Da Hu frowned and asked, "What's wrong with Lao Er?"
Er Hu, on the other end of the phone, did not explain. "You guys come up first and take a look."
Da Hu looked at Yang Guofu and the others. "Uncle Yang, the Shua Sha Tomb might have a problem. I'll go take a look."
Yu Daohen stood up from his chair and picked up the Kang Long Jian from the table. "Brother Da Hu, I'll go."
Da Hu hesitated for a moment and nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, Master Yu."
"Master, can I go with Master Yu?" Yang Ergou, who had been silent all along, spoke up.
San Hu nodded and instructed, "Don't cause trouble for me. Follow Master Yu properly."
Yang Ergou nodded. Yu Daohen hung the Kang Long Jian on his lower back and led Yang Ergou towards the back mountain.
The village where Chen Qingshui lived was not large, with only a little over a hundred households.
These past few days, they had heard that the son-in-law of the Chen family had returned.
In front of a stone platform, several old women, all over seventy, were chatting.
Yang Ergou and Yu Daohen exchanged glances and stopped to listen.
"Alas, it's a pity for that child Chen Ruolian. Her entire family died for some unknown reason, leaving her all alone," one of the old women sighed.
The old woman next to her lowered her voice. "I heard that the old Chen family's house is haunted. That girl Chen Ruolian often says her mother is still alive."
One of the old women quickly interjected, "Sister Zhang, you shouldn't talk about that."
Yang Ergou and Yu Daohen both frowned.
Yu Daohen stepped forward and asked, "Grandmothers, are you talking about Chen Xiaobao's family?"
The old women sized up Yu Daohen. One of them chuckled, "You're a fair-skinned and tender young man. You shouldn't be from our village, right?"
Yu Daohen scratched the back of his head. "Grandma, you're right, I'm not from this village. I'm here visiting relatives and heard you ladies talking about old Chen, so I got curious."
The old women smiled broadly. "How old are you, young man? Do you have a girlfriend?"
Yu Daohen showed an embarrassed smile. "I'm seventeen this year, almost eighteen, and I don't have a girlfriend yet."
"You're only seventeen, young man. You must still be studying, right?" one of the old women asked.
Yu Daohen gave a dry laugh and shook his head. "I'm not studying anymore. I opened a shop on Jiangdu Old Street."
When the old women heard this, they were overjoyed. "You're a promising young man! My daughter is thirty this year. Although she's a bit older, she's good-looking. Would you like to consider her?"
It had to be said that Yu Daohen's appearance was quite good, and his complexion was very fair.
Yu Daohen looked a bit embarrassed. "Um, Grandmothers, could you please tell me about Chen Xiaobao's family?"
The old women coughed dryly and began to talk about Chen Xiaobao's family.
Eighteen years ago, after Liu Zhonghe left, Chen Qingshui gave birth to Chen Ruolian.
And the strange occurrences began after Chen Ruolian was born.
After giving birth to Chen Ruolian, the Chen family's behavior became increasingly bizarre. They would sprinkle paper money in front of their door every day. It was fine for a day or two, but they never stopped for the entire year.
The neighbors all found it strange. Once, someone passing by the Chen family's door at night felt something was amiss. Why was the Chen family's house emitting a green light at midnight?
The person quietly peeked through the crack in the door and was suddenly so terrified that their face turned pale.
Inside the Chen family's house, Chen Qingshui was kneeling on the ground, surrounded by countless white candles. The candles emitted green flames, not red. Even more bizarrely, Chen Xiaobao and his old wife were lying next to Chen Qingshui.
The next day, news spread that Chen Xiaobao and his wife had passed away.
Everyone said that Chen Qingshui had used witchcraft to kill her own parents, and Chen Qingshui did not hold a funeral.
After Chen Xiaobao and his wife passed away, Chen Qingshui rarely went out. She went from coming out once a week to once a month, and then never came out again. Everyone thought she was dead. As Chen Ruolian grew up, no one ever saw Chen Qingshui again, and everyone assumed she was dead. Chen Ruolian would run to the back mountain every day to wander around. This continued until the present day.
After listening, Yu Daohen's brow furrowed. He knew that Yang Guofu and his wife were dead, but why did Yang Guofu's wife suddenly have a soul yesterday?