Relocation Brigade

The building where the Lin family lived was blocked by a water tower, and the entire building was covered by shadows from the outside, and the light was dim.

The two stood in the shade and finished eating the popsicles in their hands, and then threw them into the trash can before officially walking inside.

Just after going up to the first floor, a piece of putty peeled off from the ceiling, revealing the gray cement inside, and the surrounding air gradually changed its taste, no longer a refreshing coolness, but a bit inexplicably biting.

Wu Weiwei touched his goosebumps stimulated by the cold, "Brother Chen, I took a closer look when I entered the door. Other places are okay. The orientation of this building is really bad, and you can't see the sun all day long."

"It's not very good, but it's very clean, and there are no wandering evil spirits." Chen Ling also felt cold, but at least he was a senior in name, so he had to hold on to his face.

Wu Weiwei said: "Today's Huihun night, do you think that girl's parents will not be at home?"

"Traditionally speaking, it should not be avoided." Chen Ling stopped, looked up and looked at the bright red "2nd floor" on the opposite wall to remind, "The seven days after a person's death is called the bardo period. The dead still have memories and nostalgia for the mortal world, and some don’t even know that they are dead. After midnight, they will return from the underworld to visit relatives and family members.”

Wu Weiwei scratched his head, "But I heard before that Huihun Ye's family members need to avoid them, otherwise they will collide with the deceased."

"That's not right." Chen Ling shook his head and said, "The dead man came back just to fulfill his wish, but when he comes back, he can't see his relatives, he will leave regrets, and he won't feel at ease when he returns to the underworld."

Moreover, during the day, the family members of the deceased started to work as soon as they got up in the morning. They had to put a bowl of water and a bowl of grains at the door in the early morning.

Clear water means to wash away the dust, go on the road with peace of mind, and welcome a new life; grains have the meaning of exorcising evil spirits, so that people who come back suddenly don’t want to leave, and want to stay with resentment and evil spirit.

The two went up another floor and stopped in front of the door of 303 on the third floor.

The place was empty, without clear water and grains, Wu Weiwei was stunned for a moment, "There is no welcome thing."

"It might be inside." Chen Ling raised his chin, "Ring the bell first."

Wu Weiwei stood a little closer, and could ring the doorbell by raising his hand.

The ringing was hoarse and intermittent, as if the battery had run out.

Not long after the bell rang, footsteps were heard inside, and the rusted anti-theft iron door was pushed open from the inside.

The man of the house was haggard, with bags under his eyes, bloodshot eyeballs, and chapped lips.He was wearing a hurdling vest over crumpled shorts and flip flops.

Seeing two strangers, he opened his mouth, and it took him a long time to squeeze out two words: "Who are you looking for?"

Chen Ling closed his eyes, and the expression on his face turned serious, "Hello, Uncle Lin, we are Xiaofan's classmates, and we will come to see her for the last time on behalf of the whole class."

The Lin family didn't dare to leave the body at home to pay homage, so they dragged it to the funeral home early and put it in the freezer in the morgue.

What is set up at home now is just a simple mourning hall.

Papa Lin wiped his face when he heard the words, and stepped aside, "Come in."

Xiaofan in their family died so violently that none of his relatives and friends dared to come.Papa Lin was grateful for their willingness to come and visit, and shouted into the room a little cautiously: "My child, there are guests here."

Mother Lin came out from the room just west of the living room, the tears in the corners of her eyes hadn't dried up.

She choked up, "Who are you two?"

"It's Xiaofan's classmate." Father Lin asked Chen Ling and Wu Weiwei to sit down in the living room first, leaving his wife behind to greet the guests, while he went into the kitchen to pour water for the guests.

The condition of the Lin family is not good, the two should be dual-employees, the light-colored furniture and electrical appliances in the house have been overcast by the years, and every object looks dusty.

The daughter with excellent grades is the center and hope of this family.

