C3 The Birth of a Strange Thing

Second Uncle did not care about that. The big stick in his hand moved up and down like he was stirring garlic, and every time he struck, it was solid.

Not long after, the sound of snakes and chickens gradually died down, and only the sound of Second Uncle's stick hitting the jar could be heard. At the same time, a bloody smell spread out, and the air became heavy. If a person took a breath in, they would feel as if they were suffocating and unable to breathe.

Second Uncle used the stick to stir and then used the shovel to flip over. The Blind Snake, the rooster, and the fingers of my four dead but not rotten brothers were all smashed into pieces, and they were mixed together.

Second Uncle did not stop and continued to stir. The sound of the stick smashing into the jar became more and more muffled and viscous. As it rose and fell, the blood and rotten flesh that was stirred up formed a thick layer around the jar. Second Uncle's body was also covered in blood. Under the moonlight, he was like a bloody Asura, and with the addition of the four corpses on the ground, it made him look extremely strange.

When they saw this scene, some of them could not take it anymore and ran away in groups of three to five. Some of them wanted to run, but their legs were so weak that they fell to the ground. Some of them cried out in fear, and some of them looked at the Blind Snake and rooster in the jar that had turned into meat paste. They smelled the bloody smell in the air and directly spat it out. However, there were also some who were bold and curious and did not leave. They wanted to know what Second Uncle was going to do.

The second uncle worked from midnight until the sun rose in the east. Only then did he stop. He broke all the things in the big jar. The meat paste mixed with blood was half of the jar. At this time, the second uncle picked up the four corpses on the ground and put them into the jar one by one. He used the meat paste and blood to bury his four brothers’ bodies under the bottom of the jar.

It was a tiring job to swing a big stone stick for half of the night. After doing all this, the second uncle was exhausted. He sat on the ground and asked his grandpa to bring a brush.

The brush was ready. Soon, his grandpa brought it over. The second uncle stood up and walked to the big jar again. He dipped the blood in the big jar and started to draw on the outside of the jar. No one could understand what he was drawing. It was like a ghost drawing. The second uncle dipped the brush in the blood and painted the entire outside of the jar.

After that, the second uncle threw the brush away and called for his grandpa to carry the sack of Tai Mountain stones into the jar. He pressed the meat paste on top of the meat paste.

After doing all this, the second uncle looked up at the sky and then at the people in the yard. He asked someone to carry the big jar to the mountain and bury it. It was not for nothing. One person gave him five hundred.

However, everyone was shocked by the second uncle’s actions and the things in the jar. No one dared to go up.

In the end, Second Uncle increased the price to a thousand. Only then did two people stand out. One of them was our village's Butcher Zhang, who was tall and sturdy, and had a lot of guts. The other one was a Five Poison person from our village. What was a Five Poison person? People with children and grandchildren were called Five Fortune people, and when they were alive, their children and wives were all dead. They were called Five Poison people, and they were the kind of people who had their children and grandchildren cut off. People said that those people were born with bad luck, and that they were born with a tough life. They were afraid of evil spirits and ghosts, so they dared to carry the big jar.

Just like that, Second Uncle found a rope and tied the big jar with his grandfather. Together with Butcher Zhang and the Five Poison person, they carried the big jar to the mass grave in our village and buried it there.

After that, for a long time, the topic of discussion among the villagers was always Second Uncle's Evil Breaking. While sighing, they all paid attention to my mother. The main focus was on my mother's stomach, because Second Uncle said that Evil Breaking was the evil thing that happened to our family. Our family had a child that could not be raised, and now that the corpse was broken, was Evil Breaking considered to be broken? If it was broken, wouldn't my mother be pregnant again?

It was really true. Two months after Second Uncle's Evil Breaking, my mother was pregnant again.

Nothing happened during the pregnancy. After ten months, it was the day of delivery. That day, Second Uncle made a very ridiculous request. He wanted to give birth to my mother!

When my grandfather and father heard Second Uncle's request, they called it absurd.

Our village was located in a remote area. In those years, we didn't go to the hospital to give birth. Every village had a midwife who specialized in giving birth. Even if there was no midwife, the midwife would not be the one to give birth.

Second Uncle said that he did this for the child who was about to be born. Even if he didn't personally give birth, he would still be there when my mother was about to give birth. Otherwise, this child would most likely follow in the footsteps of his four brothers.

Hearing Second Uncle's words, grandfather and father were silent for a long time. Finally, they conveyed Second Uncle's meaning to my mother.

Unexpectedly, my mother didn't have much difficulty persuading him. After thinking for a moment, she agreed. She said that as long as the child could be born safely and grow up smoothly, she would do anything.

Just like that, on that night, when my mother was giving birth, Second Uncle and the midwife entered the inner room together.

As for what Second Uncle did in the inner room that day, only my mother and the midwife who had received the child knew. However, not long after my mother gave birth to me, she went crazy. As for the midwife, it was either because Second Uncle had received a bribe from him, or some other reason. In short, she kept her mouth shut about what happened that day.

It was just that grandfather said that when my first cry came out of my mother's mouth, a few screams came from outside the house at the same time. Those sounds were as mournful as ghosts crying, and they sounded out without warning. It made grandfather's scalp tingle, and he trembled. It was also because of the terrifying sound that my father and grandfather, who were waiting outside, clearly realized that something was going on outside, but they didn't dare to go out and take a look.

Second Uncle came out from the inner room and ran out of the house, but he came back quickly. He went out to search for the source of the sound, but he didn’t find anything. Then he went back into the inner room and carried me out. When he came out, he saw that my body was covered with ten silver needles that were as thin as hair.

The child was covered with needles. Grandfather and Father were worried. They asked Second Uncle what he was doing.

Second Uncle looked tired. He seemed to have used a lot of strength. He shook his head and said, “It’s nothing. Let me stay here. You guys go and rest. Don’t disturb me when you have nothing to do.” Then he carried me back to his house and even closed the door.

Second Uncle was so secretive. How could Grandfather and Father sleep well? They didn’t sleep for the whole night. Early the next morning, when the sky was just beginning to light up, Grandfather and Father went out to look. Deep in their hearts, they were a little worried. The shrill scream last night made them feel uneasy. They felt that something had happened.

They saw some bloodstains on the ground outside our house. It seemed to be left by something that was injured. The two of them followed the bloodstains and found that the bloodstains had stopped when they reached a forest. Grandfather and Father surrounded the forest and walked around our house a few times. They didn’t find anything else.

That day, Second Uncle only opened the door at noon. The first thing he said when he opened the door was to ask Grandfather, “Is there a dead person in the village?”

His grandfather was stunned by his second uncle’s question. He then shook his head and said, “No.”

“Really?” His second uncle didn’t seem to believe him. He frowned and confirmed again.

“How can it be fake? In a village with a palm-sized house, not to mention a dead person, even a fart from the village entrance can be smelled by the villagers. If someone died, the outside world would be in chaos. Why did you suddenly ask this?” His grandfather replied to his second uncle while staring at him with suspicion.