Where are the monsters?

When Mu Feng arrived in Hunan, it was already the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year. He bought some New Year gifts and came to the door. Although he had the address of his grandfather's house for a long time, he had never been there.

The arrival of Mu Feng was obviously beyond everyone's expectation. It was the uncle who opened the door. After hearing Mu Feng's self-introduction, he stared at Mu Feng and looked at him quietly, and then put on a smiling face to let Mu Feng in. .

"Your second uncle and I are still talking about when we will go to the capital to see you. Our family finally has a student from the capital university. This must be celebrated. Your grandfather has been talking about letting your younger brothers and sisters pay homage to you. Studying, but everyone usually has to go to work and school, and they wanted you to come and get together this summer, but they didn't expect to see you during the Chinese New Year."

The eldest uncle observed the wooden seal while talking. The family didn't have any impression of this cheap nephew, except for the fact that the wooden seal's grandfather sent out the living expenses every month.For this living expenses, the family has also murmured, but the money earned by the wooden seal grandfather, how he wants to use it, the junior can do nothing but say a few words.

The last time the uncle saw Mu Feng was three years ago, when he was on a business trip in Shaanxi, he passed by a small village by the Huashan Mountain and brought some clothes for Mu Feng.The wooden seal in my memory is a skinny young man who doesn't speak much. I didn't expect that after three years, I will really look at him with admiration.The wooden seal in front of me still has some old shadows, but there is always an indescribable temperament, and I always feel a little pressure to walk together.

Sure enough, it will be different if you go to Beijing University to study. The uncle found a reason for the change of the wooden seal.

Mu Feng didn't care too much about the relatives who seemed to be strangers. He didn't care why the eldest uncle treated him with a pleasant face, or whether he treated him differently because he saw the potential in him. He came this time to find out The truth of the year. "I should come to pay New Year's greetings. Thank you for your care these years."

Mu Feng walked across the courtyard to the main house entrance, and the uncle introduced Mu Feng to the dozen or so people in the house, and they all smiled, as if they had heard of Mu Feng's name.Mu Feng glanced at the crowd, smiled and exchanged greetings, but then his eyes fell on his grandfather's face. Grandpa is over 60 years old and looks healthy, but when he saw Mu Feng, he didn't smile like everyone else , but frowned slightly.

No matter how much those people wanted to ask what the capital city was like, whether university life was exciting or not, Grandpa directly led Mu Feng out of the crowd, "Mu Feng, come with me."

When the uncle wanted to say something, he was glared at by the grandfather, who could only watch as the grandfather took the wooden seal out of the house.

"I've been waiting for you to come, but I don't want to see you come. You know all those things, right?"

Mu Feng didn't beat around the bush this time, but asked directly. "If grandpa is talking about my mother being adopted, I understand. However, I don't know why she left me in the Mu family. Grandpa, do you know that my father is not Mu Jianguo at all? Mu Jianguo has a Brother, Mu Hanyan, why didn't you attend their wedding back then."

"He's really not your biological father?" Grandpa sighed when he heard this, "That's the best, and I don't believe that Xiaoling's vision would be so bad. As for why you didn't go to their wedding back then, that's the question." It's all our fault."

"Xiaoling was adopted by me and your grandmother. Back then, your grandmother and I got married before we were 20 years old. After we got married, we had no children. Seeing many doctors was useless. Later, we even prayed to God and Buddha just to have a child. We met an old Taoist who said that we need to adopt a girl first. There were not many other things in the war years, but there were many orphans. When we adopted Xiao Ling, she was only three years old. She was very beautiful. , people like it at first glance.

We specially asked the old Taoist to forget it. Xiaoling fits very well with our family. As long as she comes, she can bring children.Sure enough, within a year, it turned out that we had worked hard for seven years without any results. As soon as Xiaoling came, your grandmother became pregnant, gave birth to your first uncle, and later your second uncle.Although Xiaoling is not our own, our family lives happily together.But when Xiao Ling was 12 years old, something happened, and all this changed. "

Grandpa said that the eight-year-old uncle was playing with a group of children by the river, and one of the children fell into the water by slipping. Although he was rescued immediately, he was not breathing. The key point was his ankle. There was a handprint, as if someone dragged the child into the water.

