Chapter 3: : Nursery Rhymes

"Yidan, what are you doing here? You want to scare me to death?" I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Looking at his back, I didn't plan to approach, because I felt something in front of me. I didn't want to instinctively. close.

And sister-in-law's hand seemed to be holding me behind, but I knew that even if I suddenly turned back, I would not see her.

"Is it Brother Tian... Brother Tian... Don't go back."

Zhang Yidan talked with me in a trembling voice. He didn't turn around. From his back, he was wearing dirty clothes, as if soaked in muddy water, and his shoes were paper.

I heard that his voice was not right, and his face was a little ugly: you kid, are you planning to pretend to be a ghost and scare me?

Looking for a figure, I really wanted to kick him so that he wouldn’t be **** scary next night, but when I wanted to get closer, a cold wind blew right in front of my eyes, and the mist was blocked instantly. My sight.

I stopped immediately, and when the fog cleared, where was the shadow of Zhang Yidan?

I lowered my head and pondered. Could it be that I had hallucinations? Or was Zhang Yidan squatting nearby to catch voles every day, playing tricks on me?

I feel that it’s still a little bit away from Xiaoyi Village. Although I think what happened just now is a bit strange, I didn’t plan to return to the Long Village, because when I turned around, I again noticed something pulling the corner of my clothes, and It is stronger than the direction back to Xiaoyitun.

Even if I can know the existence of danger, sometimes I have to choose one of the two dangers which is relatively small.

Therefore, I can only bite the bullet and return to Xiaoyitun.

Standing in the place where Zhang Yidan had stood before, there was a pool of wet yellow water. I don’t know where the water came from on the still dry road. The fishy smell is a bit pungent. It seems that Zhang Yidan might be smelly. I'm in a bad mood in the ditch, so I'm going to get a kick.

The warning from my sister-in-law, Zhang Yidan's strange disappearance, gave me an unpredictable omen for this night road. As I went along, I began to pay attention to the surrounding environment.

But after walking for another half an hour, the weird things were never discovered again, and my heart relaxed a little.

In front of me, the dense fog gradually showed the appearance of a two-meter-wide stone bridge, and the big stone I was holding in my heart finally let go.

That is the ancient bridge called'Siqiao'. I heard from the old people in the village that it already existed when Xiaoyitun was built. They all said that it was before the founding of the People’s Republic of China. I think it was when Xiaoyitun was still a Yizhuang. .

But regardless of its age, the other end of the bridge is the village, and I can vaguely see the dim lights of the village.

I touched the ancient bridge. When I was young, I was swimming with Zhang Yidan and other friends in the river under the bridge. At that time, the stream was clear and the pebbles at the bottom could be seen.

In the luminous light, I looked down the bridge nostalgic, but this look made my chills blow up!

Under the bridge, a group of people dressed as monks took bamboo poles to the shore to fish for corpses, while a few children lined up and ran across the river, chanting nursery rhymes.

"Thousands of flowers, thousands of flowers, fluttering, sprinkled, piled and piled, snowmen, not afraid of cold, not afraid of freezing..."

These corpses were children, women, and elderly people. They were soaked in the water so that they were a little whitish, and even some of their faces were covered with maggots. The creeping death state was very terrible. After they were picked up, the monks took them They piled up into small hills, and another group of monks did things, sprinkled talisman water, and buried them.

The sister-in-law behind was pulling the corner of my clothes abruptly, and I stopped when I wanted to approach, and I was so startled that I couldn't move.

A icy mist blew by, and I looked under the bridge again, but found that there was nothing!

The water still gurgled across the bridge, and the monks and children seemed to have never existed. I was extremely suspicious. Is it because I was too tired to have hallucinations? Or did the fog give birth to the legendary mirage?

But what about the nursery rhymes, this mirage can still transmit sound for thousands of miles?

"My God! Why are you standing there? Go back to the village."

As I was struggling with the vision under the bridge, the girl's voice called me at the other end of the bridge.

I was taken aback by the shouting, I turned my head abruptly and breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that it was Yu Xiaoxue, a childlike follower.

Back then, she was still a girl with a nasal mucus, but now she has the appearance of a beautiful girl. If I remember correctly, she should be 16 or 7 years old this year. She wrote to me and told me that she wanted to work in Guangdong. Stopped it on the grounds that she was not old enough without an ID card. After all, I couldn't let the only "fruits" left in Tunli go out to harm the bad guys.

I was looking at her in a daze, but found that her father was still standing in front of her house. It was Uncle Yu Gen. Uncle Gen looked at me blankly and didn't speak.

Xiaoyitun was still a wasteland when grandma arrived. It has only gained popularity for decades, so there are many foreigners with surnames from all over the world.

"Why are you here?" I greeted and walked towards their door, trying to say hello to Uncle Gen.

But Xiaoxue ran over and said sadly: "My God, why did you come back? Mother-in-law has been away for two days, let's go to her."

After hearing this, my heart sank in an instant. It seems that what should be here is here, and grandma is really gone.

My eyes were a little bit uncontrollable and they wanted to shed tears, but soon I squeezed my eyebrows and concealed the past.

Uncle Gen didn't go with us, but stood silently and looked at me from a far away. I don't know how Uncle Gen, who had originally asked me about me, became taciturn.

