Kaleidoscope of Death

The yin house is a tomb in the traditional sense. Although it is quite different from the yang house, it must also pay attention to Feng Shui.

Gu Longming and Lin Qiushi were talking and looking around in the yard.The yard is huge, and besides where they live, there are other landscapes and buildings.

Between their residence and other residences is a dense pagoda tree.Although Lin Qiushi doesn't know Fengshui, he also knows the saying that locust tree is easy to attract ghosts.

Lin Qiushi noticed that there were strings of bells strung together with red strings on those pagoda trees, and the bells rang when the wind blew.It sounds pleasant at first, but if it is placed at night, the sound of this bell must be a bit intrusive.

A little further past the locust tree, there is a small river passing through the yard. This small river should be the water source of the town, but it was cut off in half by the brick wall and left in the yard.

Seeing this scene, Gu Longming shook his head and sighed, and said: "Longyu shoal, surrounded by walls, is fierce water, the water is not kept properly." He said, "I walked around this house, and I think it's okay to live in it. If nothing happens, they are really powerful people.”

Lin Qiushi reminded him: "We are the ones living in the yard now."

Gu Longming: "...Then we are pretty good."

While they were talking, they heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from outside. The two walked to the door and looked, and found that a group of people on the street were carrying a live pig to the distance.

This group of people were all wearing red clothes specially used for sacrifices, and the atmosphere seemed to be festive.But if you observe carefully, you will find that the expressions on each of their faces are very heavy, and there is even a hint of fear in their eyes.

"Where are they going?" Gu Longming asked in a low voice.

Lin Qiushi shook his head: "I don't know, let's go and see?"

"Okay." Gu Longming rubbed his fists.

They heard the sound together with other people in the team, but some people were afraid and did not want to leave the yard, but there were also a few people who, like Lin Qiushi and the others, chose to see where the group of people were going.

So six or seven people sneaked around and followed the sacrificial procession secretly, heading for the distance.

They crossed the street and walked through a small forest, and saw the sacrificial procession finally stop in front of a river next to a small town.

This river seemed to be the main trunk of the river that was brought into the yard where they lived. The river was dark and turbulent, and the sound of the surging water could be heard even if it was far away.

When the priests reached the water's edge, they lowered the live pigs they were carrying. Lin Qiushi thought they would throw the pigs into the river, but he didn't expect that the group of people would take out a rattle from their pockets and start to repeat it over and over again. They were chanting something over and over again, the group of people were far away, and most of their voices were drowned out by the intense sound of water. Most people could not hear what they were chanting, but Lin Qiushi could hear it clearly. He heard the group What the person was reading was the sentence written in the clue: the sky is panic, the ground is panic, there is a crying boy in my house, the benefactor who passed by read it three times, and fell asleep until the light of day.

After reading it several times, the group of people threw the live pig into the river.

The live pig struggled a few times in the water, and then sank quickly. When these people saw this scene, they breathed a sigh of relief, put away the rattle in their hands, and planned to turn around and leave.

However, as soon as they took a few steps forward, they heard the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. Looking back, they found that the live pig was thrown back from the water by something.

Seeing this scene, Lin Qiushi was slightly shocked. He clearly saw that the pig's body was covered with dense blood-red tooth marks, as if it had been bitten by something.And the bitten bloody pig was still alive, howling miserably.

Seeing this scene, the crowd of worshipers instantly exploded. Almost everyone had a panic expression on their faces. They seemed afraid to stop by the river, and ran towards the small town in a hurry. It seemed that some monster was about to chase after him.

Gu Longming said: "Then there is something in the river..."

Lin Qiushi shook his head: "It's not a good thing anyway."

Gu Longming muttered: "What kind of messy River God Festival, I think it's the Water Ghost Festival."

Lin Qiushi's heart moved when he heard the words.

They were talking, but they saw two of the people who came with them stand up from the dark and head towards the river. It seemed that they wanted to carefully examine the pig and the things in the river.

Gu Longming turned his head to look at Lin Qiushi, eager to move: "Shouldn't we go and have a look? Maybe there are some key clues over there?"

"Don't go." Lin Qiushi didn't want to risk his life, "Have you forgotten how fast those priests ran?" It was as if there were ghosts threatening their lives by the river.In such a situation, if you continue to push forward, you are either stupid or have some trump card to rely on.

When the two reached the river, they first looked at the pigs.

