Chapter 4 4. The Messenger of Souls

Several times in the past, Liu Chao searched for information on "Fengmen Village" on the Internet, and all he found were comments and messages from some netizens. Leaving aside the authenticity, they were basically things with no real content, but this time, maybe it was for him. Returning with a serious attitude, he actually found a website called "Exploring the Secret of Fengmen", which is full of information related to Fengmen Village, not only the supernatural legends published by netizens, but also a lot of objective information about Fengmen Village. After reading it, Liu Chao realized that this strange uninhabited village had been discovered by donkey friends a few years ago, and someone tried to investigate this village, and then wrote this "investigation report", in which several paragraphs caused Chao Liu's attention:

The information is very long, but it is mainly for the investigation of the natural features of Fengmen Village and the surrounding areas. Liu Chao feels that he will not be able to use these for the time being, but... since the person who wrote this article has been to Fengmen Village, and has carefully inspected this place , so besides those mentioned in this article, maybe this person knows something else?If I can get in touch with this person, maybe there will be unexpected gains. With the attitude of going to the doctor in a hurry, Liu Chao clicked on the member's personal information, and luckily found a QQ number. After clicking to add it with his own QQ, a cough sounded from the small speaker soon—the other party Passed the verification, which means that he (she) is online at the moment, which is really lucky.

Liu Chao excitedly opened the chat window, typed in the word "Hello" and sent it. Before the other party replied, he opened the person's profile and it looked that the online name was "Pumpkin Soup", male, aged 29 ——Maybe it’s random stuffing. Some people like to pretend to be old, others like to pretend to be young, and many pretend to be the opposite sex. This is the Internet. It is even more difficult to drink water in any posture. Soon, the netizen named "Pumpkin Soup" replied: Hello, who is it? Liu Chao: I'm a new friend. I want to ask you something.

Pumpkin Soup: I'm dead. Surprised, Liu Chao sent a question mark.The other party quickly replied: The owner of this number is dead, I am his girlfriend, are you looking for him or me? Liu Chao didn't expect to encounter such a thing at all, and he didn't know how to answer for a while. Finally, he decided to tell the truth: I want to inquire about the situation of Fengmen Village. The other party was silent for at least half a minute before replying: What do you want to ask. This answer made Liu Chao see a glimmer of hope. After asking for the other party's opinion, he typed out his recent experience truthfully and briefly on the keyboard, sent it, and then waited nervously—she was afraid that the other party would hear his story Just run away.Fortunately, after a while, the other party replied: Do you want to investigate the truth about the haunting in Fengmen Village?

Liu Chao: Let’s put it this way, actually I don’t know what I’m investigating. Pumpkin Soup: You could die doing this. Liu Chao froze for a moment, then typed and said: If I don't do anything, I might die faster.Do you know something? Pumpkin Soup: Of course, my boyfriend died on this one! "No way!" Liu Chao yelled to himself, he was stunned for a moment, and his heart became even heavier—if Cui Bo's death could be explained by an accident, then the shocking news he heard at this moment, Undoubtedly shattered his self-comforting idea completely: more than one person who had been to Fengmen Village died unexpectedly.

While he was in a panic, the other party sent another message and said: Give me your phone number, and I will call you. Why are you calling?Liu Chao hesitated for a moment, but still told her his mobile phone number, and after a short wait, the mobile phone rang. "This should not be a dharma token, not to mention the Maoshan sect, there is no token like this in the whole Taoism." Chen Peiqi carefully checked the picture displayed on the computer screen, and said in a very sure tone. "However, the words above must be related to Taoism, the method of Maoshan, the art of up and down...does it mean that there is no difference between going up and down Maoshan?"

The old horse beside him was confused, "Why go to Maoshan and go down to Maoshan?" "Two branches of the Maoshan sect." Chen Peiqi lifted his glasses up and said with a smile, "It's like Hongxing has thirteen halls, each of which has its own leader, but the total talker is only One." The old horse stared at him dissatisfied and said: "Be serious, my life is almost lost, and you still have the heart to joke with me here?" "Oh? It's not enough, is it?" Chen Peiqi was still smiling. "What did you say, or do you think I came to play with you?" At this point, the old horse slapped his forehead, and walked towards the desktop computer in the house, and said, "I almost forgot, Liu Chao is on the wooden signboard. There is a new discovery on the Internet, and it is said that it was photographed and passed on to me, but I don’t know if it has been passed on.”

Turn on the computer, log on to his QQ, the information column shows that there is an offline file sent by Liu Chao, after accepting it, the old horse can't wait to open it. Chen Peiqi only took one look, then his eyes widened, and he slowly read the seal characters on the picture: "Zheng Tianshi Mengwei... Is this wooden sign from Fengmen Village?" The old horse looked at him and nodded. Chen Peiqi frowned and said: "I can't, don't you say that Fengmen Village is in Henan? How can it be related to Zhengyi Sect? I haven't heard that there are Zhengyi Sect disciples in that place?"

"Don't worry about that, there is no one in that village." The old horse spread his hands and said with a wry smile. "By the way, what does Zhengyijiao mean?" "The largest sect in Taoism, the Maoshan sect is one of the branches under the Zhengyi sect, and it can be regarded as the smallest branch." The old horse looked at him intently, waiting for him to continue, but he stopped talking, so the old horse could only ask, "And then?" "No then," Chen Peiqi paused and said, "Can you bring me that wooden sign and study it, the effect of looking at the real thing is different from looking at the photo, at least I can test the texture and engraving of the wooden sign And so on, maybe we can find some clues."

