pozo profundo

Capítulo 126

"What about the other remains?" Fang Lei asked.

"I don't know, I found this in the tub while I was taking a shower." I looked into the tub a few times to make sure there were no other skeletons.

"It's probably spring water that came down from the mountain!" Lin Yao said.

"So, the other remains might still be on the mountain?" Fang Lei asked.

"Probably!" I nodded and said, "Judging from the marks on this bone, it seems to have been gnawed by some animal! Moreover, this bone must be quite old; it doesn't look like it came from a fresh corpse."

“But it’s not like no one has gone up the mountain, and no tree people have said there’s a skeleton!” Lin Yao said.

"It's not necessarily exposed on the surface." I looked at the gaps between the finger bones on my hand. Even if it had been brought down by the mountain spring, there were still obvious traces of soil. "It was probably recently dug out of the ground by some animal!"

“By the way, a few days before I came, the villagers said that it had rained heavily for several days, and there were signs of landslides on the mountain. Could it be that the heavy rain softened the soil, which is why some animal bit it?” My older sister Lin Yao’s face clearly showed that she had found material.

Ignoring her excited look, I said, "I guess they were nailed to the mountain several years ago!"

"Should we go up the mountain to look for it?" My older sister, Lin Yao, asked, her eyes lighting up.

"No!" I immediately refused. It seemed to be something from the past; why bother pursuing it? Besides, it was all just our speculation, and there might not even be other remains on the mountain. More importantly, Fang Lei was pregnant now, and I just wanted to get through this family visit leave peacefully.

"Why are you so lacking in exploration spirit?" Older sister Lin Yao said regretfully...

"..." Who is more like a child?

"You're not allowed to go up and look for her alone!" I put the bone in my pocket, threw down a warning, and pulled Fang Lei out of the bathroom. Fang Lei didn't say a word the whole way, looking at me several times as if she wanted to say something, but then kept quiet.

I walked forward with my head down, and said softly, "This hand bone is very strange. I don't want you to be in danger."

"I know," Fang Lei replied softly, but she still sighed and said, "But some things are meant to happen, and you can't escape them no matter what."

I stopped and turned to look at Fang Lei. She had a hazy, unreal beauty in the backlight. Suddenly, I questioned myself: Could I... protect my wife and child?

"Yes...it definitely will!" I gripped Fang Lei's hand tightly and said, "If you can't dodge it, let me block it. You can stand behind."

"Silly girl!" Fang Lei chuckled and said, "You're so cute when you're serious!"

"Isn't it cute? How can I be your husband if it's not cute?" I grinned smugly, temporarily forgetting the unpleasantness caused by the hand bone...

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Because Fang Lei and my older sister Lin Yao had both told each other beforehand not to mention the hand bone again, dinner ended in a relaxed atmosphere.

Perhaps because the mountain vegetables, though simple, were extremely fresh, everyone ate quite a lot. They were all so full that they lingered in their chairs and started chatting.

"That old lady Yin actually managed to get dog blood, that's amazing!" Abao suddenly exclaimed, but seemed to immediately realize that this topic was taboo for me, and stuck out his tongue guiltily.

I could only laugh awkwardly, and was about to change the subject when my older sister, Lin Yao, said, "Actually, the reason why Old Madam Yin hates our Lin family so much isn't entirely because of Yin Xue!"

"What else is there?" This time it was my turn to be surprised. Did our Lin family owe her money before and not pay it back?

"Besides knowing that your maternal grandfather was once a Kuomintang officer, what else do you know?" Lin Yao rolled her eyes at me and said, "Do you know that your maternal grandmother was already 40 years old when she gave birth to our mother? And our mother's two older brothers, who are our uncles, are only about three years younger than our mother."

"Grandma had a baby so late? Didn't she and Grandpa get married a long time ago?" I asked curiously.

“That’s because my maternal grandfather fought in wars for more than ten years, but my maternal grandmother was already pregnant before he went to war. In other words, before my two uncles, my maternal grandmother had already given birth to one child, a pair of twin girls!” the older sister, Lin Yao, replied.

"Really? She's our aunt? But I've never heard of her before!" I said.

“Because one of the children died when she was three years old, and the other, my sister, eloped with a man from the village when she was ten and never came back. And that man was Grandma Yin’s lover back then, they were said to be childhood sweethearts. So Grandma Yin hates our Lin family so much because it’s like our aunt stole her man!” Lin Yao said in one breath.

"No way! Such a thing exists?" This is the first time I've ever heard of a family history like this. It's like something out of a romance novel by Qiong Yao! Seriously, eloping?!

Volume 4, Chapter 6: Professor Zhang

Volume 4, Chapter 6: Professor Zhang

I gaped in shock; it seems like all the things that happened in my family could be written into a novel.

