Fate Trading System – Chapter 144

Plan A

Red Moon in the Barrier 8

The Village Chief

“This person must be crazy.”

“Uncle, please go home. It’s so cold outside and you’re wearing so little – you’ll get frostbite.”

“You could even freeze to death.”

“Hee hee hee, let me tell you a secret.”

Uncle Tong seemed not to feel the cold, smiling as he moved close to Su Xin.

“Why don’t you go back and tell me later?”

This current scene felt very wrong. Uncle Tong’s movements and expressions were strange like a child’s. He was beaming with smiles, but also seemed like he was crying, as if possessed by something unclean [evil spirit/demon].

Just two days ago he was still a normal person, how did he suddenly go mad? No, actually it wasn’t sudden – there were signs of this a few days ago. After Uncle Tong’s child passed away, his mental state had been unstable.

“Come closer, I’ll tell you. I’ll only tell you – it’s a secret.”

Uncle Tong said mysteriously, waving his hand continuously.

“Alright then, tell me. After you tell me, will you go home and put on clothes?”

Uncle Tong leaned close to Su Xin’s ear. Su Xin was concentrating to hear what he would say, but suddenly heard loud laughter that made her jump in fright.

“You fell for it, you fell for it…”

Uncle Tong clapped his hands and laughed loudly, like a little boy who had succeeded in playing a prank, but combined with his appearance, it made one’s hair stand on end.

Su Xin coldly wiped the saliva from her ear, telling herself to stay calm and not argue with a fool.

Tong Qing wanted to laugh a little, but felt it wouldn’t be good to laugh at his elder sister like that.

“I have a secret, a big secret, nobody knows… hee hee hee…”

Uncle Tong ran away while jumping, acting completely crazy.

Su Xin watched his retreating figure. She wasn’t someone who liked to meddle in others’ affairs, but at this rate, Uncle Tong could easily freeze to death.

Uncle Tong ran very fast and disappeared from sight in a moment.

“Let’s go back.”

Su Xin picked up the water bucket, Tong Qing carried the net, Mu Qi warmed Su Xin’s hands, and the three returned home.

Su Xin’s premonition came true. The next morning, while she was burning firewood, she heard news of Uncle Tong’s death.

Uncle Tong had frozen to death. It was deep winter, below zero, unbearably cold – even wearing several layers of clothes, one could feel the cold wind piercing through to their bones, whistling as it blew. He had been running and walking in the snow with a bare upper body, wearing only shorts and slippers – it would have been strange if nothing had happened to him.

When he was found, he was lying in the snow, with no wounds on his body, purple lips, a deathly pale face, and stiff limbs.

Several men from the village hurriedly buried him. He had no family, so naturally no one held a vigil [守灵/traditional Chinese custom of watching over the deceased before burial].

Now there were only twelve households left alive in the village. Originally there were fourteen, but now minus Widow Wang’s family and Uncle Tong’s family, it was twelve households. Excluding the original owner’s family, there were eleven in total.

Su Xin originally thought it might have been Mu Qi, but after yesterday’s conversation on the road, she felt it seemed less likely. If Mu Qi were the formation eye, she wouldn’t be an ordinary person and couldn’t possibly be unaware of this situation.

Mu Qi said if Su Xin and Tong Qing were leaving, please take her along – this showed she believed she could also leave and that it was quite possible.

Mu Qi wasn’t the formation eye, but she could be something else.

Yesterday Su Xin asked Fourteen if killing the formation eye was the only way to leave this place, with no other method, and if even the designer themselves couldn’t break it.

Fourteen answered no – besides the one who laid down this confusing formation [or maze formation], killing the formation eye was the only method, but the designer could remove it anytime without doing anything else.

If Mu Qi was the designer of this barrier, what was her purpose? If she wasn’t, what role did she play in this village and in all these strange events?

Su Xin wanted to understand more, but the timing wasn’t right.

She could only wait for that person – or ghost – who was acting in secret to make another move, bringing her some clues or helping eliminate other suspects.

The New Year arrived.

When this holiday actually came, Su Xin didn’t have many special feelings about it.

She never celebrated New Year before – it was only after becoming close with Qiu Qingqing that she started celebrating this holiday.

Back then, everyone spent all day training. They were all little lolis and shotas [anime terms for young girls and boys], fighting each other.

It was Qiu Qingqing, still a little girl then, who introduced her to this holiday – the most important festival in Chinese people’s hearts.

That day, Qiu Qingqing secretly slipped her a milk candy and wished her happy new year. Su Xin remembered that day, and from then on, every year on that day, the two would secretly gather together. During the years they were separated, Su Xin would eat a milk candy during Spring Festival, while everything else stayed the same as usual. Only after they met again did Su Xin finally experience a lively New Year that belonged to just the two of them.

Mu Qi was in charge of cooking. She didn’t make too many dishes, partly because three people couldn’t eat that much, and partly because ingredients were limited. But all three ate happily – Su Xin and Tong Qing were happy because the food was delicious, while Mu Qi felt inexplicably good seeing their smiling faces.

