Chapter Nine: Those who commit sins shall not live

Jiang Li exchanged a few words with Second Uncle and called my father and grandmother into the side room

I stood there in a daze, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably. No matter what mistakes my grandfather made, he was always the elderly man who loved me dearly. Suddenly, he passed away, and I, being so young, could not bear such a tremendous blow.

Only my grandfather, Jiang Li, and I were left at the scene. After my mother left, my grandfather said: "Master Jiang, I have one request for you. Please take Xiao Wa to the Taoist temple. Do not involve Xiao Wa in this matter any further. Consider this the last request from this old man. They want to harm the old Chen family, and you are still young. If things go awry, you might also fall into their trap."

Father discovered that Grandfather was missing at home, and upon realizing that both I and Jiang Li were also not at home, he became flustered. He immediately sought out Second Uncle, and together they came to look for us along the way. Ultimately, they encountered us by the edge of the pond.

Thus, throughout the entire funeral, it was Jiang Li who was assisting in the arrangements. He informed me that someone was secretly manipulating the situation; otherwise, it would have been impossible for others to learn of the news so quickly

Upon returning home, the few of them placed grandfather into the coffin, and second grandfather inquired about what had actually happened

Before Grandpa could speak, Jiang Li asked, "Old man, why are you pretending to be in a coma?"

As soon as I pulled it up, my mother squeezed out the word she had mentioned to me before: "run"

Grandfather's words have already indicated that the baby is the child he had with the mother

The father-in-law had an affair with his daughter-in-law and even had a child with her, a rare occurrence indeed

Jiang Li grabbed my father and said: "The sins you have committed will all be borne by Chen Xiao. Do you see Chen Xiao's belly? To trace the cause and effect, it is because of your excessive loyalty that this has happened. You should now think of a way to explain the death of Chen Xiao's grandfather. If this matter gets out, the Chen family will truly be beyond redemption."

As more and more people gathered, they began to point at the grandfather's coffin and discuss among themselves. Someone pulled Jiang Li aside and asked, "I heard that the old man of the Chen family had an affair with his daughter-in-law, and that child is the offspring of the old man and his daughter-in-law. Is that true?"

Grandfather shook his head in refusal: "If this embarrassing matter gets out, the Chen family will lose all face. Xiao Wa is still young; I cannot allow him to be pointed at and insulted. You are his master, and I am sure you do not want to see Xiao Wa unable to stand tall in the future. I beg you, let me take this matter to the grave; please do not inquire further."

When Jiang Li saw his grandfather, he told my father and grandmother that grandfather was very good, better than others. At that time, I thought Jiang Li was just talking nonsense, but now I understand.

However, because she was facing us, she saw us as soon as we arrived. After my grandfather spoke to her, she raised her hand and pointed at us

Jiang Li noticed early in the morning that his grandfather was pretending to be in a coma, but he had not exposed him all along

My mother turned around and went into the house, holding the baby, and sat on the bed to feed the baby.

Jiang Li simply said: "Let's talk at home"

The three-eyed cannon is a local object that divides an iron cannon into three sections. After filling it with gunpowder and igniting the fuse, it can produce three cannon blasts. When the three-eyed cannon sounds, the villagers nearby can determine from the direction of the blasts whose family has experienced a death.

This funeral became the most excruciating ceremony, devoid of the expected remembrance and sorrow, as they were all discussing matters concerning my grandfather and my mother

After my grandfather finished speaking, he knocked his head against Jiang Li's. Although this incident had a significant impact on Jiang Li, my grandfather, being of an older generation, was still his elder. Jiang Li could not bear the weight of my grandfather's gesture and immediately helped him up.

The two of them, wiping their tears, discussed for a while before going out. Second Uncle had been waiting at the door, knowing that there were some things he should not hear. When Jiang Li came out, he took the initiative to say: "I will go back first to prepare the incense and paper money needed for the night. Once you are ready, just set off the three-eyed firecrackers to notify the villagers."

Everyone who remained here was stunned. When grandmother saw my mother, she immediately went mad: "You crazy bitch, how dare you come back, I will kill you."

Jiang Li asked again: "There must always be a reason for doing things. If you tell me the reason, I can minimize the impact of this matter"

Grandfather had his back to us and did not notice that Jiang Li and I had secretly followed him here. He spoke urgently to Mother, saying: "You must not go see Xiao Wazi tonight; that Taoist has set up some things around to specifically catch you."

My mother was already acting strangely; after listening to my grandfather, she did not react in any way

I let out a sound, looking at Jiang Li with tearful eyes, he is the person who has treated me the best aside from my family

Grandfather had been pretending to be in a coma all along. That baby was also born of Grandfather and my mother. After their secret meeting was discovered at night, they crashed into the old locust tree and died.

I stared blankly at my grandfather, suddenly realizing that this old man was not the kind and amiable grandfather I knew; he had too many secrets hidden from us.

