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“Alright then,” Shen Caihua looked down at the spirit fetus in his hand and agreed, then asked curiously, “Grandpa Elder, was that child Elder Peng Yao?”

“No, his name is ‘Red Boy’,” Elder Anxi replied.

It rained again during the night, but by dawn the dark clouds had all dispersed, leaving a clear blue sky. Everyone was invigorated and, after breakfast, packed their bags and prepared to set off.

The old beggar was pulled out of the stone cave at the bottom of the lake by the guardian. His naked body had been changed into a set of black casual clothes, with a turtleneck sweater covering the unsightly bumps around his neck.

We boarded a small wooden boat off the island and rowed towards the vast, misty heart of Poyang Lake.

Looking back at the gradually receding Shoe Mountain, Elder Anxi couldn't help but sigh with regret: "Six years have passed. I have wasted six whole years here, and I still haven't figured out how the 'exorcism spell' of the Second Karmapa of the Black Hat lineage, Karma Pakshi, appeared in the old beggar's body seven hundred years ago. Perhaps, I will never know the reason in this lifetime."

Shen Caihua and Dudu sat at the bow of the boat, silently gazing at the eastern horizon on the port side, in the direction of Nanshan Village in Wuyuan. He felt a pang of guilt; he knew that Lan'er's mother would be extremely sad and heartbroken for secretly running away from home with Dudu...

However, Shen Caihua secretly vowed that he must find Momo and bring her back to Nanshan Village.

Chapter Fourteen, Part 1

Fenglingdu on the Yellow River in Hedong, Shanxi.

The spring chill lingers, but tender green shoots have already emerged on the sunny slopes along the riverbank. Clusters of peach blossoms on the embankment are about to bloom, while in the sheltered mountain valley behind the village, the branches of several old apricot trees are already covered with pink and white flowers, with butterflies fluttering among them, their bright yellow wings a beautiful sight.

Two black crows perched on the old locust tree in the east of the town, cawing mournfully. Inside the old house with its high walls and blue bricks and tiles, an old man lay on the bed in the main bedroom, thin as a rake, his cheeks sunken.

"Nizi, bring me that bundle from inside the cabinet..." the old man said weakly.

“Yes, Grandpa,” a little girl of about six or seven years old with a long braid replied. A black old dog was squatting at the child’s feet.

The little girl wore a light purple floral jacket. She had fair skin, a pretty face, bright, sparkling eyes, and a high, straight nose, though her face was covered in freckles. Following her grandfather's instructions, she forcefully lifted the heavy wooden lid of the cabinet, pulled out a bundle, and turned back to the bedside.

"Nizi, open it," the old man said, his lips trembling.

The little girl untied the bundle, revealing an old sheepskin coat. Inside the coat was a golden silk handkerchief woven with a terrifying, blood-red flea. There was also a small glass bottle depicting a golden-domed palace, its mouth sealed shut.

“Nizi, these things were delivered to me on a cold night in December six years ago, along with you. You were only a little over a year old then, wrapped in this sheepskin coat…” the old man said with difficulty.

The little girl stood by the bed with tears in her eyes, listening silently.

“Grandpa didn’t see anyone coming, and it was freezing cold, so he carried you back inside,” the old man coughed violently, then continued, “This old sheepskin coat is very ordinary; it’s from Shanxi. But that yellow silk scarf is very strange; it doesn’t seem to be from the Central Plains, especially the blood-red flea painted on it. It’s a bit scary, so Grandpa has never allowed you to open this bundle. There’s also a small glass bottle; I don’t know what’s inside. Since it’s sealed, Grandpa has never opened it.”

The little girl brought a glass of water and handed it to the old man.

The old man shook his head and continued, "Grandpa figured these things must be related to your background, so he's kept them all this time. Now Grandpa's leaving, and I can't take care of you anymore." As he said this, tears welled up in the old man's sunken eyes. "Girl, the town government has promised to find you a good family..."

"Grandpa, Nizi doesn't want to go to other people's houses, she wants to stay with you forever." The little girl's tears finally flowed down as she sobbed.

"Alas... how could Grandpa bear to part with you, my little girl? But my life is nearing its end, and I must go." The old man's expression was filled with unbearable sorrow as he tightly grasped the little girl's hand for a long, long time...

Chapter 14, Part 2

The old man's wide eyes gradually froze, his lips trembled slightly, and he uttered the last few words: "Wind Chime Temple... Thimble..." Then, he let out a long breath.

Grandpa died, his empty eyes staring blankly into the sky, a last crystal tear welling up from the corner of his eye…

The sound of Nizi's heart-wrenching cries came from inside the old house. The neighbors all knew that the eccentric old man Guo, who had been widowed for many years, had died.

Nizi cried for a long time, then slowly let go of her grandfather's increasingly stiff hand, and found that she was holding a bronze thimble in her palm. It was the one that her grandfather had always worn on his finger and had never taken off.