"That's easy to say, I'll try to show it to you next time. By the way, do you... have any way to ward off evil spirits?" Chen Peiqi laughed disdainfully, "Didn't you always disbelieve in evil? What else can you avoid?" "Let's do it now and then, even if it's psychological comfort." Chen Peiqi curled his lips, got up and walked into the bedroom, there was a sound of rummaging for things immediately, and after a while, he came out with a long thing and handed it to the old horse. "This jujube sword is left by my father. You can hang it on the bedroom door to keep evil spirits from intruding, but it is useless to living people."

The old horse said "oh", took the sword, looked at it for a while and said, "You said... this is a jujube sword? Shouldn't it be a peach wood sword that can ward off evil spirits?" "You don't understand this. Zaomu is the tree of Zhengyang. Ancient Taoist crafts made of jujube wood, which is generally made of jujube wood. In sixty years, Jiazi can only be used three times, and the jujube wood after the lightning strike is the best." Materials. The theory of peach wood is only passed down by the Hong Kong Kowloon Taoist church in later generations, and has no factual basis." The old horse smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't expect there to be so much knowledge here, so please give me some more, my three friends may be more dangerous than me." "It's gone. Except for this one, all the others were taken away by the Red Guards. There may be one or two more, but I don't know where they are, and I have never been able to find them." "Oh, so this thing is so precious," the old horse gently stroked the blade and murmured. "Then I'll pay you back after the matter is over." "It doesn't matter anymore." Chen Peiqi turned off the computer, turned around and said, "You go, I'm a little sleepy, I'm going to sleep." "So early?" "Sleep when you're sleepy, what's not early?" "Okay then, I'll come find you after I get the wooden sign." Coming out of Chen Peiqi's traditional Chinese medicine store, Lao Ma planned to go to Liu Chao first and ask for the wooden sign. After reading that letter, he knew that Liu Chao no longer believed that the wooden sign was a talisman that could save his life. , but turned into a time bomb full of dangers, the old horse knew this when the two talked on the phone at noon, so he went to take the "bomb" from him at this time, of course he was willing to give it to him with both hands. superior. The strange thing is that, shortly after getting into the car, Lao Ma’s head began to swell and ache. Fortunately, his home is not far from here. He insisted on driving back home, and as soon as he entered the door, he went to look for "croissants" that can relieve migraines. ——He has always had migraines, but this time, he vaguely felt that it was not as simple as migraines.But the heavy drowsiness left him no time to think about this problem. After taking the medicine, he fell asleep as soon as he touched the bedside. When I woke up, it was already dark outside the window, and I felt as if I had slept for a long, long time, and it seemed that I had a strange dream during the period?But he couldn't remember the scene in his dream. He sat up and shook his head. Fortunately, his head no longer hurts. Without turning on the light, the old horse went directly to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and when he bent over to wash his face, he suddenly had a strong feeling of being watched by someone. He shivered instinctively, turned off the faucet, and turned around— — He saw a figure darker than the night, standing upright outside the bathroom door, facing himself. Although the dark night covered his appearance, the old horse could still roughly recognize his attire: Just like what Liu Chao and Qin Nalan described, this person was completely wrapped in a long robe, and he couldn't see anything about his hands, feet, and head.This strange outfit undoubtedly made him look more mysterious, weird, and even terrifying. He just stood there motionless, as if waiting for something. Even though the old horse was bold, he was still very nervous in the face of this situation. A cold air rose from his ankle and spread to all parts of his body in an instant. He almost didn't even have the strength to move.No, I really can't move! This discovery made Lao Ma sleepy and frightened. He tried to open his mouth and wanted to shout loudly, but no sound came out of his throat. He suddenly remembered what Qin Nalan said when he saw the man in black. Was it the same at this time?However, what he is most worried about at the moment is the purpose of the man in black opposite him. What is he doing here?Will it hurt yourself? Without much time for him to think, the man in black walked towards him quietly.Lao Ma's heart turned cold, thinking of Cui Bo's accidental death, did he really want to follow in his footsteps? No, you can't just give up like this!The