She nudged Yang Butou behind her with her elbow.
Yang Butou snapped to attention and quickly added, “Yes, you can rest assured. If my brother-in-law dares to bully your sister, I’ll break his legs.”
Seeing her sister-in-law humbly pleading with Yang Butou and his wife for her sake, Xiao Mo’er felt a pang in her nose, and her tears fell even more heavily.
Yue Zhixian, watching from the side, couldn’t help but speak up, “Why cry? It’s not like this is a life-or-death parting. If you really want to see each other, I’ll bring your sister-in-law to the county often.”
But his words earned him a punch from the old man, who struck him in the back. “If you don’t know how to talk, then shut up.” How could he mention something as grim as “life-or-death parting”? What a scoundrel!
Yue Zhixian winced in pain and glared resentfully at the old man. “You old ghost, even at your age, you still hit so hard!”
Xie Mingzhu, who was reluctant to part with her sister-in-law, overheard Yue Zhixian’s words. Though unsure if he meant it, she felt a warmth in her heart, thinking that even though Yue Zhixian was a rogue and a scoundrel, he wasn’t some irredeemably evil person.
She then bid farewell to Xiao Mo’er and the Yang Butou couple, leading the reluctant children away with Yue Zhixian and the old man.
Their mule cart was parked outside the government office.
By this time, the families of the others had long dispersed, and the entrance to the government office had returned to its usual desolate state. The old man went to untie the cart, barking orders at Yue Zhixian, “What are you standing around for? Are you a wooden puppet? Hurry up and get the children onto the cart.”
Yue Zhixian snorted, “As if I need you to tell me?” Did they think he was truly heartless?
He then bent down, scooped up the youngest, Xiao Yunshi, and carefully placed her in the cart. He was about to pick up the shorter Xiao Yunnuan and Xiao Yunwan when he heard Xiao Yunshi’s soft, sweet voice say, “Thank you, brother.”
Hearing the word “brother,” Yue Zhixian’s heart softened. Though her face was covered in bumpy patches of prickly heat, her eyes were utterly endearing, stirring a playful urge in him. “Don’t call me brother. Call me Dad.”
Xiao Yunshi blinked, her large, watery eyes fixed on the grinning Yue Zhixian, and obediently chirped, “Daddy!”
“Whoa!” Yue Zhixian was so startled he stumbled back a few steps, flustered and at a loss.
Old Man Yue burst into laughter beside them. “The child’s called you Dad now, so you’d better take good care of her from now on.”
Yue Zhixian’s lips twitched in annoyance. He turned to the shorter Xiao Yunnuan and Xiao Yunwan and noticed they were both barefoot. He thought to himself, “Xie Mingzhu is so unreliable as a mother—she didn’t even make them straw sandals.” There was no shortage of grass along the way.
It seemed he’d have to take matters into his own hands later.
He scooped them up, one under each arm, and placed them in the cart.
The two hesitated for a moment. Though they weren’t eager to acknowledge him as their father so soon, they remembered that their family of six would now depend on him. Worrying that their father, who had passed away just three months ago, might be heartbroken in the afterlife, they still followed their younger sister’s example and said, “Thank you, Daddy.”
After all, their mother had said that the living must look forward, and the dead were gone for good.
They shouldn’t believe in any nonsense about blessings from the deceased. If the dead could truly protect them, they wouldn’t have suffered so much on their journey.
Xie Mingzhu was deeply embarrassed. She could understand Xiao Yunshi, being young, calling Yue Zhixian “Daddy” after his teasing, but these two girls were six years old—why were they joining in the mischief?
Eight-year-old Xiao Yunyan and seven-year-old Xiao Yunqing were so frightened that they quickly scrambled onto the cart themselves, afraid that if they were too slow, Yue Zhixian would carry them up—and then, would they have to call him father?
If they didn’t, they worried he might take offense and treat their mother poorly in the future.
If they did, they simply couldn’t bring themselves to say it.
After all, from Xiao Yunyan’s perspective, this young “father” looked at most ten years older than him.
