Xu Zhengyang had meticulously planned his strategy, but now he was a little uneasy. What if the so-called authority of the local earth god didn't work? After all, this was his first time using that authority to command ghosts. So, after pondering for a moment, Xu Zhengyang turned around and walked back to the back of Han Dashan's building. Standing downstairs, he focused his mind, and his vision passed through the walls, entering Han Dashan's building and examining each room one by one.
The lights were off in Han Kuisheng's bedroom, but Xu Zhengyang still saw three people lying on the bed: Han Kuisheng, Han Kuisheng's wife Huaixiu, and six-year-old Xiao Hanxin.
Huaixiu was wearing a thin, light yellow tank top and a small pair of white underwear...
Xu Zhengyang's gaze froze for a moment, then he quickly shifted his gaze to the room next door, silently chanting in his heart, "Don't look at what is improper, don't look at what is improper... It's important to get down to business."
It seemed Wang Zhu wasn't so bad after all; at least he listened and didn't scare the child again. Xu Zhengyang nodded in satisfaction, his gaze sweeping through each room until he finally spotted Wang Zhu's ghostly figure in the spacious bedroom on the east side of the second floor. Yes, this was Han Dashan's bedroom. At that moment, Han Dashan was lying on the bed wearing only a pair of shorts, snoring loudly, while his wife was also fast asleep on her side.
Wang Zhu's ghost paced anxiously around the house because he realized he couldn't wake Han Dashan at all.
So what if you can show your form? The other person is asleep. If they don't wake up, then it's all for nothing.
Standing downstairs, Xu Zhengyang grew anxious. After much deliberation, he decided to help Wang Zhu himself. So, Xu Zhengyang picked up a small clod of dirt, then wandered to the main street on the east side of the building, aimed at the window of Han Dashan's bedroom, and threw it with a soft "thud"...
Han Dashan was still fast asleep, but his wife turned over and opened her eyes.
"ah!"
A terrified and loud scream pierced through the walls and soared into the star-studded night sky. Even Xu Zhengyang, standing on the street, was so shocked by the scream that his eardrums went numb.
Xu Zhengyang cursed inwardly, "This is bad. Won't this shout disturb the neighbors?"
Who knows what the neighbors would think if they saw him standing outside their building? Thinking of this, Xu Zhengyang quickly turned and rushed home. Anyway, he had already achieved his goal, and from Han Dashan's wife's screams, he was certain that Wang Zhu's ghost had indeed appeared before Han Dashan's family!
As Xu Zhengyang ran, he heard terrified screams and angry curses coming from Han Dashan's house behind him...
"Damn, this effect is way too strong!"
As a serving local earth god, Xu Zhengyang knew very well that when ghosts appear in front of people, the only problem is that you don't believe them. Once you see them, believe them, or are afraid... then they can communicate with you verbally.
Volume One, Land, Chapter 11: The Spokesperson of the Gods
As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast.
This is no exaggeration. The news that Han Dashan's house was haunted last night had already spread throughout the village by 8 a.m.
Some people who had a good relationship with Han Dashan's family went to Han Dashan's house after breakfast, of course, to see if the rumors were true. If they were true, they would like to offer their condolences.
The people who came out of Han Dashan's house whispered among themselves, their faces filled with fear.
Soon, the latest rumors continued to spread rapidly throughout the village.
According to those who visited Han Dashan's home, his wife was like a fool, sitting on the edge of the bed trembling uncontrollably, muttering things like, "What a tragedy, don't touch me, I'll give you back your money..." Han Dashan sat on the sofa, silent, smoking, looking terrible. His eldest son, Han Kuisheng, and his wife, Huaixiu, were inside, looking worried and trying to comfort him. As for his second son, Han Fusheng, who had a limp, he stayed in his room playing computer games, not even bothering to visit his parents.
Some villagers went to Han Fusheng and asked him to comfort his parents, but Han Fusheng said: What ghosts and monsters? Superstition!
That kid went out to play last night and didn't come home at all.