old horse struggled with all his strength, but his body was still as stiff as a sculpture, and he couldn't even shake, let alone move, so he could only watch the man in black approaching him step by step, and a sense of despair rose from his heart. After getting up, the old horse knew that he was in danger tonight, but he was still unwilling to give up. He tried to open his eyes—the only part of his body that could move, and stared fiercely at the man opposite him. The man in black hopes to deter the other party, but he also knows that there is little hope of doing so. It is nothing more than expressing his strong will to the other party. However, a miracle really happened - when there was only five or six meters of distance left between the two, the man in black stopped and stopped moving forward.Are you really intimidated by yourself? The old horse was just feeling surprised, but saw the man in black lowered his head slightly, as if he was observing something seriously, the old horse also instinctively looked to the ground: between the two of them, there was a man lying quietly on the smooth wooden floor. The old horse was stunned for a moment, and then thought, isn't this the Zaomu sword that Chen Peiqi gave him this afternoon, which can ward off evil spirits?Why is it lying on the floor outside the bathroom door? The old horse immediately began to recall what happened after he arrived home in the evening: he was too sleepy at that time, and he only wanted to sleep. After entering the house, he went to the bathroom to wash his face, and then went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. It was thrown on the ground, right?He still remembered that he took the sword from the car when he got out of the car, yes, it must be like this. Just when the old horse fell into memory, the situation in front of him turned around: the man in black stared at the sword for about half a minute, slowly raised his head, and stared at him for a while, although he couldn't see his face, But the old horse could feel the sharp gaze of the other party, and when it shot at his face, he felt a slight burning pain. Could it be a psychological effect?Finally, the man in black withdrew his gaze, turned around slowly, walked towards the aisle, and disappeared behind the wall in a blink of an eye. Almost at the moment when the man in black disappeared, the old horse's body suddenly regained consciousness. Because he was completely unprepared, he fell to the floor, but he got up quickly, summoned up the courage to go to the living room, and walked towards the corridor. When I looked around, the door was open, but the person had disappeared. Only then did the old horse heave a sigh of relief, and sat down on the sofa, breathing heavily, and when he calmed down a little, he got up and picked up the jujube sword from the ground, while looking at the seal characters engraved on the sword and strange patterns, while thinking anxiously: Is it really because of this sword that the man in black left suddenly? Suddenly, he remembered what Chen Peiqi said when he gave the sword to him, and his heart suddenly rose in his throat: this date wood sword can only prevent ghosts, it is useless to people.It turns out that those men in black are really different... However, in his mind, the image of ghosts seems to be different. So, what is it? In front of him, the strange black robe seemed to appear again in the darkness, the old horse shivered, and such a noun appeared in his mind like a sudden flash of inspiration: the messenger of ecstasy! Didn't sleep all night. Just before dawn, the old horse left the house top-heavy and drove to Chen Peiqi's house. After smashing the door for a long time, Chen Peiqi opened the door with a tired face, yawned and asked, "Come here so early, what's the matter?" The old horse went into the room and sat down on the sofa, looked up at Chen Peiqi, and said word by word: "Last night, I hit a ghost." "Oh?" Chen Peiqi slightly opened his eyes wide and tilted his head to look at him, "What's going on?" The old horse told what happened last night. After Chen Peiqi listened, the drowsiness disappeared from his face, his brows frowned, and he said to himself, "How could this be? It can't be done." "What can't?" Chen Peiqi sat down beside him, and said in a rare and serious tone: "My sword is invulnerable to all evil, as long as it is placed in the house, it is impossible for ordinary ghosts and evil spirits to come in, let alone get so close. " The old horse was stunned for a moment, "Wait a minute, you just said... an ordinary ghost?" Chen Peiqi sighed: "Yes, so what you meet is either not a ghost, or a ghost with deep resentment, I hope it is the former." The old horse raised his heart: "However, it seems that it still has some consideration for the Zaomu sword, otherwise it won't go away suddenly, right? If it is a human, why should I be afraid of this thing? Besides, I couldn't move my whole body