Reaching to the Sky - Chapter 3

Murder in the Night

The worship was successfully carried out all because of the guidance of the blind man. Afterwards, Lu Pingchuan once again expressed his gratitude, and then everyone laid a straw to take a rest.

Mo is lying in the northwest corner beside Lu Pingchuan. Chu Huai usually sleeps in the southwest side. The mute girl sleeps alone in the northeast corner. Nanfeng and Changle are in front of the statue. The fat man is in the southeast corner, and the blind man is on the right side of the temple door.

The bonfire eventually went out and the temple fell into mere darkness.

A couple of hours later, the fortune-teller began to cough uncontrollably. It was sudden and intense. The rain and the cold must have gotten to the old man.
Nanfeng couldn’t help but uncomfortably hear the old man coughing so loud. He got up to keep the bonfire running again, and threw a few pieces of wood into it.

“Thank you.” Xunzi, the fortune-teller, whispered.

“No worries.” The south wind returned to his area and was about to sleep again. But suddenly he realized that Changle, who was sleeping next to him, has disappeared.

The rain had already stopped. Nanfeng went to the huts to take a look at and found out that Changle did not go to the toilet. This is getting strange.

“Someone in the room just went out. Do you know what direction did he go?” Nanfeng asked the blind man.

“He left before I coughed.” said the blind man calmly.

But Nanfeng did not have time to think about the old man anymore.  “Where did he go?”

“He was going south, I think.”, the blind man answered in a hoarse tone.

When Nafeng heard this, he became anxious. He immediately woke up everyone. They shouted loudly from the vicinity of the main hall, but they could not see Changle coming back.

“He said before that he was becoming tired. Has  anyone here offended him recently? What could be his problem? I suspect that he is out for redemption. This doesn’t look good at all.” Lu Pingchuan speculated in a serious tone.

The fat man shook his head. “No, he was sick the past few days. He didn’t even go out.” As the

two were still discussing, the mute girl rushed to Nanfeng and made a gesture. “The hatchet is gone! He went out with it!”
Everyone was shocked and stunned. What will Changle do with it? This is a very serious matter.

“I’ll go out and look for him. Stay here. I don’t want to lose another one of you.” Lu Pingchuan turned back and went out.

“I am going with you.” Chu Huairou followed.

“Let’s go too!” Nanfeng and the others said in chorus

Chu Huairou waved at them in disapproval. “You all stay!”

Everyone heard the command and they did nothing to argue. Chu Huai and Lu Pingchuan were their leaders. They would obey their orders as they know that both of them knew what’s best for the group.

The four people left behind became very uneasy. This has never happened before. They are worried that Changle will try to hurt a person others. And the worse thing is that Changle would get hurt, too.

After some moments of anxiety, Nanfeng tried to calm down. “You were in the temple yesterday. What happened yesterday afternoon?”

“Nothing really happened. After you left, I went with Changle to fetch some wood. When it rained, I immediately let him come back first,” said the fat man.

“How was he that time? Was he acting strange”

“Not really. He was perfectly normal.” The fat man replied.

“What was he doing when you came back?”

The fat man thought for several seconds and said, “He was lying when I came back. I talked to him. He ignored me. I thought he was not feeling good so I didn’t bother him anymore.”

“Who was with him in the temple when you came back?”

“Nobody. Just him.” The fat man shook his head.

Nanfeng did not ask again. He wanted to find out what caused Changle to act strange, but it seems they just hit a dead end.
After a while, the fat man suddenly remembered something. “No, someone came back. I came back and saw the medicine on the table.”

“The medicine was sent back by me.” Mo said.

The south wind turned to look at Mo, “What are you doing when you come back?”

“Moving the wood into the temple.” Mo said.

“Have you talked to him?” asked Nanfeng.

“I said, when I came back, I met my eldest brother. The older brother waited for me on the street. The more I rushed, the less he let me go, and I asked a lot of questions.” Mo was a little surprised.

“What are you asking? Slowly, don’t worry.” The south wind whispered softly.

“He asked me where the medicine came from, I said that the big sister got it. He asked where he got it. I said it was in the Ji Shi drug shop. Later he asked me if I had to go to the drugstore with the big sister. He also asked the older sister to stay in the drugstore. How long did it take, and asked me why I came back, as if I had asked something else, I can’t remember it.” Mo looked at the south wind with horror. “I’m telling the truth, no lie.”

When I finished, the south wind hoe looked at the fat man. “You saw Changle knock over the medicine?”

“Yes.” The fat man nodded.

The south wind turned to the dumb and made a gesture, indicating that she stayed in the temple to look after Mo, and turned to the fat man to beckon, “Come and go with me to the drug shop. There’s something important there that we should look for.”

“To the drug shop?” The fat man was finding it hard to understand what they were about to do.

“Changle wants to kill the doctor.” Nanfeng rushed out immediately.

