It is said that wherever he walks, even dogs dare not pee.
There is always a knife under his pillow. The knife is seven inches long and three fingers wide. It has no handle. Grandpa said that the name of this knife is "Slaying the Dragon".
No one knows whether that sword has killed a dragon. I only remember seeing him sharpening a sword once when I was very young.
The next day, a flood occurred in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, flooding six counties.
In 1990, just in time for the reconstruction of the old city, the Municipal Planning Bureau wanted to occupy a piece of land on the south side of the city to build a road.
On this piece of land sits the ancestral home of the Lin family.
The developer came to visit every day, asking for favors, giving gifts, and even promised a sky-high compensation.
My grandfather refused to accept any of them. Not only did he return the gifts intact, he even tore up the check they issued in front of the developer.
Neighbors said he was stupid. That check was enough for the Lin family to buy several luxury homes in the city center.
Someone secretly said to my father, "Old man, please don't be confused. These developers are not easy to mess with. They have a tough backend. Be careful of stumbling upon you!"
The next day, a group of arrogant green men came to the house with sticks. Without any explanation, they beat, smashed, and robbed the house, and even tore down the door and windows of the old house.
The old man was sitting in the courtyard at that time, with his legs crossed and not saying a word, sipping tea leisurely.
The second uncle went to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife and wanted to fight these gangsters, but he stopped him and said, "Don't worry, I will let them put the door back intact for me!"
That night, grandpa went out with a diary and went to a public phone booth.
The next day, the leader of the demolition team who once threatened to break my grandfather's leg came again.
This time he tied himself up like a crab and came to the door. He knelt in front of my father and kowtowed to him to apologize.
The leader of the demolition team was a ruthless man who saw blood without blinking an eye. He had been in prison for several years and was nicknamed "Black Tiger".
But when he knelt in front of my grandfather, he looked like a sick cat.
Accompanying Heihu to apologize was a leader from the municipal bureau.
The impressive city bureau leader stood next to the old man, as reserved as a grandson, "Mr. Lin, my brother-in-law is not sensible, so why don't you look at my face..."
In the end, the city bureau leaders nailed the door one by one for the Lin family.
Later, the Municipal Planning Bureau re-planned the route and rerouted the highway to bypass the Lin family's old house.
I was only seven years old at the time. Looking at my grandfather's back from a distance, I felt so impressive and majestic.
An even more majestic scene happened half a year later.
That day was my grandfather's seventieth birthday.
Several magnificent military jeeps drove from the city and parked in front of the Lin family's old house.
Eight soldiers got out of the car and were dressed in military uniforms with solemn faces. The oldest one was in his fifties, with two bars hanging on his shoulders.
Neighbors who were watching the excitement said he was a "big official".
But after the high officials entered the door, they all knelt down in front of my grandfather and called him "Master".
Grandpa didn't even look at them.
He locked himself in his study and didn't go out all night.
Eight soldiers knelt outside the door all night.
Early the next morning, my grandfather woke up slowly, put on plain clothes, and lay on a deck chair in the middle of the yard to bask in the sun.
Looking at these disciples and grandchildren who had been kneeling all night, my grandfather said calmly, "I, Lin Dongting, keep my word. When I left, I never thought about going back."
"You are obviously here to wish me a birthday today, but don't think that I don't know what you are thinking. Something has happened in that place and you can't figure it out. A few old immortals can't bear to ask for help, so they sent you here.
Kneel down and you want me to soften my heart, right?"
The eight soldiers knelt motionless and lined up in a line. No one dared to look at him.
My grandfather remained expressionless and said, "Back then, I swore that I would never touch the gate of District Six again in my life..."
The soldier who was over fifty years old stood up, bowed and said, "Old man, we understand."
As he said this, a sedan was delivered outside the door.
They have to kneel down to carry the sedan chair for grandpa.
"You are forcing me..."
In the end, my grandfather relented, set fire to the sedan, got up and left with the soldiers.
Also taken away at the same time was my second uncle.
Before leaving, the old man pointed at the young me and said to the eight soldiers, "Lin Feng is the last surviving member of the old Lin family. When I am old, I can take my son and sell my life to the 'Sixth District', but whoever dares to fight?"
It’s my grandson’s idea that even if I become a ghost, he won’t be spared!”
This time, there was no news at all.
The family only knew that the old man and his second uncle went to a place called "District Six". As for what they were doing and where District Six was? No one knew.
The city bureau leader who initially interceded for the gangster said that it was a secret and that he was not senior enough to inquire about it.
At that time, I thought I would never see my relatives again.
But eight years later, the second uncle came back.
