Chapter 89: Causes and Consequences (1)

I was startled when I heard this. The gate of that hungry ghost tomb I had seen as a child was still vivid in my mind. Did Guo Er really have that kind of ability? To open such a heavy looking gate? If a single hungry ghost was already like that, I could not even imagine what a group of them would be like.

“Master, how many hungry ghosts did Guo Er release when he opened the gate?” I did not even realize when cold sweat had started running down my back, and even my voice was trembling when I asked.

“He did not have the ability to open that gate. He dug a side tunnel. This is partly my fault too. Back then when I broke that feng shui formation in the market town, I made too much of a fuss. Almost everyone in the market town knew there was a tomb underneath. Someone like Guo Er, always thinking about quick money, would naturally go digging,” Old Man Jiang sighed.

“Jiang Ye, so Guo Er dug a tunnel and then ran into a hungry ghost?” Su Rou was more interested in what was inside the tomb.

“I do not know the exact situation yet. You also saw Guo Er’s condition today, it is not suitable to question him. But we still have to find out,” Old Man Jiang said as he stood up, clasping his hands behind his back and sighing again.

To be honest, I had never seen my master this worried before. This must be serious.

“Master, did you go to deal with that tunnel today?” I asked. Since the tunnel had already been opened, I knew they would not ignore it.

“Yes, we went to deal with it. Unfortunately, I do not know if it helped. Guo Er has been sick for several days already, which means that tunnel had been dug for quite a while. This is just a case of trying to fix things after the damage is done,” Old Man Jiang said, his brows never relaxing.

At that moment, Hui Jue also spoke. “Actually, Old Jiang already predicted that something would go wrong with the hungry ghost tomb. That is why I have come every year these past few years, to help transcend the hungry ghosts. When the tomb was first discovered, Old Jiang also considered going down to deal with it. But opening a hungry ghost tomb is no small matter. If it spreads, it could kill an entire village. That is why your master invited your grandmaster, who personally drew a Heaven Net Spirit Talisman to seal the tomb. He did not expect that after so much preparation, one thing was missed, and that was human interference.”

“So what should we do now?” I asked, feeling even more worried.

“What else can we do? We can only hope Guo Er improves tomorrow. I will go ask in detail and observe the situation in the market town closely. If that does not work, we will have to go into the tomb and completely destroy the hungry ghost tomb,” Old Man Jiang said.

As soon as he said this, Hui Jue frowned as well. “Old Jiang, that tomb was man made. We confirmed this when we went to investigate this afternoon. Going down there would be extremely dangerous.”

I had already heard Hui Jue mention earlier that the tomb builder had bad intentions. Hearing it again made me even more confused. Why would anyone build a hungry ghost tomb in the first place? But when I tried to ask, both Old Man Jiang and Hui Jue refused to answer.

“San Wa Er, I do not care. If you are going into the tomb, you must take me with you,” Su Rou kept nagging in my ear like he was being shameless.

I finally got annoyed and said, “My master told me to do something. You insist on following me, and we might not even go into the tomb. Why are you already fixated on it? What is so fun about going into a tomb anyway? Besides, I do not have the final say. My master decides.”

Su Rou said, “San Wa Er, you are really bad with words. I am going with you to ask about it. I am helping you.”

I gave up arguing with him. In truth, he was right. Su Rou was naturally sociable and much better at talking to people than I was.

Speaking of which, what were Su Rou and I actually doing? It was a task assigned by Old Man Jiang for me to come to the county town and check on Guo Er, to ask about what exactly happened that night. Old Man Jiang and Hui Jue could not leave because they had to stay in the market town.

Fearing that more hungry ghosts might come out and harm the villagers, they even rented a room in the market town.

Since it was Sunday and there was no school, I came to the county town to see Guo Er. I did not even tell my parents, worried they would be concerned. Su Rou, for some reason, was extremely interested in this and insisted on coming along.

There was only one hospital in the county town, the county hospital, but it was quite well known. I had heard there were two very skilled doctors there. It was also easy to find. After arriving in the county town, Su Rou and I found it quickly.

Su Rou disappeared for a while before entering the hospital and made me wait. Nearly ten minutes later, he came back carrying a bag, still holding a handful of grilled meat skewers.

He stuffed a bunch of skewers into my hands and said, “Eat first. We have been on the bus for so long, we are already starving. I also bought some fruit just now. Even though we are here to ask questions, it is not good to come empty handed.”

I took a bite of the skewer and said nothing. In matters of social interaction, I really could not compare to Su Rou.

After asking around for a while, we finally found Guo Er’s ward. We climbed to the third floor and entered the room, where Guo Er was lying in bed. His face still looked terrible, and Guo Er’s mother was feeding him spoonful by spoonful.

Looking at her white hair, I suddenly felt a little sad. No matter what happens to the children, parents are always the ones who suffer the most.

“Auntie Guo, we came to see Uncle Guo Er,” I said clumsily, while Su Rou immediately greeted her warmly as soon as he entered.

Guo Er’s mother turned and saw us, immediately putting down the bowl and chopsticks. She said excitedly, “Oh my, why did you come? And you brought little masters too. The county town is so far, why did you bring anything?”

“It is only right, only right,” Su Rou replied while placing the fruit down and chatting with her. He then sat beside Guo Er and started asking about his condition.

This guy really was a jack of all trades.

After chatting casually for a long time, and with my constant hints, Su Rou finally cleared his throat and got to the point. “Uncle Guo Er, what exactly happened that day? How did you end up provoking that thing?”

Guo Er did not answer directly. Instead, he looked at me and said, “I was confused those days, but I know someone saved me and pulled that thing out of my stomach. I remember it was this little master, right?”

I felt a bit embarrassed and said, “It was not really saving. It was just coincidence.”

But Guo Er insisted on bowing to me very formally, repeatedly saying he must repay kindness. In the end, Guo Er’s mother had to hold up his IV drip bottle so he could bow slightly.

After all this fuss, Guo Er’s already weak body could not take it anymore, so we quickly helped him lie back down. But he insisted on smoking, so Su Rou reluctantly handed him a cigarette.

It was one he had been carefully saving and had not finished.

Guo Er took a deep drag and finally calmed down. His gaze turned sorrowful and weathered as he said, “The doctor said my body is no good anymore. My constitution is extremely weak. The damaged part only had surgery yesterday, so I barely kept my life. What I do is not clean work...”

Just then, Guo Er’s mother went to close the door. Their family was wealthy and he was in a private room, so closing the door made it more convenient.

After closing the door, Guo Er’s mother also spoke. “You damned boy, where did you get all that money? If I had known you were doing such filthy, shameful work, your father would have broken your legs.”

“Mom, stop talking. I know there will be consequences for this. I also believe in that sort of thing. Now I am getting my retribution. My body is failing, and this illness will probably burn through all the money I earned over the years. In the end, it is all emptiness. At least over the years I also did some good deeds in private, helping lonely old people in the village. Otherwise I feel like my life would have already been taken away,” Guo Er said as he took another deep drag of the cigarette.

I felt a little moved. People really are complicated. What Guo Er did was not honorable, it was bad work, but at the same time he also did good deeds. Whatever his intention was, to those lonely elderly people, he was still a good person.