As soon as this incident happened, people became panic-stricken. There were rumors of water monkeys in the river everywhere. People in the village believed that this was not simply drowning, but that they were caught by water monkeys to be ghosts.

The children were not allowed to get close to the river, but something happened. The group of children who played together that day heard strange noises in the middle of the night, and they all developed a high fever and fell ill.

"Xiaoling said that she got up in the middle of the night and saw a black shadow floating in front of your uncle's room. This is even more confirmed the rumors of ghosts. Everyone in the village wants to invite Taoist monks to exorcise evil spirits, but those who can do it We searched for a few, but it was useless. Those children became more and more sick day by day, and your eldest uncle also suffered from repeated fevers and was unconscious on the bed.

One night, I don’t know what happened, your uncle woke up suddenly, and was about to run towards the river where the dead man died. We all wanted to stop him. Who would have thought that an eight-year-old kid would be so strong that we couldn’t stop him? .At this time, Xiaoling picked up a stick and wanted to knock the kid unconscious. Besides, she has such strength as a little girl, but who would have thought that Xiaoling's knock would cure your uncle's illness.Xiaoling later said that her stick hit a black shadow directly on the head, and the black shadow fled immediately.All of a sudden, the illnesses of other children in the village also recovered inexplicably. "

"We didn't tell this to the outside world, but we know that Xiaoling can see things we can't see. Can you imagine that when she looks at you, she may be looking at you, or she may be looking at you. Things around you that you don't even know about. Then..."

Grandpa smiled wryly when he said this, "You know that ordinary people don't always like aliens. It would be great if Xiaoling was our own, but she is not. Your grandma is a little afraid of her and won't let your two uncles get close to her. .I don’t know exactly when, it turned out that the good family was divided, and Xiaoling left home after finishing high school. When we meet again after this walk, it will be the year you were born.”

Mu Feng listened to what grandpa said, he was silent all the time, he really didn't know what to say to his mother's past.Five disadvantages and three deficiencies, Mu Feng has heard this word before, spying on the secrets to change the rules of things, and it is bound to fail to obtain the happiness of ordinary people.Being scared by relatives seems to be a helpless thing.

The two walked to the old house. It hadn't been lived in for a long time, but it was still very clean. It seemed that someone had been coming to clean it.

"That's Xiaoling's room. I haven't touched the things in it since she left." Grandpa opened the door. The room is not big, with only a bed and a desk. "In fact, she didn't leave anything behind. They were just some textbooks and a wooden sign."

Grandpa took out a wooden sign wrapped in red cloth from his arms, and uncovered the tightly wrapped red cloth. Inside was a palm-sized black wooden sign, square and square, with a seal carved in gold inscriptions on it. 'Character.

"Your mother brought this thing with you when you were young. When she named you that year, she said that her surname was Feng, so she called you Mu Feng. After she passed away, she entrusted two things before she died. You must stay in Mu's house. , until you can leave, this will ensure that you will grow up without illness and disaster. Secondly, this wooden sign will be given to you after you leave the Mu family."

Mu Feng took over the wooden sign, and based on his eyesight practiced for half a year, this may not be an ordinary wood, it looks like ebony, and it has a faint fragrance.Although the thing is not big, according to the words of shopkeeper Zhang, this kind of wood can be met but not sought.

"We named her Ji Ling, but I found out later that apart from this name, I know very little about my daughter. During the years she left us, who was she with, what did she learn and do? What, I can't say anything about it. I regret it, but once some estrangement has arisen, it can never be repaired. You also saw your two uncles just now. They are different from Xiaoling. We are all ordinary people. sad.