at that time. , doesn't this mean that it's... a ghost?" "Since yesterday, you seem to have changed completely. I remember that you didn't believe in this before." Chen Peiqi suddenly smiled again, looked at him and said. The old horse smiled wryly: "One moment and another. Don't discuss this, what should I do now? Last night I was afraid that that thing would come again, so I didn't sleep a wink all night." "Since it still takes into account the existence of Zaomu Sword, then you will be fine for the time being." "temporary?" "No one can tell what will happen in the future." Chen Peiqi shrugged, "Hurry up and get the wooden sign. By the way, it's best to give me some more information about Fengmen Village. I heard you say so evil, I think See what's going on here." "Well, let me sleep with you first, I'm really sleepy." The old horse said and walked to the bedroom. "Hey, this can't be done—" Chen Peiqi yelled loudly, but he still took a step too late. The old horse pushed open the bedroom door, walked in with a dull head, glanced at the bed, and was stunned—there was a girl sitting on the bed. Wearing pajamas, with a plain face facing the sky, it looks like he just woke up, and he is raising his head at this moment, staring at himself who suddenly rushed into the room. The old horse turned his head and stared blankly at Chen Peiqi who was following him, he was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say. "Okay." Chen Peiqi stuck out his tongue, "Let me introduce—" This is Liu Chao's third "date" alone with Qin Nalan, and the place is still at the coffee shop, but this time it is not at "Shangdao", but "Starbucks". This time it is the place Qin Nalan chose, Liu Chao Suspect she has a penchant for drinking coffee.Fortunately, he himself likes to drink coffee, not to mention that the other party is a girl he has a crush on. Even if he drinks plain water, he will also be emotional. It's a pity that they are not a normal date, but talk about things—talking about things that are not only related to Romance has nothing to do with relationships, on the contrary, it may be a very serious and depressing topic. Because the distance is not far away, Liu Chao didn't drive today, and went out on foot half an hour earlier. Along the way, he kept recalling what Song Qing told him on the phone yesterday. Song Qing is the netizen named "Pumpkin Soup". Yesterday, after Liu Chao sent her mobile phone number to her on the Internet, she immediately received a call, saying that her name is Song Qing, from Zhengzhou, Henan, and she is just like Liu Chao. recent graduates.After a simple exchange of pleasantries, she talked about the bizarre and terrifying incident that happened to herself and her ex-boyfriend Li Pu a year ago and ended in tragedy—— She and Li Pu started dating when they were freshmen, and their relationship has always been very good. They graduated together last summer. When the financial crisis was at its worst, they couldn't find a suitable job for a while, but Li Pu's family was very rich. There are almost half of the shops in a commercial street in the district. Just relying on these monthly rents, there is an annual income of more than one million (some people are born with such good luck, there is no way to do it), so during that time the two A little uninspired, just thinking about where to go all day long; Li Pu has always been fond of outdoor adventure activities. Under his suggestion, the two signed up for an outdoor travel group spontaneously formed by donkey friends online, with the purpose of hiking through the There is a place called Xiaoyao River Valley in the south of Henan Province. Before that, the two of them had never heard of this place name at all. Although the preparations were adequate, shortly after entering the valley, all the positioning systems failed together strangely. The group of them wandered around in the valley, and finally came to the uninhabited village. It was night in the village. Camped and slept, and encountered many unimaginable and strange things... Maybe it was too scary, Song Qing didn't want to talk about this experience, she directly talked about what happened after they returned to their hometown. The two places are in the same province, not far apart. A week later, he went there alone again, but this time he did not go into the mountains. Instead, he inquired about the information and legends about Fengmen Village in the surrounding area—he had already found it on the Internet. After finding out the name of this place, he returned to Zhengzhou about half a month later. At that time, the two had already lived together. Song Qing clearly remembered that Li Pu's behavior was a bit abnormal during that time. He often woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, saying something follow yourself.It didn't take long for him to have an accident. "In the few days when he disappeared, his friends and I couldn't find him everywhere, so