Chapter 70 Hometown (ETL)
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Chapter 70: Folk Doll Exchange Part 2
When they arrived at the town, it was almost dark. Gu Ye fell asleep on the road and was suddenly awakened by a strong feeling of evil spirit. He looked out the window vigilantly. A small operation plant had been built on the open land on the other side of the town. The thick evil spirit in the sky was darker than the night.
Gu Ye looked at there with a frosty face and understood why the reading showed that (bad result). This time he really doubted from the bottom of his heart whether worshipping the King of Hell would bring bad luck to the worshipper. Or should he change the deity? Start worshiping the Buddha?
Gu Yang noticed that his brother looked unhappy and asked with concern, “Did you have a nightmare?”
“I’m looking over there, there’s an extra establishment.”
Gu Yang then realized something was wrong, “Really? It wasn’t there when I came last year.”
The people who came back early had cleaned up the main house and bought daily necessities and vegetables. After getting out of the car, dinner was already prepared for them. The family took their luggage back to the room, ate some food, and went back to rest.
Gu Ye stood by the window and could still see the eerie aura of evil spirits in that direction. Dahei jumped onto the windowsill and looked at it with Gu Ye. Seeing that Dahei was looking seriously, Gu Ye raised the corner of his mouth. Squatting down, he took a photo of Dahei and uploaded it to the Internet: [Let me introduce it to everyone. This is my cat, let’s learn about Yin-Yang eyes.]1
Fans were impressed by Dahei’s handsomeness. Now Dahei has grown a lot, become bigger and stronger. He looked fierce, like a little leopard, especially majestic.
Fans jumped and praised Dahei’s handsomeness, and many people asked Gu Ye: [Why didn’t you post a Weibo to sell talismans as usual in the early morning? Are you not selling them today?]
Gu Ye posted: [I’m going home for the New Year, no express delivery service there.]
There were a lot of people wailing on Weibo upon seeing Gu Ye’s reply. At this moment, someone suddenly posted a screenshot: [WTF! What did I see? Qin Xu just followed Gu Ye?]
[Gao Yingjing also followed Gu Ye!]
[Feng Jiang also followed Master Gu. Master Gu is already a big star in the entertainment industry, this is not news!]
…
Seeing this, Gu Ye followed back the artists, one by one out of politeness. He didn’t have time to read the flurry of screenshots and comments from fans and went to sleep with Dahei in his arms.
The next morning, Gu Ye packed his backpack. He stuffed the talisman, cinnabar pen, compass, and hexagram plate into the backpack and carried it downstairs.
Mrs. Gu was about to go out, and when she saw Gu Ye coming out, she warmly invited him, “Son, do you want to go shopping with Mom?”
Gu Ye apologized, “I have something to do today, please let Old Fourth accompany you.”
“You want to do a side job again.” Mrs. Gu reminded Gu Ye, “Your father brought back golf clubs.”
Gu Yang heard this and laughed, “How can one play golf in this place? Why did he bring that club back? Is it for eye candy?”
The comment caused Gu Ye to feel helpless. This silly boy, of course it’s used for spanking!
Seeing Gu Ye heading out, Gu Yang chased after him, “Brother! I want to go too!”
Mrs. Gu shouted anxiously, “Come back! Do your homework at home first!”
Gu Yang didn’t listen to his mother at all and ran very fast with Gu Ye. Mrs. Gu couldn’t stop him even if she wanted to.
Arriving at the place where he did fortune-telling last year, Gu Ye put the small folding stool on the street. The old people around recognized him and said, “Isn’t this Little Immortal? Are you back for the New Year again this year?”
Gu Ye nodded with a smile, “This year the whole family is back for the celebration, this is my younger brother.”
The uncles and aunts all praised Gu Yang for his handsomeness and good fortune, which made Gu Yang very happy. Seeing that the atmosphere was warmed up, Gu Ye asked, “Uncle, I saw a new operation plant built in the east of the town. Do you know what establishment it is?”
“That’s a pig farm. Not long after it was built, it was said that people in that family had accidents one after another. Hence, the establishment was never fully opened.” When the old man said this, he sighed and said, “I heard that one person in the family died. It’s quite tragic.”
“No,” an old lady nearby corrected the old man after hearing this, “The second son of that family didn’t die. He was injured and taken to another place by his son. He never came back, so he survived.”
“That pig farm, I know about it too. I heard that someone2 was hired to look at it before it was built, but I didn’t expect that something terrible would happen.”
“Someone came to look at the place?” Gu Ye frowned, feeling that there was something fishy going on. As they were talking, an old man came over and interrupted the conversation with a smile, “Fortunately, Little Immortal is back this year, otherwise I don’t know who to find for fortune-telling.”
Gu Ye narrowed his eyes, “Uncle, can you tell me about your daughter’s marriage?”
The old man slapped his thigh excitedly, “As expected from Little Immortal!” He showed Gu Ye a photo, “Little Immortal, tell me quickly, is the person my daughter is dating reliable?”
Gu Ye frowned as soon as he saw the photo, “Uncle, he is married and has children.”
