Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 66 - 66 66 Thank You on Behalf of the Whole Family!

66: Chapter 66: Thank You on Behalf of the Whole Family!

66: Chapter 66: Thank You on Behalf of the Whole Family!

“Song Dingbo, could you have taken a wrong turn?

This clearly is Shehong Stockade!”

Zhang San saw the bright lights inside and pointed cheerfully ahead, urging everyone to walk in.

But Zhang San himself did not move forward even a step.

He was certain that there hadn’t been such a village here before; otherwise, how could it have been completely dark earlier?

Now, suddenly, it was lit up brilliantly.

Yet, Zhang San knew even better that with Zhao Siyang by his side, there was no need to panic.

Song Dingbo’s face was a picture of astonishment.

No matter how he looked at the village ahead, something felt off.

With his mouth agape, he stuttered and couldn’t utter a single word.

Wang Dada found the situation somewhat eerie, but he was here to look for his nephew after all.

Gritting his teeth, he was the first to step towards Shehong Stockade.

Seeing that even the timidest Wang Dada had moved forward, Song Dingbo did not want to appear scared and thus had no choice but to follow along.

Zhang San turned his head to glance at Zhao Siyang.

Wherever the bodyguard is, that’s where I’ll be.

Zhao Siyang looked at Third Miss Gan and asked, “Shall we go in?”

Third Miss Gan said softly, “I do not know if the person I am looking for is inside Shehong Stockade, it’s better to go in and take a look.

In case Wang Dada and Song Dingbo encounter any danger, we can help them out.”

Zhao Siyang nodded and began walking inside.

Seeing everyone moving, Zhang San followed suit.

Although Zhang San was the first to point inside, he was the last one to take a step.

Upon entering Shehong Stockade, they found the night market to be bustling with activity.

Zhang San could even hear someone gossiping.

“Did you hear?

Young Master Shang from the Xie family has been childless.”

“Could it be that he’s impotent?

Hehehe…”

“I know about this.

When he was young, he had a secret affair with a maid and then swore not to marry.

Not only did he marry later, but the maid also died.

The maid must have filed a complaint in the Underworld, that’s why he’s childless.”

Several gossip-loving aunties were astonished at the grandpa who held the first-hand gossip.

“Old man, how do you know this?”

“That Young Master Shang is my son, how could I not know?” [Note 30]

Zhang San was utterly speechless, unsure whether the old man really was Xie Shang’s grandpa or just bragging to take advantage.

As they walked on, they came across a high-walled and grand residence in Shehong Stockade, with red lanterns hung high and flower petals scattered on the ground, a wedding procession was making its way inside with music and fanfare.

The big characters “Jiang Mansion” on the gate were particularly eye-catching.

“So there’s a wedding tonight, no wonder it’s so lively.”

Although Zhang San felt something strange about this place, he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

Conversely, everything seemed normal.

Song Dingbo, watching the wedding procession, appeared to be caught up in the happy atmosphere and started to twist and turn, saying to Zhang San, “It’s lively indeed, but aren’t there supposed to be curfew restrictions?”

Hearing this, Zhang San grew curious as well.

There should indeed be a curfew, forbidding people from being outside at night.

Yet here in Shehong Stockade, not only were people allowed outside at night, but there was also a wedding procession, which was really peculiar.

The group continued walking a distance, turned a corner, and came to a quieter street.

A household with its door still open had a faint light shining on the path.

Wang Dada, feeling nervous, knocked on the door, “Excuse me, is this Wang Laohao’s house?”

Then, a woman’s voice came through.

“Yes.

Who may you be?”

A woman who was still doing laundry shook the water off her hands and came to the door.

Seeing Zhang San and the other four, she thought they were there to ask for water to drink.

But just at that moment, a man emerged from the inner room, stopped short, and shouted towards Wang Dada at the door, “Uncle!

It really is you!

