Meng Shiyu made a call to her father, and Meng Tao readily agreed, telling us not to worry, he would have the car taken care of.
After making the call, Meng Shiyu and I sat in the room waiting for lunch.
Because I had nothing to do, and there happened to be a lot of books in the living room of the village chief's house, I picked up a book and started reading.
This is the village chronicle of this village. The so-called village chronicle is the history of a village, recording what happened in the village in the past.
At first I didn't care much about this village chronicle, but after turning a few pages, my brows gradually began to frown.
Because I accidentally turned to the most important page of this village chronicle, it turned out that a very tragic battle took place in this village during World War II.
During that battle, there was a fierce exchange of fire between the Japanese army and our Eighth Route Army soldiers. The battle was very tragic. Almost the entire village was razed to the ground, the land was fragmented, the houses were burned, and the trees were cut down to make shelters.
There was no final winner in that battle. No one from the Japanese army or the Eighth Route Army survived. They all died here. Because it was a war period, when the battlefield was cleaned later, everyone's bodies were buried here.
around this village.
And according to the records of the village, in fact, in the past few decades, Yang people have seen ghost soldiers here several times. This kind of thing has happened several times.
Although this is not the first time this has happened, what I don’t understand is why no villagers moved away from here before, but they have moved away now.
It seems that what the villagers said is not wrong. There are indeed ghost soldiers in this village, but it is not just Japanese ghost soldiers, but also the ghosts of our Eighth Route Army soldiers.
The tragic battle decades ago turned this place into a meat grinder. Countless people lost their lives here because too many people died here and they were buried in the same place after their death.
Their obsession during life was too deep, which was to kill each other, so after they died, their resentment was still very strong, and they could not be reincarnated, so they stayed in this village and were occasionally seen by people in the village.
But now those ghosts are haunting and can't be seen at any time. This makes it difficult for me. How can I see the ghost soldiers again?
"It's time to eat, it's time to eat, come over and eat quickly!" Just as I was thinking about how to deal with those ghost soldiers, the village chief's voice came from the kitchen.
Then the village chief came out of the kitchen carrying plates of food.
As soon as the village chief entered the house, I smelled a strong aroma of vegetables.
The village chief brought the vegetables to the table, and then asked Meng Shiyu and I to sit down, "These vegetables are all my own. No chemical fertilizers were added during the growth process. They are guaranteed to be fresh and healthy. Please pick up your chopsticks and eat them!"
The village chief prepared three dishes, including braised pork, shredded pork with green pepper, bacon and vegetables, and a tomato and egg soup.
"These are very common dishes in our rural areas. I hope you don't dislike them." The village chief said with a smile.
Fortunately for me, I grew up in a rural area and these are the meals I often eat, so there’s nothing I’m not used to.
The only thing I'm worried about is Meng Shiyu. Meng Shiyu's life has always been better than ordinary people. I'm afraid she won't be used to the meals prepared by the village chief.
But soon I realized that I was overly worried. Meng Shiyu behaved gracefully and generously, picking up large pieces of braised pork and bringing them to her mouth. There was no pretense, and it was easy for people to feel inexplicably fond of her.
The village chief said that if we didn't come, he would be the only one in the village.
And the village chief told me some other details. The ghost soldiers will not appear during the day, but only at night.
The village chief paused and then said, "It's almost the October dynasty. Is it because of this that ghosts appear in our village?"
"October morning?" I was a little confused.
"Oh, it's what you young people call the Winter Clothes Festival." The village chief took a mouthful of rice and said.
I suddenly realized it when I heard about the Winter Clothes Festival.
The Cold Clothes Festival is one of the three major ghost festivals in China. It is also called the Ancestor Worship Festival and the October Festival, but among the people, it is more commonly known as the Ghost Head Day.
The Winter Clothes Festival is held on the first day of October in the lunar calendar every year. The first day of October in the lunar calendar is also the first day of winter. From then on, the weather gradually becomes colder. People are afraid that the souls of their ancestors in the underworld will lack clothes and clothing. Therefore, in addition to food, incense and candles are used during sacrifices.
, paper money and other general offerings, there is also an indispensable offering - Ming's clothes. During sacrifices, people burn Ming's clothes to their ancestors, which is called "giving cold clothes".
Later, with the passage of time, in some places, the custom of "burning cold clothes" has undergone some changes. Instead of burning cold clothes, it is "burning baggage." People seal many ghost papers in a paper bag and write
The names and corresponding titles of the recipient and the sender are called "baggage". It has the name of cold clothes, but does not have the reality of cold clothes. People think that the underworld is the same as the earth. If you have money, you can buy many things.
Every year when the Ghost Festival comes, the ghosts will become more active, more active than before, and often come out and move around.
Thinking about it carefully, the Winter Clothes Festival is indeed coming. Is it really just because of this reason as the village chief said that the villagers saw the ghost soldiers?
After eating, I asked the village chief about the specific places where the soldiers who died during World War II were buried, and planned to go and have a look.
Originally, Meng Shiyu wanted to go with me, but I refused and I didn't agree.
Because the place where soldiers are buried has too much negative energy, places like cemeteries are not suitable for women.
Although Meng Shiyu insisted, she had no choice but to stay.
At the same time, I was worried that they would encounter ghost soldiers after I left, so before I left, I put yellow talismans on the door of the village chief's house to prevent ghost soldiers from entering and harming Meng Shiyu and the village chief.
After doing all this, I felt relieved.
The village chief said that the bodies of the Eighth Route Army soldiers were buried on the east side of the village. I walked about two kilometers northeast to that place.
Only when I arrived did I realize that the land where hundreds of Eighth Route Army corpses were buried was already covered with reeds.
It's late autumn now, and occasionally a cold autumn wind blows by, causing these reeds to drift in the wind.
Looking at the dense reeds, I couldn't help but think of an old Chinese saying: Green mountains are lucky enough to bury loyal bones, and the land under my feet is also lucky.
Under this land are buried the greatest warriors who guarded this land. They have been sleeping here for decades. They will still be accompanied by fallen leaves, dead grass and heavy snow in winter in the next few decades.
Oh, the autumn wind blowing, please bring the heroic souls of the soldiers back to their hometown!
Let them see the changes in the country they guard, let them see the land they love again, and let them return to their roots!