moonlit night

Just as Yue Qingchen fell into a deep sleep, Xizhou, thousands of miles away from the imperial capital, was also ushering in the time of dreaming.

However, in the surrounding small villages within a hundred miles, no one dared to really sleep.

The news of the ghost clan's raging has spread from all over the surrounding area as early as when it settled in the Mu's Immortal Mansion. All young men and women who can run and dance at home have already packed up and fled here.There are only some old, weak, sick and disabled who can't run, so they can only close the door at night, and then buy some crude cinnabar and yellow talismans at home, secretly praying that those murderous ghosts will not pass by.

Mrs. Wang hadn't closed her eyes for several days and nights. In the evening, she cleaned up the dishes, tied up the big black dog at home, and sprinkled a trail of yellow talisman ash on the door. Then she closed the door tightly and entered the back room.

She set up a brazier, sat on a small bench and warmed her hands, secretly praying that this long night would pass quickly.

In recent nights, the howling of ghosts and wolves can be heard almost everywhere, and people dare not sleep at night, so they can only discuss with the people who live with them to take turns to watch the night.They didn't dare to close their eyes until the sky was bright and the ghosts didn't dare to come out.

That night, his wife was ill, and Mrs. Wang managed to stay up until midnight, when there was a faint knock on the door.

Tap, tap, tap, accompanied by a crying voice:

"Excuse me, is there... anyone?"

Hearing the voice, it looks like a little girl, who must have been hungry for several days before her voice is as weak as a kitten.

There are many poor families in the vicinity, and some have too many children to take care of, so they stay here and let them fend for themselves.The old woman was kind-hearted, so she put on her clothes and went to the courtyard, and asked cautiously, "Who is it?"

The children outside began to sob and chat about their experiences in the past few days, which was similar to what the old woman expected.It sounded nothing suspicious, so she quietly opened the door a crack, and looked out through the gap.

Through the mud on her face, it could be seen that the little girl was exquisite and cute. The two braids on the top of her head had fallen apart, her big eyes were watery, like black grapes, and she was very attractive.

Mrs. Wang originally had a granddaughter who was taken away by her son and daughter-in-law when they fled. She liked children, and seeing the little girl was pitiful, she decided to let her in.

But when she entered the hospital, the old woman kept an eye out, and saw that the yellow talisman on the ground had not been ignited, and the big black dog in the courtyard was still obediently lying in its den, not barking at the girl, so she was really relieved and put The little girl was led into the back room and asked to sit down to keep warm.

"Little sister, what's your name? Who's the oldest in the family?" The old woman asked casually.

Although the girl is small, she is not afraid of life. There are still tears on her face, but she raised her head to hold back the remaining tears, and replied with a sob, "I... I have a sister above me, so she is called Xiao Er. Parents don't want it." Me, my sister doesn't want me either, fortunately... Thankfully, mother-in-law, you kindly took me in, otherwise I really have nowhere to go. "

The old woman pulled out the charcoal fire in the brazier, and the wrinkles on her face were deeply crowded together. She sighed, touched the girl's head and said, "My child, the world is difficult, and life is difficult. Don't blame your parents." .”

The girl lowered her head and did not speak. For a while, the whistling sound outside could be heard getting louder, like the sound of wind, and like a devil crying.There are shadows outside the window, as if there are countless hidden shadows dangling around, ready to break in at any time.

Amidst the shrill howls of ghosts and wolves, the thatched tiles on the roof became loose, as if they were about to collapse.The girl flinched a bit, leaned against the old woman, raised her head and whispered: "Grandmother, I'm afraid."

Her eyes were clear and bright, and for some reason, it gave the old lady a very familiar feeling.

It seemed that for a moment, the little girl in memory came alive, and ran over from a long distance to hug her, Qing Lingling said: "Chunman, sister is back, let's go play together."

The old lady was getting old, so she could remember many things vaguely, and she couldn't even remember the appearance of the young lady she served as a young lady.There is only one thing, she remembers clearly, that is, the second young lady of the Mu family was never afraid.

