Chapter 17 Carve the world thirteen

Diao Tianxia Thirteen (12) As soon as Miss Yula left, I kept thinking about this question, how to save her, how to help her?I don't know where she went at this time, I want to catch up with her, say a few words to her, comfort her, let her live well.In any case, with me here, she doesn't have to be afraid. On this day, I obviously feel that I have become less and less important.I must save Miss Yula from danger, this is my only goal.I no longer want to chase fame and fortune for the sake of those so-called ideals, and of course I don't want to live on mediocrity and waste my time.

Su Helin's Interview with Yan Wen Suiji (June 22, 1903 at 8 a.m., sunny): I came to Yan Wen's house early in the morning.This is the fourth time I have visited him. The first three times he refused me on the pretext of being ill.Today, it seems that Yanwen is in good spirits.His wife was there too, but she was still upset and ignored me.Before I could speak, Yanwen said: "Brother Helin, look, I'm almost 36 years old, and I don't have a son yet. Retribution, if you harm others, you will end up harming yourself." It is extremely immoral to curse one's dead mother secretly.I feel bad and embarrassed about it.But it never occurred to Yan Wen that it was his wife who scolded him.At that time, Yanwen's wife quarreled with him as soon as he heard it.I immediately pulled Yanwen aside, handed him a cigarette, and persuaded him to be patient.Yanwen's wife was very reconciled, and continued to scold Yanwen: "You don't know what is good...you have no conscience...you deserve it for cutting off your children and grandchildren!"

That was a frightening woman, she spoke fast and ruthlessly, and every word that came out of her mouth was frightening, in addition to having a stinging feeling, it also seemed to have a foul smell.It was obvious at a glance that this woman would torture others as well as herself.Therefore, although she is not very old, she is already like an old woman, with disheveled hair, wrinkled face like a dried walnut, tall figure, standing in the sun, there is also a bit of a gloomy atmosphere.At that time, I thought, if there is a pipa ghost in Baixinzhai, then the woman in Yanwen is one.My feeling is not wrong, Yanwen's woman must be a Gu person.

Yan Wen's woman finally walked out the door.Yan Wen breathed a sigh of relief and said to me: "Look, this stinky bitch, she never dared to walk under the clothes-drying rope, she has a guilty conscience." I asked why?Yanwen said: "You still don't know? As soon as the Pipa ghost walks under the clothesline, she will show her original shape. She dare not, never dare. If she shows her original shape, she will be burned to death by us." I didn't say anything , I thought, in this world, I am afraid that there are really people who raise Gu.Yanwen went on to say: "My mother-in-law must have learned to raise Gu from my mother. This kind of thing is passed on to the daughter-in-law but not to the daughter-in-law. This is the rule here. Besides, my mother-in-law is the eldest daughter-in-law, and my mother does not pass it on to her Who to pass it on to? But maybe my mother-in-law is not very skilled in putting Gu, she didn’t hurt anyone, but she hurt herself. There is a saying in our Baixin Village that the donkey should be managed in Chinese, and the Han people have wizards who specialize in treating Gu. We are very good. Those people who have been harmed by my mother-in-law’s poisoning invite Han people from other places to cook Gu with bitter willow leaves, peach leaves, and castor leaves, use bamboo shoots to beat Gu, and burn Gu with paper horses. My mother-in-law once Being punished by the Han people, I couldn’t sleep at night anyway. Seeing her as if she was on fire, she was restless, itchy all over, swearing, and smashing things. The next day, she was seriously ill, and no medicine would cure her. That's not to mention, more than ten years ago, once, my mother-in-law killed a baby with poison, and the family invited a few Han wizards, who recited and sang, burned and beat my mother-in-law for three days. Oh my God, I even quietly sent someone to nail a three-inch long iron nail on the door of my house. Did you know? No matter what kind of Gu is afraid of sharp iron objects, that iron nail seems to be nailed to my forehead. After a long time, it was blackened by the smoke, and we could no longer find it. From then on, the snake Gu raised by my mother-in-law could not be released, and the snake Gu that could not be released had to eat my baby .So, one of my dolls was born and one died, and nine of them have already died.”

