08 Bai Family's Deplorable Daughter

"You think they've gone on a trip? Maybe to visit relatives in the next village?"

Auntie Mei crossed her arms, spouting whatever comes to mind.

Auntie Wang's lips tightened. "Not without a word. They'd have told someone. Besides, their hens are still in the coop, and the vegetable patch is untouched." She hesitated. "I even knocked on their door earlier. No answer."

"Now that you've mentioned it, Yan'er did say that he heard the eldest son grumbling about their sister." Auntie Lin commented, pertaining to her son who was the same age as the Bai's eldest son.

"That sister?"

"That daughter?"

The others followed suit in unison with curious tones.

"Well, who else besides that spoiled little missy, who brings nothing but trouble," she snorted not particularly impressed by Bai Feiyin's past behavior.

"I get that she's the sole flower among the thorns, but the Bai couple is too soft on her and always caters to her whims."

The lady muttered in a rather exaggerated detest that everyone present would probably know where had stemmed.

"Last time she even sneaked out to the woods and had the whole village looking for her till dark. If she was my kid, I would have given her a piece of my mind for troubling others too much."

Although they get a hint that she made it sound too bad, thinking about the hassle they got in those days because of the kid, the rest of the three women nod in the end.

"Oh, you think she's up to her old tricks again?" Auntie Mei shuddered as she trudged up the mountain path. "She seemed so sweet when they first moved in, but now she's nothing but a bundle of mischief. It's tough on her sibling," she shook her head looking rather sympathetic, "Those poor lads always catch the flak whenever she gets into trouble."

"Good thing the Bai couple put that kid on ice after that fiasco. The village had a breather away from that little hellion—I'm telling you, she's a rogue in the making. I wouldn't want to see that bad wind ever again."

Auntie Lin threw her words with a sharp edge, this time aside from Auntie Wang, who was nodding with everything without much thinking, the other two kept mum neither backing her up nor opposing her words.

They knew exactly what she meant, 'Ill winds drag everyone into the storm's path.'

And so far, that's what the little girl had brought to everyone almost costing them their livelihood and home.

"Now, now... that's enough."

Auntie Lu waved her hand and dismissed the brewing tension in their hearts, secretly casting Auntie Lin a reproaching look before shaking her head.

"Let's just let that little girl be. Aren't we too old to pick on a child? We don't even know how she's faring after she'd been punished to stay home."

As the oldest of the bunch, Auntie Lu was tactful enough to deftly divert the topic and put an end to whatever lingering spite and animosity one tried to harbor in others.

It had been ages since they last saw that young girl. Though there may be some guilt, as if they were curtailing her freedom by keeping her under close watch, it was for everyone's well-being.

Once, she acquired a small black puppy to raise, gleefully showing it off to the entire village. They even had the luxury of petting it. Not knowing it would spell their doom.

The next thing they knew, the horrendous sight nearly gave everyone a heart attack.

A massive raging black bear suddenly emerged from the nearby mountains bringing forth a blood-curdling growl that would snap the mountains in half. Only then did they realize it wasn't a puppy but a mountain black bear cub!

Oh goodness!

They thought they'd be a goner at that moment. Luckily the bear had just gone through hibernation and was rather weak. Still, it wasn't a great experience, and certainly not one without casualties.

At the thought of it, Auntie Lin's face grew darker akin to an inky pot's charcoaled bottom.

And as if that weren't enough, that girl nearly set the entire mountain ablaze just to avoid another arduous trek, claiming it was merely a smoke signal to request help.

Her ingenuity is far too harmful for a whole lot. Anyone can see that the lass' resourcefulness was more harmful than helpful.

Sigh.

It's no wonder why most of the villagers if not everyone had qualms when it comes to the child.

"Well, it's not just the atrocious kid that's been bothersome," quipped old lady Wang, her mocking voice dripping in disdain. "My dog had been barking nonstop at night hearing some wails and painful cries at night."

"Wails and painful cries?" Others gasped with goosebumps.

What kind of happenings would make those noises ensue?

The Bai Family's house was far off on the edge of the village near the foot of the mountain, so they hardly knew what was in there given the distance despite being in the same village.

Listening to Auntie Wang's story as the one nearest one to their home, though not quite, was the only realest hint they could get at this point.

Did the family incur another calamity other than that spiteful daughter?

Perhaps a wild animal ransacked their home?

"It's not the first time… I swear something strange is happening there in the Bai's."

"Was it yesterday? I smelled something fetid and revolting coming from their shed. Ugh, it was so unbearable, I ended up retching my dinner!" Grumbled the old lady, her aged face turning sour as she recalled the foul odor.

"Do we… report this to the village chief?" a tad hesitant, someone said out of concern, but Auntie Lu brushed it off.

"If this has been going on for days, it's truly unsettling, to say the least. But we can't just barge in without rhyme or reason. Even the village chief would require proof."

"Yeah… Else we want to look petty," the rest concurred.

That is to say, "Even if it was filled with wails and cries like Auntie Wang spoke, that was yesterday. Today is today and there wasn't even a single sound coming from there."

They glanced at the bearish Auntie Wang sporting a surly gaze and shook their heads, "There was no credible witness." They lamented, muttering to themselves.