Yidan, what are you doing here? Are you trying to scare me to death? "I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, watching his back and not getting close because I felt like there was something ahead that I instinctively didn't want to get close to.

And my wife and sister's hands seemed to be pulling me from behind, but I knew even if I turned around suddenly, I wouldn't see her.

Is that Tian Ge? Tian Ge... Don't go back

Zhang Yidan spoke to me with a trembling voice, but he didn't turn around. In his back, he was wearing dirty clothes, as if soaked in mud and water, and his shoes were paper.

I heard that his voice was not quite right, and his face looked a bit ugly: You kid, are you planning to scare me by pretending to be a ghost?

Looking for the figure, I really wanted to kick him so that he wouldn't be so scary next night, but when I wanted to get closer, a cold wind happened to blow in front of me, and the mist instantly blocked my view.

I immediately stopped in my tracks, and when the fog dissipated, where was the shadow of an egg?

I lowered my head and pondered. Could it be that I was hallucinating, or is it that Zhang Yidan has been squatting nearby catching field mice and playing tricks on me every day these days?

I feel like I'm only about half a distance away from Xiaoyi Village. Although I feel that what happened just now was a bit strange, I have no intention of returning to Kailong Village because when I turned around, I once again noticed something pulling at the corner of my clothes, and it was even stronger than the direction back to Xiaoyi Village.

Even though I am aware of the existence of danger, sometimes I have to choose the relatively smaller one between two dangers.

So, I can only grit my teeth and go back to Xiaoyitun.

Standing at the place where Zhang Yidan used to stand, there was a wet yellow water. I don't know where the water came from on the relatively dry road, and the fishy smell was a bit pungent. It seems that Zhang Yidan might have fallen into the sewer and felt unhappy. He wants to make fun of me.

The warning from my daughter-in-law and sister, as well as the eerie disappearance of Zhang Yidan, gave me an ominous omen for this night road. As I continued walking, I began to pay attention to the surrounding environment.

But after walking for another half an hour, the strange thing was no longer discovered, and my heart slightly relaxed.

In front of me, the thick fog gradually revealed the appearance of a two meter wide stone bridge, and the big stone that I had been carrying in my heart was finally put down.

That is an ancient bridge called 'Siqiao'. According to the elders in the village, it already existed when Xiaoyitun was built. They all said it was before the founding of the People's Republic of China. I think it should have been when Xiaoyitun was still Yizhuang.

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

I caressed the ancient bridge, still remembering when I was a child, I was swimming with Zhang Yidan and other friends in the river under the bridge. At that time, the water in the small stream was clear, and I could see the pebbles at the bottom of the water.

Under the night light, I looked down at the bridge with nostalgia, but this sight made my hair explode!

Under the bridge, a group of monks dressed in bamboo poles were carrying bodies to the shore, while a few children lined up, jumping and reciting nursery rhymes, and ran across the river.

Thousands of flowers, thousands of flowers, drifting and scattering, piling and piling, building snowmen, not afraid of cold, not afraid of freezing

These corpses included children, women, and elderly people. They were soaked in water until they turned pale, and some even had maggots crawling on their faces. Their constantly wriggling death was terrifying. After retrieving them, the monks stacked them into a small mountain and had another group of monks perform rituals, sprinkle talisman water, and bury them.

My wife and sister suddenly pulled at the hem of my clothes, and I, who had intended to approach, stopped in my tracks. I was so shocked that I couldn't move.

A cold mist blew by, and I looked under the bridge again, only to find that nothing was left!

The water still trickles over the small bridge, and those monks and children seem to have never existed. I am extremely suspicious. Is it because I am too tired and have hallucinations? Or did the fog give birth to the legendary mirage?

What's wrong with nursery rhymes? Can this mirage still transmit music for thousands of miles?

Tian Ge! Why are you still standing there? Go back to the village quickly

As I was struggling with the vision at the bottom of the bridge, a girl's voice called out to me from the other end of the bridge.

I was startled by the shouting, so I turned my head abruptly and breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be my childhood follower Yu Xiaoxue.

Back then, she was a girl with a runny nose, but now she has the appearance of a beautiful girl. If I remember correctly, she should be sixteen or seventeen years old this year. She even wrote to me before saying she wanted to work in Guangdong, but I stopped her on the grounds that she was not old enough and did not have an ID card. After all, I cannot let the only 'fruit' left in the village go out and let bad people harm her.

I was looking at her with fear, but I noticed that her father was still standing at her doorstep. It was Uncle Yu Gen, and Uncle Gen looked at me blankly without saying a word.

When my grandmother arrived, Xiaoyitun was still a barren land. It took decades for it to gain popularity, so there were many people with foreign surnames from all over the world.

Why are you here? "I greeted them and walked towards their doorstep, wanting to say hello to Uncle Gen.

Xiaoxue ran over and said sadly to me, "Tian Ge, why did you come back? My mother-in-law has been gone for two days, let's go to her place

After hearing these words, my heart instantly sank. It seems that what should have come has come, and my grandmother has really gone.

I couldn't help but shed tears in my eyes, but soon I pinched my forehead and covered it up, thinking that if I wanted to cry, I should cry in the funeral hall.

