When Grandmother Sun saw people arriving, she immediately put on a flustered and panicked expression.
“Taohua, my good granddaughter, come take a look at your little uncle quickly!
I know your rules—I’ll pay the ten taels of silver. Just save your little uncle first. With so many people here, I won’t go back on my word!”
Grandmother Sun’s voice carried a tearful tone, her acting far better than Mrs. Wang’s.
But Zhao Taohua knew Grandmother Sun had no intention of paying her at all.
Not only did she not want to pay, she wanted to smash her rice bowl!
Zhao Sanshi pretended to be possessed by an Egui, rolling and struggling on the ground, muttering nonsense.
If one looked closely, they would spot a hint of cunning in his eyes.
A playful smile curled at the corner of Zhao Taohua’s lips as she feigned agreement: “Grandmother, don’t worry. Little Uncle is my own blood uncle—I won’t abandon him.
However, Little Uncle being entangled by an Egui twice in a row doesn’t just greatly affect his own body—it affects all of our bodies too.
Especially the elders and younger siblings standing in this main hall right now—it has an extremely severe impact on everyone’s Yangshou.”
Zhao Taohua’s gaze swept rapidly across the main hall. Most of those present were elderly great-grandfathers and grandfathers.
Old people feared death above all else and wanted to live as many more years as possible. Hearing about shortened lifespans, they all became agitated.
She knew that among them, Great-grandmother Feng was the undisputed tyrant of Zhaojiacun—fierce-tempered as a thunderbolt—and given her seniority in the clan, no one in the village dared to provoke her.
A Grandmother Chu who had just been about to lead her little grandson into the main hall to watch the commotion immediately withdrew her half-stepped foot upon hearing this.
Goodness gracious—she’d almost lost years of her life just from watching a spectacle!
“What? It affects our Yangshou?”
The villagers who had been leisurely watching the excitement suddenly tensed up.
When Grandmother Sun heard Zhao Taohua’s words, she found it increasingly ridiculous.
Her youngest son wasn’t possessed at all—he was faking it. Listening to this little Xiao cao gou Taohua spout nonsense!
Sure enough, Great-grandmother Feng immediately glared with fury, pointing her finger straight at Zhao Sanshi on the ground and cursing:
“You cursed wretch! Always getting possessed by filthy Egui, reeking of bad luck all over—now you want to shorten this old woman’s life because of you!”
Every word from Great-grandmother Feng shot at Zhao Sanshi like an arrow, spittle flying through the air.
Turning around, she spoke to Zhao Taohua in a completely different, amiable tone:
“Taohua, what should we do then? Think of a solution quickly—this old woman can’t afford to lose any of her Yangshou because of this filthy thing.”
Great-grandmother Feng was still hale and hearty, but at sixty-six years old, if her lifespan were shortened, she might not live out the day.
She hadn’t lived enough yet!
At that thought, two small flames seemed to burn in Great-grandmother Feng’s eyes.
The other villagers shared the same sentiment as Great-grandmother Feng and urged Zhao Taohua to come up with a solution.
Zhao Taohua frowned in thought as everyone watched her, the air falling silent for several breaths.
Under everyone’s expectant gaze, Zhao Taohua finally clapped her hands and said:
“I’ve got it! This Egui is truly too powerful, but that doesn’t mean there’s no way to drive it out.
However, to keep it from affecting everyone’s Yangshou, Little Uncle, Grandmother, and Little Aunt-in-law will all need to drink sheep dung water.
Otherwise, even if the Egui is expelled, we’ll still lose years of our lives.”
Zhao Taohua sighed as she spoke, looking sympathetically toward Grandmother Sun, Zhao Sanshi, and Mrs. Wang:
“I’m afraid I’ll have to put Grandmother, Little Uncle, and Little Aunt-in-law through some hardship…”
Before Zhao Taohua could finish her sentence, Great-grandmother Feng spoke up:
“What hardship is there in this? This is for everyone’s good.
Yue Ying, go home and prepare some sheep dung water!”
“Yes, Mother.”
Chen Yue Ying hurried back home.
“!!!”
Zhao Sanshi, who had been rolling and struggling on the ground pretending to be possessed by an Egui, immediately dropped the act upon hearing he’d have to drink sheep dung water.
He scrambled to his feet and hastily explained, “I’m not possessed by an Egui! I was faking it!”
“Just as I said—this Egui is even more powerful than yesterday’s. It’s even developed intelligence, knowing how to defend itself.”
Zhao Taohua’s brows knitted tightly, making Great-grandmother Feng beside her anxious.
“Why hasn’t Yue Ying come back yet?”
“Mother, I’m here!!”
Chen Yue Ying walked in from the courtyard entrance carrying a dung ladle, filled to the brim with sheep dung water.
Black-brown, round, pearl-like sheep droppings floated in the water.
As she drew closer, a pungent stench of sheep spread through the air, and everyone quickly cleared a path for her.
Zhao Sanshi’s face was filled with terror—that dung ladle was used to scoop from the manure pit.
And it was filled with something as disgusting as sheep dung water—who could possibly drink that?
His lips trembled as he explained to everyone, “I really wasn’t possessed by an Egui! I don’t want to drink that stuff!”
Zhao Taohua gave Zhao Sanshi no chance to defend himself, telling everyone to help hold him down, pry his mouth open, and force the sheep dung water down his throat.
Though Zhao Sanshi was young, how could one man match so many people?
He was forced to drink it without any say in the matter, the pungent smell and taste of the sheep dung water tormenting him beyond endurance.
Grandmother Sun and Mrs. Wang saw the situation turning against them and tried to flee, but sharp-eyed Great-grandmother Feng had already spotted them and ordered people to seize them both.
“Yue Ying, bring the dung scoop over and make sure your sister-in-law Zhao Di and niece-in-law A Yun get a drink too!” Great-grandmother Feng called out.
Chen Yue Ying immediately acknowledged and carried the dung scoop toward the two women.
When Grandmother Sun heard she was to drink goat dung water, her eyes filled with terror, and her lips trembled so much she couldn’t utter a single word.
In the end, she was forced to swallow a mouthful of goat dung water!
Mrs. Wang suffered the same fate, and the two of them knelt on the ground dry heaving.
Zhao Taohua stood off to the side with a cold sneer. Trying to trick her?
Seeing this, Great-grandmother Feng breathed a sigh of relief: “Taohua, all three of them have drunk the goat dung water. Now, when you remove the Egui from Sanshi, it won’t cut into our Yangshou, will it?”
Hearing this, Grandmother Sun immediately rose to her feet and cursed loudly: “My youngest son was never possessed by an Egui! She’s nothing but a liar…”
Before Grandmother Sun could finish her tirade, Zhao Taohua smiled and said to Great-grandmother Feng:
“This Egui is too powerful this time. It even managed to control my grandmother into spouting nonsense to deceive people on its behalf. It seems I’ll need to feed my grandmother another dose of goat dung water.”
“???”
Grandmother Sun was so frightened she fell silent, the taste of the freshly swallowed goat dung water still lingering in her mouth and nose…
She quickly changed her tune, echoing Zhao Taohua’s words:
“What Taohua says is right. My youngest son is possessed by an Egui. The goat dung water is a divine substance—the Xieqi of the Egui on me has already been expelled.
Taohua, hurry and cast your spell on your little uncle to exorcise that Egui!”
Zhao Sanshi looked at Grandmother Sun in disbelief. How could his own mother be telling such lies?