Chapter 13: Death of Tai Feng
Goudan's death made Juzi's hatred for Lao Ba swell to the point of being on the verge of exploding.
The next day, after she finished her work in the tobacco field with red and swollen eyes, she ran to the forest to desperately collect soul-stealing grass and ghost-flowered face. In a few days, her straw mat and pillow were filled with those "weapons" for war, as if there were time bombs buried.
Now, every night, she couldn't help but quietly put her hand under the pillow to grope for those things, like a miser counting his treasures. Only in this way did she feel alive in her heart and strong in her body.
She imagined a thousand times and ten thousand times the scene of Lao Ba being knocked unconscious by the poison, rolling on the ground, struggling in his death throes like a dying beast, and she felt waves of comfort in her heart.
Orange is waiting for an opportunity day by day.
It was very strange. The more Juzi hoped that Lao Ba would give her a chance, the more the opposite happened. These days, Lao Ba seemed to have guessed her thoughts and kept bypassing Juzi and calling other women to his shack.
Just as she was anxiously waiting for Lao Ba to summon her again, Dafeng suddenly hanged herself.
The night before, when Lao Ba asked Dafeng to go to his shack, she happily hummed a song while taking a bath and changing clothes.
Among the women, she was the one who believed most in Lao Ba's "heaven theory", so how could she commit suicide?
Several women suddenly felt a chill.
When Juzi got up in the morning and was about to go out to wash her face, Lanzi, who had gone out to relieve herself, ran back to the shack, crawling. She was frightened and her lips were pale. When she saw Juzi, she couldn't say a word. She just pushed her hard with her hands, looking back into the woods while pushing her.
"What's the matter? Speak quickly!" Juzi pulled her and walked outside. As soon as she reached the door, she looked up and saw the horrifying scene in the woods.
The phoenix looked like a big bird that had been shot by a hunter's gun and was falling from a tree. Before it could hit the ground, it was caught high up by the branches.
She was wearing a black dress, and her limbs were drooping down in an extremely obedient manner, but her head with long hair was tilted to one side mischievously like a naughty child, as if she was somewhat dissatisfied with the fate that God had given her.
A thin rope was tied deeply around her neck.
Dafeng's mouth was tightly shut, her face as pale as snow. Her feet were more than a meter off the ground, but there was no stool or wooden block under her feet to allow her to climb up high.
Juzi had never seen a person being hanged, but she heard that hanged ghosts all had long tongues.
Why is Dafeng keeping her mouth shut?
Juzi wanted to go up and hold Dafeng's legs to save her, but she felt that she could not lift her legs which weighed thousands of pounds. She could only stand a few meters away, in a daze.
At this time, the mute woman had taken the lead and cut the rope with a long-handled sickle, and let Dafeng down from the pine tree in the forest.
Lao Ba also came out. He walked to Dafeng's body, took a close look at it, then looked up at the mute woman. The mute woman did not respond to his gaze, but just lowered her head to straighten the two buttons on Dafeng's chest that were not yet buttoned.
"This is the fucking woman!" Lao Ba said harshly, then he crossed his hands behind his back and walked back to his shack.
Is this a woman? Are you talking about Dafeng's womanly wisdom, who was so hopeless that she committed suicide because she couldn't think straight, or are you talking about a dumb woman?
Juzi found Lao Ba's words puzzling. She felt that there must be a complicated story behind Dafeng's death.
Orange couldn't help but recall the night when she went to Lao Ba's place and the way the mute woman hid behind the pillar, with a look in her eyes as if she wanted to swallow Orange in one bite.
Besides the mute woman, Dafeng was the woman that Lao Ba was most obsessed with, and the scene of Dafeng trying to please Lao Ba in the shack must have strongly stimulated the mute woman's sensitive nerves, so she had to take action against Dafeng. Otherwise, it might be Juzi who suffered the same fate.