"Don't be afraid, the bad guys can't get in," the old woman took the little girl into her arms, and began to hum softly, "The south wind blows, to Xizhou, the moon is long, and the strings are full of hooks. I owe silk and embroider , the child sleeps, covers the flower quilt, the child wakes up, eats pancakes..."

Her voice is hoarse and vicissitudes of life, and she has long lost the clarity of a young girl in the years of day-to-day training.The girl leaned against her and murmured: "Mother-in-law, you sing really well. My elder sister sang it too, but it's a pity that no one has sung it to me since she was gone."

The old man narrowed his eyes and was silent for a while, then reached out and stroked the girl's disheveled hair, and asked, "Good girl, are you hungry?"

"Hungry," the girl nodded vigorously, "Grandma, I want to eat lotus cake."

The old woman was taken aback, and muttered: "Lotus cakes? Do you like lotus cakes too?"

"Does mother-in-law like to eat lotus cakes?" the girl asked innocently.

"No, my mother-in-law is old and can't eat such sweet things, but my young lady likes to eat lotus flower cakes very much." The old woman smiled. Although her hair was white, she could vaguely see her sweet appearance when she was young.

She seemed to have suddenly committed a problem that many old people often make. She began to immerse herself in old memories and couldn't get out. She had the illusion that she was still living in the happiest time of her life.

"Actually, the second miss is not born to like lotus cakes, but the eldest miss loves to make, so she loves to eat. Everyone says that the second miss has an older sister like the eldest miss, it is a great blessing, but the eldest miss can have the second miss It's not a bad luck for her to be so dedicated to her sister."

"What is mother-in-law talking about?" The girl squinted her eyes, "Why can't I understand a single word?"

But the old woman acted as if she didn't hear, she just turned away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.Only then did the girl realize that a few hot tears rolled out of the man's cloudy old eyes, like beads with a broken string, falling endlessly.

In the end, I couldn't help it anymore, and I covered my mouth and cried out loudly.

"Why doesn't God have eyes and tells good people not to live long, but what's the use of my dirty old woman living up to now? What's the use?"

It turns out that after all these years, she has become so old, so old that she is as annoying as those elders in the Mu family who are not as good as pigs and dogs.

As if a tight string had finally broken, Chara's patience suddenly ran out, she stood up abruptly, feeling that the croiss braids that had been rubbed indiscriminately were completely undone, she tore off the hair tie and threw it on the ground .

"Why are you crying?" she said coldly, "I haven't cried yet."

The old woman's trembling body paused, she put down her hands and stared blankly at the little girl in front of her, she opened her mouth for a while, but couldn't say a word.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but even though the brazier was still burning, she suddenly felt very cold, as if the whole room suddenly had a sinister and strange smell.

By the dim candlelight, the old woman saw a small beauty spot on the lower right lip of the girl in front of her.

She vaguely remembered that because of this beauty mole, the maidservants who were serving together said that when Miss Biluo grows up, she must be a refined beauty like Miss Qingping.

Out of the mud but not stained is the favorite sentence of the child born in the filth.

It's a pity that she didn't have the chance to grow up.

The old woman still wanted to distinguish carefully, but Shaluo didn't give her this chance anymore, and said directly with sarcasm: "Chunman, do you still recognize me?"

"You are...Second Miss?" The old woman said tremblingly.

Shaluo sneered: "You're still not old-fashioned. Why, do you still want to ask, am I a human or a ghost?"

When she said this, her face was still that of a child, but in those black and white eyes, there was clearly the cunning and viciousness of an adult woman.

Facing that person again after decades, the old woman felt that the dam that had been built in her heart was about to collapse completely.

She also remembered that year when she sent her relatives to Xiaoxiang, and was ambushed by the ghost clan on the return journey, and the ten miles of red makeup was stained with blood.Facing the ferocious faces of the ghost clan and the scene of his companions killing each other, he was so scared that he completely left Miss Biluo behind, and was dragged away to a safe place by his lover who was also in the sending team.

