Chapter 48:

“Big brother, could you help fix her tombstone, please?”

The oppressive heat, as sweltering as midsummer, was suddenly pierced by a faint breeze carrying a hint of coolness.

Snowflakes began to drift from the night sky, melting softly in the flames and the oil pan’s heat, gradually dispelling the suffocating intensity.

Xu Siya’s expression froze. In a daze, she asked, “Second sister?!”

The next moment, the strange little girl who had twice appeared behind Lu Lingxi materialized again.

This time, Lu Lingxi seemed to sense her presence. He lifted his head abruptly, staring at the familiar cotton coat he had mended with his own hands and in a low voice, he said, “It’s you!”

Following Lu Lingxi’s gaze, the village chief, his wife, and the other villagers turned to see the strange little girl appear at the Xu family’s front gate.

She still looked exactly like Xu Siya but had pitch-black eyes filled with an otherworldly depth, making it clear she wasn’t human.

The murmurs among the villagers grew louder.

“Wait, this… this isn’t Erya!”

“Why does she look exactly like Siya?”

Someone grumbled, “Who kept saying it was Erya’s ghost causing trouble? Why hasn’t anyone actually seen her ghost?”

The village chief’s wife whispered, “I think it was Erya’s own mother who said it first!”

“Seems like it,” another agreed.

“I remember that too!”

Some people shook their heads, saying, “It’s been too long, I can’t recall clearly.”

Jing Qizhen kept his gaze on the Xu family courtyard.

It seemed the hand-pumped well had some power to suppress Xu Siya. Otherwise, the woman wouldn’t cling to it so desperately. Still, the exact nature of the well’s significance remained unclear.

Unexpectedly, upon seeing the strange little girl, Xu Siya didn’t show excitement at meeting the sister she cared about most. Instead, her face filled with astonishment and she lost control as she shook her head frantically. Her voice turned sharp, piercing like a blade through their ears, “You’re not my second sister! Who are you?!”

The sudden turn of events stunned Jing Qizhen and the others.

The weird little girl stared at Xu Siya for a moment before casually turning her head away. Her gaze landed on Lu Lingxi again and she blinked with a playful smile. “Little-big brother Lu!”

Lu Lingxi: “…”

A chill ran down his spine once more.

The village chief and his wife were equally bewildered.

Although they’d heard about the strange little girl from Jing Qizhen and his companions, seeing her in person was far different from what they had imagined…

Jing Qizhen directly asked the weird little girl, “You seem very interested in Lu Lingxi, don’t you?”

“Mm-hmm… I heard you call him Little-big brother Lu. His name sounds nice and his eyes are very pretty,” the strange little girl responded with a nod, her voice still soft and childlike.

Manman muttered under her breath, “So, it’s because of his surname and his Bambi-like eyes that she fixated on him.”

Lu Lingxi: “…”

Snowflakes began falling from the night sky.

At first, the pure white flakes silently melted in the boiling oil. Gradually, as the snowfall intensified, the searing heat of midsummer receded, replaced by the chill of winter.

The abrupt weather change silenced the chattering villagers. Watching the snow, unease crept into their expressions.

As the snow thickened, flakes landed on the flames and pans of oil, occasionally causing sizzling splashes.

Jing Qizhen felt puzzled. It seemed the power of the strange little girl, likely Xu Erya, was now overwhelming Xu Siya’s influence.

With the growing snowfall, the oil pan hell vision began to fade gradually like an illusion.

“Who are you, really?” Xu Siya clutched her ‘Journey to Hell’ tightly, her piercing gaze fixed on the weird little girl who looked almost identical to her.

Jing Qizhen also turned to the strange little girl. After a long pause, he quietly asked, “Xu Erya?”

The weird little girl didn’t answer, her dark eyes focused on Xu Siya.

The two girls stood facing each other, eerily similar in appearance, both wearing patchwork cotton-padded coats typical of rural villages in the 1990s. Their faces and hands bore faint scars, making them look like twin sisters or like a mystical reflection on the border between light and shadow.

At that moment, the Xu family’s mother, who had been clutching the well’s pump handle, suddenly rushed forward while holding a kitchen knife. Her face was twisted with fear, ghastly and savage. Driven to the brink of madness by terror, she raised the knife and swung it wildly at the strange little girl.

“You monster! Die! Die!”

Jing Qizhen shouted, “Watch out!”

Despite her frenzied attack, the woman was unskilled. Jing Qizhen acted swiftly, pulling the strange little girl out of harm’s way as she was standing directly in the woman’s path at the doorway.

Lu Lingxi and Yan Hong acted with seamless coordination. One disarmed the woman, while the other prepared to subdue her.

However, just as the scene of the oil pan hell, which had been fading into a phantom projection, seemed to vanish, it suddenly erupted outward again, with Xu Siya standing in the center.

