Chapter 12 sentinel

Hey, are you afraid of ghosts when you are a soldier?Really! Ghosts, according to everyone, seem to exist, although they have never seen it. It is still said that in dark and dim places, such as temples, hair houses, etc., which are desolate and dirty places where few people go, there are many ghosts.They used this to build a camp.It's about nationalism.If some outsider comes, and this person's flame is low and his appearance is sluggish, he will find a way to persecute and intimidate him.Or use this to blackmail food and drink, which is different from the world. If the other said to be credible, then there is probably no place with more ghosts than our Daoyin yamen!In the daytime, when the sun was still yellow in the sky, I heard ghosts screaming, which was similar to shouting.Isn't this a ghost?If there is doubt, many, many people are willing to spend a lot of effort to prove it, and they dare to swear.

In this way, we don't have to be more suspicious of this kind of evidence that people are subsidized by ghosts and the like. This kind of man-made ghosts occupy his whole heart, and he has suffered enough. "People in the army are afraid of ghosts. Isn't that a shameful joke?" However, in the Shapa area, it is not possible to judge the army from cowardice based on this incident. This is also a very special place for Shapa people.They are soldiers, not afraid of death, not afraid of blood, not afraid of all cruel things.Anyone can stand calmly on the mound outside the north gate, like watching a play, watch the executioner open the bandit's belly, appreciate the depression before execution, hiss slightly and sigh.If they are unlucky, let the king on the mountain catch them, "do it like a law", tie them to a pillar to take out the liver and heart, and when the tip of the knife sinks into the chest, the color of the face does not have to change, which is also their duty.

But for people whose hearts are occupied by ghosts and the like, from the master to the fireman, just picking one at random can be proof of this statement. They are afraid of ghosts, more than anywhere else.The executioner naturally beheaded the head and got the reward. When he went out at night, he was afraid that he would meet the new ghost who was created by him during the day, so he naturally allocated part of the reward and bought paper money to burn it.As for the ghost, it seems that after getting the money, it will let the person who attacked it be spared, and wander in the underworld in peace.

How did it become such a nation?That is unknowable.Probably many years ago, the seeds of ghosts and gods were placed in the blood inherited by the descendants of Shapa people.The development of temples and the wealth of wizards can both cause quite a shock to outsiders.Local popular education is full of nonsense: adults bring children into temples to worship Bodhisattva when they are very young, call Guanyin Godmother, and then kowtow for godfather old monk.The family wished, and the child of Delek leaned behind the master in the scarlet cassock and put on the watch, in which he was allowed to wear the best clothes in the house to increase his devotion to God.When the county encountered a drought, the governor fasted and bathed, put his wife aside, and led his people to the Daping of the Town God's Temple to bask in the sun, pray for rain, and pray to ghosts and gods.The people's entertainment is to watch the "bull's head and horse face" and "impermanence in size" when fighting the Yellow Sect.Whether to send troops or not, hurry to ask the statue in Tianwang Temple.Ordinary people need to be instructed by Lai Linggui before doctors dare to prescribe medicines for ordinary people.

Also, if you go to the adjutant—that is, the adjutant of our military department stationed in Daotai Yamen, you can easily hear the following conversations:—Yes, report to the adjutant, that is a ghost! ——Did you really see it? ——Is it still fake? So the adjutant said one more thing, "Hurry up and buy some paper money". Another thing is about the lieutenant stealing money. —My lord, I am not stealing! Do not steal?That's fine.But you got Tianwang Temple to Mingming Xin! As a result, even the adjutant who had never used the banknotes in the adjutant's purse to buy anything had no choice but to admit it humbly.Because if you keep arguing, you will really have to go to the king of heaven, take a rooster, bite off the head, drink the chicken blood, and swear a big curse!Even if this matter is not afraid of swearing, it is hard to say that another dishonorable thing has been discovered before God.The lieutenant chose the latter one, "on the one hand, he went to take risks in front of the gods, on the other hand, after admitting, he deducted two strings from the deposit, plus the penalty of standing at attention in the sun at one o'clock."

