After wiping the child's neck and shoulders until they turned bright red, Li Sanjiang leaned over and vigorously inhaled through his nose.
Having sniffed, Li Sanjiang's eyes widened as he gently pushed the child away and collapsed onto the ground.
"Uncle, uncle?" Li Weihan immediately came over to help.
Cui Guiying then went to check Li Zhiyuan's neck, her heart ached, but she knew something seemed to have changed again, so she didn't dare say anything and just silently stroked the child's head.
"Cigarette, Hanhou, give me a cigarette."
Li Weihan immediately helped to light it.
Li Sanjiang took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose.
Li Weihan noticed that Li Sanjiang's hands were trembling as he held the cigarette.
"Guiying, take the child inside." Li Sanjiang pointed towards the inner room, "And close the door."
"What exactly is going wrong again?" Cui Guiying couldn't hold back her concern.
"Just do what uncle says," Li Weihan hurriedly gestured to hurry her.
Cui Guiying took a deep breath, still picked up Li Zhiyuan, walked into the inner room, and closed the door.
Only the two men were left in the kitchen.
"Hanhou, this is troublesome.
In the afternoon, Liu Xiazi definitely dealt with the spirit attached to Little Yuanhou cleanly, since she did it, it couldn't have been left incomplete.
But just now, I caught the scent of a corpse again from the child's neck with my nose. I've fished corpses all my life, I'm telling you, the smell of corpses soaked in water is different from corpses elsewhere, my nose isn't wrong."
Li Sanjiang said, then turned his head to look at Li Weihan, speaking very seriously, "The corpse, it really followed us home."
Hearing this, Li Weihan immediately stood up and took the axe used for chopping wood from above the cabinet. With many children in the house, such items had to be kept out of reach.
"Damn it, I'm going to fight that thing!"
Li Sanjiang squinted his eyes and took another puff of his cigarette, slowly saying, "What if she doesn't come out?"
"What?" Li Weihan was somewhat confused, "If she doesn't come out, isn't that good?"
"If she just lurks next to your home, out of sight. She's watching your house, one day, two days, three days... First Little Yuanhou, then Little Panhou, Little Leihou, Little Huhou... going onto Guiying, and then you.
Other families worship gods and Buddha for protection, your family is essentially harboring a malevolent spirit.
It won't be long before people start falling ill, having bad luck, leading to... the ruination of your household."
Li Weihan asked in a daze, "Then what should we do, should I... stop living here, move to my son's home?"
"If she could follow here once, couldn't she do it a second time?"
"Uncle, is there really no other way?"
"There is a way," the cigarette on Li Sanjiang's lips flickered dimly.
"Uncle, you have to help me." Li Weihan squatted next to Li Sanjiang, if it were anyone else saying these things, he would suspect they were trying to frighten him for some ulterior motive, but not Li Sanjiang.
"These drowned spirits, resentful as they are, are already troublesome, and to have the kind that follows you home is something I've never encountered in my life; it's freakishly abnormal."
"But uncle, every debt has its debtor, what does this have to do with my Little Yuanhou?"
"Huh." Li Sanjiang scoffed, his fingers rubbed together as he extinguished the cigarette, "I'm guessing she's looking for someone responsible for her grievances, but can't find the person, so she just clings to the first person she encounters."
Li Weihan as if recalling something, his eyes filled with hesitation and contemplation.
Li Sanjiang continued: "This corpse is certainly the woman who danced and sang at Big Beard's house yesterday, right? The one you mentioned on the road when you picked me up, called Little Huang Ying?"
"Leihou said he saw her; I wasn't at Big Beard's house yesterday, so I can't be sure."
"It was Little Huang Ying, Leihou might have made a mistake, but Little Yuanhou wouldn't; he was calling for Little Huang Ying just after waking up from a dream."
"Yeah, that's accurate."
"Didn't you say, the villagers saw Little Huang Ying and Big Beard's youngest son sneaking into the woods last night, and during the day a brawl happened at Big Beard's house, and Big Beard had sealed the matter with money.
There's guilt in their hearts..."
The word "ghost" was forcefully withheld by Li Sanjiang, even at this moment, one must observe certain taboos,
"...there's something suspicious in their conscience. Heh, the way his family behaves, if there wasn't something untoward, how could they yield so easily?
Big Beard, just like the big beards pre-liberation in the Northeast, exactly like a bandit, who knows how many sins they've committed."
As he spoke, Li Sanjiang paused, then reached into the tin in front of him, took out another cookie, bit into it, and chuckled, "This cookie has a strong milky flavor, must not be cheap, eh? Sent by your youngest daughter, right?"
Li Weihan pulled out a cigarette, lit it for himself, then vigorously inhaled several puffs rapidly, wiping his forehead and eyes with his hand, and when he looked at Li Sanjiang again, his eyes were bloodshot:
"Uncle, do you really doubt my Hanhou's integrity?"
Li Sanjiang picked up another cookie, didn't respond, and continued eating.
"Uncle, back in the early days when I struggled to arrange marriages for my four sons, those were really tough times.
Not only did you let me farm your land, every time I helped you out, you'd also share some wages; when Guiying came to help you make paper mache, her skills were so coarse I couldn't bear to watch, but you still paid her for her work.
After the toughest times were over, I stopped farming your land, knowing you could earn more grain rent by leasing it to someone else, and I was embarrassed to let Guiying go there again, fearing she would muddle through just as she did in the collective.
I really couldn't continue taking advantage of you, but your kindness, I, Li Weihan, have always kept it in my heart.