I asked: "Brother Yanwen, how do you know that someone nailed an iron nail on the top of your house?" Yan Wen replied: "Last year, my family also invited Han people to come to see it. The Han wizard felt that something was wrong when he entered my house. He said that his brain hurts. He must have been forced to nail something on the door. He He asked me to light up the oil lamp, found a knife, an axe, and pliers, and forcibly removed a rusty iron nail from the door of my house. The Chinese wizard also said that the iron nail was at least 15 years old. You see Look, Brother Helin, a rusty iron nail killed my family. This is all caused by my mother-in-law."

I asked, "Brother Yanwen, how did your mother die?" Yan Wen replied: "My mother is dead? Who said that?" Diao Tianxia Thirteen (13) I said, "Everyone in Baixin Village knows that your mother is dead." Yan Wen said: "I don't know, I really don't know. When did my mother die?" I said, "More than half a month ago." Yan Wen said: "Impossible? I saw my mother go to buy tin foil two days ago! Could it be that she died after buying tin foil? Where did she die?" I said, "I don't know. I was going to ask you." Yan Wen said: "It's so strange, my mother is dead, but I, the eldest son, don't know about it."

I said, "It's very strange, why did this happen?" Yanwen said, "You should ask my younger siblings." I said, "I've already asked your two sisters." Yan Wen asked, "They don't know, do they?" I replied, "They know." Yan Wen asked, "What did they say?" I replied, "I'll tell you later, okay?" Yanwen asked: "They talk nonsense sometimes, don't be fooled by them." I said, "Thank you! We're just doing some research. Because your mother is a good person, we miss her very much. Now that we hear that she died, let's inquire about her by the way."

Yan Wen said, "Don't worry about my family's affairs." I said: "OK!" Yan Wen said: "My family's affairs are too complicated, no one can explain clearly, no one can control." I say yes." Yan Wen said: "Since you came here, accidents have often occurred in my house." I said, "I'm sorry to trouble your family." Record of Su Helin's conversation with Yan Xing and Lithographer (June 26, 1903 at 12:00 noon, cloudy and sunny): I said: This time I return to Baixinzhai, I mainly come to see your family.I heard that your mother passed away. Is it true?After hearing this, Professor Jiang and I were very shocked.What is going on?

Yan Xing: My mother must have been killed.You know, there are many people who want to kill my mother. If it wasn't for your protection last time, my mother would have been burned to death long ago.As soon as you left, many people were very happy, because they could finally drive people out and burn them to death at will.As far as I can remember, I don't know how many people they drove away, how many people were burned to death?But what annoys me the most now is that there are people in my family who want to kill their own mother.That is simply a lunatic, frightened to death by Gu.I want to ask you, brother Helin, you are a learned person who has seen the world, tell me, is there any Gu in our Baixin Village?Where is Gu?Who can take it out for me to see, who dares to try it on me?Some people keep saying that my mother raises Gu, what evidence is there?I have been growing up beside my own mother, don't I know that she raises Gu?I want to ask, how can there be such a secret in the world?Can my mother blindfold our eyes every day?There is always a time to show off, right?For decades, my mother endured the humiliation and raised us up without scolding or beating us. Who can have such a good mother?Who has seen such a nice man?However, there is a person who has always wanted to kill my mother. This person is none other than my mother's eldest son.Such a vicious person is a hundred times, a thousand times more terrifying than snake Gu.I still lack the necessary evidence, but I believe that one day, what this person has done will be exposed.At that time, I will personally kill this stupid pig, this evil bastard, this demon, to avenge my mother.

Rock phase: My mother is not a pipa ghost.I haven't seen her raise Gu, she won't harm anyone, and is good to us and neighbors, but there are many people who want to kill my mother.My elder brother tried to kill my mother a few years ago.I heard with my own ears that my elder brother called my mother an old Pipa (pipa ghost), messed up our whole family, harmed others, and also harmed our own people, and let Gu go out to eat people every year. The dolls dare to eat.At that time, I was arguing with my elder brother, and my elder brother slapped me severely, and called me a little bastard, who would not be able to marry a wife in the future, so he could only raise mules to harm others.