"Hmph, they deserve to be haunted by ghosts. It would be good if they scared that son of a bitch Han Dashan to death." Xu Zhengyang's mother returned from listening to gossip on the street with a bowl in her hand, and told her husband and son about the rumors in the village with a smug look on her face, and then cursed them angrily.
“Stop gossiping outside. We’re neighbors, we see each other all the time. They’ve had enough bad luck with this mess, so don’t go around making snide remarks,” Xu Neng complained to his wife.
“I’m not that wicked.” Yuan Suqin rolled her eyes at her husband, then looked at her son who was shoveling rice into his mouth and said, “Zhengyang, why aren’t you out doing business today? I had to cook noodles for you first thing this morning…”
Xu Zhengyang grinned and said, "I overslept, haha, I'll be out in a bit, I'll be out in a bit."
"Sigh, why don't we take a day off? It looks like it's another sunny and hot day today," Yuan Suqin said with concern.
"It's alright, we can just find a shady spot to rest if it gets hot outside." Xu Zhengyang finished his meal, wiped his mouth, and stood up, saying, "Okay, Dad, Mom, I'm going out now!"
"Okay, be careful out there, don't cause trouble," Xu Neng repeated his daily reminder.
"Eat your food!" Yuan Suqin tapped her husband's bowl with her chopsticks. "Go look for a construction team again today. What if they need workers? We're just sitting at home all day. We're not even old yet. Do you expect Zhengyang to support us?"
Xu Neng chuckled awkwardly and stopped talking, lowering his head to continue eating.
Xu Zhengyang scratched his head and walked out with a smile. He tied the bag of millet to the back rack of his bicycle, took the scale, grain bag, and water bottle, and pushed the bicycle out the door.
On the main street, groups of villagers gathered together, bowls in hand, gossiping about the village's gossip.
Xu Zhengyang whistled as he leisurely rode his bicycle down the street. The villagers standing on the street watched his retreating figure with knowing glances…
The villagers all heard that the ghost who found Han Dashan's house last night said, "Heaven is watching what people do. Han Dashan has done too many bad things, and even the gods in the village's western earth temple couldn't stand it anymore. That's why they allowed that ghost to appear in front of everyone and terrified Han Dashan's family." It is said that the ghost is a man surnamed Wang from Wangjia Village who died a few days ago. Han Dashan owed him 10,000 yuan, which had been owed to him for more than ten years, and he stubbornly refused to pay it back.
The reason why the villagers paid attention to Xu Zhengyang was because: a few days ago, the local earth god appeared to Xu Zhengyang in a dream and asked him to send a message to Zhao Laoguang's family.
This time, the ghost was only able to appear in front of Han Dashan's family because it listened to the words of the local earth god.
Superstitious legends about ghosts and gods, which had long disappeared from people's consciousness, reappeared in real life in a strange, unpredictable, and terrifying way, giving people a truly shocking feeling and possessing a powerful impact and deterrent force. The existence of the Earth God was first made known to people through Xu Zhengyang.
Therefore, given the major incident at Han Dashan's house, the villagers naturally regarded Xu Zhengyang as the sole representative of the local earth god. Some suspicious individuals even began to speculate that the Han Dashan and Xu Zhengyang families had clashed recently. The earth god then sent ghosts to cause trouble at Han Dashan's house—such coincidences couldn't help but raise suspicions of something fishy going on.
By around 4 p.m., rumors were circulating in the village that Xu Zhengyang had asked the local earth god for help in taking revenge.
Xu Zhengyang and his family ignored this. Even when curious villagers with good relations with Xu Zhengyang's family came to probe and ask, Xu Zhengyang would shake his head innocently and deny it, explaining, "I don't know any local deity at all. I don't know why the local deity appeared in my dream last time. Anyway, the local deity appeared in my dream for two nights in a row, and then stopped coming to me."
The older woman asked again, "When the Earth God appears to you in a dream, besides asking you to deliver a message, does he say anything else?"
The implication was clear: he wanted to get closer to her, exchange feelings, and make friends. Xu Zhengyang smiled slightly, looking inscrutable, and said, "No, no..." He paused, then cautiously continued, "Some things cannot be said; secrets of heaven cannot be revealed."
