The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 549 - 538: People Scare People

Chapter 549: Chapter 538: People Scare People

Bai Shanbao was itching to move, "Can I still make it back in time to change clothes?"

Manbao asked, "Do you have black clothes?"

Bai Shanbao’s shoulders drooped, "No."

Bai Erlang and Manbao naturally didn’t have any either. They were all young men; who would dress them in such dark clothes?

The three of them looked at each other, then turned around in unison, peering through the gaps in the firewood at Daji, who remained motionless in the shadows.

Daji ignored them.

The three of them huddled and whispered among themselves. Daji’s ears twitched, and he gently knocked on the woodpile. The three hiding inside immediately fell silent, inching forward to look anxiously through the gaps.

After a rustling sound, a white figure appeared in the alley. Because of the dim moonlight, they had no idea how it had appeared.

It was only when a faint white shape vaguely appeared in the alley that they realized the ghost had shown up.

The three widened their eyes, trying to see clearly, but the light in the alley was too dim. Apart from the white clothes, they couldn’t make out anything else.

Soon, they saw it light a fire and start burning paper money. A mournful wail also began to drift over from it...

Bai Erlang shivered with fear, but Manbao was quite puzzled and asked in a low voice, "Can ghosts burn paper money for themselves?"

Bai Shanbao: "And it seems to have a shadow."

Bai Erlang was no longer so scared.

The three of them huddled in front of the woodpile, discussing in low voices without disturbing the ghost squatting on the ground, absorbed in weeping and burning paper.

But Manbao felt that they couldn’t just watch, so she cautiously crawled out, planning to have a talk with the ghost woman.

Bai Shanbao pushed Bai Erlang, who wouldn’t budge, and so he followed, shivering in fright.

The three emerged, holding hands and encouraging each other as they walked over and squatted down...

Manbao carefully peeked ahead. Not seeing the ghost woman’s face and noticing she was still looking down for paper money side-on, she couldn’t help but whisper, "Where did you get the paper money from?"

The ghost woman froze for a moment, then stiffly raised her head, only to find that, unknowingly, three little ghosts with disheveled hair and black clothes had squatted beside her, closely watching her.

The hand holding the paper money trembled, and with quivering lips, she looked at them, her face devoid of any color.

Manbao and the other two met her eyes and were taken aback, retreating a step before they realized something was amiss.

Bai Shanbao looked skeptical, "A male ghost?"

"A ghost ah—"

The "ghost" squatting on the ground finally reacted, letting out a piercing scream as it sat down hard, its limbs going weak. It moved back half a step, shaking a finger, "Don’t, don’t come any closer..."

By this time, Manbao had also realized that this was not a ghost woman, but a man pretending to be one, and she grew angry. She jumped up, stamped on his skirt, and said sternly, "You are a bad man!"

"No no no, I’m not a bad man, I’m not," the ghost cried tearfully, "I don’t know you all, your deaths have nothing to do with me..."

Bai Erlang was no longer afraid, and with a leap gave the ghost a kick in the chest, shouting, "So it’s you pretending to be a ghost and scaring people, watch me beat you!"

The ghost, struck by the kick, also came to a realization, "You, you’re not ghosts either, you’re human!"

He got angry, his hands no longer shaky, and his feet stopped trembling. Pushing Manbao aside, he stood up from the ground, raging, "Whose wild kids are these, daring to scare me!"

He rolled up his sleeves and raised his hand, ready to hit someone.

However, Manbao, who had plenty of fighting experience, wasn’t about to be hit, right?

She turned and ran, with the ghost chasing after her. Unexpectedly, he was met with a bamboo pole swiping across his face and head.

Zhou SiLang, standing atop a ladder against the wall, clutched a long bamboo pole and bellowed, "Dare to bully my little sister? You’ve got some nerve, considering who I am."

Zhou SiLang had been steady with his hands and feet from the moment the "ghost" was startled and screamed, gripping the self-defense bamboo pole firmly.

Seeing the ghost getting beaten, the three who had run about ten steps away from the woodpile immediately grabbed some firewood and retaliated.

The ghost was soon howling miserably, crying, "Dad, mom, big brother, come save me..."

Upon hearing this, Daji, who had been leaning against the wall, immediately stepped forward briskly, slapped the ghost’s face hard, twisting his mouth so he couldn’t speak, then dragged the ghost back into the courtyard.

The three little ones, fuming with rage, followed closely. Yet just as they reached the courtyard gate, the family across the street came out. Seeing the person they were holding, they immediately began shouting, "What are you doing, what are you doing?"

An old lady squeezed through from behind and, in a fit of hysteria, reached out to grab their faces, yelling, "This is bullying, neighbors come see ah, the new tenants are bullying people..."

The three little ones were stunned, momentarily forgetting to move. Daji, holding the ghost by the collar, flung the man into the yard with one strong motion and with his other hand gestured the three kids aside, allowing them to avoid the clawing hands.

Zhou Si saw everything clearly from the wall. Having seen and known much in his life, including his time as a ruffian wandering through villages and visiting households, what oddities hadn’t he come across?

After a quick thought, he understood the situation, so he swiftly slid down the ladder, went straight into the kitchen, grabbed a copper basin, then ferociously pounded on it with a mallet. The entire alley erupted with the noise.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everybody come and see, hurry and look, we’ve caught a ghost, hurry and see..."

While shouting, he found a stick and gave it to Daji, instructing him to keep the family across the way out of the courtyard.

Forced to retreat, Manbao and the other two snapped into action, helped close the gate, and shouted, "Hurry and look, we’ve caught a female ghost..."

"Turns out the female ghost is a man..."

"Come see what grievances the ghost has..."

The three of them strained to close the door, while the family outside pushed hard. But with Daji and Zhou Si on their side, the door wouldn’t budge.

Manbao firmly slid the latch into place, turned around, shed her hemp robe, and exclaimed, "Quick quick quick, change clothes, tie your hair up."

The three didn’t care that they were in a courtyard; it was spring and they had plenty of layers, so shedding the outer layer of hemp didn’t matter.

Zhou Si handed over the basin to them, took their hemp robes, and ran off. The man on the ground just lifted his head when Bai Shanbao stomped on him, shouting fiercely, "That’s for pretending to be a ghost and scaring people, that’s for pretending to be a ghost and scaring people."

Bai Erlang also remembered how he had been scared yesterday, and in anger, picked up a stick to spank him, "That’s for doing bad things, that’s for doing bad things."

Daji held fast to the door while Manbao happily carried the basin around the yard, clanging away. After making some noise, she hollered gleefully, "Everyone come see catching a ghost, hurry up, if you miss this chance, you won’t see it again..."