Mother Lin wiped her tears with a tissue, sat on the small stool opposite the tea table, grabbed her knees with both hands, and looked at the two earnestly: "Thank you for coming to see her, Xiaofan must be very happy to know."

Chen Ling: "Auntie, my condolences."

"I know, I know, but I just can't help it." Mother Lin began to cry as she spoke, tears falling like broken beads.

The mournful cries were touching, both Chen Ling and Wu Weiwei felt uncomfortable, especially Wu Weiwei, the scene in front of him reminded him of the dead blind man.

The man called father was the first person in the world to treat him well.

Unable to hold it back for a while, he sucked his nose hard, turning his face away and not daring to look any further.

Chen Ling still remembered that Wu Weiwei mentioned that he was an adopted child. Judging from his abnormal emotions, the incident with the Lin family must have reminded him of the pain of losing his adoptive father.

Sighing softly in my heart, my hand fell on Wu Weiwei's shoulder and pressed down.

"It will pass." Chen Ling said, "Xiaofan has a soul in heaven, and I definitely don't want you and Uncle Lin to be immersed in pain forever."

These words were said to Lin's mother on the surface, but secretly they were also explaining Wu Weiwei.

How could Wu Weiwei not know, he said to Mother Lin: "Yes, Auntie, Xiaofan is a sensible girl, don't let her feel at ease in the sky."

Mother Lin nodded, sobbing, "Yes, I can't keep crying. She should be worried when she comes back and sees."

After finishing speaking, she looked up and saw her husband coming over with a water glass.

She got up to take the water glasses and placed them in front of Chen Ling and Wu Weiwei respectively, only then did she remember to look at the two of them.

The young man in a simple T-shirt looks really young, but the other social atmosphere is a bit heavy. Mother Lin didn't think much about it. Nowadays, children are well-dressed and exposed to many new things, so how can they all have the same temperament.

She pursed her lips: "Drink water."

Chen Ling picked up the water glass and took a sip, resting his fingertips on the wall of the glass, scanning the living room and the entrance, reminding: "Auntie, today is the seventh day of Xiaofan's death, right? , It’s the night of returning to the soul. You should put clean water and five grains outside your house.”

"This..." Mother Lin froze for a moment, looking at her husband at a loss.

Father Lin said: "Little classmate, we don't understand this either. Who did you listen to?"

"There are relatives in my family who are practicing in the Taoist temple. I heard from relatives." Chen Ling said frankly, as if there was such a thing.

I heard that it was the master in the Taoist temple who said it. Papa Lin's doubts disappeared, and he hurried into the kitchen to put the things in two bowls, opened the door, and placed them carefully at the door of the house.

Not long after putting it away, there was a shout from outside the door: "Go and smell it! Come back!" followed by a dog barking.

Papa Lin hurried out, and as soon as he opened the door, he saw that the bowl he had just placed had been overturned, and water and grains had been spilled all over the floor.

The neighbor next door hadn't gone downstairs yet, and was coaxing his dog while wiping the water on his body with a paper towel.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Papa Lin coming out, and she said sharply, "Old Lin, we all understand how sad your daughter is when your daughter dies. But you can do it behind closed doors, why are you still putting these things outside. Anyone who sees it will feel bad luck.”

The Lin family's temper is not soft, but because of their daughter's incident recently, their temper has been wiped out.

Papa Lin stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do, and even felt that what the neighbor said was somewhat reasonable.After all, there are many households living upstairs and downstairs, so placing it at the door will indeed cause inconvenience.

Chen Ling went out, looked at the mess on the ground, "Auntie, today is the seventh day of Xiaofan's death, Huihun Ye, these things are placed at the door to guide the way."

The neighbor froze, hearing the young man's overtones.

Without this bowl of clear water and five grains, what if I went to the wrong door and entered the wrong house... The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became, the neighbor's arm holding the dog subconsciously tightened and almost strangled the dog to death.

She swallowed, and said forcefully, "Then, then you can do whatever you want."