The middle-aged woman nodded in deep agreement, seemingly understanding, but dared not ask any further questions, fearing that knowing the secrets of heaven would displease the gods.
Before nightfall, rumors about the relationship between Xu Zhengyang and the local earth god intensified again in the village. This time, it wasn't Xu Zhengyang asking the earth god for help in taking revenge; rather, the earth god, seeing Xu Zhengyang's family being bullied and humiliated, took it upon himself to avenge Xu Zhengyang. It was said that the earth god only had Xu Zhengyang as a mortal friend in the human world.
Good heavens!
They're friends with gods! You absolutely mustn't mess with them, you can't afford to!
These rumors naturally reached the ears of Wang's wife and Liu's widow, who were quite frightened. After dinner, they hurriedly asked some villagers who were on good terms with Xu Zhengyang's family to accompany them to Xu Zhengyang's house. Filled with sincerity and trepidation, they apologized to Xu Zhengyang and his wife, and begged him to speak to the local earth god so that they wouldn't be held responsible. After all, those who are coerced are innocent, and those who fight back are meritorious…
Han Dashan's family had heard about it, of course, but Han Dashan had been pondering it all day. Now, thinking back on last night, it wasn't so scary after all! The ghost was just there to scare people; it only said a few harsh words and didn't actually hit anyone, so there was nothing truly frightening about it. Therefore, when his wife and eldest son, Han Kuisheng and his wife, suggested quickly repaying the money owed to Wang Zhu's family and going to Xu Zhengyang's house to apologize, Han Dashan glared at them, stopping them from speaking. He sternly rebuked them, forbidding them from spreading any rumors and refusing to back down!
Han Dashan made up his mind that if Wang Zhu's ghost came again tonight, he would beat it up and curse, "That damn coward Wang Zhu was a wimp when he was alive, and he's even more useless as a ghost. Otherwise, why didn't he beat me up last night? Do you think I'm afraid of him?"
Han Dashan was right. Ghosts, aside from scaring people, can't actually touch a hair on a person's head.
The problem is... just because Han Dashan isn't afraid doesn't mean his family isn't afraid.
So, in the latter half of that night, just as the villagers had guessed, a shrill scream came from Han Dashan's house again, even louder than the night before.
Last night, Wang Zhu only went to see Han Dashan and his wife. When he went there tonight, he found that apart from his wife being terrified again, turning pale, trembling, and screaming incessantly, Han Dashan was not afraid at all. Instead, he angrily swung a kitchen knife at him.
Of course, a kitchen knife can't harm Wang Zhu's ghost.
Enraged, Wang Zhu turned and stormed into Han Kuisheng's house, startling Han Kuisheng and his family of three. Han Fusheng, who was sleeping on the third floor, heard the commotion downstairs and rushed down to find a ghost. He was so frightened that he screamed until his throat was hoarse. His lame leg seemed to return to normal in an instant, and he ran faster than a normal person. With lightning speed, he rushed out of the house and sought refuge at a friend's house.
Except for Han Dashan and the runaway Han Fusheng, the rest of the family members successively fainted and then woke up screaming. The screams were incessant, turning the house into complete chaos. Eventually, even Han Dashan, who hadn't been afraid at first, became terrified. Well, ghosts can't hit people, much less harm their bodies, but he couldn't hurt a ghost even with a kitchen knife. Looking at his family, who were driven almost mad by the ordeal, Han Dashan was terrified, truly terrified.
Finally, seeing the whole family kneeling and wailing before the ghost, Han Dashan also knelt down with a thud, full of remorse, and pretended to cry and beg Wang Zhu to let them go. He said he would deliver the money he owed to Wang Zhu to their family tomorrow.
Wang Zhu's ghost sneered, "Heaven is watching what people do. You've done too many bad things! The local earth god outside the village has been watching you for a long time, humph!" After saying that, Wang Zhu floated away through the wall.
The Han family hugged each other, and cried for a long time in great fear.
Huaixiu was the first to regain her senses and said in a panic, "Father, Mother, let's hurry to the local temple to make offerings and kowtow to apologize! We have a long life ahead of us. If the local god keeps sending ghosts to harm us every day, how are we supposed to live?"
