The one who let out this cry was none other than Third Aunt, who had been fast asleep.

  Before Little Aunt fell asleep, everything was normal. In the second half of the night, San Ya vaguely heard the sound of someone getting out of bed. She thought it was Xiu who got up to pee, but this child usually didnt get up at night to pee. Why did she get up tonight? With the help of the moonlight outside the window, she saw that nine-year-old Xiuer had gotten out of bed. San Ya thought her little sister just got up to pee, so she didnt pay attention and turned over to continue sleeping.

  After about the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, San Yi was suddenly startled awake because she didnt feel her sister getting back into bed, so she turned her head to take a look.

  This brick didnt matter, but San Yi saw the most terrifying scene of her life. Her sister was kneeling in front of the window, facing the moon outside. A shiver ran down San Yis spine and she was thoroughly awakened from her daze. She adjusted her clothes, intentionally clearing her throat to muster up some courage, but there was no response. San Yi had always been timid since childhood, even a mouse could scare her half to death.

  Third Aunt softly called out to Little Aunt: "Xiu?" But her kneeling sister still didnt have any reaction.

  Third Aunt raised her voice again and shouted: Xiu? Whats wrong with you? But her sister still didnt respond.

  She hastily got out of bed, without even putting on her shoes, and rushed downstairs to see her sister. San Yi quickly walked barefoot a few steps towards her kneeling sister, put her hand on her back and tried to turn her over, but found that her usually weak sister was unexpectedly not moving. With the help of the moonlight, San Yi went around to the front to take a look, and saw the most unforgettable scene in her life: her kneeling sister, with a white wax candle in her mouth...

  At that time, rural areas often had no electricity, so people could only use candles as a substitute for electric light sources, and they were reluctant to use them.

  At this moment, Little Aunties mouth was chewing on a candle, her face was bloodless, her eyes were dull and lifeless, staring motionlessly at the moon. Third Auntie let out the loudest scream of her life: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh！！！！！！！！！

  This cry woke up Grandpa and Grandma, as well as the unmarried younger uncle, and also woke up Little Auntie who had been destined for hardship since birth.

  When the grandfather rushed into their room wearing his outer garment, Third Aunt was already speechless. With a "pa" sound, at the moment the electric light was turned on, Younger Aunt had fainted to the ground, and the bite marks on the candle next to her were clearly visible.

  When her grandfather picked up the daughter, he was also surprised by her complexion and the candle in her mouth. The whole family shifted their gaze to the third aunt who had fallen down.

  Grandma pulled up Third Aunt: "Whats going on? What happened to your sister?"

  The third aunt was so frightened that she couldnt speak, only her trembling body and chattering teeth told everyone that she seemed to have seen a very terrifying scene.

  Grandfather picked up the unconscious little aunt and put her on the bed, while grandmother held the trembling third aunt. The 12-year-old uncles small black dog, which he was holding in his arms, began to bark frantically as soon as they entered the room, letting out a piercing cry that sent chills down peoples spines. Grandmother impatiently told the little uncle to take the dog outside, but after it left, it continued to wail at the door without coming back in.

  The grandma was also getting annoyed, so she shouted at the dog: "Bark again! Bark again and Ill slaughter you!" Its strange to say, but after that loud shout, the black dog was actually scared out of its wits and urinated, then tucked its tail between its legs and ran back to its kennel.

  After a while, the third aunt gradually calmed down and told her grandparents what she had seen, making their hair stand on end. After finishing speaking, the third aunt couldnt help but start crying again, but was covered by her grandmothers hand: "Dont cry!"

  Third Aunt could only hold back her fear, panting heavily, and after a while, Fourth Aunt started to move around dazedly, then began vomiting violently. What she vomited up was mixed with stinky stuff, including the candle she had just eaten, as well as half-digested dinner, truly a colorful mess that made one feel nauseous.

  My grandmother actually knew some traditional medicine, so late at night there was no other way, she made a bitter tea for my aunt to drink. I also drank this bitter tea when I was young at my grandmothers house, it was very effective in treating children who had eaten something bad. Specifically, it used the dried skin of chicken gizzards from our home, added with tea leaves and roasted on an iron plate over a fire, after roasting until fragrant, grind into powder and drink with water, can eliminate food stagnation in children, said to have the effect of dispelling evil spirits and aiding digestion, really quite effective.

  Grandma used the old method of giving enemas to kids who had eaten something bad, and tried to give Auntie an enema, but Auntie clenched her teeth tightly shut and wouldnt let it in. Occasionally when some did get in, she would spit it out again.

  In the end, they had no choice but to let Grandpa pry open Little Aunts mouth and have Little Uncle hold down her kicking feet, while Grandma forcibly poured a lot of it down.

  After drinking the bitter tea, Xiaoyi finally calmed down for a while. However, San Yi dared not sleep anymore. So, her grandparents stayed in Xiaoyis room to accompany her to sleep and let San Yi and Xiao Shu go back to their own room to sleep.

