Chapter 0037 The Woman Who Raises Insects
I asked who Hong Erfa was. Wang Hong said, "He's Grandpa Hong's second son. He has four sons, named from 'Big Fa' to 'Four Fa' (Da Fa to Si Fa). Hong Erfa's wife died half a month ago."
I nodded, thinking it was undoubtedly the ghost of Hong Erfa's wife possessing the woman. Suddenly, I remembered the Yunnan woman and asked where she was located. Wang Hong said, "Her house is the last one in the village. You can see it if you follow this dirt road straight north. The whole village is afraid to go near it, fearing they'll fall victim to her schemes."
I asked Wang Hong to take me to see her, but he refused outright, knowing he was afraid of contracting the strange illnesses. Upon his suggestion, a few of us decided to go to Grandpa Hong's house to sit and discuss the matter in detail. On the way, I saw a few wooden stakes standing in an empty space. A cow was tethered in the center, its four limbs and body securely tied with thick ropes. A man was forcefully swinging a large axe toward the cow's neck. The cow wailed and struggled desperately, but the thick ropes held taut. A third of the cow's neck had already been hacked through, exposing blood vessels and bone, and blood covered the ground. After his cut, the man propped the axe nearby and squatted in a corner to smoke. Over a dozen people watched, including a few children; everyone seemed accustomed to it.
"What are they doing?" I asked curiously.
Wang Hong said, "It's an old village custom: slaughtering a cow for weddings or funerals."
I asked, "Why don't they give the cow a quick death? How many axe swings will it take?"
Wang Hong laughed. "The longer the cow bleeds, the more auspicious it is. Generally, they strike the axe once every five minutes. It will take at least half an hour to die." I was speechless. What kind of logic was that? Taking pleasure in torturing an animal that works for them every day? When we arrived at Grandpa Hong's house, I was thankful Wang Hong was present. I could at least understand his less-than-standard Mandarin. I couldn't communicate with anyone else. Grandpa Hong's house had no television or radio, only a simple incandescent light bulb.
I asked, "How did these villagers get sick? Is there a common thread? If that woman wanted to administer poison, there must be a way or method. For example, did everyone eat or touch something of hers?"
Wang Hong shook his head. "None of that. But to be honest, that woman rarely interacts with the villagers, so everyone suspects it's the well water, because that's the one thing everyone has to touch."
I nodded. That was probably the only explanation. Suddenly, I felt that something was amiss, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Just then, my stomach began to ache, so I asked to use the restroom. The restroom was right across from Grandpa Hong's house. The large restroom had a concrete floor and over ten long-strip trenches. I squatted for a long time without results, but my stomach ache worsened, making me sweat profusely. I managed to stagger out of the restroom and told Wang Hong: "Quick, quickly drive me out! To the nearest hospital or clinic! My stomach is killing me!"
Strangely, Grandpa Hong and the others, including Wang Hong, remained silent, just staring at me. I could no longer stand up straight and urged Wang Hong several times. He only gave me a bitter smile. Suddenly, I realized something: "You... you made me drink the well water just now?"
Wang Hong sighed. "Mr. Tian, we had no choice. Look how miserable the villagers are. They all hope someone can solve this problem, so we had to... please forgive us."
I swore. "Did you intentionally drag me down and make me poisoned?"
Grandpa Hong stood up and pointed at me, talking non-stop, but I couldn't understand him. Wang Hong said, "You can go and beg that woman for an antidote. It should last for a few days. I'll hold onto your leather bag for now." Wang Hong reached out and took the leather bag I was carrying. I was too pained to resist. Having no other option, I was supported by two strong villagers and walked out of Grandpa Hong's house toward the woman's dwelling.
They abandoned me about a hundred meters from the house, turned back, and didn't return, no matter how much I called. I was in so much pain that my vision was tunneling. I had no choice but to support myself and walk toward the house.
The house was easy to find; it was at the end of the village, a solitary set of three rooms with no courtyard. Clutching my stomach and gritting my teeth, I weakly knocked on the door. No one answered. I tried knocking on the window. The pain was so intense that I slid down the wall and slumped onto the ground, gasping for breath. My intestines felt tied in a knot and were being pulled hard from both ends. Vaguely, I thought, Am I going to die like this, agonizingly, in this poor village whose name I don't even know?
A small air vent in the window opened, and a young woman's face peered out. She saw me. I looked up, already too pained to speak, and could only cast a look of plea.
