The man, now mostly sober, stood up while muttering curses and ran off.
Kong Que had a piece of pickled radish in his mouth, unsure whether to chew it or not. He was terrified that any sound might shatter the heavy silence of the moment. No one dared to draw a full breath until Jiang Younian finally broke the stillness.
"See how badly she's been hurt."
"Right."
Xie Nanzhou’s frosty demeanor vanished as he turned and walked toward the woman in the corner. She looked strange—just staring at everyone with a silly, vacant smile. Her front tooth was missing, and her face was covered in countless cuts and bruises. She didn’t seem to feel the pain of the droplets of blood still welling up from the wounds; she just tilted her head and smiled.
"She’s a simpleton, and a tragic one at that. I have some medicine in my room; you all should help her clean those up." The village chief stood at the doorway with his hands behind his back, shaking his head as he looked at the woman slumped in the corner.
"Village Chief, what is that man to her? How could he be so cruel? He beat her like he wanted to kill her." Kong Que couldn't bear to look at the woman’s tattered clothes and bare feet—she was truly pitiful.
"Sigh, that man is our village butcher. And this... this is his... wife, Foolish Sister."
The group was shocked. Who would treat their own wife like that? However, Jiang Younian noticed a momentary hesitation on the village chief’s face—a reluctance to speak. The delay had centered on the word "wife." Was there something wrong with that status?
Faced with this deranged woman, Zhao Ming took a large, disgusted step backward, showing no intention of helping. Kong Que shoved Zhao Ming aside and knelt in front of Foolish Sister with a tray of medicine. He showed no sign of revulsion, and Brother Tai stepped in to help. Xiaoyou kept talking to her, trying to make her smile, while Uncle Zhang watched from the side, lamenting the girl’s hard life. Only Zhao Ming stood coldly on the periphery of the group.
Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou took note of all this. The person whose image changed most in their eyes was Kong Que; he was usually timid, cowardly, and had terrible taste, yet he turned out to be kind-hearted and not afraid of grime or stench. Brother Tai’s contrast was equally striking—despite his "macho" exterior, his movements were incredibly gentle. As for Uncle Zhang, it went without saying; the old man was kind to the core, his eyes filled with pity.
"Xiaoyou is usually sharp-tongued and mischievous, but he's really reliable when it counts." Jiang Younian glanced at Xiaoyou, whose round rear end was stuck in the air as he blew on Foolish Sister’s wounds. For the first time, he looked just like a regular kid.
"Xiaoyou’s life has been very difficult. He was born with a rare congenital disease. He couldn't run and jump like other children; he could only sit in a wheelchair." Xie Nanzhou’s breathing grew heavy as he spoke of Xiaoyou. "He treasures every day here, even with all the dangers."
Xie Nanzhou’s words felt like a stone weighing heavily on Jiang Younian’s heart. He never expected that this restless boy was actually enjoying the life he himself had been denied. Compared to him, how fortunate was he?
"How did you two brothers end up here together?" Jiang Younian didn't understand what circumstances could lead two brothers into a deep coma simultaneously.
"You misunderstood. Xiaoyou and I met in the Resentment Realm. When we first met, he wasn't even very good at walking." Xie Nanzhou became lost in memory, a faint shimmer in his eyes.
*Not biological brothers?* Given how much Xiaoyou relied on Xie Nanzhou, Jiang Younian had truly believed they were related. But if that were the case, he could imagine how Xie Nanzhou must have fought through every obstacle to bring Xiaoyou this far. Otherwise, how could a child have made it so deep on his own?
"Huan... huan... ha... haha..." Some babbling sounds came from Foolish Sister’s mouth.
"Is she saying 'Fangfang'?" Kong Que tried to discern the words.
"What are you talking about! Where are you from? Can’t you tell the difference between 'h' and 'f'? She’s clearly saying 'huanhuan' (anxious). Did you even finish elementary school?" Xiaoyou and Kong Que started bickering the moment they were close, and now they were at it again.
"What do you mean 'did I finish'? When I was in school, you weren't even a fertilized egg yet!"
Jiang Younian sighed helplessly as the two started fighting again. He and Xie Nanzhou stopped paying attention to the bickering and noticed the village chief standing alone in front of an altar table, looking lost in thought. His expression was sorrowful, so they quietly walked over to his side.
"Village Chief, why are these books being worshipped here?"