  At this time, the little aunt was a bit awake, and after a while, she stopped vomiting and started having diarrhea again. This repeated back and forth until dawn, and my grandparents didnt sleep all night, rushing to send her to the towns health clinic early the next morning.

  The people at the clinic took a look and said that it was probably food poisoning, so they gave my aunt an intravenous drip for acute gastroenteritis. The nurse had just inserted the needle into my aunts arm when she suddenly pulled it out, refusing to cooperate with the doctors treatment. In the end, the doctor had no choice but to use a buttock injection instead, and my grandfather had to hold her down tightly to prevent her from moving around. After all this commotion for half a day, my aunt was only vomiting bitter water nonstop. The doctor at the township clinic suggested that my grandmother take her to the county hospital, which has better medical conditions, for further examination.

  That noon, my grandparents took my little uncle and aunt to take the bus to the county town. After getting on the bus, because of carsickness, grandma held my little aunt and chose a seat by the window. At that time, the bus was very crowded, with many people squeezing in from outside, including my little uncle and grandfather.

  Grandma rolled down the car window to get some air, and suddenly my little aunt darted out of the window and was caught by Grandpa outside. My little aunt cried and shouted: "Mom, take me to the hospital, Im dying from this illness, take me home..." No matter how Grandpa comforted her, she just wouldnt stop crying and refused to get back in the car. She was only nine years old that year. My uncle later told me what my little aunt had said, as he was there at the time. However, when I asked my little aunt about it, she said she didnt remember anything except for being seriously ill once when she was a child, and everything else was unclear to her.

  As soon as they got outside, the grandfather stuffed Little Aunt back into the car through the window. This time, Grandma held onto Little Aunt tightly, grasping her firmly and ignoring her cries and shouts. The car carried the familys uneasy hearts slowly towards the county town.

  Arrived at the county hospital, holding the introduction letter from the town hospital, the hospital immediately arranged for my aunt to be hospitalized. After the doctors examination, she was initially treated as if she had eaten something bad. During the treatment, my aunt would often take advantage of the adults inattention and run out of the hospital. In the end, when there was no other choice, my grandmother resolutely used a cloth strip to tie up my aunt, not even daring to sleep. Several people took turns watching her, and even going to the bathroom had to be solved within the ward, where she didnt dare let her go out anymore.

  In 1986, everyones condition was generally poor, and the hospital also had a canteen. At first, every time my grandmother brought food from the canteen for my little aunt, it was either knocked over or not touched at all, relying on nutrient solution to sustain her.

  It was probably the third day of hospitalization, and that noon, my grandmother went to the cafeteria to fetch food as usual. The rice she brought back was half-cooked, or what we commonly call "undercooked rice". Whats strange is that this bowl of undercooked rice in front of my little aunt made her drool, and for the first time, she opened her mouth and said she wanted to eat.

  The grandma was shocked to see her undress the cloth strip, and the little aunt finished a bowl of half-cooked rice in just a few mouthfuls, shouting that she still wanted to eat. As a result, the half-cooked rice held by the grandparents, second aunt, and younger uncle were all eaten by the little aunt alone, her belly was very swollen, but she shouted that she still wanted to eat. This scared the whole family, and the grandmother quickly went to find a doctor to come over. The doctor took one look at the child and said there was no way she could eat anymore, even the IV tube was pulled out, and after feeding her some digestive enzymes, he left.

  At dinner time, the rice was normal again, and Little Auntie stopped eating. I thought she had eaten too much at noon, but on the second day, third day, no matter how good the dishes were placed in front of Little Auntie, she wouldnt open her mouth. This situation continued until the fourth night.

  That night, my aunt still wouldnt eat. Looking at her getting thinner and thinner, my grandma was heartbroken and tried everything to coax her into eating, but nothing worked. In desperation, my grandma went out and bought a serving of congee for my aunt to try. As expected, my aunt ate it all up and kept eating until her belly was full again. The doctor couldnt explain why this happened, he just warned us not to give her congee anymore, saying that childrens digestive systems are originally weak and this kind of food would only make her condition worse.

  Two days later, no one at home dared to give her undercooked rice again. The doctor was also baffled by Xiaoyis condition, and it continued until the seventh day when Xiaoyi suddenly fainted again, started convulsing, and foaming at the mouth. Her heart rate and blood pressure began to drop, and the doctor said, "Youd better prepare for the worst. This child may not make it. I dont know what disease this is."

  At that time, my grandmother was very strong and didnt cry. She only said one sentence: "Even if we die, we cant die in the hospital. No matter what, we have to pull him back home!" After saying that, she immediately called a car to take him back to their old home. On the way back, my grandmother suddenly remembered the crazy Taoist priest from years ago and asked my grandfather to go find him again. However, it had already been nine years since they passed by here, and there was no phone or business card at that time. In the vast sea of people, where could they start looking?

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