Chapter 1: The Morning with Sobs

  Half a month ago, on a morning in this mountain village, there was little farm work to do in the winter fields, and most of the villagers were still lying in bed.

  But then came the sound of wailing, a heart-wrenching and soul-stirring cry that echoed through the entire mountain village on this quiet morning.

  Making people who can hardly sleep in during the slack farming season have to get up early and rise ahead of time.

  The crying was too loud and too mournful, making people who heard it feel uneasy in their hearts and unable to sleep again.

  The villagers followed the sound and finally found the woman who was still crying loudly, along with her child, in front of a closed house.

  This woman and child are none other than Jia Xiucui's wife and daughter in this village. At this moment, seeing them sitting on the ground at someone else's door, crying to the point of exhaustion, shaking the earth, it is a very miserable sight, completely unlike the beautiful women in the village.

  Not much effort was needed, and the villagers who were attracted by their crying voices had already gathered at the door of this family.

  Some people occasionally pointed at the mother and daughter who were making a disturbance early in the morning.

  A woman who had a good relationship with her in the past came forward and advised: "Sister, what's wrong? Stop crying quickly. Look, you're still sitting at someone else's door crying, aren't you afraid of bad luck?"

  The woman, seeing so many people gathering around, became even more sorrowful. "I insist on crying and making a scene in front of this family's door." As she spoke, she got up from the ground, pointed at the tightly closed door, and shouted loudly:

  "You scoundrel, return my husband's life to me! Return my husband's life to me!" This was followed by another bout of heart-wrenching sobs, with the crying showing no signs of abating.

  The villagers who were watching and persuading suddenly made a loud noise, and after a moment, they burst into a heated discussion.

  "What's going on? How come it sounds like her man is dead?"

  "I don't know? How can it be so sudden."

  "Big sister, what's going on? Your husband Jia Xiūcái is dead. When did this happen?"

  This shocked the onlookers who had gathered around to watch the commotion.

  Some people didn't dare believe it was true and pricked up their ears to listen.

  Jia Xiūcái, this is the only Xiūcái in the village now, and his character is still not bad in the village. He usually teaches more than a dozen students in the village and makes a living by collecting meager tuition fees. Yesterday, he was still teaching well, how did he suddenly die? Everyone rushed forward to ask questions in a flurry of voices.

  Although the woman sitting on the ground, who used to wear beautiful clothes and walk around in the village, was looked down upon by everyone, they still showed great respect and concern for her husband.

  The woman saw someone asking and immediately wiped her face hard, stopping the tears that were about to continue falling, in order to gain more sympathy. She then said to the person who had just asked:

  "It's all because of this sweep star, my husband died a miserable death for no reason. Yesterday, she gave my man a slanted glance, I don't know what kind of spell she cast, but after he came back home, he was different. He died last night. You guys say, isn't my husband pitiful? Today, I'm going to make her pay with her life, pay with her life..."

  "Wailing and crying again, 'How can our orphaned children and widowed mothers survive from now on...'"

  Another burst of loud wailing erupted after she finished speaking.

  Those who heard it were deeply sorrowful and helpless.

  In the midst of this woman's dramatic wailing, the door of the house finally opened.

  A roughly 25- or 26-year-old woman in coarse clothing walked out, accompanied by her daughter who was also wearing coarse clothing, and followed closely behind by the man of the house.

  At this moment, all three of them are holding sticks, kitchen knives, and looking like a family with murderous intentions.

  The people around saw this momentum, and quickly "whooshed" back several steps. This family is not easy to mess with, especially the smallest one in the middle, who is the most formidable. Everyone stared at the middle one without blinking, and those who were timid dared not look straight.

  She lightly swept her cold gaze over the people surrounding her, scaring those with timid hearts into trembling again.

  She is a village celebrity, known by all villagers as "Sao Bai Xing".

  She remembered the night she was born, a broom star flew across the sky and lasted for several hours before stopping. After that, people heard the sound of a baby crying from her house.

  Since then, the village has been plagued by strange and inexplicable events every year, or a disaster would occur, and behind her back, everyone in the village secretly called her "a jinx".

  Anyone in the village who wants to do something bad to her will end up being unlucky themselves.

  Now she is almost ten years old, people are afraid of her at the sight of her, and they avoid her. Usually, she plays alone by herself, but she still has a good time and is very happy, which makes those who dislike her even angrier.

  Now seeing her furious face, who dares to go forward and question her? Isn't that seeking death? Besides, I just heard that she also harmed Jia Xiuzai to death.

  It's just that some people don't care about their lives.

