Chapter 9 Everlasting light

On a cloudy spring afternoon, the air in the only teahouse in Jiguangtun was a little tense again, and there seemed to be a subtle and deep voice in people's ears—"Pull him out!" But of course not all people in Tun are like this.Residents in this village don't travel very much, so they have to check the almanac [2] to see if it says "not suitable for travel" when they move;Sitting in the teahouse without restraint is only a few young people who consider themselves open-minded, but in the eyes of the hikikomori, they think that all of them are prodigal sons. Now it is nothing more than the air in this teahouse is a little tense.

"Is it still the same?" The triangular-faced man picked up the tea bowl and asked. "I heard that it's still the same," Fangtou said. "It's still the same as saying put it out. Put it out. The eyes are getting more and more flickering. Damn it! This is a big harm in our village. Don't take it too lightly. We We should think of a way to get rid of him!" "It's nothing to get rid of him. He's just a... what! When the temple was built, his ancestors donated money, but now he wants to blow out the eternal lamp. Isn't this an unworthy descendant? Let's go Go to the county and send him to disobey!" Kuo Ting said generously, clenched his fist and slapped the table.A slanted teacup lid also turned over with a groan.

"Impossible. If you want to send him to disobedience, it must be his parents, uncle..." Fangtou said. "It's a pity that he only has one uncle..." Kuo Ting immediately became depressed. "Kuoting!" Fangtou suddenly shouted. "How was your card style yesterday?" Kuo Ting opened his eyes and looked at him for a while, then answered if he didn't; the fat-faced Zhuang Qiguang had already let go of his throat and shouted: "If the lamp is blown out, what kind of Jiguangtun is our Jiguangtun? Isn't it over? Don't the old people say: This lamp was lit by Emperor Wu of Liang[3], and it has been passed down, and it has never been extinguished; the company commander Mao [4] did not extinguish it when he rebelled... Look, tsk, isn't the fire glowing green? Outsiders who pass by here have to take a look and praise... Tsk, how good... He What do you mean by being so nonsense now?..."

"Isn't he crazy? You don't know yet?" Fang Tou said with some contempt. "Hmph, you're smart!" Zhuang Qiguang's face was oily. "I thought: It's better to use the old method to cheat him." Aunt Hui Wu, the owner and worker of the shop, was originally an observer, but when she saw that the situation was a little bit out of her focus, she hurried over to divert the dispute and pull it off. Get down to business. "What's the old way?" Zhuang Qiguang asked in surprise. "Didn't he go crazy for a while, exactly the same as now. His father was still there at that time, and he was cured after he lied to him."

"How to lie? Why didn't I know?" Zhuang Qiguang asked even more surprised. "How do you know? At that time, you were still little tricks, only knew how to drink milk and pull arrows. Even I, I was not like that at that time. Look at my hands at that time, they are so pink and tender..." "You are still pink and tender..." Fangtou said. "Fart your mother!" Aunt Hui Wu laughed angrily, "Don't talk nonsense. We are serious. He was still young at the time; his old man was also a little crazy. It is said that one day he His grandfather took him into the community temple and taught him to worship the master of the society, General Plague, and Master Wang Lingguan[5]. People always discuss with them to blow out the eternal lamp on the main hall. He said that if it is turned off, there will be no more locusts and diseases. , would you be afraid to see the old man? Is your tea not cold? Just some hot water. Well, he broke in later by himself to blow. His father loves him too much and refuses to lock him up Oh, didn’t Quantun get agitated and quarrel with his old man later? But, there was no way—fortunately, my family’s dead ghost ① was still there at that time, and he thought of a way: surround the ever-burning lamp with a thick quilt , in the dark, led him to look, and said it was blown out."

"Alas, it's thanks to him that he figured it out." The triangular face exhaled and said, as if he was overwhelmed. "What kind of hands and feet does Fei use?" Kuo Ting said angrily, "If you kill a thing like this, it's over. Scary!" "How can that be done?" She looked at him in surprise, and hastily waved her hand, "How can it be done! Didn't his grandfather pinch the Indian target ②?" The Kuo Tings immediately looked at each other, feeling that apart from the "dead ghost"'s wonderful method, there was really nothing else to think about.

