Throughout the night, Xu Huaigu was still extremely uneasy, tickled by what happened on the other side of the river. In the middle of the night, he couldn't sleep and tossed and turned in bed.
The river is obviously there, but why can't I see the other side? This feeling of being in front of your eyes but not available is really hard.
The moon just happened to shine outside the window. He sat up and pulled his hair anxiously, hating Uncle Chen for teasing him. But this was of no avail, he was still awake and unable to sleep.
He sneaked out of the house alone and wandered aimlessly in the dark.
There was unprecedented silence around him, and he enjoyed this state of affairs very much. Walking into the gap between two houses, only one person can pass, and touching the mud wall of one of the houses seems particularly friendly.
Sneaking in the dark night, every sound is extremely clear. He could clearly hear his own slow footsteps, the chirping of unknown insects in the dirt and grass, and it seemed... mixed with something else.
He stopped, frowned, and carefully distinguished the faint sounds. It seemed like... a person was coughing. The coughing sound became more and more urgent and anxious, which was especially abrupt in this dark night.
He wanted to step forward to see what was going on, but in the distance he heard someone's door opening and closing. There was a "click" sound, and it was the door knocker on the door hitting the wooden door panel.
Then the sound of someone's footsteps sounded, and Xu Huaigu suddenly woke up. There was someone walking outside in the middle of the night?
The man's footsteps became clearer, and he could be heard breathing heavily, seemingly very nervous. The footsteps continued to come towards him, and Xu Huaigu was a little scared for no reason. He used the faint moonlight to gently move his body and hide in a corner, squatting down and observing the street corner quietly.
A group of figures appeared, but they were far away from him and could not be seen clearly. The man did not go further this way, but turned into another alley and quickly disappeared.
Xu Huaigu was still squatting in the corner, not daring to move at all. He was excited like never before, as if he had stumbled upon the most amazing thing in the world. His hands nervously grabbed a piece of grass on the ground, covered in sweat.
He didn't expect to encounter such an adventure when he went out at night. He was overjoyed, as if color finally appeared in the boring black and white life.
The bright moon hung high, illuminating the young man's nervous and excited face. After a long time, he calmed down, stood up slowly, and prepared to go home. Along the way, he kept guessing who that person was and what he was doing when he went out at night. Unfortunately, thousands of answers ran through his mind, and there was no definite answer, which only increased his excitement.
Returning to silence, he returned home quietly, as if he had never been out. Perhaps this incident diverted his attention. Instead of thinking about the problems on the other side of the river, he fell asleep with endless reverie.
Feeling groggy, he opened his eyes again the next day, and the sun shined directly through the window onto his face, making it warm and comfortable.
He suddenly woke up subconsciously and looked at the sun that had climbed to its height outside the window. He was stunned and completely sleepless.
Oops, so late, late!
He jumped out of bed in a hurry, opened the door to his house, and ran while putting on his clothes. I still remember that the last time I was late, my husband didn’t say anything, but that silly girl Li Zi directly complained to me and came home, and was severely beaten by her father.
Speaking of Li Zi, Xu Huaigu became angry. The little girl is quite delicate, but she is extremely domineering by nature. She looks bossy to everyone she meets, as if everyone owes her money after she is born. And he especially likes to make small reports, such as who stole the peaches from Aunt Wang’s house, who hit the Dong family’s chickens with stones, etc. As long as he is seen by her, he will definitely be reported.
Xu Huaigu really hates this Li Zi. The key is that she always has a group of followers who like to talk to her about all kinds of trivial things to please her. Xu Huaigu would never give her a good look anyway, which was one of the reasons why he was excluded.
She will probably sue her again today. Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth. Even if he was beaten by his father, the key point was that this Li Zi was really hateful.
But he soon realized something was wrong. The road was filled with people who had put down their hoes and poles, pointing in the same direction. He slowed down and saw a few classmates in front of him. They didn't go to the villa either.
He glanced around and saw Li Zi standing among a group of people. Li Zi also happened to see him, and she walked directly towards him. Xu Huaigu looked away. He really didn't want to have anything to do with this person, but he couldn't lose his momentum and just stood still.
Li Zi walked up to him, stared at him, and said, "You don't seem to have slept well last night?"
Xu Huaigu replied unceremoniously: "Yes, I was indeed late, but you didn't go to Xueshu either."
She turned her head and said casually: "That's not what happened. Grandpa Chen died last night."
Xu Huaigu's head was pounding and he said nervously: "What did you say?"
She looked into Xu Huaigu's eyes again: "Grandpa Chen is dead, and he was strangled to death."
Xu Huaigu could no longer hear other words. He suddenly remembered what he saw last night and couldn't help but speak out: "No wonder, I saw last night..."
He immediately realized that it was wrong to say this. This was a matter of life and death, and he should think carefully before speaking.
He immediately shut up and said no more words.
Li Zi looked at him critically. Xu Huaigu felt panicked and turned around to leave.
"Wait a minute," Li Zi pulled him into a small corner, "What did you just say you saw at night?"
"It's nothing." Xu Huaigu was so confused that he pushed her away and ran away quickly.
He wanted to find Zhang Xiaohe quickly. Grandpa Chen was Chen Wucai's father and Zhang Xiaohe's grandfather. He was very afraid that something would happen to Zhang Xiaohe.
Grandpa Chen has always been very withdrawn. Ever since his wife died, he has lived alone in this remote house. He only has contact with his daughter and son on weekdays and basically never leaves the house. He really can't imagine why someone would harm him.
The crowd around him grew larger and larger, and the house was packed to the brim. Murder had never happened before in this village, and everyone came to see the fun. Some people scolded the murderer for his viciousness, some sympathized with the family, and some were making random guesses about the murderer. It was very lively.
Xu Huaigu struggled to squeeze in, and was shocked to see Zhang Xiaohe walking at the end of the group with a crying face. In front of him were Uncle Chen, Chen Wucai and another young man from the Chen family. Mr. Xueshu frowned, put his hands behind his back, and walked in the front with an ugly expression. Chen Wucai almost fainted from crying, leaning on Chen Wuhua's shoulder, barely walking. There were two strong villagers who helped carry Grandpa Chen's coffin, and they were also sympathetic.
Xu Huaigu stood in the back and looked at the devastated Chen family. He felt equally uncomfortable. Thinking about what he saw and heard last night, he felt nervous, excited, and even more eager to find the truth.
He turned and ran home, shut himself in his room, and thought hard about his plans for tonight.
The night came silently, and the darkness was like a quagmire, swallowing up everything.
Xu Huaigu stood at the gate, looking at the darkness outside, feeling a little frightened. Last night, it was this darkness that killed Grandpa Chen. How can people not be afraid?
He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door without making a sound.
The moonlight outside the window is still the same, unchanged from time to time, and I watch everything happening in the world indifferently.
Standing in the dark night, he no longer had the pleasure he had last night. His legs and feet couldn't help but tremble, but he still took the first step toward the darker place resolutely.
Nothing happened.
He plucked up the courage and continued to take a few steps forward, as if he wasn't so scared anymore.
He had already figured out the direction and walked towards the place where he saw the black shadow last night.
There were slight footsteps behind him, which sounded like thunder in his ears.
He didn't dare to move anymore. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer behind him, he felt at a loss and was left with only fear.
The footsteps stopped, right behind him, and he didn't dare to look back...
(Dear readers, due to Chunfeng’s operating error, Chapter 4 was published in the wrong order. Please open the table of contents and skip to Chapter 4. Chunfeng solemnly apologizes for the inconvenience caused to you: I’m sorry!
If you have friends who like this book, remember to add it to your favorites, thank you! )
