Yidan, what are you doing here? Do you want to scare me to death? I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. I looked at his back and didn't prepare to get closer because I felt that there seemed to be something in front of me that I instinctively didn't want to get close to.
.
My sister-in-law's hand seemed to be holding me from behind, but I knew that even if I turned around suddenly, I wouldn't see her.
Is it Brother Tian? Brother Tian, don’t go back.
Zhang Yidan spoke to me in a trembling voice. He did not turn around. From his back, he was wearing dirty clothes, as if he had been soaked in muddy water, and his shoes were made of paper.
I heard that his voice was not right, and my face looked a little ugly: You kid, are you planning to pretend to be a ghost to scare me?
Looking for the figure, I really wanted to kick him so that he wouldn't be so damn scary next night, but when I wanted to get closer, a gust of cold wind happened to blow right in front of me, and the fog instantly blocked it.
my sight.
I immediately stopped, and when the fog dispersed, where was the shadow of Zhang Yidan still there?
I lowered my head and pondered, could it be that I was hallucinating, or was Zhang Yidan just squatting nearby to catch voles every day these days, just to play a trick on me?
It felt like we were only half a mile away from Xiaoyi Village. Although I felt that what had happened just now was a bit supernatural, I had no intention of returning to Ganlong Village, because when I turned around, I once again noticed something tugging at the corner of my clothes, and
It is more intense than the direction back to Xiaoyitun.
Even if I can know the existence of danger, sometimes I have to choose one of the two dangers which is relatively small.
Therefore, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and return to Xiaoyitun.
Standing where Zhang Yidan had stood, there was a puddle of wet yellow water. I didn’t know where the water came from on the relatively dry road. The smell was a bit pungent. It seemed that Zhang Yidan might have become smelly.
I feel unhappy in the ditch and want to make fun of me.
My sister-in-law’s warning and Zhang Yidan’s mysterious disappearance gave me an ominous sign about this night walk. As we walked along, I began to pay attention to the surrounding environment.
But after walking for half an hour, I didn't notice anything weird anymore, and I felt a little relieved.
In front of me, the thick fog gradually revealed the shape of a two-meter-wide stone bridge, and the big stone I was holding in my heart finally let go.
That is the ancient bridge called Si Bridge. I heard from the old people in the village that it already existed when Xiaoyitun was built. They all said that it was before the founding of the People's Republic of China. I think it should be when Xiaoyitun was still Yizhuang.
But regardless of its age, the other end of the bridge is the village, and I can vaguely see the dim lights of the village.
I stroked the ancient bridge, and I still remembered that when I was a child, I swam in the river under the bridge with Zhang Yidan and other friends. At that time, the water in the creek was so clear that you could see the pebbles on the bottom of the water.
Under the night light, I looked nostalgically towards the bottom of the bridge. This sight made my hair run cold!
Under the bridge, a group of people dressed as monks carried bamboo poles to the shore to fish out the corpses, while several children lined up and ran across the river singing nursery rhymes.
Thousands of flowers, thousands of flowers, fluttering, fluttering, piling up, making snowmen, not afraid of cold, not afraid of freezing
These corpses include those of children, women, and old people. They were a little white after being soaked in the water. Some of their faces were even covered with maggots. The squirming death was very horrible. After they were fished out, the monks took them out.
They were stacked up to form a hill, and another group of monks performed rituals, sprinkled talisman water on them, and then buried them.
Behind me, my sister-in-law suddenly pulled at the corner of my clothes. I was about to approach but stopped immediately. I was so shocked that I couldn't move.
A burst of cold water mist blew past, and I looked under the bridge again, only to find that there was nothing!
The water still gurgled across the small bridge, and the monks and children seemed to have never existed. I was extremely suspicious. Could it be that I was too tired and hallucinating? Or was the fog giving birth to the legendary mirage?
But what's the matter with the nursery rhyme? This mirage can carry sounds thousands of miles?
Brother Tian! Why are you still standing there? Go back to the village.
While I was struggling with the strange phenomenon under the bridge, a girl's voice called me from the other side of the bridge.
I was startled by the shout. I turned my head sharply and breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be my childhood follower Yu Xiaoxue.
She was still a little girl with a runny nose back then, but now she has the appearance of a beautiful girl. If I remember correctly, she should be sixteen or seventeen years old this year. She even wrote to me before that she wanted to work in Guangdong, but I
I stopped her because she was not old enough and didn't have an ID card. After all, I couldn't let the only remaining fruits in the village go out and let bad people harm her.
I was looking at her in fear, but I found her father standing at the door of her house. That was Uncle Yu Gen. Uncle Gen looked at me with dull eyes and said nothing.
Xiaoyitun was still a wasteland when my grandma arrived. It gradually became popular over the decades, so there are many people with foreign surnames from all over the world.
Why are you here? I said hello and walked towards the door of their house, wanting to say hello to Uncle Gen.
Xiaoxue ran over and said to me sadly: Brother Tian, why did you come back? My mother-in-law has been gone for two days, so we should go to her place.
After hearing this, my heart sank instantly. It seemed that what was supposed to come had come, and grandma had really gone.
My eyes were uncontrollably about to shed tears, but I quickly pinched my brows to cover it up, thinking that if I wanted to cry, it would be better to cry in the mourning hall.
