"Bad luck? How bad can it be? It's better than being out in the cold and feeding mosquitoes?"
Several plates of side dishes and three bowls of rice were served. As soon as the waiter left, Sun Zhengde stepped on the stool with one foot, holding the bowl in one hand, picking vegetables with the other and quickly stuffed them into his mouth, sucking the remaining vegetable leaves into his mouth.
Inside, the chopsticks are placed on the edge of the bowl, and the cheeks are bulging while chewing.
"In my opinion, this matter must be because the store wants to raise the price on purpose... I think back on when I was traveling all over the country... doing good deeds and accumulating virtue..."
Chen Yuan raised his eyes: "Eat well."
"okay."
The fat Taoist quickly put his feet down and took the bowl and put it into his mouth. The crazy old man opposite looked at it and giggled, grabbing the food with the Taoist and giving it to his apprentice.
"Apprentice, eat quickly, eat quickly, he is going to finish the food, I will beat him to death later for my master!"
Chen Yuan couldn't laugh or cry when she looked at the top-notch dishes in the bowl. She gave some to Master's bowl and then finished the dinner noisily. At this time, the group of men in the hall also finished their meals early and went upstairs to rest, and some of them went to the backyard.
Here, after paying for the meal, the fat Taoist noisily asked the shopkeeper to lead the way to see why there was something unlucky in the backyard. He walked to the backyard and saw two carriages parked there, side by side with the bullock carts. Old Niu saw
The owner let out a "moo" sound and tapped his hoof twice uneasily.
The main hall in the backyard opposite was brightly lit. Two men eating in the hall were standing at the door with their arms folded. Sun Zhengde quickly stepped forward, and his fat face suddenly became bitter.
"I just said they looked familiar...it turned out to be them."
Inside the hall, white wax flickered with candlelight. In the middle, four benches were placed front to back, and above was a pitch-black coffin, which was reflected in the dim yellow light, making the pores a little creepy.
Two men in green clothes at the door saw the shopkeeper leading three people over and went up to inquire. The shopkeeper rubbed his hands, smiled and pulled the two aside and whispered.
"Everyone who comes here is a guest. How can we drive people to sleep outside in the middle of the night? There is still space on both sides of the hall, so let them make do with it tonight. You see, there is a Taoist priest among them, and there are experts by his side.
Wouldn’t it be better?”
Seeing what the shopkeeper said, the two looked at each other and couldn't refuse. After all, the inn belonged to someone else, and it was understandable that they wanted to make more money.
Over there, Sun Zhengde originally turned around and wanted to leave when he saw the coffins parked, but when he faintly heard the shopkeeper saying "taoist" and "master", he coughed dryly and puffed out his chest.
"Life and death are natural. Lying down in the same room with the dead is like sleeping with the living leaning against each other."
He tilted his head, approached Chen Yuan and whispered, "It's just bragging, don't worry, my boss."
"Then stay here, it's better than being crowded in the car outside."
When the shopkeeper saw that both parties agreed, he was so happy that he immediately asked the waiter to bring three sets of quilts.
The main room spans the backyard, and is separated from the central hall by a hollow carved fence on both sides. Porcelain vases are placed on it and books are decorated with it. After the floor is finished, it is almost time. The shopkeeper holds a candlestick and takes the waiter to apologize to Chen Yuan.
After leaving the eaves, I quickly walked to the door of the back kitchen of the inn, probably because I was afraid of being exposed to bad luck.
"laity."
Sun Zhengde glanced at the closed door opposite, shook his head while swinging his wide sleeves, and came back, greeting the two people at the door, "You two brothers, do you want to come in and have a rest?"
The two ignored him.
At the other end of the hall, Chen Yuan was sitting on the floor, using a chair as a bedside chair to lean on. He was flipping through the pages of "Miscellaneous Mysteries of Huangchuan" that were closest to Linjiang County. He disliked the Taoist being noisy, so he scolded him and told him to go to bed quickly.
After coaxing the master for a few more words, he moved the oil lamp closer to him. As the pages of the book turned softly, he read a strange anecdote, which made him suddenly frown.