It was completely dark. When I passed by, I found that the lights of every household were on early, but the gates were still closed. This is not surprising, because there are no street lights in the village, and almost no one wants to walk around after dark.

But apart from Uncle Gen, I also found that other neighbors were standing at the door watching me entering the village. I was still some distance away from them, so I didn't say hello. I thought you would know that I was back.

I hurriedly walked to the door of my grandmother's house. The doorway was white and the mourning hall was arranged. The door was a paper horse and a man and a woman paper figures.

In addition, no one is nearby. If it is the usual rule, three or five tables should be set up, and relatives and neighbors gather together to talk, drink tea or something.

But I think that grandmother is a god-wife respected by her neighbors, and maybe there will be others when she passes away.

The two doors are each pasted with two door gods painted by grandma, they look twisty, but the pen is very vigorous and forceful. There is a blank paper on the doorpost with the grandma’s last name, name, birth and death date, I After just one glance, I realized that it was written by grandma herself, and the handwriting was extremely scribbled.

It seems that the things she foresaw about her limit is true.

In the hall, a coffin covered with red paper was lying quietly, which is the treatment that old people who died normally would receive.

There was no one to keep the spirit inside, and the incense in front of the coffin was also burned out. Before I had time to be sad, my heart throbbed. The guarding incense cannot be broken. Isn't anyone coming to offer the incense?

I glanced at Yu Xiaoxue, she shook her head, her face was a little pale: "Brother Tian, ​​just...no, I just ordered it a few minutes ago, and saw you at the village entrance to pick you up. Why is this gone? ?"

Grandma's house belongs to a higher position in the village, and there is no neighbor next to it, so I can see the entrance of the village. Yu Xiaoxue found that it was normal for me to go home.

It seems that the conscience of the current businessmen is greatly bad. They make money from the dead, even the incense is going to be faked, and it burns too fast.

I hurriedly stepped into the house, but the moment I stepped in, I couldn't help but fought a cold war all over, feeling the wind blowing in all directions, and the sister-in-law seemed to pull me.

But I had no choice. Grandma passed away and it was necessary to give her incense. I knelt down in front of the coffin without hesitation and lit four incense sticks.

After being thrown out, three were installed in the front ash basin and one was installed in the back ash basin.

There is no abnormality.

I'm relieved. It seems that the sister-in-law is not all right. Isn't there anything wrong with me?

After I got up, I chose the straw mat on the left of the coffin to sit down, and Yu Xiaoxue glanced around and saw me sitting down, shrank my neck and walked in, and then sat on the right side of the coffin.

Although I did not directly wear filial piety, it is not wrong for Yu Xiaoxue and I to keep the spirit together. The old neighbor's old man passed away, and we would occasionally sit next to the coffin and chat with the victim's friend.

Besides, the relationship between her family and our family is good. When I was away, Yu Xiaoxue often pestered her grandmother and called her "mother-in-law", because my grandmother never lacked sugar and biscuits. Yu Xiaoxue was a snack food. Sacrifice is a common occurrence.

The death of my grandmother left our hearts hollow, and we lost our backbone. Although we haven't seen each other for a long time, there is nothing to talk about.

It was terribly quiet inside and outside, and I could feel the yin air gathering a little bit, so I was ready to say something to break the silence.

Suddenly, I frowned when I saw the fuss of the three cigarettes in front of me.

The three incenses burned irregularly. The left side was long and the right side was short. But in the middle, it burned the fastest. When I saw it, it was the shortest. The three characters ‘evil incense’ came into my heart immediately, and I felt something was going to happen.

"Grandma...I'm late. Don't be angry. The incense burns quickly. Take care of it." I felt that the dead old man broke the incense during the watch and would inevitably be angry, so I touched the cold coffin to comfort me, but, I found one thing that shocked me:

The coffin was not nailed.

An icy, stunned feeling came from inside, making my heart beat suddenly, why didn't I get a nail? Could it be that the person who presided over the funeral forgot?

"Brother Tian... I'm a little scared... I want to sit next to you..." Yu Xiaoxue looked at me scared and said.

"Well, come here." I force myself to calm down, let alone Yu Xiaoxue, my heart is ringing like a drum, and I feel the yin around me is too strong.

The coffin hadn't been nailed for two days, and there was no one around the house, just as everyone didn't know that grandma had passed away.

In previous years, when other old people died, they would never have been so deserted. No matter what, someone should hold the funeral.

I also noticed that there were no traces of people cooking a big pot of rice nearby. Could it be that no one had ever come to visit when my grandma passed away?

This is definitely not a good sign.

I watched Yu Xiaoxue coming towards me, and my heart tightened instantly. After all, I warned my wife and sister that I was a little bit ridiculous.

But fortunately, my sister-in-law did not pull the corner of my clothes this time, Yu Xiaoxue seemed to be in no danger to me.

"Xue, where did everyone else go?" I looked around, and white paper was posted all around, making the hall miserable.

Bang!

Before Yu Xiaoxue could answer me, the two old doors were suddenly knocked together by the wind. Not only was I startled, but Yu Xiaoxue jumped up and hugged my arm with a scream.