When I heard Lin Er Dang's mother say this, I couldn't help but want to laugh. When he was a child, he was often beaten for being picky about food. Now that he's eating a lot, it's actually scaring his mother. I approached and asked Er Dang, "Are you sure you're okay now?"
Er Dang patted his chest and said, "You know what, I actually feel great."
As I looked at his stomach, I felt strange. He finished an entire pot of chicken soup, and twenty large steamed buns, but his belly wasn't bulging much, and he didn't seem to have any problems.
"Aren't you stuffed?" I asked.
"I'm starving, don't you know, Xiao Fan? You promised to take me to a good meal last time, come on, let's go to town!" Lin Er Dang grabbed my arm.
"Bai Zhenzhu, I'm going to see that fat man and take a look. Er Dang probably has two hungry ghosts inside him. We only drove one out," I said.
Lin Er Dang's family was alarmed when they heard this— he still had another starving ghost inside him?
"He still has another starving ghost inside him," I said. When I said this, the policewoman burst into laughter. It was the first time I had seen her laugh, and for that moment, I was even a bit dazed— truly, she looked quite charming when she laughed. My frivolous statement was believed by Lin Er Dang's family, and they pulled me to find Mr. Liu, the fat man. His status had completely changed in the villagers' eyes. The commotion had made the villagers scared to go out at night for quite some time.
Seeing real ghosts was much scarier than imagining red coffins. But jokes aside, I was determined to find Lin Er Dang. Even if Lin Er Dang was physically fine, his good home was not going to survive his eating habits. Lin Er Dang's family following me wasn't going to help, that fat man was someone not easily convinced to help.
The fat man jumped up and pointed at the female police officer, saying, "Little girl, do you believe that I, the fat lord, can use magic to make you have your period for 29 days every month?"
"Do you believe I can arrest you now for threatening a police officer?" said the female police officer.
The fat man wiped off the chicken soup from his face and muttered, "A real man doesn't fight with women." He said to me, "Kid, go and get a towel for me."
"No, you can't go!" The female officer immediately yelled at me when I wasn't even ready to go. But now that the female officer had said that, I went. Who did she think she was to order me around? Does being pretty mean she can boss me around like this?
Not only did I help the fat man get the towel, but I also handed it to him, saying, "Fat lord, first wipe your face, don't act like a shrew. A real man doesn't fight with women."
The fat man nodded and said, "Young man, I'm starting to like you more and more. You have a bright future ahead!"
Right after that, I was kicked in the butt, almost causing me to embrace the fat man. I turned around and scolded, "Are you crazy?" Then, I saw Lin Sanshui coming back with two bottles of wine. When he saw the police, his face changed and he asked, "Why are the police here again? What are you standing here for, come, sit inside." We entered the house, Lin Sanshui opened the wine, this time it was Erguotou of Niulan Mountain. When I saw it, I remembered the last time I drank a big bottle of Erguotou, and now the smell of alcohol made me want to vomit. Quickly, I stopped him, saying, "Uncle Sanshui, let's not drink now. I came this time to find Uncle Liu, I have something to ask. That Lin Er is awake now, but there's a problem, he eats enough for three days in just one meal."
At first, Lin Sanshui smiled and said, "Eating more is not a bad thing. After being hungry for a week, it’s good to have a feast. But when he heard the amount of food Lin Er ate in one meal, his expression changed and said, "Is such a thing possible?"
After that, he asked the fat man, "Mr. Liu, do you think this is true, as Xiaofan said, that Er Egg was reincarnated by a starving ghost?"
The fat man took a sip of wine and said, "A bunch of nonsense. But speaking of this matter, I have to go and see it. What's going on in your Lin family village? It's very mysterious. I’ve seen many cases of possession, but to see a Yin spirit squeeze a person’s soul out of their body, that's my first time. Let’s go, let's go and see how this guy can eat so much."
When the fat man mentioned the mysterious events in the Lin family village, I met Lin Sanshui's eyes. It was like an unspoken understanding. Mysterious events have been happening since my grandfather’s passing, one after another. So, is there any necessary connection in all these events?
We arrived at Lin Er’s house, and the fat man said he wanted to check on Lin Er. At first, Lin Er refused, claiming he was in good health and had strength all over. Why would he need an examination? Just when he had caused a stir, he wanted to see Mr. Liu. now if he could still stay in the Lin family village?
The fat man circled Lin Er, even taking out a small compass from his bag to look at Lin Er's body, frowning and saying, "Strange, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong."
"Young man, you say you are now strong all over. Come, see if you can hit me as hard as you can. Don't worry, hit with all your might. I spent eight years practicing the Iron Cloth in the Shaolin Temple." The fat man took off his bag and put it on the ground, demonstrating a horse stance.
"I won't hit you. I can feel it, one punch from me can kill you," Lin Er said, glancing at the fat man.
"If I ask you to hit, then hit, no need for chatter. If you can push me back three steps, today you can eat as much as you want, and I'll treat," the fat man said.
Lin Er was extremely hungry, so when he heard about eating, his eyes lit up. He said, “Really?”
“Fat lord I am known for doing what I say. Hurry up!” The fat man said.
"Great!" Lin Er walked happily towards the fat man, blew on his fist and exerted all his strength with a punch to the fat man's chest. Lin Er was as thin as a stick, and in front of the fat man, he looked like a small chick. This guy was unwilling to work before, just a lazy son of the family, weak and listless. I thought it was very unlikely for him to push back the fat man three steps. However, when his punch hit the fat man's chest, the fat man's face instantly turned a liverish color. In our stupefaction, the fat man's huge figure flew backwards, about three meters, and then collided with the yard wall of Lin Er's house. The village walls were made of mud and not very sturdy, and the fat man hit it so hard that it broke apart for a big chunk of it.
Everyone present, including Lin Er himself, looked stunned at their own fists.
In a matter of seconds, Bai Zhenzhu and Lin Er's father rushed towards the fat man, who was lying on the ground, coughing up blood. Lin Er's mother, on the other hand, went to Lin Er and slapped him, scolding, "You ungrateful fellow! How could you strike someone who saved your life!"
While hitting Lin Er, his mother looked at the fat man. This punch was so fierce that I thought she was afraid the fat man might be killed by it.
"Mom, why are you hitting me? It was he who asked me to hit him!" Lin Er still claimed in a wronged tone.
The fat man was helped up by Bai Zhenzhu, looking extremely disheveled and spitting blood again. After which, he looked at Lin Er. His eyes were shining and he said to them, "I'm fine right? With just that punch, what can it really do to me?"
"Don't worry, this kid is fine. How much he wants to eat, the fat lord will treat you," the fat man said, with a seemingly happy expression after being punched.
"This is impossible! My second son was weak before, how is this possible?" Bai Zhenzhu said.
Ignoring Bai Zhenzhu, the fat man instead stared at Lin Er and said, "During your out-of-body experience, what exactly did you experience?!"