The Haunted

Early the next morning, Wan Yan and Song Jin got up at seven o'clock.In order to save time, the two decided to divide their troops into two groups, Song Jin went from west to east to inquire about news, and Chi Yan went from east to west to search for clues.

He didn't call home all day yesterday, and Chi Yan was still a little worried about his grandfather. While walking, he paid attention to the surrounding scenery, and while holding his mobile phone, he wanted to find a place with a good signal to call his grandfather.

This road is relatively secluded, there are few people, and there are many forked paths that only allow one person to pass, white walls and green eaves, and bluestone roads. Although there are differences in architectural styles, it really feels like a village in Huijiang.

But there was no signal along the way, Chi Yan put his phone into his jacket pocket in frustration, looked up and saw an extremely well-built blue-gray building on the right side of the road ahead, with three words engraved on the door: "Nuo Temple" .

Chi Yan remembered the Nuo noodles last night.There is a tradition of Nuo dancing in Hejia Village, so it is natural to have a Nuo temple.The two black solid wooden doors outside the temple were partially hidden, Chi Yan thought for a while, pushed the door open and entered.

The temple is not big, and there are no windows on three sides, only the light coming in from the door opening, so it looks very dark.In the center of the temple, there is a statue of Nuo God. It is not clear what material it is made of. It is covered with a red costume-like embroidered robe and a black gold Nuo mask on its face. This statue is not like In general, the statues in temples are tall and tall, but on the contrary they look thin and short. They wear red robes and black masks, and look at the people who come in with a half-smile. They don't look like gods, but like evil spirits.

Chi Yan was taken aback, and it took a few seconds for him to react, he quickly stood in place and bowed to the god on the confession case.He looked up and saw a blue curtain hanging above the statue, with four large golden characters "Nuo God Prince" embroidered on it.It was only then that Chi Yan realized that the Nuo Goddess was a statue of a boy, and it was made according to the boy's figure, so it looked so thin and small.

He took a step back and looked to the left at the same time, he couldn't help being surprised again.I saw dozens of faces all looking at him in unison, the corners of their mouths hooked, smiling at him happily.Those faces are of different sizes and colors, including blue, red, yellow, ghostly faces, and pale or nearly normal skin-colored faces. Some have pupils, while others only have the whites of the eyes. If you look closely, you can find the expressions on those faces. There are also subtle differences, but without exception, the corners of their mouths are all smiling.

Chi Yan was once scared by Yingying, the little girl in the guest house last night, and now he was able to quickly realize that these were also Nuo noodles, which hung on the entire wall.But even knowing that these were false masks, it was eerie to see so many faces in the shadowy temple.Chi Yan could feel the goosebumps popping out one by one on his arms.

He glanced at the wall on the right, but the wall was empty, only decorated with colorful curtains, and the colors of those curtains were all new, obviously they had been replaced not long ago.

During the Chinese New Year, I will dance Nuo, so it should be changed at that time.

Chi Yan didn't stay long, he paid homage to the Nuo statue again and then hurriedly turned around and came out after bowing to the left and right. Before stepping out of the temple gate, he always felt like a glow on his back, like the dozens of people on the right side of his back. Both eyes were fixed on him.

After walking out of the Nuo Temple, Chi Yan unwillingly took out his cell phone again, and happened to find a signal. He was overjoyed, and quickly dialed the phone at home. By this time, grandpa should have returned from his morning exercise.

The old man moved slowly, and the phone rang five times before he was picked up.Chi Yan asked grandpa if everything was alright, and told the old man that he probably went back late, so he didn't have to wait for him, just go to bed at night.As soon as he said a few words, the phone automatically hung up when there was no signal.

Chi Yan reluctantly put away the phone, turned around and planned to continue walking, but saw a person standing behind him almost close to him.

It was an old lady, not as tall as Chi Yan's chest, with white hair all over her head, wearing an old-fashioned black embroidered satin dress, leaning on a black cane, looking up at him with squinted eyes.

The so-called old people and old people, because of grandparents, Chi Yan will take extra care of other old people when he meets outside, so he immediately bent down and said, "Grandma, didn't I hit you?" The thing that almost startled him behind him.

The old lady squinted her eyes and smiled, then shook her head: "Is the boy calling home?"

The old man spoke with a strong Gannan accent. Chi Yan thought for a while before realizing what the old lady asked, so he replied with a smile: "Yes, call my grandfather. He is alone at home. I don't know much about it." rest assured."

The old lady nodded after hearing this, and waved downwards, signaling Chi Yan to lower her head and get closer to her.

Chi Yan didn't understand what he meant, but he did it anyway.As he got closer, he could feel a somewhat decadent aura unique to the old man coming from him.

The old lady's voice was very low.Very lightly, she whispered in his ear: "Young man, listen to your mother-in-law, hurry up and leave before it's too early, and don't let grandpa wait for you. Mother-in-law is dying of old age, and mother-in-law will not harm anyone."

Her accent is strong, and her voice is soft and indistinct.Chi Yan couldn't hear what she said clearly, or he wasn't sure if he heard correctly.He only felt a chill behind his back, and when he raised his head again, the old lady had already walked away on crutches, and soon disappeared at the corner of the street.

