Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Leading the Way

When the person in charge saw me, he was very enthusiastic, and he smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to find Master Wu by yourself, it's really great." Then he glanced at Qiu Han again, and continued: "Young man is fine now, Master Wu is really good at rejuvenating." Qiu Han and I said words of gratitude to the person in charge, but the person in charge seemed to have no intention of answering us, so he sat next to Wu Zheng again. "Master Wu, what happened to my request to you?" the village head said. "Oh, it's difficult. This is an old lady with no children. Everyone is not happy." Wu Zheng crossed his legs and said, taking a sip of wine.Apparently, he was deliberately trying to keep things secret.

"Master Wu, you are the only one who can handle this matter! We have asked you for help all these years. Your family has lived in the village for four generations, and we don't treat you as an outsider." The village chief begged. The words of the village chief seemed to have touched Wu Zheng a lot, and he said, "Since the village chief said so, I will try my best." "Oh, that's great, you've helped me a lot. I wonder if you did it yourself?" the village head said. "How come, my own yang energy is so strong, it's this little brother." Wu Zheng pointed at me and said.

"Oh?" In the eyes of these villagers, weak Yang Qi means kidney deficiency.For a while, I saw many villagers looking at me with complicated eyes, as if they were wondering why this person had such weak yang energy. The village head froze for a moment, then held my hands enthusiastically, and said happily, "It's all up to you." I don't know what to say, I just know that Wu Zheng pushed me into the pit of fire. After the village chief finished speaking, he took the people away—he would continue to take people to handle the funeral for the deceased.Looking at his light gait, I know he is relaxed now.

After the village chief left, I asked Wu Zheng when he would lead the way, and Wu Zheng told me that it was tomorrow night. I was shocked, tomorrow night, isn't that the traditional Yulan Festival!Every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar is the Yu Lan Festival in China, which is also the traditional ghost festival.According to legend, on the Yulan Festival, all the little ghosts will be released to go home to visit relatives.If such a group of guys really floated to watch while I was leading the way, wouldn't it be a tragedy for me!What Wu Zheng did was premeditated murder!

I waved my hands one after another, saying that I quit.Seeing that I quit, Wu Zheng didn't speak, just smiled and asked me to drink, and when I was almost drunk, he sent me to sleep.At that time, I didn't know why the wine had such a strong stamina. I slept for 24 hours, and slept until the next day when I had lunch at noon. When I got up, I realized that it was already noon the next day, and I would be sent out to lead the way in a few hours.I didn't know at the time that this was Wu Zheng's plan to delay the attack. When I realized that he was deliberately getting me drunk, I couldn't leave.At that time, all I could do was to check the terrain quickly, and then ask the rules and requirements for leading the way.

When I arrived at the old lady's house, it was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon.At that time, it had just rained in the sky, but because of the high temperature, the roadside had already dried up.The old lady's home is located in the northwest corner of the village, which is the location of the "death" gate that we are familiar with.The old lady’s house is a newly built house, but the furniture still looks so dilapidated. According to the village head, the old lady’s life has been rough. The old lady lost her husband in middle age and lost her son in her old age.The old lady felt that her bad luck was caused by Feng Shui, so she used her life savings to demolish the old house facing the ridge, and then built a new house in the vegetable garden in front of the old house.It's a pity that all this didn't seem to change the fate of the old lady. Just last year, the only young grandson of the old lady fell into the cliff due to a slip when she was going up the mountain to collect herbs.This incident dealt a great blow to the old lady. Since then, she has been devastated, her spirits are getting worse day by day, and she died seven days ago.

After introducing the old lady's family background, Wu Zheng began to tell me the rules and methods of leading the way.It turns out that our rule here is to mix glutinous rice flour and corn flour together, and then after ten o'clock, start spreading flour from the place where the old lady's shoes are, all the way to the road.After arriving at the road, just throw the pot on the ground, and the guiding is completed.The specific requirements for spreading noodles are: first, the flour should be sprinkled in a line leading to the road outside; second, after the flour in the bowl is used up, no more can be added, and all the roads must be sprinkled in one go; Three, there is no turning back.

After listening to Wu Zheng's words, I took a look at the old lady's house, only to find that the old lady's house was next to the road.In other words, I just need to walk out of the yard of her house and walk 10 meters west.Seeing this, I was relieved for a while, and I agreed. Seeing that it was still early, Qiu Han took me back to play cards with Yan Yuwei and the other two.At that time, Qiu Han's brand was full of meaning, and with the two beauties as his companions, he was even more reluctant to leave, and he had long forgotten the purpose of this trip.In view of the favorable situation at that time, I also played with great devotion. It was not until dinner that I remembered that there was such a thing as leading the way.