Juzi watched helplessly as the mute woman dragged Dafeng's body into the woods, unable to react at all.
She really couldn't confirm that Dafeng was really dead. She was fine last night, so why would she hang herself?
Unwilling to give up, Juzi sneaked into the back of the hill in the woods when no one was paying attention, intending to check on Dafeng's body as soon as the mute left.
The mute threw Dafeng into the pit and walked away. Juzi hurriedly went over to take a look, and her legs went limp: Dafeng's black clothes were soaked with wet, sticky blood. Some of the blood had already dried up, and it was clear that she had been bleeding for quite some time.
Juzi plucked up the courage to lift Dafeng's clothes, only to find that her body was covered with knife wounds.
There was also a long bloody wound on her chest, and the area where her heart was was black.
Juzi was so frightened that he quickly let go of her hand. Now he looked at Dafeng carefully again, and could clearly see her thighs, buttocks and breasts through her clothes. All the plump places were gone, and the whole person looked like a chicken skeleton with all the meat removed.
She remembered again how Dafeng looked when she was hung on the tree just now, her whole body was light and her arms and legs were extremely submissive.
She finally understood that Dafeng was indeed killed and then hung on the tree! She remembered what Lao Ba said: "This is a woman!" This further confirmed Juzi's intuition: this must have been done by the mute, it was purely a crazy .
Although Juzi had long noticed that the mute woman had a strong interest in human flesh, just like she had in Lao Ba, she had not expected that the mute would treat Dafeng as a pig.
This disabled woman was Lao Ba's real accomplice. She was crazy! Killing Da Feng was obviously not just to give Da Feng's heart to Lao Ba, but the most direct reason must be out of the woman's jealousy.
Juzi couldn't help but think of Dafeng's usual hostility towards Juzi, Lanzi and Shadiu'er. Her desire to possess Lao Ba had become so strong that it reached a crazy level.
The mute woman, who served Lao Ba like a slave every day and worshipped him like a believer, appeared calm on the surface, but in fact she had already hated Da Feng to the core.
Juzi had a premonition that the mute woman's admiration for Lao Ba and Dafeng's obsession with Lao Ba would collide violently and would sooner or later lead to this terrible scene.
Now, the mute woman had indeed won. Who would be the next target of this obsessed woman? Juzi shuddered involuntarily.
Juzi returned to the camp in a daze. She saw that the new woman was already sleeping on Dafeng's bed. She seemed unaware that the owner of the bed had just been hanged and was sleeping very peacefully.
Now, the women were either crazy or murderers. Only Lan Zi could be trusted, but she had no idea what to do. Ju Zi's enthusiasm for resisting Lao Ba was greatly reduced. Even if these women were rescued, they would be useless.
But she really didn't want to wait to die here, she wanted to live!
At this time, thick smoke mixed with the aroma of cooking meat wafted in from outside the shack. Juzi's face was covered with goose bumps. She knew that it was the mute woman cooking Dafeng's meat.
Who would be the next person to donate her heart to Lao Ba? Who knows when the mute woman would quietly strangle her from behind, drag her into the woods, hang her on a tree, and then cut out her heart and liver to "tribute" to Lao Ba.
The work in the opium fields has been almost done, and most of the tobacco seeds have been harvested. It is time for Lao Ba to move out and return to the village. It is time for him to clean up the mess!
Juzi felt that she couldn't wait any longer, as the opportunity was about to be missed.
That night, Juzi returned to the shack and deliberately sang those flirtatious folk songs loudly, one stanza after another.
Juzi's voice was famous in Banpo Village. Her singing spread into the woods and the wild animals stopped roaring. Even Lao Ba in the shack could hardly control himself after hearing her singing.
Sure enough, after a while, the mute came to signal her to go to Lao Ba's shack and await orders.
Juzi continued singing and her hands were busy. This time she had learned her lesson and was no longer reckless.