When she was out of danger, because she was afraid of being punished, she didn't dare to go back and report the letter, so she found a small place in the Xiaoxiang area and got married. After a long time in the limelight, she slowly moved her family back to the Xizhou Mufu.

Who knows, but got the news that Miss Qingping and Miss Biluo died in that catastrophe.

The old woman stood up, approached Shaluo little by little, and said desolately: "Miss is coming back now... is it for revenge? I give you money for burning paper every year, have you received it? Mufu... The Mu Mansion was destroyed, and the Patriarch was murdered by thieves...do you know?"

As he spoke, he still couldn't hold back, and burst into tears.

"Unfortunately, I am the thief you mentioned," Shaluo tilted his head, "Why, don't you think they are innocent and deserve to die?"

The old woman looked at her in astonishment, forgetting to wipe away her tears for a while.

Seeing that she didn't seem to understand what he meant, Shara became irritable and started pacing back and forth in the room, angrily saying:

"Do you think that I was born with evil spirits, and if I killed my mother, it's really a bad fate? I will become what I am today, all thanks to them! That old animal/do not cultivate medical ethics, how many people have been cured to death, I'm afraid It's him who can't count, and he wants Mu's house to cover him up!

But there was smoke on the ancestral grave, and a good daughter like my sister was born.Those ghosts who were cured by him came to him, but they couldn't do anything to him. They cast a curse on me while my mother was out to offer incense.In the end, in order to cling to the Luo family, knowing that the Luo family had no intention of friendship, he forcefully pushed my sister into the fire pit.It's not a pity that he died, do you understand? !"

The old woman was speechless for a while, and could only argue palely: "But Missy treats you the best, and that is also her home, you can't really destroy the Mu Mansion..."

"She treats me well?" Shaluo whistled viciously as if he had heard a big joke, "I used to always think that she was the best person in the world to me. But I found out later that she deserved it." It's that old animal's daughter, even her ability to act is exactly the same as him."

After finishing speaking, Shaluo stopped suddenly, raised his head to stare at the old woman's cloudy eyes, and said quietly: "Chunman, don't you want to know how I died back then?"

When she reacted, the old woman felt that her back was soaked with sweat, and her clothes were sticky and sticky to her body, itching a little, as if it was covered with rotten reptiles.But she didn't dare to scratch it, and she didn't dare to look directly into the eyes of the girl opposite, so she just lowered her head and stared at the ground, as if a flower suddenly grew there.

There were two shadows on the ground, and while the candle was flickering, one of the figures suddenly stretched very long, almost wrapping around, trying to completely cover the other shadow.

No, ghosts have no shadows, so why does she still have them?

"Those ghost soldiers grabbed me and wanted to devour my inner alchemy, but I didn't have any inner alchemy at all. So they stripped me of all my clothes, then devoured my flesh and blood, sucked my bone marrow, and finally They put my remnant soul in a jar. Do you know the jar? It’s like the one fighting crickets. There are many fierce ghosts in it. I was almost bitten to death. Yes, hahahaha..."

Shaluo laughed loudly, Chunman's expression turned ugly in an instant, some chaotic sounds came from his throat, but he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time, as if he was strangled by something.

"But it doesn't matter, those ghosts who bullied me have already been killed by me." Chara admired the other party's terrified expression for a while, played with his hair and said, "You just said that gods don't have eyes, and good people don't have eyes." life. So now I ask you, if you trade your life for mine, would you be willing?"

The old woman's face was flushed, and she slowly knelt down on the ground, but she neither nodded nor shook her head, and only looked at the old master in front of her with pleading eyes.

"Hypocrisy, selfishness, and shamelessness, it seems like everyone is like this." Chara's eyes widened, he raised his hand and slapped her, and said angrily, "I haven't killed you yet, but you even lied to me. I don't even want to."

Her words were very coquettish, but her tone was cold and cold. After a while, she suddenly remembered something, clapped her hands happily and said:

"By the way, I heard you have a husband, don't you?"