…
The dark clouds cover the night sky and clear the moon.
The night was deep, and the barking of nearby dogs could be heard far away in the silent night.
Woof woof~~
The lantern in the backyard of the inn swayed slightly on its rope under the eaves. The wind came in through the open door, and a pair of white wax lights flickered on and off.
The snoring of the crazy old man lingered in his ears. Sun Zhengde tossed and turned with his big belly in his arms, unable to fall asleep. Then he sat up and stretched his neck to look into the hall.
In the dim light, the coffin stood there quietly.
On the opposite side, the light cut out Chen Yuan's shadow and cast it on the wall, as if he was flipping through a book. Sun Zhengde felt more at ease, and lay down again and tried to fall asleep quickly.
I don't know how long it took, but the barking of dogs outside also stopped. The fat Taoist opened his eyes and felt that he had an urgent need to urinate. He was wrapped in a mattress and he didn't want to get up, but he still couldn't bear the swelling and pain.
Immediately, he got up, put on his shoes and socks, held the oil lamp and walked to the central hall.
The lights on Chen Yuan's side had been extinguished at some point. Sun Zhengde looked at the coffin, swallowed his saliva, and called out to his boss in a low voice. Unfortunately, there was no response, so he had to bite the bullet and leave the main room. There were two men in Tsing Yi at the door.
I don’t know when I left.
"I'm not responsible... I'm keeping half of the night watch... Hiss, it's so cold."
The fat Taoist held the lamp and mumbled around to the hut on the side of the house. The candle light shone on the ground. He tiptoed carefully to avoid the filth on the floor. He bit the hem of his robe, endured the stench, and drained the yellow water from his body.
come out.
Wow~
After urinating, I shook my head and shuddered comfortably, then returned the way I came, lay back on the bed, closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.
squeak~~
Suddenly there was the sound of old wooden boards rubbing against each other, and Sun Zhengde opened his eyes suddenly. His nerves were tense at this moment, and his plump lips trembled.
"Master, is that you?"
He shouted, but in the silence, there was no reply. Sun Zhengde swallowed his saliva and slowly sat up, and then another "squeak!" sound was very clear in the quiet main room.
The fat Taoist turned his round face with difficulty and saw the dark coffin behind the carved fence. In the dim light, the coffin lid was moving to the side little by little.
'loser……'
Sun Zhengde, who was sitting on the bunk, was trembling with fat, and the coldness was creeping up the back of his neck. He struggled to stand up, but his legs refused to control him and he couldn't use any strength.
squeak!
The coffin lid moved a corner, and Sun Zhengde stared at the exposed gap. The next moment, his pale and swollen palms slowly came out, and his black nails suddenly clasped the edge of the coffin.
The fat Taoist shouted "Ah!"
In an instant, he opened his eyes suddenly, sat up sweating profusely, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the furnishings in the room.
"It turned out to be a dream, it scared me to death."
Feeling the pain in my lower abdomen due to the urge to urinate, I quickly got up, put on my shoes, walked out of the fence with an oil lamp, saw the silent coffin, recalled the dream just now, moved away quickly, turned around and stepped towards the threshold with fear.
squeak!
Before his feet even landed, there was a familiar sound from behind. His whole body froze for an instant, and he stared at the courtyard with his eyes wide open. In the flames of the burnt white candles, there was a coffin parked behind him, with the coffin lid slowly moving to one side.
move.
Gu~
Sun Zhengde swallowed his saliva, his face turned pale, he retracted his lifted feet, turned back stiffly, faced the wall, and moved his feet back to the floor little by little.
In the peripheral vision of his side, he vaguely seemed to see a scene like in a dream. One hand stretched out the coffin lid. He put the oil lamp on the table with a trembling voice, lifted up the quilt and got in. He pulled the mattress and lifted his head.
Cover.
Boom!
There was a sound like the coffin lid falling to the ground, which made the fat Taoist's heart tremble, and then there was another muffled sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
...it hit the ground one after another.
Sun Zhengde hurriedly took his feet back from the quilt, his teeth were chattering up and down in fear, and there was a sound of heavy objects hitting the ground, and he came towards him at this time.