She smeared the colorless and transparent poison on her breasts, especially the two purple nipples. Finally, like the women in the city applying lipstick, she also applied a thick layer on her lips.
Although Juzi was ready to die, she still wanted to live a little longer, preferably not die.
Lao Ba was really strange tonight. He didn't touch Juzi's body, but just let her sit on the bed and sing for him. Juzi said that she only knew how to sing these songs, and there was no more. But Lao Ba said, then sing the one she just sang again.
Juzi had no choice but to continue singing until his throat became dry and hoarse. Lao Ba still sat there smoking his opium.
Juzi was so anxious that she really wanted to pounce on him and offer her breasts to Lao Ba's mouth, or simply touch his tongue with her lips.
But she didn't have the courage, so she could only sing while glancing at Lao Ba's expression, hoping that he would put down his pipe quickly and come over to hug her.
But Lao Ba was worried that night, and he sat there with his back hunched, as if he had suddenly aged ten years. He refused to even move a finger on Orange.
Later, he put down his pipe, yawned a few times, and told Juzi to go back to sleep, saying that he had to harvest the last few rows of tobacco seeds tomorrow.
Juzi walked out of the shack dejectedly. Her eyes scanned everywhere around the shack. She wished she could find a wooden stick and hit Lao Ba hard on the back of his head...
But then the mute woman appeared without missing a beat, staring straight at the orange with her gloomy eyes, like an avenger seeking revenge for a blood debt.
Orange was so frightened that he ran away until he got into his own shack, his heart still pounding...
She fell on the bed, wiping the poisonous grass juice off her body and mouth with a wet towel, and comforted herself: Be patient and wait for tomorrow, maybe tomorrow will be the day to know the outcome.
The next morning, all the opium seeds were harvested.
In the afternoon, the remaining tobacco stems were also cut off, along with the leaves and gourds, and cut into pieces with scissors. The mute then boiled them in pot after pot to make a thick soup. The black medicinal soup was then concentrated in a large pot and boiled into a sticky paste.
All day long, the mountain was filled with the pungent smell of opium, and the women were all busy running around the mountain like little ghosts being chased by Yan Luo.
The work was almost done until dark, and the relieved women collapsed on their beds, as silent as death.
Suddenly, Lao Ba called the women together and said to everyone that the work for this year had been completed and it was time to have some fun.
The women felt that Lao Ba was a little abnormal and had a bad feeling, so they kept silent. Only the mute woman showed a positive reaction and made some gestures to make dumplings.
However, there was nothing else on the mountain except a few rows of green onions and a few celery plants that I planted. What could I use to pack the food?
Everyone felt that the dumplings were not good and there was nothing to look forward to, so they dispersed back to the shacks in depressed mood.
Juzi's mind was not on the dumplings at all. She wanted to see how the mute would complete the difficult task assigned to her by Lao Ba.
She hid in a bush and watched the mute secretly. She took out a bunch of red things from a jar, and the mute put the bunch of things in a basin, picked up a knife, and scraped the things with the water in the basin, making a "squeaking" sound.
After a while, when the string of things was picked up again, it had turned into pink tender meat.
Juzi suddenly had a bad association. Dafeng had just died yesterday. Where did the bloody cuts on her body and the cut flesh go? She remembered the mute woman's excited expression when she heard Lao Ba say that they wanted to have some fun. Now she was busy on the stove. Was the meat in her hands human flesh?
When she thought of this, Juzi felt difficulty breathing and a chill ran down her back, as if the tip of a knife was pointing at the back of her neck.
At dinner that day, Juzi fell down in the shack and couldn't get up. She said her stomach hurt so much that she didn't want to eat dumplings. But her mind was racing, thinking of ways to escape.
It was getting dark very quickly, and Juzi felt her heart getting colder and colder. She really had no good ideas.
She felt that the most terrifying thing now was not Lao Ba, but the mute woman! She was Lao Ba's henchman, and as long as she was alive, their every move would not escape Lao Ba's eyes and ears.
