Ger, So Proud

Chapter 45

“Oh? What big event?”

He Ze’s actions paused for a moment, and he casually tied the other grass shoe.

“Brother, you know about Uncle Wu Cui causing trouble at Brother Lin’s house yesterday, right? This morning, someone saw him lying unconscious under a tree at the edge of the village, all disheveled, and, and…”

“And what?”

“And his tongue is gone. He didn’t even bleed, just… his tongue is gone. When he woke up, he was making strange noises, like he was crazy. It scared a lot of people in the village; it was terrifying…”

“His tongue is gone?” He Ze looked puzzled.

“Yes! It just disappeared!” He An nodded emphatically. “Yesterday, lots of people saw him speaking normally at Brother Lin’s house. And today… it’s gone! Brother, they’re saying… they’re saying it was a ghost. I’m scared…”

“A ghost?” He Ze’s lips curled into a smile. “If you don’t do anything wrong, you don’t have to fear ghosts knocking on your door. He was aggressive yesterday, and now… maybe he’s facing retribution?”

“Yes, the Lin family does deserve some retribution…” He An fell silent for a moment but quickly changed his expression, “But Brother, what if… the village really has ghosts? I’m scared…”

“……”

“He Ze, He Ze, are you home? He Ze—”

Before He Ze could respond to He An, several voices called out from outside the courtyard.

It was Liu San, by the sound of it.

He Ze patted He An’s shoulder and stood up, “Don’t be afraid. Bad people are the ones who fear ghosts. You aren’t a bad person, so what are you afraid of?”

“Brother…”

“Alright, Brother has to go out now.”

He Ze said as he left the room. He An still sat on the edge of the bed, pouting at He Ze’s retreating figure. Suddenly, he stood up quickly, glanced around nervously, and then ran out of the house.

He was really scared.

Outside the courtyard, it was indeed Liu San and He Da Lang, their faces full of confusion.

“He Ze, this morning’s event…”

“I got it. You two wait a moment, we’ll talk later.”

He Ze interrupted Liu San, then walked into the courtyard, leaving the two of them to look at each other in confusion. Inside the courtyard, He Youcai was standing by the millstone. Seeing He Ze approach, he glared at the two outside, his mustache bristling.

It was unclear what He Ze said to him, but despite He Youcai’s displeased expression, he still waved his hand and let him go.

Having gotten He Youcai’s approval, He Ze turned and left the courtyard, with Liu San and He Da Lang quickly following.

“Did Uncle He not agree to let you come out with us?” Liu San asked.

“What do you think?” He Ze raised an eyebrow at him.

“Uncle He is something else. If it weren’t for your sly ways, there’s no way we could lead you astray! Now he can’t stand the sight of us. If I hadn’t had the bright idea to call for you just now, we probably wouldn’t have even gotten to see you. Our fate is as pitiful as that of the separated lovers in the old tales…”

Liu San lamented dramatically, with one arm around He Ze and the other around He Da Lang. The next second, He Ze and He Da Lang exchanged a glance, then each grabbed one of Liu San’s arms and kicked him far away.

“Ouch! What was that for? I was just joking!” Liu San climbed up from the ground, rubbing his sore behind, looking aggrieved.

“Alright, let’s get to the point. What’s going on with this morning’s incident?” He Ze asked.

“What do you mean, what’s going on? Don’t you know?” Liu San looked puzzled. “Weren’t you the last one there yesterday? We thought you did something to Wu Cui!”

“I was the last one there, but Wu Cui ran off screaming right after I scared him awake! I didn’t chase him because I was afraid of attracting people. Who knew that by this morning, they’d be saying his tongue was gone… and it disappeared cleanly, without any blood. Do you think I have such supernatural powers?”

“Of course not. If you did, that’d be something! We quickly realized it couldn’t have been you. But this whole thing is bizarre! Overnight, and his tongue is just gone… This morning, He Da Lang and I went to see it ourselves. We were so scared we decided we must go to the ancestral hall tomorrow to pray to our ancestors!”

Liu San, looking fearful, wrapped his arms tightly around He Da Lang’s neck, almost choking him and earning himself another elbow in the ribs.

He Ze walked ahead while Liu San and He Da Lang playfully bickered behind him. When they reached the edge of the village, the crowd had already dispersed. Liu San caught a couple of villagers to ask what had happened and found out that Wu Cui had been taken back by his family.

“Never mind, I was actually thinking of showing you. I’ve never seen anything so strange in all my life!” Liu San’s face still held a hint of regret. Then he added, “It’s more interesting than the fights between the two heroes that storytellers recount!”

“…”

He Youcai and He Da Lang exchanged a glance, silent.

“Why are you two so quiet? Oh right, today Da Lang mustered up the courage and brought out his family’s ox cart. Look, look, it’s newly repaired!”

Hearing Liu San’s words, He Ze finally noticed the ox cart parked at the intersection. Beneath it was a big yellow ox, the same one he used to ride to the academy.

He Da Lang and He Ze shared the same surname, and most of the villagers in He’s village were related in some way. Moreover, the two of them were from the same family. He Ze should technically call He Da Lang’s father “Uncle He.”

“I’m not the one who mustered up the courage. It was Father who heard that He Ze had just recovered from a serious illness and wanted to go to town with us. That’s why he offered up the ox cart. Liu San, be careful, if you damage it, I won’t spare you!”

“Alright, alright, get on. I’ll drive!”

With that, Liu San climbed onto the front of the ox cart, holding the whip in his hand, eager to try it out.

