Chapter 44.2

Editor: Kat

Proofreader: Junyans

Miao Fangfei’s title of [Novice Gu Witch] came in handy at this time. She fed a small piece of pig liver to Spotty, and after careful analysis, she found that the dosage was small enough that the poison was not fatal, but it would make people feel weak.

Why was that?

“Maybe Pingping’s marriage involves other dangers that we aren’t aware of.”

After Miao Fangfei told Xu Chen and Shi Tao about her findings, Xu Chen put forward an idea, “In order to prevent Pingping from resisting, they gave Pingping the drugged pig liver in order to better control her.”

“But if all the pig livers are poisonous, won’t the people of Cordoned-off Village eat them as well?”

Shi Tao didn’t understand, but Miao Fangfei turned around and sucked in a breath of cold air. Her expression was ugly, but she gently reminded them, “In this re-enactment, Pingping is a spiteful ghost.”

“Leader Miao is right. Let’s look around quickly. There might be a non-poisonous pig liver somewhere.”

Xu Chen said, “Pingping is taking revenge. She wants the villagers to experience the tragic things she experienced again and again. If Pingping’s pig liver was toxic and the villagers’ pig livers weren’t on that day, it should be the opposite now.”

In other words, except for one piece of pig liver, all the other pig livers were poisonous. Only this non-toxic pig liver was the right choice for Pingping to eat when she cried for the first time.

“The leaving mother banquet will happen at noon today.”

Miao Fangfei murmured that she and Shi Tao had to play the role of Pingping’s “mother” at noon. They had to bring her the pig liver and listen to her cry. If they hadn’t discovered that the pig livers were poisonous and a poisoned pig liver was carried over, they were afraid that Pingping would see them as villagers.

Then their heads would fall to the ground like the paper men cut by Pingping.

“There’s not much time. Let’s find it quickly.”

Miao Fangfei immediately said seriously, “If we can’t find it, then you should stop Pingping from eating pig liver at noon today.”

It was better to find the non-toxic pig liver. The worst case scenario was that they had to prevent Pingping from eating the liver, because that would be equivalent to destroying the ceremony. Their actions would certainly be stopped, and they might even be attacked by the villagers of Cordoned-off Village.

There were four barrels of cooked liver and three barrels of uncooked liver, and  finding the non-toxic piece among so many pieces of liver was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Shi Tao and Xu Chen took turns to distract Ah Sang and Ah Wen, but they grew suspicious after being rebuffed several times. Shi Tao and Xu Chen were helpless against their suspicions, and they could only deliberately cause disputes and conflict, risking their lives to attract their attention again and buy time for Miao Fangfei.

Miao Fangfei lived up to their expectations and found the non-toxic piece among the many pig livers. This proved that Xu Chen’s speculation was correct.

“I’ll find a way to tell the others about it.”

At 9:30, someone from Cordoned-off Village informed them that the wedding time would be carried out ahead of schedule. They had to conduct the first cry at 10 a.m., the second cry at 3 p.m., and the third cry at 8 p.m.. Originally, they had a day and a half to carry out the crying marriage, but it had now been condensed into a day.

An ominous feeling rose in the hearts of Miao Fangfei and the others.

“Be careful.”

Xu Chen spoke solemnly. Only Miao Fangfei, Shi Tao, Ah Sang, and Ah Wen could stay in the kitchen because they would participate in the first cry. Xu Chen couldn’t stay any longer and had to leave the kitchen first.

“Ah Cheng will have more clues.” Miao Fangfei instructed. The silver bracelet that Ah Cheng provided had helped them to determine that the pig liver had been poisoned. Miao Fangfei believed that the final solution of the attraction was absolutely inseparable from Ah Cheng. Since the pig liver had been poisoned, someone must have also acted against Xu Chen’s chickens and Wang Pengpai’s fish to poison them.

“Take care.”

Xu Chen separated from Miao Fangfei and the others. Everyone’s heart was heavy, and their strategy also needed to be changed. Xu Chen originally wanted to destroy the wedding or support the wedding. In fact, the wedding had little to do with them. After all, the tour would end after the third cry, so he only needed to survive that long.

But now, with such a change, they were bound to experience what had happened after the crying marriage.

Specifically, what had happened after Pingping got married.

In this way, whether Pingping eloped or got married normally would have a heavy impact on them.

