Chapter 90 Part 1
He Yunxiao, whose grades had slightly improved in the first semester of his senior year, said with a long face, “I worked so hard, and I’m still at the same level as a bug.”
Li Hao retorted, spraying He Yunxiao with spittle, “Don’t show off your amazing score in front of us!”
He Yunxiao patted their shoulders consolingly, “It’s okay, you can repeat the year next year.”
Li Hao thought, what kind of useless comfort was that? With the current state of the world, who knew what the next exam would be like, what if they had to catch ghosts?
Zhou Yi, the only hope for Tsinghua or Peking University in their town, watched their banter, unable to relate, he couldn’t understand their pain, why be upset about being outscored by a bug?
As they chatted, they arrived at Nan Nuo village, and Zhou Yi had the driver drop him off, pointing ahead. “Chengde Medical Clinic is about eight hundred meters ahead, on the left.”
He Yunxiao got out of the car and looked around, having seen this place many times during the live streams, his first time in person.
‘Dad, you’re here! I missed you!’
‘Hello, Uncle He!’
Two snakes slithered out of the clinic, excitedly climbing up his legs, he picked up Xi Xi, “Xi Xi, you’ve grown! My good girl.”
He looked at Da Bai, still clinging to his leg, its enthusiasm slightly dampened by the knowledge that it had just crawled on the ground, had it even showered?
He patted its head perfunctorily.
Li Hao said intentionally, “Well Dragon King, look how indifferent Uncle He is towards you.”
Da Bai, still excitedly climbing, ‘He actually touched me! He must like me a little now, right?‘
Li Hao: “…”
Seriously shameless, this social climber.
Carrying their gifts, they entered the clinic. Chen Zhao’s eyes gleamed as he helped carry the boxes. “No need for gifts.”
“Doctor Wu is helping Middle Wu slaughter a pig in the backyard.”
He had followed the snakes when they suddenly ran out, seemingly smelling something.
They entered the backyard and saw a slaughtered pig, its hair removed, the air thick with the smell of blood.
A butcher, taking out a new knife from his kit, prepared to cut it open.
Wu Su, drenched in sweat – that pig ride was terrifying – having given up, had hired a professional, he looked at the knife, “Brother Luo, is that a new knife? Where’s your usual one?”
Butchers had their preferred knives, carefully honed and maintained, a swift, clean kill, minimizing the animal’s suffering.
Wu Heng knew this, those frequently used knives, stained with the blood of countless animals, carried a certain Yin energy, becoming increasingly sharp.
A new knife required more force, an old one, less so.
Luo, the butcher, looked anxious, “I don’t know, it disappeared a few days ago, I couldn’t find it anywhere.”
“But don’t worry, Wu Su, this new one is just as sharp.”
Wu Su said immediately, “Losing a knife is a bad omen, especially for butchers, what if it falls into the wrong hands? It’s almost New Year’s, don’t let anything bad happen.”
Luo, still butchering the pig, nodded, “You’re right, Middle… Wu, I was also worried, I searched everywhere, even considered reporting it to the police.”
Wu Heng, helping with the meat, looked at the butcher. “Uncle Luo, don’t bother looking for it for the next few days.”
He dipped his finger in the pig’s blood and wrote a talisman on the old knife bag. “Take this with you when you look for it.”
Luo, watching, stunned, remembering Chengde Medical Clinic’s live stream, nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, I’ll go find it after I finish here.”
He felt uneasy now, Wu Heng’s intervention ominous.
“Doctor Wu, we’re here,” He Yunxiao and his friends greeted him.
Wu Su recognized him, Young Master He from next door, seeing their slightly weary appearance, he felt sympathetic, that Shi Xuan, commuting three thousand kilometers, while they could only afford plane tickets…
Wu Su told Wu Heng to entertain his friends, he continued with the butchering.
Wu Heng glanced at Su Da Yi, staring at the pork longingly, “Dad, don’t let the dog eat any of this, not even a drop of blood!”