Uncle—”

The man rushed to the front gate and embraced Wang Dada in his arms.

Zhang San knew that this was probably Wang Dada’s nephew, Wang Laohao.

Upon seeing her own husband’s elder uncle, the woman immediately thought of something and turned to call out to her child, about six or seven years old, to come over as well.

“Child, come and meet our family’s benefactor, call him great-grandfather.”

The kid couldn’t tell which of the several people at the door was his great-grandfather, apart from his own father, but one of them looked pretty handsome, so he knelt down and called out particularly loudly, “Great-grandfather, hello!”

Zhang San felt a bit embarrassed and pointed towards Wang Dada.

“Um… Your great-grandfather is here, I’m young, you can just call me ‘brother’.”

The woman twisted the little boy towards Wang Dada, and the child, quite reluctantly, called out in a quiet voice, “Great-grandfather, hello.”

The woman and Wang Laohao, along with the child, warmly welcomed everyone inside.

As soon as they entered the house, the family of three knelt down before Wang Dada.

“Elder uncle, we really owe you a lot!

Otherwise, I’m afraid my life would’ve truly been lost.”

The woman added, “When I first met him, I never imagined he would encounter such a situation.

If it weren’t for elder uncle, my husband might have been executed.”

“On behalf of the whole family, thank you!”

As she spoke, the woman began to kowtow.

The child didn’t understand why his mother was kowtowing, but ended up being pushed by her to kowtow as well.

Wang Laohao naturally kowtowed fervently towards his own elder uncle, the sounds echoing loudly.

Zhang San noticed that there was an extremely thin red line on Wang Laohao’s neck.

But upon closer inspection, he realized that it was not a line, but a vivid red mark growing on his neck.

Wang Dada helped his nephew and his family up, and though he had questions to ask, seeing that his nephew’s family was living happily, he didn’t feel it was right to ask.

Zhang San, unabashedly, directly asked, “We’ve been traveling for a while and are a bit tired; I wonder if there’s a compartment or another place where I could rest for a while.”

It was getting dark, and although Zhang San wasn’t very sleepy, the old grandpa was probably starting his night shift.

The woman immediately took Zhang San to a compartment on the side.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know we would have distinguished guests, and the house is a bit messy.

I’ll clean up a bit, please wait a moment.”

Zhao Siyang stared wide-eyed at Zhang San, pulling him outside the door and asked in a low voice, “Can you actually sleep in this place?”

Zhang San was stunned.

I’m not taking the college entrance exam, why wouldn’t I be able to sleep?

“I’m really tired.

Wouldn’t it be impolite to take a little nap at someone else’s home?”

“Don’t you see?”

Zhang San guessed that Zhao Siyang was referring to that red line on Wang Laohao’s neck that looked like a cut, but he deliberately said, “See what?”

Zhao Siyang pulled Zhang San a few steps forward, to the corner of the street, and had him look in the direction of the Jiang Mansion’s gate.

“Still can’t see?”

At that, Zhang San was confounded.

“What’s the matter?

You’re kept awake by jealousy because someone else is having their wedding night?

You’ve got a problem with your way of thinking, you know!”

Zhao Siyang couldn’t be bothered to engage in more idle talk with Zhang San and raised his hand to tap Zhang San’s left eye.

Countless runes seemed to converge above Zhang San’s left eye, then formed a precise mini formation.

In the next instant, Zhang San noticed that wherever his left eye glanced, it saw only eerie skeletons standing in front of the Jiang Mansion’s gate, clapping and cheering, or ghostly flames shaped like humans playing the suona…

The lively wedding procession scene was now nothing but a dance of a hundred ghosts.

Even though it was a noisy and festive street, through Zhang San’s left eye, not a single living person could be seen.

========

[Note 30]Reference explanation

This short story is taken from Gan Bao’s “In Search of the Supernatural” in “Xiahou Hong Sees a Ghost.” For those interested, you can search for it and see it for yourself.

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