Chapter Eighteen: Caressing the Face

“Xie Yuan… my mother is missing.”

Wang Erjun’s voice was trembling with panic. He clutched at my leg, scrambling up from the ground, then dashed into the courtyard, shouting for his mother.

A surge of anxiety swept over me. I blurted out, “Did Aunt Wang faint for a moment and then wake up? Maybe she ran home?”

Wang Erjun’s face changed slightly. Shivering, he asked, “What do we do? Will the villagers come after my mom?”

I frowned. “They shouldn’t. This has nothing to do with Aunt Wang. Your father’s body will have to be taken care of anyway, and the whole matter still isn’t clear.”

Wang Erjun shook his head and gritted his teeth. “No, I have to go home. The old village chief is a real bastard… If he dares lay a hand on my mom, I’ll fight him to the end.”

During all of this, Granny Li had remained silent. Instinctively, I glanced at her.

She looked out the door and said, “Fat boy from the Wang family, someone’s coming. Climb over the wall and run.”

Wang Erjun’s expression shifted.

Sure enough, I heard voices outside, accompanied by footsteps.

Among them was the old village chief himself.

Had the village chief’s distant relative arrived already?

Suddenly, I remembered: when we first entered the village, someone had mentioned going to notify the old village chief.

I gave Wang Erjun a push and whispered, “Hurry, climb out the back and hide. Wait until they’re gone before you come back.”

The old village chief was notorious for his meddling—he loved searching people’s homes at the slightest provocation. If he was looking for Aunt Wang, he’d turn my house upside down.

Fear flickered across Wang Erjun’s face. He spoke quietly, “I need to grab something from inside first.”

Without another word, he darted back under the bed.

When he emerged, he was holding a silver bowl.

“We can’t let the old village chief see this. Otherwise, things will get out of hand.”

With that, Wang Erjun hunched over and ran toward the main hall.

He’d been coming to my house to play since he was a child. Behind the main hall was a cluttered storeroom, and from there, it was easy to climb over the wall and escape.

Our backyard was full of old, uninhabited houses—remnants of the old village. Hiding someone there was effortless.

I glanced uneasily at Granny Li, but she said nothing, merely casting a brief look at the silver bowl before looking away.

As soon as Wang Erjun entered the main hall, there was a loud banging at the courtyard gate.

“Open up! Xie Yuan!”

The voice belonged to one of the village men, though I couldn’t remember exactly who.

I glanced back—Wang Erjun had disappeared, already making his way toward the gate. I pulled it open.

The old village chief stood there, leaning on his cane, his expression grim.

Behind him were a few men from earlier that morning.

Among them was a tall, thin man, around thirty, with a striking appearance.

It was immediately clear that this man wasn’t from our village.

“Xie Yuan, I heard you brought back Carpenter Wang’s wife? Where is she?” the village chief demanded bluntly.

I froze for a moment, then replied truthfully, “She’s not here.”

The village chief frowned. “Where did she go?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I turned around and she was gone.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why did you bring her back?”

Being interrogated like this, especially by the old village chief, unsettled me. My tone grew sharper. “Carpenter Wang is dead, Wang Erjun is missing—someone had to see to the body. If I hadn’t brought Aunt Wang back, what was I supposed to do, just leave the corpse lying there?”

The village chief slammed his cane down with force, his voice rising. “Watch your tone! Do you have no respect for your elders?”

I opened my mouth, but didn’t argue further.

“Xie Yuan, did you go just to find someone for Carpenter Wang’s burial, or was it Wang Erjun who asked you?” he pressed.

A jolt of alarm shot through me, but I kept my composure. “I haven’t seen Wang Erjun since he went missing…”

The village chief conferred quietly with one of the men nearby.

One of them ignored me completely and walked straight into the courtyard, entering my room to search.

The village chief shot a glance at Granny Li, his tone unfriendly. “And you, Xie Yuan—why do you bring all sorts into this village? If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?”

Granny Li smiled. “Don’t blame the child. I just wanted to stretch my legs. As far as I know, Baihu Village doesn’t forbid visitors—and Wangjia Slope never said Baihu villagers couldn’t come by. What sense does that make?”

Her plump face made her look cheerful, and though her words were pleasant, she was clearly pushing back at the chief.

He frowned, then said to me, “The master has arrived. He just went to Carpenter Wang’s house. Your father did well, staying by Carpenter Wang’s corpse all day. I’m not targeting your family—after all, the Zhuangs have lost so many, and until we get to the bottom of this, the whole village won’t be at peace. When Zhuangshi was alive, he always treated your family well, didn’t he?”

