Under the bright street lights, two figures, an old man and a young man, passed by.
"Great-grandmother, it's cold today, why don't we go back early."
The speaker was a fifteen-year-old girl, with bright eyes and white teeth, and a youthful beauty unique to her age.
She looked at her great-grandmother beside her. The old man was slightly stooped, his silver hair was neatly combed, he had some age spots on his cheeks, and he had a faint scent of soap. This was the most familiar smell in Zhuo Xiaomei's memory.
"It will be over soon."
The old man gently held the girl's hand.
Lian Aifang is one hundred and eight years old this year, which is a very long life.
She has a habit that she has persisted for many years, that is, she must take a walk by the Yunmeng River after dinner. A long time ago, she was accompanied by her son, daughter-in-law, then her grandson, and now her great-granddaughter.
"Uh...okay."
Zhuo Xiaomei met her great-grandmother's kind eyes, and there was an indescribable persistence in her eyes.
Unable to resist the old darling of the family, she smiled and said, "I don't know what's going on today, and it's not a special day. Several villages around are setting off firecrackers from morning to night. It's really weird!"
There are red firecracker skins under my feet, and as I look around, they are spread all the way to the end of my sight.
Even Aifang saw this, but her mind was not on it. She turned her head and looked at the Yunmeng River in the darkness. The rapid water hit the shore rocks and made a crunching sound.
"Go home in a while, great-grandma has something to give you."
"What is it?"
"You'll know then."
"Oh, great-grandmother, you are so appetizing."
Zhuo Xiao's eyebrows were coquettish and she gently shook Lian Aifang's arm.
Youth is sometimes synonymous with curiosity. When I heard that my great-grandmother wanted to give me something, I immediately felt itchy.
Just as the two were talking.
"Hello, may I ask where to go from Muwang Mountain?"
Suddenly, a girl walked out of the shadow of the street lamp. She looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, but she was dressed in a light blue jacket and skirt, which was quite retro style.
"Twilight Forgetting Mountain."
Lian Aifang narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at the girl carefully. Then her old palms, a little trembling, pointed to the hill behind the house in the distance and said softly: "There is a path over there. If you go straight along the road, you can see it."
"Thank you."
The girl was very polite, bowed to thank her, and then disappeared into the darkness very quickly.
The next moment.
"Great-grandmother, what are you talking about?"
Zhuo Xiao frowned, almost twisting into a mountain shape, and his tone was a little urgent and nervous: "Why did you talk about Muwang Mountain so well, and... who were you talking to just now?"
When she said the last sentence, she couldn't help but glance at the path in the distance, but it was pitch black and there was no one there.
No wonder Zhuo Xiaomei was so nervous. Muwang Mountain is a place where dead people from Tianmen Village are buried. In the middle of the night, she and her great-grandmother were the only ones on this road. Suddenly, she was talking to herself, which would make anyone else feel scared!
"Haha, it's nothing."
Lian Aifang's eyes dimmed with some thoughts. She patted the back of her great-granddaughter's hand to express comfort, and then said: "Great-grandmother is a little tired, sister, let's go home."
"……All right."
Zhuo Xiaomei hesitated to speak, and finally helped the old man walk towards home.
————
The shadows of the trees danced, and the bright moonlight shone on the winding mountain road.
Yang Xiaoying followed the route in her memory and walked to the halfway point of the mountain. She raised her hand and opened the dense bushes in front of her, and an open space broke into her sight. Her eyes were moistened unconsciously.
There are three tombstones in the open space, and the weeds sprouting slightly around them indicate that people often come here to take care of them.
"Dad, mother, brother."
Yang Xiaoying came to the monument and knelt down. A talisman slipped from her sleeve and turned into bottles of rice wine and meat. "Yingzi can finally come back to see you. Counting the time, it seems that two hundred and thirty-five years have passed."
She smiled brightly.
Drinks flowed in succession, soaking into the soil.
"In the blink of an eye, a long time has passed. Fortunately, everyone can go home now."
Yang Xiaoying set out the bowls, chopsticks and meat, and said softly: "I wonder how you are doing now?"
The night wind rustled the treetops.
"Yingzi, stop teasing your brother."
"Xiaoying, you are so old, why are you still following your brother like a follower? How should you get married in the future?"
"Yingzi, come over for dinner."
Zhang and Zhang’s voices and smiles seemed to pass before my eyes.
Yang Xiaoying closed her eyes slightly, and all kinds of complicated thoughts settled down, finally turning into a relieved smile at the corner of her mouth.
This is the happiest time of her life.