"Shut your mouth!" My older sister, Lin Yao, smacked me on the head. "Hehe!" I chuckled awkwardly, then turned to look at Li Yang and the others, who all looked utterly astonished. Just as I was about to continue interrogating my sister, I suddenly heard the sound of someone pacing outside. For some reason, I suddenly remembered the two middle-aged men on the train and called out uneasily towards the door, "Who is it?"

Li Yang and I exchanged a glance, got up, and walked towards the door, with the three women following behind. When we reached the door, we found an old man wearing glasses standing there. Although his hair was gray, he looked very energetic and clean, and it was clear at a glance that he wasn't from the village.

"Why are you here again?" Lin Yao asked, standing behind me.

"Hehe." The old man pushed up his glasses and said, "I'm so sorry, young lady! I really like your family so much!"

"Professor Zhang, this is, after all, my Lin family's ancestral home. It's really not suitable for you to conduct research! I'm sorry!" Lin Yao shook his head helplessly, then said to us, "Let's go in!"

"What happened?" I couldn't help but ask as we walked back into the house.

"Didn't an ancient tomb recently appear near the village?" Lin Yao asked back.

An ancient tomb? My heart skipped a beat when I heard that word, and the image of Yin Xue's pale face and her warning flashed before my eyes: "Don't go back!"

"What's wrong?" Fang Lei asked when she saw that I was silent.

“Naturally, an archaeological team came from the province. That old man was one of the leaders of the team. A university professor! He took a fancy to our house, saying it was of great research value and insisted on bringing people in.” Lin Yao smiled helplessly and said, “It’s not that I don’t support research work, it’s just that this house is our ancestral home. What if so many people come in to study and damage the house? So I had to politely decline his offer.”

"What's there to study about this house?" I muttered.

"Alright, ignore him. It's getting late! This village has electricity, but no TV signal. So there's no TV to watch!" Lin Yao said, "You should all get some rest!"

“Okay!” We nodded. Since there was no television, why not try out the lifestyle of people in the past who rested at sunset?

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"This is where I used to live." I patted the bed. Everything in the room was exactly the same as when I left. It was still exactly the same now. It was as if time had turned back seven or eight years. I had lived in this place, loved, hated, been happy, and been sad... These emotions seemed to surge back from the tide of time.

"It's very simple!" Fang Lei looked around the room, which contained only a bed, a bookcase, a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair. Because the room was quite large and had little furniture, it felt a bit empty. Fortunately, the bookcase seemed particularly large, taking up an entire wall.

I noticed Fang Lei's gaze fall on the bookshelf, and she said with a smile, "Before, we didn't have a TV at home, so reading was our only form of entertainment!"

"You have quite a collection of books!" Fang Lei reached out and touched the books, then sighed in surprise, "How come they're so clean? There's not a speck of dust?"

"Really?" I hurried over and took a closer look. Indeed, there was no dust on the books or the bookshelves. How could they still be so clean after so many years without anyone coming? It looked as if someone had wiped them down.

"Pbably my older sister wiped it down!?" I scratched my head. Why didn't I see her working so hard at housework when we were at home in the city where I worked? Wiping such a big bookshelf must have taken a lot of effort.

"Oh, really?" Fang Lei nodded.

"You must be tired after traveling by train and car all day. Go to sleep early!" I said.

"Okay, sure!" Fang Lei seemed a little tired, especially since she was pregnant and more prone to fatigue. Thinking of the baby in her belly, Fang Lei smiled happily. Although it was only two months, the magical blood relationship between mother and child already made her constantly feel the wonderful sensation of a new life growing inside her.

After settling Fang Lei down to sleep, I suddenly lost all sleepiness. Gazing at the starry sky outside the window, I wondered how many couples were nestled together under the countless stars.

Am I considered happy right now?

I turned to look at Fang Lei, who had already fallen asleep, and my eyelids gradually grew heavy. Sleepiness slowly crept over me without my realizing it. I turned over, intending to get some rest, but in my drowsy state, I felt as if someone had flashed past the window.

Who is it! I woke up with a start. It was pitch black in front of the window. Was it just my imagination? I sat up and, although the yard was dark, I could still see a blurry black figure flash into the backyard.

It's so late... who could it be? I glanced worriedly at Fang Lei beside me; she was already fast asleep. I got out of bed, hastily threw on a coat, and followed her out.

My house isn't very big, but it's not small either. The front yard connects to the living room and dining room, then to the middle courtyard, with two rooms on each side. My sister Lin Yao's and my rooms face each other. The room next to mine is a study, but we've already added a bed for A Bao to sleep in. The room next to Lin Yao's is a guest room, where Li Yang sleeps.

To the left of the central courtyard is a small courtyard, which houses the kitchen, bathroom, and a storage room.

