Chapter 19 – The underground old lady, Part 6
The person gave a heng’ grunt and asked, “What is your birth date?”
Lu E was afraid that this person was asking for her birth date because she wanted to use witchcraft to harm her; she whispered in Yang Guo’s ear, “Should I say it?”
Before Yang Guo could reply, the person chuckled and said, “You’re eighteen this year, your birthday is on the third day of the second month, and you were born at the ‘Xu’ hour (7-9 p.m.), correct?”
Gongsun Lu E was shocked and called out, “You… you… how do you know?” Suddenly she was filled with an indescribable feeling; she knew that this person would not harm her and she brushed past Yang Guo hurrying forward. After turning two bends, her eyes were suddenly dazzled by the light; before her she saw a half clothed granny sitting on her knees on the floor, her face full of anger and with a great presence.
Lu E gasped and stood there stunned. Yang Guo was afraid that she was in danger and quickly hurried after her.
He saw that the old granny was sitting a natural grotto; there was a large ten foot wide hole in the roof which allowed sunlight in that came from over a thousand feet above. Most likely she accidentally fell down into the hole and couldn’t get out. This grotto was deep underground; even if one called and shouted, a passer by may not hear them. What really was extraordinary was that she was actually still alive after falling from so high. He saw many date trees in the places where the sunlight reached; could it be that she somehow landed on the trees just right, saving her life in the process? He saw that she only had tree bark and leaves to cover herself up with; she must have been trapped in this grotto for years. So long that her clothes have all been worn to shreds.
The granny ignored Yang Guo completely and just looked up and down at Lu E; suddenly she gave a bleak laugh and said, “Miss, you have grown up beautifully.”
Lu E returned the compliment with a smile and went forward to greet her, “How do you do Old Senior.”
The granny faced the sky and laughed with her neither cry nor laughter howl; she said, “Old Senior? Ha-ha, I’m great; I’m great, ha-ha, ha-ha!” After she said this, anger filled her face.
Lu E did not know how she offended her by saying these respectful words; she was very frightened and looked back at Yang Guo for help.
Yang Guo knew that it would be unavoidable for the granny to lose her mind after being stuck down here for such a long time; he shook his head towards Lu E and smiled a little, trying to say that there was no need to treat her seriously. He studied the terrain, trying to think of a plan to get out. Though the hole in the roof of the grotto was high, with his lightness kung fu, it might not be an impossible task if he took the risk.
But Lu E was just concentrating on the granny; she saw that most of her hair had fallen out and was almost completely bald; her face was full of wrinkles but her eyes were still full of vigor. The granny was looking at Lu E without blinking too; the two of them stared at each other, ignoring Yang Guo.
After looking at her for a while, the granny said, “You’ve got a red birthmark on your waist on the left side, haven’t you?”
Lu E was shocked and thought, “Even father may not know about my red birthmark; how does this granny know about this? She also knows my birthday and time; it looks like this granny has a deep tie with my family.” So she said softly, “Granny, you must know my father and my dead mother, isn’t that right?”
The granny was startled and said, “Your dead mother? Ha-ha, of course I know her.” Her tone suddenly became stern and shouted, “Have you got a birthmark on your waist? Quickly let me take a look. If you’re lying I’m going to kill you right where you’re standing.”
Lu E turned her head and looked at Yang Guo, her face blushing. Yang Guo quickly turned away and kept his back towards her. Lu E took off her gown and uncovered her white gleaming waist. Indeed there was a red thumb size birthmark on her waist; the red and white contrasted each other, like a red plum in the middle of a field of snow, looking extremely adorable.
The granny just took one look and she trembled all over; her eyes were filled with tears and she opened her arms, calling out, “My precious, mother has been thinking about you bitterly.”
Lu E looked at her expression and suddenly her natural instincts were stirred, she threw herself on her and cried, “Mother, mother!”
Yang Guo was startled when he heard one of them call out ‘my precious’ and the other call out ‘mother’; he turned around and saw the two hugging each other tightly. Lu E was shaking while the granny was in tears; Yang Guo thought, “Could it be that this granny is actually Miss Gongsun’s mother?”
The granny’s eyebrows suddenly rose and her face was filled with an air of death, just like Valley Master Gongsun when he fought. Yang Guo silently called out, “No!” He was afraid that the granny would harm Lu E and dashed forward. But all she did was push Lu E lightly away on her shoulders and shout, “Stand up, I’m going to question you.”
Lu E was startled; she moved away from her and called out; “Mother!”
The granny said sternly, “Why did Gongsun Zhi send you here? He wanted you to come here to lie to me with your sweet talk, didn’t he?”
Lu E shook her head and said, “Mother, you’re actually still alive, mother!” Her face was filled with both joy and sadness, showing a daughter’s love; how can this be faked?
The granny kept on asking sternly, “Gongsun Zhi said I was dead, didn’t he?”
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