we called the police. After that, the police and our relatives and friends searched for him for more than a week, so we had to give up. I had a premonition that something must have happened to him , Sure enough, within a few days, he entrusted me with a dream, saying that he was dead, and asked me not to try to investigate the cause of his death, or he would be like him after the end..." Song Qing said, his tone calm and without any emotion. "I suspected at the time that his death must have something to do with Fengmen Village. Unfortunately, there is no evidence, and even his body can't be found. Of course, the police didn't believe me. After a period of investigation, there was no result, so let it go." She went on to say that she had secretly read the materials that Li Pu stored in the computer—it was written on the computer every day after he came back from Fengmen Village for the second time, and the content was all related to Fengmen Village. What I got was the beginning of this document. Li Pu told her that he was going to reveal the secrets of Fengmen Village and display it on a website, but something happened just after making the beginning. Suspecting that her boyfriend's death was caused by violating the secrets of Fengmen Village, which had terrible consequences, when the police abandoned the case, she thought about investigating the cause of her boyfriend's death by herself, but Li Pu entrusted her with dreams for several days in a row. It was exactly the same, so she really didn't have the courage to do it, so she had to give up. To this day, she still hasn't seen his body. The reason why she told Liu Chao this situation is very simple: her boyfriend's death has always made her heartbroken, but she dared not and was unable to investigate the truth of his death. She firmly believed that this "truth" must be related to the secret of Fengmen Village. It just so happens that Liu Chao is also deeply involved in this matter now. She is willing to provide him with all the information about Fengmen Village left by Li Pu. No matter whether she succeeds or not, she can at least do something for her dead boyfriend, but She didn't dare to come forward—she kept in mind her boyfriend's warning in her dream, fearing revenge from the mysterious force representing Fengmen Village. "Actually, I once thought about continuing the investigation desperately. I'm not so afraid of death, but if I just hesitated, there will be no more chances." "Why?" Liu Chao asked puzzled. "Because I'm married." Then, both fell silent.In the end, Song Qing told Liu Chao that those materials had been stored on Li Pu's old computer, and the computer was kept at her mother's house. She went home recently, contacted him after finding the materials, and then ended the call. At this moment, Liu Chao was thinking about this while walking, and couldn't help feeling that human feelings are really too fake-what is love?Why is it so difficult to find the unswerving love that often appears in novels and TV dramas in reality?He suddenly thought of Li Jie again, and remembered the romantic and beautiful love they had once, but in the end they were no match for the cruel reality, so he finally believed that beautiful love is short-lived. He raised his head, looked at the blue sky and took a deep breath, forcing his mind to return to the main business, eagerly hoping to see that document soon, there must be some secret hidden there, right?Otherwise, Li Pu probably would not have died.What did he discover that pushed himself into a desperate situation? Today, Qin Nalan changed his attire again, with his yellow hair combed back and tied into a ponytail; the make-up on his face was just right, without any enchanting feeling, but it added a bit of dignified and elegant temperament. The pink dress was tightly wrapped around her body, reflecting a different kind of beauty against her fair skin.Sitting face to face with such a beauty, Liu Chao was a little bit intoxicated just by smelling the faint fragrance from her body. He couldn't help thinking of a poem by Xu Zhimo: like a daffodil, it is too shy... He felt that these words could not be more suitable for Qin Nalan in front of him. "Why are you in a daze all the time? What's the matter?" Liu Chao came back to his senses and quickly shook his head, "It's nothing, just think about something, you look so beautiful today." Qin Nalan smiled, but when the smile disappeared, a look of sadness appeared in her eyes, she looked at Liu Chao, and said slowly: "I came to you today to say goodbye to you, I may... want to go back I went to my hometown in Anhui." "Oh? Why?" Liu Chao felt a slight sense of loss in his heart. Qin Nalan lowered his eyes, gently stirred the coffee with a spoon in one hand, and said, "You should know about my situation, right? When we graduated, most of our classmates went to work in other places, leaving only a small number of them. Later, I also walked away slowly, and