Chi Yan shook his head, comforting himself that he must have misheard.Being so close and speaking for such a long time, if the old man is not a human being, I will definitely be able to tell the difference.What the old man said may be to let him listen to advice, spend more time with the old man at home, don't regret it after the person is gone, and the reason why the child wants to support but does not want to be loved.

He turned around and found nothing, the phone still had no signal, he somewhat understood why the boss was still playing that old-fashioned game console.Unable to contact Song Jin, seeing that it was almost eleven noon, he decided to go back to the guest house and wait for him.

When he went back and passed by the entrance of the village, he saw Song Jin and the owner of the canteen from yesterday were smoking together, and by the way, he was saying something.Chi Yan walked over, Song Jin shook his head lightly at him, meaning he didn't ask anything.

Chi Yan also said a few words, and then asked: "Boss, I see there is a Nuo Temple over there, which is very interesting. How do you dance Nuo here?"

The owner of the canteen opened the door to do business. He was obviously very good at talking, and he started talking endlessly when he heard the words: "I know that there is no such custom in City R. You are all interested in this when you come to our village. The main purpose of dancing Nuo is to drive away ghosts. Chasing the epidemic, from the first month of the first month, it has been dancing from early morning to night every day. The Nuo dancers wear Nuo masks to symbolize ghosts and gods. Go from house to house with lights to 'search for Nuo' to expel evil spirits and plagues."

Song Jin thought of the experience that he and Tao Juanjuan once ran into evil spirits, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Can this really drive away ghosts?"

The owner of the canteen was silent when he heard the words. He took a deep breath of the cigarette in his hand and let it out slowly. He pressed the butt of the cigarette into the soil under his feet before raising his head and looking around. Finally, he looked at Song Jin and said in a low voice: "It's really possible. . During the Chinese New Year this year, the evil spirits were really found.”

Song Jin was startled when he heard the words, but also a little terrified when he saw the boss's appearance, and felt a chill run up his spine.He also carefully asked in a low voice: "What about the found evil spirits? Can they be driven away? Where are they going?"

"There are Nuo noodles. Put evil spirits into the Nuo noodles, and the evil spirits will not be able to come out after being sealed."

Song Jin's eyes widened, and he couldn't help looking at Chi Yan: "Is there another way?"

Chi Yan shook his head, indicating that he was not clear either.

The owner of the canteen thought that Song Jin was asking himself, so he smiled honestly and said, "Speaking of which, I am not actually from Hejia Village. I used to live in Shifang Village. I gradually understood. After watching the ceremony a few times, I don’t understand it very well.”

Song Jin knew that he couldn't ask any more questions, so he bought another pack of cigarettes, bid farewell to the boss, and walked back to the guest house for dinner with Chi Yan.

People in the village didn't pay too much attention. In the dining room of the guest house, Chi Yan and Song Jin ate at one table, while the owner's family ate at the other table.It was the first time Chi Yan and Song Jin saw the owner's wife, she was a pale and thin middle-aged woman, her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she had some unresolved worries.

The little girl Yingying simply ate some food and started playing alone. After the woman finished eating, she pulled her reluctant daughter away. The little girl pouted and finally followed her mother and turned her head before she left. Come, waved to Chi Yan with a smile.

The owner of the shop cleared the table by himself, and Song Jin took the opportunity to talk to the other party: "The child's mother doesn't seem to be in a good mood?"

"Yeah." The shop owner raised his head to look at them, and said with a wry smile, "I checked with Dr. Wang in Murakami, and he said that there is nothing wrong with the body, but a heart disease."

He wiped the table and said, "I don't know what's going on. My wife has been in a trance since the Chinese New Year, saying that she always thinks that we should have a couple of children besides Yingying. How can a mother I can’t remember my own child, I was thinking that if I’m not busy these days, I’ll ask my neighbors to look after the store and Yingying, and I’ll take her mother to the town hospital to take a good look.”

"If it doesn't work, go directly to the city to have a look. Mental illness is not good." Song Jin continued.

"I think so too, but it's too far away, and the roads are not easy to walk. It's been so many years, and the roads in and out of the village still can't be repaired." The owner of the shop complained softly, and didn't speak any more.

"I don't think there are many people staying in the store these days, so we will leave in the afternoon." Song Jin took the opportunity to ask, "Boss, were there many people staying in the store a few days ago? Are there other people besides us?"

There was only one guest house in the village. If Zhu Hui's family or the two police officers had ever been to Hejia Village, they would definitely have to live here too.

The owner of the shop was silent for a moment, looking at the two of them, he didn't know what he was thinking, or he was just recalling the customers who had been in the shop these days.After a long while, he took away the plate from the two people's table and shook his head: "No, no one has lived here. No one has been here since the Chinese New Year."

The news was the same as what Song Jin had inquired elsewhere in the morning. Song Jin was a little disappointed and called Chi Yan twice.

Chi Yan had been distracted all this time, looking like he was out of focus, until Song Jin patted him on the shoulder before he realized it, turned his head to look at his friend, and said solemnly: "Da Song, we have to leave quickly, we can't stay in this village anymore."

Song Jin didn't know why, and asked in confusion: "What's the matter? Did you find something or just thought of something?"

Chi Yan stared at him, his throat moved, and he said in a low voice, "There are ghosts in this village. The point is, I can't tell which one is a ghost here."