When it was dark, Wu Zheng and the village chief called me over.At 8:00 p.m., Qiu Han and the three of them performed together for me at Wu Zheng's home.I took half a bottle of rice wine and drank it all in one gulp.At this time, the three of them looked at me in unison, as if they didn't intend to come to the side to help out.I was annoyed in my heart, thinking, what is this! When I got to the road next to the old lady's house, Wu Zheng and the village chief were already waiting for me there.The village chief tied a hemp rope around my waist and my head, which means to keep my filial piety.Afterwards he asked me to take off my shoes again, saying that leading the way had to be done barefoot, and that the shoes would be returned to me when I finished leading the way.

At nine o'clock, Wu Zheng gave me the big porcelain bowl of noodles, and said, "Be careful, you must save some noodles in this bowl, and sprinkle them all over the road. When you get to the road, you take the bowl out of the bowl." Lost, don’t come back to get it again, or you will lead her back.” I looked at this porcelain bowl the size of a vegetable sink, and thought, so many noodles, enough, so I nodded, expressing remember.Seeing me write it down, Wu Zheng said, "When you lead the way, you should sprinkle your face while saying, old man, please go here." At half past nine, Wu Zheng and the village head repeatedly asked me to lead the way, and then left.Before leaving, the village chief repeatedly told me not to turn back when leading the way.I didn't understand what he meant at the time, so I didn't take what he said to heart.After the village chief gave me instructions, he also left me the watch, saying that the old lady died at 10:05, and asked me to sprinkle the dough at 10:05, and I must not sprinkle the dough before the time.