To decide a case, when it is really hard to tell the prisoner whether he should live or die under the law, when he meets a judge who is smarter, he has an idea.Take him before God, and pass His punishment by the wick.If the one thrown to the ground turned upside down, or both lay on their backs, then this person was forgiven by God and protected by the law, and he was born!If the bamboo stick on the ground is double-folded, then there is no need to hesitate, just take it and kill it! Everyone should know that the authority of bamboo rafts is so great in this place. Or ask: In Dao Yin's yamen, where are the most ghosts?Otherwise, they would all say the two long dark and narrow corridors.One end is accessible to the military law office, and the other end is accessible to the adjutant office.The promenade is a shortcut connecting the two places.Under the porch, even in the daytime, there is an ever-burning lamp, flickering its ash flame.

On the other side of the Military Law Department, a temporary prison was set up, and many prisoners awaiting execution were locked up; on the other side, the adjutant's office had many contacts with the Military Law Department due to the relationship between the prisoners, so this passage became more meaningful. the way.It could also be called a rather busy road, when the prisoners were marched to the aide-de-camp in trains. The corridor is dark and long, and there are several stone steps up and down. From one end to this end, the cold air that cannot be eliminated makes people shiver down the spine.At night, those who pass here always seem to be taking a considerable risk.Therefore, in the middle of the corridor, a lamp and a guard were added.

Later, it was changed from one guard to two. The reason is that the guards often see ghosts and ghosts, and they are even more timid. With two people, naturally there is nothing to fear!But the legend of ghosts in the corridor is still preserved day by day. That's why, such a bad place, today it's the turn of the most timid among us. On weekdays, he loves to talk about ghosts and is extremely afraid of ghosts.What big hands, big eyes, and all kinds of big weird things... Big hands are mostly in the hair room, and when they take off their pants, they slap people's buttocks to get a small advantage; big eyes can be seen everywhere, especially long hair. On the wall of the corridor, many people are staring at people honestly, and there is a cold light, which makes people tremble.The description of ghosts and the like is also good at Shapa local people.He already knew a lot about the supernatural beings displayed in the corridor alone, before guards were added to the corridor.

Lian Fuxiang acted as if he was trying to embarrass him, and the time assigned to him to guard the watch happened to be the fourth watch. In the third watch, there are many people who don't sleep, which is okay.It's five o'clock, it's almost dawn.Only in these four shifts, it is said that ghosts appear the most!Helpless, just hope to get a better companion.When sixteen people were led by a company to change shifts in the corridor, the brothers who had stood in the corridor for two o'clock first, when they saw the shift changer, they happily unloaded the burden on their shoulders, and the company shouted the password, As usual, they stood at attention and raised their guns. After the procedures for explaining to each other were cleared, Lian Fu took the group of brothers to another place to change shifts.The one who left Shou as our companion was a new person sent from the coaching camp. This was the second time we met, and the first time we were accompanied by Ye Cheng.

Here, there is no way to hear any sound from outside, and it is extremely quiet.He knew that it was only a little over one o'clock, and it was still half a day before dawn.I have to find a way to spend the two hours in hell, otherwise my soul will be frozen by the cold, and ghosts will really appear!So I went to tease the companion who was striding silently with the gun on his shoulder. "Brother, did you just come here from the coaching camp?" "Ok." "When it comes to you, isn't there a total of one hundred people?" "Ok." "Isn't it much more comfortable and free here than in the coaching camp?"

