Chapter 3

After seeing Trụ Tử off, Grandma went inside to talk quietly with Grandpa.

I sat guard beside Đại Hắc, my heart uneasy.

I was afraid she might come out at any moment and kill him.

As I sat there in suspense, a broken voice suddenly sounded.

“D...don't... k...kill...”

I looked down.

Đại Hắc was opening his mouth, trying to speak like a person.

I let go in fright and stumbled backward.

Inside, Grandma was talking to Grandpa.

“Perhaps... we should kill him? There's something uncanny about that dog.”

Grandpa sat with his head lowered, preoccupied and barely listening.

She didn't notice anything unusual. She repeated everything the beggar had said.

This time, Grandpa's response was completely different.

“We mustn't kill him.”

She was astonished.

“Why? Didn't you say we should? And we really have had one piece of bad luck after another.”

“I know that beggar,” he said slowly.

“You know him?”

He nodded.

“When I was young, I accidentally beat his father to death. I think he's the one who pushed me into the ditch. He's here to take revenge on our family.”

“His father died? What happened?”

They had spent more than half their lives together, yet this was the first she had heard of it.

Grandpa lowered his head. Remembering those days still left him unsettled.

“Do you remember the famine? So many people had nothing to eat. Even the bark and roots had been gnawed away.

“Some were so crazed with hunger that they wouldn't spare their own kind.”

He sighed.

“Eventually, I couldn't hold on any longer. I found a secluded cave and went in to wait for death.

“But Heaven wasn't ready to take me. There was a dead rabbit inside. It had been dead for days, with maggots on it. That didn't matter. Most of the meat was still there. I could take it home, wash it, and we'd have something to eat.”

Even now, his voice trembled with emotion.

“So I hid it inside my clothes to take home and share with the family.

“On the way, I met that beggar's father. He'd always been a thug. With a famine on top of that, he had even less regard for anyone.

“When he saw I was hiding something, he rushed at me to steal it. During the struggle, he spotted the rabbit.

“His eyes lit up. He demanded the meat.

“Of course I refused, and he attacked me.

“I realized he really meant to kill me.

“Luckily, I managed to grab a stone and hit his head hard. Otherwise... I probably wouldn't be alive now.”

Grandma sighed.

“You can't be blamed. He attacked first.”

Grandpa nodded.

“I don't regret it. I only felt sorry for his wife and son. Later, I went to help them a few times.

“But whenever the boy saw me, he looked at me like an enemy. Such hatred. As if he wanted to skin me alive.”

She hesitated.

“After all this time, do you still remember what that boy looked like? Could you have mistaken him for someone else?”

“No.”

He shook his head.

“Those eyes are exactly the same. It's definitely him.

“I just never expected him to hold on to his hatred for so many years.”

Grandma was puzzled.

“But why target Đại Hắc? He's only a dog.”

“I don't know,” Grandpa said.

“But whatever happens, we can't do what he wants. We'll take things as they come.”

He yawned.

Too much had happened over the past two days. At last, he was home and could rest.

When they finished talking, Grandma called me inside.

Seeing me trembling, she asked quickly, “Ngôn Ngôn, what's wrong?”

Instinctively, I looked back at Đại Hắc in the courtyard.

He lay half-sprawled on the ground, wagging his tail and trying to please me.

Thinking I was worried about him, Grandma gathered me into her arms.

“Don't worry. We're not going to kill him.”

I couldn't decide whether to tell her what had just happened.

Then Grandpa urged us to bed.

“It's late. Time to sleep.”

She nodded and pulled me onto the kang.

“Go to sleep. Don't think so much.”

Early the next morning, after making breakfast, Grandma went to fertilize the fields.

Fortunately, it wasn't harvest time yet, so there wasn't much work.

With his injured leg, Grandpa could only lie on the kang.

Though he was usually good to me, I didn't really want to stay in the same room with him.

I sat in the courtyard, deliberately keeping well away from the kennel.

Then a dry, rough hand beckoned from the gate.

“Little girl. Come here.”

I looked up.

The beggar again.

When I ignored him, he kept calling patiently.

At last, I had no choice but to go over, though I stopped two paces away.

“Here for water again? Wait a moment.”

I turned to leave.

“Wait. I don't want water.”

He grinned, showing yellow teeth.

“You're with that dog every day. Haven't you noticed anything strange?”

I remembered the night before.

My face went stiff.

He watched my expression, as though he had found an opening.

“Don't let your grandparents die because you can't bear to part with a dog.”

He took a black pill from his pocket.

“Trust me. Give the dog this, and he'll show his true form.”

Seeing my suspicious look, he added, “Don't worry. It won't kill him.”

Just then, Grandpa heard me talking and limped outside.

“Ngôn Ngôn, who's there?”

The moment he saw the beggar's face, he tensed.

Dragging his injured leg, he hurried toward us.

Realizing the situation had changed, the beggar quickly pressed the pill into my hand.

“Remember what I said.”

By the time Grandpa reached me, the man had vanished.

He pulled me close and looked me over anxiously.

“Are you all right? Did he do anything to you?”

I shook my head, still clutching the black pill.

“No, Grandpa. He only asked for a bowl of water, but I didn't give him any.”

He let out a relieved breath.

“Good. Stay away from him if you see him again. Understand?”

I nodded obediently.

“Yes.”

That evening, Grandma told me to take Đại Hắc his food.

I stared at the black pill in my palm.