When Xiaoling said she wanted to keep you in the Mu family, I guessed that you might be like her, destined to be someone we couldn't keep. "

"So simply don't have too much contact." Mu Feng said lightly, "I can understand why you haven't come to see me these years."

Listening to Mu Feng's flat tone, grandpa felt deeper sorrow in his heart, but sorrow is sorrow, life is life, these are two different things.He wanted to reach out and touch the wooden seal's head, but he put it down halfway.

"That's all I know. After you were born, I met Mu Jianguo. I asked Xiaoling if such a man was worth entrusting. She said that this is your life. You can't escape. If you don't even have these things If you can't survive it, you can't grow into a strong person.

Xiaoling believes that Mu Jianguo treats you badly, and you can get through it and become an outstanding person.I can't say that she is a bit cruel as a mother, because I don't have the qualifications.Who is Xiaoling, how did she meet your biological father, and whether there are other stories in it, you have to find out by yourself, and you don't need to tell me in the future.

Before she died, she hoped that I would take her back here for burial. Of course I have to promise her that I will take you to the grave later.At that time she said that she wished she was just Ji Ling, but I did the same, I wish she was just Xiao Ling. "

This is destined to be impossible, Ji Ling has changed in that 12-year-old summer.

Mu Feng knew this, and so did Grandpa.

Mu Feng didn't stay much, he only ate lunch, and immediately went to pay respects to his mother's grave, then he left Hunan and went back to the capital directly.

During this New Year's Eve, Mu Feng felt that he hadn't done anything else, just sat on the train to pass the time, and it was the evening of the fourth day of the first lunar month when he arrived in Beijing.

Mu Feng didn't want to go back to the dormitory, he was still alone, so he went to the orphanage.Although it was only a genius to open the door, at least there are still some people on Liulichang Street who can talk.

It turns out that people will be lonely, this kind of loneliness is not loneliness, even if there are people around you who can talk, but you know that you and them are not in the same world, and you will never be in the same world.

Mu Feng lived for 18 years, and at the end of the 19th year of No. [-], he finally felt this kind of loneliness.

When Mu Feng arrived at the Bereaved People's Zhai, although there was no business sign hanging at the door, he found that the lights on the second floor were on. Could it be that Ying Ni came back?

As soon as Mu Feng opened the lock, he heard something running down the stairs 'dong dong dong', and a big black ball rushed to Mu Feng and hugged Mu Feng's calf.

"My lord, I have horns. Look, my horns are majestic." The little black lion wanted to run into Mu Feng's arms, but it stopped in time, and a sharp horn appeared on its head. I can't hug like I used to.

Mu Feng looked at the little black lion hanging on his lap, and felt that the last time we met seemed to be a long time ago.

Mu Feng touched the little black lion's horn, which was cool, and then rubbed the little lion's body, the fleshy body was warm, with a different feel.

He originally wanted to hold the little black lion with one hand, but who would have thought that it would be so heavy that it would take two hands to hold it up. "The newly grown horns are impressive, but how much did you eat on Hong Kong Island, and why did you gain so much weight all of a sudden?"

"It's normal that you can't hold it. I almost failed to bring this lion back. It was supposed to be hidden in the bag, but I almost didn't stuff it in."

Ying Ni slowly appeared at the stairs on the second floor. He didn't expect Mu Feng to come back so early. He had a lot to ask, for example, about the dream brought by the shell, and why Mu Feng came home this time. It wasn't something that made him look tired.

But we can wait until tomorrow to talk about these things, and now we can spend the important night of the New Year first, "Tomorrow is the fifth day of the new year, you will come back just in time, and I have just arrived. Now at eleven o'clock, let's have a late-night snack, Later, I will set off firecrackers to welcome the God of Wealth. I thought I had to set off firecrackers alone, so it would be good if you came back."

Mu Feng hugged the much heavier little black lion, and looked up at Ying Ni who was standing where the lights were on and off. Although his face was not straight, Mu Feng could feel the warmth from Ying Ni's words.

Some people appear neither early nor late, just right, making you feel that you are not alone in your world.