"good." "You can play some small cards secretly here, such as poker, you—won't you?" "Yes, yes, I don't like it very much." "It'll be fine. When can we play a regular game? It's not too big a deal. If you win or lose three to five yuan, it's a big deal. If you're happy, I can invite you." Then he seemed to say to himself, "The Dong family is ready—or Where is Mama Zhou?" The companion smiled at him. "I'm pretty slick, my friend, don't look down on me!" The companion laughed again. "When you came to the training camp, it is said that you were on the mountain all night while guarding the camp?" "yes." "Aren't you afraid?" "Wow——" it's like a person squeezed the sand and sprinkled it on the tile. Thinking: Could it be a ghost?From the waist on the back, it was as if two snakes had climbed up to the shoulders, and the place where the monster crawled was numb.He immediately leaned his back against the damp brick wall, so that the back side would be out of the way, and he would no longer have to guard against the ghosts that suddenly attacked from behind.The tall companion in front of him was walking back and forth as if nothing had happened. "Did you hear that noise?" "Old raven." "Aren't you afraid?" "Or something else." "It must not be the old raven. The night raven will not be like this!" "Maybe there are cats." Cat, can it hit the sand?The companion's short, casual answer only increased our careful Sho's suspicions. Wow - another one. The second time, it was even more innocent to know that it was at the end of the corridor at the end of the military law office.The companion also seemed to pay attention a little bit. "Friend, listen, what is it?" "Let him go," paused, still a short answer. He wanted to bring up all the disgraceful rumors about this bad place's past and discuss it with his companions, perhaps to drive away the loneliness and fear a little.However, the companion is a quasi-mute, always talking so stingy, he asks and answers, and seems to shorten the answer to a very short time on purpose, he is really helpless! Sha Sha didn't hear it for the third time, half of the heavy burden of unknowable in his heart was lifted invisibly. "Friend, aren't you afraid?" "..." As if he had never heard what Shou was saying, he didn't reply. "Are you afraid? I heard that there are ghosts here—there are many." "Where?" "It's under this long corridor!" As he said, he carefully searched the dark ends of the corridor with his eyes. "Have you seen it?" "Although I haven't seen it before, others say it's a raging scene! I'm afraid it might be that thing just now!" "laugh……!" The companion laughed to show the nonsense of the remark, and then walked back and forth with his goose steps. "I said ghosts exist, and others will see them..." "Forget it." The companion was obviously tired of talking like this, and Shou also understood. But how can you rest assured?It's not even a quarter past two!It is possible that more sand will be sprinkled on the face.Larger pebbles, which are worse than sand, may be thrown from the other end of the corridor.In case any ghost or ghost approached him, stretched out his big, hairy, snake-like hands, put them on his shoulders, or scooped up his arms, this companion might still be calm and steady, standing aside, Look at the leisure time like ducks fighting. Thinking of this, he went to look at the expression on his companion's face again, which made him even more timid.That kind of silent, still perpetually flattened mouth with a smile on the corner of the mouth, a ghostly face, moving under the miserable yellow light, and the end of the corridor is boundless darkness, this young man is suspicious, The companion is not alone. Above the head is a long rope, hanging the square glass lamp that is slightly brighter than the long-lived lamp in front of the Buddha seat. The flickering faint yellow light reflects the shadow of the companion on the wall of the corridor. On the ground, it has doubled in size, and it is like a giant spirit, which is accompanying its companion's body to move. "It's two o'clock." "En", looking at the watch on his wrist, the companion who answered also leaned against the wall and stood.But this is the result of walking around for a long time.Inexplicably timid, observing the silent expression of his companion, Qiang Yi, is something that cannot be matched. In this kind of people, perhaps they have lost the habit of local people in Shapa, and there is no fear or cowardice to be found. The two of them fell silent like death, and it became extremely quiet in the corridor.After the companion's monotonous footsteps at both ends of the corridor stopped, the corridor seemed to be longer. The two of them could probably hear each other exhale, and out of fear, he finally noticed his slightly panting breathing. ...Being a soldier is not afraid of death!Could it be—the result of stabilizing oneself is that when in front of your companions, you should first adjust your breathing evenly, and at least look like you are not so scary even if you have no companions. 