Chapter 018 Don't Come Again

I was a bit stunned and didn't know what was wrong with San Quezi. I saw him staggering into the courtyard as if he had gone crazy. Some of the villagers standing in the courtyard automatically moved aside to make room for him. He didn't run out either. His eyes were wide open, and he kept shouting in place, "Help! Save me quickly!!" The expressions of these villagers were similar to mine. They whispered to each other, "What's wrong with him? He looks like a madman." "Aunt Ma's house isn't so easy to enter. Maybe he ran into something." I heard all their words. I glanced at Grandma. At this moment, she looked at San Quezi with an expression as if she had expected this. "Don't bite me!! Don't bite me!! You all don't bite me!!!" While shouting loudly, San Quezi kept running around in the courtyard. With a terrified look in his eyes, he stared at the ground, as if more than a dozen wolfhounds had been released in our courtyard and were chasing and biting him. After running and jumping around for a while, he suddenly knelt down on the ground, tightly gripping his own neck with both hands. His face turned as red as Fengxia's had been at that time, and with his mouth open, he said, "Don't haunt me, don't haunt me. You're going to strangle me..." I was really afraid that he would strangle himself. Before I could say anything to Grandma, he started rolling on the ground again, but his hands were still around his neck, and he was shouting, "Don't come near! Don't come near!!" "What's going on here?" Some villagers couldn't stand it anymore and all crowded around Grandma. Looking at San Quezi on the ground who was torturing himself, they couldn't help but ask, "Aunt Ma, what's wrong with him?" "He brought it upon himself." Grandma glared at him and slowly spat out these words. Then she looked at me. "Jiaolong, close your eyes." I didn't understand what Grandma meant, but I obediently closed my eyes. After a while, I felt Grandma's finger slide across my eyelids, and then she said, "Open them." I slowly opened my eyes, and the scene in front of me scared me so much that I almost wet my pants again. "Grandma! There are snakes!!!" No wonder San Quezi was rolling around on the ground. On the ground where he was rolling, there were snakes densely packed. Those colorful snakes were coiling around him, almost strangling him. It made the hair all over my body stand on end. Grandma reached out and took my hand, and whispered in my ear, "Don't be afraid. Those are the younger ones called by our family's old spiritual being. Grandma just wants you to see them. Once you've seen them, you won't be afraid anymore." I stared wide-eyed, not knowing what to say. My body was numb with fear. When the villagers heard me say there were snakes, they all looked at their feet and then at me. "Jiaolong, where are the snakes?" I didn't know if I was scared silly or what to say. I just stared blankly at San Quezi who was entangled by the snakes. I finally understood why he was so afraid. Just looking at him like this made me feel scared, let alone him as the person involved. While I was looking, those snakes suddenly disappeared. Then, dozens of weasels rushed into the courtyard. They surrounded San Quezi and started biting him again. San Quezi shouted again, "Don't bite me! Help! Don't bite me!!!" "Wea, wea..." I looked at Grandma and pointed at San Quezi, opening my mouth anxiously. Grandma looked at me and nodded. "It's okay. Grandma just wants you to see..." As soon as Grandma finished speaking, I saw a weasel bounding up onto the roof of our house. It stood upright on its hind legs. I was startled. It felt as if the weasel had suddenly stood up like a little person, and I didn't know what it meant.

Then, the weasel that had stood up turned around on the roof of my house. Before I could figure out what it meant, the villagers began to exclaim, "Oh my goodness! Why is San Quezi spinning around?" I was stunned. I looked at the weasel on the roof and then at San Quezi. This time, I was completely dumbfounded. The weasel on the roof seemed to be able to control San Quezi. Whatever it did, San Quezi would follow. When it turned around, San Quezi would also turn around. By the time it had spun enough, San Quezi could barely stand steadily. It felt as if there was a string pulling him from above his head. Once the string was loosened, San Quezi would fall to the ground. I thought that was the end of it. But who would have thought that the weasel on the roof gently touched its own face with its paw, and then there was a crackling sound. I turned my face and saw San Quezi slapping his own face hard with his hand, as if he had an age-old grudge against himself. Each slap was harder than the last, making people's hearts pound with fear. In a short while, his face was swollen and bruised like a pig's head. "That's enough..." Grandma murmured in a low voice. Then she raised her face and looked at the roof, mumbling something silently. With a "swish", the weasel on the roof disappeared. The weasels in the courtyard also started running out. In just a few seconds, they were all gone. Then San Quezi stood in the courtyard with a completely disfigured face. I couldn't see clearly what his expression was. At this moment, it was almost impossible to recognize him as San Quezi. "San Quezi, are you crazy? Why did you beat yourself up like this?" Some villagers couldn't help but say when they saw San Quezi. San Quezi's eyes were still dazed. He looked around at all of us in the courtyard, then knelt down in front of my Grandma with both knees bent. He knocked his head three times loudly, and then stood up. He walked out unsteadily as if he had lost his soul. I looked at him and he seemed to have no balance at all, as if he could fall down at any moment. But some of the villagers present were wary of his usual behavior. After all, no one wanted to do something that was费力不讨好 (futile and thankless). So no one went up to help him. However, as soon as he left, they all gathered around and helped my Grandma and Grandpa into the house. They asked, "Aunt Ma, what on earth happened to San Quezi just now?" I thought that since they couldn't see those snakes and weasels, they must have only seen San Quezi acting like a madman and putting on a big show by himself. So they were confused and curious. Grandma sat on the kang and waved her hand. "He ran into something. You all know what kind of person he is. Let him learn a lesson. Go back now. I, this old woman, thank you all here." "What are you thanking us for? Whose family hasn't asked you for help? It's just that we don't know how you got involved with San Quezi. No matter how much he used to steal chickens and dogs in the past, he didn't dare to steal from your house. What kind of medicine did he take this time?" Grandma shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about. Go back now." Seeing Grandma like this, they didn't ask any more questions. They told Grandma to let them know if there was anything and then left. As soon as they left, Grandpa said beside us, "Wifey, San Quezi won't come back again, will he? The matter of the ginseng can't be spread out. Otherwise, there will be a lot of people who are jealous."