CHAPTER FORTY THREE
WARNING :
They thought Feifei is a woman. They will refer to Feifei as a "she" or "her".
When the wagon was almost in Hisoki Village, Yanyan excitedly pointed to Feifei the path towards the village.
"Feifei, when you live in this village in the future, let's go to work together, okay?"
"uhm."
"We'll be neighbors! Great!" Yanyan is very eager for Feifei to live in the same village with her.
Since her divorce, she has been ostracized by the women. Especially the unmarried young girls. They are afraid being close to her would result to an ill-fated marriage.
Even her now married childhood friends would avoid her. Their family thinks she is a bad influence.
All these villagers see are just the outcomes. They conveniently forget why she was divorced or the sufferings she had endured.
They accepted her previous husband's wild beatings and corruption. But they shun her, a victim, just because she is already a "sullied" woman.
When they were at the entrance, Nan Sheng called out.
"Yanyan! Isn't that your mother?"
Yanyan poked her head out from the inside and exclaimed.
"It is my mother! Stop! I will go down." Yanyan said to Nan Sheng.
Yanyan took Feifei's hand and asked her to come down too.
"Since you are here, let's ask my mother about the house you are looking for."
Looking at both men, Yanyan asked them to stay in the wagon.
So they both jumped down from the wagon and walked the few steps to the village entrance.
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Yanyan was waving frantically while shouting to her mother. "Mom!"
Feifei flinched when he heard Yanyan's loud voice.
This woman is really...! Sooner or later, his ears would be out of commission! When he's with Yanyan, his ears are always in danger of being impaired.
When they got closer to Yanyan's mother, Feifei smiled. This old lady is small and looks gentle. Quite the opposite of Yanyan.
"Mother, this is my friend Feifei. Feifei, this is my mother, Deng Mian."
"Hello, Aunt. My name is Chu Feifei." Feifei smiled in greeting.
Deng Mian looked at Feifei with wide eyes. "What a beautiful girl. What are you doing with my boorish daughter?"
Feifei giggled. Boorish indeed.
Yanyan exclaimed in dissatisfaction. "What are you saying! I'm obviously a well taught, refined lady!"
Feifei can't help but laugh. Refined my foot!
"Mother, Feifei is here looking for a house. Is there any vacant houses in our village? Renting is fine."
Deng Mian looked at Feifei strangely.
"You are such a young woman. Do you live alone or with someone?"
"I'm alone."
"Mother. We worked together in the mines. She is a temporary worker replacing her cousin. That's why she needs a house."
Deng Mian's face lit into a smile.
"You should have said that from the start." Deng Mian then frowned at Yanyan.
She turned her back from them and pointed to somehwere Feifei cannot really see.
"There is a house over there. It has been vacant when the old man died two winters ago. The old man's body was already stiff and stinky when it was found lying on the ground."
Then Deng Mian added in an eerie soft voice.
"His neck was unnaturally twisted like a hemp rope."
Both Feifei and Yanyan's eyes were wide with fright!
No wonder its vacant! He wouldn't want to stay there too. Feifei shuddered.
What if the old man, with his twisted neck, pays him a visit?! What then?!
"It was really evil. His eyes were wide open with fear and shock. Looking at those dead eyes like that, it was hair raising! No matter what we do, we couldn't even close his eyes! Imagine the unwillingness he felt that his eyes had to remain open? We had to sew his eyelids close to shut it." Deng Mian continued.
Feifei can feel Yanyan already shaking. He can also feel his hands and feet getting cold.
Looking at the general place Aunt Mian was pointing at earlier, he has goosebumps.
That thing really happened?! The more he wouldn't stay at that house even if its free of charge!
Then Deng Mian's floating, low voice continued to retell the story. With her back to them, her hair swept by the wind, she herself looks like a ghost!
Feifei wants to go home now!
"We thought he must be killed or terrified by something. A ghost maybe? They say he killed his wife and daughter. Maybe his wife appeared to him for revenge?"
There is still a story like that!
When Deng Mian suddenly turned to face them, both Feifei and Yanyan released an ear splitting shout!
Feifei was so lost in his thoughts that when he suddenly saw Aunt Mian turn, he imagined it as the wife who haunted her husband to death!
Deng Mian laughed happily upon seeing both Yanyan and Feifei's scared faces!
What kind of mother daughter pair is this! He thought Aunt Mian was gentle.
He was clearly deceived!
Aunt Mian is undisputedly a prankster!
"Mo..mother." Yanyan whispered while tightly holding Feifei's hands.
"Is what you said true?" Yanyan continued to ask in a shaky voice.
Deng Mian nodded her head.
"Of course it is! Everyone in the village knows that. You were married then. So you were not here when it happened." Deng Mian waved her hand carelessly to the place she pointed at earlier.
Feifei swallowed hard. "Then.. Then Aunt Mian, is that place really haunted?" He can't help but ask.
"I don't know. But some say they would sometimes hear some weird noises from that house. Especially at dawn. They would hear a woman's shrill shout. As if asking for help."
Feifei and Yanyan looked at each other. Fear on both their faces.
"Did the old man really kill his wife and daughter?" Feifei whispered.
He lowered his voice, afraid the ghost might hear and answer him instead!
"We don't know what really happened. But it's a fact that there was a huge fight between husband and wife on the same day when both mother and daughter died. If the old man killed them, no one knows for sure."
Yanyan looked at Feifei. "Feifei, let's not go there. I believe there is evil in that house. It will scare us to death!"
Feifei nodded. "Aunt Mian, are there anymore vacant houses?"
Deng Mian shook her head. "No more. I don't think you would want to live near a pigsty anyway."
Huh?
"You said the other house is near a pigsty?"
"Not really near but the pig smell floats there just the same. And its not for rent. It's for sale."
"Is there a terrifying story behind that house too?"