橐橐橐橐, the sound of crisp leather shoes was getting closer and closer, and a person was running towards the end of the corridor leading to the adjutant's office. "who is it?" "What about me. Bingzhi." The childish accent of a child. "Oh." The companion seemed to know that this person came for his company. The man who claimed to be Bingzhi had already arrived, and he recognized him as the little lieutenant in the adjutant's office. "Aren't you going to sleep?" the companion asked the little lieutenant like an older brother. "It's not yet two o'clock." Bingzhi began to pay attention to his companions again, "Oh, you two are here, I don't know who it is!" "Yes! Here we are. Are you looking for him?" "He's my fourth brother." That's how I know it's my real brother!Others had younger brothers to visit, and he was obviously lonely, so our Shou, regardless of what happened, boldly walked away from the wall, and walked slowly like his companions. When I turned around, I heard "Fourth brother, I want to invite you to have a drink! It's okay to live here!" The fourth brother replied, "I'm afraid it will be inconvenient." Bingzhi said again, "It doesn't matter at all! The sentry here is just to guard against ghosts. As long as he is not timid, it has nothing to do with you!" The fourth brother remained silent, wandering between going and going. "It doesn't matter, fourth brother, don't worry! We have too much wine. I, the surnamed Zhou, and Baizi, the three of us made two catties of wine, and there were salted duck, beef, and Baizi went to his house to get a lot of vinegar. Here comes the radish, if you don't help, we won't be able to finish eating!" When Bingzhi explained the reason for drinking too much very intimately, in Shou's eyes, the trace of the smile on his companion's face became more and more profound. When he approached the two brothers, Bingzhi said, "Brother Shou, I'll drag my fourth brother to drink a glass of wine! Come here whenever you go, aren't you afraid?" Can you say you are afraid in front of children?I had to use other methods to keep my companions, "I'm afraid the sentry will come." "That's not possible," Bingzhi said, "I just saw the big clock at the adjutant's office, it's still early!" "As long as you are not afraid of the sentry guards, you can go." Reluctantly, he said so reluctantly. He looked at his companion again, still smiling almost mysteriously.It meant that he couldn't bear to throw him alone in this dark and terrifying corridor.However, Bingzhi didn't want to let go of the opportunity, so he dragged the fourth brother's elbow and wanted to run away. "Shouhe is not afraid. You don't want to go for a long time, and you will come after a while!" In order to prove to a child that I am not very timid, and I don't want others to miss the food and drink because of my restraint, so I urge them instead. "Go, come soon." Although he said generous words, he still kept them with his eyes. Not letting his companion say anything, Xiao Bingzhi dragged his fourth brother away and disappeared into the darkness of the long corridor. There is also a very bright lamp, here as a companion. Because of the lamp, it adds a lot of style for no reason. A man carried the Wuzi gun with a bright short-bladed bayonet on his shoulder, and walked slowly according to the footsteps of his companions, looking at the shadow on the wall that was twice as tall as his body was moving, when he approached the lamp Suddenly it shrunk to very short, and when it was farther away from the lamp, it became narrow and long like a big snake. I laughed at the shadow in my heart at the time, and couldn't help smiling. However, soon, at the end of the military court, the unknowable darkness at the end of the corridor brought back the lost terror.Reluctantly smiling at the shadow, the shadow seemed to be smiling at him, and his heart was more timid than before! In fact, the time is very short, but it seems that many two o'clock have passed.Since the change of shift, apart from Bing Zhi who came to call his companion, no one has passed by.The corridor is still endlessly dark.There was no sound at all.The lights seem to be brighter again, but this easy-to-understand thing doesn't help me at all. The shadow on the wall becomes clearer, and I feel more lonely. ... Walking around, I don't know if there will be something unexpected coming from behind, it must be there! Thinking about this, he restored his strategy to the original situation and stuck part of his body against the wall.Looking at the two ends of the darkness more carefully, expecting the unknowable and seemingly predictable events to happen. As expected, there was another "Wow...!" sound of sand.Suddenly something heavy was added to my heart, and I held my breath. ...It's the night raven, don't pay attention to it! When I plucked up my courage and wanted to bring this matter to an ordinary matter, there was another rush.Soon, there was a rustling sound like falling to the ground suddenly, and slowly crawling like a snake again.And at the same time there was a strange cry, very low but very distinct.This voice is very familiar and can be heard almost every night, but when it comes to this place, it always makes people feel that it is coming from the throat of something other than the old raven. The voice called out about ten times and then rested for a while. Even if you searched with your ears, you still couldn't tell whether it was a