Chapter 1.28 Prey (Extra)

Uncle Three led me to the corner of the courtyard wall and the three of us sat down against the wall. I kind of understood what was going on now.

It was obvious that Uncle Three and Uncle Two had other plans besides looking at the genealogical record. Of course, I didn’t know what they were thinking at all, but based on this situation, this was obviously an ambush. I stilled my movements and decided to cooperate with them.

It was the middle of the night in winter, and although the weather hadn’t yet reached the coldest time, staying up late in the open air on such a rainy night was really torture. My teeth were soon aching and my whole body had shrunk in on itself. I felt as if my body temperature had been blown away by the wind hitting my neck.

It was after midnight, and I was completely numb from the cold when we suddenly heard a noise in the courtyard. Uncle Three and Uncle Two appeared to be sitting, and when the sound rang out, they both quivered. It was obvious that they were also unbearably cold. We stood up slowly, looked over the wall into the courtyard, and saw that the big stone on top of the water tank had suddenly moved.

I narrowed my eyes as my nerves sorted themselves out. On closer inspection, I found that it wasn’t the big stone that had moved, but the wooden lid of the water tank that was pushed up. Then the stone rolled to one side, the lid was pushed up further, and a man climbed out of the water tank. He looked around and then walked into the house.

“So it was actually hiding here!” Uncle Two whispered.

“Go!” Uncle Three stood up with a wave of his hand. “This bastard finally appeared.”

I went to follow, but my feet were numb with cold and I shivered twice before I managed to get up and follow.

While walking, Uncle Three lit a cigarette. It almost seemed like he had endured a terrible hardship. As he passed by the debris pile in the yard, he pulled out a bag from inside—I had no idea when he hid it—took out the shotgun from the bag, and cocked it.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“This is the fierce ghost.” Uncle Two sneered.

“Is it a person?”

“In this world, people are more fierce than ghosts,” Uncle Two said. At this time, there was a sudden shout from the room. Not good, I thought to myself as I cried out, “My dad’s still upstairs!”

I was about to rush up but Uncle Two stopped me and said, “Don’t worry, I was already prepared for this.” Uncle Three had already broken into the house. As we hurried up to the second floor, we saw my father’s door was wide open and the room inside was a mess. A squirming man rigidly held on the ground by a burly man was crying in pain.

“Da Kui, lift his face up,” Uncle Three said. The burly man immediately tightened his hold, pulled the man’s upper body from the ground, and thrust the man’s neck out.

It only took a quick glance before I recognized this face that I had often seen these past few days—Cao Er Daozi!

“It was you, you son of a bitch.” Uncle Three gave an insidious smile, “I’ve caught you!”

Cao Er Daozi looked surprised, making it obvious that he still didn’t understand what was going on. I couldn’t see my father anywhere and anxiously asked, “Where’s dad?”

“Preparing things in the ancestral hall,” Uncle Two said before turning to ask Da Kui, “Did you film it?”

“It’s all there.” Da Kui nodded. “This guy is so ruthless. He almost suffocated me.”

Uncle Three squatted down in front of Cao Er Daozi and said, “Didn’t fucking think of that, did you?”

“Damn it! Didn’t you get caught by my men at old Biao Gong’s house?” Cao Er Daozi looked genuinely baffled.

“With what eyes did you see me get arrested?” Uncle Three asked.

I felt confused as I listened to this exchange. While Cao Er Daozi was set off to one side, I asked Uncle Two what was going on. He smiled and said, “I told you earlier, I don’t believe in ghosts and gods. In this world, only the human heart is the most terrifying thing.”

<Extra 1.27> <Table of Contents><Extra 1.29>

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Updated 12/4/2021