Chapter 004: She Called Out the Whole Way, “My Son!”

A single donkey cart set off, driven by Sun Erwang, son of Granny Sun. Beside him sat Sun Dawang, Auntie Wang’s eldest son.

Jiang Yue sat in the cart, supporting her mother-in-law, while two young men sat behind them.

Before long, they arrived at the county prison.

Jiang Yue inquired and learned that Wei Dalang’s body had been sent to the public morgue.

Since the Wei family hadn’t bribed the prison guards, Wei Dalang’s corpse had simply been wrapped in a straw mat.

The moment Madam Wei saw her son, she wailed and rushed forward in a frenzy, trying to embrace him.

Sun Dawang, being older, attempted to stop her.

“Madam Wei, Dalang is gone. Don’t let your tears fall on him—tears from the living can make the dead restless.”

The other young men moved to restrain her.

But Jiang Yue stopped them. “Let her hold him.”

That was her son.

If Wei Dalang’s soul truly returned, Madam Wei would not fear it.

How could a mother ever fear her own child?

Even if he had become a ghost, he was still her son.

Sun Dawang hesitated but did not insist.

Once Madam Wei’s sobbing subsided, Jiang Yue gently took her hand.

“Mother, it’s time to take him home.”

Madam Wei suddenly became delirious, alternating between laughter and tears.

She called out, “Dalang, Erlang, you’ve both come back!”

“Erlang, are you here to take your brother and mother with you?”

The four young men shivered in fear.

Wei Erlang had been missing for years.

No one had seen him alive or dead.

Most believed he had long since perished.

Now, hearing Madam Wei call out like this, they all thought the spirits of the Wei brothers had returned.

Jiang Yue held tightly onto Madam Wei’s hand, preventing her from running off in search of someone who wasn’t there.

Then she called out, “Brother Wang, Brother Sun, let’s carry him onto the cart.”

For some reason, a dead body felt far heavier than a living person.

Sun Dawang, who could easily carry his 180-pound wife, found it strangely difficult to lift Wei Dalang’s corpse, even with the help of three others.

It felt unnaturally heavy, like it was dragging them down.

Before moving him, they burned incense and muttered prayers—just for some peace of mind.

Jiang Yue caught a glimpse of Wei Dalang’s face.

He had been such a handsome young man.

His skin was tanned from farm work, but his features were sharp—thick brows, bright eyes.

Yet now his face was pale, his lips stained with blood, his body covered in whip marks.

Perhaps he had died unjustly.

As soon as they lifted his body onto the cart, something eerie happened.

Though the cart was stable, his corpse kept sliding downward.

Madam Wei sobbed, “My son died with grievances!”

A suffocating heaviness pressed down on Jiang Yue. Her eyes burned red, but she did not cry.

She gazed at Wei Dalang and whispered, “Don’t struggle. Go in peace. I know your greatest worry is your mother. I promise you, I will take good care of her.”

Then, as if in response, Wei Dalang’s rigid body suddenly relaxed.

He no longer slid down the cart.

Moments earlier, Sun Dawang had complained that the cart was unusually heavy and the donkey refused to move.

But the moment Jiang Yue finished speaking, the donkey cart began to move on its own.

Jiang Yue supported Madam Wei, sitting at the back of the cart, while Sun Dawang led the donkey.

The three young men behind them set off firecrackers and burned yellow paper.

Each time they crossed a bridge or river, they tossed a firecracker to ward off spirits.

Madam Wei fainted from crying, only to wake again, wailing, “My son is coming home!”

Jiang Yue felt a deep ache in her heart.

But she could not bring Wei Dalang back to life.

All she could do was give him a proper burial and care for Madam Wei.

By the time they reached Zhuangyuan Village, night had fallen.

At the Wei household, the mourning hall and coffin were already prepared.

Granny Sun and Auntie Wang suggested that since Madam Wei was not in her right mind, Jiang Yue should be the one to dress Wei Dalang in his burial clothes.

But just as Wei Dalang was about to be dressed, Madam Wei suddenly regained clarity.

She insisted on doing it herself.

“A new bride like you shouldn’t be frightened by this.”

Wei Dalang had been such a handsome young man in life, yet in death, his face looked eerily different.

Everyone who came to offer condolences—Granny Sun, Auntie Wang, and the other villagers—noticed it.

They murmured among themselves, saying his face looked ominous, like someone who had died crying out for justice.

Jiang Yue wanted to say that his complexion now was much more peaceful than when he was at the morgue.

Madam Wei personally dressed her son, placed a hat on his head, and made all the necessary preparations for burial.

After Wei Dalang was buried, the Wei household became eerily quiet.

Madam Wei lost all will to live. She wandered around in a daze, as though she had lost her soul.

Jiang Yue knew that life must go on.

When Wei Dalang was alive, he farmed and hunted.

The Wei family’s land was small, and the harvests were meager, but it had been enough to support mother and son.

Meanwhile, Madam Wei made tofu in town, saving money to one day marry her son to a good wife and welcome many grandchildren.

That was what she had been working toward.

But now, with the only man in the family gone, all hope had vanished for her.

Jiang Yue took up the farm work herself, but with the loss of Madam Wei’s millstone business, their income was barely enough.

She spent her nights weaving and her days tending the fields.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Yue had hoped Madam Wei’s grief would lessen with time.

But instead, her madness worsened.

Auntie Wang and Granny Sun frequently urged Jiang Yue to take her mother-in-law to the county for treatment.

The town’s two so-called doctors were only good for curing fevers and colds, not treating madness.

Jiang Yue had no money.

She had used up almost all of Madam Wei’s savings to arrange Wei Dalang’s funeral.

Even after six months in the Wei household, she had barely saved a single tael of silver.

Granny Sun returned the labor fee that Madam Wei had given her for helping arrange Wei Dalang’s marriage.

Auntie Wang also lent Jiang Yue five hundred copper coins.

With two taels of silver in hand, Jiang Yue borrowed a donkey cart and took her mother-in-law to the county.

She consulted several doctors.

All of them said the same thing—her madness was caused by severe emotional trauma.

It could not be easily cured, only managed with medicine over time.

Two taels of silver could last months in the countryside.

But in the county, it was gone in three days.

Left with no choice, Jiang Yue bought the cheapest medicinal decoctions she could afford and took her mother-in-law back to Zhuangyuan Village.

Life had become suffocatingly hard.

She worked tirelessly, weaving to earn money, knowing it might take a year or more just to repay Auntie Wang’s loan.

After brewing the medicine and ensuring Madam Wei drank it, Jiang Yue returned to her weaving.

From the courtyard, the sound of the loom echoed—one creak after another, endlessly.

Just then, a voice called from outside.

“Is anyone home?”

Jiang Yue, focused on her work, didn’t hear it.

But the old yellow dog in the yard did.

It barked furiously at the gate.

Jiang Yue’s heart tightened.

Without a man in the house, only she and her sickly mother-in-law remained.

There were unruly people in the village.

More than once, someone had knocked on her window in the dead of night.

She knew all too well what they were after—taking advantage of a helpless widow.