thing or a person. A friend, lying in the dark like this, sprinkles a handful of sand in his hand towards the timid friend, and chokes his throat with his hands, pretending to make all sorts of strange noises, until the friend is about to shout for help. It's not uncommon for him to show up slowly.However, at this time, who would be interested in joking with others?Be it Bingzhi, be it a companion, be it a cat or a snake that has eaten a sparrow, it's always one thing! I also wanted to go over and have a look, but felt that it was too risky.What if when you go to the place where the light can't reach, but there is such a hanging tongue, two holes in the eyes, and bloody nose... "Is it Bingzhi?" Gathering up his energy, he tried his best to shout out, only to hear the echo of the vibrating wall. ...today is dead! After waiting for a while, the companion has not yet arrived. All the voices quieted down in anticipation, and I felt a little more relaxed.He began to think of this month's festival, and then thought of a woman with whom he seemed to have a relationship, and thought of some friends who died not long ago. ... If there is a ghost, Mangda, you will come to rescue me!When he was alive, he was very aggressive at the secretary's office, but after death, he would be useless at all.As well as Boyue and Zhuzhai, they should all come to protect me!You are ghosts now, if you came to tease me on purpose, as long as it is not that kind of evil face, I would like to see you too! Suddenly there was a gust of wind, blowing from one end of the corridor.That square glass lamp was originally hanging above the head ten feet away, but after being shaken by the wind, it couldn't help spinning.He held his breath and looked at the rotating square lamp, the yellow light was flickering and flickering, and his body felt numb again unknowingly. At this time, he remembered another very common legend: if it is true that ghosts come, it should be the same as the last time the secretariat made trouble: the light that was on was suddenly dimmed, and it was about to go out but not out, and the flames It became dark blue or light blue, and quite large.Soon, the man who was being teased by the ghost passed out, slapped his mouth hard, white froth flowed from his mouth freely, and whispered loudly, talking about the dead ghost.Afterwards, people wake up, get sick, and die soon...could it be the new ghost who was beaten to death for the ghost? Who can say that it didn't come here to find a substitute? Since I am so alone in this long corridor where there is no way to call for help, and the light cannot illuminate anything beyond three feet, suddenly, like the secretariat, the lights will all go dark, so what should I do?The hairy hand in the air that can be stretched out at any time, a snake-like coldness, came suddenly and grabbed the shoulder, it is possible.In any corner of the darkness, a pair of big dish-like eyes suddenly appeared, shooting bright green cold light, it is easy.A big castanoid-like head, dripping with blood, gushing out from the corridor underground, is also extremely common. …If the lights turned green as expected, how would he yell without hesitation, or just pass out and never wake up again, or… “The lights are still on,” he regained his composure . After the wind died down, the lights remained.In this long corridor, he was still alone, and he did not see his companion return, nor did he see any ghosts appearing.After suffering the crime for an indefinite amount of time, after witnessing the disturbance, he returned to calm, but in the end, instead, he caught an exaggerated thought.Thinking about it: ...the shoulder is carrying a gun with a bayonet, ghosts and the like, if it is not very fierce, it will not be too troublesome to stab with a gun.Then you are welcome to stab! In Shapa, there are legends about ghosts. Some ghosts are captured and turned into beautiful women or wild cats and dogs.It's the same nonsense, but when I believe that ghosts exist, I can't help but use this article to strengthen my courage.Perhaps desire is always better than terror. Comparing the two, desire always wins. This is a common truth for people outside Shapa.Before he thought of this legend, he already knew the recent market prices for wild goods in the market; wild cats were worth five or six yuan, wild dogs were scrambling to buy them at twenty yuan, and even the worthless weasel was more than three yuan. ...As long as it's not too aggressive, and stabbed down, even if the beauty is not what you dare to look at, she is a weasel or something, and she will get by! The expectations of the ghosts, found in front of their eyes, are still the same as before. Needless to say, the attitude is much more sincere than before.If it was compared to a strange bride waiting for her groom before, then at this time it is like looking forward to a very familiar lover, the holy piety is excited! It's also like a ghost who knows that there is such a brutal person who is trying to make a fortune on himself, and then there is no sound of a blade of grass falling to the ground. Before the slightly staggering companion turned around, the ghost finally did not come. Written in Zhai Ermou Xiaozhai, Beijing on June 20, 1926