After Wu Zheng and the village chief left, there was no one around.Wu Zheng said that the village head had already notified all the surrounding residents and the time to lead the way, so no one came out now.I walked from the yard to the old lady's house alone. Now, it was pitch black inside and outside the house, only a kerosene lamp was placed on the table above the head of the old lady's body.At this moment, I realized that I hadn't even looked at the specifics of this room before. At that moment, I lit the three candles I stole from Wu Zheng's house, and then put them on the table in the house. Immediately, the room was brightly lit.At this moment, although the room is messy and the smell of corpses is strong, I feel that the whole world is much brighter.I walked to the door of the main house with strides, and then squatted barefoot beside the bed where the old lady's body was parked, waiting for the arrival of ten o'clock. At 9:40, I heard a cat meowing, and I thought to myself: Who the hell is letting the cat out at this time, isn’t it killing me?I got up and searched left and right, but there was no sign of the cat, and I wondered if I had heard it wrong. I didn't find the cat, so I continued to squat next to the old lady's body. Five minutes later, a strong wind blew outside.I was very courageous at first, but looking at the strong wind, I suddenly felt goosebumps all over my body.If I saw a zombie, maybe I wouldn't be afraid, but when I saw a dead person slowly turning into a zombie, then I felt scared.And at this moment, it feels like waiting for a zombie to appear. Looking at the growing wind, I feel chilly and cold all over.Suddenly, a strong wind blew outside, and the strong wind blew out two of the three candles in the house, and the "kerosene brand" long-burning lamp placed above the old lady's head was spared only because of the lampshade.Not only that, but the bed sheet spread on the old lady's body was also blown away, revealing the old lady's peaceful face on the bed.I looked at the old lady, and saw that her complexion was ruddy, her eye sockets were slightly sunken, and her cheeks on both sides spread out, revealing two rows of incomplete teeth. She seemed to be smiling at me.I thought to myself, on such a hot day, the old lady's body hasn't rotted yet. After the wind blew the white cloth off the old lady's body, I immediately panicked, for fear that the old lady would suddenly sit up straight and pat me on the shoulder, and then say to me: "Son, let's go on the road." The watch on the table was not yet half past nine, so there was another fifteen minutes to wait. The wind is blowing violently, the surrounding tiles are sometimes quiet, sometimes flying, and I can even hear the sound of dead branches falling.Looking at this yard again, the fallen leaves were rolled into a pile, and they were rolled into a small vortex by the strong wind. The vortex was blown outward, and even went out of the gate of the yard.Seeing all this, I became more and more nervous, not knowing what would happen next. I stared at the yard intently, but saw the small vortex float in after a minute after it went out.I saw that it stopped moving when it came to the middle of the yard, but kept going in circles.I saw this scene was weird, and thought: I'd better get out of here quickly, this is much more terrifying than the ancient tomb. I continued to stare at the little vortex in the yard.I saw that the small vortex slowly grew bigger and became more and more scattered after turning in the yard for about a minute. After another minute, the wind blew it away.I took a long breath, thinking that this weird vortex had finally disappeared. I looked at my watch, wishing I could turn the pointer forward ten minutes and leave early.At this moment, I heard footsteps in the yard. Although I couldn't see anyone in the yard, I was sure that someone was walking in this yard.I just heard the footsteps getting closer and closer, and I felt close to my eyes.Unexpectedly, the footsteps passed behind me all the way into the house, and I felt the cold behind me, as if being blown by cold air. After the footsteps entered the house, the outside became quiet, the wind stopped, and even the cat stopped meowing.All this was too peaceful, strangely calm, I observed the surrounding environment carefully, but found that at some point, the old lady's arm was on my left arm.I was startled, and quickly pulled my hand out, but I didn't dare to move it anymore. I looked at the time, it was already ten o'clock, and it was about to start in five minutes. The footsteps behind me were still lingering behind me, and I clearly felt a chill running around behind me.After the sound of footsteps lasted for three minutes, he finally left the main room and walked towards the gate of the courtyard.It's just that the footsteps didn't leave the yard, and seemed to stop at the door. At last, though, it all calmed down, and for me, a momentary peace was also peace.Two minutes later, the little bed made a "squeak", and the candles placed in front of the bed and the last lit candle in the room were blown out, leaving only darkness in the world in front of my eyes.Faced with such a scene, I had already prepared a countermeasure. At that moment, I calmly took out the lighter I had prepared from my pocket, and lit the kerosene lamp again.When all this was done, I looked at the time and felt a burst of joy in my heart, it was great, it was ten past five. Seeing that the time was up, I was ecstatic in my heart, and immediately picked up the bowl and started to sprinkle noodles.According to the requirements, the noodles were sprinkled from the shoes under the bed to the side of the road, and there should be no broken sections on the ground, and the noodles could not be returned to pick up the noodles after they were used up. When I sprinkled the noodles on the ground, I started to walk forward. Due to the strong wind, I could only bend down to sprinkle the flour to ensure the continuity and uniformity of the lines.When I left the door of the main room, I heard footsteps behind me. The sound of footsteps made me feel as if I had fallen into an ice cave, and I was terrified.It's fine if it's a zombie or something, but this invisible thing is the most difficult to deal with, so I scatter forward without looking back. I didn't know that I walked fast, and I walked even faster behind me. When I stretched out my hand to grab the noodles after spreading the flour in my hand, the footsteps had already come behind me.I just felt a chill on my left shoulder, as if a person's hand was on my shoulder.If it was before, I would have turned around a long time ago, but this time I didn't.Wu Zheng said that you must never turn your head back. Although I don't know what the consequences of turning back are, I know it must be very serious. After putting that arm on my shoulders, I felt a cool breeze blowing behind me, like an icy wind blowing in winter.Then I felt a cold wind blowing on my neck, and there was a sound of heavy breathing behind me.I continued to throw my face forward, wishing I could throw it outside the courtyard in one step.Unexpectedly, there seemed to be tens of thousands of catties of force on my shoulders, and I couldn't move, so I had to scatter forward little by little like dragging a boulder. Wu Zheng had repeatedly told me before, asking me to yell "please go this way" while walking, but now it seems that this is superfluous, people know how to go! After walking two meters, a slippery thing swept across my neck, as