Chapter Five: The Suspicion of Death

A broadcast flashed a reminder to follow Qidian Reading, promising the latest news about the five-hundred-fifteen red packet reward. For those who had not managed to snatch any holiday red packets after the New Year, this time there would be a chance to show their skills.

After my old squad leader, Zhao Haipeng, returned to his hometown, he suddenly became taciturn.

That silence was nothing like the quiet side of his earlier temperament. It was a mute withdrawal, a shutting of the mouth, a cold indifference.

So much so that he would not even exchange a single extra word or gesture with his own elder brother.

And thus the old squad leader shut himself away in his room, hardly ever stepping outside. No one knew what he did in there, or what he was waiting for.

On the occasional fine day, he would emerge to climb Stone Man Ridge, or go once to the Zhao family ancestral graves. Yet before half a day had passed, he would hurry back again and lock himself inside, tinkering with something.

When I heard this, I could not help asking, “Brother Kun, my squad leader... did he run into some trouble? Didn’t he tell you why he was acting like that?”

Zhao Haikun shook his head and told me, with disappointment, that after the old squad leader came home, the brothers had spoken countless times. But every time the answer was the same: he was tired and wanted to rest a little. When pressed too hard, he would only say, “I’ll deal with my own affairs myself. Wait...”

Even so, Zhao Haikun still could not feel at ease. He could not tell what had happened to his younger brother, nor what would happen next.

In short, a bad premonition slowly settled over the Zhao family, both inside and outside their courtyard walls.

Perhaps it had been fated in some unseen way. After a half year of shut-in life at home, my squad leader ended his own life by hanging himself.

When I heard Zhao Haikun’s account, my whole body went numb. Yet in that numbness, there still remained a faint trace of unwillingness and disbelief.

So I asked, “When the old squad leader died, was there no sign at all?”

Zhao Haikun nodded. “There was... He had not been right for ten days before that.”

Then, one by one, Zhao Haikun told me of the strange happenings during those final ten days before my old squad leader’s death.

First, my squad leader received a letter.

It had been accepted on his behalf by Zhao Haikun, so he remembered it clearly. The letter was unusual: no sender’s name, only my squad leader’s name and address, and the words “To be opened personally” on the envelope.

Zhao Haikun did not take it to heart and handed it straight to his younger brother.

After receiving it, the old squad leader quickly opened it, glanced inside, and then... set it alight and burned it.

At the time, Zhao Haikun happened to pass by. Seeing what his brother had done, he asked in confusion why he had burned a letter that had just arrived.

Zhao Haipeng merely smiled and gave no answer.

Later, my old squad leader went alone to the Stone Man Ridge on Desk Mountain. According to Zhao Haikun’s recollection, he had taken a jug of yellow wine and a bowl of glutinous rice, saying he was going to make an offering at the ancestral graves.

Hearing this, I could not help frowning. “It was neither a holiday nor a festival. What offering was he making?”

Zhao Haikun shook his head and told me helplessly that he did not know either. After his younger brother returned, his behavior became erratic; Zhao Haikun’s legs were no good, so he could not very well stop him, and could only let him do as he pleased.

And with that trip, the old squad leader was gone for a very long time.

Only when the sun was about to set did he finally return, dragging home a ragged and downcast figure.

After coming back, he shut himself in his room for three days and three nights. During that time, aside from meals, he hardly ever left the room.

Then... Zhao Haipeng suddenly returned to normal.

Over the next few days, my old squad leader tended to his brother and sister-in-law as if nothing had happened, and he even spoke with his brother about finding a wife...

Yet three days ago, all of that ended on the beam above my head.

The old squad leader killed himself. He died with complete decisiveness and left behind no special final instructions.

His death also threw the Zhao household into chaos. He had been the family’s only able-bodied laborer, and with him gone, the blow to the whole family was inevitable.

What was more, because the squad leader had taken his own life, the villagers called it a violent death. To die in one’s prime that way was considered terribly inauspicious.

According to the old superstitions, a person who died such a death would turn into a fierce ghost after death.

To prevent my old squad leader from becoming one, the Zhao family arranged a ghost marriage for him today, hoping to use that to ward off misfortune and keep his lonely spirit from becoming a vengeful shade.

And that was the origin of the absurd sight I had seen this morning.

After Zhao Haikun finished, my heart went completely cold. A wave of astonishment and indignation surged up from within me.

My old squad leader’s death was far too suspicious. And what about the phone call he had made to me just last night? How could that be explained? A call from a ghost?

So I suddenly asked, “With such a big matter, didn’t you call the police?”

My words startled Zhao Haikun. He hurriedly waved his hand at me. “Absolutely not! My brother’s death is embarrassing enough already!”

Then Zhao Haikun told me, one by one, the concerns that weighed on his mind.

He said that in Zhao Family Tower, suicide was regarded as the most humiliating way to die. Anyone who killed themselves would be seen as a coward, a useless soul without courage, and even the rest of the family would be looked down upon.

Because of this, after the old squad leader died, the family had publicly claimed he had died of a sudden illness. His face was still covered with a white cloth, and they did not dare let anyone see him, much less call the police.

“If the police come, where am I supposed to put this old face of mine? My good brother, please, no more trouble. If you keep it up, won’t the old second be cursed so badly he sits up out of his coffin?”

Zhao Haikun’s attitude did not surprise me.

What could I say? The death of my old squad leader had been a huge blow to him as well... I could not rub salt into the wound.

Besides, the dead should be respected, and it would not be right to keep disturbing the old squad leader now.

