Reaching to the Sky - Chapter 3

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 .