Chapter 414: Chapter 353: Restrictions
"There once was a wise man who passed through our village and pointed out that if the task is successfully completed, one can repledge a vow before the Buddha. All you need to do is ask the Buddha to forgive us, the Du Family Village. Of course, this is not only about saving us but also helping yourselves," Du Huai persuaded with a combination of kindness and authority. "Once the curse on the village is lifted, you will be the great benefactors of the Du Family Village, free to stay or leave as you wish, and we will certainly present you with a generous gift."
"How... how generous?" Cheng Cha played along, feigning fear and greed, unable to help himself from asking.
"One hundred taels of gold," Patriarch Du promised generously.
"Good, it’s a deal!"
Yang Xiao and the others knew this was an empty promise, a pacification strategy from the Du Family Village. Regardless of the success of the task, they had no way out alive.
"Cough... cough cough..." Patriarch Du coughed violently. He covered his mouth, but still a small amount of rotting flesh spilled out, along with a putrid smell.
The female housekeeper immediately walked up to him, stuffing herbs into his mouth from her pocket, while gently patting his back to help him breathe.
"The patriarch is overstressed and needs to rest. You should go back now. I will send someone with the items needed for tonight," Du Huai ordered them to leave, then turned his head towards Mi Shu with a much softer tone, "Miss Mi Shu, I entrust you with praying at the temple tonight. You must get there before dark, face the Buddha statue, and copy the scriptures throughout the night. Remember one thing, no matter what you hear at night, especially something calling your name from behind, never look back."
Back in their room, Yang Xiao closed the door and peered through the crack outside. Xiao Zui had come back to the courtyard with them, but now he hadn’t left. Instead, he sat on a wooden stool under a tree, occasionally glancing furtively at their room.
"What is this, spying on us?" Wuma Haoming asked.
"Not spying on us, watching Mi Shu," Yang Xiao retracted his gaze, his expression complex as he looked at Mi Shu, "We have to perform the Ghost Monk’s task tonight, there’s no way around it, but Mi Shu isn’t obligated—those villagers just want to snatch her body."
"So what do we do, can we not go?" Quan Doufeng asked a naive question, but honestly, no one wanted their teammate to simply be sacrificed.
Quan Doufeng’s question was met with silence. No one spoke anymore and the atmosphere grew disturbingly quiet as everyone knew the implications.
If Mi Shu didn’t go, then someone else would have to take her place, and nobody wanted to be that person.
After the female housekeeper had selected Mi Shu, Yang Xiao’s first thoughts were ironically comforting—as it was a choice between Tong Han Mishu and going meant Mi Shu, Tong Han would survive. Everyone has their selfish moments.
"I’m tired, I need to rest," Mi Shu said, turning towards the bed. Since she had been chosen, her expression had been eerily calm; no one could guess what she was thinking.
Tong Han quickly stood up, seemingly wanting to comfort her with a few words, but Yang Xiao grabbed his arm. When Tong Han looked down at him, Yang Xiao simply shook his head slightly.
If it were Yang Xiao himself, he, too, would prefer a moment of silence now.
But then something no one expected happened. Mi Shu didn’t lie down to rest; instead, she walked straight to the tea table against the wall. With her left hand, she grabbed the heavy teapot and spread out her right hand on the table. The next second, in front of everyone’s astonished eyes, she smashed the teapot forcefully down onto her right hand, shattering it instantly.
By the time Yang Xiao and the others rushed over, Mi Shu’s right hand was already broken, her index and middle finger grotesquely twisted, blood streaming from the back of her hand. Turning around with tears streaming down her face, she saw Tong Han running towards her. Mi Shu immediately kneeled down, "I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!" she sobbed, "I don’t want to die, Tong Han, I know this is unfair to you, but I truly don’t want to die!"
With her fingers smashed, she couldn’t copy the scriptures tonight, and this seemingly gentle and articulate girl was much more ruthless and decisive than Yang Xiao had thought.
Lady Du preferred a woman’s body, and this unfortunate night, it was either going to be Mi Shu or Tong Han. Now with Mi Shu’s fingers broken, in a way, they were back to square one.
This wasn’t fair to Tong Han. Quan Doufeng had already begun to step back slowly, sensing a storm was about to erupt. Tong Han’s ruthlessness was well known, and this situation was likely to end badly—a person who could wager two fingers with a ghost was not to be trifled with.
But soon, Quan Doufeng’s already strained mind was overloaded again: Tong Han merely sighed lightly, bent down, reached out her hand, and helped the kneeling Mi Shu up, "It’s okay, this isn’t your fault."
At that moment, Xiao Zui, who had been watching outside, heard the noise and ran over. She knocked on the door, "What happened? Honored guests, what was that noise just now?"
No one moved or spoke, all eyes were on Tong Han and Mi Shu. Tong Han pulled Mi Shu close to the door, then swung it open. Seeing Mi Shu’s broken fingers, Xiao Zui’s expression turned extremely ugly as she exclaimed in shock, "What has happened here?"
