After pausing for a moment, Uncle Gazi said, "I can't think of a good solution right now. I'll go check on the boy's condition. You two take Yuntou back to where we're staying for now. Maybe his condition will improve soon, and then I can gently talk to Mr. Qian to give him some mental preparation."
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're all outsiders anyway; there's no reason for us to make decisions for their matters. Let's see what Uncle Qian and the others think first."
"Then let's head back for now. Staying here won't help much," Xu Shu said.
We hadn't even turned to leave when a sharp scream came from the activity room not far away.
It was Sister Qian's voice!
Before we could fully react, the piercing scream intensified, almost turning into a shrill, crying, and panicked yell, punctuated by the exclamations of others.
"What's happening?" Yangyang asked.
"Let's go check first," I said, stepping forward and running toward the sound, constantly thinking about what might have happened.
Given Sister Qian's terrified cries, it was clear something had happened to Brother Qian.
We weren't far from the house, and when we reached the doorway, Sister Qian's cries were still ongoing.
The door was open, and the room was already packed with people.
I was blocked at the entrance and could only crane my neck to see what was going on inside.
Han Xue followed, weaving through the crowd like a little mouse and forcefully opening a path.
Uncle Gazi and I followed her through the gap she created.
Even though I had prepared myself mentally, I still couldn't help but be shocked when I saw the scene: Brother Qian was lying on the bed, his eyes still rolling back, blood continuously dripping from the corners of his mouth.
His body trembled faintly, giving the impression of a final, feeble struggle.
Beside the bed stood Uncle and Aunt Qian, crying and calling out their son's name, while Sister Qian sat at the head of the bed, holding Brother Qian's head with a towel soaked in blood.
Her face was pale and expressionless, but her mouth remained open, screaming piercingly.
Brother Qian's son, nicknamed Xiao Hu, slightly older than Tingyun, stood at the bedside, carefully tugging at his mother's sleeve with one hand and pointing at his father with the other, asking Han Xue, "Sister, what's wrong with my dad?"
Han Xue's expression changed immediately.
She glanced at Brother Qian, who was still unresponsive, and said to Xiao Hu, "Your dad is sick. You have to behave and not make your mom upset."
Li Yuxin had already reached an age where she could understand things.
She stood behind Xiao Hu, looking at Brother Qian, as if she had realized something, her eyes brimming with tears, on the verge of crying.
Li Yuxin's mother, who was Brother Qian's own sister, also came over to stand beside Uncle and Aunt Qian, wiping her tears and trying to say something quietly to them.
Originally, Uncle Qian, who had been crying so much he seemed about to collapse, suddenly shouted at her after hearing her words: "No! If he dies, he dies beside us! Absolutely not!"
His voice was so loud that it brought on a violent coughing fit.
I glanced again at Brother Qian on the bed, still spitting blood, and tilted my head to ask Uncle Gazi, "Uncle Gazi, have you ever seen anything like this? How can Brother Qian be like this?"
Uncle Gazi withdrew his worried gaze from Uncle Qian and replied, "I've never seen it myself. My wife never had this issue either. I have heard, though, that severe seizures can cause vomiting of blood… but this kid's situation doesn't seem quite right."
No sooner had Uncle Gazi finished speaking than Brother Qian, who had been nearly motionless, suddenly convulsed violently again, leaving all of us stunned.
Sister Qian was the first to react, tightly holding his head and shouting at us, "Quick! Hold him down! Hold him down!"
I, Uncle Gazi, and a few others nearby hurried forward to restrain Brother Qian's body.
His convulsions were so severe that even five or six of us together could barely control him.
Uncle and Aunt Qian were pulled to Sister Qian's side by Li Yuxin's mother, watching helplessly as their son thrashed, crying in heartbreak and fear.
I've never been able to bear seeing elderly people cry, and looking at Uncle and Aunt Qian now, my heart immediately ached.
I had no choice but to turn away and try not to look at them.
Then, while I was momentarily distracted, Brother Qian, who had been convulsing violently, suddenly stopped moving.
Immediately, a gurgling sound came from his throat, as if something was stuck there.
"Quick! Straighten his neck, tap his chest and back, get whatever's stuck in his throat out!" Uncle Gazi shouted at Sister Qian, who was at a loss for what to do.
"Oh… oh…" Sister Qian reacted belatedly, straightening Brother Qian's head and reaching toward his chest to tap.
But at that moment, Brother Qian suddenly sprayed a stream of black, foul-smelling blood from his mouth.
Sister Qian couldn't react in time; the black blood splashed all over her face.
She had no chance to scream—her body shuddered violently, and she could only use the same towel she had been using to wipe Brother Qian's blood to frantically wipe her own face.
Han Xue reacted fairly quickly.
Seeing the situation, she hurriedly grabbed a towel from the nearby rack, soaked it with water, and rushed over to wipe Sister Qian's face.