Xu Chen walked all the way back. Perhaps it was because the time was almost approaching the first cry that most of the people in the village were jubilant, and they were hurrying around busily. When Xu Chen returned to the house, he found that only Hou Feihu and Yu Hean were there. The locals of Cordoned-off Village who were monitoring them had left, saying that they were going to prepare for the banquet.

“I’ll go and tell Hongtu and the others about it.”

Xu Chen immediately knew that this was a good opportunity for the team to communicate.

Sure enough, the locals of Cordoned-off Village in Wang Pengpai’s house were absent as well.

“You said that you communicated with Ah Cheng?”

Wang Pengpai rubbed his chin.

“Yes.”

Xu Chen told Wang Pengpai about the silver bracelet and the poison in the pig liver. Among them, Yu Hean and the others who heard the shocking matter turned pale.

“Then quickly find Ah Cheng. After this, after this it’ll be the second cry.”

Lin Xi was anxious and nervously bit his nails. There were about five hours or so before the second cry at 3 p.m. When they saw that Miao Fangfei and the others had been called to work at 4:30 a.m. for the first cry at 10 a.m., they could tell that there was a gap of five hours or so between the cries. In this way, it would soon be their turn to cook chicken.

“We can’t all go. Leave a few people to pay attention to Leader Miao.”

Xu Chen said that based on Miao Fangfei and Shi Tao’s experiences, they would be able to learn how the crying marriage was carried out, which was very important to them. At the end of the discussion, Zhao Hongtu and Hou Feihu stayed behind and prepared to support Leader Miao at any time. Xu Chen, Yu Hean, Lin Xi, and Wang Pengpai walked to Ah Cheng’s residence at the edge of Cordoned-off Village.

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Miao Fangfei held a pig liver with a silver bracelet hidden in it. With a smile on her face, she walked to Pingping’s house with Shi Tao, Ah Sang, and Ah Wen. The euphemistic and melodious bamboo pan flute rang out, playing the song <<Farewell to Mother>>. They met everyone from Cordoned-off Village on the common road, who had all worn tribal clothing which was usually only worn for grand festivals. Differing from the Dong tribe, the clothing of Cordoned-off Village was mostly black and white.

In the past, they had guarded the tomb of the Tusi king and were never allowed to wear colorful clothes. Over time, it had become a tradition that had lasted until today. Although everyone had a happy smile on their face, the monotonous black-and-white clothes made one dizzy after looking at them for a long time. Shi Tao even had the illusion that all the people of the Cordoned-off Village around them were paper people.

It wasn’t good to think of too many things like this in such a creepy situation, and Shi Tao felt horrified when he thought of these little details. Ah Sang and Ah Wen looked back from time to time with malicious smiles. They still seemed to remember the conflict between Shi Tao and them that had occured.

Shi Tao took a deep breath and saw Miao Fangfei worriedly looking at him from the corner of her eyes, so he tried to comfort her with a smile.

When the carriage reaches the mountain, there must be a path. This was the last part of the tour. He had to do his best and go all out.

“Mother——”

As soon as they entered the door of Pingping’s house, the surroundings grew quiet, as if all the noisy bamboo pan flute instrumental music had faded away. Only when one listened intently could one hear a little echo, but the echo sounded a bit creepy.

Shi Tao felt a chill from the bottom of his heart when he entered the house. He shivered and walked forward with his head down until he entered Pingping’s bedroom. Pingping was sitting on the bed, and Shi Tao could only see the small and exquisite black-and-white embroidered shoes on her feet.

“Tears are streaming down my chest. Mother, your daughter is reluctant to leave home.”

Sobbing and crying sounded out. Pingping’s singing was different from what Shi Tao imagined it would be like, and was unexpectedly pleasant. Ah Wen and Ah Sang sat in front of the low table beside the bed, singing along with Pingping.

Taking advantage of the situation, Miao Fangfei quickly looked at the furnishings in Pingping’s house. Compared with what she had hurriedly seen before entering the scenic spot, the current Pingping was very different from the spiteful ghost Pingping in Miao Fangfei’s memory. She was wearing a black and white wedding dress, and the plain clothes made her look extremely beautiful and pure, like a newly bloomed lotus after the rain. Her eyes, which were soaked in tears, were glittering and translucent.

Her eyebrows frowned slightly as if there was sadness in her heart, but this sadness made her more pitiable. Seeing Miao Fangfei and Shi Tao still standing, Pingping stretched out her hands and pulled them to sit down. At this moment, Shi Tao subconsciously wanted to shy away, but he couldn’t escape Pingping’s cold hand. It was difficult to imagine that such a thin wrist could have such a powerful grip, but Shi Tao could feel that he was pressed to sit down.