now I have almost no familiar friends here, so what's the point of staying here alone?" "Maybe, it's not just because of this reason?" Liu Chao said, staring into her eyes. Qin Nalan obviously hesitated for a while, but chose to confess: "I don't feel safe at all now, I've been having nightmares these days, I can't take it anymore, and..." She paused, and spoke softly The voice said: "I was thinking, if I change the place, maybe that thing will let me go?" Liu Chao sighed, "I knew what you meant, but still don't you understand? If those things really want to find you, you must be unable to hide. Xu Youshi is far enough away from Fengmen Village, right? Didn't they still come after them?" Qin Nalan opened his eyes wide and murmured, "Yeah, why didn't I think of this..." "Also, if they follow you after you go home, how will it affect your family members? Do you want them to be involved in this matter?" "...It shouldn't be like this, right?" Qin Nalan's voice began to weaken, and he looked at Liu Chao nervously. "I don't think so, but as the saying goes, just in case." Qin Nalan nodded awkwardly, and said, "But, I really don't dare to live alone anymore..." This is true, Liu Chao thought to himself, as a big man, I feel cold when I sleep at night, let alone a single girl, not to mention that she has encountered such terrible things before, it is not easy for her to persist until today up.Liu Chao thought for a while, then said hesitantly, "I have an idea, and I'm afraid you won't accept it." "Huh?" Qin Nalan looked at him curiously. "I was thinking... If you really don't mind, you can move to my house... Don't get me wrong, you have also been to my house, it is that small building, there are many empty rooms in the building, you You can choose any one to live in, as long as you want, we can not interfere with each other's life, and my house is a detached house, every room is equipped with anti-theft doors and windows, it should be much safer than renting a house outside by yourself, right?" Qin Nalan opened his mouth slightly, and said hesitantly, "It's just... isn't this a bit inconvenient?" "Actually, it's nothing. If you're really afraid of people talking about it, you can tell the outside world that you rented our house temporarily." After a pause, Liu Chao continued, "To be honest, even if you really move here, I can't guarantee your house completely." It's safe, after all those men in black... You know, their methods are much scarier than we imagined, but at least we can have a support when we live together, and it's hard to say, we are now a rope The grasshoppers on the road, no one is afraid of hurting the other, don't you think?" Probably moved by his last words, Qin Nalan finally nodded after some hesitation, "Then, I have no choice but to accept your kindness... But, how much is the rent?" Liu Chao "puchi" smiled: "Are you really planning to pay the rent?" "This, I can give..." "I really don't need to give this." After speaking, the two looked at each other and laughed.This is really a rare relaxing moment. Liu Chao feels that he has never had such a pleasant experience since he came back from Fengmen Village. Although it is only a very short moment, it can play a role in adjusting his mood-no matter at any time, In the face of great pressure, if a person can still smile occasionally, no matter how long the smile lasts, it is a rare good thing. When he said he would move, when he came out of "Starbucks", Liu Chao accompanied Qin Nalan back to return the rented house, and then came to his home with a small amount of luggage, and asked her to pick an empty room on the second floor of his home. The bed, sofa, wardrobe and other furniture are all available in the house. After the two of them cleaned the room, Qin Nalan took out the things he brought out of the box and placed them in the corresponding places in the room one by one, because the middle There may be some women's products, so it's not easy for Liu Chao to intervene in this job, so he went downstairs to the living room to watch TV by himself. Aunt Zhang, who was cooking in the kitchen, immediately came out of the kitchen, looked upstairs, and said to Liu Chao with a smile, "You, why did you lie to Auntie, last time you said she wasn't your girlfriend..." Liu Chao quickly argued: "It wasn't originally, didn't I say it just now, she just came to my house to stay for a while, Aunt Zhang, don't talk nonsense in front of her, so as not to be embarrassing." "Hey, I'm talking nonsense, isn't it possible for a girlfriend to come and live at your house?" "What's this?" Liu Chao spread his hands, "Many men and women are sharing houses outside. Aunt Zhang, you are already out of date." Aunt Zhang glared at him and said, "Okay, I don't want to take care of your young people's affairs, do you want me to go up and help her?" "Forget it, it's even more embarrassing for her to see you, you'd better cook your meal, ha ha." Not long after