During the hundreds of years when Yunmeng River was haunted by ghosts, she did not lose herself under the heavy resentment, relying on the persistence brought by these precious memories. It is just reincarnation, and the past has passed away like smoke. Yang Xiaoying has now looked past it.
.
A few moments.
A large handful of soil suddenly flew up, and a new tombstone appeared out of thin air and landed firmly in the soil, with the words "Yang Xiaoying's Tomb" written on it.
"People, always pay attention to a fallen leaf returning to its roots."
Yang Xiaoying looked at her tombstone, smiled slightly, and said softly: "This time, Yingzi will go to the underworld to be reincarnated."
She has no relatives in this world, and the Styx problem has now been solved. When she comes to visit her family again, the last bit of obsession in her heart disappears, and she is no longer worried.
It's time to start the next phase of life.
On the other hand, the light of merit and good deeds did clear away the evil desires in their bodies, making their souls whole again and meeting the conditions for reincarnation.
But this kind of integrity is only temporary, and the effects of some sequelae still exist. If you stay in the human world for a long time, sooner or later the soul will be unable to hold on, and eventually the soul will fly away!
after an hour.
"Father, mother, I kowtow to you."
Yang Xiaoying kowtowed three times, then stood up and left.
After just a few steps, she suddenly turned back with a smile as bright as a flower: "Brother, I'm leaving!"
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.
Four tombstones remain here.
…
…
Push open the courtyard door.
Woof woof woof~
A big white dog jumped up excitedly and circled around the two people.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "You have to give me a break tonight."
Zhuo Xiaomei raised her right leg with familiarity to resist the energetic big white dog, supported Lian Aifang, and reminded softly: "Great-grandmother, please pay attention to the steps."
"kindness."
Lian Aifang looked back.
This big white dog that had been raised for six or seven years squatted at the foot of the steps and whimpered softly. It seemed to know something and had tears in its eyes.
"Go and rest."
Lian Aifang showed a kind smile and waved her palm gently, asking Dabai to return to his kennel. Dabai stared at the old man reluctantly for a few seconds, then turned back to the kennel three times a step.
The home lights up with bright yellow lights.
In the room, Lian Aifang took out an old but intact diary from the drawer and handed it to Zhuo Xiaomei, saying with a smile: "You have always been curious about your great-grandfather and me.
"It's all written...in it."
"Great grandfather!?"
That great-grandfather who was a soldier!
Hearing this, Zhuo Xiaomei's face was filled with surprise. She held the diary in her hands as if she had found a treasure. As she flipped through the pages with her fingers, her eyes came into view. Stories from a hundred years ago seemed to be echoing in her ears.
"take it."
Lian Aifang sat by the bed and said a little tiredly: "Great-grandmother is going to rest."
"Okay, then you have a good rest."
"My parents can come over to see you tomorrow."
The smile on Zhuo Xiaomei's lips was like a bright flower, she quietly closed the door and left.
Phew~
Lian Aifang breathed a sigh of relief and turned off the bedside light.
The moonlight is good tonight. Even without lights, you can clearly see the furnishings in the house - gramophone, theater posters, red heart strings, and more old black and white photos hanging on the walls.
In the photo, there is a man and a woman. Both of them look a little shy, but their hands are tightly held together.
There are many more photos like this.
From love to marriage, it is quite well preserved.
In the end, Lian Aifang's eyes were fixed on a photo. The woman was sitting on a chair, looking down at the baby in her arms, her face full of happiness. Behind her stood a handsome man, holding her shoulders with both hands and looking at her.
Show a smile.
"Maybe I can't wait for you anymore."
Lian Aifang looked at the photo with particularly complicated eyes.
She is going to die!
In fact, when she saw the strange girl, that is, Yang Xiaoying, Lian Aifang was already convinced of this. She had no fear of death in her heart. While time had made her grow up, she also looked down upon many things in the world.
However, there is still a little worry and regret that I can't let go of - I couldn't wait until my husband came back.
Anyone who knows a little bit about Lian Aifang would probably think it was a fantasy if they knew about her regrets. Lian Aifang's husband died two years after she gave birth to her child, which makes her nearly 90 years old.
years of time.
But Lian Aifang had a secret feeling that he was still alive, had not left, and was near the Yunmeng River. This was why she had been walking by the Yunmeng River every day for decades.
She never mentioned this to anyone.
Time passes quietly in memories.
I don’t know if it’s because the deadline is approaching, but Lian Aifang didn’t feel sleepy at all while lying on the bed. Instead, she became more and more energetic.
"Woof!"
The big white dog in the yard suddenly barked once or twice, and then became silent again.
"Tap, step, step..."