Mentioning the village chief brought a pang to my heart.

He sighed. “You’re brave and not a bad kid. Carpenter Wang’s wife has been gone for two years, and no one knew if she’d ever come back. I was just worried you brought back someone unrelated. As long as she’s not involved, the village won’t do anything to her.”

I forced a smile, saying nothing more.

The man who had been searching came out, shaking his head.

The village chief ignored him, turning instead to the tall, thin man. “Zhou Gang, all five corpses from Uncle Zhuangshi’s family are here at Xie Yuan’s place. Shall we move them now? The youngest is still at Carpenter Wang’s place.”

The village chief’s family name was Zhou.

So this man was a distant relative of the village chief?

Zhou Gang nodded, his face expressionless. “Move them to Uncle Zhuangshi’s house first. When the master holds the ritual tonight, bury them quickly—I have to get home. Honestly, the bodies shouldn’t even be moved. Wouldn’t it be better to just leave them there? If the house collapses, they’ll be buried automatically.” His tone was unmistakably disdainful.

The village chief immediately called for the men to move the corpses.

If any other villager had spoken to him that way, he’d probably have hit them with his cane. But considering the circumstances, it was understandable.

The village chief’s family had suffered a terrible fate. Even finding a distant relative willing to help was a stroke of luck. If not, the village would have to deal with the bodies—and no one wanted that task.

I pointed to the woodshed, telling them the bodies were inside, and went to fetch the ox cart.

Just then, Granny Li spoke up. “Are you sure you want to put the bodies where they died? The sky is about to open.”

As her words fell, a deep thunderclap rumbled across the sky.

The clouds hung even lower. It was already past five, and darkness was creeping in.

The village chief frowned. “This isn’t an outsider’s concern.”

Zhou Gang’s expression darkened. “Then I won’t move them—let your family bury them instead. Ridiculous.”

Granny Li just smiled, saying no more, and sat at the well’s edge, motioning for me to join her.

I went over, unease gnawing at me. I wanted to speak, but feared the village chief might overhear.

I’d caught her meaning—moving the bodies back would bring trouble, and with the storm coming, if the house collapsed, the bodies would be buried where they lay.

But I couldn’t help a selfish thought… Already, the five corpses were reeking, and by tomorrow, the stench would be unbearable. They had to be buried; we couldn’t possibly hold the funeral ourselves.

If they took the corpses away, our house would be rid of that smell.

There was no need for me to fetch the ox cart. The man who had searched my house had already dragged it out from a corner of the courtyard.

In just ten minutes, they’d roughly loaded the five charred bodies onto the cart.

Zhou Gang shot me a glance I didn’t appreciate.

The ox cart was pushed out of the courtyard.

The village chief paused, looking at Granny Li, but said nothing before leaving.

Only after they’d gone did I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The stench of death in the yard lessened considerably.

Granny Li walked to the gate and stood there for a while, then beckoned me over.

I hurried to her side. “What is it?” I asked.

She sighed and opened her palm, revealing a handful of rice meant for the dead.

“Your father and Grey Aunt should be back soon, right?”

“You go find that fat boy from Wang’s family. As for Carpenter Wang and the village chief’s family being burned alive, let’s set those aside for now.”

“Tonight, this village won’t be peaceful. We’ll stay at home and go nowhere.”

A chill ran through me.

Granny Li pulled a cloth from her pocket and wrapped the rice in it.

“Child, the rain is coming. Go find Wang’s boy. The house across the way is Carpenter Wang’s, isn’t it? His mother must have gone home. I’ll go check and call your parents back too.”

The sky was growing ever darker.

I nodded.

The village chief had said the master arrived, so my parents could return. Granny Li could persuade Aunt Wang to come to our house as well.

And I had to find Wang Erjun—this was the best arrangement.

The oppressive weather, the suffocating anxiety, and a vague sense of dread made my heart pound with a nameless fear.

Granny Li stepped out and headed toward Carpenter Wang’s house across the road.

I hurried to the main hall to look for Wang Erjun.

As soon as I entered, I felt something stroke my face.

My heart lurched and I stopped abruptly, glancing back.

The courtyard behind me was empty.

A hallucination?

Just as I was about to go further in, I felt it again—a cold touch on my face.

This time, every hair on my body stood on end.

It was as if an icy hand was stroking my cheek, the sensation so vivid and real.

Yet all around me—before me, beside me—there was no one at all…