Su Da Yi’s eyes gleamed, it wasn’t a dog!
“Foxes too.”
Su Da Yi: “…”
He Yunxiao and his friends had taken two days off, a long weekend, while Shi Xuan still had school today.
You Jin, smiling, “Good, good, good, make more friends, plenty of rooms upstairs, I’ll get them ready for you.”
He Yunxiao, holding Xi Xi, sampling the local pastries You Jin brought, asked, “Doctor Wu, about that living corpse teacher at the middle school…”
Before he could finish, a man, dragging a girl in a school uniform, stormed in, his voice booming, “Doctor Wu, did you tell my daughter to do something?”
The tourists and villagers, sensing trouble, a potential medical dispute, immediately alerted the village security.
“What is going on? My daughter came home, refused to do her homework, and insisted on digging mud from under the stone in front of our house! What is she doing?”
Seeing the crowd gather, tourists recording with their phones, his face reddening slightly, “Doctor Wu, I’m usually loud, I’m not here to cause trouble, I just want to know why.”
His daughter couldn’t explain, only saying she was helping Teacher Zhou.
Being from a rural area, they were more attuned to such things, their homes sacred spaces, the front entrance especially important, the site of rituals and offerings, so digging there was a serious matter.
She had simply said that Doctor Wu told her to, not considering any consequences or asking any questions, only claiming there wouldn’t be any negative effects, since he didn’t mention any.
Just in case, he had to come and ask.
Wu Heng nodded, “Taking soil from the entrance does have consequences.”
“In ancient times, students would offer their teachers a symbolic gift of dried meat. This soil, it’s the same.”
“That soil, now tied to Teacher Zhou, becomes an offering. You’ll have to burn joss paper for her during festivals,” Wu Heng paused, then smiled, “Of course, she will also protect your family in the afterlife.”
Having deceased relatives in the underworld was a blessing, how many had been saved from misfortune by their intervention.
The man finally understood. This was like… gaining a guardian for his family, similar to a godparent. This wasn’t a bad thing!
“But whether it works or not depends on… fate,” Wu Heng added.
He had the students offer the soil as a more direct way of showing Teacher Zhou’s merits to Heaven, more effective than a written plea.
He could have used soil from the clinic’s own flowerbed, but he chose to involve the students, with the current situation in the world, high school and university students were particularly vulnerable. This act, although small, would earn them some merit points, protecting them, just like Zhou Fenghua would want.
“Right, then I’ll go back and get my hoe,” the man, understanding, said readily.
Seeing the others confused, he explained, “The entrance is paved with stones, I’ll have to dig one out!”
They understood now why he had come.
Many tourists saw the students carrying clumps of mud to the Nuo God Temple, burning incense, making offerings.
By the Nuo River, the winter wind strong, wouldn’t the mud dry? They didn’t even add more water to make it wetter.
“Those are gifts? Can’t even eat them,” a tourist filming for her live stream commented,
And a friend watching replied, “It’s an offering for the dead, perhaps it’s the smell.”
Chengde Medical Clinic Online Forum
[Breaking news, over a dozen bodies recovered from that teacher’s school. All living corpses. Their parents are devastated.]
[I heard it’s a Gu worm transmitted through saliva. All her students might have eggs, just not fully developed yet. She wasn’t the only one. I wonder about the other schools too.]
[Those living corpses reportedly had good grades, scary! So bugs are smarter than us? I’m doomed if I can’t even get into university, bugs are better than me?!]
[I’ll just enjoy this last Lunar New Year, who cares about next year. Just let me die!]
[You might become a slave in the afterlife… not much better.]
[Can’t live a normal life, can’t even die in peace! This world is terrible.]
It was night. Outside Hezipo Middle School, the principal sat slumped on the ground, tears streaming down his face, “So many students… over a dozen gone…”
Young lives…
