Granny Ma felt extremely uncomfortable under Xia Sanghuan's stare. She turned around, refusing to meet her eyes any longer.
She directed the young men she had summoned to carry Old Wang to the ancestral hall of her family.
Her family's ancestral hall was the largest in the whole village, as big as an ordinary peasant's entire house. One could tell from this how well - off Granny Ma's family was.
However, after years of her brain - washing, the villagers of Qingshan Slope firmly believed her obviously false claim that "since her ancestral hall was the place where she communicated with the gods, it needed to be the best in the village to show respect to the gods so that they would bring blessings to Qingshan Slope".
If Xia Sanghuan remembered correctly, Granny Ma had even organized a "fund - raising" in this name when she was a child.
It was more like a forced exaction than a fund - raising. Even the poorest families in the village had to send two bricks to her house.
There was nothing to be done. Qingshan Slope was a typical backward rural village. One couldn't expect the people here to have any common sense or knowledge of modern society.
The villagers followed Granny Ma towards her ancestral hall. Of course, they didn't forget about Xia Sanghuan.
She was escorted by Xiao Sun, the one who had led the way at first, and followed them all the way.
Granny Ma walked at the front, looking extremely angry.
Her youngest son leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Mom, what should we do next?"
She glared at him impatiently. "Stay away from me. Can't you see there are so many people behind?"
"What should we do, what should we do! You always ask that. If it weren't for you, would I have to take over the house of Xia Laosi's family?"
Her son was unfairly blamed and left dejectedly.
Grandpa Wang was carried into Granny Ma's ancestral hall. Before the villagers could enter, Granny Ma quickly closed the main door.
She turned around, bowed to the villagers, and then resumed her usual mysterious fortune - teller act.
"May the deceased rest in peace. During the preparation for the wake, please be patient, everyone."
With that, she slipped into the ancestral hall alone, leaving no time for the people outside to react.
About ten minutes later, she came out of the ancestral hall.
Unlike before, her face was now ashen, her eyes rolled up, leaving a large expanse of white in her eye sockets.
Seeing her like this, the villagers were terrified.
She staggered forward, pointing at Xia Sanghuan who was standing beside.
"It's you!"
"It's you who made Lord Yama come to take my soul earlier!"
As soon as she said this, the villagers erupted. They all stepped back quickly, keeping a safe distance from Xia Sanghuan.
Even Xiao Sun, who had been escorting her, took several steps back.
"Burn her! Only by burning her can her evil aura stop affecting Qingshan Slope!"
"Or else, or else—!"
Before Granny Ma could finish her sentence, her eyes rolled up and she fainted.
"For the sake of Qingshan Slope, burn this evil star!"
Someone started shouting, and the strong young villagers, as if awakened, approached her step by step.
She moved to the side, trying to find a way out.
However, there were too many of them, and they were constantly closing in on her, quickly surrounding her.
Just as she was still looking for a breakthrough, a torch was suddenly thrust in front of her face. She quickly dodged backward and barely managed to avoid it. Only a small tuft of her hair was burned.
They were serious.
Realizing this, her legs went weak and she could barely stand.
What should she do?
What should she do?
She kept asking herself in her mind, watching helplessly as the circle around her got smaller and smaller, the torches more and more, and the temperature around her getting higher and higher.
Just when she thought she was going to die here, a cold voice cut through the air.
"Stop!"
Immediately afterwards, Leng Chuanjin rushed in with a group of people.
A gunshot rang out in the sky, and everyone present was stunned.
Taking advantage of their momentary daze, he rushed over, kicked away the few people surrounding Xia Sanghuan, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into his arms.
She looked up at him in a daze. After making sure it was her second brother, her tense body instantly relaxed, and she could only rely on his embrace to maintain her balance.
The villagers were so scared that they fled in all directions. However, the main gate was blocked by the people Leng Chuanjin had brought, so they couldn't escape.
"Put your hands on your heads and squat down!"
Yun Ye shouted and fired two more shots into the air.
The villagers didn't dare to move anymore. They all squatted down tremblingly with their hands on their heads.
A few children who had come to watch the excitement were scared to tears by the gunshots. Their cries echoed in the yard, sounding extremely harsh.
Xia Sanghuan calmed down in his arms for a moment, then slowly stood up, holding on to his shoulders.
He held the girl's hand tightly, a bit worried. The girl gave him a reassuring smile.
She let go of him and walked step by step towards Granny Ma, who was still lying on the ground pretending to be dead.
"Aren't you going to get up yet?"
"If you don't get up, I'll have someone shoot."
She said coldly, not looking like she was joking at all.
Hearing this, Granny Ma could no longer pretend. She quickly got up from the ground.
At this moment, her face was flushed. Except for some dirt on her face, she was no different from a living person.
"Do you choose to confess yourself, or should I do it for you?"
She looked at Granny Ma and said word by word.
However, Granny Ma clasped her hands together, bowed to her, and mumbled something about "everything being directed by heaven".
Xia Sanghuan was extremely annoyed. She didn't want to play this game anymore.
She kicked open the door of the ancestral hall and winked at Yun Ye.
Yun Ye understood and walked over with two people. They saw the old man lying in the ancestral hall.
"Carry him out."
He carried the old man out of the ancestral hall as told and placed him on the steps at the door.
Xia Sanghuan squatted down and felt Grandpa Wang's pulse.
Just as she had expected.
Xia Sanghuan looked up at Granny Ma, who was being held by the bodyguards.
She must be extremely scared now. After all, a truth that she had hidden for so many years was about to be revealed.
Xia Sanghuan took out the box of silver needles she always carried with her. She picked out a few and inserted them into several acupuncture points on the old man on the ground.
The effect was very obvious. Soon, Grandpa Wang started to cough.
To prevent him from choking on his own saliva, she kindly helped him turn to the side.
Grandpa Wang spat out the stuff in his mouth. It was black and disgusting.
"Is this the 'dead' person you were talking about?"
She raised her eyebrows and said to Granny Ma, whose face had turned ashen.
At this moment, Grandpa Wang seemed to be confused. He sat up and looked around the yard blankly.
When he saw Granny Ma, he quickly asked, "Did we succeed in that matter?"
Granny Ma's face turned even uglier.