chapter 14

Old Hu reached out at this time, snapped his hand, and the lighter went off, then lit himself a cigarette and took a sharp drag. After coughing twice, he lit a kerosene lamp on a nearby table. When the kerosene lamp was lit, the house lit up.

It was a large living room with a dining table with a few chairs around it. The walls of the house were hung with many calligraphic pictures, and on some of the cabinets, either high or low, were placed some porcelain vessels. There was also a chicken feather duster stuck in a gallbladder.

Old Hu spoke up at this time, ”Xiao Yun, you’re here! I thought I’d never see you again, I was so happy you weren’t dead.”

I said, “Old Hu, how did you die?”

Hu Shisan laughed when he heard it, ”Hohohohohoho, Brother Xing, Old Hu is not dead. That’s just a borrowed trick in the walk , which is used to trick ghosts.”

Although I couldn’t understand what Shisan Hu was saying, I knew that Old Hu wasn’t dead! That’s the best news for me. Excited, I got up and barged forward, but when I got to Old Hu’s approach, I found that Old Hu was in a wheelchair. His trousers were limp on the wheelchair with blood on them.

As soon as I did, I grabbed the trouser tube and looked up at Lao Hu, ”Lao Hu, where are your legs? Tell me fucking quick, where are your legs?”

It was then that I realized that Old Hu’s face was very pale and flushed with a pallor. His lips twitched at this point, trying to say something, but nothing came out. After a dozen seconds or so, he released this emotion and shed two muddy lines of tears.

“Old Hu, tell me what the fuck, why is your leg gone?”

As soon as he bowed his head, Old Hu whispered two tears, then wiped his eyes and said, “I cut it myself, it would be nice to save his life. Xiao Yun, you, are you alright! I’m worried about you!”

I was dumbfounded and straight up ripped off Old Hu’s pants, cutting off one of his pant legs about ten centimeters above the knee. At this moment, the gauze was wrapped around my legs, and I reached out and touched it, and old Hu suddenly gave a cry of pain.

I said, “Old Hu, what’s wrong with you, why do you want to cut off your own legs? Old Hu, you’re out of your mind!”

Hu Shisan came over at this time, took off his coat and covered Old Hu’s remaining legs, saying, “It’s not that Old Hu is crazy, he’s trying to save himself!”

Old Hu, in tears, looked at me and said, “Xing Yun, if I hadn’t used this method, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have seen you again! I attached my own leg to a piece of peppered wood and put it into the coffin for burial, this is how I was able to fool around, Xiao Yun, do you understand? Lucky for you, you’re still alive!”

I listened to it and sighed, self-loving and self-pitying: “Old Hu, maybe I’m not as good as you, look at me now, half man, half ghost, no man, no ghost. But none of that matters to me, I’m really glad to still see you.”

Old Hu grabbed my wrist as soon as he reached out and seemed to be probing for something, then he trembled. Says, “My God, how did this happen? Xiao Yun, how did you become like this?”

I unbuttoned my shirt, and at once the traces of the moon in the clouds flashed out. Hu Shisan and Old Hu were both watching carefully, their expressions incomparably complex. I said, “Old Hu, do you remember that piece of white jade? The white jade I always wore on my body, but that day when I entered the city, it disappeared, but I had this mark on my chest. Yun Zhong Yue, it’s strange, my name is Xiao Yun and my wife is Dai Yue, is this an allusion to the two of us!”

Hu Shisan said, “No no, this is a totem of an ancient family.”

Old Hu said, “The legendary Cloud Moon Clan is actually true, young man, do you also know the Cloud Moon Clan?”

“Legend has it that this clan is human in the yang and a ghost in the netherworld. They are said to be able to pick stars from the sky, capture dragons from the sea, eat peaches from the Queen Mother and drink flaming wine from the Nine Hades. But it’s all legend in the Cloud Travel Miscellany, it can’t be taken seriously!” Hu Shisan said, “Old Hu, do you think Brother Xing is from the Yun Yue family?”

