36: Chapter 36: The Stone Revealed as the Water Recedes 36: Chapter 36: The Stone Revealed as the Water Recedes Upon hearing Fen Ran’s words, Qin Yue tried calling out a few more times, but Du Yueling still stood motionless like a tree stump.

“All right!

You scoundrel!

Just wanted to take advantage of Teacher Du while she’s in a daze to do something shameless!

What are you talking about with that Sima nonsense, huh!

Scoundrel!” Bai Lian furiously scolded Sun Xing, thinking that if Liu Hun hadn’t arrived in time, Du Yueling might have been harmed.

“What do you mean by ‘in a daze’?

Don’t…

don’t say that, we agreed to meet here tonight…

Hunzi, what do you want?

Don’t do anything rash…

Ouch!” Sun Xing lied shamelessly, denying everything, and looked at Liu Hun’s fist as big as a clay pot smashing toward his stomach, reacting as if he was a dumbstruck fool.

“Ugh!” Sun Xing took Liu Hun’s punch, feeling as if his insides were attempting to burst out, and the pain travelled from the tips of his toes to the ends of his hair.

“Speak!

Are you Sima?” Liu Hun grabbed Sun Xing by the collar and asked him coldly.

If it hadn’t been for that puddle of urine today, who knows what might have happened.

“No…

no, I am not.

I’m not!” Sun Xing quickly raised his hands, looking at Liu Hun while feeling pain all over his body.

“What are you?” Liu Hun released his grip, throwing Sun Xing to the ground.

“I’m just a filthy toad!

A filthy toad!” Sun Xing shivered, kneeling on the ground, not daring to lie anymore.

Qin Yue stepped forward and spat on Sun Xing’s face, saying, “Pah!

You dare call yourself a toad?

You’re disgracing all other toads out there!”

“Hunzi, you’re my lord!

My dear lord!

Father!

Grandfather!

Please let me go, I can’t take this anymore, it feels like I’m about to spit my guts out.” Sun Xing began to cry as he spoke, sobbing like an owl at night.

“Shut up!

Now you’re crying like a cat in heat.

If we hadn’t arrived in time, who knows how smug you’d be right now, you disdainful wretch!

You only cry for dad when you’re caught.

I hate people like you, cowards who bully the weak!

Just like a piece of filth, disgusting!” Bai Lian looked at Sun Xing, full of disdain.

“Sun Xing, tell us why you’re here.

If I find out you’re lying, I’ll break one of your teeth, so you’d better think about how many you have!” Liu Hun warned Sun Xing.

Previously, it was always people like that rascal, those bald men—they were like snakes on a mountain; once you subdued them, you were their master, but let them go and they’d turn on you as viciously as possible.

Upon hearing Liu Hun’s threat, Sun Xing was so scared that his jaw shook, teeth chattering until he finally managed to speak, “I…

I heard rumors about ghosts haunting the temple…

and I wanted to take advantage of it.”

Fen Ran, who had sharp eyes, noticed a gourd beside Sun Xing’s discarded clothing, picked it up, and asked him, “What’s this?”

Sun Xing looked at the gourd in Fen Ran’s hand, his face twitching, and said, “It’s filled with black dog’s blood.

I…

I was worried the things in the temple would find me.”

“Wow!

You’re just a coward with one big tremble, huh?

Bringing all this stuff just to cause trouble for our village’s people!” Qin Yue spat another mouthful directly at Sun Xing’s face.

“Sun Xing, when did you sneak into the temple?

And why were you with Teacher Du?” Liu Hun asked Sun Xing, determined to get to the bottom of things.

Sun Xing, with Qin Yue’s spit on his face, didn’t dare to wipe it away and quickly replied, “I hadn’t been in the temple for long.

I saw a woman heading to the backyard…

I thought she was going to relieve herself, so I sneaked in too.”

“And then?” Liu Hun continued to ask.

“I took a look and, oh, it was Teacher Du!

I called out to her but she didn’t respond, so I knew she was in a daze.

I…

I thought…

hey, maybe a taste of swan meat.

But I hadn’t even taken off my underwear when you came in.” Sun Xing stammered, telling Liu Hun what had happened, with a tone revealing much regret.

Now Liu Hun understood what was going on—the shadow he’d seen earlier was Sun Xing sneaking around the temple.

However, there was still something he didn’t understand, so he asked Fen Ran, “Sister Lan, is being in a daze something temporary, or can it last a while?

Does it happen every day?”

Fen Ran thought for a moment and said, “I’m not entirely sure.

It’s just that my brother goes through this quite often, and the duration varies.

Sometimes…”

As Fen Ran spoke, suddenly Bai Lian shouted, “Teacher Du is down on the ground!” Several people hurried over to see Du Yueling lying on the ground, eyes closed, breathing evenly—clearly, her sleepwalking was over.

