“You can summon spirits, right?”
“Of course! What’s up?” Zhang Daxian replied confidently.
“I want you to summon a spirit,” the village head lowered his voice and looked at Zhang Daxian. “You know about the Huxia family—both are gone, leaving behind two poor kids.” He pointed toward the sky. “Ask up there what’s going on.”
Zhang Daxian looked at the village head, then at the sky, and nodded. “Alright…”
Bai Erlaizi was lying on the kang bed, one window slightly open. He rested his head on the windowsill, quietly listening to the drizzle.
“Uncle Laizi, I can’t sleep. I miss my mom,” the little girl said in a hoarse voice.
“Be a good girl,” Bai Erlaizi sat up, gently touched the girl’s face, and tucked the two siblings back into the quilt. “Hold your little brother and sleep.”
The girl murmured, “Okay,” and fell silent. Bai Erlaizi lay back on the windowsill.
“Kokoda… kokoda…” A loud crowing sound came. Bai Erlaizi sleepily opened his eyes, pulled the curtain aside, and saw that it was already getting light outside. Years of experience told him it was probably around four o’clock. Since it was still early, Bai Erlaizi decided to catch a few more minutes of sleep.
Suddenly, a noisy sound approached, and Bai Erlaizi quickly opened his eyes and called out, “Girl, Xiaohua, wake up!” He shook the two children.
“Uncle Laizi, what’s wrong?” the girl yawned.
“Hurry, hurry up. Your mom is coming back.” Bai Erlaizi jumped off the kang bed in one motion, landed right into his shoes, didn’t even look, and rubbed both feet on the ground twice to put on the shoes. “Quickly wake up your brother. I’ll go open the gate.”
The girl murmured, “Okay,” stretching lazily.
Bai Erlaizi quickly walked out, opened the gate, and stood on the road. He saw a group of people gathering at the land god temple from afar.
“Little brother, little brother,” the girl shook the little boy lying on the kang bed. “Wake up. Mom is back.”
Xiaohua groaned and opened his eyes.
“Little brother, Mom is back.”
“Mom, Mom!” Xiaohua shouted twice and sat up from under the covers.
Everyone followed the village head’s instructions and gathered at the land god temple. Zhang Daxian walked three circles around the deceased Mrs. Hu’s body, muttering continuously. Soon, he came to the village head, whispered in his ear, “Village head, it’s ready.” The village head nodded and announced to everyone, “Today, we will send the body back to the Hu family.”
Four strong men approached Mrs. Hu’s body, each standing at a corner, and lifted the frame holding her.
“Lift!” Zhang Daxian shouted loudly.
The frame was lifted as he shouted. Zhang Daxian walked in front, solemnly saying again, “Let’s go, send the deceased home.” Zhang Daxian led the way, the bearers followed, and the others trailed behind.
“Home… home…” Zhang Daxian walked and shouted…
“Uncle Laizi, where is my mom?” the girl led her little brother out of the house.
“Your mom is coming back,” Bai Erlaizi looked at the approaching crowd.
“That’s great! Mom is coming back, Mom is coming back!” Xiaohua was overjoyed at the news.
“Uncle Laizi,” the girl looked at the approaching crowd. “Why are there so many people?”
“Don’t worry, Uncle is here,” Bai Erlaizi hugged the two children close.
The land god temple wasn’t far from Mrs. Hu’s house, and soon her body was brought home.
“Uncle Gouzi, where is my mom?” The girl was obviously scared by the sudden crowd and tugged at Bai Erlaizi’s sleeve.
Bai Erlaizi shushed her, and the girl understood and stopped asking.
“Deceased has arrived, put down!” Zhang Daxian shouted. With a “plop,” the frame carrying Mrs. Hu was placed on the ground, positioning her right in the middle of the courtyard.
Under the village head’s command, a tent was quickly set up over Mrs. Hu’s body.
“Fellow villagers, thank you for your hard work,” the village head stepped out from the crowd. He politely gestured to Zhang Daxian and said, “Tonight, everyone must gather here. Master Zhang will summon spirits tonight to find out who the murderer is. I hope everyone participates…”
“Alright…”
“Come…”
“We’ll definitely come…”
The villagers responded enthusiastically.
As people dispersed, the girl quickly ran into the newly set-up tent. “Ah, a ghost!” She ran back in terror, hiding behind Bai Erlaizi.
“Uncle Gouzi, I’m scared!” The girl hid behind Bai Erlaizi.