After New Year, there was a light snow. It really was light, falling only briefly, as if just showing itself to everyone to prove it still existed, then disappeared.

During New Year, of course people had to visit relatives, going from house to house. Almost everyone in the village was related somehow, and everyone knew each other well. Even families with grudges would set aside their conflicts on this day to shake hands and make peace, blessing each other. The mountain village, which had fallen into an eerie quiet stillness, became lively on this day.

Su Xin took Tong Qing to visit, and Mu Qi followed along.

Su Xin went to the Village Chief’s house first – after all, he was the Village Chief, the most authoritative person in the village. Whether for substance and face [or: real respect or just for show], they should visit his house first.

The Village Chief had several sons and daughters, but they had all gone to live in the outside world and had their own families. It was said that the sons and daughters all wanted to bring their parents to live in the city, but none of the children were particularly successful. The elderly couple could only stay at this daughter’s house for two days this month, that son’s house for two days that month, with the children dividing the time very clearly.

The Village Chief couple would become unhappy after staying a few days and return home. They were village people, accustomed to the village rhythm, lifestyle, and way of speaking. Plus, their daughters-in-law complained, so the couple immediately returned to the village, saying their children didn’t need to support them in their old age, and that was that.

The Village Chief’s wife received Su Xin, smiling warmly and looking very kind.

Su Xin glanced at the table and saw there was already quite a bit of food, probably left by other visitors. Su Xin put down her family’s dried goods [or: preserved foods], and the Village Chief’s wife took them and stuffed a handful of candy into Tong Qing’s hands.

“Thank you, grandmother.”

Tong Qing thanked her politely, his childish voice sounding very pleasant and clear.

“Ah Qing is such a good child. Grandmother has lots of candy here – take whatever you want. Grow tall in the coming year, okay?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Grandmother, how is Grandfather Village Chief’s illness?”

Su Xin asked, looking worriedly toward the curtained area. It seemed the Village Chief was truly very ill, not even coming out to see visitors during such a holiday.

“Same as always, no improvement. Ever since he got sick last year, he hasn’t gotten better. The old man is very stubborn, and now that we can’t leave the village, we can only let his illness drag on like this.”

The Village Chief’s wife sighed, looking very worried.

“Old woman, are you speaking ill of me again?”

Accompanied by coughing, an elderly male voice came from behind the curtain.

“Old man, you’re awake. Ning girl, Little Qing, and that young lady who lives at the village end have come to see us.”

The Village Chief’s wife hurriedly lifted the curtain and went inside. After thinking for a moment, Su Xin followed her in.

The room had an unpleasant medicine smell. The Village Chief’s wife turned on the light, and Su Xin saw the Village Chief’s face, full of illness [or: sickly appearance].

“Cough, cough, cough – it’s Ning girl.”

The Village Chief squinted at Su Xin, as if he couldn’t see clearly.

“Grandmother, how did Grandfather get sick?”

“This stubborn old man… You see, I’m old now and my memory isn’t good. That night I forgot to boil water. I was wondering what I had forgotten, and then the old man came. I told him I would go boil water now, for his bath and drinking, but he absolutely refused. He insisted he was still young and that wiping himself down with cold water wouldn’t be a problem. I couldn’t persuade him otherwise, so I could only watch him wipe himself down with cold water. Of course, this old man then started coughing.”

Although the Village Chief’s wife was complaining about him, her eyes were red, clearly feeling very guilty.

“Enough, enough. Why talk about these things in front of the younger generation? It’s New Year’s – don’t you cry now. Take Little Qing and this young lady outside first. I want to speak with Ning girl alone.”

The Village Chief urged.

“Alright, I know.”

The Village Chief’s wife wiped her eyes and smiled again.

“What is it, Village Chief Grandfather? What did you want to tell me?”

Su Xin sat by the bed, watching the Village Chief cough weakly.

“I heard from my old woman that girl Cui’er wanted to introduce you to someone, and it was Tong Xi she wanted to introduce to you.”

The Village Chief’s eyebrows were furrowed so deeply they could trap flies [extremely disapproving], clearly very much against this matter.

“Ah… Grandfather, that was more than half a month ago. Aunt Cui has already passed away. Grandfather, didn’t you know?”

Su Xin shook her head, somewhat surprised.

“This old man is always lying in bed, how could I know about things happening outside? My old woman didn’t tell me either. It’s good that didn’t happen – you absolutely must not agree.”

The Village Chief said advisingly.

“How is my elder sister doing?”

“Grandmother Tong?”

“Yes.”

“She’s also… also gone.”

Su Xin sighed, feeling emotional.

“I don’t know what misfortune befell Uncle Tong’s family. Minwen was the first to go. They used to be a happy family of five, now only two remain.”

“It must have been done by that thing.”

“What thing?”

“More than ten years ago, my elder sister came to tell me something.”

The Village Chief sighed, his aged face showing some helplessness.

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