  It was those two who sat on the ground and wailed hysterically.

  The old woman bravely rushed forward, regardless of the fact that the other person had a weapon in hand and was about to charge over, and they ended up fighting together.

  The result was naturally foreseeable, a crushing defeat, falling to the ground, continuing to cry, and coming again to win the sympathy of the people around.

  The village chief, who had heard about the incident, rushed over and asked for an explanation.

  Yesterday, Jia Xiuzai met Zhi Xiao on the road. Although Zhi Xiao had seen him in the village before, she looked at him strangely for a long time without saying a word and then walked away alone. This made Jia Xiuzai's skin crawl and he returned home dispiritedly.

  After returning home, Jia Xiuzai took it upon herself to educate her daughter properly, telling her not to learn from Zijuan's impolite behavior of staring at someone for half a day without saying a word, which would lead to the serious problem of not being able to find a good husband in the future.

  But the next morning, his wife got up to find him lying in bed with cold hands and feet, dead for a long time. She was so frightened that her legs went soft and she ran into her daughter's room, crying out loud. After a while, the mother and daughter both thought that he had died because of the strange behavior yesterday, so they came early to find them to argue.

  Village chief Liu Gui listened to this and furrowed his brow, hesitating for a moment, looking at the standoff scene with some difficulty.

  "There's no direct evidence either, he was in the same bed as you last night, if you're going to blame them, you can't do it either?"

  He meant for the woman to think again if there were any other important reasons.

  Although Liu Gui also thought that Jia Xiuzai's death had something to do with this child named Zhi Xiao, he was also afraid that if things went too far, the girl would take revenge.

  Finally, under Jia Xiucui's persistent demands for severe punishment of the murderer, the village chief made a decision.

  "Like this, Lan Niang, there is a mountain hut halfway up the mountain at your house, let the child move to the mountain."

  As soon as his voice fell, the woman holding a stick strongly pulled back her furious daughter who was about to rush forward and fight with someone, pulling her behind herself, while she walked forward with her husband following beside her, also full of indignation.

  Lan Niang stepped forward, her icy gaze sweeping across the faces of these people. She let out a cold laugh and turned to face the village chief: "Village Chief, can you tell me what my daughter has done? Has she committed murder, arson, robbery, theft, or harmed others for personal gain? Or do you think my daughter isn't pitiful enough, so you want to add fuel to the fire, forcing her into a dead end?"

  She asked loudly and stepped forward tightly, she wanted to ask clearly, no one could bully them today.

  Liu Gui's face turned slightly red, and he couldn't answer, his mouth twitched, hesitating about how to speak.

  The crying mother and daughter were not finished, they had originally thought of killing someone to avenge their death, but now they were only being driven up the mountain, already dissatisfied, how could they still tolerate her mother ruining even the opportunity to drive her up the mountain.

  Li Ma stood up straight and rebuked:

  "What's wrong with you, your daughter is a reincarnated disaster star. Wherever she goes, there must be something wrong, and wherever she doesn't go, it's not her doing. Over the years, her skills have become more and more advanced, and everyone can see that. For three years, one big disaster, one small disaster every year, making our lives so bitter. Isn't this all because of your daughter? Now she has even caused my husband to die a terrible death. You little disaster star, return his life!"

  One by one, the mournful cries pierced through the sensitive nerves of all the villagers.

  It's not like that. If it weren't for this disaster star, our days wouldn't be so bitter. Someone in the crowd was stirred up. They insisted on severely punishing her.

  The maid who was hidden behind Ling's back suddenly jumped forward, unable to bear it any longer, with an angry and uncontrolled gaze sweeping around, a clear voice rang out:

  "Humbug! I'd like to see what you can do to me today. If I lose a single hair, I'll remember each and every one of you, cursing you all day long..."

  Wherever the girl's eyes fell, people were afraid to lower their heads and didn't dare look her straight in the eye. Then they heard a chilling voice like that of the King of Hell, and they all retreated with a huff.

  Knowing this, he was suddenly delighted and burst out laughing, but was pulled back by his parents who rushed forward and hid him again.

  "Daughter, get out of the way. Today I must thoroughly thrash that stupid person who has been cheating me with my pure kindness, to vent the hatred in my heart. If not, it will never end. When will it be over?" Struggling with all her might to pull away from her parents' grasp, but being small and weak, she couldn't manage it.

  "What nonsense! With your parents around, how dare you behave like this?!"

  The villagers found it amusing that the girl claimed to be innocent, and when they saw her being pulled back by her parents, someone looked up to see how the village chief would punish her.