Chapter 56: Siege
Just after the sun had set, the sky had not completely gone dark. In the Lian tribal clan, about seven children and a few women stood around Jiang Xiaorou’s house. These kids were about eight years old. The eldest was about the same age as Yi Yun. Every one of them wore rags and their bodies were dirty. In their hands were cow dung, as they threw it one after another at Jiang Xiaorou’s door.
“Splat! Splat! Splat!”
The dirty cow dung exploded upon contact with Jiang Xiaorou’s door, giving rise to a strong stench.
Behind the child was an old women dressed in long black robes, looking like a witch. She began dancing as if she was in an epileptic shock and chanted weird phrases.
“All gods are my brothers, all bodhisattvas are my sisters, all the diseases and disasters, stay away from me! Demons and ghosts, hasten and leave! Bewitching evil spirits, show yourself! Ah Ah Ah…Wu Wu Wu…Ah Ah Ah…”
Using the mouth which had few teeth left, she kept wailing like a ghost, as if she was experiencing an orgasm.
As the old woman’s voice reached its climax, the children around became more excited and threw the cow dung.
The cow dung was obtained from the Lian tribal clan’s cattle. There was always a large pile in the farms, so they could obtain a large amount.
The villagers wanted the cow dung to exorcise evils.
The news of Yi Yun bleeding from his seven orifices had spread throughout the Lian tribal clan.
Deaths in Lian tribal clan were nothing new, but to die so horribly was something that grabbed the attention of the people.
And at noon, the Lian tribal clan had suddenly released information saying that Yi Yun had died from a mysterious disease! It was a kind of plague!
Suddenly the entire Lian tribal clan exploded in activity!
Numerous people began spreading the news and in two hours, the news had been spread throughout the tribe!
Plague!
It was an extremely fearsome word in the vast wilderness. Plagues were terrifying, as it killed more than famines.
Typically, a plague could easily wipe out an entire tribe.
In ancient China, there was the possibility of escaping a plague, but in the Cloud Wilderness, having a plague was equivalent to a death sentence. There was nowhere to run. Escaping to the vast wilderness would only result in being eaten by fierce beasts.
The citizens of the vast wilderness were terrified of plagues to the bone!
The medical facilities in the vast wilderness were backward, be it herbs or doctors, they were small in number. But in the face of a plague, they would not sit there doing nothing to await death.
As such, the citizens of the vast wilderness “invented” several methods to counter the plague, and one of the most common ones was the “witch exorcism”.
A witch would “Dance to the Gods” in order to drive out the plague. As for its effectiveness, it was unknown.
This may sound ridiculous, but in the vast wilderness filled with ignorance, this sort of phenomenon was common, and was regarded as the Truth. In Earth’s ancient times, there were all sorts of witches around the world, and they were all strikingly similar.
Besides, the citizens of the vast wilderness believed that cow dung or dog blood could be used to drive away evil. Dog blood was too rare because it would have long been drank by the tribal people to stave off their hunger.
But cow dung was common, so they used cow dung to throw at Jiang Xiaorou’s house. They threw it at the walls and doors to seal the plague, preventing it from spreading.
Because of this, these self-proclaimed “brave” kids threw with great strength. They felt they were warriors of the Lian tribal clan, fighting a war with the plague and the evil!
“That place isn’t covered yet!” A leader among the kids said as he pointed, and a large heap of cow dung flew over.
“Splat, splat, splat!’
The cow dung exploded. This wall was close to the window, and Jiang Xiaorou had only stuck a piece of paper across the window. In the Lian tribal clan, paper was expensive, but the windows could not be left uncovered, for it would be too cold in the winter. Without the paper blocking the window, the wind would not be kept out.
Jiang Xiaorou had spent the whole day putting up this thick window paper, bit by bit, as she hoped to ensure that she and her brother could enjoy a warm winter.
But now.
“Pa!”
With a snapping sound, a pile of cow dung had broken through the window paper, flying into Jiang Xiaorou’s house.
As the pile of cow dung hit the floor, it made the entire place filthy.
Jiang Xiaorou was sitting by the bedside looking grim.