if I had been licked by something.I was very surprised, is this old lady going to eat me raw?At this moment, I really want to fight her, but I don't have any knives on my body, not to mention that I am barefoot now, it is impossible to fight.Thinking of this old lady being lonely for half her life, I endured it, and let her go for the last time. But after the tongue-like thing licked it, it started to lick around my neck, like eating a lollipop.I couldn't bear being licked, so I couldn't help reaching out to touch the back of my neck, but I didn't know that the tongue licked my fingers as soon as I reached out to my neck.I was so flustered that the noodle bowl in my other hand fell to the ground.I squatted down quickly and put the noodles back into the bowl, but the noodles were already less than half.Seeing that there are not many noodles in the bowl, and there are at least 20 meters to go, I feel a little panicked. I think I am willing to change even the 20-mile mountain road. Just when I was about to stand up, I felt my back sink, like a huge boulder was pressing on me, and then my arms were on my shoulders.I thought to myself, it’s broken, this old lady wants me to carry her on my back.But after thinking about it, just memorize it, so that you can run faster.When I took the bowl and continued to scatter forward, the old lady laughed loudly in my ears.The sound coagulates the nerves and dilates the pores. I ignored the laughter behind me, and continued to walk forward step by step. After walking another two meters, I heard the cry of a baby behind me.I thought to myself: Why is there a baby crying here? Is there something else behind me?I didn't know that the crying sound only lasted for more than ten seconds and then ended. I was curious, but the voice of an adult scolding the child sounded behind me. The voice was really real, as if it happened right next to my ear.Because of the loud crying of the child, I felt like caterpillars were crawling on my body. After the child's cries were over, there was a suona sound behind him, as if he was marrying a bride.There was joy inside, and there were sounds of celebration.After the sound ended, it was followed by the sound of the husband beating and scolding his wife. The sound was mournful and painful.The sound of the husband beating and scolding his wife had just passed away, and behind his ears came the cry of a woman. Listening to the content, it seemed that the husband had died.People say that the three major misfortunes in life are the loss of a father in youth, loss of a husband in middle age, and loss of son in old age. This old lady who lost her husband in middle age is indeed pitiful.But just as the misfortune of bereavement disappeared, the cry of "my son" came again, as if the son had also died. I heard the voice was extremely horrific, as if I was recalling the old man's entire life.Just when I was deeply saddened by the sad experience of the old man's life, the old lady's laughter sounded behind me, as if she was about to ascend to heaven.I came back to my senses and continued to walk forward, but because my body was too heavy, my steps were too difficult, and I walked very slowly.I just felt that the front of me was so hot that I sweated a lot, but the back seemed to be thrown into an ice cave. It really was a world of ice and fire! "hey-hey!" This inexplicable laughter is really terrifying! "Why don't you look back at me!" "Look back at me!" An extremely soft voice called from behind me. I knew it was some voice behind me trying to make me turn back, but I kept Wu Zheng's words in mind, and I was determined not to turn back. Everything went well, but when I was about to leave the gate of this yard, I heard a cat meowing.I am very sensitive to the meowing of cats. When I was in the tomb of a general in the Yuan Dynasty, it was a black cat that brought us bad luck.At that time, I was scared out of my wits, and immediately turned around, only to see that there was no cat in the yard, but an old lady about eighty years old was behind her back.The old lady was smiling, her eyes were open, and her jagged teeth were set askew in her mouth.What she was wearing was not the plain gray dress on the bed, but the old clothes specially worn by the dead. When I saw this scene, I was so scared that I dropped the bowl in my hand again.After the bowl was dropped, I immediately lay down on the ground and picked it up, but this time there were too many noodles spilled on the ground and the area was relatively large, so not much was recovered. The remaining 15 meters may not be enough.This bowl is a relatively large porcelain bowl, which is supposed to rival the washbasin, but after I fell it twice, it is running out.Fortunately, the porcelain bowl didn't break, otherwise I really don't know what to do.I used my arms to gather the flour together, and the flour was mixed with dirt, making the flour a mess. I concentrated my strength on my legs and sped it forward, but the flour still didn't seem to be enough.Now, I have broken the rule once, and the wind behind me started to blow wildly, I even heard the sound of branches snapping, and then it got dark behind me, and the kerosene lamp was blown out again.I became even more nervous, thinking that the old lady was going to strangle me. I didn't know that there was nothing wrong with me, but the laughter of the old lady behind me turned into crying.Her crying became louder and louder, and the sound was so painful that she couldn't live without it.After I heard the crying, I didn't care about the old lady, and continued to scatter forward. At this moment, I heard an explosion sound. From the direction of the sound, it should be that the light bulb at the gate exploded. I really regretted listening to Wu Zheng's words and gave him the dagger together with the shoes.If I had brought a dagger, in case of an accident, I would still be able to defend myself properly.But looking at the situation in front of me, I'm going to die today.Right now, all I can do is take the bowl and scatter it like plowed fields. I thought so, and did so.After going out the gate, I took the china bowl of flour and ran to the road like lightning.When I was running wildly, I was still holding a handful of flour in my hand. I sprinkled the flour for four or five meters, and sprinkled it on the road in two strokes. There was still half a bowl of flour in the porcelain bowl.When I got to the road, I threw the big bowl into the sky and ran to Wu Zheng's house. I heard the sound of the bowl falling from behind me. I had just run about 30 meters when I saw Wu Zheng and the village chief blocking the intersection and asked me how I was doing.After I saw Wu Zheng, I really wanted to beat him to death. Such a dangerous job was entrusted to me, which almost killed me.I said, "The kerosene lamp inside went out, and the light bulb on the top of the door blew up, and I don't know why." After hearing this, Wu Zheng was very surprised and asked, "Have you turned around?" I said, "Yes, there is a meowing sound behind me, I'm afraid of cheating." Wu Zhengqi said: "That's not meowing, it's the hallucination behind you. That old lady wanted to see what you looked like, so she tried to lure you back." As soon as I heard it, I immediately became paralyzed. How can I make this sound to attract me?I asked, "Before leading the old lady, there was a sound of footsteps approaching the house. What is that?" Wu Zheng sighed and said, "That's the guide in the underworld, probably the old lady's old man came to take him away."