My grandfather finished speaking, and before Jiang Li and I could react, he suddenly charged forward and crashed into the old locust tree in front of my mother's grave with a loud bang

Seeing that grandfather had already noticed us, Jiang Li and I walked over to him. As we approached grandfather, his face was ashen, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly, indicating a great deal of tension

Only then did Father and Grandmother realize what the most important thing was now

The daughter, dressed in a bright red robe, swayed as she stepped into the main hall, walked to her grandfather's coffin, took out a stick of incense, lit it, and then placed it in the incense holder.

After much hesitation, I finally nodded and said that I wanted to know

Jiang Li's expression began to change; he had originally planned to keep this matter concealed, but unexpectedly, just one night had passed, and they had already found out.

Great-uncle left my home, and Jiang made me kneel in front of grandfather's coffin. They helped grandfather change into his burial clothes and cleaned his body. Then they closed the coffin lid halfway, waiting for people from the village to come and take a last look at grandfather tomorrow, after which the coffin can be sealed.

Jiang Li immediately turned to my mother and said, "You know something, don't you?"

As night fell, the villagers gathered outside the mourning hall to play cards and chat, while keeping vigil for my grandfather. They all said that the dead might return at night, and they were afraid of offending my deceased grandfather, so they refrained from speaking carelessly and instead talked about other matters.

As for grandmother, she could hardly contain her emotions, crying as she asked Jiang Li: "What on earth happened? How could it change like this after just a few hours of sleep?"

Jiang Li rushed over immediately, but it was already too late. The force exerted by his grandfather was too great, causing even his own skull to crack open, and he died with his eyes wide open

Jiang Li revealed the truth to his father and grandmother

During this period, my grandmother fainted from crying several times, while my father kept hiding in the side room, too afraid to come out. He did not dare to face my grandfather, nor did he dare to face the villagers.

Regardless of how it is said, now, our Chen family has completely become the laughingstock of the village

Grandfather suddenly turned around, and the moment he saw me and Jiang Li, he appeared to deflate as if all his energy had been drained, trembling and unable to stand steadily.

Grandmother and father were rendered speechless upon hearing Jiang Li's words

Jiang Li glanced at his grandfather a few times, then looked at me and said: "Your grandfather has made his intentions clear by choosing to die; he does not want me to pursue this matter any further. His purpose is to protect you. I respect your grandfather's wishes, but I also respect your opinion. If you do not wish to know the truth of the matter, just tell me, and I will cease my investigation."

Jiang Li and I sat beside the coffin, seeing Grandma cry, I also cried. Jiang Li patted my head and said: "You are a man, now you are the pillar of your family, you cannot cry. No matter how troublesome it gets ahead, you must stand tall. If you cannot solve it, there is still the master."

Although I was young at that time, I could understand the seriousness of this matter. In rural areas, the idea of revenge is prevalent, and anyone with a bit of understanding knows that this is something that cannot be tolerated by natural justice. My grandfather has always been very wise in the village, but I never expected that he would actually do such a thing

The villagers said: "I heard what they said"

In rural areas, there is a custom where elderly individuals, upon reaching the age of sixty, will prepare their own coffins and burial garments in advance, to avoid the inconvenience of not having a coffin ready in the event of an unexpected death

However, before the morning of the second day when the three-eyed cannon was to be set off, people from the village began to arrive at my home one after another

Grandfather is a person who understands reason. Now that we have caught him red-handed, he did not even attempt to defend himself. Suddenly, he knelt down in front of Jiang Li with a thud, his lips trembling as he said: "I know I have committed an act worse than that of a beast. I have had a child with my daughter-in-law, but at my age, I am buried in yellow mud up to my eyebrows. I regard desires as lighter than anything else. To have done such a thing, I truly had no choice."

After speaking, he rushed into the house to fetch a kitchen knife, intending to attack my mother, but was stopped by Jiang Li who intervened.

Father and Second Grandfather saw Grandfather with a cracked head on Jiang Li's back, and they were immediately speechless. After a while, Second Grandfather pointed at Grandfather and asked, "What happened to my brother? How could this be?"

We originally thought it was our second granduncle who had spoken about it, and later we specifically asked him. He said that he started preparing incense and candles as soon as he returned home, without informing anyone in the village

However, my mother did not respond to Jiang Li, and turned to disappear into the nearby woods, soon vanishing without a trace

One is his old partner, and the other is his woman. Each of them has their own grievances upon hearing this. His father's fists clenched until they turned blue, and he turned to walk out the door: "I am going to chop that bastard up."

After Jiang Li stopped Grandma, he also entered the house and stood at the door, saying to my mother: "Your body has a heavy yin energy, and this child inherently carries yin energy as well. If you continue to nurse him, the remaining yang energy in his body will be dispersed."

Father's eyes were red and swollen, he wanted to cry, but he did not dare to do so

Jiang Li immediately asked: "Who told you that?"

However, at that moment, an uninvited guest arrived at the mourning hall

Jiang Li merely responded with a faint acknowledgment, and then carried his grandfather home

Jiang Li furrowed her brows and immediately placed a talisman on my grandfather's head

As time passed, the people keeping vigil outside gradually left in groups to return to sleep, and by not long after 2:00 AM, there were very few remaining in the mourning hall