The pig used for sacrifice was still alive, screaming in pain, and the blood flowing from its body flowed down the river bank into the dim river water.The two people found no clues on the pig, so they raised their heads and looked into the river. One of them seemed to see something, and exclaimed in his mouth: "There is something, don't go there—"

But it was too late when he said this, the other person's feet had just landed on the bank of the river when something grabbed his ankle and started to drag him into the river.

The thing in the river seemed to be so powerful that no one even had a chance to react. The person let out a scream and fell into the river with a plop.

"Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu—" The remaining person by the river shouted his friend's name in embarrassment, "Xiao Yu—"

The dim river water began to churn, as if it had been boiled, mixed with blood, and the light rain that was pulled into the river just fell silent.

Lin Qiushi heard the child's crisp laughter, he looked at Gu Longming, and saw that his face was pale.

"You heard that too?" Lin Qiushi asked him.

"What did you hear?" Gu Longming didn't understand why.

Lin Qiuhui said: "Then you were frightened?"

Gu Longming was silent for a while, and then whispered: "I saw something that pulled him into the water." There was a little fear in his eyes, "It's... a pair of children's hands."

A pair of pale, swollen hands with blisters belonged to a child.

"Let's go." Gu Longming didn't want to stay here anymore.

Seeing that there was no movement by the river, Lin Qiushi nodded and got up.

When the two returned to the city, they found that the whole small town was in a very weird atmosphere.People on the street were whispering, either with fear in their eyes or numbness in their faces.

But seeing these two foreigners, there was something else in the fear and numbness.Although Lin Qiushi was reluctant to admit it, he recognized an expression called excitement.

"Damn it, why do they look like that." Gu Longming couldn't stand it anymore, "It's like a pervert seeing a girl, I've already changed the skirt."

Lin Qiushi: "..." He didn't say a word, thinking that you might be qualified for a perverted role in a skirt.

A gust of wind blew past, and the red lanterns hanging on the street were blown around, like bright flames.Although it is a festival, there is no festive atmosphere here. Instead, everyone is afraid, afraid that the birthday of the river god will be seven days away.

Lin Qiushi found a shop at random, went in and bought some things, and asked tactfully about the sacrifice of the river god.

The boss was a middle-aged man in his 50s. He glanced at them and said reluctantly, "This is a special festival here, to pray for good weather..."

Lin Qiushi said, "That's all?"

"It's just that." The boss was sweeping around with a feather duster in his hand, muttering, "Otherwise, what else can I do."

Lin Qiushi said, "What about the sacrificial process?"

But what the boss said was very vague: "It is to throw the livestock into the river and feed the river god..."

Gu Longming has always spoken directly: "It's just animals? You won't throw people in in the end, will you?"

The boss was actually angry when he heard the words: "How is it possible! If you don't believe me, you can follow and see for yourself. Couldn't you see what was thrown?"

Gu Longming said: "Then why..."

He wanted to ask why a child's hand was stretched out of the river, but Lin Qiushi patted it lightly, so he changed his words: "Then why are those people so afraid of things in the river?"

"It's been said that it's the God of the River. Since it's a god, it must have a temper." The boss was very impatient, "Okay, okay, I'm going to start a business, you ask all kinds of things and don't buy—"

"Who said I won't buy it." Gu Longming said, "Can Alipay pay? Alipay can't do it, and WeChat can do it."

The boss was expressionless: "I only accept cash here."

Gu Longming regretted hearing the words: "You can't do this, you will be eliminated by the times sooner or later, let me tell you..."

Before he could say anything, he was dragged away by Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi felt that if Gu Longming was not taken away, the guy would most likely take advantage of non-cash payment on the spot.Non-cash payment is really easy to use, but at least you must have a smart phone, and this is still inside the door, can you still buy some specialties to go back?

"What are you arresting me for?" Gu Longming rolled up his sleeves, obviously not enough to say, "I haven't finished my words yet..."

When he said this, he noticed Lin Qiushi's expression and laughed dryly, "Just kidding, just kidding."

However, the other people here seemed to be reluctant to mention the matter of offering sacrifices to the river god. They then asked a few passers-by to inquire, but the clues they got were all vague.All he knew was that the River God's birthday was seven days away, and that the whole town would be there.

At noon, Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming went back to the yard for dinner.

The lunch was quite sumptuous, and everyone ate at separate tables. Lin Qiushi had sharp ears, and could hear most of the conversations of the people.