Uncle Gen didn't walk with us, he just stood silently and looked at me from a distance. I don't know how Uncle Gen, who originally greeted me with greetings, became taciturn.
The sky was completely dark. When I passed by, I found that the lights in every house were on early, but the doors were still closed. This is not surprising, because there are no street lights in the village, and basically no one wants to walk around after dark.
However, except for Uncle Gen, I also found that other neighbors were standing at the door from a distance to watch me enter the village. I was still some distance away from them, so I didn't say hello, thinking that you would know that I was back.
I hurried to the door of my grandma’s house. The door was already hung with white paper, and the mourning hall was also decorated. At the door was a horse made of paper, and there were paper figures of a man and a woman.
Other than that, no one was around. If it were the usual rules, there should be three or five tables set up, where relatives and neighbors would gather to talk, drink tea, etc.
But I think, since grandma is a goddess respected by her neighbors, there might be someone else after her death.
There are two door gods painted by my grandmother on each of the two doors. They look twisted, but the writing is very vigorous and powerful. There is also a piece of white paper with my grandmother's last name, first name, and date of birth and death written on the doorpost. I
After just one glance, I realized that it was also written by grandma herself, with extremely sloppy handwriting.
It seems that what she predicted about her own death was true.
In the hall, a coffin covered with red paper lay quietly, which was the treatment that only old people who died normally would receive.
There was no one keeping a vigil inside, and the incense in front of the coffin had been burned out. Before I could feel sad, my heart skipped a beat. The incense in the wake cannot be cut off. Could it be that no one came to burn the incense?
I glanced at Yu Xiaoxue, and she shook her head, her face a little pale: Brother Tian, it wasn’t just now. I just ordered it a few minutes ago, and I picked you up when I saw you at the entrance of the village. Why is it gone again?
Grandma's house is located in a higher position in the village, and there are no neighbors right next to it, so it can see the entrance of the village. It is normal for Yu Xiaoxue to find that I go home.
It seems that today's businessmen have a very bad conscience. They make money from dead people. Even the incense is fake and burned too quickly.
I quickly stepped into the house, but the moment I stepped in, I couldn't help but shiver all over. I felt like there was a dark wind blowing from all directions, and my wife-in-law seemed to pull me.
But I had no choice. My grandma passed away and it was necessary to offer her incense. I knelt down in front of the coffin without hesitation and lit four incense sticks.
After shaking them off, put three sticks in the front ash basin and one stick in the back ash basin.
No exception.
I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that my wife-in-law was not entirely right. Didn't something happen to me?
After I got up, I chose the straw mat on the left side of the coffin and sat down. Yu Xiaoxue looked around, saw me sitting down, shrank her neck and walked in, and then sat on the right side of the coffin.
Although we didn’t express condolences directly, it was not inappropriate for Yu Xiaoxue and I to watch the funeral together. In the past, when an old neighbor passed away, we would occasionally sit by the coffin and chat with the victim’s friends.
Besides, her family has a good relationship with ours. When I was away, Yu Xiaoxue often pestered her grandmother and called her mother-in-law, because there was never a shortage of sugar and biscuits in her house. Yu Xiaoxue was a snacker and would steal her grandmother’s offerings to the gods.
That's what happens all the time.
Grandma's death left a hole in our hearts, and we suddenly lost our backbone. Although we hadn't seen each other for a long time, there was nothing we could talk about.
It was eerily quiet inside and outside, and I could feel the Yin Qi gathering little by little, so I was ready to say something to break the silence.
But suddenly, I saw the three cigarettes in front of me became turbulent, and I frowned.
The three incense sticks burned irregularly, with the left side longer and the right side shorter, but the middle one burned the fastest. When I saw it, it was the shortest, and the words "incense of evil" immediately emerged in my mind, and I felt something was going to happen.
Grandma, I’m back late. Don’t be angry. The incense burns quickly. Please be more considerate. I felt that the deceased old man would inevitably be angry if he cut off the incense during the wake, so I stroked the cold coffin to comfort him. However, I discovered
Something that shocked me:
There were no nails driven into the coffin.
A cold, frightened feeling came from inside, making my heart beat suddenly. Why were there no nails? Could it be that the person presiding over the funeral forgot?
Brother Tian, I'm a little scared. I want to sit next to you. Yu Xiaoxue looked at me scared and said.
Well, then come over. I tried to calm myself down, not to mention Yu Xiaoxue, my heart was beating like a drum, and I felt that the yin energy around me was too strong.
It has been two days since the coffin was nailed, and there is no one around the house, just like no one knows that grandma has passed away.
In previous years, when other elderly people passed away, they would never be so deserted. Someone should be in charge of the funeral.
I also noticed that there was no trace of anyone cooking a big pot of rice nearby. Did no one ever come to visit my grandma after she passed away?
This is definitely not a good sign.
I saw Yu Xiaoxue walking towards me, and my heart suddenly tightened. After all, I had warned my sister-in-law to such an extent that everyone was in panic.
Fortunately, my sister-in-law didn't pull my clothes this time, and Yu Xiaoxue didn't seem to be in any danger to me.
Snow, where have everyone else gone? I looked around and saw white paper all around, making the hall miserable.
Bang!
Before Yu Xiaoxue could answer me, two old doors were suddenly blown against each other by the wind. Not only was I startled, but Yu Xiaoxue jumped up, screamed in surprise and hugged my arms.
This chapter has been completed!