A black curtain embroidered with a purple grape pattern hung across the middle of the room, obscuring the back half of the main hall. Behind the curtain, the faint outlines of furniture could be seen, but their exact forms were unclear.
The Witch stood behind the threshold, grasping a wooden staff wrapped in white cloth.
Reaching the entrance, Wang Laoshu took off his shoes. Without crossing the threshold, he turned his head and said, "Young Master, please enter."
The brilliant candlelight was behind him, casting his front in shadow and making his features look sinister.
The group exchanged glances again, their eyes finally settling on Sunshine Boy.
Sunshine Boy removed his shoes and stepped over the threshold.
The others followed Sunshine Boy’s example, taking off their shoes. But just as they were about to enter, Wang Laoshu blocked them.
"You may only stay outside. Only the Young Master can enter."
Inside the house, the Witch smiled. "Young Master, please have a seat and wait."
Sunshine Boy trod carefully across the pomegranate-patterned carpet and sat down on a chair.
The moment he made contact with the chair, Sunshine Boy’s expression shifted.
It was supposed to be a solid wood chair, but it felt as soft as a sofa when he sat down. A similarly soft sensation pressed against his back.
The armrests on either side were like the delicate arms of a beautiful woman—smooth and supple. The sensation was enough to stir one’s imagination, yet it was also utterly terrifying.
Sunshine Boy said nothing, secretly observing his surroundings.
The group stood barefoot outside the door, motionless.
A faint smile touched Hao Yunsheng’s lips, as if he were settling in to watch a good show.
The black curtain with the purple grape pattern trembled gently, rippling like a sheet of water.
From the center of the ripples, a pair of large, white hands emerged, holding a watermelon.
The pair of white hands were two feet long, with five-jointed fingers and smooth, rounded nails.
The arms were as thick as a grown man’s thigh—boneless and pliable, soft and pale like dough. Like a great white python, they extended slowly to place the watermelon in the center of the carpet.
The crowd looked closely. It had a yellow rind with green stripes and was over a foot tall—it was the very same watermelon they had carried from the Gua Field.
It looked like a normal watermelon, but for some reason, a heavy feeling weighed on everyone’s heart.
Sunshine Boy stared at the watermelon and could clearly hear a slapping sound coming from inside it.
The Witch fell to her knees and crawled over to the watermelon.
"Oh, my child..."
From behind the black, grape-patterned curtain came a soft and delicate voice. It was as tender as the flesh of her jade-like arms, drawing one in against their will.
Sunshine Boy sighed inwardly. He rose and bowed, saying, "Your son greets you, Mother."
The moment he spoke, Sunshine Boy felt an invisible force surge into his body, leaving him ice-cold and rigid. He could only sigh to himself. ’I knew this would happen.’
"Oh, my child, you’ve changed so much that Mother almost didn’t recognize you. Quick, enter this watermelon. It will be like returning to Mother’s womb, and Mother will bear the pain to birth you one more time."
Before anyone could react, the long, white arms extended through the air and seized Sunshine Boy.
Goosebumps erupted all over Sunshine Boy’s body like popping corn. He wanted to struggle, but for some reason, he had no strength. Limp and weak, he allowed the large hands to lift him over the watermelon.
The crowd outside watched in astonishment as Sunshine Boy shrank the closer he got to the watermelon. His clothes fell away, revealing the body of a pale, tender infant, only slightly larger than the watermelon itself.
The Blood Lotus on the infant’s abdomen was still there, but the Yellow Springs cloud on his left arm seemed to have vanished.
Sunshine Boy was stunned. He had thought the Deceitful Infant ritual was just for show. He never expected to actually turn into a "Sunshine Infant."
The Witch steadied the watermelon with both hands. One of the long white hands supported the Sunshine Infant, while the other gave him a light pat on the head.
PLOP...
Sunshine Boy looked down, his face a mask of resignation.
He had been shoved into the watermelon. Only his head and limbs stuck out, making him look like a baby wearing a watermelon rind suit.
"Oh, my child, who knew you’d be so big? A single watermelon isn’t enough to hold you." The Deceitful Mother’s voice was tinged with a faint sadness.
The hearts of the crowd trembled. ’Are they going to get a new, bigger watermelon?’