sending Aunt Zhang away, Qin Nalan came downstairs. Seeing Aunt Zhang busy in the kitchen, she suddenly felt a little embarrassed, walked up to Liu Chao, and said in a low voice, "Is it time to serve dinner?" ?” "Yeah, are you ready?" "Well, that...can you go out to eat?" Liu Chao was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood that she was embarrassed to have dinner with her elders, even though the other party was a nanny, they were still part of her own family, so he nodded, stood up and said, "Ok, let's go. " Aunt Zhang's repeated attempts to persuade her to stay were useless, but the two of them left the house and came to a nearby restaurant. As soon as they ordered food, Liu Chao's cell phone rang. ! "Hello, have you found the information?" Liu Chao asked impatiently as soon as the call was connected. There was a pause at the other end, and Song Qing's deep voice sounded: "Sorry, all the materials are gone." Liu Chao's heart sank, and he murmured, "It's gone?" "Yes, I don't know what's going on, I clearly remember that those materials are all in the file, but I can't find them after searching for a long time..." A burst of strong disappointment and frustration welled up in Liu Chao's heart. He was silent for a moment, but still said with some reluctance: "Could it be that you misremembered the storage location, can you look for it again?" "Well, let me take a look again and contact you later." Putting down his phone, Liu Chao lit a cigarette and smoked silently.Probably seeing that his expression was not right, Qin Nalan curiously asked him what happened, Liu Chao briefly told the story, Qin Nalan was also surprised when he heard it, and questioned: "The information stored in the computer How could something disappear? Could it be... was deleted on purpose?" Liu Chao shrugged helplessly: "Who knows." "Then what should we do now?" "Wait for the call," Liu Chao sighed, "Just take one step at a time." It has to be said that the occurrence of this unexpected situation seriously hit Liu Chao's determination and will to investigate to the end. He even doubted whether his previous thinking was correct-does Fengmen Village really have secrets?Even if the secret is revealed, can self-salvation be completed? He suddenly felt that he was pitifully weak, just like the old saying: man is a knife, I am a fish.Those men in black who hide in the dark with mysterious power and don't know whether they are demons or ghosts may come to their door at any time and use the same means to deal with Cui Bo to deal with themselves... Thinking of this, he began to hate this friend who had just died: he died for no apparent reason, which is indeed pitiful, but since he knew he was going to die, it would be fine to take that unsolved secret into the grave, why bother? Do you have to keep the wooden sign for yourself, and let the terrible bad luck extend to yourself? It might be a bit inhumane to think so, Liu Chao warned himself, besides, now is not the time to complain, the clues to the investigation have been cut off, what should we do next?He suddenly thought, what happened to the old horse's investigators? What did his Taoist friend say about the wooden sign? Is there any way to help them escape from the invisible hands?Unknowingly, he pinned most of his hopes on the old horse. I received Song Qing’s call again that night. At around nine o’clock, Liu Chao had already gone to bed and was about to go to bed. Song Qing called suddenly, reconfirming the frustrating result he had already foreseen: the information was indeed found. Not anymore. "However, I still remember some content in the materials. The reason why Fengmen Village is haunted should be related to Taoism." One sentence aroused Liu Chao's curiosity again, and said, "How can you see it?" "It seems to be the result of textual research on the buildings, stone statues and other things in the village. The information did not make it clear. Maybe he (Li Pu) only investigated here, or didn't have time to write it down." After a pause, she added He said: "By the way, there are also those three temples, Dari Temple, Zhongri Temple, and Xiaori Temple. The information seems to say that the existence of these three temples is related to Fengmen Village. I only remember these." Liu Chao was even more puzzled: the temple belongs to Buddhism, but didn't she just say that the matter was related to Taoism?How did it get involved with Buddhism again?Just as he was about to ask a question, Song Qing's crisp voice sounded from the other end of the phone: "If you really want to know the secrets here, I suggest you go on another trip by yourself. If he can find out something, of course you can too." 刘超顿时愣住：他的确从未想过这样做，尽管宋青说的有道理，但是……一想到那晚在封门村过夜时遭遇的种种灵异现象，他的心就免不了一阵抽搐，好不容易从那里逃出来，还要再回去？不，他真的不敢了，于是用干涩的嗓音对着手机说道：“我还是考虑一下再说吧，不过不管怎么样，我都要谢谢你。” “你不用谢我。”宋青的声音还是那样波澜不惊，“我很想跟你们一起去调查这个秘密，但是我不能，所以我只能祝你们平安，如果你们有幸查出真相，请一定通知我一声。” “这是一定的，请你放心。”刘超这样说，内心却控制不住地想到：自己到底能不能坚持到她说的那一天，还是个未知数呢。 