After night falls, there are no more pedestrians on the streets.
Beside the quiet alley, the yellow street lights were flashing constantly, and there were only a few halls around where the lights were still on.
In the dark night, there were occasional barkings of dogs, but few pedestrians could be seen.
Even if they occasionally pass by one or two migrant workers who have just finished the evening shift, when they pass by the small courtyard No. 172, they pass through it as quickly as possible. No one dares to look into the courtyard, and they all leave the place quickly with their heads lowered.
I don’t know since when, No. 172 Dongjiao Lane has become synonymous with terror. When residents in the surrounding area talk about this place, their expressions change.
Courtyard No. 172 is not very big. There are two six-story buildings inside. There is a corridor between the buildings. The corridor is covered with lush grape vines and purple-red fruits, which look bigger than fruits.
The ones exclusively served in the store are even fresher.
There is a hanging chair next to the corridor. The hanging chair is made of woven bamboo and is just big enough to accommodate two young girls sitting on it and swinging on it.
Every morning at one o'clock in the morning, this hanging chair can swing by itself without anyone driving it, and you can vaguely hear the sweet and hearty laughter of girls.
The original residents here have all moved out, and the originally empty courtyard is now overgrown with weeds.
There is an ancient well in the corner of the weeds. The text carved on the well mouth has long been unclear, so it is impossible to explore its age.
"Grandma, why are you burning paper money here alone? Where is your family?"
When Zhao Xiaotuan, carrying a pink cartoon schoolbag, appeared in front of the gate of No. 172 Courtyard, there was a thin old man with white hair on her temples in front of her.
The old man squatted in front of the gate with great difficulty, burning the few small stacks of paper money in the small basket beside him.
The appearance of Zhao Xiaotuan made the old man very nervous. For some reason, the movements of her hands were obviously much faster, and she was still muttering something in a low voice.
The hot flames burned the two people's cheeks red. The old man stood up with difficulty and pushed Zhao Xiaotuan.
"My child, my child, go away quickly, go away quickly, this is not the place for you to stay.
Remember to keep your head down and keep walking forward, toward crowded places. No matter who talks to you in the middle, don’t raise your head or pay attention.”
"???"
Zhao Xiaotuan shrank in confusion, and what he did in the next second almost scared the old man into a cold sweat.
Zhao Xiaotuan pointed at the door and asked curiously: "Grandma, is there a ghost in here? Does it look scary?"
"..."
Grandma subconsciously took two steps back. When she came to her senses, she quickly bowed and bowed towards the small courtyard.
"The child is ignorant, please don't argue with her. Dust will return to dust, dust will return to dust. Don't be offended by the immortal."
"Grandma, who are you talking to? Aren't they all standing behind you?"
"Ah...this..."
Zhao Xiaotuan's words made grandma turn pale with fright, and her wide-open pupils were full of fear.
Grandma pointed at Zhao Xiaotuan in disbelief: "You, you, can you see them?"
"Yes, they were already out when you asked me to leave."
Zhao Xiaotuan nodded with a smile, then exposed his little tiger teeth and joked to the air next to him: "Brother, fix your eyeballs, it won't be fun if you are caught and used as ping pong balls.
And your little sister, why is your tongue so long? Aren't you tired of it hanging like this all the time? Do you want me to help you fix it?
Hee hee, when I was in my hometown, my third aunt’s sixth aunt’s tongue was longer than yours, and I cut it off for her.”
"..."
Behind Grandma, the man and two women were all stunned. They stared at Zhao Xiaotuan gloomily, as if they were looking at monsters.
The woman with long hair and a long tongue walked up to Zhao Xiaotuan gloomily: "Little sister, I see you are so beautiful, do you want to play with us?"
"Play? Is there anything fun in it?" Zhao Xiaotuan said excitedly.
The woman nodded strangely: "We can play on the swing together and eat grapes together. Would you like to come and accompany my sister?"
"Yeah, there's also a swing, oh oh oh, it's so good. Tuantuan likes to swing on the swing the most."
When Zhao Xiaotuan heard this, he immediately jumped up excitedly, "Since Daguo and my sister-in-law don't care about me, I'll just play with you."
The woman turned her head strangely and nodded to the one-eyed man behind her.
"Child, child, you can't...wuwuwu..."
Seeing this scene, the grandmother who was lying limp on the ground hurriedly wanted to step forward and hold Zhao Xiaotuan, but she was restrained by a mysterious force.
I can't even speak anymore.
These two women and one man have occupied this small courtyard for many years. Many girls who passed by this place or accidentally broke into the small courtyard have not been able to come out again.
"Old man, I advise you not to meddle in other people's business. If it weren't for the fact that you still burn some paper money every year, you should have gone down long ago."
Grandma's body froze instantly, and the woman's vicious warning kept echoing in her ears. Although she couldn't see the woman, Grandma knew that a pair of eyes were staring at her intently at this moment.
The woman turned back and waved to Zhao Xiaotuan with a weird smile on her face: "Little sister, come on, sister, there are a lot of delicious and fun things here."
"Okay, okay, sister, please lead Tuan Tuan in quickly. I haven't eaten anything for a day." Zhao Xiaotuan bared his little tiger teeth happily.
"Okay, okay, sister will take you in right now..."
The woman took Zhao Xiaotuan's hand and walked towards the yard.
Another thin woman and a one-eyed man stood behind Zhao Xiaotuan, fearing that she would suddenly regret and run away.
"You have done evil, you have done evil!"
When Zhao Xiaotuan entered the courtyard and was no longer visible, the confinement on Grandma was released.
At this moment, a car light suddenly shone at the entrance of the alley, and a black 7-series business sedan drove over.
In the car, the man sitting in the driving seat saw my grandma, parked the car in a hurry and ran to her side.
The man helped his grandma up and quickly asked about the situation: "Mom, didn't I tell you that this place is dangerous? Why didn't you listen? Why did you come here to burn paper money again?"
When grandma saw the man, the fear in her eyes suddenly disappeared. She grabbed the man's arm and sobbed: "Acheng, mom is okay. Mom is a person with dirt buried up to her neck. Who else can she be afraid of?
I just couldn't worry about Xiuxiu. Today is the tenth anniversary of her death, so I thought about burning some paper money, maybe it would make her feel better.
It's you, why are you here again? Mom told you not to come here."
When Wang Cheng heard the name Xiuxiu, his face suddenly became depressed.
Wang Xiuxiu was his young daughter. During the summer vacation ten years ago, she ran into the small courtyard for fun and never came out again.
Later, he looked for many people and went in to search when the sun was high. However, he searched every corner of the courtyard and could not find it. This also became a worry for him.
"Mom, we don't have to worry about evil ghosts this time. I've found the magicians and they can help us catch all the ghosts."
With that said, Wang Cheng supported his grandmother and introduced the two people who stood up to her.
"Mom, this is Master Zhao, and that is Master Cao. They are both famous masters of catching ghosts. There will be no problem with them."