Until the neighbor completely turned the stairs and went down to the second floor, Father Lin bent down to pick up the bowl on the ground, and went to the house to get the cleaning tools without complaint.

Mother Lin took the empty bowl from Chen Ling and went into the kitchen to refill it.

After Lin's father finished cleaning, he watched Lin's mother put the two full bowls back to the door, and then stood there for a while before returning to the house.

The remaining two of the family were tortured by grief, Chen Ling was overwhelmed by the oppressive atmosphere, and wanted to ease it up a bit, "Uncle Lin, we want to see Xiaofan first and offer incense to her .”

"I'll take you there." Father Lin led the two into his daughter's room.

The room was tidied up, with a small bed, a bookcase that was stuffed, and a small desk.

On the desk are photos and candles tied with black flowers, and in front of them are some small handicrafts and comic books that the little girl usually likes, and there is also a notebook.

Seeing Chen Ling staring at the diary, Papa Lin said: "This is her diary. I haven't written it every day, but I have been writing it on and off for three years. I thought, when the cremation is tomorrow, I will burn it together with her." past."

Because the girl from the Lin family died abnormally, she needs the consent of the police before she can be cremated. Tomorrow is the eighth day.

Chen Ling said: "Generally speaking, cremation takes three or five days, and a few days is seven or nine days. Uncle Lin, I think we should wait another day."

Papa Lin thought for a while, then nodded, "That's okay, since she's not burned, it feels like she's still alive, so let her stay with us for one more day."

He took out six sticks of incense from the desk drawer, and Chen Ling and Wu Weiwei each had three sticks.

Lighting the incense with a lighter, Chen Ling raised the incense to the center of his eyebrows, closed his eyes and recited the Dharma Food Rebirth Mantra.

Different from ordinary rebirth spells that are used directly on evil spirits and ghosts, the magic food rebirth spell is a kind of wish for the dead

"The golden light of meritorious deeds is slightly open and dark. The real fragrance flows from the Huachi, and the lotus cover floats with the clouds. The fairy reconciles with the Yuan, and often lives on the twelfth floor. Urgently proclaiming the treasure of the spirit, you can travel freely in heaven."

The semantics are mysterious and the voice is clear.

As the young man's voice fell, Father Lin felt a little less tired from the past few days. After the two finished incense, he asked: "Little classmate, did you learn from your relatives just now?"

"Yeah." Chen Ling turned to look at Papa Lin, lowering his eyes sadly, "Uncle Lin, Xiao Fan has always been a very good person, why suddenly he can't think about committing suicide, I can't figure it out."

Father Lin was startled, his expression darkened, he shook his head feebly, and said, "Her mother and I also find it strange."

Afraid of being heard by his wife in the living room and making her feel sad, Father Lin closed the door and whispered: "My wife and I suspected that it was a ghost before because it happened so suddenly. , Our family of three is still sitting in the living room watching variety shows."

Chen Ling knew that it should be a relative of the "Taoist practice" he invented, and the mantra just now made Papa Lin take off his guard.

Taking advantage of the situation, he asked: "Then what happened next?"

Papa Lin raised his hands and buried his face in his palms, exhausted and deeply annoyed: "What happened that night was not without warning signs."

In the evening, the family had dinner, father Lin was in charge of washing the dishes, mother Lin was in charge of collecting yesterday's laundry, and Xiao Fan went into the room to do homework and preview homework.

After nine o'clock in the evening, my daughter finished her studies and went out to eat some fruit. By the way, she watched variety shows with her parents to relax.

When it was almost ten o'clock, Xiaofan went to the bathroom to take a shower as usual, and stayed for more than half an hour.

Several times on the way, Lin's mother couldn't help but went to the bathroom to call someone, but there was no response three times in a row. When she wanted to call her husband to break the door for the last time, Xiaofan finally opened the door and walked out.

Mother Lin asked her, "Why did you wash it for so long?" Then she grabbed her daughter's hand and said, "Look at your fingers, the skin is wrinkled."