The context of the situation has become very clear. Changle suspects that the elder sister is going to change the medicine with the doctor. The reputation of the doctor in the Ji Shi drugstore does not border on a positive note. Changle has his suspicions already. Changle overturned the medicine bowl because he felt that the thing inside of it will make him even worse. His self-esteem was hurt. Humiliation is something that men do not take lightly of.
After they got past the temple, Nanfeng began to run desperately. The Jieshi drug shop is some miles away from the temple. It is situated in Wuli Road where most of the people lived. But they could be too late now. Changle must have arrived at the Ji Shi drugstore right now.

“Nanfeng, wait for me!” The fat man called from behind.

Nanfeng was getting anxious already and did not slow down.

The fat man groaned again, “We can’t do something with empty hands. You have to find the person responsible for this.”

“Then who will be that person?” The south wind did not look back.

“Of course, it’s that wine guy. He was the one who forces the elder sister. He’s the one you have to get rid of.” The fat man is adamant that his theory was correct.
“Are you really sure of that?” Nanfeng became even more worried. He is really afraid that Changle would murder somebody. But he is even more afraid of Changle killing the wrong person. He’s not sure if Changle is really using his mind right now.
The Ji Shi pharmacy has a large front and a large back yard. When they were still a hundred steps away from the pharmacy, they heard screams in the backyard of the pharmacy. The screams were from women and it was very strange in this very quiet morning.

Nanfeng could hear the beating sound of his heart. He rushed forward. There are two doors in the drug shop. One is the gate of Zhengnan, and the other is a small door in the northwest side. The small door is pen. It is nearly five in the morning. A dead dog is lying outside the kennel in the door. There is a dead chicken not far away from it. Nanfeng could not be mistaken. It is the one that they killed when they ended the worship last night.

Nanfeng didn’t think much anymore. There’s no time to waste. After entering the door, he ran to the north side of the main room. The door of the main room was also open. After rushing in, the scene in front of him took him aback in horror. A short fat man naked on the top was on the ground just five steps away from the door. His neck was almost cut off, leaving only some flesh. There was blood everywhere in the room, and a middle-aged woman cringed in the corner of the wall, shivering in horror, and begging for mercy.
Changle is standing in the middle of the room. He grabbed the teapot on the table and poured the hot water into her mouth. The hatchet in his left hand is full of blood.

The scene is indeed horrifying. The room is very messed up. The woman was vomiting until Changle put down the teapot. Nanfeng moved forward to pull Changle. “Run.”

Changle immediately pushed Nanfeng away. “Leave me alone. This is not your business.”
Nanfeng did not answer. He once again grasped Changle’s wrist and dragged him out.

Changle is taller than Nanfeng, and he is the stronger of the two. Normally, Nanfeng would not be able to drag him, but Changle is sick and weak right now. Changle was getting frustrated but he could not do anything more. He was dragged out of the door.

Two men saw the two coming out of the room. Changle is still holding the bloodied hatchet. They immediately knew something bad happened. “Who are you?”

“Afu, they killed the master!” The woman cried out from inside the room.

The man named Afu heard the scream of his mother. He grabbed a pole and shouted loudly.

The younger man grabbed the broom in Afu’s hand. “I recognize them. They live in that small, abandoned temple.”

“People are trying to kill me! This is just about me. Why are you stopping me?” Changle wanted to break free from Nanfeng’s grip.

Seeing that his brother is still emotionally unstable, Nanfeng grabbed Changle’s hatchet. “Don’t come over, don’t come over.” He pointed it to the two men in front of them.

The two guys are taller than Changle and Nanfeng. But the hatchet in the south wind’s hand did not terrify them. Afu and his brother lunged forward.

The hatchet is not too long, and the pole is much longer than it. Afu cautiously moved towards them, while Nanfeng is still pulling Changle away. He was still unwilling to leave. He is making things very complicate.

Just as Afu was inches away from Nanfeng, the fat man rushed in from outside the door, holding a stick in his hand. He attacked from behind and knocked off Afu’s pole.

“Run fast!” The fat man tried to sneak another attack before turning around.

Nanfeng took the opportunity to drag Changle and hurried outside. As soon as they were outside, they saw Lu Pingchuan and Chu Huairou running from the north.

When the two were moving closer, they saw the hatchet in the hands of the Nangfe. Changle looked so lost. They knew what happened.
“He killed the doctor?” Lu Pingchuan looked at Nanfeng with fear in his eyes.

“He did. Big brother, they recognized us.” The south wind got even more terrified.

Lu Pingchuan heard it, but he did not panic. He quickly thought about the situation and said, “The temple cannot be broken. Huairou, you take Changle away. I’ll go back to the temple to take everyone with me. Nanfeng, you and fat man should also separate from us. Go somewhere.”
“But where will we meet then?” Chu Huairou quickly asked.

Lu Pingchuan shook his head. “It’s too suspicious if we are still together, go apart. This is the only way that everyone will survive.”

Chu Huai pulled Changle and they ran south.

“Huairou, Changle has killed the wrong person?” Lu Pingchuan asked.

Chu sighed, but she did not answer Lu Pingchuan’s question. He just looked at them for the last time and took Changle away.