Now, if she wants to deal with Lao Ba, she has to deal with the mute woman first.
That night, after working extremely hard and filling their bellies, the women were all content and slept soundly. They did not know that death had already opened its bloody mouth to them.
Only Juzi was waiting in the darkness. She thought that Lao Ba would definitely call someone tonight, and the person called would definitely be her.
Because Juzi didn't have dinner, Lao Ba must have a big question mark in his mind about her!
But no matter how long he waited, he still didn't hear the mute's footsteps.
Juzi was really impatient and wanted to go out and see what was happening in Lao Ba's shack.
Juzi's eyes were glued to the crack of the shack, and she saw the naked mute woman sitting in the arms of the naked Lao Ba. Her arms were around Lao Ba's neck, and her body was moving up and down. Both of them had expressions of great enjoyment.
The mute had a very plump body, with two big breasts hanging down heavily, like a lactating woman.
Lao Ba's black face was buried between the mute's breasts, his eyes were tightly closed, as if he was afraid to see the reality in front of him.
Juzi's heart was pounding. It was the first time she saw Lao Ba so quiet. It turned out that the only person on this mountain who could make him so quiet was the mute woman!
Lao Ba suddenly howled wildly, his voice sounding like that of an old wolf in the forest. He leaned back, and the mute fell on Lao Ba, her fat white buttocks suddenly sticking up, revealing her most private part.
Juzi suddenly felt nauseous and turned away.
Her heart was pounding as she recalled how before Lao Ba raped her for the first time, the mute had willingly cleaned her lower body, carefully preparing for Lao Ba to ravage another woman.
What was the mute thinking when he did these things? Was this woman a human or a ghost? Was she enduring humiliation and serving Lao Ba and a group of women every day just for this?
Juzi seemed to understand a little bit. Lao Ba's useless thing could only burst out with a little pitiful vitality after being stimulated by the women's pain. And this damn mute woman would sit in Lao Ba's arms as soon as the other women left to enjoy this little pitiful charity.
Juzi finally found out the cause of Xiaoduo and Dafeng's death. Their behavior in front of Lao Ba must have greatly stimulated the mute woman's emotions, making her feel intolerable...
Juzi suddenly felt the hair stand on end. This mute woman was a more terrifying monster than Lao Ba!
She looked back as she ran, for she was really afraid that the mute would suddenly throw a noose at her from behind, hang her on a big tree, cut out her heart, and give it to Lao Ba to satisfy his craving.
Ever since the opium seeds were harvested, Juzi had a premonition of disaster. She knew that Lao Ba would use a special method to deal with these women who had lost their usefulness. But she didn't expect that their enemy would have another mute woman!
The situation was far more complicated than she had expected.
That night, Juzi tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. She stared at the door of the shack, worried that the mute woman would suddenly appear there and attack the innocent women inside...
Xiaoduo's father was repairing the pickaxe head that was broken beyond repair in the yard when Cheng Dakua suddenly rushed in.
"Oh, you scared me! You never say hello when you come in. You're a born thief..." Xiaoduo's father muttered unhappily. He ignored Cheng Dakua and lowered his head to continue repairing his broken pickaxe.
Cheng Dakua didn't bother to answer and went straight to the door. He went into Xiaoduo's brother and sister-in-law's room with a "bang bang bang", turned around, and in less than a minute, he turned back to Xiaoduo's father like a whirlwind:
"I'm a thief? I didn't kidnap anyone! Your son is not a thief, right? But he is more daring than a thief, and he committed a crime that sent him to prison..." Cheng Dakua's words frightened Xiaoduo's father so much that his whole body shuddered: "What are you talking about? Who committed a crime that sent him to prison?"
"Xiaoduo's brother!" Cheng Dakua confidently took out the torn piece of paper and said, "Let's see if your son did it."