The family snapped out of their initial fear, only to be plunged into even greater terror.
Han Dashan remained silent, trembling as he lit a cigarette and puffed hard. His wife nodded repeatedly, took her daughter-in-law's hand, and ran to the kitchen to prepare meat and fruit, determined to go to the local temple tonight to make offerings and petition for atonement.
After everything was prepared, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, carrying baskets and sobbing, returned to the living room to persuade the others to go and make offerings to atone for their sins. Apart from Han Dashan, Han Kuisheng and his son Xiao Hanxin naturally had no objections. However, after struggling and agonizing for a long time, Han Dashan finally swallowed his pride and, for the sake of his family's future safety, had no choice but to go to the local temple.
This family never expected that, even though it was already past 2 a.m., the streets were filled with groups of neighbors.
They were all just curious onlookers.
However, unlike the usual spectators, this time the villagers were all filled with fear and trepidation. Not one of them dared to approach Han Dashan's house, let alone knock on the door and go in to offer any words of comfort.
The Han family was incredibly embarrassed; they were so ashamed!
In the past, Han Dashan's family was always the kind of people who looked down on everyone in the village. Now, not only are they being laughed at by the villagers, but the whole family has also been mobilized in the middle of the night to make offerings at the local temple... They've lost face big time!
Seeing Han Dashan's whole family out, some villagers who were on good terms with them and were also quite brave stepped forward to ask Han Dashan what he was doing in the middle of the night. Han Dashan, feeling embarrassed, forced a smile and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "Women are easily frightened. They're scared in the middle of the night, saying they saw a ghost and are going to pray to the gods for protection..."
"So you really saw a ghost?"
"There are no ghosts or monsters here, it's all just women talking nonsense..." Han Dashan shook his head and denied it.
...
Xu Zhengyang never imagined that he could communicate with ghosts while lying at home.
After leaving Han Dashan's house, Wang Zhu's ghost went to the local temple to kowtow and pray, asking the local god to let him see his family one last time. He said he was worried about his sick wife and unmarried son, and he cried bitterly, saying that he felt he would have to enter the underworld after tonight.
Xu Zhengyang, who had just fallen asleep, was startled awake by a comfortable sensation rushing to his head. The Local Record had already appeared in his hand, and he discovered that Wang Zhu's ghost was kowtowing and praying in the local temple. Xu Zhengyang considered for a long time, deciding he couldn't grant his request. After all, humans and ghosts were different, and it was already bizarre and frightening enough that he had appeared before Han Dashan's family. Making him appear at home before his family, while logically plausible, might frighten them, which would be a greater loss.
Xu Zhengyang muttered to himself as he looked at the image on the local record: "Wang Zhu, Wang Zhu, don't blame me. Humans and ghosts are different. It's already good enough that I let you fulfill your wish to get your debt back. Don't stay in this world. Once you're in the underworld, the sooner you go, the sooner you'll be reincarnated..."
Unexpectedly, no sooner had he finished speaking than the ghost in the local earth god temple paused, seemingly having heard Xu Zhengyang's words. He immediately kowtowed repeatedly, weeping and begging the earth god for help. Perhaps too agitated and flustered, he even considered bribing the earth god. He said, "In the days after my death, I was afraid of the sunlight and hid in a stagnant pool in the saline-alkali wasteland east of Wangjia Village. Under the old locust tree north of that pool, there are two pottery jars buried, probably antiques, very valuable..." At this point, Wang Zhu seemed to realize something and quickly kowtowed repeatedly, begging for forgiveness, saying, "Earth god, please forgive my sins. I shouldn't have used worldly money to desecrate the divine..."
Xu Zhengyang ignored Wang Zhu's apology. Hearing that there were cultural relics, he immediately perked up and asked, "Are you sure it's a cultural relic?"
Wang Zhu paused for a moment, then said with a bitter face, "I'm just guessing, I don't know if it's true or not."