Hearing the word “ghost,” Xiaohua also hid behind Bai Erlaizi. “Sister, I’m scared!”
“Don’t be scared. Come out, come out!” Bai Erlaizi took each child’s hand and pulled them from behind him.
“I’m scared…”
“I’m scared…”
“What are you scared of?” Bai Erlaizi held their hands and walked into the tent. “You wanted your mom, right? This is your mom!”
Hearing “mom,” the two children perked up and rushed forward to look…
“Mom…”
“Mom…”
The two children called out and shook her…
“Mom…”
“Mom…”
“Waaah!” Both children burst into tears…
“Uncle Gouzi, what happened to my mom?” The girl wiped her tears. “Did my mom abandon us?”
“If your mom doesn’t want you, Uncle will take you.”
“No, I want my mom!”
“I want my mom!”
…
By late afternoon, the two children, exhausted from crying, fell asleep on the kang bed.
“Xiaoping, Xiaoping…”
Hearing someone call, Bai Erlaizi quickly ran out from the inner room. It was Mrs. Hu’s elder brother and sister.
“Ping, my poor little sister!”
“Why did you have such a bitter fate?”
Seeing the unrecognizable corpse, Mrs. Hu’s elder brother and sister broke down crying on the spot…
“What happened to Xiaoping? What happened?”
“How did she die? Who did this?”
“I don’t know,” Bai Erlaizi shook his head. “When I found her, she was already dead.”
“Why are you here? Who are you?”
“My surname is Bai. Everyone calls me Erlaizi.”
“Oh, you’re Bai Erlaizi.”
“I heard from Xiaoping that you often help her?”
Bai Erlaizi scratched his head and smiled foolishly…
“Waaah!” A crying sound came from the room…
“Girl, Xiaohua, don’t be scared. Auntie is here,” saying this, Mrs. Hu’s elder sister ran into the room, followed by Bai Erlaizi and Mrs. Hu’s elder brother.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, Auntie is here.”
“Auntie, Auntie, my mom is dead,” the girl rushed into her aunt’s arms. Although she didn’t yet understand what death meant, she sensed it was something bad.
“Don’t cry, Auntie is holding you.”
“Brother, what should we do about this?”
“What can we do? You know I already have five mouths to feed at home, and we’re barely scraping by.”
“That’s true. My family isn’t small either. And their Han family is gone too,” Mrs. Hu’s elder sister sighed. “Poor kids.”
“Poor, poor children,” Mrs. Hu’s elder brother gently touched the sleeping Xiaohua on the kang bed.
“Ay, what do you think we should do?” Mrs. Hu’s elder sister said, tears streaming down her face.
“If you have no objections, I want to raise these two kids,” Bai Erlaizi said. As soon as he spoke, the heavy, sorrowful atmosphere in the room was instantly broken by the flow of air.
“What?” Mrs. Hu’s elder brother suddenly became alert.
“I will raise them,” Bai Erlaizi said firmly.
Mrs. Hu’s elder sister looked at her brother. The siblings exchanged glances for more than ten seconds, and their expressions completely changed.
“But isn’t that too much?”
“What’s too much? I really like these two kids.”
“If that’s the case, I agree!” Mrs. Hu’s elder sister patted the girl in her arms. “Brother, what about you?”
“I agree too!”
“Then it’s settled,” Bai Erlaizi immediately sat up from the kang bed. “I haven’t gone home for two days. Now that you’re here, I’ll go back.”
“Brother, take care!”
Bai Erlaizi nodded and walked out…
“Brother, that kid is really good!”
“I think he’s just a fool!” Mrs. Hu’s elder brother smiled. “You know, if our sister were alive, I could understand him wanting to marry her. But now that she’s dead, why would he still do this? That’s just foolish!”
“You don’t understand! That’s called being sincere and loyal!” Mrs. Hu’s elder sister said. “When our sister was alive, he was good to her. That’s understandable. But now that she’s dead, he still wants to take care of the kids—that’s rare.”
“A good man, a good man.”
“Old man, why are you still making a fuss after someone has died?” the old woman asked.
“You women don’t understand anything!” the village head, puffing on his large pipe, said. “Didn’t I say we’re trying to find the murderer by summoning spirits? I shouldn’t have told you in the first place.”
“That’s not what I meant,” the old woman said. “I was just thinking how pitiful those two kids are, without parents. How will they survive?”
