noffsinger Chapter 232: The cycle of natural law and retribution
Chapter 232: The cycle of natural law and retribution
Soon, the three of them arrived at the field.
When the three arrived, Xu Chenggong's group had already been surrounded by a large crowd.
"Sister-in-law is here, make way!" Li Ergou shouted loudly as he ran ahead.
The people surrounding Xu Chenggong quickly made way upon hearing the sound.
But... when Su Niannian arrived, Xu Chenggong had already stopped breathing.
There was a lot of bleeding at the head.
The hoe stood there on the ground, its sharp edge embedded entirely into Xu Chenggong's head.
He died almost instantly, giving Su Niannian absolutely no chance to save him.
"He's been out of breath for a while, and he's lost so much blood, there's no way he can be saved," an old man working nearby said.
Su Niannian also shook her head.
“He’s been dead for a while now.” Su Niannian’s words were tantamount to announcing Xu Chenggong’s death.
Within two minutes, the person who went to inform Xu Chenggong's son and daughter-in-law also returned.
Xu Chenggong's wife saw her husband lying on the ground covered in blood, with a hoe still stuck in the back of his head.
He ran over like a madman.
She didn't know where the strength came from, but she immediately hugged half of Xu Chenggong's body, and tears streamed down her face like a kite with a broken string.
It's clear that she was truly heartbroken.
She cried so hard it was heartbreaking.
Xu Wansui, who was standing to the side, was also dumbfounded.
My own father? Is he really dead?
He used to look down on Baozi, saying he was a fatherless bastard who could only live with a useless mother.
They were starving and cold, looking like a stinking beggar.
Could it be that my own father... is dead?
Have I become a child without a father too?
Does this mean I'll have to live with my mother from now on?
Xu Wansui was completely stunned. The steamed bun he used to look down on the most had now become the second steamed bun himself?
Xu Wansui did not want to accept what was happening before him.
"No, my father is not dead! How could my father be dead?" Xu Wansui stood aside and shouted loudly.
He shouted himself hoarse, but his father remained lying there motionless.
Some of the blood that hadn't even dried was still flowing out.
It was his own mother; her clothes were covered in his father's blood.
Xu Wansui couldn't accept the reality before him and collapsed to the ground.
Then she fainted.
Seeing this, Su Niannian went to look at Xu Wansui again.
"Son! What's wrong with you? Don't scare your mother!" Xu Wansui's mother saw that her son had also fainted.
She lunged forward; she had just lost her husband, and she couldn't bear to lose her son too.
They shook Xu Wansui with all their might.
"Don't touch him!" Su Niannian frowned and scolded Xu Wansui's mother.
Su Niannian felt the pulse in the child's neck with her hand, and then took the child's pulse.
“Grief seizures, nothing serious,” Su Niannian told Xu Wansui’s mother after making the diagnosis.
Then he took out silver needles from his backpack.
Acupuncture was performed on several acupoints of Xu Wansui.
Soon, Xu Wansui woke up.
When Xu Wansui's mother saw that her child had woken up, she rushed over and hugged him tightly.
"My son, you can't get hurt again, your mother... you're all I have left!" Xu Wansui's mother hugged him and cried loudly.
Not far away, her husband's body was still there.
Su Niannian has done all she could.
Xu Chenggong was a tyrannical figure in Kaoshan Village, so he didn't have many true friends.
But since he was already dead, and out of respect for the deceased, some kind-hearted villagers were willing to lend a hand and help send Xu Chenggong's body home.
Some villagers also heard the news and planned to help with Xu Chenggong's funeral arrangements.
In rural areas at that time, there was a custom of keeping vigil over the body, which was divided into three days for a short period and three days for a long period.
Xu Chenggong died around noon, which means he was more than three days old.
The day of death is considered the first day, and the body must be kept in the mourning hall for two days.
The burial took place on the third day.
Xu Chenggong has two older brothers and one younger brother. He is the third child in his family. His parents have passed away.
The older brother helped set up the funeral hall and prepare the items needed for the funeral, while the younger brother went to a carpenter to make a coffin.
The second brother, along with several villagers who were helping, planned to go to the cemetery to choose a good spot for the burial.
Gu Nan didn't want to get involved, but he was called over by the older villagers.
Gu Nan told Su Niannian to go home first, since he didn't want her to go to the cemetery.
They happened to run into Aunt Zhou, so Gu Nan asked her to help take Su Niannian home first.
"Okay, I'll take care of Xiao Su, the educated youth. You should go and come back quickly. We don't have much contact with the Xu family anyway." Aunt Zhou readily agreed and told Gu Nan to go without worry.
Su Niannian really wanted to say that it was broad daylight and she could go home by herself without Aunt Zhou's help.
But since Aunt Zhou was so hospitable, Su Niannian couldn't refuse, so she went home with Aunt Zhou.
Along the way, Aunt Zhou and Su Niannian chatted about Huang Yingying's murder.
"These young people nowadays, I don't know what they're thinking, doing something like this. If Huang Yingying gets caught, her life will be over." Aunt Zhou felt sorry for Huang Yingying, but she thought she had gone too far and was a little scared.
“Everyone has their own way of living and their own choices. We didn’t force Huang Yingying to do this,” Su Niannian said, linking arms with Aunt Gu.
"You must listen to your aunt. If you run into Huang Yingying outside, you must leave immediately and not say another word to her." Aunt Zhou was worried that Su Niannian might be in danger if she encountered Huang Yingying again.
Su Niannian nodded in agreement.
After Aunt Zhou and Su Niannian returned to the Gu family, Aunt Zhou gossiped with Gu's mother about Xu Chenggong's death.
"How could it be such a coincidence?" Gu's mother was also quite surprised to hear this.
"That's right. Xu Chenggong went to the field to find someone, and he stepped on something, tripped, fell backward, and just happened to bump into a hoe."
"According to the villagers who saw it, the blood flowed out immediately, and the person was barely breathing," Aunt Zhou continued.
This incident sounds like a very coincidental accident.
"So, people should do more good deeds. Xu Chenggong is a bad person and has done a lot of harmful things. This is the retribution he deserves," Aunt Zhou sighed and said in a low voice.
“Ah, who can argue with that? The remaining wives and children are pitiful too,” Gu’s mother replied.
Su Niannian also felt that the cycle of karma is inescapable, and retribution is inevitable. People should do more good deeds and accumulate more virtue.
However, Su Niannian would not be a saint and forgive those who hurt her in her previous life.
One thing is one thing.
Aunt Zhou sat for a while longer before getting up to say goodbye.