Xiao Fan shook off her mother's hand, "I want to wash it more, so as not to get dirty."

My daughter is a very clean person. She takes a shower every day before going to bed and after waking up in the morning. Where can it be dirty?Mother Lin just said casually when she was a daughter, and didn't take it to heart.

Father Lin looked at Xiaofan twice more, his brows were slightly frowned, and he always felt that his daughter was weird, especially when he passed by him, he could clearly hear her humming.

The tune is weird, not a popular song nowadays.

Chen Ling was born and interrupted: "Uncle Lin, do you still remember how you hum the song?"

"...I don't remember clearly." Papa Lin changed the subject, "However, it sounds a little creepy, and each syllable is a bit long, a bit like... By the way, like a suona."

"Suona?" Wu Weiwei heard it for the first time, and there were people humming suona.

"That's right, it's suona." Papa Lin became more and more sure, but his face turned pale immediately after, "You said that, I remembered, I seem to have heard that song before!"

"Sorrow and joy?" Chen Ling guessed.

Father Lin's whole body stiffened suddenly, his lips trembled, his voice stuck in his throat, and the words he choked out were very obscure, "Our community has been around for a long time, and there are many elderly people living in it. Set up a shed downstairs to set up a mourning hall..."

There is a coffin in the mourning hall, and a table outside the coffin is used to greet the guests who come to express their condolences.

At this time, the recorder will play dirge, sad and heavy, as if to take away the grief of relatives, or as if the grief is not strong enough, deliberately prolonging the tune as a reminder.

"Little classmate, you are right, it's just sorrow and joy, it's sorrow and joy...how could it be sorrow and joy..." Father Lin's emotions almost collapsed.

It is self-evident what sorrow and joy represent, why didn't he react at that time!

Chen Ling said: "Uncle Lin, I don't think this matter is that simple. I have learned a few tricks from my relatives. If you believe me, can you tell me more about the details of that night?"

"Yes, yes." Papa Lin grasped at the straw.

If his daughter was really killed by a ghost, he would be bankrupt, and he would have to ask the master to collect the ghost thing if he wasted money!Consolation to my daughter's spirit in heaven.

That night, after Xiaofan entered the room, he never came out again.

Before going to bed, the couple would enter the door to see how their daughter was doing according to their usual habits, but found that the door was different from the past, and it was locked.

Papa Lin knocked on the door, and heard the person inside say, "Father, I'm writing a diary, and I'm going to sleep after finishing writing."

The couple looked at each other, and Ms. Lin said, "Then Mum won't come in. You go to bed after you finish writing, and cover your belly with a thin blanket so you don't catch a cold."

Xiaofan responded vaguely and stopped talking.

The couple went back to the room, turned off the lights, and soon fell asleep, but in the middle of the night, when Father Lin got up to go to the bathroom, he found a gap in the door of his daughter's room.

His daughter was getting older, so it was difficult for him to go in and check. He vaguely saw a corner of the quilt, turned around and went back to the house.

At dawn, Mother Lin had a nightmare and woke up with fright.

She grabbed her husband's arm and said with a pale face: "Husband, I dreamed that Xiaofan of our family was wearing a bright red dress, holding a bunch of paper roses in his hand, and told me that she was leaving, so let us not miss her." ..."

"Bah, bah, don't talk about nightmares early in the morning. Our Xiaofan is only so old, where else can she go besides staying with us?" Father Lin got out of bed and saw that the door of his daughter's room was still the same as he saw when he woke up in the middle of the night. Reach out and push gently.

The door opened slowly, the bed was disheveled, and the alarm clock next to the pillow rang suddenly.

Father Lin was inexplicably irritated by the noise of the alarm, so he quickly went in and turned it off, went to the bathroom, and found that his daughter was not there, then went to the balcony, but there was still no one there.

He fell back to the living room, and just as he was going to check the kitchen, he heard his wife screaming in horror...

...The narration of the memory suddenly stopped, and the scene at that time was too shocking for him to continue talking.