When the news of her brother broke, she was of course the first to hear it. But she did not believe it to be true, for her brother had been able to survive repeated catastrophes without dying.
This time, they said that her brother was dead. And even two men claimed that Yi Yun had jumped off a cliff tens of meters high with his last breath. Such a drop could even kill cats!
Brother…jumped into the river…to his death…
These words circled Jiang Xiaorou’s mind like a curse. It was unknown how she managed, but she was totally dazed.
She could not believe that her brother was dead. She knew that Yi Yun had undergone change in the past few days. He had greater abilities, became stronger, and after practicing martial arts, he had became even stronger.
How could such a strong brother die?
Jiang Xiaorou could not believe it, she had pinned all hopes on Yi Yun!
But no matter how much Jiang Xiaorou believed in Yi Yun, Yi Yun’s disappearance was a fact…
Especially with the rumors of Yi Yun contracting the plague, Jiang Xiaorou was afraid, afraid that Yi Yun had really been infected by the plague, and was worried that he would spread it to her, hence drowning himself.
“Pa!”
Another clump of cow dung was thrown in, hitting the dining table. The only two bowls in the house were immediately dirtied by the cow dung, unable to be used ever again.
However, Jiang Xiaorou did not even take a glance.
The siege on Jiang Xiaorou’s house with cow dung had lasted for an entire afternoon.
Even with the sun setting, the operation had still not concluded.
“Cover it tightly! This lass and that dead imp are jinxes. We should have never accepted them into our tribe!” Outside of the broken window came a women’s mean voice.
This woman was tall and her face long. Her cheekbones were raised and her sleeves were rolled; she looked like a shrew.
Even the poor citizens were categorized in classes. Those who had Lian as their surname in the Lian tribal clan were afforded better treatment. They would sometimes enjoy special privileges in the tribe, after all, they shared the same surname as the Lian tribal clan’s leaders.
The women who spoke had Lian as her surname. Her name was Lian Cuihua. She was known as Aunt Cuihua.
In fact, her aggressive posture this time leading a group of people to throw dung at the walls was ordered by Lian Chengyu.
Lian Chengyu wanted to stir up a storm, and he naturally found a person to “care for the children” among the people, so that she could fan the flames.
“I think we might as well burn the house, to prevent any filthy things from coming out. Do you know, Da Tou’s father saw the kid turn sick with his own eyes. He even said that not only did the kid get infected with the plague, he had been possessed!”
“At that time, Da Tou’s dad touched the kid, and it felt like a snake had bit him. It’s no simple matter! Think about it, this little bastard has such a cheap life, cheaper than a dog, how could he have been chosen by Lord Zhang? And to think he was said to be a martial arts prodigy, how is that possible? Lord Zhang may not know, and you may not know! He was a good-for-nothing, no different from a beggar. He was weaker than a wench. A martial arts prodigy, my foot!”
“Only was he possessed can we explain how a good-for-nothing could suddenly become so powerful. It was because he was possessed! When the ghost was within him, he was strong, but with the ghost gone, he died!” Lian Cuihua said it with a queer voice, depicting the story of Yi Yun of days past as a living zombie.
In the past day, Lian Cuihua would say the same spew whenever she met anyone. This was of course taught to her by Lian Chengyu.
As Lian Chengyu could not do it himself, he allowed Lian Cuihua to spread the rumors. By using possession to explain Yi Yun’s apparent talent, many of the people were willing to believe it.
After all, the Yi Yun they knew could not have been a martial arts prodigy.
Doing so could retain Lian Chengyu’s absolute authority. He was the most talented person in the Lian tribal clan, and no one could match him!
This would make the tribe believe that only through him Lian Chengyu, could they be led towards glory.
“What Aunt Cuihua says makes sense.”
“So he was possessed. I already said that weakling Yi Yun could not be more talented than my Er Dan.”
A few women echoed her as they shared the Lian surname, and was the foundation of the Lian tribal clan.
However, in the room, Jiang Xiaorou turned a deaf ear to all of this.
Yun-er, where did you go?
Why aren’t you back?
Jiang Xiaorou was in a daze. Although she knew her hopes were slim, she still refused to believe that Yi Yun had died.