"Erzhu! I knew you weren't dead, Erzhu!"
Li Mei's eyes widened as she shouted excitedly towards the doorway, about to rush out, but was pulled back by a villager. They all had their backs to Erzhu, so no one could see him. They thought Li Mei was hallucinating from excessive grief.
"Ah Mei, please don't be like this. It will make Erzhu uncomfortable in the afterlife. He died without a whole body, don't make him worry any more," said Pang Ya, who had received a favor from Erzhu before. She wiped away tears and held Li Mei, comforting her sadly.
"Yes, we are all sad that Erzhu is gone, but you must be strong no matter how sad you are," said Sun Erniang, stroking the cenotaph prepared for Erzhu and holding Li Mei.
"No, Erniang, Erzhu isn't dead. He's at the door, this isn't a hallucination!" Seeing Erzhu slowly walking towards her, Li Mei grabbed Pang Ya and Sun Erniang, explaining excitedly.
"Ah Mei, please don't be like this, sob..." Seeing Li Mei like this, the villagers thought she had gone mad. Their hearts ached even more, and some wished they could die in Erzhu's place!
"Alright, stop crying. It's just a few people, I wouldn't die over them," Seeing the villagers crying even more sadly, Erzhu revealed a faint smile and spoke as he placed his hand on the shoulder of Liu Da Ge, a villager.
"Ah, a ghost!" Liu Da Ge instantly bristled, jumping three feet into the air and shouting, shaking his body violently as if trying to shake off the terrifying hand. The other villagers were even more frightened when they heard this. They all turned their heads and finally saw Erzhu standing before them, unharmed!
"Ah! A ghost! A ghost!" The villagers were terrified, some even fainted from fright!
"Erzhu, I know you're worried about us, but since your lifespan has ended, go and reincarnate peacefully."
"Erzhu, don't worry, we will take care of Ah Mei for you, you don't need to be concerned about her!"
"Brother Erzhu, sob... I didn't mean to tell Madam Li about this, don't be angry with me, don't come to scare me!"
...
Just as Erzhu was about to speak again, the villagers Pang Ya and Sun Erniang suddenly knelt on the ground, trembling, kneeling and kowtowing to him. Finally, even San Xiao knelt on the ground, his pants wet with fear.
"What nonsense is this? I'm not a ghost. Here, feel my hand." Seeing the villagers' frightened expressions, Erzhu was even more speechless. He spoke as he extended his hand.
"That's right, Erzhu is human. Look, he has a shadow too." San Xiao was about to retort when Li Mei suddenly pointed at the shadow behind Erzhu and spoke first.
Instantly, all the villagers looked in the direction Li Mei pointed. When they saw the elongated shadow behind Erzhu, they finally regained their senses. The three kneeling on the ground also cautiously and tentatively touched Erzhu's hand after seeing his shadow. When they felt his warm fingertips, they immediately broke into tears and smiled.
"It's warm, Erzhu is human, Erzhu isn't dead!" The three excitedly held Erzhu's hand, shouting as they stood up. The other villagers also cheered, and the gloom that had accumulated in their hearts instantly dissipated.
"Erzhu, it's really great that you're alright!" At this moment, Li Mei no longer cared about anything else. She hugged Erzhu tightly, listening to his strong heartbeat. The feeling of regaining what was lost made Li Mei cry again.
"Sister Mei, don't cry. You'll look less pretty if you cry, and you'll get wrinkles easily," Seeing Li Mei's tear-streaked eyes, a hint of heartache flashed in Erzhu's eyes. He whispered a joke to Li Mei. Li Mei couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
"What are you two laughing at?" Sun Erniang was about to ask Erzhu something when she turned and saw this scene, asking curiously.
"It's nothing, Sister Mei is happy that I'm not dead." Hearing Sun Erniang's voice, Li Mei finally remembered that there were other people present. She quickly pulled away from Erzhu's embrace, unsure how to answer Sun Erniang's question. Erzhu naturally saw Li Mei's awkwardness and quickly came to her rescue.
"Oh, Erzhu, how did you get back? I heard from San Xiao that many people were chasing you." Hearing this, Sun Erniang, though a little confused, didn't ask anything. Her eyes darted around, and she suddenly thought of a very important question. Hearing this, many villagers also quieted down, their eyes curiously fixed on Erzhu.
"Yes, how did you get back? I heard gunshots at the time!" As Erzhu was about to speak, San Xiao beside him seemed to have thought of something, his big eyes widening as he added.
"Their aim was terrible, and I was fast. It was so dark, it was easy to escape back," Erzhu scratched the back of his head and made an escaping gesture, then pointed to the pitch-black night outside. To avoid the villagers' suspicion, Erzhu deliberately emphasized the word 'escape'. In reality, he hadn't escaped. If he wanted to, he could have made Han Bin and those bodyguards die in the forest! However, doing so would have caused a bigger scene and might have attracted the attention of his enemies!
"Oh, that's true. It's so dark, it's not easy to kill someone, let alone someone like Erzhu who has trained in martial arts!"
"Exactly, we can't compare ourselves to Erzhu. He's much more capable than us!"
"Erzhu, surviving a great disaster means good fortune ahead!"
...
Hearing Erzhu's explanation, the villagers suddenly realized what had happened. They nodded and gave Erzhu a thumbs-up. Hearing this, San Xiao's face flushed red, and he wished he could find a hole to crawl into!
"Brother Erzhu, I'm sorry. I spoke nonsense without seeing clearly." After thinking for a long time, San Xiao gritted his teeth and came to apologize to Erzhu. His voice became quieter and quieter, until the last few words were barely audible even to himself.
"Exactly, why did you say these things if you didn't see clearly? Building a cenotaph for a living person is bad luck!"
"Erzhu is the village chief, you'll go to jail for doing this!"
"Can't you be more reliable, kid? You'll scare people to death every day!"
...
Before Erzhu could speak, many villagers had already started scolding San Xiao. San Xiao's eyes were red, and he looked like he was about to cry.
"Alright, don't blame him. He was just concerned about me. It's so late, everyone should go back to sleep." Seeing that their words were becoming increasingly harsh, Erzhu stepped in front of San Xiao and waved his hands at the villagers, signaling them to stop.
"Hmph, if Erzhu hadn't spoken up for you, we would have kicked you out!" Seeing that Erzhu had spoken, the villagers didn't say much more. After scolding San Xiao a few times, they gradually left.