When the old man heard this, his face turned red with anger. He left 100 yuan to Gu Ye and left in a hurry.
Gu Ye stuffed the money into Gu Yang’s pocket, “For you, buy something delicious to eat.”
Gu Yang whispered, “Brother, 100 yuan is too little.”
Gu Ye smiled, “For his family, 100 yuan is already a very sincere price. Don’t be so calculative.”
The two brothers were discussing how to spend the 100 yuan when an auntie on an electric tricycle hurriedly ran to find Gu Ye, “Little Immortal! I heard that you are back in town, so it’s true! Can you come with me to my house to see my little granddaughter? The child played outside until after 9.00 pm last night and started to have a fever in the middle of the night. She kept saying that someone was pulling her. After waking up in the morning, her eyes were dull and she looked dazed. I’m afraid she was scared witless by something. Can you please go and have a look?”
Gu Ye comforted, “Don’t worry first, talk slowly. Have you taken the child to see a doctor?”
The auntie replied anxiously, “The doctor said it was a little cold and gave me medicine, but it didn’t work at all. It’s not that I’m superstitious, but the child’s eyes are different from usual.”
“Okay, I’ll go take a look.”
Gu Ye carried a folding stool, and Gu Yang followed behind happily. The two brothers got on the aunt’s electric tricycle and were jolted so badly in the journey that they doubted their lives. But Gu Yang was still happy. He had never ridden on a tricycle before, so he touched and looked around. “Brother, how come I have never been entangled by dirty things (ghosts) since I was a child?”
Gu Ye said earnestly, “Little bro, with you like this, there’s no value for the ghosts to use you.”
Gu Ye didn’t understand what Gu Ye meant, and said happily, “It must be because I have murderous aura that they dare not come near me.”
Gu Ye’s mouth twitched, and he had nothing to say. The village he was going to pass by the pig farm. As he got closer, Gu Ye finally saw the surrounding environment clearly. There were villages on both sides and a street in the middle. The pig farm was built right in the middle of the T-junction.
Gu Ye shook his head and wanted to ask if the person in charge was brainless, “Building an establishment at a T-junction, isn’t that asking for trouble?”
A few minutes later, they arrived at the aunt’s house. Her son and daughter-in-law were walking around the yard with their 3-year-old child in their arms. The child looked uncomfortable and kept crying. From their clothes, the family of three did not seem to live in the village. They should be working outside and doing well. They only came back for the New Year.
Seeing her mother-in-law bringing back 2 young men, the daughter-in-law asked in confusion, “Who is this?”
The aunt introduced, “This is the Little Immortal I told you about, let him look at the child.”
The daughter-in-law looked at Gu Ye and said speechlessly, “What is there to see? The child just caught a cold and felt uncomfortable, so she cried.”
The aunt’s son was not very polite either when he spoke, “They are just children, what can they see? Don’t believe in this feudal superstition.”
The aunt said anxiously, “I have already invited them over, so at least let the master look at the children. I tell you, this Little Immortal is really amazing!”
“What Little Immortal? Don’t make trouble for no reason.” The man waved his hand unhappily, “You two should leave quickly. So young and don’t study properly, little liars!”
Gu Yang asked back angrily, “Who is the liar? You don’t want to save your daughter, but neither do we! Brother, let’s go!”
But Gu Ye said indifferently, “This child’s fate was changed on the way back last night. She will be weak and sick for the rest of her life. Touch the back of the child’s head. Is there something pulsing? But since you don’t want to save her, I can’t help it. Auntie, please send us back.”
“Please no, what do these youngsters (Son & DIL) know!” The auntie stopped Gu Ye anxiously. At the side, the child’s mother subconsciously touched the back of her daughter’s head and was shocked, “It’s true.”
The man still didn’t believe it, “What does this mean?”
Gu Ye said coldly, “When it stops pulsing, her fate can no longer be changed back.”
“Oh! The one who swapped dolls!” The auntie immediately reminded of a saying among the people that if a child was always weak and sickly, it was very likely that the child was from a god’s residence and would go back early (early death). If you don’t want the child to go back, find a witch doctor/shaman to secretly swap dolls for the child at night. Some use paper dolls instead, while some swap with any child they meet randomly. So when people hear that someone is swapping dolls, they will lock up their children at home and don’t let them go out in the evening, for fear that they might be swapped.
The aunt anxiously snatched the child from her daughter-in-law’s arms and asked Gu Ye, “Little Immortal, please come and see if my granddaughter has been swapped?”
Although the child kept crying, she just didn’t open her eyes. Touching the back of the child’s head, Gu Ye moved his fingers down 3 inches and exerted a little force on the back of the child’s neck, “Wake up, don’t sleep anymore.”
The child, who was originally in a daze and couldn’t be woken up, opened her eyes blurrily and stopped crying. The aunt excitedly said, “She woke up! Little Immortal is so amazing!”
The couple were a little embarrassed, and there was a look of disbelief in their eyes. How could it be so magical that she woke up after just a touch?
“Do you have the child’s favorite toys or snacks? Give me one.”
