The Unseen Threat

　　Chubby, still unable to speak, could only cry – big, fat tears rolling down his face.

　　 Liu Er was not impressed.

　　"What are you, a baby? It's a scratch, stop carrying on!"

　　 He was about to get back to work when I interrupted.

　　"It's not just that, Liu Er. That blasted rooster came back and pecked him again! Three more times!"

　　Liu Er glanced around the yard, but the rooster was long gone.

　　"Well, he's not here now, is he?" He shooed me away. "Go feed the dog, I'll be done in a minute."

　　I sighed.

　　Poor Chubby looked utterly defeated.

　　There was nothing I could do but toss the dry buns I'd found to the big yellow dog.

　　He sniffed at them, gave me a dirty look, and then went and sulked in a corner.

　　Just then, as if things weren't chaotic enough, that darn rooster reappeared out of nowhere.

　　He made a beeline for the dog's food, snatched a bun in his beak, and made a run for it.

　　Well, the dog might not have wanted those dry buns, but he definitely didn't want the rooster to have them.

　　He shot out of his corner like a furry rocket, barking wildly, and gave chase.

　　The panicked rooster, with the dog hot on its tail, made a dash for Liu Er, scampering right between his legs.

　　Except, the dog, laser focused on the feathered thief, didn't even slow down.

　　Sixty pounds of dog slammed right into Liu Er.

　　Liu Er, who at that very moment was using tweezers to apply anti-inflammatory cream to Chubby's very sensitive area.

　　Let's just say, the tweezers did not stay where they were supposed to.

　　I swear I felt it, too.

　　A collective gasp went through the entire courtyard.

　　Chubby went from screaming to silent in an instant.

　　The poor kid fainted dead away.

　　And that's how I ended up taking my first ambulance ride.

　　It was decided that Chubby needed proper medical attention, and Liu Er insisted I go along to explain what had happened.

　　After all, who would believe him?

　　By some miracle, Chubby was going to be alright.

　　When he finally woke up, he looked like he'd been run over by a truck, but at least he was alive.

　　I was so relieved – I'd really started to think that maybe I was cursed and he was taking the brunt of it.

　　We were placed in a shared ward, and it turned out Chubby had a roommate – Wang!

　　It seemed they'd managed to patch him up after his tumble from the donkey cart.

　　He was bruised and battered, but conscious.

　　He caught my eye across the room and gave me a strange, unsettling smile.

　　And that's when I saw it – a faint, reddish glow swirling above his head.

　　I couldn't explain it, but it filled me with a sense of dread.

　　Meanwhile, my parents and grandpa had been searching everywhere for me.

　　They'd turned the village upside down!

　　 Finally, someone told them about the ambulance and they rushed to the hospital, terrified that something terrible had happened to me.

　　Granny Liu arrived shortly after.

　　It was my birthday – my ninth – and she'd had a bad feeling about the whole day.

　　She'd even pinpointed it as the day my third calamity would hit.

　　She was afraid for me, especially when she found out I was in the hospital.

　　When she saw I was fine, and the one in the bed was Chubby, a wave of relief washed over her.

　　Grandpa was beside himself with guilt for falling asleep after a few drinks, letting me wander off like that.

　　My dad, on the other hand, was ready to give me a good talking to, but Granny Liu stopped him.

　　"Don't you dare lay a finger on that boy! Have you forgotten about Zhang's fifth son? Or Ma's wife?"

　　My dad thought better of it.

　　There seemed to be a direct correlation between me getting into trouble and other people suffering the consequences.

　　My own father was scared to punish me!

　　Granny Liu's eyes scanned the room and landed on Wang.

　　The blood drained from her face.

　　 She muttered something under her breath and told us to leave, immediately.

　　My parents and grandpa had no idea what was going on, but they trusted Granny Liu.

　　We left the hospital as quickly as we could.

　　Back home, Granny Liu explained that Wang was on his way out.

　　She'd sensed a powerful aura of death surrounding him.

　　He didn't have long.

　　 Now it made sense.

　　That reddish glow above his head… it must have been his death aura.

　　Granny Liu had been worried that if I stayed in that room too long, some of it might latch onto me…

　　Especially since, according to her, today was supposed to be my unlucky day.

　　We were barely home an hour before news came that Wang had passed.

　　There was no explanation, he just…died.

　　The villagers figured the fall from the donkey cart had simply been too much for his old heart.

　　Granny Liu, however, was on high alert.

　　She had my dad find an old peach wood branch – at least ten years old - and a rooster, at least three years old.

　　He was to kill the rooster and then sprinkle its blood at our front door.

　　Dad didn't question her, he just did it.

　　Granny Liu then stripped the bark off the peach wood, dipped it in the rooster's blood, and covered it in strange symbols.

　　My dad propped this makeshift charm by the front door.

　　It was called "Ghost-Blocking Wood," and apparently, it kept evil spirits away.

　　The rooster blood added an extra layer of protection – something about pure yang energy being a deterrent.

　　Granny Liu wasn't taking any chances.

　　My third calamity, according to her, was going to be the worst one yet.

　　 She swore up and down that Wang had, in a way, taken my place that day.

　　 Too many coincidences.

　　Personally, I was just exhausted.

　　After dinner, I fell into bed and immediately passed out.

　　But a few minutes later, I knew, I just knew, that I wasn't alone in the room…