"Is the ancestral hall really okay?" Someone whispered.

"I think there is, but I haven't found it yet." Another person is answering. This person seems to be the man who proposed to divide the room yesterday. Lin Qiushi remembers that his name is Yan Shihe, and he and another girl team , that girl's name is Xiaoqian.

"I don't want to go in again." Xiaoqian said, "The atmosphere there is weird and scary."

Yan Shihe said: "You wait outside, I'll go in and have a look."

Lin Qiushi was listening carefully, but was suddenly patted by Gu Longming. He was startled, looked at Gu Longming, and said, "What's wrong?"

"What are you listening to?" Gu Longming whispered, "You can hear it from so far away?"

Lin Qiushi said vaguely: "I can only hear a little bit."

Gu Longming said: "It's not bad at all."

Lin Qiushi: "Well..." he said, "There seems to be an ancestral temple in this small town, we have to go and have a look."

"Okay." Gu Longming said, "Go after dinner." He stood up and added another bowl.It has to be said that Gu Longming's appetite is really good, he finished four bowls of white rice by himself, and basically ate all the dishes on the table.

Lin Qiushi suddenly felt that he should have a common language with Cheng Qianli.

After eating, they approached the servants in the yard and inquired carefully about the location of Xiaocheng's ancestral hall, and learned that the ancestral hall was just upstream of the river.

The ancestral hall is also called the ancestral hall. It is a product of the ancient family system. It is usually used to worship ancestors, and occasionally it is used as a place to deal with important affairs within the clan. punish.

Also because of the important status of the ancestral hall, it is usually the landmark building of the whole family, and it is magnificent and beautiful.

The same is true of the ancestral hall in this small town.

The door of the ancestral hall was open, and there was a gatekeeper sitting at the door. When he saw them coming, he didn't say hello. He just raised his eyelids to look at them, and then closed them again without interest.

"Why didn't he stop us?" Gu Longming felt that something was wrong after successfully entering the ancestral hall. "It's such an important place, let people come in casually? The tablets of their ancestors are enshrined in it, so aren't you afraid we will smash it?"

Lin Qiushi said: "It's not right." Usually, the world inside the door also follows the rules of reality. For example, under normal circumstances, they should be stopped by the gatekeeper and have to use other methods to get in.

Gu Longming thought about it, but couldn't think of a reason, so he had to give up.

There are neat memorial tablets enshrined in the ancestral hall, and there are so many of them that Lin Qiushi doesn't know the number at all.Incense and sacrifices are enshrined in front of the tablet, which looks no different from other ancestral halls.

But Lin Qiushi always felt that there was something wrong here, but he couldn't grasp it for a while.

Gu Longming looked east and west, and the more he looked, the more something was wrong: "...This ancestral hall is not right."

Lin Qiushi: "What's wrong?"

Gu Longming pointed to a tablet placed on a higher place: "Have you seen that tablet?"

Lin Qiushi said: "What?" He looked in the direction Gu Longming pointed and saw a black tablet.

Gu Longming said, "The date is wrong."

To put it simply, the middle of the tablet is the person's name and social relationship, the left is the birthday, and the right is the time of death. Lin Qiushi looked at the time and showed surprise: "Only one year old?"

The person recorded on this tablet turned out to be a one-year-old child, a little boy who died young.

Gu Longming shook his head, disapproving all over his eyes: "Children who die young are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall."

Lin Qiushi also knows this custom, that is, the folk rule is that children who die young cannot enter the ancestral grave, because it is said that such children are full of resentment when they die, and even hate their parents and brothers and sisters.

They were talking, when the tablet in front of them fell from a height with a bang, and broke into two in front of them.

Lin Qiushi and Gu Longming were silent at the same time.

"Haha, it must be the wind." Gu Longming laughed dryly.

Lin Qiushi didn't speak. He glanced at the top tablets of the ancestral hall, and found that the row of tablets were all children's tablets. The oldest one was no more than three years old, and the youngest was only one year old... maybe not even one year old. Gone.

And it was definitely not the wind that smashed the tablet just now. There is no window facing here, and the door is half-closed. How could there be wind...

Lin Qiushi glanced at the place where the tablet was, and said, "Let's go."

Gu Longming couldn't get what he wanted, so he quickly got up and ran away.

When they were leaving, Yan Shihe and the others happened to come over, so the two sides greeted each other politely.

"What, did you find anything new?" Yan Shihe asked them.

