The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 165 Old House
"After you told me about this, I have already asked the elders in the village. The good news is that some people do remember Xu Chunxia. Bai Congshan's cousin Bai Sansi was just released from prison last year. I told him that the police were investigating Xu Chunxia, ​​and he expressed his willingness to cooperate." Chang Ying seems to be a very enthusiastic person.

"That's great! Where is this person?" Qi Fei asked immediately.

"He's right there." Director Chang pointed to a corner of the Bai family's ancestral home.

The stone steps in front of the Bai family's ancestral home were scorched by the sun. An elderly man in a faded blue Mao suit and a green army hat huddled in the shade of the eaves, picking at hickory nuts from a bamboo winnowing basket with his blackened fingernails. Nearby, a piece of foam board was scrawled in red paint: "Twenty yuan for three pounds, genuine, in-season hickory nuts."

"Bai Sanshui? Qi Fei, a detective from Nancheng Police Station. We have a case that happened forty-two years ago. We hope you can cooperate with our investigation." Qi Fei walked up to the old man and showed him his ID.

The old man looked at Chang Ying beside him, obviously trusting her.

"Old Bai, it's the matter about Xu Chunxia that I told you about." Chang Ying immediately added.

After hearing Chang Ying speak, Bai Sanshui dusted off the walnut shells on his body, looked at the sun that was beginning to set in the sky, and said, "We have to wait until all the tourists have left before we can discuss this matter."

"Why do you have to be so mysterious?" Qi Fei frowned and said.

Bai Sanshui glanced at him indifferently: "If you are not afraid of causing panic, you can tell me now." He looked at Chang Ying and said, "If it weren't for the fact that Director Chang has worked so hard for the village, there would be no need to tell you these old stories."

It was obvious from just two or three words that Bai Sanshui was a tough guy.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Chang Ying patted Qi Fei on the back, suggesting that he be patient, and said to Bai Sanshui, "There's still time. Come to my office and sit down."

"We have to stay here." Bai Sanshui took a cigarette from his ear and lit it up without paying attention to the no-smoking sign on the pillar behind him.

The smoke rings exhaled by Bai Sanshui curled up in front of the no-smoking sign, and a small copper knife suddenly picked up an unshelled walnut in the winnowing basket.

Zhong Kui's bright, ethereal eyes appeared behind the walnut, examining its naturally dry, cracked shell. "Hickory nuts bloom in March and ripen in September. Last year's stock has been waxed and claimed to be in season. The people in Baijiazhai used the same tactics to force people to buy and sell mountain products, right?"

Bai Sanshui's cigarette butt suddenly shook, and the ashes fell on the leg of his work pants.

Zhong Kui neatly put away the small copper knife. The walnut fell back into the dustpan, bouncing twice. "Do you know why the Eighteen Gates of Wuyin chose the Shengmen in the Xun position? Your ancestors had already predicted that their descendants would suffer from hysteria."

Qi Fei didn't quite understand what these words meant, but he vaguely felt that they offended Bai Sanshui. Sure enough, he noticed that the veins on the back of the old man's neck suddenly bulged.

Zhong Kui suddenly leaned over and whispered in his ear, "At three quarters past midnight, the ghost wife combed her hair. The ghost book has not yet been cleared, and the pursuit of life will not stop. Don't you think that Bai Congshan's death is karma?"

"You, what's wrong with you?" Bai Sanshui's face changed drastically. He stood up suddenly, and the bamboo dustpan overturned, and walnuts rolled all over the ground, attracting the attention of tourists.

Suddenly, the beat of Nuo opera drums came from afar, like the wailing of a female ghost, mixed in the wind and sometimes coming closer and sometimes going away.

Bai Sanshui staggered and held onto the stone pillar, looking at the woman in front of him in horror. He found that she was wearing an inappropriate cheongsam and her face was as pale as snow paper. Suddenly, many terrible thoughts flooded into his mind.

"Who are you..." Bai Sanshui rubbed his eyes and looked at Zhong Kui again, as if he was hallucinating.

The setting sun just happened to penetrate the carved windows of the ancestral home, casting a spider-web-like shadow on Bai Sanshui's face. Qi Fei knew that Zhong Kui was playing tricks, but he really needed Zhong Kui to get back at him for the loss he had suffered at Bai Sanshui's hands.

"Let's talk after dark. I don't know who is scared, us or you?" Zhong Kui approached step by step. Bai Sanshui had completely fallen into his own imagination, and the arrogance he had at the beginning had long since disappeared.

"Xu Chunxia was sacrificed. This matter has nothing to do with me!" Bai Sanshui lowered his voice. The mountain breeze suddenly blew with the gloomy air of dusk, and these words made people feel cold down their spines.

Zhong Kui's fingertips gently stroked the patterns on the copper knife. The Nuo opera drum beats suddenly became faster, startling a group of crows from the eaves. The hem of her cheongsam embroidered with dark gold twined branches was lifted by the mountain breeze.

"Where did you find this poor girl who doesn't even have a name on the household registration?" Qi Fei asked.

Bai Sanshui looked at the crowd that was leaving the ancestral home one after another and said, "The Nuo opera has begun. They have all gone to watch the opera. Come with me."

It seems that he had his reasons for avoiding the crowd and talking about Xu Chunxia.

As Bai Sanshui crossed the threshold of his ancestral home, he vaguely saw a pair of feet in embroidered shoes, lifeless on the bluestone slabs beneath the courtyard. He hurriedly wiped his eyes with his army green cuffs, but instead, he rubbed away the seal of his memory...

As the sky gradually darkened, he skillfully touched the light switch that was installed later.

The energy-saving lamps were turned on, dispelling some of the eerie atmosphere of the old house.

Bai Sanshui said: "Xu Chunxia is the child bride that Bai Congshan kidnapped. I know where she is."

When Qi Fei heard that the remains could be found, he couldn't help but feel excited: "That's great! Take us to see it!"

Bai Sanshui stood still, right below the patio of the old house. The light from above fell on his face, making his old face look particularly sinister.

He pointed his blackened finger at the bluestone slab beneath his feet. "You'll never find her. A fire at Bai Cong Mountain burned her to ashes, and then mixed her into the mud under the slab. They say the Bai family needs to borrow some living energy to prosper."

Now everyone understood. No wonder Bai Sanshui refused to tell them about Xu Chunxia in front of so many people.

He continued, "I know Xu Chunxia's origins. Her parents' family owed a debt to Bai Congshan, and the child was abducted to Baijiazhai as soon as she was born. Not to mention registering her household registration, even the name Chunxia was given by Bai Congshan. He simply said that women couldn't enter the Bai family's ancestral home, so he used her maiden name, Xu.

Bai Congshan had done too many evil things, and perhaps it was really retribution. He raised his son until he was fourteen years old, but he died before he and Xu Chunxia were officially married.

I don't remember how old Xu Chunxia was at that time. I have the impression that she was a few years older than Bai Congshan's son. She was just a young widow who didn't talk much.

Originally, her life was just to provide one more mouth to feed. The Bai family was not short of money and did not care about her.

It wasn't until the 1980s, when a nationwide crackdown began, that the Bai family could no longer act as recklessly as before. Bai Congshan found life difficult and began to believe in superstitions and divination..."

(End of this chapter)