"It got better after that!" She wiped some white foam from the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand, and said more quickly, "It's all better after that! He never went into the temple gate again, and never mentioned anything again. Come, many years. I don’t know why after watching the game for a few days, I went crazy again. Oh, it’s exactly the same as before. He passed here in the afternoon, and he must have gone to the temple again. You and the fourth master Discuss and discuss, or lie to him again. Didn't the fifth brother Liang light up the lamp? Didn't it mean that once the lamp goes out, this place will turn into a sea, and we will all become loach? Go and discuss it with Fourth Master Let's discuss it, or..."

"Let's go to the temple first to take a look," Fangtou said, and then he walked out the door. Kuo Ting and Zhuang Qiguang followed suit.The triangular face was the last to go, approached the door, turned around and said: "This time, I'll keep my account! Enter him..." Fifth Aunt Hui agreed, and went to the east wall to pick up a piece of charcoal, and drew two lines under a small triangle and a series of short thin lines drawn on the wall. When they saw the temple, they saw several people together: one was him, two were idlers, and three were children. But the temple gate was tightly closed.

"Okay! The temple gate is still closed." Kuo Ting said happily. As soon as they approached, the children seemed to be emboldened and gathered around.He, who was standing opposite the temple gate, also turned to look at them. He is still the same as usual, with a square yellow face and a ragged blue blouse, only a strange gleam in the big and long eyes under the bushy eyebrows. An expression of grief, indignation, suspicion and fear.There were two straw leaves stuck to his short hair, which the child must have secretly put on him from behind, because after they looked up at his head, they all shrank their necks and quickly stretched out their tongues with a smile.

They stood still, each looking into the other's face. "What are you doing?" But the triangular face finally took a step forward and asked. "I asked Lao Hei to open the door," he said in a soft voice. "Because that one lamp must be blown out. You see, the blue face with three heads and six arms, three eyes, long cap, half head, bull's head and pig's teeth, should all be blown out... Blow out. Blow out, and we'll There will be no locusts, no swine-mouth fever...." "Xi Xi, nonsense!" Kuo Ting laughed contemptuously, "If you blow out the lights, there will be more locusts, and you will have swine mouth fever!"