Old Hu pointed at me and said, “If not, how can you explain his current state? I’ve seen corpse fatalities, I’ve seen Li Demons, I’ve seen compulsive people controlled by the Demon Dao, I just haven’t seen a strange being like Xiao Yun. Could there be another explanation?”

Hu Shisan disdainfully laughed and said, ”Old Hu, it’s better not to jump to conclusions so early! By the way, Big Brother Xing said you asked him to come and have something to give him, didn’t you?”

Old Hu nodded his head at this time and felt out two golden bells from his arms, the size of his thumb, which were exactly two of those plucked from the four corners of that coffin. He handed it to me and said, “You take this, you should know what to do!”

I took it and said, “Old Hu, what exactly should I do?”

Old Hu answered “It’s this bell that nearly killed me, just put it where it should be, they’re a pair, it was us that hardened these four bells apart that led to this!”

Next, I talked to Old Hu about Jia Jia.

Old Hu snapped while listening, his head full of cold sweat. Hu Shisan touched Old Hu’s forehead and said, “It’s a fever, you have to use antibiotics to do it!”

After we got Old Hu on the bed, we first gave him a physical cooling down. Old Hu also gradually stabilized.

I was going to drive to the clinic in town to call the doctor, but old Hu pulled me along and said, “Don’t go, I’m afraid I won’t see you again if you go. I’ll be fine, you tell me about Jia!”

With that, I told Jia Jia’s story from front to back. Old Hu surprisingly smiled at this time, but I could tell that he was getting weaker and weaker. He said, “Tie these two bells to Jia Jia’s feet and soon Jia Jia will be well. Go and do as I say, Jia Jia is still alive. Otherwise, when Jia Jia’s yang qi was drained, Jia Jia would never be saved. Go!”

I said, “Old Hu, what will you do when I’m gone? I’ll have to put you in the hands of a doctor first!”

Hu Shisan said this time, “Leave this place to me, Brother Xing, go back and find Jia Jia, it’s important to save Jia Jia first!”

I hesitated, and as soon as Old Hu pushed me away, he said, “Get lost, the baby is more important than me! I’m half a man in the ground, still a cripple, too bad to die. Jia Jia is three years old! Can’t you tell the difference between priorities?”

Hu Shisan said, “Yes, Brother Xing, go ahead, I’ll take care of Old Hu, I promise Old Hu won’t die.

Saying that, he took out two talismans and snapped them onto Old Hu’s shoulders, and at once, two red flames rose up on Old Hu’s shoulders. He said, “Old Hu, I’ll renew your yang, even if you’re dead, it will keep you up for three days!”

Old Hu said, “Silly boy, this is going to break your yang life. Get out of here!”

“Old Hu, the person who originally did my job was doing something against the sky, it’s impossible to withdraw the law.” He looked at me and said, “Don’t worry about it now, just go, I’m afraid it will be too late, Jia Jia will regret it for the rest of your life if anything happens to you.”

I nodded and didn’t hesitate anymore, taking over the flashlight in Hu Shisan’s hand and heading out. Old Hu shouted, “Take the small door in the back, the small door can be opened.”

I went around towards the back, all the way to the little door that opened onto the back street. I went out of the village and straight into the woods. From a distance I saw our car, ran past it, got in, didn’t hesitate any longer, started the engine and backed it out and drove straight down that tarmac road.

Now that I was in a hurry to get to the tarmac, I adjusted my navigation and followed it straight down the highway. This went on and on and on, and the cars on the road got more and more, and my nervousness was relieved. Once I got on the highway, I was more grounded. I thought to myself, “Jia Jia, hold on, I’m coming to save you, after I save you, I’ll take you away from the female forensic scientist and never be separated from you again. Jia, wait for Daddy. Please wait for Daddy to come back!