There was a cold thing circling around his wrist, and Shi Tao didn’t dare to touch it. There was a stiff smile on his face, and he still felt a lingering fear in his heart. He didn’t know whether this was the power of the spiteful ghost Pingping or Pingping’s own strength. If Pingping was really born with divine power, it was no wonder that the people of Cordoned-off Village had to give her poison in advance.

“The mountain has a tall peak, and the deep sea is bottomless. The kindness of my parents is incomparable.”

Pingping sang, sobbing in sorrow. She was now experiencing her mother’s kindness. Next, her “mother” had to cut the pig liver and gently paint the lips of the newly married woman, indicating that she would always be her mother’s sweetheart. This also represented her mother’s wish that after she got married, she would have a peaceful life with her husband and become her husband’s sweetheart.

But Ah Cheng’s silver bracelet was hidden in the pig liver!

Miao Fangfei and Shi Tao looked at each other. Shi Tao took the lead in picking up the knife and prepared to cut pig liver. However, Miao Fangfei cleared her throat and sang, “Daughter, as long as you can be happy, your mother will be happy.”

This should have been the fourth verse, but Miao Fangfei sang this set of lyrics in advance before feeding Pingping the pig liver!

“Mother wishes that you can obtain your husband’s heart and live together until both of you have heads of white white. Daughter, your eyes are as bright as stars, and you will surely be able to see your lover clearly.”

When Miao Fangfei sang the lyrics in advance, she only caused Ah Sang and Ah Wen to expressionlessly turn their heads in her direction. However, after Miao Fangfei uttered the two additional sentences that were not from the lyrics and warned Pingping implicitly, Ah Sang and Ah Wen suddenly emitted a dangerous and cold aura!

Their faces became flatter and flatter, just like paper people. The originally festive makeup on their faces appeared scary, similar to the makeup one would use on a corpse. As if a gust of wind had blown through the room, Ah Sang and Ah Wen floated in front of Miao Fangfei, and the sharp knives for cutting the pig livers stabbed towards Miao Fangfei’s heart!

.

“The first cry should have begun.”

At the other side of the village, Wei Xun, who was entertaining Xu Chen and the others at home, suddenly raised his head and looked out of the window, depressed. He looked in the direction of Pingping’s new house, and his voice trembled as he said to himself, “Pingping will understand my heart when she sees the silver bracelet.”

“Ah Cheng, we all understand your heart contains Pingping.”

When Wang Pengpai spoke, his tone seemed to be comforting Ah Cheng, but his gaze was particularly sharp. No small action could escape his eyes.

Under the pressure of such a scrutinizing look, people with poorer mental states would avoid his gaze, but Ah Cheng was just absentminded. Ah Cheng smiled bitterly at him and mumbled, “Sister Wang also understands, right? It might be because I was too close to Pingping, and she’s getting married soon. Therefore, this isn’t something I should do, right?”

“Don’t worry about that. Pingping is going to get married. You should have prepared something for her.”

Lin Xi spoke anxiously, staring at the chicken cage on the table. If it wasn’t for the fact that he hadn’t lost his rationality, he would really want to snatch the cage over and take a look at it quickly.

After all, it was about time for the second cry, and the food for the second cry was chicken.

“Yes, I prepared something. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to use it.”

Ah Cheng sighed, stroked the chicken cage, and said to himself, “It has always been a tradition for the groom to prepare the chicken for the bride before she gets married.”

The “leaving mother chicken” that had to be prepared was a chick that had just left the hen and was able to survive independently. They were prepared by the man and given to the woman before welcoming the bride’s family. The chicken was there to comfort the bride’s female relatives, representing how the girl would live independently after leaving her parents, just like a chick leaving the hen.

Pingping got married at eighteen years old. She had originally agreed to marry Ah Cheng, so Ah Cheng had begun to carefully prepare his “leaving mother chicken” early on. Who knew that…

“Yes, Ah Cheng, your soulmate is Pingping, but she had to marry…”

Xu Chen stopped talking. In fact, he was trying to test Ah Cheng. Up until now, they didn’t know who Pingping was going to marry, but it was reasonable to say that as a resident of Cordoned-off Village, they should know who the groom was as well. Therefore, they couldn’t ask openly, and could only try to obtain information from Ah Cheng.

Sure enough, Ah Cheng took the bait and said sadly, “But Pingping is going to marry her dead brother, Ah Long.”

“Hiss!”