Yan Xing: That stupid pig said you can raise mule Gu?Okay, okay, okay, you can raise mule gu, mule gu is capable, you use it to suck the food essence of that stupid pig's family, let him have a food shortage, and starve to death that evil bastard. Petroglyph: Don't say it, don't say it!Whoever dares to raise mule gu will raise it, I don't know how to raise it, and I dare not raise it.I dare not eat the things carried by the mule Gu. Yan Xing: You are still young and ignorant. Petrography: I am 11 years old. Diao Tianxia Thirteen (14) Yan Xing: So what if you are 11 years old?Mom was tortured to death, but you still don't know? Petrography: How come I don't know?Now, some people say that my mother was killed by my elder brother.That's random speculation, without basis, who saw my elder brother kill my mother?I think my mother may have gone to Mengnai Village to find my father. Yan Xing: Nonsense, I have just been to Mengnai Village, how can I see my mother?Besides, that father died a long time ago, who should my mother go to? Rock phase: I will go to Mengnai village now, my father is not dead, my mother must be there.My mother has long said that she will return to Mengnai Village after she has raised us up. Yan Xing: Do you dare to go to Mengnai Village alone?The road is very far, and it cannot be walked in one day, and there are tigers on the road. Rock phase: I am not afraid. Yan Xing: You are not allowed to go, I will tie you up. Reflections of Walled People——(June 21-28, 1903) Villager 1 (female): Dano is a pipa ghost.Once, I accidentally stepped on her shadow and got caught in her snake gu.Later, in the doll I gave birth to, the eldest child's mouth was missing a corner, and the second child's ear was missing.They were all eaten by her snake Gu.Now, she has suffered retribution, and the bones and corpses cannot be found. They must have been eaten by the snake Gu raised by her, and they were eaten clean. Villager 2 (female): I can't tell you about the Danuo family. Villager 3 (male): Someone has seen Dano raising Gu, really, that person saw snake Gu in her earthen jar with his own eyes, and she often scrambled eggs and rice to feed it.Some people have seen her release Gu, her snake Gu can fly, it will fly to wherever she tells it to fly, it will never fly wrong.We are afraid of her, and we avoid her when we see her from afar. When we cannot avoid her, we chant a mantra in our hearts: The snake Gu you released returns to your body, The person you want to eat is your doll. I cut off your tongue with a sharp knife, I've pierced your chest with a sharp arrow. I poke your eyes with bamboo needles, I crush your shadow with my feet. I put maggots on your flesh, I let you have thorns in your bones, I'll break your heart, I make your hands and feet dry. All sickness is yours, All disasters are yours, put them away You take them home! This is the secret mantra my mother taught me to recite, and it was learned from Yi Village by my mother.This thing is very efficacious, very useful, after three silent recitations, the person who released the Gu could hear it, and she was afraid, so she took the Gu back automatically.Previously, only my family could read it, but my sister spread the word, and now all men, women and children in the village can read it. Villager 4 (female): You can't talk about this kind of thing, just understand it yourself.It's not good for you or me to say it.Talk about other things, keep this kind of thing in mind, and won't bite people. Villager 5 (female): Danuo is a good person, but unfortunately she was poisoned by Gu poison, which killed her. Villager 6 (male): Once, I dreamed that snakes could fly, and when I woke up the next day, I happened to meet Dano, and I fell seriously ill.Tell me, what is it if Dano is not a pipa ghost? Villager 7 (female): Danuo and her eldest daughter-in-law are both pipa ghosts. Villager 8 (female): Yuhan and Yula are also unclean people, and they also release Gu, but we haven't seen it yet, so be careful. After reading Su Helin's investigation materials, Gao Shimei wondered what effect these words had on him?The room was lifeless, mixed with a strange hot wind.He had to lie down in a chair and sleep for ten minutes, he was like a sick person, no, he was really sick.He had no strength at all, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bind the materials together. Jack is also very dissatisfied with these investigation materials.One day, he said: "Su Helin, you have always been rigorous in your work, and the work assigned to you has always been completed satisfactorily. Only this matter, you did it so muddled, and the investigation materials were written in such a mess, it messed up my brain. It was empty and drowsy. Without these materials, I still had a little confidence in my research topic. But now, you don’t know whether the subject of your investigation, Dano, is dead or alive. This investigation material can’t extract useful factual basis, which is tantamount to declaring that my investigation topic has lost its meaning.” After that, Jack kept complaining that Dano’s sons and daughters were not up-to-date and confused.While asking Su Helin: "Why do your investigation materials lack conclusions?" At this time, Gao Shimei didn't know what to do. The cricket jumped in through the window again