Chapter 4 A Disaster of Snakes (part 3)
Dang! Dang! Sounds of the gong came suddenly, which was especially bizarre at this time of night. The gong was only struck to gather everyone in the extended Luo family in the case of emergencies or important events. Wenjia had only heard it once before, when the village was attacked by robbers.
"Mom, something is going on in the family. I need to go see," Wenjia reported to his mom outside her window. He only heard her say, "You can go see, but remember, everything is decided by the family elders. Don't speak up."
"I'll remember!" Wenjia answered, then rushed toward the village temple. He was young and not considered an adult by the rest of the family yet, but because of his scholar title, he was allowed to be part of family meetings, which made him proud.
When he arrived, many other villagers were already there. Everyone was surprised by tonight's meeting, and they were asking for information and guessing, yet no one knew the answer.
When most people in the extended family showed up, the family elder, Luo Zonghan, came in, accompanied by his two sons. In the dim glow of the lantern, Zonghan's face was grim, his whiskers shook, and his eyes held a determined glow.
"Uncle, why did you get us all here in the middle of the night?" someone asked loudly.
Zonghan waved his hand to motion quiet. When the noise died down, he surveyed everyone. "Today, the third son of the Nangong family of Yangzhou City came personally to make us all move. He offered three times the price for us to leave the Luo Village land. What should we do?"
"What?" Someone disagreed right away. "Our family has been here for a dozen generations. Our ancestral graves are here, too. How can we leave?"
"Yes!" Everyone agreed. "Only living people could move; no graves can be moved!"
"No move! We are not moving!" People seemed firm in their decision.
When everyone had calmed down a bit, Zonghan continued. "Today, Nangong Fang gave us an ultimatum. If we don't move, one person will die every night in the village. I thought he was bluffing, but tonight, just as it got dark, someone died mysteriously. This is why I asked everyone here." He waved behind him. "Bring the body."
Two young people carried up a stretcher, on which a thin shape could be seen under the white cloth. In terror, people watched someone lift up the cloth, revealing the body of an elderly woman. After people realized who she was, they were saddened but also relieved. The deceased was a homeless woman who had come to the Luo Village from out of town. She said her husband's surname was Mei, so people called her Grandma Mei. She actually wasn't related to the village. When she came here a few years ago, the Luo Villagers took pity on her and often gave her food, so she ended up staying in an abandoned hut in the village. Tonight, however, she died because she was in the village.
"I had the doctor check Grandma Mei's body," Zonghan told everyone. "There were no injuries or signs of poisoning, so the death was indeed suspicious. If we reported it, they'd say she died of old age. But I refuse to believe it. It's just too much of a coincidence. Seems like Nangong Fang has killed someone unimportant first to warn us, and if we don't do what they want, the next to die will be a member of the Luo family."
Everyone looked shocked and the temple was quiet. A young man raised his hand. "If Fang really did it, we can't back down. We can't let him bully us!"
This received much support among the young people. Zonghan looked gratified. He yelled, "Give me my knife!"
His two sons presented a big machete with nine metal rings on the rim. Zonghan grabbed the knife and carved a flower on the ground effortlessly, the motion making the rings on the knife vibrate with a powerful noise as everyone cheered. He stabbed the machete on the ground and declared, "From now on, every grown man in the village will be armed. We'll have a team patrol the village everyday to protect everyone. If Nangong Fang dares to kill anyone else here, we'll fight him to the death!"
Everyone clapped in unison. It was a time when young people in the village practiced martial arts, especially the elder Zonghan, who had worked as an armed escort for a few years. With him leading the charge, everyone felt confident and energized.
"Great! Every house will volunteer one adult male to carry a weapon, and if the gong sounds, we'll meet at the temple to deal with any emergencies. We will take turns patrolling the village." Zonghan suddenly waved to Wenjia, who stood far away. "Wenjia, you will do the records. Your family doesn't have too many people, and you're a scholar. There's no need for you to do physical labor. Just write stuff down for us."
"Uncle!" Wenjia seemed unsure. "Shouldn't we report this to the authorities? If we arm ourselves like this, it'll be against the Laws of the Ming Dynasty."
Zonghan looked shocked, but then yelled, "You're such a scholar! You know everyone in families like the Nangong family have practiced martial arts. They have tons of disciples. How come the laws don't apply to them? The world is all about survival of the fittest. If you don't have a sword or knife, you'll be bullied and killed. Tell the authorities? The government is about money, not justice. You must have read too many books; you have no common sense anymore. You know what? Forget about helping us; you should focus on studying for your test. I sure hope you can get a good government job or two, so we in the Luo family won't be threatened."