Immediately afterwards, a burst of footsteps sounded outside the door.
Lian Aifang originally thought that her great-granddaughter came to look for her, but unexpectedly, the footsteps stopped at the door for a while. After a while, the door opened with a creak, and when the moonlight shone gently on his face, Lian Aifang was already there.
Tears streaming down my face.
Strange yet familiar young faces overlap in reality and memory.
My husband, Zhuo Yong.
"Xiao Fang."
We met after nearly a hundred years of separation.
In an instant, the softest place in Zhuo Yong's heart was touched, and her eyes turned red. She slowly walked to the bed and sat down. Looking at each other, she carefully held Lian Aifang's hand and said guiltily: "I'm sorry.
I'm late."
He is one of the last people to be haunted by ghosts.
He was only twenty-eight years old at the time.
"You've been gone for too long, really too long." Lian Aifang stared at Zhuo Yong's face: "If it weren't for these photos, I'm afraid... I'm afraid that I might forget you as I get older."
There was silence for a while.
Lian Aifang held his hand tightly and choked with sobs: "I thought I would never see you again."
Zhuo Yong lowered his head, "I have been mentally prepared, maybe I will never see you for the last time in this life." After saying that, he raised his head, crying and laughing: "Our mission is completed, completed..."
Because of the importance of Yunmeng River Ghost, he could not reveal even the slightest bit about it to the people closest to him.
"sorry."
"It's okay, I know."
The corners of Lian Aifang's mouth curled up, and she wiped away the tears she shed: "It'll be good if you come back."
"how is your day?"
"fine!"
Zhuo Yong laughed: "No one will go down now. We have completely solved the problem there."
As for Yunmenghe Guixi, it is probably a hard day.
The three-talented formation of heaven, earth and man tends to be perfect. Monsters and ghosts who commit heinous crimes will be sent down by the Great Wall to be used as evil vessels. What they have to do is to monitor these guys to avoid signs of getting too big or causing trouble.
Lian Aifang understood.
"Huaibao was exactly like you when he was little. He was so naughty and mischievous. Later..."
In the following time, Lian Aifang talked more about their son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Later, they talked about Zhuo Xiaomei, their great-granddaughter. Most of them talked about homely matters.
As she spoke, Lian Aifang suddenly noticed that something was wrong. She found that her spirits were in good spirits and her body became relaxed. She seemed to realize something and raised her hand, only to see that her palm was a little pale and transparent.
Look down again.
The old man closed his eyes and smiled happily.
"let's go."
Zhuo Yong still held Lian Aifang's hand tightly and said with a smile: "I asked before I came here that you still have some time left in your life. We can spend some time down there as two of us, and then we can go together."
"Okay, I'll listen to you."
Lian Aifang nodded happily.
After eighty-four years, he held her hand again.
The two walked out of the gate, and the big white dog in the yard lay in front of the den, barked twice, and watched the two figures go away.
Over the past few decades, time has passed by, and the original small tile-roofed house was constantly renovated and finally turned into a four-story building. Many things are changing, but some things will never change.
With every step they took, Zhuo Yong's face grew older, and finally his hair became white. An invisible road appeared under their feet, and disappeared after a while.
…
…
the other side.
Yang Xiaoying went down the mountain and walked out of Tianmen Village along the cement road.
She remembered that several nearby villages invited a circus to perform, and many villagers went to watch it tonight.
Yang Xiaoying has watched dramas several times, but circuses are rare, so she can't help but feel a little curious.
Of course, one more thing is that there is a ghost messenger there who will take everyone down to the underworld when the performance is over.
About ten minutes later.
Yang Xiaoying saw the tall colorful tent, bright lights seeping out, not far away was the Yunmeng River, enthusiastic cheers filled her eardrums, and she quickly walked over.
As they walked to the door, there was a man talking to a small dog next to him, holding a cigarette in his hand.
Yang Xiaoying looked around and thought that this must be a ghost, so she said: "Hello, can I come in?"
"sure."
Li Kui smiled and opened the door curtain: "Please come in."
"Thanks."
Yang Xiaoying nodded slightly and walked into the tent.
Suddenly, the bright light shone on her face, and her eyes couldn't help but have a different look.
Hundreds of people were sitting in the audience.
In the center of the stage, a young man in performance clothes rode a black horse, like a man and a horse, galloping and jumping between mountains of knives with great agility, and even performed the skill of hiding in stirrups.
Just hear the sound of clanging swords, danger and excitement coexist, bringing the ultimate visual experience.
"good!"
"good!"
The audience roared with applause.
Yang Xiaoying found a seat and sat down, and clapped her hands happily.