Xiaoduo's father could barely recognize a few words, and stuttered to finish reading the note. He was so frightened that he was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses: "How do you know it's Xiaoduo's brother?"
"Don't you understand? Last week he asked me to borrow money, saying he wanted to go to Harbin to do business. Before I even lent him the money, he left in a flash. Where did he get so much money?"
"Borrow money from others!" When Xiaoduo's father said this, he was obviously lacking in confidence.
"Lao Ba is not here. Who has so much money to lend to the garlics in our village? Apart from the money from Juzi's family, I ask you, whose family..."
Xiaoduo's mother came out of the vegetable garden upon hearing the noise. When she saw her disappointing brother, she frowned: "You are always busy all day long. You feel uncomfortable if you don't take care of things, right?"
"Sister! Your son has done something so evil!" He pulled the old lady and walked into the house: "Look, there is a piece of wallpaper torn off in the corner, right? See? It's the one in my hand! Your son wrote on it... Look, he is extorting money from the Juzi family..."
"This wallpaper...how did you know about it...?"
"Have you forgotten? I bought this wallpaper when I went to the village for business during the Spring Festival this year? We are the only two families in the village that have wallpaper with this pattern!"
The woman was stunned. She followed Cheng Dakua woodenly, walked out of the room slowly, and stared at her man blankly, unable to say a word.
Xiao Duo's father turned around and glared at the woman: "You women...what on earth did you do without telling me?"
Xiaoduo's mother was still in a daze. After a pause of about ten seconds, she finally responded: "He is your son, you don't even know, how should I know?"
"Forget it. I'm just informing you in advance. If something happens, don't say that I, as your brother, didn't warn you!" Cheng Dakua swung his hips and walked out of the yard.
Somehow, the news that Xiaoduo's brother kidnapped Goudan and extorted three thousand yuan from Juzi's family spread throughout Banpo Village the next day.
When the news reached Juzi's parents, the old couple were stunned by it.
Xiaoduo's brother and sister-in-law are in their mid-thirties, and their son is already in his teens, but they are not very good at living as farmers. They don't have a house to build, and their land is not well cultivated. They can only live in one of the three rooms in their parents' house. They can't avoid having some small frictions with Xiaoduo and Xiaoduo's grandmother. But the two of them seem to be decent people, so how could they do such a thing?
The couple looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment. They just felt that the world and human nature were becoming more and more unpredictable.
"Oh my God, how can this person be so cruel?" Orange's mother murmured.
"It's just a legend. It's still unclear whether you can take it seriously..." The honest and simple father of Orange didn't quite believe it.
"Xiaoduo's brother was a very kind and righteous child when he was young... Do you remember? That year when you were slaughtering a pig, you stabbed it in the wrong direction, and the pig ran away after bleeding. Everyone was watching and laughing at your poor kung fu. It was Xiaoduo's brother who helped chase the pig back..."
"..."Juzi's father thought for a long time, but seemed not to remember such a thing.
"This person changes so quickly, alas..."
At dusk, the old and blind village chief came to Juzi's house. This "village official" had been in the same position for decades, with only a figurehead and no responsibility, and people had gradually forgotten his existence.
As soon as he entered the room, he coughed dryly, but it did not sound as dignified as it should be. Instead, the eunuch-like tone coming out of his hoarse voice was a bit funny.
"Just give the word. If you want to report a crime, I'll send someone out to the police station. I'll have to put in some effort anyway. If you don't want to report it, I 'll save myself some trouble."
"My son and daughter are gone! What will happen if I don't report the case?" Juzi's mother cried, "Our village has been liberated for so many years, why is it still like the old society, with people disappearing all the time? Now even kidnappers have come out, how can we live like this!"
"Okay, okay, I'll get someone to report it to the police right away. But on the other hand, if it doesn't work out, and you lose both your money and your life, don't blame me!"
Orange's mother was stunned.