The woman asked, "What do you want?"
I finally heard Mandarin, although it wasn't very standard—even worse than Wang Hong's—but it was good enough. I quickly said, "M-my stomach..."
The woman asked suspiciously, "You are not from this village?" I nodded.
The woman asked again, "Where are you from?"
"I... I'm passing through," I had to lie. The woman sneered, "No one passes through this village. You're here to cure their illness, aren't you?" I was in so much pain that I was starting to break down and could only nod. The woman disappeared again. Just as I was about to pass out, the woman poked her head out, extending her right hand, her fingers pinching an oily black, shiny centipede. "Open your mouth."
I'm terrified of arthropods like centipedes and spiders. I was so scared I nearly cried and shook my head repeatedly. The woman sneered, "Do you want to live or die? If you don't eat it, you won't survive until tomorrow. Close your eyes!" I steeled myself, closed my eyes, and tremblingly opened my mouth. A cold object dropped into my mouth, constantly wriggling back and forth, then forcefully tried to burrow down my throat. Subconsciously, I tightened my esophageal muscles, but the thing was very strong. After wriggling in and out, it slipped down my throat. My throat felt very itchy, so I forced myself to swallow, and the object slid down into my esophagus.
After about ten minutes, the pain in my stomach gradually subsided. I was covered in cold sweat, feeling as if I had just returned from the brink of death, my body shaking. The woman asked, "Where are you from?"
I said I was from Liaoning. The woman asked again, "Are you a shamanic medium?" I shook my head. The woman asked who I really was. I had no choice but to tell the truth, saying I knew Thai spell masters.
The woman asked, "Can you cure this poison? Do you know what you've been afflicted with?" I could only shake my head. The woman stuck her head out and looked toward the south end of the village. I saw Wang Hong and Grandpa Hong standing far away, observing me. The woman sneered, "If you have a solution, go figure it out. You have three to four days. The symptoms will return by then." The small vent closed. I weakly called out a few times, but no one responded.
Walking back to the center of the village, Wang Hong greeted me with a smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Tian! You're so lucky. Many people were in so much pain they gnawed on grinding stones, breaking all their teeth, and still couldn't get her medicine."
I glared at him fiercely. Grandpa Hong came over and talked to me for a long time. I understood very little. Wang Hong said, "Grandpa Hong wants you to quickly find someone to cure the illness." I intensely disliked this "most respected" old man in the village and ignored him. Wang Hong had three male villagers hold me, stuffed me into the car, and then drove out of the village. It turned out this village was extremely underdeveloped. Not only was there no mobile phone signal, but only five or six households even had electricity.
I sat in the middle of the back seat, with a male villager on either side. Both men kept their eyes fixed on me the whole way, not for a second looking away, as if I might fly out of the car if they didn't watch me. I was impressed by these people's execution ability.
After another two hours of driving on the mountain road, we arrived at the township, and I finally managed to get a weak signal on my phone. Wang Hong clearly knew many people in the township, often leaning his head out to greet others. Wang Hong parked the car, took my phone out of my bag, and handed it to me. "Call here. We are in XXX Village, XX Township, XX County, Bijie City. Don't get the location wrong; we don't want people to come and not be able to find it."
I dialed Frank Fang's number, but he didn't answer. I tried over ten times with the same result. I was frantic. Wang Hong also urged me, "What's going on? Mr. Tian, don't think about playing tricks now. You're in no position to save yourself."
"He's not answering. Maybe he didn't hear it. I'll call again in a few minutes. Find a restroom; I need to pee," I said. Wang Hong drove on as instructed. I quietly drafted a text message to Frank Fang: "Villagers forced me to drink medicine. Don't know what poison. XXX Village, XX Township, XX County, Bijie City, Guizhou. Help me." The two villagers were staring intensely at my actions, but they clearly had never seen a mobile phone before and didn't know what texting was, which was evident from the confusion in their eyes.
There were no public restrooms in the township. Wang Hong drove to the entrance of a small restaurant. All five of us got out of the car. Wang Hong directed the two villagers to escort me to borrow a restroom. As soon as I got out of the car, I suddenly pointed to the left and shouted, "Police are coming!" Taking advantage of the two villagers' moment of surprise, I forcefully broke free and ran. Wang Hong shouted in the Guizhou dialect. All four of them chased after me. I had only run a few dozen meters when a man by the roadside stuck out his leg and tripped me. I was running so fast that the fall nearly flattened my face.