activa-t Chapter 314: Are you mourning at a grave?
Chapter 314: Are you mourning at a grave?
At this critical moment, Fang Xiaoxiao and Pei Yan's hearts were in their throats, and their breathing became rapid with tension.
Taking advantage of this brief moment of chaos, they dragged and pulled Hua Ruyan along as quickly as possible, like startled rabbits, and swiftly scurried into the hole under the Buddha statue.
The cavity was filled with a nauseating stench of decay, and it was so dark and cramped that it felt suffocating.
Fang Xiaoxiao's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.
Pei Yan's forehead was covered with large beads of sweat, but his hands gripped Hua Ruyan's arm tightly, not daring to loosen his grip even slightly.
Next, Fang Xiaoxiao and Pei Yan, carrying Hua Ruyan who had just recovered but was still shaken and trembling, struggled to crawl through the dark, damp, and rugged cave.
The air inside the cave was murky and filled with a damp, musty smell. The three people's clothes were constantly being scraped and ripped by the rough, sharp cave walls, and their delicate skin was scratched with tiny bloodstains. But they didn't care about any of that; all they could think about was escaping this terrible place as soon as possible.
Their breathing was rapid and heavy, each step forward filled with unknown fear. Finally, after groping around in the darkness for a long time, they reached the end and were overjoyed to find an opening above them.
Pei Yan took a deep breath, forcing himself to overcome his physical exhaustion and inner fear, and carefully lifted Hua Ruyan up.
Hua Ruyan's body trembled uncontrollably as she desperately clung to the edge of the hole. Then, with Pei Yan's all-out help, Fang Xiaoxiao also struggled to climb out.
Finally, Pei Yan gritted his teeth, used all his strength, and managed to squeeze out of the hole.
When the three of them finally emerged from the cave, Fang Xiaoxiao was panting heavily, her heart pounding like a drum.
She looked around in a panic, only to find herself in a haystack next to the village entrance.
The surroundings were completely silent, with only the occasional faint chirping of insects, which sounded particularly eerie in the quiet night.
Fang Xiaoxiao and her two companions hurriedly and breathlessly cleared away the mountain of haystacks, their steps unsteady and staggering as they reached the village entrance.
Their gazes swept eagerly across the silent village before them, which seemed to be suffocating under the heavy night.
The surroundings were deathly silent, without even a breath of wind, except for the occasional hooting of an owl from somewhere, which made the silence seem even more profound.
Fang Xiaoxiao turned her head anxiously to look at the stone tablet in the village next door. By the dim moonlight, she found that the three large characters "Huayu Village" were crookedly carved on it.
At this moment, Hua Ruyan, who had finally come to her senses, suddenly changed her expression when she heard Fang Xiaoxiao softly utter the name of the village. Her lips trembled as she spoke urgently.
“There are servants in this village who used to be household slaves in our family.”
Just then, the silence, which had been as if frozen in ice, was broken by a sudden cry.
Suddenly, a small figure appeared on the village road. It was a little girl, her petite body appearing so thin and helpless in the dim moonlight.
Her hair was disheveled like dry straw, and her tear-streaked face shimmered in the moonlight. She was crying her heart out, her small mouth wide open, and her sobs burst from her throat. With a loud "waaaah," it was as if she wanted to shout out all her grievances and fears.
She kept wiping away her tears with both hands, her two little legs running desperately, sobbing as she rushed towards the house at the village entrance.
The piercing cry echoed through the silent village, creating a stark contrast, like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, breaking the original tranquility and making it seem even more eerie and unsettling.
The moment Fang Xiaoxiao and the others saw the little girl, their hearts felt as if they had been gripped by an invisible hand.
The little girl looked like a wounded animal, her small body trembling in the cold wind, crying her heart out, a truly heartbreaking sight.
Without thinking twice, they quickly walked towards the little girl.
Just as Fang Xiaoxiao approached the little girl, the door, which had been tightly closed as if shutting out the world, was suddenly pushed open with a creak without warning. The abrupt sound was particularly jarring in the quiet night.
A burly, shrewish rural woman appeared menacingly at the door. Her thick arms were like two stiff wooden sticks, and she had a long face with her fleshy features trembling with anger.
Her eyes widened, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, and she launched into a barrage of accusations.
"You brat, what are you wailing about in the middle of the night! Don't you know everyone's exhausted after a long day and needs a good night's sleep? Are you wailing at a grave? You're making so much noise, we can't get any peace and quiet!"
The little girl was startled by the shrew's sudden roar, her already swollen and red eyes now filled with fear and helplessness. She curled up into a ball, sobbing as she spoke.
"Auntie, please, please have mercy and save my mother. My mother suddenly fell ill; her whole body is convulsing, and she keeps spitting out white foam. I'm so scared, waaaaah..."
Her voice was choked with sobs, broken and intermittent, each word seemingly uttered with all her might.
Fang Xiaoxiao looked at the little girl in front of her, who was only about four or five years old, as cute as a porcelain doll, yet so aggrieved and helpless, and her eyes reddened with heartache.
She knelt down and gently wiped away the little girl's tears. Out of kindness, she eagerly inquired about the little girl's mother's situation.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the shrew's face contorted into an even more ferocious expression, and she began to yell at the top of her lungs.
"No way! Don't bother us! My old Fu is too old for this kind of trouble! We'll talk about it tomorrow! And you, girl, you already owe us five hundred coins! You still want our help? No way!"
Fang Xiaoxiao squatted down in front of the little girl with great anxiety, asking in a soft but urgent tone about the little girl's mother's situation.
The little girl was sobbing and about to speak when the shrew saw that Fang Xiaoxiao and the others were strangers from out of town. Her eyes instantly turned as sharp as a hawk's, filled with vigilance and hostility.
Immediately afterwards, the veins on her thick neck bulged, her mouth opened wide, and she screamed hysterically like a broken bellows.
"Help! Help! Some ignorant outsider has barged in!"