Hao Yunsheng dropped to his knees and kowtowed heavily. He then lifted his head and said in a soft, delicate voice, "Reporting to the Matriarch, if he doesn’t fit, we could remove his limbs and store them elsewhere, leaving only the head."
The Night Guard stared at Hao Yunsheng in horror. Even the Captain’s eyes flashed with anger.
’Hao Yunsheng, that bastard! He really was waiting for his chance,’ Sunshine Boy cursed inwardly. ’Fine by me. The oath is broken!’
"An excellent idea. Nanny Xiang, sever my son’s arms, set them aside, and then split the melon to take the child."
The Deceitful Mother’s voice was full of affection and tenderness. Sunshine Boy cursed Hao Yunsheng in his mind while trying to figure out her reasoning.
The Night Guard looked at Hao Yunsheng and shifted their feet slightly.
It was as if a vacuum had formed around Hao Yunsheng.
The candlelight from inside the house illuminated Hao Yunsheng’s face outside, casting his smile in a sinister and eerie light.
"As you command."
The Witch, Nanny Xiang, produced the pig-butchering knife that dripped black blood in her right hand. The blade was pitch-black, its edge snow-white. She grabbed Sunshine Boy’s right arm and swung the knife down at his shoulder joint.
THWACK!
The Night Guards’ hearts leaped. Sunshine Boy’s body trembled, and he was about to scream when... ’Huh? Why don’t I feel anything?’
Sunshine Boy turned his head to look. His pale, tender right arm was still there. In Nanny Xiang’s hand was a bloody locust tree branch.
Sunshine Boy froze for a second, then shrieked, "It hurts... It hurts so much! Hao Yunsheng, you’re trying to harm me! Hao Yunsheng, you’re so vicious! Mother, Hao Yunsheng is trying to harm me!"
"Oh, my child, just bear it for a moment. Just bear it. No matter who tries to harm you, Mother will kill them first. My child, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid..."
Hao Yunsheng’s face was filled with disappointment.
With swift chops of her knife, Nanny Xiang severed four branches and placed them on a tray.
Sunshine Boy stopped screaming after a while and looked at Hao Yunsheng with a smirk.
Hao Yunsheng lowered his head. He thought he had seized the perfect opportunity to turn Sunshine Boy into a human stump and cripple him completely, but the attack had been easily negated.
’I never expected the Life Substitution Wood Child to be so powerful,’ Hao Yunsheng thought.
"My child, one last cut. Just bear this one last cut," the Deceitful Mother’s voice trembled.
Nanny Xiang raised the pig-butchering knife high. The black oil in her eyes swirled into vortexes as she shrieked, "Splitting the melon! Birthing the baby! A chubby white boy is born!"
She brought the knife down vertically, aiming for the watermelon on Sunshine Boy’s chest.
CRACK!
The watermelon split in two.
Yellow rind, green stripes, white seeds, white flesh.
Beneath the watermelon, a thicker section of a locust tree trunk lay split in two, blood gushing from the center.
Sunshine Boy was covered in filth and blood. Within the blood, pale yellow streaks slithered over his body like tiny snakes.
The pale yellow streaks writhed slowly before burrowing into the infant’s body.
The hair at Hao Yunsheng’s left temple suddenly turned half-white. A small clump of hair, both black and white, rustled to the ground.
A few strands of hair fell from the back of every Night Guard’s head, but Hao Yunsheng lost the most.
Sunshine Boy felt the world spin as darkness flooded his vision. Suddenly, a large hand slapped him hard on the back, and he let out an involuntary, piercing cry.
"WAA... WAA... WAAAA..."
The infant’s screams tore through the night sky, echoing throughout the mountain village.
Outside the Five Goddess Temple, the sounds of drums, suonas, and a host of other instruments abruptly swelled to a high-pitched, piercing crescendo.
The villagers joined hands, circling the bonfire at a frantic pace, thrashing their heads, their eyes rolled back in their heads as they foamed at the mouth.
Outside the Deceitful Mother Hall, the Night Guard stared, their scalps tingling, at the infant held aloft in the large white hands.
"Take my son for the Hundred Fortunes Cleansing." The Deceitful Mother’s voice drifted from behind the black curtain. It was different now—much hoarser, much older, and thick with exhaustion.