Behind that is the backyard, but even when my sister Lin Yao and I lived here, we rarely went in, because that was the master bedroom, the room where my parents lived, along with a few other rooms. Most importantly, there was another room, which was the Lin family ancestral hall, where the ancestral tablets of the Lin family were enshrined.

And that dark figure flashed into the Lin Family Ancestral Hall!

A thief? No, wait, what kind of thief would be this direct? He didn't even go into the other rooms in the backyard, he went straight into the Lin family ancestral hall! I stopped in my tracks, considering whether to go find Li Yang to help us storm in and catch this uninvited guest, when someone lightly patted my shoulder!

"Is that you?" I turned around sharply and saw Li Yang looking sleepy.

"Why are you wandering around instead of sleeping?" Li Yang asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Then what are you wandering around for?" I asked back.

"Looking for the restroom!" Li Yang said matter-of-factly, "I just happened to see you walking by when I came out."

"I just saw someone sneak into our ancestral hall," I explained.

"The ancestral hall? A thief broke in?" Li Yang immediately perked up and asked.

"I don't know! Let's go!" I tugged at Li Yang's sleeve. "Let's go in and take a look!"

"Oh!" Li Yang nodded and followed him in.

There are no windows in the ancestral hall, only two carved wooden doors that let in a little light, so two ever-burning lamps used to be lit inside. But now, the lamps are off, and only the cold moonlight shines on the bluestone floor of the ancestral hall.

"It seems like there's not a single ghost in sight!" Li Yang shrugged, a little bored.

The ancestral hall is actually very simple. There are just some memorial tablets on an altar, and behind the altar is a portrait of the oldest ancestor of the Lin family.

Just as Li Yang said, there wasn't a soul in sight, not even a ghost! Was I seeing things? I rubbed my head. This ancestral hall only had a front entrance; there were no windows or other exits. If someone had gone in and then come out, Li Yang and I were right there at the front entrance—there was no way we wouldn't have seen them! Unless…they weren't human?

No, no! Why am I thinking about ghosts again? I looked around helplessly. I said to Li Yang, "I guess I'm just too tired today; my eyes are blurry!"

"Are you kidding me?" Li Yang lightly patted me and said, "Don't come to me with this kind of thing next time, I still need to sleep!"

"Alright, alright! Let's go back to sleep!" I put my arm around Li Yang's shoulder and pulled him out of the ancestral hall.

As I walked in the middle of the backyard, I suddenly thought I heard a cry, but then again, I didn't. It seemed to be coming from the ancestral hall. I turned around and glanced at the ancestral hall again. It was dark and gloomy, like the gaping maw of a huge beast, ready to enjoy its meal...

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Nothing happened overnight. The next morning, as I was happily slurping down a bowl of millet porridge, two noisy voices rang out outside the door again.

"Who's arguing at the door so early in the morning?" I put down my bowl impatiently, just as someone forcefully pushed the door open!

"I'm looking for Professor Zhang!" The person who came was actually a girl with a ponytail and a pure and innocent look. Her big, round eyes reminded me of Gao Yuanyuan, the celebrity who posted the Qingzui announcement.

"Yuan Yuan, wait a minute!" Following him was a boy wearing glasses who looked a bit like a bookworm.

Ha! They even have the same name! I was just marveling at the girl's name when Yuan Yuan ran up to us and said to my older sister Lin Yao, "Miss Lin, we're here to see Professor Zhang!"

"You are...?" Her older sister, Lin Yao, looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“My surname is Yuan, and my given name is Yuan, the Yuan of ‘Yuanquan’. I am Professor Zhang’s student. This person…” Yuan Yuan seemed to be an impatient person. He pulled the boy behind him and said, “He is also Professor Zhang’s student, named Liu Chunfeng.”

"Liu Chunfeng?" I suddenly found it interesting. Could it be the same name as Liu Chunfeng from the Tang Dynasty?

Seemingly sensing my thoughts, Liu Chunfeng smiled, adjusted his glasses, and said, "It's exactly the same name as that Liu Chunfeng from the Tang Dynasty. Back in my father's time..."

"Oh dear, don't start telling me about the origin of your name every time you meet a stranger, okay?" Yuan Yuan interrupted Liu Chunfeng's rambling, saying, "Finding Professor Zhang is the priority now!"

"Miss Yuan, why did you come to our house looking for Professor Zhang?" The older sister, Lin Yao, seemed a little displeased. "He came by last night, but I didn't let him in. What, didn't he go back home afterwards?"

"No! He hasn't come back all night!" Yuan Yuan said anxiously.

"Could they have gone somewhere else?" I asked tentatively.

“Impossible! We’ve searched his room and the entire guesthouse, even gone to the ancient tomb. We thought he’d gone somewhere early in the morning!” Yuan Yuan explained.