So, on the matter of calling the police, I had no choice but to keep silent.

Then I changed the subject. “As for Wang Hou’s illness... do you have a way to deal with it?”

When Zhao Haikun heard me mention Wang Hou, he also turned his head toward him on the kang.

Then he sighed and took back the mugwort he had been burning for Wang Hou.

With genuine helplessness, Zhao Haikun said, “I only know how to burn mugwort. That can stabilize his foundation and move his yang energy. As for the curse of food... I am not my younger brother. I cannot help you all.”

His words sank my heart once again.

Did that mean... there really was no hope left?

Seeing my expression, Zhao Haikun added, “I’m not like the old second. I don’t like the hidden rules of the temple of the five viscera, and I haven’t studied them deeply. Before my legs were crippled, I worked the pastry station. It’s not the same as learning the cooking station from the old second.”

Ah. I nodded.

The so-called cooking station and pastry station were terms in the culinary trade, the two basic systems of Chinese cooking.

The pastry station referred to noodle and dough work, because such foods are pale in color; the cooking station referred to stir-frying, because it requires fire, and fire is red.

From Zhao Haikun’s words, I vaguely understood that in the past the two brothers must have depended on each other for survival, one learning the cooking station, one learning the pastry station, going out into the world together and learning their craft together.

But when Zhao Haikun injured his legs, all of that stopped. The entire Zhao family could only rely on my old squad leader to keep going.

It seemed the past three years had not been easy for my squad leader. The burden on his shoulders had been too heavy, heavy enough to sustain the last surviving branch of the entire Zhao family.

“Alas.” I let out a long sigh, venting the frustration in my chest.

But just then, Zhao Haikun suddenly changed the subject and said something else to me.

And because of that one sentence, I suddenly felt my fate brighten again after a long darkness.

Zhao Haikun said to me, “The girl named Red Leaf told me about things earlier, and I’ve also heard the old second mention your affairs from time to time... That white-eating poison and the venomous snake, you needn’t worry too much about them.”

“What?” I looked up in astonishment. “You have a way to break it?”

Zhao Haikun waved a hand. “I already said it—I don’t understand these crooked tricks! But in our temple of the five viscera, there is still someone who does!”

Indeed... someone else could break the white-eating poison? Someone else knew the methods that little Nine had used?

“Who is it?” Hearing this, my spirits shot up, and I became excited at once.

But just as Zhao Haikun was about to say the person’s name, the door of our room suddenly flew open under an irresistible force.

The sound of the door opening was enormous, so loud that even Wang Hou, unconscious on the bed, trembled with it.

After that earthshaking crash, a huge shadow walked in through the doorway before Zhao Haikun’s and my startled eyes.

It was a woman! A woman who looked very much like a man!

To be honest, I had never seen such a stout beauty in my life. She was actually fatter than Zhao Hong, so fat that she already had four chins.

Her appearance made me feel instantly very small...

Fortunately, after entering the room, the woman completely ignored my existence.

She extended one hand, pointed at Xian Hongye under the pomegranate tree outside, and shouted at Zhao Haikun, “Where did you go to pick up another little fox spirit this time? Don’t tell me she’s another distant relative or some nonsense like that!”

Seeing the woman’s merciless attitude toward Zhao Haikun, I immediately guessed who she was.

Without question, she had to be Zhao Haikun’s wife.

At that moment, Zhao Haikun’s face also could not hold up any longer. He pointed at me and Hongye and said, “Haipeng’s comrade-in-arms. This is Tian Buer. Haipeng said long ago that he would come...”

Before he could finish, his wife cut him off.

The fat woman waved her hand. “The man’s already dead! What use is coming? To eat and drink for free at our house? Did they pay the gift money?”

Damn it—gift money! How could I have forgotten that?

To be honest, Zhao Haikun’s wife was rude and money-grubbing, but what she said was the real rule of etiquette. Coming to a banquet without bringing a gift was very improper, more shameless than eating and running.

And right now, the Zhao family was at the end of their rope. When people were short of money and pressed hard, I had nothing to say.

So I quickly took out the thousand yuan I had prepared long ago and gently pressed it into the woman’s hand.

With a smile, I said, “Sister-in-law, please don’t think it too little. It’s just a bit of our heart for the old squad leader.”

Seeing me hand over the money, the Zhao family sister-in-law instantly changed from fierce to smiling. Counting the bills, she praised me for being considerate of manners, and at the same time she did not forget to point at Xian Hongye in the courtyard and say, “Is this your wife? She’s really pretty.”

Forget it. I could not be bothered to explain.

After a little polite exchange, Zhao Haikun introduced her awkwardly. “This is my wife. Her name is Gui Yuxiu.”

I nodded and respectfully called her “sister-in-law.”

After the introduction, Zhao Haikun pointed at Gui Yuxiu with some displeasure and said, “Didn’t I tell you to wait for people at the gate in my place? Has he come yet?”

“He has!” Gui Yuxiu put away the money and pointed outside. “To avoid arousing suspicion among the villagers, I waited until the banquet had mostly dispersed before bringing him here.”

Hearing this, Zhao Haikun let out a relieved sigh, then moved his wheelchair himself toward the door.

From his anxious expression and mysterious manner, the person arriving this time must be very important...

Could it be the one who could break my white-eating poison?

PS: For those following the story, do you still have the free votes and Qidian coins? The countdown on the five-hundred-fifteen red packet ranking has begun. I’m here to ask for votes, for more support and appreciation votes, one last push!