"Who's there?" I immediately grew alert, standing up and shielding Granny Chu.
The person walked very slowly, as if shuffling on the ground. By the flickering light in the outer room, their shadow was stretched long. Their obese body at the narrow door was like a wall, blocking it completely.
It was a rural woman in her fifties, with a plump figure and a large face. She looked very honest.
But for some reason, I always felt there was something off about her. Her glazed eyes made her seem not like a normal person.
When Granny Chu saw her, she quickly grabbed my arm, signaling me not to be so tense.
"This is Aunt Zhang from next door. She's one of our own. Come on, come on. Let's go to the next room and sit for a while."
Saying so, she shuffled over to greet Aunt Zhang and wanted to take her to her own room.
Granny Chu was holding Aunt Zhang's hand. Her body had already turned around, but her head was always looking in my direction.
I followed her gaze and saw that she was staring at Gou Dan, who was lying unconscious on the kang.
This person must be abnormal. I immediately stood up alertly.
I saw that in the hand Aunt Zhang had behind her back, she was holding a fire shovel. She pushed Granny Chu away and hacked at Gou Dan on the kang in the east room.
Thankfully, I was quick - witted. I picked up the bench on the ground and blocked the shovel.
The shovel slipped out of Aunt Zhang's hand and fell to the ground together with the bench, making a loud clanging sound.
"Ah..."
Hearing the sound, Aunt Zhang's formerly glazed face immediately became extremely ferocious.
She clawed at Gou Dan with both hands and lunged at him again.
Gu Yuan had said that Gou Dan's body couldn't be moved. If someone touched him and blew out the yang fire on his head, not even the gods could save him.
"Aunt Zhang, what are you doing?" Granny Chu, being so old, had a hard time getting up after falling to the ground. She could only pat the ground and shout at Aunt Zhang.
But Aunt Zhang was no longer the original Aunt Zhang. Her body seemed to be controlled by something.
And her current target was Gou Dan lying on the kang. No matter how I pulled and dragged her, she didn't even look at me.
She was incredibly strong. When I hugged her from behind, she could just drag me along. Her feet scraped on the ground. It seemed that she was about to rush in front of Tie Dan.
I realized that Aunt Zhang was obviously possessed.
I couldn't fight her just by brute force. I forcefully held her leg with one hand and took out two silver needles with the other.
I quickly pricked one on the back of her foot.
Aunt Zhang's body hesitated for a moment. It seemed to work. While she was pausing, I climbed onto her body and pricked one needle each on thirteen major acupoints such as her philtrum and tiger's mouth.
Then I pinched Aunt Zhang's little finger with my thumb and middle finger and pulled hard.
I pulled out a piece of rice awn about an inch long from under her fingernail. That thing was thinner than a hair. If it were red and got into the blood vessels, it would be impossible to notice.
After this piece of rice awn was pulled out, her finger twitched uncontrollably.
I took out another needle and pricked the other nine fingers. Sure enough, I pulled out nine more pieces of rice awn from the fingertips.
It wasn't until I pulled out the rice awn buried on top of her head that Aunt Zhang's blood - red eyes gradually turned dark yellow. Her body went limp slightly. I quickly went to support her, almost being crushed by her obese body.
I managed to support her to the edge of the kang. Then I helped Granny Chu onto the kang. After checking that she was okay, I quickly went to the outer room to scoop up a ladle of water and splashed it on Aunt Zhang's face.
Aunt Zhang was hit by the cold water. Her body twitched violently and she immediately regained her senses.
"Ouch my goodness! Why did you splash me all over? It's so cold."
As long as Aunt Zhang started to talk, it meant she was okay.
Granny Chu was sitting at the head of the kang. She picked up the broom head and slapped Aunt Zhang on the back.
Aunt Zhang let out another "Ouch~". Only then did Granny Chu feel relieved.
"What happened to you just now? You were about to chop my little grandson with a shovel. What did he do to you?" Granny Chu shouted at Aunt Zhang. Her voice was trembling.
After hearing Granny Chu's words, Aunt Zhang was completely stunned.
"How did I get into your house? What's wrong with Gou Dan? And where's his dad? I clearly saw Gou Dan's dad just now."
It seemed that Aunt Zhang didn't remember anything about what had just happened.
At the same time, someone knocked on the door again.
"Grandma Chu, is my mom here with you?" A man's voice came from outside the door. He sounded like he was in his twenties.
This time, Granny Chu didn't dare to open the door rashly. Instead, she turned her gaze to me.
I got up and walked to the door, opening it. The young man outside stared at me with wide eyes.
It wasn't until I coughed twice that he came to his senses.
"Is... is my mom here?" His face turned as red as a lobster when he talked to me.
"Your mom?" I asked.
"Er Shuai, is that you?" Aunt Zhang's loud voice came from the room.
Hearing this, Er Shuai immediately replied into the room, "It's me, Mom."
Although his mom looked big and burly, this son looked very gentle and refined. Wearing black - rimmed glasses, a white shirt and blue jeans, he looked like a cultured person.
He wanted to come in, but because I was blocking the door, he felt a bit embarrassed.
"Can... can I come in?"
I stepped aside, and only then did he nod and enter the room.
"Mom, you're finally awake. You scared me to death. I just went to the toilet for a moment, and you ran out."
Aunt Zhang didn't seem to understand what Er Shuai meant.
"What do you mean 'finally awake'? I didn't even sleep."
Er Shuai looked confused. He turned to look at me. As soon as our eyes met, he immediately looked away shyly and then looked back at Aunt Zhang.
"Mom, you still say you didn't sleep. You've been lying on the kang for seven days. Look, you've lost weight from hunger."
I looked at Aunt Zhang's big face and almost burst out laughing.
"What on earth is going on?" Aunt Zhang also seemed to feel that something was strange and that something was off.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. I said to Aunt Zhang, "You were possessed. I just found these things on you."
I took out the more than ten pieces of rice awn and put them on the kang table. There was still Aunt Zhang's blood on them.
"Someone is secretly controlling you to kill someone."
"Ah?" Aunt Zhang and Er Shuai both stared with wide eyes, almost popping them out.
"It's true, Aunt Zhang. Look at the shovel on the ground. You were about to chop my little grandson with it just now. I couldn't stop you no matter what. Thanks to the fairy's help, you were saved. Otherwise, you would really have become a murderer."
Aunt Zhang opened her mouth wide. Her eyes rolled around several times, as if she was trying to recall something.
She mumbled to herself, "Could it be him?"