"I can't tell you if there is." Gu Longming is a very straightforward person, he said carelessly, "What if you take the key and run away first?"

Yan Shihe laughed when he heard the words, as if he thought Gu Longming was quite funny.

Lin Qiushi was still thinking about the things in the ancestral hall, when he felt that Gu Longming suddenly approached his ear and blew a breath, which made him tremble: "What are you doing?"

Gu Longming: "Didn't I want to talk to you? Why, do you think they have other clues?"

Before Lin Qiushi opened his mouth, he heard a crackling sound from the ancestral hall behind him. He was so familiar with this sound. They had heard it just now. It was the sound of the tablet falling to the ground and being smashed.Judging from the loudness, Lin Qiushi suspected that the tablet might have fallen down a lot.

Gu Longming heard it too, and was a little confused: "Damn it, what did they do in there to piss off the whole family."

Lin Qiushi: "I don't know..."

The guards of the ancestral hall also heard the voice, got very angry, got up and went in.

After a while, they heard a roar coming from inside, and then Yan Shihe and his friend Xiaoqian were kicked out in desperation.

Gu Longming put away the schadenfreude on his face, pretended to be concerned, and said, "Are you all right?"

"It's okay." Yan Shihe said, "There was a little accident." He glanced at Xiaoyu.

But Xiaoqian was very wronged, and whispered: "Someone really pushed me, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen on that tablet..."

"Don't think too much." Gu Longming said, "What if the person pushing you is not human."

Xiaoqian almost cried.

Lin Qiushi thought to himself, brother, you should stop talking.

It was getting late now, and the four of them were going back to the courtyard where they lived.

The weather inside the gate was not too good, even in the daytime, the sky was gloomy, but around six o'clock, the small town returned to the silence like late at night, only the big red lanterns hung lonely on the street, blown by the wind. wobbly.

When returning to the yard, Lin Qiushi saw the hostess who received them before.

Now she changed her clothes and sat among the locust trees in the yard, holding something in her arms.At first, Lin Qiushi thought she was holding a child, but after walking over, he realized that what she was holding was not a child, but a small red quilt, which looked like a swaddle that had been used on a child.

Lin Qiushi was watching, when Gu Longming came over and blew into Lin Qiushi's ear: "What are you looking at?"

Lin Qiushi was itchy from his blowing, and said helplessly, "Can you stop blowing into my ear, it's very itchy."

Gu Longming said: "When you blow air, the tips of your ears move, it's so cute."

Lin Qiushi said angrily: "Pay attention to your identity as a female high school student!"

Gu Longming: "..." He silently took out a carrot hairpin from his pocket and put it on his head.

Lin Qiushi: "..." He was convinced.

While they were talking, the hostess had already stood up and walked away slowly.

"Let's go, let's go eat." Lin Qiushi said.

Gu Longming nodded happily.

One person died inexplicably by the water during the day, and there were eleven people left in the house when we had dinner.

Gu Longming said that every time he eats, he is the happiest time in the door, and he also asked Lin Qiushi when he was the happiest.

Lin Qiushi said: "When you leave this door."

Gu Longming: "That's right..."

Lin Qiushi said: "Are you really entering the door for the fourth time?" To be honest, he felt that Gu Longming's performance was too good, not like a novice who entered the door for the fourth time.

"Yes." Gu Longming wiped his mouth, "But that's what I do outside the door."

Lin Qiushi was startled: "What do you mean by doing this? Catching ghosts?"

Gu Longming nodded.

Lin Qiushi was silent for a long time, and finally said: "There are ghosts outside the door?" Can he be a materialist?

"No." Who knew that Gu Longming said calmly, "So to put it another way, I'm actually cheating money..."

Lin Qiushi: "..." Why did you say it so frankly.

Gu Longming said with emotion, "I thought my skills would never be of use, but I didn't expect to be able to do so. So what about you, what are you doing outside the door?"

Lin Qiushi: "The vagrant." He used to have a job, but now he sleeps with the cat every day, and has become a salted fish without dreams.

As soon as Gu Longming showed his sympathy, he heard Lin Qiushi add: "Occasionally take on some jobs to earn extra money."

Gu Longming: "...we have such a good relationship..."

Lin Qiushi: "No discount."

Gu Longming: "...Lin Lin, you are really ruthless! But I like you, I just like you who are ruthless!"

Lin Qiushi thought to himself that if you really like it, I can raise the price for you even more ruthlessly.