He was carried back on a stretcher by several comrades. He was dying and had a broken left arm.
At the same time, the second uncle brought back a paint-red box.
The family members were all frantic, asking where the second uncle had been all these years? Is the old man still there? How did his arm get broken?
The second uncle was very tight-lipped. He only told his family that the old man was still alive in a place where no one could go, and then he refused to say anything.
When he returned from the "Sixth District", my second uncle was only thirty years old, but his temples were already frosty white and his forehead was covered with fine wrinkles, making him look like an old man in his twilight years.
While he was recuperating, my second uncle took out a bank card from his pocket, held my dad's hand and said, "Boss, take this money and go buy a decent house in the city. It's okay. You and your family of three don't go into the ancestral home."
Stay home."
From that day on, the second uncle occupied the old house alone, guarding the box he brought back from the "Sixth District".
The second uncle didn't say what was in the box. He only said that he would guard it for the rest of his life.
I have always been curious about boxes, and I would carry a bottle of wine every now and then to visit my second uncle and chat with him.
One day, while my second uncle was drunk, I asked the question in my heart, "Uncle, where is our old man? Is he gone?"
The second uncle burped drunkenly, "Nonsense, the old man is a good man. He gave me this suitcase with his own hands."
Hearing this, I turned around and looked at the lip-red box again. The paint was like blood, a dazzling red.
"Second uncle, why do you treasure this suitcase so much and put it on your bed? It's been several years since you came back, and you still want to sleep with it in your arms, right?"
So I asked my second uncle if he could give me this box.
"no!"
The second uncle who was drunk suddenly opened his eyes wide, slammed the table, and crushed the wine glass into powder, "No one can touch this box except me!"
"Second uncle, don't be angry..." I was frightened by the sudden expression on my second uncle's face, and I fell off the stool with an "ahhh" sound.
Perhaps realizing that he was losing his temper, my second uncle quickly helped me up and wiped the dust off my butt. "Looking at your potential, how will you introduce yourself to others as a member of the Lin family in the future? My second uncle is almost drunk, so you can go back!"
Ever since this box was added to the house, my second uncle never let me spend the night at the old house.
No matter how happy the uncle and nephew are drinking, my second uncle will definitely drive me out of the ancestral home as soon as early morning. This is an unbreakable rule.
But this time, I had a second thought.
I pretended to agree, went out with the empty wine bottle, walked around the courtyard wall, then came back again, put my head on the window of my second uncle's bedroom, and looked inside without blinking.
Second uncle didn't sleep.
He closed the door, covered all the doors and windows, then climbed onto the bed, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and muttered something in his mouth.
For a moment, the second uncle raised his remaining right hand, spread his fingers, and slowly placed them on the red box.
A strange scene also occurred.
The red box suddenly appeared with wisps of dark red stripes, as if it was electrified, flashing with alternating light and dark blood.
Vaguely, I felt as if the box was about to beat, and traces of blood floated in the dark red stripes, all of which went in along the second uncle's nostrils.
The second uncle's belly bulged one after another, rising and falling like a toad, his breathing rate increased, and his forehead was covered with beads of sweat as big as beans.
Under the light, his face turned from purple to green, and then gradually turned white. There was no blood on his skin, just like a stiff dead person.
"Ah..." I was startled by this weird scene, and I let out a low cry unconsciously. I realized something was wrong and quickly covered my mouth with my hands.
But the second uncle seemed to hear something, and suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of red eyeballs occupied by bloodshot eyes. Countless bloodshot eyes were squirming in his eye sockets, like forked branches, and then he looked toward the window fiercely.
I've never seen such a scary look.
That glance made me feel as if my heart had been bitten by a poisonous snake.
Cold, strange... and extremely vicious!
I was so frightened that I lay down by the window and didn't dare to move. Fortunately, my second uncle just glanced at the window, slowly closed his eyes, and continued to mutter something.
After I was sure that he had no intention of chasing me out, I breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, ran home like crazy, covered myself with a big backpack, and spent a long night in fear.
"There must be something wrong with that box!"
When I woke up the next day, the first thing I did was to run back to my ancestral home again.
My second uncle was surprised when he saw me, "You don't have to go to school today, why do you run to me whenever you have free time?"
I said tremblingly, "Second uncle, last night..."
"What happened last night? It's okay!" The second uncle looked confused, as if he couldn't remember what happened last night.
Looking at my second uncle's calm face mixed with a hint of weirdness, I held back and didn't dare to ask any more questions.
But this incident became a thorn in my heart, making me more and more curious to know what was in the box.
Finally one day, I had the first opportunity in my life to commit suicide.