He Ze and He Da Lang also got on the cart, which was light as it only carried the two of them. With Liu San driving faster, they reached the town in about an hour.

He Ze had woken up late, and by the time Liu San and He Da Lang came to find him, it was already quite late. Now, getting off the cart, he looked at the sun’s shadow and saw that it was almost noon.

It was time for lunch.

He didn’t bother to choose; he just took Liu San and He Da Lang straight to the restaurant owned by Master Yu. He really ordered a big table of food, which made the two of them widen their eyes in surprise.

“He Ze, you’re suddenly so generous. I’m… a bit not used to it,” Liu San said, chuckling after taking a sip of wine.

“All this food can’t shut you up?”

“It can, it can. Then I won’t be polite!” Liu San grabbed a chicken leg and a cup of wine, devouring them eagerly, while He Da Lang, unable to resist, also started eating. In no time, they had polished off half the dishes on the table.

Seeing that the two of them were already quite full, He Ze took a sip of wine before speaking, “Thanks for yesterday’s help.”

It was a genuine thanks. These two “fox and dog friends” might be rough around the edges, but they were loyal. If they didn’t genuinely care about He Ze as a friend, they wouldn’t have helped him without a second thought.

“Here we go again, He Ze. If you’re going to be so polite, we brothers will be mad!” Liu San, with food still in his mouth, protested, “We’re brothers, this is nothing!”

“Yeah, nothing!” He Da Lang also chimed in, his face already flushed from drinking several cups of wine, “Actually, Liu San and I have been feeling guilty about it all this time! About when you had your accident! Those two days before, we were going to help you elope, but it didn’t work out, and we even said you were cowardly, but we didn’t really try to persuade you properly. Who knew that you would go up the mountain by yourself, and after the accident, we wanted to see you several times, but we were afraid of letting our families know about it…”

He Da Lang’s voice grew lower, and Liu San stopped drinking. “Actually, it was our cowardice that was to blame. If my dad found out about this, he’d beat me to death. And later, when you recovered, I couldn’t face you, afraid you’d blame us… So, He Ze, my brother, here’s a toast to you, as an apology!”

With that, Liu San stood up and poured a full cup of wine for He Ze, then filled up his own and He Da Lang’s cups as well.

The three of them raised their glasses together and drained them in one gulp.

“Alright, what’s done is done. I went up the mountain by myself; can’t blame anyone else.” He Ze furrowed his brows slightly and picked up a piece of meat to eat.

“That’s good to hear. I knew you were magnanimous!” Liu San’s serious expression disappeared in an instant. “Drink! Drink! We won’t go home until we’re drunk today!”

“Don’t drink too much, or Uncle Liu will have to change his cane again.” He Ze mischievously reminded him.

“Cough, cough, you—”

Seeing him choke, the other two couldn’t help but laugh.

“By the way, did you hear us sleeping peacefully at home yesterday? If you two accidentally let it slip, the Lin family won’t let it go.” He Ze took a sip of wine, then suddenly frowned.

“Don’t worry, we know about that. Can we have survived for so many years without being able to blend in? Besides, we don’t have the ability to cut someone’s tongue without spilling blood. This… doesn’t seem like something a human would do!” Liu San tapped the empty wine glass and leaned closer to the two.

“If it’s not a human, then it’s a ghost, right? The Lin family has done a lot of evil deeds, greedy and insatiable. Third Uncle Lin’s wife spread rumors and caused trouble, damaging people’s reputations. Isn’t this clearly retribution? What do you think… is this logical?” He Ze’s fingers lightly stroked the edge of the table as he glanced at the two opposite him, his eyes filled with meaning.

There was a sudden silence at the dining table. Liu San seemed to realize something and suddenly slammed the table. “He Ze, you clever boy! I knew you’d come up with a great idea! With this confirmed retribution, coupled with the grievances the villagers already had against this family, the Lin family… hahaha…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Liu San also had a mischievous smile on his face. He paused for a moment, then suddenly winked at He Ze. “He Ze, are you doing this for your wife? Or should we add more fuel to the fire and make it burn brighter?”

“What kind of talk is that! Have you forgotten about the punch last time?”

“Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore, okay?” Liu San raised his hands in surrender, then sighed, “I’ll have to watch out for you in the future, you crafty fellow! You really are an intellectual!”

“Wait, wait, wait… hold on! What are you two talking about in code? Why can’t I understand?” He Da Lang, looking bewildered, interrupted their conversation.

“Oh, brother, we’ll tell you more about it later!” Liu San put his arm around He Da Lang’s shoulder, then pointed at He Ze and shook his head, a mysterious expression on his face.

“…”

“Eat up. Do you remember which family Wu Cui went to in Li Family Village last night? Take me there tomorrow to find out.”

“Got it, no problem!”

Liu San agreed, and after exchanging a few more toasts, they left together, full and content.

He Ze didn’t join them for the stroll; he just tossed a couple of coins to Liu San and told them to go ahead and meet up in a couple of hours. At first, Liu San refused to accept, but He Ze insisted, so they happily took the money and left.

He Ze watched their figures disappear into the crowd before turning and heading towards the blacksmith’s shop down the alley.

Lin Yu’s bow was broken, and He Ze was mainly here to find a bow for him.

However… it seemed like luck wasn’t on his side.

Author’s Note: He Ze: Two chapters without seeing my wife, don’t blame me, I’ll kill this author!

Fearless author: Bring it on! Hahaha!

Alright, I’m a bit scared for no reason. Don’t worry, kids, I’ll let you two have some sweetness in the next chapter [serious face].