Chapter Twenty-Seven: Night

When I returned home, Han Xue and my mother had already tidied up the house. Han Xue said to me, “Great-uncle is still sitting over there. Do you think he’ll keep watch there all night?”
My mother, not understanding, replied, “Don’t worry, your great-uncle won’t go into your room.”
“Auntie, that’s not what I’m worried about,” Han Xue said, her face a little flushed.
The moment Han Xue asked that question, I knew what was on her mind. If great-uncle stayed there all night, what if the simpleton came looking for him in the middle of the night?
I was worried about great-uncle’s safety too, but after what he’d done today, I kept quiet. My mother, seeing I was about to speak but stopped, smiled and said, “You two chat. I’ll go make dinner.”
After she left, I said, “If they really meet, maybe it’s for the best. Let’s see if he still tries to stop us tomorrow.”
“But he’s so old,” Han Xue said anxiously.
“You don’t know—old folks aren’t afraid of these things. They’re much more indifferent about ghosts and spirits,” I said.
—What Han Xue and I worried about happened as expected. That night, despite everyone’s objections, great-uncle even moved a bed over. Chen Qingshan and I tried to dissuade him, but great-uncle said, “Didn’t you say that foolish woman would come back to cause trouble? Tonight I’ll sit right here. I want to see which demon or ghost dares touch the dragon-head stele our ancestors left behind!”
Once great-uncle made up his mind, no one could persuade him. Chen Qingshan and I discussed it and agreed: if he wanted to keep watch, so be it. Maybe it would do him good to see for himself. My only worry was that if he actually stayed there, the simpleton might not show up—just like that time I didn’t feel well, but the moment I went to the village clinic, I was perfectly fine.
Chen Qingshan and I each returned home. Having Han Xue at home was odd, but also brought a sense of warmth. She no longer had to stay in the dorm and worry about sleeping at night. After these exhausting days, dark circles had formed under her eyes. After dinner, she made up a bed for me on the sofa, washed up, and went to her room to sleep. I lay on the sofa playing with my phone, half listening for any sounds outside, and without realizing it, drifted off.
In the middle of the night, I woke in a daze and glanced at my phone: it was 11:30. I thought about going to the school to see if the simpleton would show up there tonight, and what might happen if she did and ran into great-uncle.
Not wanting to wake Han Xue or my mother, I tiptoed out. Just as I stepped outside, a figure emerged from the darkness. Every hair on my body stood on end and I called out, trembling, “Who’s there?!”
“Yezi, it’s me.” He switched on a flashlight, and I saw it was Uncle Zhuzi.
“Uncle, what are you doing out here so late?” I asked.
“I came to find you, Yezi. Listen to me—let this go. Don’t get involved anymore, all right? I’ll help you settle things with the simpleton. Tell that fat guy to leave, and get your brother to stop too. Can you do that?” Uncle Zhuzi said.
His sudden words struck me as odd. I asked, “Uncle, what do you mean?”
Uncle Zhuzi sighed. “Don’t ask anything. I’m just scared. I’m afraid you and your brother will end up like your father.”

In the darkness, I couldn’t see Uncle Zhuzi’s expression clearly, but I could tell from his words that he knew far more than he let on that day—he was no innocent bystander.
“Uncle, given how far things have come, do you think it can just stop here? Do you think a man like my brother would listen to me?” I said.
Uncle Zhuzi sighed again. Since the day I confronted him, he’d been deflated, sighing constantly. “I want to know the truth too. But I’m scared. You never saw your father’s death—skinned alive! His whole skin hung from a tree. How cruel does someone have to be?”
His words only fueled my anger. “That’s exactly why we have to find the killer! Otherwise, my father died for nothing!”
“Come with me,” Uncle Zhuzi said.
He walked ahead, and I had no choice but to follow. He moved quickly, and soon we were out of the village. I grew wary, even afraid. The man before me was no longer the Uncle Zhuzi I once knew. I asked, “Uncle, where are we going?”
“We’re almost there. Don’t be afraid, Yezi. Even if I die, I would never harm you,” Uncle Zhuzi replied. Sensing my tension, his voice carried a note of sorrow.
His words brought back memories of the years we’d known each other—how he brought me money when I was at university, working on a construction site near my school. Someone asked around for Ye Jihuan, wondering if he was looking for the infamous Hong Kong robber. A classmate recognized my name and called me out. I saw him, mud-stained and awkward, squatting by the roadside. He handed me money and said, “Yezi, I forgot to change into clean clothes. Must be embarrassing for you.”
Thinking of that scene, my nose stung. Looking at his aged back, I suddenly felt ashamed for having doubted his intentions. Lately, we’d grown so distant. I caught up with him and said, “Uncle, I’m sorry.”
He stopped, eyes red, and after a moment, smiled and patted my shoulder. “Silly child.”
I grasped his hand—calloused and rough. Holding it, I couldn’t hold back my tears. “Uncle, I never knew my own father. I’ve always seen you as one. I don’t want things to be like this between us. No matter what, my brother and I are determined to find out who killed our father. It’s our duty as sons. If you know anything, please tell me. I’m begging you.”
Uncle Zhuzi wiped my tears with his other hand, still smiling. “Child, I made a promise—swore a blood oath. Do you really want me to break it?”
“No,” I said quickly.
A wave of dread washed over me, as if speaking would bring about Uncle Zhuzi’s death. It was irrational, but the feeling was overwhelming. I even imagined someone might step out from the shadows and kill him the moment he spoke.
He said nothing more and continued forward.
I followed. By now, we were outside the village, standing in a small grove. Uncle Zhuzi stopped, dragged a burlap sack from a pile of leaves at the roadside, and said, “Yezi, open it.”

The sack looked as if it held a person, but I bent down and untied it anyway. As I pulled it open, a head rolled out. I was so startled I fell back onto the ground.
Looking closely, I realized it was the girl I’d met online, the one Chen Shitou had brought home as his bride.
“Uncle?!” I turned to him.
He looked at me and said, “Yezi, you have to sleep with her.”
“What?” I exclaimed in shock.
“If you sleep with her, everything will be resolved. I’ll wait over there—hurry.” Without giving me a chance to protest, he walked away.
After he left, I turned on my phone’s flashlight. Compared to Uncle Zhuzi’s bizarre actions, I was more worried about the girl’s safety. I helped her sit up; she was unconscious, and no matter how I shook her, she didn’t wake.
That’s when I noticed she was completely naked.
I looked her over. Honestly, my blood raced—this was the first time I’d ever seen a woman’s body so clearly. I’d only ever glimpsed Han Xue’s back, and that was hazy at best.
I’d met this girl once before. She was beautiful in a completely different way from Han Xue. Han Xue was cute and stubborn, while this girl was more intellectual, slender in my memory. But now, her body was perfectly proportioned—almost flawless.
I admit I looked for a while, and was indeed tempted, but I knew I couldn’t do such a thing. I searched the ground with my flashlight, found her clothes, and dressed her.
She seemed drugged, never stirring throughout.
I hoisted her over my shoulder and walked to where Uncle Zhuzi waited. I looked at him and said, “Uncle, I don’t know why you want me to do this, but I can’t. Take her back.”
“If you don’t, I’ll kill her,” Uncle Zhuzi said, staring at me intently. “I mean it.”