“Yes.” The child’s mother ran back to the house embarrassedly and took out a Peppa Pig doll that could make a sound.
Gu Ye drew a circle with a diameter of 1 meter on the ground, drew a talisman inside, and asked the child to stand in the circle. Then he squatted down and said with a smile, “Little friend, brother will play a game with you, okay?”
The little girl saw that Gu Ye looked kind so she was not afraid of him. She was a little interested, but she didn’t seem to have much strength, “Okay!”
Gu Ye took Peppa Pig in his hand and waved it in front of the child, “You will run towards the light in a while. Don’t look back no matter who tells you to. Don’t pay attention to that person even if they pull you. When you finish running to the light, I will give you this toy, okay?”
The child saw her beloved toy and nodded.
Gu Ye covered the child’s eyes and made a finger gesture in his hand. Everyone present exclaimed as the circle actually lit up visibly! Using his finger to tap the child’s brow, Gu Ye tapped several times quickly, and shouted, “Run! The bad guy has transformed into your mommy to catch you!”
The child’s face showed an expression of crying, and Gu Ye encouraged, “Run, Peppa Pig is waiting for you!”
The little girl struggled violently, and then the expression on her face became much happier. Gu Ye touched the back of the child’s head, raised the corners of his mouth, and snapped his fingers, “Okay, wake up.”
At this moment, when one looks at the little girl’s eyes again, she has become much more lively as if she was never been sick recently.
“Little Immortal, has the child been brought back?”
“She is brought back.” Gu Ye smiled and gave Peppa Pig to the little girl, and told the aunt, “Don’t take the child out after dark, especially before the age of 6. The child’s heart is pure and she will really see unclean things.”
The aunt thanked Gu Ye gratefully, and the couple felt embarrassed. The man took out money from his wallet, “Master, I’m really sorry for what I did just now. I didn’t recognize a master like you. Please take this incense money.”
At this moment, Gu Yang sniffed the air and asked, “What is it, so fragrant?”
“Oh, I was steaming big steamed buns just now!” The aunt said enthusiastically, “I steamed big buns with pork and green onions. They are very fragrant, are you two hungry? Have lunch before leaving.”
Gu Ye smelled it, it was indeed very fragrant. Seeing Gu Yang’s greedy face, Gu Ye smiled and said, “You don’t have to pay for the incense money, give my brother a few big buns.”
“How can that be? How much money a few buns could cost?” The aunt firmly disagreed, “You have saved the child’s whole life!”
Gu Yang smiled, “Then give us all the buns!”
Hearing that, Gu Ye’s mouth twitched, what a straightforward silly child!
The aunt liked Gu Yang’s straightforward personality, “When the buns are cooked, I will pack them all for you right away.”
When the brothers left the house, Gu Yang was holding a big pot of steamed buns, more than 40 in total. Sitting on the tricycle that the aunt used to send them back, Gu Yang took out one and held it to eat, his face full of satisfaction.
“Brother, you should have one too! Aunt’s pot is so big! It turns out that big pot steamed buns are so delicious!”
“…Then, I’ll have one.” Gu Ye has given up struggling.
Gu Yang asked while eating, “Brother, is there such a master who uses other people as replacement/substitute? Is there no one to supervise such people?”
“There is, God is watching.” Gu Ye blandly added, “In this line of work, if you do too much evil, you will be punished by God and will not live long.”
Passing by the pig farm again, Gu Ye asked the aunt to stop. He wrote a few words on a piece of paper, then jumped out of the car and pasted it at the door of the pig farm.
Gu Yang smiled cheekily, “Brother, aren’t you already a master? Why are you still promoting yourself with flyers?”
Eating a bun, Gu Ye said calmly, “In order to save people, masters sometimes don’t care about their face (reputation).”
Gu Yang smiled and gave Gu Ye another meat bun that was bigger than a steamed bun, “A reward for you.”
Gu Ye was almost full, so he didn’t take it. He looked at the pig farm and asked faintly, “What do you think this terrain looks like?”
Gu Yang shook his head, he didn’t see anything wrong at all.
Gu Ye asked disdainfully, “Have you seen the guillotine used to kill criminals on TV? Use a rope to pull up the blade and fix the person’s head under the blade. After cutting the rope, the blade quickly falls down and the person dies. It can also be used to chop a person in half. The blade is so sharp that it can even chop off the bones.”
Hearing that, Gu Yang was frightened and shrank his neck, “Now that you put it that way, it really looks like it!”
“This pig farm is the guillotine of these 2 villages. If we don’t take care of it, not only will the people in this pig farm be in trouble, but people in these two villages will also die.”
Gu Yang was so frightened that he swallowed a bun!
It was almost noon, and the family was planning to call back the 2 youngest brothers who ran out to play, but they returned by themselves with a pot of big steamed buns on their backs. Gu Yang, who had already eaten his fill, stood at the gate, his courage rising, and he shouted with full energy, “Dad! Mom! Brothers! The child is back with food!”
Gu Ye palmed his forehead. Who wanted this silly brother, please take him away quickly!
…
Raw word count: 6527 (whole chapter)
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