This is a brass thimble with many small pits on its surface. It is used for the butt of a thimble when mending clothes or sewing shoe soles. It is very common in the countryside and every household has one.

Nizi sobbed softly as she wrapped the thimble and the small glass bottle in a yellow silk handkerchief, then wrapped them again in her sheepskin coat and put them back in the cabinet. She then sat silently on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at her deceased grandfather.

In her childhood memories, everything before that December night had long faded. She and her grandfather lived together in this old house, relying on each other for survival. Although life was very hard, she felt very happy. Especially on windy and snowy nights, lying next to her grandfather under the flickering oil lamp, listening to him tell scary ghost stories, she felt a comforting warmth and a sense of security.

"Nizi... has Old Guo passed away?" someone asked in the courtyard. The voice sounded familiar, followed by a series of hurried footsteps that led straight to the front door of the main house.

The door opened, and a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses walked in, followed by several women.

Nizi remembered that this man had come to her house a few days ago to discuss adopting her with her grandfather. He was the mayor of Fenglingdu, named Guo Youcai.

"Let me see," Mayor Guo stepped forward, glanced at the old man, and said, "He's already stiff. Sigh, why is he still dying with his eyes open?" With that, he reached out and touched the old man's face, then closed his eyelids.

"Come on, hurry up and find some new clothes for Old Guo to change into," Mayor Guo instructed.

Several women immediately began rummaging through the wardrobes and cabinets, leaving old clothes scattered everywhere. One of the women, a woman with a fierce face, pulled out a bundle from the cabinet.

"That's mine!" Nizi rushed forward and snatched the bundle away.

The woman glared at Nizi, then turned around and went to rummage through other things.

"Alright, hurry up, otherwise your arms and legs will be too stiff and it will be even harder to put them on," Mayor Guo urged impatiently.

Nizi clutched the bundle tightly in her arms, tears welling up in her eyes as she silently watched the women clumsily rip off her grandfather's underwear and twist his arms and legs to put him in "old clothes."

"Alright, go back and call people. We'll bury him today." Mayor Guo lit a cigarette and said with a sigh of relief.

Chapter 14, Part 3

The coffin had been prepared years ago; it was made of locust wood, heavy and thick. In rural areas, cedar wood was generally used for coffins; no one ever used locust wood, as it was said that the locust tree was a "wooden ghost" that would turn into a corpse after death. But Old Guo was eccentric and insisted on using locust wood, so the villagers ignored him, treating it merely as a topic of conversation.

The Guo family's ancestral graves are located on a sunny slope in a valley behind the village. Looking forward, one can see the Yellow River winding around the graves like a ribbon, and behind them are high mountains that shelter from the wind and gather auspicious energy—it's said to have good feng shui. However, some villagers scoff at this, gossiping privately, "If the Guo family's graves have such good feng shui, how come Old Guo's generation doesn't even have a son?"

Mayor Guo directed the villagers to hastily bury Old Man Guo, erecting a large mound without a tombstone. They simply scattered some yellow paper money in front of the grave. By noon, people had all left carrying hoes and shovels.

“Nizi, we’re home.” Mayor Guo said to Nizi, who was kneeling in front of the grave.

“I want to stay here with Grandpa,” Nizi replied.

"Forget it, you're rich, don't worry about her. Everyone's waiting for you to host the banquet over there," the middle-aged woman with a fierce face said, grabbing the town mayor's arm.

She was Mayor Guo's wife. When the coffin was being carried out of the village, a neighbor auntie quietly told Nizi that it was her family who had adopted Nizi.

Only Nizi remained at the grave. She squatted down, picking up the scattered paper money one by one, lighting it over a candle, tears streaming down her face. She burned it silently, a nameless fear gripping her heart. "Grandpa, Nizi is so scared..."

Dusk fell, and a cold mountain wind blew through the valley, carrying the faint howls of wolves. Nizi shivered, her lips turning blue; she hadn't eaten all day. She kowtowed to her grandfather a few times, murmuring, "Grandpa, Nizi will come to keep you company again tomorrow." Then she stumbled home.

Under the old locust tree in the east of the town, some red firecracker paper scraps were scattered, and a faint smell of gunpowder could be smelled in the air. Figures moved about in front of the old house, and as soon as you stepped across the threshold, the aroma of stewed meat wafted over.

The main room and the east and west wing rooms were brightly lit, filled with the smell of alcohol, and the sounds of clinking glasses and drinking games were constant.

"Nizi, why are you only just getting back?" A burly woman with a fierce face suddenly appeared from behind the kitchen door; it was the town mayor's wife.

Nizi stared blankly at the people in the room, wondering what had happened.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and go wash the dishes in the kitchen!" the mayor's wife scolded sternly.

"This...this is my home," Nizi asked hesitantly.

"From today onwards, this is Mayor Guo's home. We kindly adopted you, so you must be obedient and well-behaved, understand?" The woman stepped forward, grabbed Nizi's arm, and forcibly dragged her into the kitchen.