If I put it in his food, he would eat it without suspecting a thing.

I pushed the thought away as soon as it came.

Who knew whether the beggar was telling the truth?

What if Đại Hắc died?

But... what if he really had become a spirit?

My confusion must have shown.

“What are you staring into space for now?” Grandma asked.

At last, I couldn't hold it in. I told her that Đại Hắc had spoken the previous night.

She was doubtful.

“Are you sure you heard right?”

I nodded hard.

“Really! He told me not to kill him.”

Her expression changed at once. She pulled me into the room.

Grandpa was reclining on the wooden platform and looked up.

“Where's my dinner?”

“Forget dinner! Something's happened!”

Grandma anxiously repeated everything I had said.

She paced back and forth as she spoke.

“What are we going to do?”

He frowned, tapping his fingertips against the wood.

“Stop walking around. You're making me dizzy.”

She stopped and, with nothing else to do, sank onto the kang.

“I think... we should kill the dog.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came.

Grandpa shook his head.

“No. Something isn't right.

“That beggar keeps telling us to kill him. What is he planning?

“If Đại Hắc really became a spirit and killed our whole family, wouldn't that be exactly what he wanted? Why would he try to save us?”

Grandma thought for a moment.

“That's true. But what if he really does want to help?”

“Impossible,” he said grimly. “He doesn't look like a man with any kindness in him.”

They discussed it for a long time without reaching an answer.

At last, Grandpa decided.

“I say we don't kill him. We've kept him for years. Surely he won't hurt us.

“At most, we'll keep him chained up for a while. Nothing will happen.”

Unable to think of anything better, she agreed.

In the middle of the night, I woke needing the toilet.

The outhouse was in a side building, so I had to cross the courtyard.

Still sleepy, I left the room.

A strange sound came from the boundary wall.

I looked up.

A dark figure clung to it, struggling to climb over.

“Who's there?” I blurted.

The person seemed to notice me too.

He lowered his voice.

“Little girl, why are you still awake?”

I knew that voice.

The beggar!

Đại Hắc immediately sprang up and barked furiously at him.

Terrified, I ran inside and shook Grandpa awake.

“The beggar's climbing over our wall!”

He shuddered and rolled out of bed.

But his leg hadn't healed. As soon as he put weight on it, pain made him collapse.

“Quick... help me up.”

Grandma hurried to support him, and they rushed into the courtyard.

They arrived just as the beggar jumped down from the wall.

He clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. Why are you all awake?”

Grandpa pulled me behind him and asked warily, “What are you doing climbing into my house in the middle of the night?”

“What am I doing?

“Sending you down to join my father!”

His face was terrifying in the moonlight.

“Murderer! You've had enough comfortable years. Time to pay.”

Grandma shook with anger.

“You don't know right from wrong! Your father attacked him first.”

The beggar spat on the ground.

“I don't care! Why should your family live well while I suffer? If my father were alive, I'd have a good life.”

Grandpa's face was grim.

“Your father was a worthless thug. What sort of life could he have given you? He even abducted your mother and forced himself on her.

“I don't think you're any better. His filthy blood runs in your veins!”

That enraged the beggar.

With a roar, he charged and knocked Grandpa to the ground.

They grappled at once.

The beggar fought viciously, aiming every blow at Grandpa's injured leg.

Grandpa's lips trembled with pain. Sweat poured down his forehead.

Seeing how badly things were going, Grandma ran to the kitchen, fetched a rolling pin, and struck the beggar on the head.

Perhaps afraid of killing him, she didn't hit very hard.

Instead of knocking him unconscious, she only enraged him further.

He turned and glared at her, then sprang to his feet.

Snatching the rolling pin, he began beating her.

Each blow was harder than the last.

She was old and couldn't dodge. She could only take it.

In desperation, I rushed over and grabbed his arm, crying and shouting, “Don't hit my grandma!”

Seeing me made him angrier still.

“You little brat! If it weren't for you, that black dog would have been dead long ago. I wouldn't have had to climb over the wall and do this myself!”

Grandpa lay facedown, gasping.

“So killing the dog really would benefit you. How?”

The beggar looked around at us.

Perhaps seeing only an old woman, a child, and an injured man, he no longer considered us a threat.

He told the truth.

“Your dog really is about to become a spirit. I didn't lie about that.

“But he isn't harming your family.

“He's been protecting you.

“Do you know why I've ended up a beggar?”

Resentment twisted his face.

“To put a death curse on your family, I spent everything I owned. I even pawned my land certificate.

“And your dog blocked it.

“That's why I kept trying to make you kill him.

“But you wouldn't!”

In the distance, Đại Hắc strained forward.

The chain tightened around his neck, keeping him from reaching us.

The beggar grinned.

“But he can't become a spirit now.

“Thanks to that talisman.”

Grandma's head snapped up in shock.

“What... talisman?”

“All right, enough.”

He couldn't be bothered explaining.

His eyes moved slowly over each of us.

“Why don't you decide who dies first?”

Grandma pulled me behind her at once.

“Come at me if you must. She's only a child.”

He sneered.

“Child or not, she's dying tonight.

“So is that animal.

“The only difference is who goes first.”

He raised the rolling pin, about to bring it down on Grandma's head.

Somehow, Grandpa found the strength to lunge forward and knock him down.

“Run!” he shouted. “Hurry!”

Not wanting any further complications, the beggar stopped struggling with him.

He kicked Grandpa away and swung the club.