Xu Zhengyang immediately deflated, but then he thought that it might really be an antique. He knew about the stagnant pond east of Wangjia Village; he often passed by there when exchanging millet. The old locust tree north of the stagnant pond had a trunk diameter of over a meter, indicating that it was quite old. What was buried under that tree... must also be quite old, right?
Thinking of this, Xu Zhengyang considered agreeing to Wang Zhu's request, but then he thought better of it. If he agreed to every request from a ghost in the future, wouldn't that cause chaos? Although he didn't know if this was in accordance with the rules for a local earth god, Xu Zhengyang was still uneasy. After all, humans and ghosts are different, and if he didn't follow the rules, and the official in charge of merit came to inspect and found out that he had done such a thing, it would be a great loss if he was punished.
However, Xu Zhengyang felt a little guilty about refusing Wang Zhu's request, so after thinking for a while, he said, "You can't let your family see you. Just go back and see them. If you really have something to say to them, I can ask someone to send them a message."
Xu Zhengyang thought that if all else failed, he would say again that he had been appeared in a dream by the local earth god, and that he would go to Wang Zhu's house in Wangjia Village as a representative.
Hearing the local earth god's words, Wang Zhu didn't dare to press the matter further. He quickly lowered his head, considering what message he should pass on to his family. After thinking for a while, he realized he really didn't have anything important to say, so he stammered, "Thank you, earth god. Well, I don't really have anything to say to them. Um... tell my wife that we still owe Zhang San's shop at the village entrance fifteen yuan, and we should pay it back as soon as possible; also, and tell my son to behave well in the future, not to fight or cause trouble, and to be filial to his mother... and tell his mother, his mother, not to remarry, because it's bad for her reputation, and it will be difficult for her son to find a wife in the future..."
"Damn it, how are you going to get this message across to you?" Xu Zhengyang was furious. After his previous experience of sending a message, Xu Zhengyang was now extremely careful. Some things really couldn't be sent out casually, or you might get stabbed in the back.
"Ah? This..." Wang Zhu was so frightened that he hurriedly kowtowed several times. After thinking it over, he quickly said, "Tell my son to be filial to his mother. Sell the wheat in the west room of the house as soon as possible. The weather wasn't very good during the busy farming season in May, so it didn't dry very well and might get damp and moldy..."
Xu Zhengyang was speechless. He forced himself to listen to Wang Zhu ramble on about some trivial matters, then impatiently told Wang Zhu to hurry up and go to hell to be reincarnated.
Wang Zhu naturally dared not say anything. After kowtowing and expressing his gratitude once more, he drifted away.
Xu Zhengyang reclaimed his homeland and enjoyed the inexplicable sense of comfort, feeling so wonderful that he was about to fall asleep.
In a state between sleep and wakefulness, I was once again awakened by a strong sense of comfort. The local record reappeared, showing that Han Dashan's entire family had gone to the local temple to kowtow, burn incense, and atone for their sins.
Having had a conversation with Wang Zhu before, and recalling that Zhao Laoguang's wife seemed to have overheard him saying something when she went to the local temple to burn incense a few days ago, Xu Zhengyang coughed twice with a practiced air, then said very seriously to the local clerk, "You've done too many bad things these days, spreading rumors to slander the Xu Neng family, especially Xu Rouyue, ruining their reputation. Your crimes are unforgivable..."
Han Dashan, his son, and grandson didn't react much, but Huaixiu and her mother-in-law trembled violently, as if they had heard Xu Zhengyang's words. They quickly burst into tears and apologized, saying they would go to the Xu family tomorrow to apologize and make amends, and restore their reputation in the village...
Xu Zhengyang happily retrieved the recorder, lay down to enjoy the comfortable feeling, and fell into a deep sleep.
Volume One, Land, Chapter 012: Giving in and Showing Goodwill
Han Dashan ultimately couldn't swallow his pride, so when his wife and daughter-in-law brought snacks, cigarettes, and alcohol to Xu Neng's house to apologize, Han Dashan chose to stay home and smoke silently for half a day before taking the money and driving to Wangjia Village.
However, he has already agreed to his wife's request to allow Xu Neng to continue working at the cement products factory.