When the magic flower blooms

As the most popular public place in Jinyu Village, the Elderly Activity Center occupies a large area, which can be roughly divided into four front and rear courtyards, plus six left and right courtyards.

Under Xiaomei's guidance, He Tiansi and Ming Ruoxing began to explore and familiarize themselves with all areas.

The front yard is the place with the most traffic during the day. The first row of houses after entering the gate has been converted into an auditorium. Except for occasional gatherings, movies are shown almost every day.The other courtyard on the left is the public canteen in the village, and the other courtyard on the right is a large vegetable field. In order to prevent the melons, fruits and vegetables from being brutally murdered by children, the door is locked all year round.

The second room in the courtyard is the chess and card room and the library.The other courtyard on the left is a small playground with sand pits, swing frames, climbing frames and other facilities.The third entrance is the office of the staff of the activity center, the restroom, and a public bath.

The last entrance to the courtyard was the only area not open to the public except the vegetable garden. There was a courtyard gate on the east and west sides, with heavy chains and locks hanging on them.

"I said, you should be courageous enough, right?" Xiaomei turned her head to ask the two of them while opening the door.

"I'm very courageous!"

He Tiansi was the first to express his opinion, and then glanced narrowly at Ming Ruoxing beside him, "He... I don't know."

Ming Ruoxing didn't bother to pay attention to this kind of low-level provocation, and just said plainly: "I smell musty, the yard should not be used often."

"That means you have a good sense of smell."

While speaking, Xiaomei had already pushed the door open.I saw a large courtyard with green bricks in front of me. The ground was overgrown with weeds and moss; the doors and windows of the houses were closed, and it looked a bit desolate.

He Tiansi looked around for a while, quite puzzled: "What are you afraid of? What is there to be afraid of? Isn't this quite common!"

"That's because you didn't look carefully."

Ming Ruoxing had already stepped over the threshold, pointing to the two white lanterns hanging in the middle of the small courtyard and under the eaves of the main house.

"See clearly, what is written on it."

He Tiansi followed the instructions and went up to have a look, his face immediately changed.

"Dian?!"

Not only the pair of lanterns with Chinese characters for the founding ceremony, even the couplets with white characters on a black background are hung on the doorposts.If you look carefully, there are melted white candles on the steps at the door of the room, and there are still unburned incense sticks stuck in the gaps.

"This is the common mourning hall in the village."

According to Xiaomei's explanation, this mourning hall has a longer history than the elderly activity center.At the beginning, the surrounding countryside vigorously promoted the cremation system, and the coffins prepared by many families were all piled up in this idle Zhou family mansion.Since the only nearby crematorium is located in Changle Town, some family members suggested that the deceased should stay overnight in the coffin and be cremated the next day.Over time, this has become an established tradition in Goldfish Village.

Today, there are fewer and fewer elderly people who prepare coffins before they die, but in this courtyard, some traces of tradition can still be seen.

Following Xiaomei to those rooms with closed doors and windows, He Tiansi saw several heavy coffins parked quietly in the dark room.Even knowing that the inside is completely empty, it still looks eerie.

Xiaomei said that there have been no funerals in the village in recent months, so the courtyard has not been used for a long time.During the night patrol, you don’t need to open the door, just take a photo with a flashlight across the courtyard door to make sure there is no fire.

Perhaps because of the serious lack of popularity, the temperature in the backyard of this mourning hall seems to be a few degrees colder than the front yard.The three of them didn't stay long, they locked the courtyard door and returned to the public area.

"I've seen almost all the places, so where do we live?" He Tiansi finally asked the most important question.

"It's right here!" Xiao Meishun pointed to an old locust tree beside her.

Only then did they realize that there was an inconspicuous old wooden door hidden under the big locust tree.Pushing open the door and walking in, there is a small courtyard of more than [-] square meters inside, and a wooden door is installed on the courtyard wall on the east and west sides.

"The east gate leads to the alley outside, and the west gate leads to the backyard of the mourning hall. Generally, the villagers who passed away enter and exit the mourning hall through this. In addition to the south gate leading to the living area under the big locust tree—this courtyard You don’t need me to tell you the importance of it, can you understand it?”

He Tiansi nodded, but looked worriedly at the backyard of the mourning hall, which was separated by a wall, which seemed to be still emitting yin energy.

"But living on the side of the road used by the dead, isn't it a little... that?"

Xiaomei was taken aback for a moment, and immediately showed a troubled expression.

"Is that so? I'm sorry, I didn't think too thoroughly. However, Uncle Zhao lived here before, and he didn't seem to have encountered any special circumstances. If you feel afraid, I can try to adjust... "

"Ah, no! I'm not afraid!"

He Tiansi was torn between face and courage, and turned to Ming Ruoxing for help, "Xiao Ming, don't you think it's inappropriate?"

"I do not mind."

After all, a cat is a cat, and it is true to refuse to cooperate at critical moments.

Xiaomei looked suspiciously at these two guys who were inexplicably fighting among themselves, perhaps she had already begun to doubt whether they were qualified for this position.Anyway, it was still early before get off work, so she left a message for them to think about it, and then went about her own business.

As soon as Xiaomei left here, Ming Ruoxing didn't say much, and went to the yard with his luggage.He Tiansi quickly followed him, chattering all the way.

Being read so impatiently, Ming Ruoxing finally rebuked him: "It's hard to find a place to live, so what else is there to be picky about?"

He Tiansi pointed to the mourning hall in the east: "Aren't you afraid? Maybe there will be ghosts in the middle of the night!"

"Don't worry, there are no ghosts here at all."

Ming Ruoxing looked extremely calm, "I just checked, the yard is very clean."

"Clean? What clean? I'm talking about ghosts, not trash..."