The kitchen had been fitted with bright new light bulbs, making it dazzling. Nizi squinted and looked over. A chef was stirring the food in a ladle, and the aroma of meat wafted through the air. How long had it been since she had eaten meat? Nizi couldn't remember.

Two large buckets were placed on the ground, filled with bowls, plates, and countless chopsticks, with a layer of dirty oil floating on the surface.

"Girl, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and wash, the next table is waiting to use it." The mayor's wife put on a stern face, her fat twitching.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Nizi reached into the bucket, and her skin immediately became oily.

With a sharp crack, she lost her grip, and an eight-inch plate fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"You wretched girl, you can't even hold a plate properly, are you going to skip your meal?" The mayor's wife roared in fury.

"Shut up! How could you treat Nizi like this? No matter what, she's our adopted daughter. Today is a housewarming celebration, don't make the child cry and spoil the mood." Mayor Guo appeared at the door, frowned, and angrily reprimanded her.

“Nizi broke the plate; I think she did it on purpose,” the mayor’s wife argued.

"I didn't mean to..." Nizi shed tears of grievance.

"Alright, alright, don't cry. You haven't eaten yet, have you? Old Wang," Mayor Guo called to the cook, "Give Nizi a bowl of rice and add a few more pieces of meat."

Nizi stopped crying and watched longingly as Master Wang scooped a few pieces of rosy, trembling pork belly from the pot into her bowl. She then glanced gratefully at Mayor Guo...

Chapter 15 of the main text

Nizi took her bowl and hid in the woodshed to eat. There, the family's old black dog, named Dahei, was tied up. It had a limp and had been locked up by the town mayor, who said it was to prevent it from frightening Daguai and Erguai, the town mayor's two sons.

Big Black probably knew that its old master had died. Its eyes were glazed over, and it lay listlessly on the ground, making low whimpering noises from time to time.

Nizi picked out two fragrant pieces of fatty meat and piled them near Dahei's mouth, but it didn't even glance at them.

“Oh, Big Black, Nizi is also feeling unwell, but if I don’t eat, I won’t have any strength. If I don’t have any strength, I won’t be able to go visit Grandpa tomorrow… You eat, and I’ll take you to the grave tomorrow.” Nizi comforted the old black dog.

As if understanding its little master's meaning, Dahei stuck out its tongue, rolled the meat into its mouth, and swallowed it without even chewing it.

"Wait here," Nizi said, putting down her bowl and chopsticks as she saw that Dahei was eating. "I'll go get you some more bones." With that, she took a dustpan, pushed open the door, and went out of the woodshed.

She first went to the east and west wing rooms, where several tables were already littered with cups and plates. Several drunken men were still playing drinking games, shouting "Five kings, six six six" incessantly. There were some leftover pig bones scattered on the tables and the floor. Nizi quickly filled a basket with them, hurriedly carried it back to the woodshed, and piled it in front of Dahei.

"Eat up, we haven't had meat in a long time," Nizi said to Dahei, picking up her own rice bowl.

"Nizi, come and get to work now that you've eaten." The mayor's wife's voice called from the courtyard.

"Sigh..." Nizi quickly shoveled down a few mouthfuls, finished the food in her bowl, glanced back at Dahei, and hurriedly pushed open the door and went out.

It was already late at night when Nizi finished her work in the kitchen. She dragged her tired body back to the main room, where she always slept with her grandfather.

"Nizi, starting today, you'll sleep in the west wing. Old Guo's bed and bedding have already been moved there," the mayor's wife said, lying on a brand-new large bed in the bedroom, while Mayor Guo, wearing glasses, was giving her a "thump-thump" massage on the back.

“My dear girl, your foster mother and I will sleep in the main room, the east wing will be for Da Guai and Er Guai, and it’s not bad for you to sleep in the whole west wing by yourself,” Mayor Guo chuckled, then said softly, “From now on, you have to call us Dad and Mom, understand?”

Nizi remained silent, turned around and left the room, walking towards the west wing with tears in her eyes.

"Look at this brat, she has no manners at all. She needs to be taught a lesson." The mayor's wife's scolding voice came from inside the house.

"Forget it, she'll get used to it in a couple of days and start calling out to her naturally." This was the mayor's words of comfort.

"Splash..." The sound of flowing water suddenly came from the doorway of the east wing.

Nizi turned around and saw that the mayor's sons, Da Guai and Er Guai, had taken off their pants and were standing under the eaves urinating...

Nizi rushed into the west wing and collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably, "Grandpa..."

Chapter 15, Part 2

It was late at night. Nizi sat on the bed and gently untied the bundle that had accompanied her to Fenglingdu years ago, laying it out in front of her.

The large, blood-red flea on the yellow silk handkerchief looked eerie in the dim light. It had two short, thick antennae, a sharp mouthpart, a segmented abdomen, and strong, powerful hind legs. Its plump body was covered with many backward-pointing bristles, which sent a shiver down one's spine.

How could such a strange thing be in my own swaddling clothes?