63 Obscure and Root Carving

he joints were red and swollen, and I still couldn't take it off.As soon as I felt anxious and wronged, tears welled up in my eyes and splashed onto the back of my hand.Jiang Qiyun reached out with an..."Old Chen, you old charlatan, it's fine to swindle a little money, but you actually dared to cheat Boss Zhong of 200,000 yuan Don't you fear he'll hire someone to kill you!" My brother looked at this old con man with amusement.

Mr. Chen was over fifty, with slicked-back three-seven parted hair. His eyes were sharp and his demeanor was shifty. It's hard to know how Mr. Zhong could possibly trust him.

"Hee hee…young hero, young heroine… I’m just trying to make a living, and I don't want to die. Mr. Zhong's situation isn't something ordinary people can handle. You two, why don't we try to negotiate" Old Chen smiled ingratiatingly.

My brother looked at me, and I nodded.

Old Chen immediately reacted, realizing I was in charge. He smiled and said, "Heroine, you're so beautiful, you must be a kind person...I really need the money, there's no other way. How about we split it 50/50 The 200,000, you take half, I take half, and then you pretend you never found me, what do you say"

"Ten thousand is nothing to us, we're not interested." I shook my head. "We were sent by someone to find you, either you go back and help Mr. Zhong resolve this, or you return the twenty thousand deposit properly."

Mr. Chen shook his head vigorously: "I can't resolve this, I have my own life to worry about... At worst, I'll refund your deposit. Just hide it in the crack of the wooden root carving at my house, you guys go get it yourselves."

"Your wife won't open the door, how can we get in! You come back with us!" My brother stepped on the gas without a word.

Old Man Chen was terrified of his wife. He pleaded with us the whole way, but we ignored him. We only found out why he was so scared when we pushed him into his house and opened the door.

His wife slammed the door shut and rushed into the house, grabbing a pair of scissors! Without saying a word, she started ripping Chen Laotou's pants. I was so scared I quickly hid behind my older brother—Chen Laotou's butt was completely exposed! I was afraid to see anything too spicy!

"You old bastard, don't think I don't know you're playing around with prostitutes outside. Damn it, I'll cut off your tortoise tail and see what you use to play with!"

The woman's face was contorted with rage, a real air of wanting to die together. A woman who has been with a man for decades, only to find him playing with other women outside, that kind of anger and despair could drive anyone mad.

My brother has turned on his goofball mode again. He leaned over and whispered to me, "See, Xiao Qiao, women need to be more fierce. If you were like that, Jiang Qiyun wouldn't dare to flirt with any woman! Oh, best of all when he gets hard, slice him right there! That blood flow would be awesome! If it doesn't reach the ceiling, I lose!"

I couldn't help but daydream about a certain scene. One second, I was imagining Jiang Qiyun somewhere, which made my face flush. The next second, I heard my brother say "a clean cut," and "bleeding," and I immediately felt sick!

I was just about to slap my brother when I heard old man Chen scream, which startled me — he wouldn't really have his "roots" cut off, would he!

I peeked and saw the scissors stuck in Old Chen's groin, bleeding, and he was so scared he pissed himself.

"I was wrong, I was wrong! I didn't play around with women, I just, just—" Old Man Chen's pants fell to his ankles, his bare buttocks kneeling in the yard crying: "I just want a child..."

Her wife's scissors fell to the ground, and she covered her face, sobbing uncontrollably. She mumbled that she was over forty and still hadn't conceived, wondering what karma she had incurred.

Old Mr. Chen couldn't help but try to comfort her, only to be kicked away by his wife and ran into the house crying himself.

My brother and I looked at each other. Some people want children so badly, they'd go crazy if they couldn't have them.

But I couldn't keep the child in my belly. I am also a sinner. My brother is still worried that I will run away from home. Where can I go As soon as I return home, I see Jiang Qiyun. When I leave, I don't even know if there are eyes watching me.

"... Xiaoqiao! What are you daydreaming about We have important business to attend to!" My brother called out to me twice.

That black thing lay in the corner of the yard, emanating a sinister aura. My brother was all too familiar with this kind of energy; it was that of an evil spirit.

My brother said to Old Man Chen: “Get up, Old Man Chen. After you’re done with your business, go kneel and scrub the floor yourself. I see that your wife treats you well, and you dare to be sorry for her Sooner or later, she'll cut off your turtle tail!”

Old Chen wiped the blood from his thigh, pulling up his pants while sighing, "I just wanted a child, so I found a girl willing to have one for me. We agreed that if she got pregnant and gave birth, I'd give her some money—"

He realized he had let it slip and quickly covered his mouth, afraid to speak another word.

So you went to get the deposit from Boss Zhong That old geezer is really going blind.

My brother, with his arms locked tight around him, led him along. He asked in terror, "What do you want to...young hero...what are you trying to do..."

"What's wrong Didn't you say the money was in here Just give it to me." My brother pushed him towards that black thing.

Under the flashlight, the dark thing turned out to be a root carving, more like a root carving stool. It was all black, but it lacked luster. The light seemed to be absorbed by it when shone upon it.

My brother wasn't stupid enough to reach out himself. He pinned down Old Chen, pressing his hand onto the spot. Old Chen screamed like a pig being slaughtered. My brother impatiently said, "Just take it out already, what are you yelling for!"

Old Chen’s face was filled with terror. His hand reached into the gap of the root carving, as if something was stuck inside. He cried out in fear, “Quickly, quickly, pull me out!”

My brother carried him back a few steps, he looked at his hands in shock, he was fine.

"Listen up, Chen, we haven't beaten you up yet because we're being reasonable. If you keep playing around like this, we swear we'll make sure you meet your maker for real." My brother growled in a low voice.

Chen Lao Tou clutched his head and squatted on the ground, muttering to himself in pain: "It's over, it's all over..."

"What's finished" I asked, hurrying over.

Old Chen burst into tears, saying: "Anyone who touches this carving will have bad luck. It's over for me, I'm finished..."

Looking at his terrified expression, I figured his psychological defenses must be weak. So, I comforted him: “Don’t lose hope. We might be able to save you, but you have to tell us everything – what happened with Mr. Zhong's project What did the formation look like before it was destroyed”

He stared at me intently, and suddenly asked: "You... are you here to resolve this You must have some magic power, right"

"Yes, yes, we have boundless magical power. It all depends on whether you want to turn back." My brother urged impatiently, "Just get to the point!"

Old Chen shrank back and mumbled, “I brought this carving out of the magic circle. I thought it was worth some money, so I asked a carpenter from our village to clean it up. The result is...”grave or taken from a corpse," he said calmly.Lin Yanqin, who was across from me drinking soup, suddenly choked and sputtered. She covered her mouth with a tissue and coughed for a long time before lo...