Halfway through the conversation, He Tiansi suddenly took a deep breath: "That's right! I heard from the old man that old cats can see ghosts. Could it be true?!"

"You are the old cat!!!" Ming Ruoxing directly punched him on the back to vent his anger.

He Tiansi was dodged left and right by him, and after making a fuss for a while, he suddenly turned around and stopped.

"...No kidding, I said you can really see ghosts?"

Ming Ruoxing also slammed on the brakes, but still almost hit him.The two of them unknowingly turned into an extremely close ambiguous gesture.

In order to resolve this embarrassment, Ming Ruoxing pretended to bow his head to organize his words, and took two steps aside.

"The 'ghost' in human traditional culture refers to the part of the soul except the body. Ghosts can stay in the world or be reincarnated as humans. But in fact, there is no such 'ghost' in the world. There is only one The energy body condensed from the residual consciousness of the deceased, it inherits many things of the deceased—a part of consciousness, memory, and even emotion. But strictly speaking, it is not the deceased himself, but was completely abandoned at the moment of death thing."

"Are ghosts discarded after death?"

He Tiansi heard it in a daze: "So where do you abandon it? Is there a ghost dump in this world?"

"Do you know biodegradable garbage?"

Ming Ruoxing gave an analogy, "Ghosts are also a kind of biodegradable garbage. They will decompose and disappear naturally over time. Moreover, ordinary human beings are too weak, and 'ghosts' that are discarded after death will be destroyed in a few minutes to a few days. It will disappear completely within a short period of time - just like the old man in the hotel in City H, there is nothing left the next morning. The demihumans will be stronger, but generally it will not exceed a month - Only the 'ghosts' with deep obsessions or high-level demihumans can exist for a long time, hundreds or even thousands of years."

"Then can you see ghosts? Where are they usually and what do they look like?"

"It is also difficult for ordinary demihumans to see ghosts. Only a very small number of demihumans of specific races or those who have been trained can see ghosts when they activate their abilities. Ghosts generally reside in objects or objects that the deceased had a deep obsession with before they were alive. The location. The appearance also changes according to the obsession."

"Can that ghost hurt people?"

"Normally not, but there are also those who are very evil and dangerous. Or the deceased was greatly wronged before death, and the emotion of being abandoned after death could not be appeased, so he took revenge on the deceased's behalf. But you don't have to worry too much, Only powerful ghosts can put people to death, and although other ghosts can have some effects on the human body, at best they can only make people have nightmares, or feel cold, or have strange feelings like 'someone is quietly approaching'."

"Then have you ever been in contact with..."

"Okay, let's talk about these things later."

Impatiently being questioned again, Ming Ruoxing waved his hand to indicate that today's teaching is temporarily over.Ask He Tiansi to help move the luggage into the temporary residence.

The room that Uncle Zhao lived in before was quite spacious.There are also seating cabinets inside.The only thing that made me a little uncomfortable was that there was only one bed in the room, and it was an old-fashioned canopy bed.

He Tiansi had never slept in this kind of bed before, and felt excited and novel.However, Ming Ruoxing frowned and stood in the distance looking left and right, then walked over, leaned over and pulled out something from under the bed board.

It's a drawer.

He asked He Tiansi: "Do...do you feel that this bed looks familiar?"

"what?"

He Tiansi was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly realized: "The canopy bed of the young lady of the Zhou family?!"

Regardless of whether the legend of the Zhou family is true or not, the bed in front of me is indeed exactly the same as the bed in that ghost story.The two of them calmed down for a while, trying to make a reasonable explanation—there should be many canopy beds with the same style in ancient times, and besides, the person who made up the ghost story might have gotten inspiration from this canopy bed.

On this basis, Ming Ruoxing quickly put forward another hypothesis: If this bed is really related to that ghost story, then there should be another thing in this yard that also appeared in the ghost story.

The two of them were silent for a moment, then walked out the door at the same time.After wandering around for a few steps in the small yard, He Tiansi immediately cried out.

"it's here!!!"

Under the cover of a desolate bush, an ancient well suddenly appeared.There is a huge wet bluestone slab at the mouth of the well, covered with moss on the well circle, and a few stone-carved goldfish can be vaguely seen.

Ming Ruoxing stepped forward and touched the bluestone slab.

"There seems to be writing on it, but I can't read it clearly. There seems to be a well overflowing under the stone slab. According to ghost stories, this well is connected to the sea. It will become salty when it encounters a typhoon."

He Tiansi cautiously suggested: "Why don't you try it?"

"Why didn't you come to taste it?!"

Ming Ruoxing reacted quickly, and pretended to be calm: "...I'm so bored, it's just a coincidence, there's nothing to be afraid of, go back and put things away!"

The two turtles hit it off immediately, and immediately returned to the house, opened the suitcase and began to take out the clothes and daily necessities.He Tiansi hesitated to put the mats and pillows presented by the enthusiastic villagers on the canopy bed, while still muttering.

"It's okay, we sleep together. Two people, with strong yang, will be fine..."

Ming Ruoxing, who was putting clothes in the closet, stopped and turned to look at him.

"Are you really scared?"

"actually……"

He Tiansi didn't rush to deny it, but thought about it very seriously.

"Have you ever seen a horror movie? It's the feeling that you know there is a ghost but you can't see it. It's the scariest feeling. If you really saw a ghost, it's not necessarily true."

"Then if there are no ghosts here, will you continue to be afraid? If you see a ghost, you will feel at ease instead?"

"That's not what it means..." He Tian searched his brains and seemed to be at a loss for words.

Seeing that he was so entangled, Ming Ruoxing did not laugh at him, but put down his things and walked over on his own initiative.

"Do you want to hear it?" He asked He Tiansi, "The story about the first time I saw a ghost when I was a child."