"Now that both of our right hands are broken, we can’t copy the scriptures anymore. Go inform them, we’ll pray for Lady Du another day," Tong Han said.
Xiao Zui, the maid, didn’t dare make decisions on such matters, so she said she would go back and ask the Patriarch first, asking them to wait here before she hurriedly left.
About half a stick of incense later, with Xiao Zui by her side, the housekeeper hurried over. Upon seeing that Mi Shu’s fingers were also broken, the housekeeper flew into a rage, "What do you mean by this? You’re obviously doing this on purpose, not wanting to copy the scriptures and pray for my lady!"
The housekeeper pointed at them all, "Your conscience must have been eaten by dogs. If it weren’t for the Patriarch’s benevolent heart to take you in, you... you now..."
"We wouldn’t be cursed here now," Tong Han said indifferently.
This statement rendered the housekeeper speechless. The last time in the lady’s chamber, the housekeeper had been rebuked by Tong Han too. Perhaps remembering that embarrassing incident, she finally calmed down a lot this time, and her attitude wasn’t as arrogant as before, but she still gritted her teeth and shouted, "Don’t think you can fool us like that. Your right hands are broken, aren’t they? Then use your left hands to write, slowly trace each stroke. Heh, if your left hands break too, then use your mouth to recite prayers."
"Tonight is the old lady’s big day, how can you go to the Buddhist temple so bloodily? Will the Buddha bless my lady?" the housekeeper persisted, "Just go to the young lady’s chamber, copy the scriptures and pray for my lady in front of the dressing table."
"Both of you are no good, wasting my lady’s kindness on you. The two of you, choose one to go, choose yourselves, anyone is fine. Of course, you can continue to play tricks, but eventually, the ones who will suffer are you!"
After saying all this, the housekeeper turned around and stormed off, almost as if it was Yang Xiao and the others who had wronged Du Family Village.
"Let’s decide by drawing lots," Tong Han looked towards Mi Shu.
For fairness, this time they specifically had Quan Doufeng prepare everything. It seemed they trusted his integrity, but everyone understood that he simply lacked the intelligence and ability to cheat.
"The long stick stays, the short one goes. Whatever misfortune comes, let fate be," Quan Doufeng, mimicking the words used in previous lot drawings, seemed quite earnest.
Moments later, staring at the short stick in her hand, Mi Shu exhaled, her face not showing reluctance, but more a sense of relief. She quickly stepped forward and gently hugged Tong Han, her smiling face bright and carefree, "Forgive me, I was too selfish. Compared to me, you are the one who should survive."
"Not necessarily," Yang Xiao interjected inappropriately.
Startled, the atmosphere became awkwardly broken. Yang Xiao didn’t mind, waved his hand, and asked everyone to sit down around the table, "Talking about death is still too premature. Going to the chamber to copy scriptures tonight is indeed risky, but to say it’s certain death might not be the case."
"Mr. Chu, do you have a way?" Mi Shu’s eyes brightened, her way of addressing Yang Xiao advanced from directly using his name to Mr. Chu.
"Not a way, just a guess," dipping his finger in some tea, Yang Xiao began sketching on the table, quickly outlining the chamber, "Look here, according to the position where Liu Haiping sat, she was back to the door, and tonight, Mi Shu, you will be too."
"What does that imply?" Quan Doufeng craned his neck to look at the table.
The next second, Sui Chengguo raised his hand, and immediately Quan Doufeng retreated his neck in fright, "You’re not allowed to interrupt when we’re speaking!"
"It’s the rule of attacking from behind," staring at the table, Cheng Cha suddenly said.
"Exactly, every time the people from Du Family Village specifically remind us again. If someone calls your name from behind, never look back, from Patriarch Du at the very beginning, to Du San later on, and even Du Huai today. But the strange thing is, so far none of us have heard our names being called. What does this tell us?" Yang Xiao looked at the others.
"Survivorship bias. Those who hear their names being called have all died," Tong Han continued, following Yang Xiao’s lead, "Liu Haiping and Hu Yanming were all killed from behind. It’s very likely that this method of calling names from behind is how those ghostly beings from Du Family Village kill, bound by the curse to not face us directly but only through this method."
"Right, that’s a very plausible possibility," Sui Chengguo nodded. He had suspected something similar before but hadn’t detailed it so specifically.
Yang Xiao turned to look at Mi Shu, a woman not lacking in intelligence, who was gradually regaining her composure. In any situation, one must not lose hope of survival, "Mi Shu, if I were you, tonight, if someone calls my name from behind, I would turn around, take a chance."
With determination in her eyes, Mi Shu responded, "Alright, life and death are destined, fortune and wealth are in heaven’s hands. If it really is those people from Du Family Village trying to kill me, then I’ll smash the screen and drag them to death with me!"