The snowflakes outside did not disappear but this time, the flames of the oil pan hell condensed intensely around Xu Siya.

Jin Guijuan felt a sudden void in her heart and blurted out, “What are you doing?!”

Xu Siya didn’t respond. The barefoot little girl suddenly unleashed a strength far beyond her small body.

Just as Lu Lingxi managed to wrest the knife from the woman’s hand, Xu Siya lunged forward, wrapping her arms around the woman’s waist and hurling her into a massive oil cauldron that had appeared nearby.

The village chief and his wife were horrified, crying out in shock, “—Ahhh!”

Xu Siya and the woman crashed into the oil cauldron together. What once seemed like an illusory projection now splashed searing oil everywhere.

The flames beneath the cauldron roared higher as the oil spilled over, shooting several meters into the air.

Lu Lingxi and Yan Hong hastily stepped back, yet a few drops of boiling oil still landed on their clothes. Even through the fabric, the heat was unbearable and forced them a sharp intake of breath.

Manman quickly pulled Grandma Fang and Old Xiao back a few steps, ensuring they avoided the scalding oil.

Jin Guijuan stared blankly at the scene in the oil cauldron, her lips trembling as she struggled to regain composure.

The Xu family woman let out bloodcurdling screams of agony as she was submerged in the cauldron.

Xu Siya, too, had fallen in. Her scarred face and hands immediately showed dark burns from the boiling oil.

As the woman struggled violently, hot oil splattered continuously, making it impossible for anyone to stand within several meters of the cauldron.

Yet, the oil within the cauldron showed no signs of depletion.

Xu Siya clung tightly to the woman’s waist to prevent her from climbing out of the cauldron. Her voice, initially shrill and anguished, grew fainter amidst the splattering oil until it finally disappeared.

Xu Siya’s hands were covered in burns. When the woman eventually ceased struggling, Xu Siya slowly lifted her burned and scarred face. Ignoring the strange little girl who resembled her, she turned her gaze to Jin Guijuan.

Jin Guijuan met her eyes and, after a long pause, moved her lips silently to say, “Siya.”

Xu Siya raised her small, burn-covered hand and tossed ‘Journey to Hell’, untouched by the boiling oil, toward Jin Guijuan. Her scarred face twisted with effort as she said, “Guijuan-jie, I’m sorry.”

Jin Guijuan burst into tears, covering her mouth and shaking her head vehemently, unable to say a word.

The abrupt chain of events had left everyone stunned. The strange little girl, who had been pulled aside by Jing Qizhen, stood frozen. Watching Xu Siya who was once nearly identical to her but now looked barely human, the little girl trembled with instinctive fear.

Burns spread rapidly across Xu Siya’s body. She turned her gaze to Jing Qizhen, her dimming eyes filled with final hope and a plea.

Soon, her frail figure was consumed by the flames beneath the oil cauldron. In the end, only a faint, childlike voice emerged intermittently from the roaring inferno, “Big brother, second sister’ tombstone is embedded in the base of the pump well. Could you help fix her tombstone, please?”

Jing Qizhen’s throat tightened. After a long pause, he nodded with difficulty, his voice hoarse as he promised, “I will.”

The oil pan hell scene reflecting Xu Siya’s figure flared brightly one last time before vanishing completely.

The nightmare that had plagued the village—the fiery oil pan hell—was gone. In its place remained the faint, lingering sound of a young girl’s soft voice singing the haunting melody of the nursery rhyme ‘Jingle Bells,’ though no one could pinpoint when it started.

Finally, with a faint ‘tick-tock’ sound from the music box, the fully wound spring returned to its position and the music box fell silent.

The snow fell noiselessly.

The weird little girl stood frozen, staring in the direction where Xu Siya had disappeared. Snowflakes swirled through the air and blanketed the world in silver, erasing all traces of the past.

The snowfall grew heavier.

The little girl’s figure gradually became transparent.

The silhouette that looked identical to Xu Siya gradually faded away to reveal the translucent figure of a fifteen-year-old girl.

Xu Erya turned and smiled, her gentle features bearing a resemblance to Xu Siya’s.

“To remain in the mortal world a bit longer to watch over Siya, I drew vitality from the plants on the mountain… and lost myself in the process. Now, I can finally return that vitality.”

She bowed slightly, then took two steps toward where Xu Siya had vanished. Her final spirit dissolved silently into the falling snow.

The murky night sky suddenly cleared.

The seemingly endless snowfall subsided with the fading melody of the nursery rhyme.

Earth’s voice piped up in distress, “Little Jin’, what do we do now? QAQ. Why do I feel so awful? Dis’ is unbearable… ugh.”

Jing Qizhen: “…”

(need final revision)