The rest of us were all stunned by the sudden turn of events, standing frozen once again.
It was only after quite a while, when the bloodstains on Sister Qian's face had mostly been wiped away and she was able to speak, that we finally came back to our senses.
I had to admit, though Sister Qian could be a bit harsh at times, she truly cared for Brother Qian.
Just moments ago she had been sprayed in the face with foul-smelling blood, yet not only did she not frown, she was now carefully wiping away the large streaks of blood at the corners of Brother Qian's mouth.
I turned my gaze toward Brother Qian, who had finally quieted down, and was just about to carefully examine his condition when—like a flash of lightning—blurred images suddenly shot through my mind.
A vague but strong feeling welled up in me, as though I had forgotten something very important.
Xiao Xue...
Black blood!!!
When the scene of Xiao Xue's death finally froze in my mind, it was like a sudden enlightenment—at last I realized what it was I had forgotten!
If Uncle Gazi's and my earlier guess was correct, then what Brother Qian had was epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures can indeed be very serious, but after all, they are only an ordinary illness.
There's no way such a condition could cause someone to spit out black blood.
And yet, at this very moment...
I glanced again at the now-quiet Brother Qian.
Sister Qian, still completely unaware, was gently wiping the blood from his face.
Xu Shu and Shen Feng were still stuck at the outer edges of the crowd, unable to squeeze inside.
In a way, I felt relieved—otherwise, if Shen Feng saw this scene, he might recall the circumstances of Xiao Xue's death.
At that point, Uncle Gazi also seemed to realize something.
He turned to look at me, then stretched out a trembling hand toward Brother Qian.
"What are you doing?" Sister Qian noticed Uncle Gazi's movement, her face twisting strangely as she asked aloud.
Uncle Gazi didn't answer her.
He simply placed his hand right in front of Brother Qian's nose.
Only then did Sister Qian understand what he was doing.
Her expression suddenly changed, as if something had bitten her, contorting into a ferocious snarl.
Shoving Uncle Gazi hard, she shouted angrily: "You old bastard, what the hell are you doing? My husband's perfectly fine, and here you are cursing him to death!"
Uncle Gazi stumbled backward from her push, nearly falling.
I quickly caught him from behind to steady him.
"You okay?" I asked, worried.
Uncle Gazi didn't respond to me.
He only looked at Brother Qian twice, then shook his head slightly and said quietly: "He's gone."
The moment those words left his mouth, we all heard a heavy thud.
Aunt Qian collapsed straight onto the floor, her entire face going blank.
From her lips came a dull, unconscious cry: "My son... my son..."
Clearly, she had understood Uncle Gazi's meaning and words.
"G-Gazi... my friend, don't scare us like this. You can't just say such unlucky things out loud!" Uncle Qian's face was full of disbelief.
Though he tried to sound doubtful, his trembling voice betrayed him.
At that, Uncle Gazi straightened up, sighed deeply, and lowered his head, helplessly waving his hand.
The instant Uncle Qian saw this, his face abruptly twisted.
He clutched his chest, eyes bulging wide, let out a muffled groan, and fell straight backward.
That was when the people around truly panicked.
They rushed forward to catch him, forming a circle around.
Some pinched his philtrum, others pressed at his chest—the whole place instantly descended into complete chaos.
Aunt Qian had collapsed on the ground, but no one paid her any attention.
Sister Qian was still holding Brother Qian's head, frantically wiping at him.
Since the towel was already soaked with blood, her desperate rubbing only smeared it all over, leaving Brother Qian's pale face looking disturbingly eerie.
Uncle Gazi had gone along with the crowd to check on Uncle Qian's condition, so in front of Brother Qian it was only me, Han Xue, Li Yuxin, and Xiao Hu standing there.
"Mom..." Xiao Hu, frightened by the scene before him, called out softly and cautiously to Sister Qian.
Hearing this, Sister Qian—her face stiff and twisted with grief—slowly turned her head toward him.
Her lips trembled uncontrollably.
During that time, I kept my eyes firmly fixed on Brother Qian, silently trying to calculate how long it had taken last time between Xiao Xue's death and her strange awakening.
Just then, it was as if Sister Qian suddenly came to terms with reality.
Her emotions collapsed in an instant.
She opened her mouth, at first unable to make a sound, tears streaming nonstop down her cheeks.
After a long moment, a sharp cry finally broke from her throat, followed by a wave of raw, agonized wailing:
"Husband—Da Dong... Da Dong! Wake up... You were fine just a moment ago... Hurry and wake up!"
Sister Qian cried with every ounce of strength she had, each agonized sentence dragged out into a long, quavering sound.
I worried beside her that she might suffocate or faint from the effort.
Han Xue stepped forward, supporting her from behind, speaking gently in an attempt to console her.
But before long, Han Xue herself was overcome by Sister Qian's grief, her own voice breaking as she too began sobbing.
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