“I know that,” the village head said, puffing twice. “Let Bai Erlaizi take care of them for now. We’ll see later.”
“Do you think a single old man can take good care of them?”
“Then you go!” the village head glared at his wife. “A woman, always nagging.”
The old woman continued sewing her cloth shoes without saying a word.
At the old village well, many people had gathered. It was time for dinner. Villagers had only two meals a day, usually breakfast around eight or nine o’clock, and dinner at this time. People walked back and forth with carrying poles, some just going, some returning. A gentle breeze blew, and dark clouds drifted across the sky. July weather was like this—often rainy. The whitening sky gradually darkened, bit by bit.
After dinner, everyone followed the village head’s instructions and came to Mrs. Hu’s house. The village head specially brought several oil lamps, which were set up in Mrs. Hu’s house, making it much brighter inside. “Hua, hua, hua,” a crisp sound came before anyone appeared. The village head hurried out to greet them. Sure enough, the well-prepared Master Zhang approached…
“Didn’t you sleep well?” the village head glanced at Master Zhang and asked.
“No problem,” Master Zhang smiled.
“Everything ready?”
“Rest assured!”
With that, the two walked into the inner room one after the other.
“Master Zhang is here,” the village head greeted everyone first.
“Tonight’s spirit summoning will be exciting!”
“Really? Have you seen it before?”
“Of course!”
“Hey, hey,” the village head made a gesture, signaling everyone to keep quiet, though whispers still filled the room.
By now, the Hu family’s house was packed. Besides Master Zhang, every inch of space from the kang bed to the floor was filled with people. Those who arrived late simply sat on the window sills. Master Zhang, dressed in ceremonial attire, entered the room and approached the altar. The noisy room gradually quieted down as everyone knew the spirit summoning ritual was about to begin. Master Zhang first silently prayed, then took three incense sticks from the incense box on the altar, lit them with the candle on the altar, held the incense in his left hand, and with a vigorous wave of his right hand, a gust of wind extinguished the flames. The incense began to emit green smoke. Master Zhang clasped his hands together, holding the three incense sticks tightly in the center of his palms with his thumbs. His lips moved continuously, murmuring something. Then he respectfully bowed three times and gently inserted the incense into the incense burner.
“Thud!” The drum in Master Zhang’s hand sounded, followed by continuous drumbeats. “Hualala!” As Master Zhang shook his body, the waist bells also rang. With a “Hey!” he began to sing, following the rhythm of the drum and waist bells: “Left hand takes the Wenwang drum, right hand takes Erlang’s whip. The Wenwang drum, not called the Wenwang drum, the whip not called a whip. First speak of the drum, then the whip. The drum first, not ordinary. The carpenter chooses willow wood, cuts, carves, and planes it round. Below tied with eight strings, tied with Nezha’s golden ring of the sea disturbance. Inside tied with Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, Dui, the eight strings, hey hey yo…”
The villagers watched Master Zhang’s performance like watching a movie. Master Zhang sang more and more passionately.
“Pay attention, the spirit will come soon!” one villager said.
“I’ve never seen it before, only heard about it!” another said.
“Do you think he can find out who the murderer is?”
“Of course he can!”
The village head came over and “shushed” everyone. People looked at each other and fell silent…
Not long after, Master Zhang suddenly stopped singing. The room fell silent. All villagers’ eyes were fixed on Master Zhang, watching what would happen. At that moment, “swish!” A gust of wind came, and the candles and oil lamps around Master Zhang suddenly went out…
“Ahh…”
“Ahh…”
Several timid female villagers screamed immediately…
“Crack, crack!” Two sounds, and a flame lit up. Master Zhang’s assistant took out matches and relit the oil lamps and candles. The villagers’ frightened hearts calmed down, and they quickly looked at Master Zhang. Everyone was stunned on the spot—Master Zhang was sitting on a chair next to the altar, breathing heavily. He was asleep…
“The spirit has come!”
“The spirit has come!”
The villagers stared at Master Zhang. They saw Master Zhang suddenly open his eyes, grab the offerings on the altar with one hand, and start eating them noisily. His eyes were bright and alert, blinking as he looked ahead—not at the villagers in the room, but at something beyond. His actions grew increasingly strange…
“It’s the eagle spirit!”
“The eagle spirit has possessed him!”
“Really?”
“They say the eagle spirit has excellent eyesight, seeing both past and future!”
“He must know who did it!”
“Exactly!”
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