I carried the corpse rat, sniffing left and right, but detected no foul odor. Perhaps I had become accustomed to it myself. Having carried it for several miles, it felt no different than if I had been soaking in a latrine.
"Where did you go to eat shit in someone's outhouse? How did you get so stinking?"
Facing Sister Zhang, the second most shrewish woman in the village, even more so than Widow Ma, I wished I could find a screwdriver and sew her mouth shut. Was that any way to speak?
Such thoughts could only exist in my mind. I calmly said, "Sister Zhang, what are you doing at my doorstep? Banging basins and pot lids, are you putting on a show for us?" Though angry, I knew I had to live in this village, so I swallowed my resentment and spoke kindly.
"Pah! You little bastard, born with a father but no mother to teach you, you animal. Why did you do this to my child? If you don't give me a clear explanation, I'll make your face bloom and show you why flowers are so red..."
"Exactly! Qingyun, my family treated you well. I even sewed you a cotton jacket back then..."
"Qingyun, your master has left our village. You can't make money with a guilty conscience! These children are innocent. How can you be so heartless as to capture all their souls? If I had known you were so ungrateful, I would have had my husband drive you out of the village..."
Me: "..."
I was stunned by their accusations. Led by Sister Zhang and with Grandma Liu delivering the final blow, every word was venomous, each phrase a blade piercing my heart.
I couldn't understand why they were saying such things. I had almost died from the corpse rat while trying to retrieve the souls of those children. Instead of gratitude, I was met with curses before I even entered my home. Did my father's coma and my mother's departure mean I deserved to die?
Originally, I had planned to return and quietly return the souls of these children to their homes, one by one. Whether Gou Danzi would become the village's spirit medium was of no concern to me.
Although I had returned to the village with my master, I relied on the kindness of my neighbors for food and drink, otherwise, I would have starved to death under my drunken master. Why was it so difficult to be a good person?
With a dark expression, I surveyed the crowd. "Speak if you have something to say. Don't curse here. Although I grew up eating from many households in the village, you all received money from my master. Therefore, I owe you nothing. Cursing at my doorstep makes me think you believe my master's absence means no one can control you."
"Oh, you little brat. You've been gone for a month and you've gotten tough?" Sister Zhang spat on the ground and continued, "When you first arrived, I said you were a jinx. You've only been back for two days, and Wang Mazi's family died under mysterious circumstances. Now my child has had an accident while bathing. Don't tell me this has nothing to do with you. My child was bathing in the small river east of the village before you returned. How is it that an accident happened as soon as you got back? If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, don't blame me for not respecting your deceased master."
Damn it, what kind of logic is this? Blaming the earth's gravity for not being able to defecate?
I said with a stern face, "Sister Zhang, you catch a thief with evidence, and you catch an adulterer with proof. Wang Mazi's death has nothing to do with me. If you continue to talk like this, don't blame me for bringing Wang Mazi back to clarify things."
You can be a shrew, but you can't just throw all the dirt on me. People should have some principles.
Hearing my words, Sister Zhang took a step back, her face filled with terror, as if recalling my abilities. The others who had followed her to confront me also changed their expressions, becoming hesitant and unsure of what to say.
Perhaps feeling her authority challenged, or perhaps enraged by her child's coma, Sister Zhang's face turned red. She lunged forward, completely disregarding the stench emanating from me and my 'threat,' and collided with me head-on.
I stumbled back two steps, startled. If I hadn't moved back quickly, I would have "kissed" her. As an eighteen-year-old young man, I hadn't even kissed a girl yet, and I certainly didn't want to give her my first kiss.
"You little brat, my child still hasn't woken up. Gou Danzi said you brought evil spirits. If their souls don't return before dawn, they'll become idiots. Are you going to let your children become fools?"
Sister Zhang became more agitated as she spoke, and finally resorted to scratching me all over my head and face.
I quickly retreated two steps, instinctively shielding my front, completely forgetting the corpse rat in my hand.
"Ah... you... you dare to kill a wild immortal, Song Qingyun, I'll fight you to the death..."
The corpse rat smelled foul, but Sister Zhang only gagged twice before lunging at me again.
Damn it, I risked my life to save your children's souls, and instead of thanking me, you're kicking me to the curb like a worn-out donkey. This is too much.
I spun around, dodging Sister Zhang's claws. Due to her excessive force, she fell face-first onto the ground.
Sister Zhang, who had fallen face-first, was stunned for a moment before shouting, "What are you waiting for? If the children's souls aren't found by midnight, they'll all become imbeciles. Are you just going to watch your children become fools?" She then quickly got up and lunged at me again.
The group of women who had followed her were also stunned. Then, they started grabbing their hair and clothes, completely disregarding neighborly affection. Someone, I don't know who, even aimed a crippling kick at me.
As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands. I was one person against a group of women, blocking attacks from the left but not the right, blocking from above but not below...
After enduring the third groin kick, I finally couldn't stand it anymore.
"Enough! Are you ever going to stop?" I roared, injecting a bit of Xuan Yang True Qi into my voice.
My voice wasn't loud, but to them, it sounded like thunder from a clear sky. After all, they were ordinary people, and my voice, infused with Xuan Yang True Qi, sounded like a clap of thunder to them.
"You... why are you shouting? If you don't give me a proper explanation, I'm not done with you!" Sister Zhang's frenzied expression lessened slightly after my outburst, but her shrewish nature remained.
Holding the birth dates of the four children's souls, I felt a strong urge to abandon them. However, the pain on my face reminded me that if I did, it would confirm that I was the one who had detained these children's souls.
If that happened, not only would my master's ten years of reputation in the village be ruined, but my injuries would have been in vain. I wouldn't engage in a losing business.
I touched the scratches on my face that had drawn blood and said, "You believe whatever Gou Danzi tells you. If I had truly detained your children's souls, do you think I would be here checking on them? I would be sitting at home waiting for you to bring me money. I'm telling you the truth that the children have lost their souls, and I'm suffering for it."
"Heh heh... that's not necessarily true! You can know a person's face but not their heart. You can draw a tiger but not its bones. Who knows if your heart is black or red?"