He put his head on crutches and told me: "Go back quickly."
I nodded, carried my bag and left quickly.
I trust my intuition, and there is only one word for this trip:
"quick!"
Xiaoxuan was in coma, unable to eat or drink, and could not take care of herself.
I have to go back quickly, I want to find the jar of copper coins and bring it back!
.....
after one day.
"Hello."
"Young man! Young man! Wake up!"
I opened my eyes.
The fat lady who was selling tickets and collecting money said: "We are about to arrive at Tianguangdong Village. Don't you want to get off the bus?"
"Oh, we're here, thank you, sister."
The eldest sister held her bag and shook her head: "Young man, you haven't slept for a few days. You are so tired. Let me tell you one more thing. Your body is the capital of revolution. Don't tire yourself out."
I opened the door and got out of the car, and the bus, which was emitting black smoke and exhaust, walked away.
Returning to Tianguangdong Village again, I felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and a feeling that things were different and people were different.
The proprietress of the village canteen, the old man sitting under the tree, Li Eryuan, the owner of the self-inflicted snake, and Tang Gui’s pregnant wife...
The house is still there, the trees are still there, but these people are gone.
Passing by the door of Xiao Tang's house, there was a bicycle parked at the door. After hesitating for a few seconds, I didn't knock on the door.
When I arrived outside the house where I used to live, I put down my bag, turned around and saw no one around, then climbed over the wall and went in.
Everything remains as before.
It looked the same when we left, and it still looks the same now, except that there is an extra layer of fallen leaves in the courtyard.
I found a leather bucket in the corner of the courtyard wall. There were two second-hand diving equipment in the bucket.
I took it out, wiped it, sat in the courtyard, and waited for nightfall.
At around 10 p.m., I climbed over the wall with my belongings and walked furtively to Guizailing Reservoir alone.
Guizailing has been fenced with iron wire, and the door of the hut where Lao Hu lives is locked. It is dark inside, and no one knows where he has gone.
I changed into my wetsuit and after a quick check, without hesitation, I turned on my headlight and jumped into the pond with a splash.
The water was turbid and there were no fish or shrimps. I vaguely saw a few aquatic plants swaying in the water. The bodies of the dragons and monkeys were gone. I saw a big hole at the bottom of the water, and I swam through it with all my strength.
The sound of water breaking.
I came up and swam quickly to the shore.
The reflective logo on the limestone wall was still there, so I took off my mask and walked deeper into the cave.
It's dark here and quiet around here.
Apart from the sound of my own footsteps, I could only hear the sound of dripping water.
"who!"
I held up the flashlight and turned my head sharply.
No one, it's just me who is too nervous.
When I got to the large slippery slope, I tied the rope and slid down the wall.
I found the hole in the wall, but it was empty.
I slid to the bottom and released the rope. A few minutes later, I found a broken jar and old copper coins scattered on the ground.
I picked up everything without leaving any behind, turned around and left with my backpack.
Soon I stopped and went back.
Relying on my memory, I walked around for nearly two hours and found the secret room.
In the secret room, those tattered yellow canvases were still hanging on the ceiling of the cave.
The flashlight shined downwards and illuminated a dead human skull, with the skull attached to the straw body.
I knelt down and said, "Daozhang Chen, I'm back to see you."
The eye sockets of the skull were just two black holes, staring straight at me, as if they wanted to talk to me.
"Daozhang Chen, I got the copper coins you hid in the cave. Thank you very much."
As soon as I finished speaking, my skull suddenly fell off, rolled to the side.
Closing my eyes, a picture appeared in my mind.
Two hundred years ago, a heroic female Taoist priest with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes burned incense and chanted sutras here.
Only a few green smoke rose into the sky. There was a copper coin jar on the tribute table in front of her, and three sticks of incense were stuck in the manger stove.
Those are the bright incense money.
The most precious thing in the world is the incense money passed down from generation to generation.
When I opened my eyes, the ruined scene returned to my eyes.
I recalled one more thing.
That day we also picked up a Guangxu imitation Xuande manger copper incense burner here.
Now it seems that the stove was probably used by Chen Meiqing to burn incense. After the incense money was consecrated here, she went out with the money jar and accidentally dropped one.
More than 190 years later, Dou Sprout picked up this copper coin here.
And it was this copper coin that guided me to return to this place again.
