Sunken Fish - Chapter 30
“We should give her a farewell tip,” Berhali suggested. “Let’s scrape together some money now.”
"How much?" Madame Massey asked, "Two hundred yuan?"
“Four hundred each,” Vera said.
Berliley raised an eyebrow: "Four hundred? That's five thousand dollars in total. That's too much. She'll think we're pitying her."
“But we do sympathize with her,” Vera said.
“I want to give her more,” Benny said, then added awkwardly, “Oh, it’s my fault, I chose her as my tour guide.”
He found that no one disagreed with him on this point. He felt even more ashamed, as if he had been abandoned by everyone.
Suddenly, Miss Rong returned. Hopefully, she hadn't overheard their conversation. She said to everyone, "I forgot to tell you something else."
Her former clients listened politely.
"The Bai village chief told me something else. It's very important, and I have to tell you."
Oh no, Benny thinks the village chief might want more money. The $20 fine per person was too lenient, unbelievably lenient. This time they might be ripped off for thousands of dollars.
Miss Rong didn't bow her head as before; her hair was disheveled, like a crown charged with static electricity. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, as if she could see the future of my friends through the rear window of the car—
"The village chief forbids you from entering other scenic spots... You are not allowed to take the cable car to Yak Meadow, you are not allowed to attend the ancient music concert, and you are not allowed to take any tourist souvenirs with you..."
Benny felt like he was sinking, like he was drowning. He looked at the travel plans in despair, completely thrown into chaos.
The Curse of Stone Bell Mountain (6)
“He said that because you desecrated the uterus, everyone here will be punished: no children, no offspring, and never be able to get married.”
The Masseys exchanged a glance.
Miss Rong raised her voice and said loudly, "He said that even if you pay a million dollars, you cannot escape your fate... He will tell all the gods to curse these foreigners, and the curse will follow them forever, in this life and the next, to the ends of the earth, never ending."
Heidi's heart was in her throat.
Miss Rong took a deep breath and solemnly said before getting out of the car, "Please remember this!"
At this moment, the image of that water buffalo, kneeling in the deep mud, is on the minds of all twelve of my friends. It can never be pulled out.
The most fatal change (1)
As night fell, my friends, still shaken, returned to Lijiang.
Benny led everyone to an old place—the "Generous Valley Restaurant," a place they hadn't wanted to come to that morning.
Everyone obediently picked up what I called the "winter delicacies" menu, and no one was in the mood to look for more "natural" or "authentic" dishes. They were thankful that the bad luck from Shizhong Temple hadn't followed them to Lijiang; the owner even gave them a discount, which he called a "free surprise"!