Chapter 638: Old Woman

Chapter 638: The Old Woman

Seeing the old woman before him holding a stone, carefully scraping away the monkey hide that clung to her, Yang Xiaohai couldn't help but widen his eyes in astonishment.

He never imagined that this emaciated old woman—so thin she looked like a skeleton, yet strangely fond of sucking on stones—was actually a mysterious and formidable expert!

"Master, someone's dead! A real corpse! His brains were knocked out," cried Zhao Xiumei from beside him, trembling as she hid behind Yang Xiaohai.

Although the red-robed Taoist had slaughtered many people along their journey, she still felt fear every time she saw a dead body.

"It's okay, don't be afraid. Haven't you seen how this old woman is a great goodhearted person who kills evil men?" whispered Yang Xiaohai comfortingly.

Her actions reassured him somewhat; it was unlikely that she had just killed an evil man and then turned to slaughter innocent civilians.

Besides, they had given her a bowl of red oil dumplings earlier—even if she hadn’t eaten them, there was still some goodwill between them.

Compared to Yang Xiaohai’s calmness, the others around them were another matter entirely. Upon seeing a real corpse, they all screamed and scattered in all directions, especially the ancient-looking Taoist elder, whose voice was loudest and who fled fastest.

But unlike the others, the three monkeys displayed a completely different attitude. "Mother... chirp chirp... Mother! Mother!! Mother!!"

The two unpeeled monkeys raised their hands excitedly, jumping up and down in front of the old woman.

"Come come, everyone stay still. Let me take a look," said Yang Xiaohai as he watched the old woman carefully scrape off the monkey skin with a stone, separating the two.

"What... what's inside the monkey skin? It's a child! That's terrifying."

"I heard my senior sister Bai talk about this before. Some people catch children, wrap them in monkey skin, and treat them like monkeys. These monkey-children are far better than ordinary monkeys. I thought it was just a myth, but it turns out it's real. Let’s stop talking and go help."

Though he lacked the courage to step forward earlier, he could still contribute to making things better.

The couple took a basin of hot water from the nearby pot, dipped a cloth into it, wrung it out slightly to cool it, and began wiping the blood and pus off the three monkey children.

Though it looked painful, these kids hadn’t worn the monkey skins for long—they could still be saved.

As the three worked, the monkey children finally put on Yang Xiaohai’s oversized clothes. They had finally transformed from monkeys back into humans.

Yet their behavior still resembled that of monkeys. Clearly, they had been trained by that man for a long time, and restoring them fully would take a very long time.

Watching the old woman wrap a white cloth around the monkey children’s heads, Yang Xiaohai asked curiously, "Grandmother, what are you doing?"

"I’m wrapping this around them so their lives will be as hard as stones. From now on, no one will dare bully these poor kids."

Hearing this, Yang Xiaohai nodded knowingly. He guessed this must be some local custom, similar to how marking a child’s forehead with cinnabar can ward off evil spirits.

He used to believe such things, but now he wasn’t a child anymore—he knew full well that cinnabar on the brow couldn’t ward off anything. Only Brother Li could truly protect them.

"Heh heh heh... Little boy, you have a kind heart. Good people get good rewards," said the old woman, gently stroking Yang Xiaohai’s head, then turning to walk away with the three monkey children.

Watching their figures fade into the distance, Yang Xiaohai thought for a moment and hurried toward his carriage. "Let’s go. Looks like they’re heading the same way—we can take them along."

"But... isn’t that old woman strange?" Zhao Xiumei hesitated slightly, her face showing uncertainty.

"It’s fine. Maybe she’s mentally ill, but people with mental illness aren’t necessarily bad. Besides, traveling with such a powerful person makes us safer."

He remembered how Master Lü had followed Brother Li all the way to Daliang under the same reasoning. Today, he was applying that logic himself.

Moreover, since she had saved those three monkey children and even found a way to restore them to normal, she clearly wasn’t evil.

"Grandmother, please ride in the carriage. You’re walking with a cane—it’s not safe. We happen to be going the same direction anyway."

The ragged old woman initially refused to ride in the carriage, but eventually gave in to Yang Xiaohai’s insistence and climbed aboard.

Though four more people were added to the carriage, one was a light old woman and the other three were children. Together, they probably weighed less than Gao Zhijian had done before.

"Oh, little boy, how old are you?" asked the old woman seated inside the carriage, leaning against a steamed bun and staring at Yang Xiaohai’s back.

"I? I don’t know. No one ever kept track when I was young, so I don’t know how old I am. Probably around thirteen or fourteen."

Hearing this, the old woman’s eyes lit up with memory. "Ah, if my two grandchildren were still alive, they’d probably be about your age."

"Grandmother, what happened to your grandchildren?" Yang Xiaohai, who was leading the horse, asked sideways.

"My granddaughter was sold for two steamed buns. My grandson was taken away and boiled and eaten. Oh, my poor child," the old woman said, beginning to cry. The atmosphere suddenly grew somber.

"Mother, mother?" One of the monkey children reached out with his wide sleeve to wipe her tears, but she instead embraced him tightly and wept.

"Oh, master, this old woman seems to be a sufferer too," Zhao Xiumei murmured softly to Yang Xiaohai, then jumped into the carriage to share her own tragic past to comfort her.

With the monkey children and Zhao Xiumei’s consoling words, the old woman gradually stopped crying. She wiped her eyes with a thimble and said, "It’s alright, nothing serious. Thanks to Grandfather Shidu’s blessing, he appeared to me in a dream. My grandson and granddaughter are both fine with him. When I die, I’ll see them again. And in the future, we’ll all become rich and prosperous."

Zhao Xiumei’s eyes widened upon hearing this. "Is Grandfather Shidu really that effective? Which Buddha is he? Does he grant children? I should worship him too sometime."

At this, the old woman perked up, crossed her legs, and began proudly boasting about how powerful Grandfather Shidu was and how beneficial it was to worship him.

Yang Xiaohai’s wife, Zhao Xiumei, listened half-believing, half-doubting.

After finishing the dumplings, none of them felt hungry. The carriage pulled forward along the dirt road, and they traveled for two and a half hours.

They finally found a county town before nightfall, avoiding sleeping outdoors.

"Master, look at me!"

Upon hearing the voice, Yang Xiaohai turned around and saw his wife Zhao Xiumei wrapped in a white cloth around her head.

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Next chapter update at 11:32 PM.

(End of Chapter)