Wenjia wanted to explain, but Zonghan had already started to direct everyone to record their names and sign up, and arranging for the patrol team. No one paid any attention to him, a useless intellectual. He had no choice but to walk home.
The temple wasn't close to his home, so Wenjia walked back haltingly in the faint glow of his lantern. As soon as he passed the fichus tree by the temple doors, the lantern snuffed out. Wenjia could see nothing, then felt himself being lifted up off the ground and landing on a tree branch.
When he got used to the dark, he looked down and realized he was on the tree, and at least a few feet off the ground. He was terrified and hugged the tree trunk. He wanted to yell for help, but felt a numbness in his back and couldn't talk anymore.
"Hell, Zonghan is a tough nut to crack. I should have killed him first!" a husky voice next to him complained. Wenjia looked toward the speaker, a black-outfitted man with long hair to his shoulders. He leaned against the tree like a snake, with one leg winding around a tree branch. The man looked down toward the temple. He had a lean body and a tanned face; if his eyes hadn't glowed, his face would have been invisible in the dark.
"Third Lord told us not to touch Zonghan yet. He's the patriarch. As long as he said yes, the whole village is ours. Third Lord didn't want to bother with each house; it'd be too tedious," a sweet voice came. The tone sounded soft and seductive to Wenjia. He looked at the speaker. It was a woman in white. She leaned on the tree branches, and her shapely legs lay softly against the trunk, making her look like a small white snake that was resting. Her hands gripped his collar.
The man in black folded his body and flipped onto a tree branch. He looked at Wenjia dismissively and wined, "What did you bring him up here for?"
The woman in white chuckled. "I wanted to ask him what Zonghan's plans are."
"Do we need to ask?" The man chortled. "Can these rural bumpkins really threaten us, the black and white snakes?"
"There's no harm in being careful." The woman in white gripped Wenjia's head and smiled at him. "This one is a handsome intellectual. You must be a scholar with your outfit. So, tell me, what is Zonghan up to?" She tapped his chest as she spoke, instantly making his chest ease and his throat work again.
In the pale moonlight, Wenjia could sort of see her face. She was not old at all, but her eyes had a hardness from living. Her delicate face featured almond-shaped eyes, a dainty mouth, and a smile with two dimples. If her face wasn't so terrifyingly pale, she could be called a beauty.
Even though he didn't know their names, their conversation told him she must be the white snake in the black and white snake duo. With the way she was watching him, he resolutely replied, "I won't tell you, not even if you force me!"
"Oh, so you're a tough guy, huh?" The woman laughed sexily and lifted his chin. "How old are you?"
"None of your business!" Wenjia calmed down after the initial terror. Now he was busy thinking of ways to escape, but no ideas came, so he tried to stall for time.
"Don't waste time!" The man in black slithered next to Wenjia as fast as a snake and motioned at him. "We'll just kill him. We have to kill another person tomorrow anyway."
"Hold on!" The woman blocked the man's hand. "Third Lord said we could only kill one person per day. The killing is not the goal. We have to drive away everyone from the Luo Village."
The man snickered. "Hah, I think you have the hots for this guy. Don't mess up, or you'll have to explain to Third Lord."
"Shut up!" the woman yelled and used her fist on the man. The man blocked her move and the two began fighting as fast as lightning. It was as if two snakes were playing on the tree. After a few rounds, the man jumped and ran off to a far-off branch; his eyes stared warily at the woman.
While they were distracted, Wenjia yelled toward the temple, "Help! Help!"
People in the temple heard the commotion and rushed out. Soon, they surrounded the fichus tree. The lone tree took four people to wrap their arms around, and the big treetop was like an enormous umbrella hiding the people in it. Plus, it was late at night, so no one saw where the snake duo was hiding.
"Hell, I want to kill this kid right now!" The man in black cussed, and his eyes were fixed on Wenjia as if they could shoot fire, scaring him into not yelling again.
"Let's get out of here. I don't want to have a fight with all of them." The woman in white then squeezed Wenjia's cheek and laughed. "Mr. Luo, please be careful up here. I don't want you to fall. I'll pay you a visit another day."
She raised her hand, and a long, soft whip appeared. With a small wave, the whip wrapped around a distant branch. Her body swayed, light as a snake, and then she retracted the whip, curved her body, and swung a few dozen feet in the air before landing on the temple's roof.
The man also landed on the temple roof the same way, only his motion wasn't as effortless as the woman's. Before he reached the temple, his body started falling, so he threw the whip forward, linking to the woman's whip, swinging a good distance, and with her help, he was able to land, too.
Stunned, Wenjia watched their escape; he couldn't believe people could move like snakes. It took a moment for him to come out of the shock. He pointed and shouted, "They're there! They're on the roof!"
Everyone standing under the tree looked toward the temple, but there was no sign of anyone there.
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