and landed on Jack's arm.It grabbed his collar tightly, clucking... babbling, clucking... babbling, making a ghost-like cry.Then, it jumped onto the table again, staring at Gao Shimei with black eyes, as if about to speak.After a long time, the cricket jumped out of the window in despair. Diao Tianxia Thirteen (15) Su Helin quietly said to Gao Shimei: "Yes, a young American guy, confused, came to Yunnan to study some kind of witchcraft?" Su Helin didn't want to argue with Jack, he resolutely decided to stay in Baixinzhai and continue to investigate the cause of Dano's death.In this regard, Gao Shimei actually agreed.Jack laughed, thinking that Gao Shimei's behavior was absurd, why didn't he go to find his daughter Gao Lizhi? Su Helin said: "I would like to further investigate the relationship between Dano's death and our arrival? Master Gao and I are both Chinese with a sense of responsibility and conscience." Time seemed to resume normal operation again, and many things happened in the village.Now, because of Gao Shimi's direct participation in the investigation, many obstacles have been removed.Because Gao Shimei is from Yunnan, the villagers are more willing to talk to him, and some unacceptable facts are gradually revealed through the mouths of the villagers: On May 30, 1903, Yanwen planned with four prominent figures in the village to get rid of his mother Dano. On June 1, Yan Wen said to his mother: "My father is dying, and he asked someone to send a message to call you back to Mengnai Village, so that he can take a last look at you." When Dano heard this, he was so anxious that he didn't have time to reconcile with Yan Xing. Yuhan confessed, and immediately set off with Yanwen to Mengnaizhai.On the way, there is a section of mountain road close to the Lancang River, with cliffs on the top and turbulent river water below.When Dano walked by, Yanwen ruthlessly pushed his mother into the river. A month later, things came to light.Yan Xing was so angry that he couldn't bear to live, and when he lost his mind, he hacked Yan Wen and his wife to death with an axe.Later, Yan Xing committed suicide. Yuhan and his younger brother Yan were deeply saddened by the murder of their mother, and threatened to punish those prominent figures in the village to avenge their mother.The siblings raise Gu publicly.At noon one day after the Dragon Boat Festival, they caught five kinds of poisonous insects, including snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and toads, sealed them in an earthen jar, wrapped them in red cloth, buried them in the ground of their house, and waited for them to come out the next year. Gu, to use it to kill those enemies.On the same day, the prominent figures in the village heard about this and invited hundreds of villagers to find Yuhan and Yanxiang aggressively.Yan was beaten to death with sticks on the spot.His bamboo building was burned.Yuhan took advantage of the chaos and fled to another country. It is said that Yuhan finally fled to a Miao village and expressed his willingness to marry an old man in his 50s.Before marriage, according to the custom of the Miao nationality, the bride should be "cleaned".The so-called "needle and thread" are Gu ghosts.Of course, Yuhan's "needle and thread" was not clean. She was afraid of being found out by the Miao people, so she quietly fled the Miao village.She fled here and there, fled to Longshan Town, and married a Han man as a concubine.Within a few days, the eldest wife's youngest son died.The reason was that after wearing the clothes made by Yuhan and eating the food cooked by Yuhan, his whole body ached, he had a high fever, and he was talking nonsense. Taking medicine didn't work, and he was short of breath that night.The eldest wife more or less knew some details about Yuhan, and she said that Yuhan released the "five seas" (poisonous voodoo) to kill her son.The husband believed it, and immediately reported to the county government, and handed over the clothes worn by his son when he died, as physical evidence.Yuhan was arrested and imprisoned for this. The county magistrate interrogated her and said to her, "You can use Gu to kill people? I don't believe it." "I can, but only kill bad people." Yuhan replied. The county magistrate asked, "Is that child a bad person?" Yuhan said, "No, but her mother is a bad person, really bad." The county magistrate said, "So you put Gu to kill her son as revenge for her, didn't you?" Yuhan said, "Yes." The county magistrate asked, "Then why didn't you just release Gu and kill her?" Yuhan didn't speak. The county magistrate said: "You are lying, you don't know how to release Gu. If you can really release Gu to kill people, then you can release it in front of the court once, let us see and see. After you release it, even if you go out of the county office, I will not stop you. You are free. This official will keep his word and will never break his word." Yuhan said, "I don't want to kill anyone right now." The county magistrate said, "Then when do you want to kill people?" Yuhan said, "I don't know." Yuhan stayed in prison for more than half a month, the county magistrate sent people to Baixin Village to investigate, and found out the history of Yuhan's family raising Gu to harm people.When people in Longshan Town heard this, they petitioned the