Uncle Gen didn't walk with us, he just stood silently from a distance watching me. I don't know how Uncle Gen, who used to care about me, became silent and reserved.

The sky had completely darkened. As I passed by, I noticed that the lights in every household had been on for a long time, but the doors were still tightly closed. This was not surprising because there were no streetlights in the village, and almost no one wanted to walk after dark.

But besides Uncle Gen, I also noticed that other neighbors were standing at the door watching me enter the village from afar. I was still some distance away from them, so I didn't say hello, thinking to myself that you might know I was back.

I hurriedly walked to my grandmother's doorstep, which was already covered in white and decorated with a mourning hall. At the entrance were paper horses and paper figures of a man and a woman.

Besides, there was no one nearby. As usual, three to five tables would be set up for relatives and neighbors to gather and talk, drink tea, and so on.

But I think my grandmother is a respected goddess among her neighbors, and perhaps there will be others after her death.

There are two door gods painted by my grandmother on each of the two doors, which look twisted and twisted, but the strokes are very vigorous and powerful. There are also white papers on the doorposts with my grandmother's surname, name, birth and death dates written on them. I only took a glance and found that they were also written by my grandmother herself, with extremely messy handwriting.

It seems that it is true that she foresaw her own limits.

In the hall, a coffin covered in lipstick paper lay quietly, a treatment that only a normal deceased elderly person would receive.

There was no one guarding inside, and the incense in front of the coffin had also been burned. Before I could feel sad, my heart skipped a beat. The guarding incense couldn't be broken. Isn't there anyone coming to offer incense?

I glanced at Yu Xiaoxue, who shook her head and looked a bit pale. "Tian Ge, just now... no, I just ordered it a few minutes ago. I saw you at the village entrance and went to pick you up. Why is it gone again

My grandmother's house is located in a higher position in the village, and there are no neighbors nearby, so I can see the village entrance. It's normal for Yu Xiaoxue to notice that I'm going home.

It seems that businessmen nowadays have a very bad conscience. They make money from dead people and even fake incense, burning it too quickly.

I quickly stepped into the house, but as soon as I stepped in, I couldn't help but feel a chill all over my body. I felt a cold wind blowing from all directions, and my wife and sister seemed to pull me.

But I had no choice. When my grandmother passed away, it was necessary to offer her incense. Without hesitation, I knelt down in front of the coffin and lit four incense sticks.

After being thrown out, three were placed in the front ash pot and one in the back ash pot.

There are no abnormalities.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that my wife and sister are not entirely right. Didn't something happen to me?

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

Although we didn't wear filial piety directly, it's not inappropriate for Yu Xiaoxue and me to watch the vigil together. In the past, when an elderly neighbor passed away, we would occasionally sit by the coffin and chat with the victim's friends.

Moreover, her family has a good relationship with ours. When I'm not around, Yu Xiaoxue often pesters her grandmother and calls her 'mother-in-law' because her grandmother's house never lacks sugar and cookies. Yu Xiaoxue is a snack seller and stealing offerings from her grandmother's gods is a common occurrence.

My grandmother's passing left us both feeling empty in our hearts, and we suddenly lost our backbone. Although we haven't seen each other for a long time, we haven't had anything to talk about.

Both inside and outside were terrifyingly quiet, and I could feel the Yin energy slowly gathering, so I was about to say something to break the silence.

Unexpectedly, I saw the three cigarettes in front of me making a mess of smoke, and I frowned.

The three incense sticks burned irregularly, with the left side being longer and the right side being shorter, while the middle burned the fastest. When I saw it, it was the shortest, and the words' evil incense 'immediately came to my mind, thinking that something was going to happen.

Grandma... I came back late, don't be angry. The incense burns quickly, be more patient. "I felt that the deceased would inevitably get angry if their incense was cut off during the vigil, so I comforted the cold coffin by touching it. However, I discovered something that shocked me:

The coffin was not nailed.

A cold and terrifying feeling came from inside, making my heart skip a beat. Why wasn't it nailed? Did the person presiding over the funeral forget?

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

Well, then come over. "I tried to calm myself down, not to mention Yu Xiaoxue. My heart was beating like a drum, and I felt that the Yin energy around me was too strong.

It has been two days since the coffin was nailed down, and there is no one around the house, just like no one knows that their grandmother has passed away.

In previous years, when other elderly people passed away, it would never be so lonely. Someone should always be holding the funeral.

I also noticed that there were no traces of anyone cooking a big pot of rice nearby. Did no one come to visit my grandmother after she passed away?

This is definitely not a good sign.

I watched as Yu Xiaoxue walked towards me, and my heart tightened instantly. After all, I had warned my wife and sister so much that I was on edge.

Fortunately, my wife and sister didn't pull my hem this time, so Yu Xiaoxue didn't seem to pose any danger to me.

Snow, where have everyone else gone? "I looked left and right, and white paper was pasted around, making the hall desolate and miserable.

Bang!

Before Yu Xiaoxue could answer me, two old doors suddenly collided with each other in the wind. Not only did I jump, but Yu Xiaoxue also jumped up and exclaimed in surprise, hugging my arm.