"Xixi!" Zhuang Qiguang also laughed along with him. A shirtless child picked up the reed he was playing with, aimed at him, opened his mouth like a cherry, and said: "Bar!" "You'd better go back! If not, your uncle will break your bones! I'll blow the lamp for you. You'll know after a few days." Kuo Ting said loudly. His eyes shone even brighter, and he looked at Kuoting's eyes like nails, causing Kuoting's eyes to change quickly. "You blow?" He smiled mockingly, but then said firmly, "No! Don't want you. I'll put it out myself, now!" Kuo Ting immediately slumped to the point of being powerless after sobering up; Fang Tou stood up and said slowly: "You are always sensible, but this time you are too confused. Let me enlighten you, maybe you can understand. Even if you blow out the light, aren't those things still there? Don't be so stupid, go back !Go to sleep!" "I know, it's still there even after it's turned off." He suddenly showed a sinister smile, but immediately restrained himself, and said calmly, "But I can only do this for the time being. I'll do this first, it's easier. I'll just You have to blow him out and put it out yourself!" As he said, he turned around and pushed the temple door with all his strength. "Hey!" Kuo Ting was angry, "Aren't you from here? Do you want all of us to become loach? Go back! You can't push it away, you can't open it! You can't blow it out! It's better to go back!" "I'm not going back! I'm going to blow him out!" "No! You can't drive!" "..." "You can't open it!" "Then, in another way." He said quietly, turning to them. "Hmph, let's see what else you can do." "..." "See what else you can do!" "I set fire to it." "What?" Kuo Ting suspected that he didn't hear clearly. "I set fire!" The silence is like a clear chime, swaying to the end, and the living creatures around are condensed in it.But after a while, several people whispered to each other, and after a while, they all backed away; two or three people stopped at a little distance away.Zhuang Qiguang's voice shouted from outside the wall of the back gate of the temple: "Old Hei, it's wrong! The gate of your temple must be closed tightly! Old Hei, do you hear me clearly? Close it tightly! Let's go and think of a way to come!" But he didn't seem to pay attention to other things, only flickering fanatical eyes, quickly searching the ground, in the air, and on people, as if looking for a kindling. After Fangtou and Kuoting shuttled in and out of several gates, the situation in Jiguangtun suddenly became disturbed.In many people's ears and hearts, there is a terrible voice: "Set fire!" But naturally, there are many deeper hikikomori who have no ears or hearts at all.However, the air in the whole village became tense, and everyone who felt the tension felt very uneasy, as if they were about to turn into loach, and the world would be destroyed from then on.Naturally, they vaguely knew that it was only Jiguangtun that was destroyed, but they also felt that Jiguangtun seemed to be the world. The center of this incident soon took place in fourth master's living room.Sitting in the first seat was Guo Laowa, who was young and Deshao, his face was already wrinkled like a dried orange, and he was still stroking the white beard on his chin with his hands, as if he wanted to pull them off. "In the first half of the day," he relaxed his beard, and said slowly, "Xitou, old rich's stroke, his son, said it was because the gods of the society were disturbed. In this way, in the future, if there is any, What, it's unavoidable to come to the mansion...yes, they have to come to the mansion, it's troublesome." "That's right," Fourth Master also stroked the gray catfish whiskers on his upper lip, but leisurely, as if he didn't care at all, and said, "This is also his father's retribution. When he himself was alive, he didn't believe in Bodhisattvas." What? I didn't get along with him back then, but he couldn't do anything about it. Now, what can I do?" "I think, there is only one. Yes, there is one. Tomorrow, tie him up to the city and let him stay overnight in that, that city god's temple, yes, stay overnight, drive him away, evil spirit." Kuo Ting and Fang Tou, for their achievements in guarding the whole village, not only walked into this difficult-to-see living room for the first time, but also sat under the old baby and above the fourth master, and had tea to drink.They came in with Lao Wa, and after the report, they just drank tea and didn't open their mouths after drinking, but at this moment Kuo Ting suddenly expressed his opinion: "This method is too slow! The two of them are still in charge. The most important thing is to do it immediately. If it really burns..." Guo Laowa was startled, her jaw trembled a little. "If it really burns..." Fangtou said hurriedly. "Then," Kuo Ting said loudly, "that's bad!" A girl with yellow hair came to make tea again.Kuo Ting stopped talking and immediately picked up tea to drink.She trembled all over, put it down, stretched out the tip of her tongue to lick her upper lip, took off the bowl cover and blew. "It's really a drag on Sharen!" Fourth Master patted his hand on the table lightly, "This kind of descendants, damn it! Alas!" "Indeed, damn it." Kuo Ting raised his head, "Last year, even each village killed one: this kind of offspring. Everyone insisted that it was at the same time and at the same time. Everyone started to hit at the same time, and they couldn't tell the first blow." Whoever it was, nothing happened afterwards." "That's another matter." Fangtou said, "This time, they're in charge. We have to figure it out quickly. I think..." Both Lao Wa and Fourth Master looked at his face solemnly. "I thought: It's better to lock him up for now." "That's a proper way." Fourth Master nodded slightly. "Sure!" Kuo Ting