Chapter 4

The earthen wall was over the height of a man, but that didn’t bother Zixiu. He often had to climb up steep cliffs when he went out to pick medicinal herbs in the mountains with his father, so he climbed up the wall with ease. Wait, what did he climb over the wall for? Because he was so bored that he couldn’t hold back the urge to see what was going on next door. Anyway, he had nothing to do for the moment.

“Boohoo…” The whimper rang again.

Riding on top of the wall, Zixiu looked about and found a white figure leaning against the pillar in the porch of the neighboring yard. From the body shape of that person, he could tell that it was a woman. A woman in white crying at midnight triggered his imagination of a face without features, eerie but clear! What the hell? Had he ever seen such a horrible scene before? Why did it suddenly pop into his head?

After wrestling with himself for a while with a frown, Zixiu finally climbed down the wall and landed on the ground in the neighboring courtyard. He couldn’t suppress his curiosity. Moreover, he thought if he missed this opportunity, he might never again have the chance to encounter such an odd and thrilling thing in the future, so he decided to find out what had happened as an adventure. However, if Zixiu had known that the woman would start his nightmare, he would never have climbed up that wall in any case! But by the time he found out what had happened later, it was too late to regret.

The woman didn’t seem to have sensed someone approaching her and she was still sobbing there. Squatting down, Zixiu hid in the shade of the wall. Having observed for a while, he didn’t find anyone else except for the two of them, so he deliberately let out a miserable shriek all of a sudden. “Ah!”

“Who is it?” the woman asked in a trembling voice, obviously taken aback. “Who’s there?”

“Young… Young Lady, don’t worry! I fell… from the tree… by accident!” Zixiu stammered on purpose. He collapsed on the ground, covered his foot with his hands, his face twisted, as if he had really just fallen down from the tree. There was indeed a big tree next to him, so it might have been because Zixiu had excellent acting skills or that woman was too kind and bold, she walked to him gracefully after wiping her tears from her eyes without even suspecting his intent.

“Sir, are you all right?” Speaking with a broad twang, she had managed to calm herself down, which made Zixiu flustered. Zixiu climbed over the wall only because he was so bored that he decided to find out who was crying in here at this time of night. He admitted that he was kind of mischievous, but now he suddenly realized that he was taking the risk of being taken as a thief by doing so!

“Sir!” Receiving no response from him, the woman raised her voice.

“Nothing! I’m fine!” Zixiu immediately shook his head, trying to ease his own embarrassment in a self-deprecating manner. The lady also smiled, but she didn’t say anything, which made the atmosphere suddenly grow awkward.

Rising to his feet, Zixiu whisked the dust off his clothes. “Young lady, can you tell me what’s eating you?”

Hearing that, that woman seemed even more grieved. Her face turned gloomy with tears shimmering in her eyes again, and then she began to wipe her tears with a white silk handkerchief.

“I was born a miserable woman. How dare I trouble you? Sir, please just forget it!”

“Forget it? Obviously she has suffered a great injustice. How can I leave her alone? I, Liu Zixiu, is by no means a selfish, indifferent machine!” Struck by an emotional turmoil, he patted himself on the chest and said with a solemn demeanor, “Let me know how I may be of service to you. I’ll do whatever I can to help!”

“Sir, are you serious?”

“You have my word!” Zixiu revealed a righteous look on his face, without noticing the sly smile on that lady’s face.

“Sir, so you’re willing to come with me?”

“Huh? Go with you?” Seeing that Zixiu seemed to be confused, the lady added, “Haven’t you heard that a rapist was often seen in this town lately?”

“A rapist?” It turned out that she was worried that she might encounter a sex maniac… But since she was so afraid of that rapist, why did she come out alone and cry here at midnight? “Young Lady, you must have misunderstood me. I’m not that pervert you heard about…” Liu Zixiu was eager to distance himself from the hearsay. However, before he could continue, the woman suddenly cut in on him with a smile.

“I know you’re not, because that pervert– is me!”