C2

Old Mrs. Liu was gone? My grandmother was so scared that she almost fell on the ground. My mother started crying and my grandfather kicked my father, "You were still fine yesterday, but you're gone now?" My father quickly said, "No, we didn't find anyone when we went to her house, and her wife wasn't there either. I don't know where she went." My grandpa looked at me who was crying, my grandma and mom with tears in their eyes and said to my dad, "Let's go. Let's go home and ask. There will definitely be people who will know." My father hurriedly agreed, and the two of them went out with lanterns in their hands.

The villagers also asked around, and they were finally able to find out that Old Lady Liu and her wife went to their son-in-law's house in the neighboring village. My grandfather and father borrowed two bicycles and directly went to the neighboring village, and before they left, they also troubled our fat old lady to accompany my grandmother and mother and me, who was still crying non-stop.

Aunt Pang was the head of the women's department in our village. She was short and strong, like a big top. When she came to my house, she saw that it was dark, so she came in and asked, "Why don't you light the lamp? What are you doing in the dark? Why do you know how to pass by?" When my grandma heard that it was Fat Aunt and not my grandpa, she knew what had happened. "Sister, did my family's old man go out to find Sister Liu?" When Aunt Pang entered the room and saw that my mother was hugging me, I stopped crying. I was still pulling gently and came over to rub my little head. "This kid is fine. Why did my elder brother and Tie Cheng say he was so scary?" My mom said, 'You don't know about Fat Aunt. She was crying so much just now that it was so loud that it sounded like it was breaking. When you shouted outside earlier, she stopped crying just like that.' Aunt Pang said, "Your family's Tie Cheng went to the Liu family's store. He said that Old Lady Liu went to her son-in-law's home and would be back soon. Don't be anxious." When Aunt Pang came along, my mother and my grandmother weren't so scared anymore. The three women started to talk about family matters.

Aunt Pang said to my grandma, "Big Sis, why is your house so dark? This light doesn't seem to be as bright as my family's lamps. It's not like this normally." My grandmother was also puzzled. "That's right. I don't know what happened today. It was fine yesterday." At that moment, my mother exclaimed, "Mom, what's wrong with this child? He looks like he's going to lose his temper." My grandmother rushed to bring me over, and I saw that my face had turned green, as if someone were pinching my neck, "What the hell is going on, come on," she said, straightening me up, but it was no use, I closed my eyes tightly, and the sight of me about to faint terrified them.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps and voices came from outside. Hearing that there were quite a few people, my grandmother was delighted. "My old man is back." As she spoke, she got off the brick bed and ran out. Strangely, no one heard her as soon as she went out. My grandmother muttered to herself, "I heard the sound, but why is there no one here" before she went back. My mom and auntie both asked, "Where's that person? Old Mrs. Liu?" My grandma also doubtfully said, "No, there's no one outside." The three of them seemed to have suddenly thought of something and fell silent. After a moment of silence, Aunt Pang finally spoke first, "Big sister, your child is so scary like this. Let's not go out when we hear a sound we don't recognize. Who knows what it is?" My grandmother and my mother were silent, the atmosphere of fear surrounding the three of them, the lamp flickering as if in tune with the atmosphere, far from being as bright as usual.

At this moment, a shout came from outside, "Why are you not turning on the lights? Hurry up, Sister Liu is here." It was my grandfather's voice, and my grandmother was overjoyed. "Oh, oh, oh, old man. You're finally back! You scared the three of us to death." My grandfather introduced him, "This is Sister Liu's son-in-law, also surnamed Liu. Hearing about our family, he hurriedly followed us, luckily he brought her here on his motorcycle, otherwise, we wouldn't know when he would be able to come back." My grandmother welcomed them in.

Old Lady Liu looked at me, then rolled over and looked at my back. She said with a serious expression, "How about this? You all go to the warehouse for a while and prepare some hot water. Don't get too hot. The rest of them quickly agreed to go out and make preparations. Needless to say, their lights lit up as soon as they left.

Old Mrs. Liu had her son-in-law strip me off and lift me upside down. She looked at the birthmark on my lower back and said, "This girl is getting more and more dishonest. She starts to be a human when she has no chance to give birth. It's a matter of time." With that, she pulled out the hairpin from my hair. The hairpin was made of wood, and it could be twisted apart at one end until there was a silver needle in it. Then, with extreme speed, she pointed out the word "press" on the birthmark on my waist. After stabbing, my face finally turned rosy and I quickly fell asleep due to exhaustion.

Old Mrs. Liu told Kunzi to carry me to the barn, where people had prepared hot water and red rope. Old Mrs. Liu took me and put me in the water, and the word "press" on my waist slowly turned red. Then she tied a knot on my body with the red rope, each knot very carefully, and it took more than ten minutes to finish.

"Alright, carry the child back. It's already so late, you can all rest." With that, Old Mrs. Liu let out a heavy sigh. My grandfather asked, "Big Sis, is that enough?" Old Lady Liu said, "This can only guarantee a few days of nothing. But don't worry, this child and I are fated. We won't leave him be. Kun Zi, let's go." My grandparents hurriedly sent them off. Aunt Pang quickly said, "Bring me along as well. I don't dare to leave by myself."

When we reached the door, Old Lady Liu said to my grandparents, "You two are too old. Come in later. Wait at the door before you go in." My grandfather asked, "What's the matter, Big Sis? Why can't you come in now? Old Mrs. Liu said, "This little girl of yours is a monster. She attracted countless wild ghosts around her and they all ran over to your house. Otherwise, how could your child behave like this? The lights in your house that are filled with Yin energy have not been lit. Now that the girls have stopped, these ghosts will return to their original places. " When my grandma cried out "Mama!", she shouted in a bad voice, "Son, daughter-in-law, hurry up and bring your child out." Old Mrs. Liu laughed, "What are you afraid of? Your family doesn't have any Yin energy or baleful qi, so they can't attract ghosts. I'm just afraid that you two might be too old to be in trouble." While saying that, my parents carried me out. My father asked, "What happened, Mom?" After standing at the door for a while, Old Mrs. Liu said, "Don't be afraid, this time the house is clean. Hurry and go to bed, my parents are already tired, your parents won't be able to hold on much longer." With that, the three of them left while my family entered the house in fear. The room felt bright, and the family could finally rest in peace. After the night's experience had made them tense, and soon, snoring sounds could be heard.