said. "That's, indeed, a proper way." The old baby said, "We, now, drag him to the mansion. At the mansion, hurry up and pack up a room. Still, get ready ,Lock." "A room?" Fourth Master raised his face, thought for a while, and said, "There is no spare room like this in the dormitory. He might not know when it will be ready..." "Use it, him, your own..." the old baby said. "My family's Liushun," Fourth Master suddenly said solemnly and sadly, his voice trembling a little. "I'm going to get married in autumn... You see, he's so old, he just knows he's crazy, and he doesn't want to start a family. My younger brother has also lived his whole life. Although he is not very peaceful, incense is absolutely unacceptable..." "Of course!" the three said in unison. "Liu Shun gave birth to a son, and I think the second one can be adopted by him. But——can someone else's son be taken for nothing?" "That can't be done!" The three said in unison. "This dilapidated house has nothing to do with me; Liu Shun doesn't care about it either. But, don't mothers feel so at ease when they give away their own children for free?" "Of course!" the three said in unison. Fourth Master was silent.The three interacted looking at each other's faces. "I hope for him to get better every day," Fourth Master said slowly after being silent for a while, "but he is always bad. It's not bad, it's him who doesn't want to get better. It's impossible to think about it, just follow this Lock it up like what you said, so as not to harm others, and embarrass his father, maybe it would be better, but he would be worthy of his father..." "Of course," Kuo Ting said emotionally, "but the house..." "Is there no spare room in the temple?..." Fourth Master asked slowly. "Yes!" Kuo Ting suddenly said, "Yes! The room on the west side of the gate is empty, and there is only a small square window with a thick wooden grille. It is absolutely impossible to dig it open. Great!" Both Lao Wa and Fang Tou suddenly looked happy; Kuo Ting breathed out and drank tea with pointed lips. Before dusk, the world has been at peace, or it has been completely forgotten. People's faces are not only not tense, but all traces of previous joy have faded away.In front of the temple, people's footprints were naturally more than usual, but they soon became scarce.Just because the door was closed for a few days, the children couldn't go in and play, so they thought it was very interesting to play in the yard this day. After dinner, some of them went to the temple to play games and guess riddles. "Guess." The oldest one said, "I'll say it again: white-covered boat, red rowing oar, roll to the other side for a rest, snacks Some, the play is sung. " "What's that? A red oar," said a girl. "Let me tell you, it's..." "Slow down!" said the mangy man, "I guessed it, sailing boat." "Ship." The shirtless man also said. "Ha, a sailing boat?" said the oldest one, "the sailing boat is rowed. Can he sing opera? You can't guess it. Let me tell you..." "Slow down," said the mangy head sore. "Hmph, you can't guess. Let me say it, it's: Goose." "Goose!" said the girl with a smile, "the red oar." "Why is it a white-covered boat again?" asked shirtless. "I set fire!" The children were all surprised, and immediately remembered him. They all looked at the west wing room, and saw one hand pulling the wooden fence and the other tearing the wooden veneer, with two eyes shining in between. There was only a moment of silence, and the mangy head suddenly uttered a cry, and ran away; the rest also ran out laughing and shouting.The shirtless man pointed the reed back, and let out a crisp voice from his panting cherry-like lips: "Bar!" Since then, there has been complete silence, and as dusk falls, the shrines and shrines are more clearly illuminated by the green lamps, and they illuminate the courtyard and the darkness inside the wooden fence. The children stood still after running out of the temple, held hands, and walked slowly towards their home, all smiling and singing a song they composed casually together: A boat with a white awning, take a rest on the other side. Turn off at this moment, turn off by yourself. Sing the opera. I set fire!Hahaha! Huo Huo Huo, eat some snacks. Sing the opera. ..." March 1, 1925 ①The rough women in Gatun sometimes call their dead husbands by this. ——Author's original note. ②It means to be a real official. ——Author's original note. 〔1〕This article was originally serialized in the Beijing "Republic Daily Supplement" from March 5 to 8, 1925. 〔2〕Almanac The old almanac of our country is promulgated by the imperial court and printed on yellow paper, so it is called "Almanac".It contains the solar terms of farming seasons, as well as some superstitious "advisable taboos", such as a certain day "advisable to sacrifice", a certain day "avoid traveling", a certain day "everything is inappropriate", and the daily location of the "God of Joy". ("Xi Shen Fang") and so on. [3] Emperor Wu of Liang Xiao Yan (464-549), founder of Liang in the Southern Dynasty.He is a well-known Buddhist emperor in the history of our country (hereinafter, Fifth Aunt Hui mistakenly called him "Liang Wudi"). 〔4〕Long Mao refers to the Taiping Rebel Army led by Hong Xiuquan (1814-1864).In order to resist the Qing government's decree to shave and keep braids, they all keep their hair without braids, so they are called "long hair". [5] Lord She, General Plague, and Wang Lingguan are all superstitious and legendary names of Shinto.Master She is the god of the land; General Plague is the god in charge of the plague; Wang Lingguan is the general in charge of picketing, and is often regarded as the god guarding the mountain gate in Taoist temples. [6] According to "Lu Xun's Diary", the writing date of this article should be February 28, 1925.