The village chief’s cloudy eyes filled with a glimmer of moisture. He turned to look at Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou, though it seemed as if he wasn't really looking at them at all. "I... I am not worshipping the books."
With that, he said nothing more, leaned on his cane, and walked away slowly. His back looked incredibly lonely; despite the morning sun, his presence carried the desolation of twilight.
"He said he isn't worshipping the books," Jiang Younian murmured, unable to grasp the meaning.
The group decided to head out to investigate, but to avoid any mishaps, they decided to stay together.
"Hey? That person!" Zhao Ming adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and called out in surprise. The others followed his gaze and saw something shocking. The young man who had helped bring them back with the village chief yesterday was standing straight as a board by the lake.
"Isn't... isn't that lake off-limits? And that hair..." Kong Que remembered the horror of the previous night, his voice trembling involuntarily.
"Don't speak." Xie Nanzhou kept his gaze fixed on the young man’s back. He didn't seem panicked or distressed at all. On the contrary, he seemed to be chatting with someone, muttering on and on. After a while, he turned and left. Nothing happened during that time; the hair never appeared.
"Bro... brother... bro... ther..." Foolish Sister squeezed past Kong Que, babbling as she called out to the young man on the path.
The young man seemed to hear her. He turned back, his smile freezing for a split second the moment he saw the group. He gave a stiff nod in response to their probing gazes and turned to leave.
"Bro... brother... brother! Waaaah!" Seeing the young man walk away, Foolish Sister suddenly wailed and collapsed, throwing a tantrum on the ground.
"Brother?" Only after Foolish Sister’s voice grew louder did Jiang Younian confirm what she had called him.
"That boy is her brother?" The group stared at Foolish Sister’s aged face in confusion, as if they had stumbled upon a world-shaking secret.
"That can't be right. Foolish Sister is old enough to be his mother. How could she be his sister?" Kong Que began rambling again. His words were blunt, but they were a fact. Foolish Sister looked to be in her forties, while the boy was roughly the same age as Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou—in his early twenties.
"Also," Xie Nanzhou added, agreeing with Jiang Younian’s assessment, "when the boy first turned around, he was smiling, which means he was friendly toward her. His expression only changed when he saw us, and then he left. What is he hiding?"
"Exactly. Foolish Sister was crying and throwing a fit because he left without fulfilling her wish, which means he used to come over when she called him. What is their relationship?"
With a clear goal, the group was filled with determination. They split up to find out the truth about the pair. Kong Que, Brother Tai, and the insistent Zhao Ming went together, while the other four went as a second group.
However, after asking around, they received an even more shocking piece of news: The boy was named Axu, and Foolish Sister was... his aunt?
Yes, piecing together all the information they gathered, that was the conclusion. Foolish Sister was Axu’s aunt, and the butcher was Axu’s uncle. The butcher’s family consisted of three brothers; Axu’s father was the middle child and had died when Axu was young. There was also a younger uncle who lived in the village.
Oddly enough, some people claimed Foolish Sister was Axu’s *other* kind of aunt (by marriage). The two different terms caused the group to argue all night.
"Where we’re from, both titles mean the same thing! What is there to debate?" Kong Que argued.
"In our parts, we call them both the same," Brother Tai added, folding his arms.
Xie Nanzhou tapped his fingers on the table. "In my hometown, one term refers to my father’s older brother’s wife, and the other refers to my father’s younger brother’s wife."
Jiang Younian didn't participate in the discussion. Truth be told, he was unclear about these titles. Having grown up in an orphanage, he lacked the environment to understand these extended family dynamics.
"What do you think?" Sensing Jiang Younian’s somber mood, Xie Nanzhou leaned in and asked for his thoughts.
Everyone looked at Jiang Younian. They had come to trust his analytical skills. Although he hadn't joined the debate, he had understood the point of contention perfectly.
"If the two terms mean the same thing, then there’s no problem. But if we follow the customs of Xie Nanzhou’s hometown, then this Foolish Sister is both the aunt by the older brother and the aunt by the younger brother."
Jiang Younian paused, the implication so chilling he could barely bring himself to say it. If that were true, he didn't want to imagine how cruel it was. But in such an isolated mountain village, such a possibility might actually exist.
A flash of pity crossed Jiang Younian’s eyes as he cruelly stated the possibility: "Then Axu’s older uncle and younger uncle... are sharing the same wife!"