Seeing the two of them nimbly climb aboard, Xie Mingzhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Once everyone was on the cart and the old man had begun unpacking provisions, Yue Zhixian was about to jump up and drive, but the old man kicked him aside. “There are only two mules in the whole village. Do you want to exhaust this one so it has to pull the cart and carry goods for him later?”
Yue Zhixian glanced at the cart and saw it was indeed a bit crowded. Feeling too awkward to squeeze in with everyone, he muttered a few curses in the local dialect at the old man and went to lead the mule from the front.
And so, Xie Mingzhu and the others set off for their new home at Silver Moon Beach.
The journey passed mostly in silence, with frequent efforts to speed up.
Along the way, the old man grumbled at Yue Zhixian, blaming his greed for stopping to catch shrimp, which had delayed their departure and caused them to miss traveling with the rest of the villagers.
Apart from the seaside where the salt fields were located, Silver Moon Beach was the most remote, the farthest from the county town—a day and a half’s journey!
The mountain road was long, and from time to time, miasma would drift over with the wind, so it was best to travel in groups.
They pressed on quickly, hoping to catch up with the group ahead.
But as dusk deepened and darkness fell, eerie “tok-tok-tok” sounds echoed from the pitch-black forests on either side, like someone rhythmically tapping on trees.
There were also “gugu-gu” noises that set everyone’s nerves on edge.
They had heard similar sounds before, ever since entering Lingnan, but back then, the large group’s chatter and the children’s cries had drowned out those noises.
Most importantly, the safety in numbers had kept fear at bay.
Xie Mingzhu noticed the children huddling together, practically trying to burrow into her arms.
The timid Xiao Yunnuan began to sob, “Mom, it sounds like someone’s knocking.”
But they were on the move, deep in the mountains with no houses around—how could there be knocking? It must be ghosts.
Xiao Yunnuan and Xiao Yunqing chimed in, “And there’s ghostly cries, too.”
Xie Mingzhu sighed patiently and explained gently, “No, the ‘tok-tok-tok’ is a woodpecker. It’s pecking at tree trunks to catch insects. That’s the sound of its beak hitting the wood—it’s not ghosts knocking.”
The children were only half-convinced. “Then why doesn’t it hunt during the day?”
“It’s too hot in the daytime,” Xie Mingzhu replied without hesitation.
Yue Zhixian, amused by this, leaned closer to listen while advising the old man, “Looks like we won’t catch up with the others. I remember a coconut grove up ahead—let’s tie up some hammocks there and rest for the night.”
The old man, also realizing they probably wouldn’t catch up, agreed. He worried that pushing on through the gorge ahead, which was known for snakes, would frighten the children even more.
Meanwhile, Xie Mingzhu continued explaining that the “gugu-gu” sounds came from owls.
But since none of them had ever seen an owl, they remained skeptical—even when she said owls caught rats. The idea of a bird with a cat’s head only deepened their doubt.
To everyone’s surprise, Yue Zhixian became thoroughly engrossed and immediately leaned in, “I can prove it. Your mother isn’t lying to you. There really is a bird with a cat’s head in the mountains. I saw one last time. If you don’t believe me, I’ll catch one for you to play with next time.”
The old man listened nearby, thinking how much they resembled a real family, and felt quite satisfied. He urged the mule to move faster.
Because of the owl, Yue Zhixian naturally joined the children’s discussion.
Although Xiao Yunyan and his siblings were somewhat afraid of him—after all, Yue Zhixian frequently cursed and often quarreled with the old man—hearing him talk about mysterious animals in the forest, they were still children at heart and couldn’t help but grow curious.
For a moment, they forgot everything else.
They seized the opportunity to ask him all sorts of questions without reservation.
Yue Zhixian responded to every query and answered every matter.
Even though Xie Mingzhu felt that Yue Zhixian was a bit unreliable and spoke in such a mysterious way, seeing the children’s attention completely diverted and him being quite patient, with the children no longer afraid, she didn’t say anything more.
Soon, they rounded the bend ahead and arrived at the coconut grove.
Before the old man had even steadied the cart, Yue Zhixian jumped down first and dashed into the forest opposite the coconut grove.
The old man frowned anxiously, “Have you lost your mind? You’re going the wrong way.”