Sun Xing saw them all attending to Du Yueling, jumped up, grabbed a stone, and hurled it at Liu Hun before sprinting towards the door.

Liu Hun heard the commotion, turned around, and saw the stone flying towards his face; he didn’t dodge but clenched his fist and smashed it into the stone, “Bang,” the stone shattered into pieces.

“Ow!” Sun Xing had just taken a couple of steps when the place where Liu Hun had punched him felt like a recoiling elastic band, causing him to collapse on the ground in pain.

Liu Hun had the three women carry Du Yueling back into the room, then himself went to Sun Xing, bending down to say, “You’re like a venomous snake, waiting for a chance to strike!”

“I was momentarily dazed, blinded by profit.

Hunzi, could you…

give me one more chance?

I promise I won’t do bad things again, and I’ll never come to Wanbao Village.” Sun Xing realized that escaping was impossible and began to plead again.

“Fine!

I’ll let you go, but before I do, we have to catch the ghost together.” Liu Hun said, smiling at Sun Xing.

Sun Xing looked at Liu Hun’s smile, feeling a shiver like standing shirtless in a cold breeze.

“Bang bang bang!

Bang bang bang!” Gazi, holding a gong, walked around the entire Wanbao Village early in the morning, shouting, “The monster from the temple has been caught!

The temple’s monster has been caught!

Everyone come see!

Everyone come see…”

With such clamor, nearly everyone in the village gathered at the temple entrance, even those who usually slept in, not wanting to miss this rare spectacle.

“Oh!

Look at that, what is that thing?

Is it a wild boar?

Why does it look like that?

Why does it look like a monkey?”

“Listen, does that thing still grunt?

Will it eat people?

My goodness, how did Hunzi catch this?

What if it bites someone?”

“Nonsense!

How could it bite someone?

With such a thick rope around its neck, it could restrain a tiger!

We can safely observe!

Let’s see what Hunzi says!”

“…”

Liu Hun stood on a stone platform at the temple entrance, beside a pillar tied with a grunting creature, red and black all over, with circles of grass on its head—truly an unknown monster.

“Dear villagers, lately there have been rumors about our temple being haunted, causing you worry.

I’m Liu Hun, and I apologize to everyone!” Liu Hun said, bowing to the villagers and continuing, “Last night, this thing came to the temple to scavenge for food and I caught it in the act!”

“Hm hm hm…

hmm hmm hmm…” The creature tied to the pillar seemed to hear Liu Hun’s words and began grunting loudly again.

“After catching it last night, I found this monster to be quite troublesome; no matter what I tried, it couldn’t be killed.

But, I found its weakness—it’s scared of firecrackers!” Liu Hun said, gesturing for Gazi, who immediately handed him a long string of firecrackers.

Holding the firecrackers, Liu Hun continued, “If we taunt it with these firecrackers, I guarantee it will never come back to disturb our village!

Plus, you can safely send your kids to Teacher Du’s class!

I’m going to blast it out of the village with these firecrackers, okay, everyone?”

“Okay!

Hunzi, do it!

I support whatever you do!

Blast the hell out of it and see if it dares to scare our kids again!” The villagers below voiced their support for Liu Hun’s decision.

Liu Hun carried a string of firecrackers to the blackened creature and tied them around its waist, muttering something and then releasing the rope binding the creature before lighting the firecrackers’ fuse.

“Crackle crackle crackle…

hmm hmm hmm…”

As the firecrackers exploded, the blackened creature grunted, dragging the firecrackers like smoke from a train, running frantically toward the village exit, while the surrounding villagers laughed heartily, several bravely following it.

Ye Canghai, returning from a round of morning mahjong, spotted his wife and approached her, pulling Fen Ran aside and asking, “Wife, what just ran out of the village?”

“Pfft!” Fen Ran couldn’t hold back her laughter, saying, “That was the ghost!

We caught it last night!”

“A ghost?

I thought it looked like someone smeared with soot…

No, it seemed just like Sun Xing from the neighboring village who didn’t show up for mahjong last night?

Could it really be him?” Ye Canghai asked Fen Ran, his words making him more convinced it was the case.

“What’s with your wild guesses?

Why are you standing here like a post?

Go home!” Fen Ran laughed, pulling Ye Canghai away toward their home.

Ye Canghai chuckled, saying, “About Teacher Du’s part, how’s she doing?

As the village chief, I should care and visit.”

“Care about what?

You can’t even take care of your wife, and you think about someone else’s college student?

With Hunzi around, what are you worried about?

Go home!” Fen Ran snapped playfully, dragging Ye Canghai home.

After the commotion, the villagers went back to their farming duties and dispersed, while at the temple, Liu Hun unceremoniously gave the kids a day off.

“Why did you cancel the classes for the kids?” Du Yueling asked Liu Hun with some anxiety on her face, her hands twisted anxiously together.