Chen Ling was silent for a moment, and when Papa Lin adjusted his mood, he continued to ask: "Did Xiaofan have any other abnormalities in the time before this?"

"No." Papa Lin shook his head, "No really, she's always been normal."

Find a substitute for the dead ghost, you can't kill the person immediately.

The yang energy of the living is the nemesis of the yin, and the dead ghost needs to use its own yin energy to invade the human body little by little to disturb the consciousness of the living and make them die without anyone noticing.

Only in this way, the newly dead will not become evil spirits with resentment, and will be eligible to go to hell to reincarnate.

So if Xiaofan is really found by the dead ghost, there must be other manifestations before committing suicide.

Chen Ling asked again without giving up: "Uncle Lin, think about it again, for example, what strange things did she say and what strange things did she bring back?"

"Do paper roses count?" Papa Lin asked tentatively.

Chen Ling: "I remember that in your description of Auntie's nightmare, paper roses also appeared."

"Yes...my wife also mentioned it when she woke up...three days before Xiaofan's death, she just got her grades in the monthly exam, and she did very well in the exam. As soon as she entered the door, she announced the happy news to me, with a Holding a paper rose. Bright red, beautifully folded..."

Chen Ling asked: "Where did she get that rose? A gift from a friend?"

"Friend? You're talking about Lan Peng, right? He didn't give it to you." Papa Lin smiled, "You don't have to be so secretive. The child's mother and I know about her relationship. As long as it doesn't affect your studies, we don't object. .”

As if remembering something, his sad eyes were tinged with warmth, "Lan Peng is a good boy, he has been helping us to make arrangements for the past few days, on the way to send Xiaofan to the funeral home, that child cried harder than me .”

If it is not for deep feelings, these cannot be pretended.

Papa Lin paused, and continued: "But the paper roses were not given by Lanpeng, Xiaofan said she picked them up on the road."

"Pick it up?" Chen Ling's face darkened, "Where did you pick it up? Why didn't you throw it in the trash can, but brought it back instead."

"This... I don't know, but she cherishes that flower very much. After she brought it back, she put it in the room and didn't allow us to touch it." Father Lin got up and walked to the bookcase, searching anxiously.

"Strange, why is it gone?" He wondered to himself, opened the glass of the bookcase, fingered the spine of the book, but still couldn't find the paper rose.

Chen Ling walked over and stood behind Papa Lin, "Do you still remember where the paper rose was placed?"

"It's right here." Papa Lin pointed to the position in front of the two dictionaries, "At that time, I was leaning on these two books while watching what she put them on."

What kind of charm does a picked rose have that makes people cherish it so far?

Chen Ling reached out and touched the spine of the book touched by the paper rose, but felt nothing. He withdrew his hand, took the five baht money off his wrist and put it on the bookcase while Papa Lin lowered his head to look for it elsewhere.

Papa Lin straightened up, his eyes were blank, he was puzzled: "Why are there none..." Looking back at Chen Ling, "Little brother, is there something wrong with that paper rose, shouldn't Xiaofan pick it up. "

"I don't dare to judge anything until I see something. But if you pick up red paper or coins on the road, it's best to throw them away and spend them. Because some people will attach magic to these things to divert bad luck. Whoever picks them up, Whoever is willing to take on this bad luck."

In life, there are good and bad luck.

Good luck, prosperity; bad luck, meeting villains, running into ghosts, or losing money in a simple sense... These are actually a short experience in life, but there are always people who just want to accept the good and resist the bad.

Fate cannot be resisted casually, so some people transfer bad luck to others.

But Chen Ling felt that what happened to Xiaofan should be more than a simple transfer of bad luck.

The mother was ten months pregnant, and they were connected by blood. There was an indescribable bond between them and their children. The dream about Xiaofan that Lin's mother had had was probably a foreshadowing.

"Rose..." Chen Ling murmured, looking at Wu Weiwei, "Speaking of roses, what can you think of?"

Wu Weiwei: "Love?"