Chapter Thirty-Two: In the Dead of Night

“What are you really trying to say?” I looked at Fatty and asked.

Fatty shook his head. “I don’t know either. Aren’t we just speculating here? I just feel that when your Uncle Zhu told you to sleep with that woman, it definitely wasn’t just for your own pleasure. Maybe he wanted her to bear your child. And Chen Stone bought that woman for the same reason. Then think again—these days, that fool keeps showing up at your little girlfriend’s window at night, showing you her belly—still about a child. And the little drought demon at your door today was also a child. Everything seems to revolve around children. I just feel something fishy is going on.”

“Isn’t that the truth? I don’t even dare think about it now; every time I do, my head starts to ache,” I said.

“What I’m most curious about is what exactly happened in this village twenty-something years ago. That’s the key. Everything happening now traces back to something from those days,” Fatty said.

“I know that too. But twenty-odd years ago—it’s a cold case!” I replied with a bitter smile.

Fatty and I talked for a long time, but no matter how much we discussed, we couldn’t make sense of it. Still, our conversation brought us closer. I asked him, “What do you plan to do with the little drought demon that appeared at my door today?”

“I was just about to bring that up. I plan to give the child back to the fool,” Fatty said.

“Give her back?” I asked. How was that even possible?

“As you said, I really can’t drag Old Lady Wang out for questioning right now. But we can’t just keep dragging things out like this. My patience is at its limit. I feel that the fool’s ghost might be a breakthrough. If we return the child to her, we can solve your girlfriend’s problem, and maybe get the fool to spill something useful,” Fatty explained.

“You still want to question the fool?” I asked.

“You think I’m giving her back her son for nothing? There’s always a debt to repay. Brother King of Thieves, this depends on you. At midnight, you’ll go to the fool’s grave,” Fatty said.

He hadn’t finished before I cut him off. The fool’s grave was a forbidden place in my mind, and I was supposed to go there in the dead of night? I’d probably die of fright!

“Don’t get so worked up. What’s the big deal? Don’t you want to solve your girlfriend’s problem? Don’t you want to find out what really happened twenty years ago? Don't worry—I’ll be right behind you,” Fatty reassured me.

I was still reluctant, but Fatty’s forceful persuasion eventually wore me down. After some thought, I realized I had to face certain things sooner or later. The nightmares of my childhood needed to end. Besides, with Fatty backing me up, I felt a bit braver. So I agreed to his plan.

After we parted ways, the day passed uneventfully. That night, after dinner, I waited on the sofa until my mother and Han Xue went to bed. Then I quietly slipped out and made my way to the village committee building. Fatty was already waiting, with the jar containing the dead child by his side.

Fatty checked his watch. “Let’s go. It’s almost time.”

My heart was pounding, especially when Fatty handed me the jar. I almost changed my mind. My head was filled with the memory of Chen Stone slicing open the fool’s corpse when I was three. My legs shook as I walked.

But Fatty gave me no chance to back out, pulling me along straight to the edge of the village, to the fool’s grave. The graves of the fool and Old Root Chen stood alone—no one wanted their tombs near theirs, given their reputations. Overgrown with weeds, neglected by all, the graves looked desolate. Fatty stopped. “Remember what I taught you? Don’t be afraid—I’ll be right here. When it’s time, I’ll step in.”

I lit a cigarette and took several hard drags, but it did nothing to calm my racing heart. Fatty fished a small bottle of liquor from his pocket. “Smoking’s useless now. Down this. Liquid courage.”

I twisted off the cap and drank the whole bottle in one go. It wasn’t enough to get drunk, but the fiery liquid warmed me all over. Taking a deep breath, I tossed aside the bottle, picked up the jar, and walked to the fool’s grave. Glancing back, I saw Fatty still in his spot.

At that moment, Fatty was my only source of courage.

I squatted, placed the jar down, and used a branch to draw a circle in front of the grave. I sat inside the circle and lit the spirit money with a lighter. The flames burned bright, illuminating my face. Though it wasn’t warm at night, the fire soon had me sweating.

As the spirit money burned low, I spoke to the grave. “Fool, it’s me. I’ve brought your child. Please come and take him.”

The words had barely left my mouth when a cold wind rose behind me, sending ashes swirling.

I clenched my fists, every muscle taut.

I whipped around, but there was nothing behind me—only Fatty watching from afar. I relaxed a little, but when I turned back again, my heart nearly stopped. At some point, the fool, dressed in funeral robes, had appeared before me, sitting at the edge of the grave, smiling at me.

Every hair on my body stood on end; cold sweat drenched me.

I kept telling myself not to panic—I’d just seen the fool a few days ago, hadn’t I? What was there to be afraid of now?

I looked up at her, slowly pulled the talisman Fatty had given me from my pocket, and lit it with the flames from the spirit money. Holding the burning yellow talisman between my fingers, I presented it to the fool. My hand was trembling, but I could only trust Fatty now—trust in his talisman, which he claimed could summon the four divine beasts and the five sacred swords.

After the talisman burned out, I smeared the ashes on my hands, then picked up the jar, took out the dead child, peeled off the talisman from its forehead, and placed the child in the fool’s arms. I looked at her and said, “Fool, I’ve returned your child. Now tell me what I want to know.”

The fool cradled the child, lowered her head to look at it, then raised her face again. The smile had vanished, replaced by a vicious expression. She flung the child aside, opened her mouth wide, revealing a long tongue and rows of black teeth.

Chunks of flesh dropped from her face, exposing blood-streaked bone.

I had no idea what was happening. I was paralyzed with fear. I’d seen the fool’s corpse twice before, but never like this.

Then she lunged at me, bony hands clutching my throat so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

None of this was how Fatty had planned. According to him, after I gave the child back, the fool would owe me a favor. Ghosts and demons are bound by karma; she would have to repay her debt by telling me what I wanted to know. Who could have predicted this outcome?

I was suffocating, oxygen leaving my brain. I struggled desperately, but it was useless. Suddenly, I remembered the elders’ words: a drop of blood from the tip of the tongue can ward off evil. In desperation, I bit my tongue and spat blood at the fool.

It worked. She loosened her grip, and smoke rose from where my blood touched her. But she was about to lunge at me again. Seizing the moment, I yelled back at Fatty, “Aren’t you coming to help? You just gonna watch me die?!”

Despair overwhelmed me.

Behind me, there was nothing but emptiness—Fatty was gone.

At that moment, the fool lunged again, clutching my throat, her face reduced to nothing but two glaring eyeballs full of hatred.

My mind began to fade.

I still didn’t understand what was happening.

All I had done was return her child. Why did she want to kill me?