county magistrate one after another to execute the "gu woman" quickly to eliminate harm for the people.The county magistrate felt helpless and hesitated again and again.In the end, Yuhan had to be beheaded according to the article "Anyone who creates and accumulates Gu poison is worthy of killing and beheaded" in "Enhancing the Qing Dynasty's Laws, Criminal Law, and Human Life". As for Dano's youngest daughter, Yula, her whereabouts are still unknown. Now, Jack announced that the investigation of Yunnan witchcraft has come to an end.He said: "Although we did not achieve the expected results of the investigation, I am quite satisfied with my own exploration and thinking. We have basically figured out the reality and inevitability of the tragic fate of the Dano family. That is, in this harsh environment In social reality, the relationship between witchcraft and people is like the relationship between darkness and night. Because people live under the shadow of witchcraft, they show their extremely dark and sinister psychological reality and psychological essence, just like the coming of night, making people The originally dark things are darker and closer to their true colors. Once the two are mixed together, they depend on each other, cover up each other, and complement each other, and show their respective powerful forces. The tragic fate of the Dano family lies in the combination of the two forces. Stirring is a reality and an inevitable result." Carving the World Thirteen (16) Su Helin also said: "To put it more clearly, the result of our complicated and confusing investigation can at least prove that witchcraft is a school of nonsense, some illusory and mysterious legends. But things are not so simple. In this era and this place However, non-existent things dominate all aspects of people's real life. That is the power of demon belief, which is an extremely dark and sinister manifestation of people's psychology. I plan to write a series of papers on this, titled "Looking at Our Psychology from Witchcraft Culture" Background Color", "Witch Gu Is a Plague of People's Psychology", "Poison Gu Does Not Exist" and so on." Gao Shimei turned a deaf ear to the complicated conversations between Jack and Su Helin.He counted and found that he had stayed in Baixinzhai for more than three months.How is this going?As if being manipulated by someone, I followed them here and waited inexplicably?In these exhausting monotonous and anxious days, is the greatest reward for oneself to be watching suffering and death happen to others one after another?At this time, Gao Shimei's eyes looked a little dull, and he felt that everything in front of him was strange.At this moment, a strange feeling appeared.Gao Shimei suddenly felt that the missing Yula was a bit like Gao Lizhi - the velvety eyebrows, plump neck, and gray skin unique to people in tropical areas were all very similar to Gao Lizhi.In this way, there is no difference between looking for Yula and looking for Gao Lizhi.He imagined Yula's charming figure, as if a new dawn had ushered in.But he immediately suppressed the urge.Because this impulse also brought him a sense of guilt. If Yula can't be found, it seems meaningless for Su Helin and Gao Shimei to stay in Baixinzhai.Su Helin decided to leave here as soon as possible and return to Kunming.Jack said: "Mr. Gao, should you and I return to Nilang Town? Or continue to search for Gao Lizhi? You must answer this question." "Go home!" After a long silence, Gao Shimei said: "Actually, none of us can stop what happened to others." Su Helin and Jack had never heard such vague and somewhat philosophical words from Gao Shimei, and they were secretly surprised. "Besides, where can I find Gao Lizhi now?" Gao Shimei said indifferently: "It's not that I have lost my enthusiasm for finding my daughter, but that each of us is powerless. Let's just say Yula, she disappeared right under our noses." , what can we do now? Who can find her back?" Su Helin said, "Anyway, I'm going back to Kunming." Jack said: "One of you is going home, and the other is going back to Kunming. So, what should I do? How can I complete the search for Gao Lizhi by myself? I can't get through the language barrier. It seems that I also We can only go back to the United States. All we can do now is pray for Gao Lizhi!" Does Gao Shimei not want to look for Gao Lizhi?It's just that he feels that the time spent in Baixinzhai is too long, and now it is very difficult to find it.Besides, if you think about it carefully, even if you find Gao Lizhi, why bring her back?Cai Jiajun has already paid so much money, in fact, he sold Gao Lizhi to him.The more Gao Shimei thought about it, the more she regretted it, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt sorry for Gao Lizhi. What face did she have to meet her now?At the beginning, Jack made a vow and clamored to find Gao Lizhi back. He was deeply affected and moved by his behavior, and he even followed them here, did some investigation with them, and stayed here with them for a few days For months, they were inexplicably caught up in the entanglement of several murder cases.Gao Shimei now really has a feeling of being deceived and going astray.It's just that he didn't want to say it. "Let's go, I'm going back to Nilang Town!" Gao Shimei's lips were a little numb.