最后，宋青说她会暗中帮他们搜集资料，如果有收获的话会再联系他，然后便挂上电话。刘超点了根烟，躺回到床上，开始正式思考宋青刚才在电话中给自己的建议：到底要不要再去封门村走一趟呢？毫无疑问，去的话对于揭开秘密一定大有帮助，但是，这样做会不会更加触怒那些黑衣人？如今在城市里对他们尚且防不胜防，一旦到了荒郊野外他们的地盘，自己岂不是更加危险？那个李溥不就是这样平白丢了性命吗？ 可是，假如不去，眼下似乎是一点线索也找不到了，老在这里耗着也不是办法，木牌尚在自己手中，那些黑衣人当然不会无故放过自己……刘超由衷感到，这个选择题实在太难做了。 一根烟抽完时，手机再次响了起来，不过这次是短信的铃声。刘超拿起来一看，短信是秦纳兰发来的，内容只有一句话：是不是耽误你睡觉了？ 刘超站在阳台上，往二楼秦纳兰住的那间房的窗户望去，灯已经关了，于是回短信给她说道：我还没睡，你呢，是不是突然换地方了睡不着？ 回到屋里，刘超刚上床，短信又发来了：是啊，还有点不习惯呢，所以找你聊聊，没打扰到你就好。 刘超突然间很想跟她当面聊聊，没有别的意思，就是内心比较压抑、苦闷，想找个人聊聊天释放一下，至于聊天的对象是谁都没有关系，当然是美女的话更好了，于是回信息问她愿不愿意到楼下院子里坐坐。 少顷，秦纳兰发来信息，说自己已经在院子里了，刘超心头一喜，赶忙下楼。 深夜的大院内静悄悄的，只有风从后院那一小片竹林中穿过时，发出阵阵的“哗哗”声，在远处听来有点像下雨的声音。 刘超带秦纳兰来到后院，往位于竹林深处的那座红瓦吊角的凉亭走去。秦纳兰远远打量着这座仿古建筑，诧异道：“你家院里怎么还有凉亭呢？开发商建的吗？” “不，我爸自己找人建的，他有时夏天回来，经常晚上摆点小菜在凉亭里，一边乘凉一边喝点小酒，自己觉得很享受。” “这的确是一种享受呀。”秦纳兰笑着说。 在凉亭坐下后，一段时间内两人并没有说话，而是一起静静地望着对面的竹林，感受着夜风从身上抚过时带来的阵阵清凉，各怀心事。 这样过了大约几分钟，秦纳兰才开口说道：“你以前是不是也经常带你女朋友晚上来这乘凉？” 刘超淡淡一笑：“从来没有过。她性格太躁，乘凉这种安静的事情她才不干呢。” “呵呵，看来你们感情挺深呀，我一说'女朋友'，你马上想起她来。” “当然，我就交过她一个女朋友。” 秦纳兰睁大眼睛看着他：“真的假的，你条件这么好……” 刘超点了一根烟，默默抽了两口，说道：“我上学时性格很内向的，说出来你不信，我那时连跟女同学说句话脸都会红，一直到毕业后自己开了公司，每天要跟不同客户打交道，慢慢地才锻炼成今天这样，其实我现在也不是很爱说话，但有时候不说话不行，你说是不是？” “对啊，不过，我感觉你现在口才挺好的。”秦纳兰笑了笑，小心翼翼地问道：“这个问题有点八卦，我想知道……你跟你女朋友，为什么会分手呢？” “性格不合呗。”刘超无奈耸了耸肩，“她太喜欢玩了，而我太闷，我们注定是不能长久的，这一点我跟她在一起时就预料到了，不过还好，我当时全心全意对她了，所以没什么值得懊悔的，顶多有点遗憾吧，一切都还不错。” 秦纳兰若有所思地点了点头。 刘超觉得这个话题该到此为此了，否则那些不愉快的往事又会浮上心头，搅乱自己的情绪，于是看着她说道：“说说你吧，你这么漂亮，追求你的人应该不在少数吧？” “哪里有啊，”秦纳兰不好意思地笑了，进而微微昂起头，将目光移到远处深蓝色的天空上面。刘超在一旁看着，猜测她多半是在回忆往事。 过了好一会儿，她才幽幽说道：“我比你多交过一个男朋友，第一次是在高中时候，对方是我们班班长，长得挺帅的，嗯，跟你差不多……当时我特别单纯的，我们在一起一年多，顶多拉过几次手而已。”说到这里她捂嘴笑起来，停了停接着说道：“高考时候我俩一起报了许由市理工大，结果他没考上，我本打算陪他复习一年，但他不肯，然后我到这里上学，他一个人留下复习了，我到这里后还一直惦记他，可是暑假回去时候发现，他居然又找了一个女朋友。” 对这种事情刘超不知道该发表什么样的评论，只好静静地看着她，等待她往下说。 “他是很要强的人，也许是不希望女朋友比他优秀吧，再加上高考失败的打击，就不愿跟我在一起了。从那以后，我们再也没说过一句话。” 刘超点点头：“挺可惜的，你第二个男朋友呢？是你大学同学？” “算是吧，他好像跟你是一个校区的——我记得你说过你是东校区毕业的，他也是，比我高两三级吧，现在当警察了，说实话，他是我认识的男生中最了不起的一个，只是在感情方面很不负责任……” “哎，你等一等！”刘超皱起眉头，他想到了一个很重要的情况，喃喃说道：“比你高两三界，那差不多跟我是同届的，现在当警察，是在许由市当警察吗？” “是啊，听说是在刑警队，好像跟他现在的女朋友快结婚了呢。” 刘超张了张嘴：“他叫什么名字？” “叫……蒋小楼，怎么了？” 刘超感到不可思议地摇了摇头，笑着说：“我就猜到是他，我们那一届同学中就他一个现在当了警察，你居然跟他谈过恋爱，这世界可真小。” “你跟他真是同学？”秦纳兰脸上现出一丝不自然的表情，“那……你跟他关系怎么样？” 刘超多长了一个心眼，撒谎道：“也就一般吧，泛泛之交。” 秦纳兰明显松了口气，“哦”了一声，不说话了。 尽管有一肚子的疑问，但刘超知道她已不想再谈论这个话题，正准备说点别的，突然，秦纳兰一把抓住他的胳膊，眼睛望着前院方向，用极低的声音说道：“你看那是什么！” 刘超转头一看，身体一下子就僵住了——在别墅的旁边、从前院通往后院的入口处，不知何时多了一个高大的黑影！只需看他那身连体的黑色长袍，刘超便马上认出了对方的身份：从封门村来的黑衣人！ 黑衣人面朝着二人这边，但是好像没有过来的意思，只是那么直挺挺地站着，银白色的月光从他身体斜后方洒下来，在他头顶和肩膀上形成诡异的反光，令人不寒而栗。 “快跑！”刘超回过神来后低吼一声，拉着秦纳兰的手飞快地跑出凉亭，过道被黑衣人占领了，他们当然没有胆量从他身边跑过去，好在别墅还有一个后门，离黑衣人所在位置有些距离，刘超拉着秦纳兰一口气跑进后门，反身关门时，他朝黑袍人望了一眼，他已经慢慢地在朝这边走过来，刘超连忙将门锁紧，靠在墙上喘了几口气，再透过猫眼往外看时，黑衣人居然不见了！短短几秒钟时间，他能到哪去呢？ 刘超觉得假如不找出他的下落，自己怕是一夜都不会安心，于是顾不上去管面白如纸、靠在墙上一动不动的秦纳兰，转身快步跑上了二楼，走上位于走道尽头处的半圆形封闭式阳台，从这里看出去，整个后院的情况一目了然，但是，尽管刘超无比细心地拿目光来回搜索了好几遍，还是未能发现一个人影。一时间，他真不知道这个结果是好还是坏，那个黑衣人到底去了哪里？会不会到了前院？ 想到这，刘超便想去对面的阳台看看前院的情况，不料刚转身，一个人影突然扑了上来，用力抱紧了他的胸膛。刘超脑子还没转过圈来，便听到秦纳兰那拉着哭腔的声音：“我……好害怕……” 尽管自己两条腿也还在发软，但是出于大男人心理，他还是轻轻拍了拍她的后背，用听起来尽量有点底气的声音安慰道：“没事了，他已经走了，楼下两扇门都上了锁，他肯定进不来的。” “那……他是怎么进到院子里的？” 这句话问到了刘超心里，他也想不明白黑衣人是怎么进来的——大院的围墙有将近三米高，普通人累死也爬不进来，至于院门更不必说，当然是上了锁的，可是……话又说回来，这种事情也不是第一次发生了，那些黑衣人原本就不是普通人，甚至不是人，普通门锁又怎么能挡得住他们呢？ 想到这儿，刘超再次紧张起来，觉得走廊里也不安全，于是等秦纳兰情绪稍微好转一点之后，他便将她送回了卧室，临别前一再嘱咐她光好门窗，千万注意安全，然后转身准备上三楼，刚迈了一步，胳膊却被秦纳兰拽住了，刘超回转过头，发现她正用一副可怜兮兮地表情看着自己。 “我害怕一个人……”她低下头，用蚊语一般的声音说道。 刘超知道这不是什么隐晦的暗示，而是真实的情感表达，当下拍了拍她的肩膀安慰道：“你放心吧，木牌现在我手上，他们是冲着我来的，与你没有关系。所以只要我还活着，你肯定是不会有危险的。” 秦纳兰张了张嘴，想说什么，又被刘超抢先说道：“你相信我，今晚晚上你绝对不会有事，别的我们明天白天再说好吗？假如……我是说假如真有什么情况的话，你就打我电话，我一定第一时间下来找你！” 秦纳兰犹豫了一下，点了点头，盯着他的眼睛说道：“那你也要注意安全！” “嗯，你早点睡吧，明天早上我请你吃正宗'狗不理包子'！” “一言为定。”秦纳兰抓住他的手，用力捏了一下，转身走进了卧室。 上楼回到自己房里，刘超第一件事就是将门窗全部锁紧，这才战战兢兢地上床，却不敢就这么睡觉，只好睁大眼睛躺在床上抽烟，一边琢磨着那个之前一直都被自己忽略的情况：黑衣人屡次出现的目的究竟是什么？ 假如真是为了杀死自己，那么他们随时可以下手，就凭他们那些手段，真要动手的话，自己现在只怕死了十次也不止了，可是自己现在还活着，对此，他之前的猜测是对方投鼠忌器，这极有可能，因为木牌尚在自己手中，虽然不知道他们具体在顾及什么，但肯定是与木牌有关；除去猜不透黑衣人接二连三出现的目的，最令刘超感到困惑的还是刚才在楼下看到那一幕：黑衣人直挺挺站在远处，并没有朝自己这边过来，但也没有离开，当自己进入别墅之后，他却往这边移动了，难道，他出现的目的仅仅是为了吓唬自己，给自己施加压力？ 这件事实在太令人费解了，不过，能够确定对方没有伤害自己的意思——起码是暂时没有，刘超紧张的情绪还是逐渐放松下来，他担心秦纳兰一个人在楼下害怕，便拿起手机，将自己那“暂时安全”的分析结果编成短信发了过去，片刻，秦纳兰回复短信：刘超，真的很感谢你，有你在，我不害怕了！ 不知为何，看到她的回信，尤其是最后那句话，让刘超心里生出一丝暖暖的感觉，就像久困沙漠的人突然看见绿洲一般。 这天晚上，刘超做了一个奇怪的梦。 梦中，他竟然回到了逍遥河谷，一个人走在河谷中坑洼不平的泥土地上，四周看不到一个人，只有一丛丛足人高的野草，被风吹得东倒西歪。一双双血红色的眼睛就在草丛中若隐若现，不知道眼睛的主人们是野兽还是幽灵。 但刘超一点也不感到害怕，只是茫然，不知道自己为什么来到这地方、要去哪里，就这么茫然无措地往前走着，突然，身体后方传来一阵山呼海啸般的声音，他好奇地转头去看时，一个巨大的浪头迎面扑来，将他卷入冰冷的水中。 一番痛苦的挣扎，脑袋浮上了水面，往四周看去，发现自己竟然置身于一片白茫茫的水域之中，一个接一个浪头裹挟着浓重的水腥味迎面扑来，刘超一边踩水一边满心惶惑地想着：难道是山洪暴发了？不然这么会有这么大的水呢？ 水流速度实在太快了，几乎站不住脚，刘超纵然水性不错，也知道自己坚持不了太久，正着急着，只见远处随波漂来一个小竹筏，很快就到了近前，没有任何支撑，竹筏却停住了，上面直挺挺地站着那个见过多次的黑衣人，仍旧是看不到脸。 “上来。”黑衣人面朝前方，冷冷吐出两个字来。 刘超一只手抓住木筏，问道：“去哪啊？” “你该去的地方。” 刘超愣了愣，声音开始有点发虚，“我该去什么地方？” 黑衣人“嘿嘿”笑了一声，将帽子甩在脑后，弯腰下来，竟然是……崔波！或者说，这个人长着跟崔波一样的脸。 崔波一脸戏谑笑容看着他，“老朋友，好久不见。” "you……" “上来再说吧。”刘超犹豫了一下，还是爬上了木筏。令他不解的是，他刚上来，木筏便自动加快了速度，好像下面有无数的手在推动似的，刘超心惊不已，抬头看向崔波：“你要带我去哪？” “你该去的地方呀，”崔波伸手指向左前方，刘超定睛一看，左岸边不远处一座丘陵，山腰处隐约可见一片低矮的土坯房子，尽管只来过一次，但是刘超对这场景再熟悉不过了，当下连忙摆手：“不不，我不去那里，不去！” “这恐怕由不得你。”崔波又换成那副冷冰冰的声音，回过头来看着他，“要么把东西交给人家，要么你就跟我一起去封门村，我一个人在下面挺寂寞的，好想你来陪我……” 刘超颤抖着向后退了几步，突然脚下一滑，整个木筏侧翻过来，再次跌入水中的同时，他也从梦中醒了过来——窗外天已经大亮了。 重重地喘息了一会儿，刘超下床，到卫生间一边洗漱一边回忆梦中情景，他觉得这个梦是有象征意义的：崔波又来催促自己了，然而，他真的是崔波吗？