Chapter 4 Chapter Four: Killing Ghosts and Persuading Ghosts

We walked through the gap between the narrow houses in the village, walked along the old river for a while, crossed several fields and crossed a bare hill, and came to Huaghou Nest.At this time, there are already thousands of lights, and the moon is shining brightly.The village was already far behind, and the only thing that could be clearly heard was the barking of a dog, and besides that, the grasshoppers who didn't know where they were hiding were making noise.The hooting of the owl, which was heard clearly at first, is now inaudible. Grandpa counted and said, "Everyone, find a place to hide, the Ruoji ghost is about to come out!"

When everyone heard this, they hurried to find a place to hide.My grandfather, the horse butcher and I hid behind the original big rock, holding our breath.Some of the others hid behind rocks, and some hid behind big trees, not daring to make a sound. I carefully inspected the terrain of Hua Haunted Nest.Under the quiet movement of the moon, Huaghou's Nest located in the mountain depression looks very strange.Many bun-like small tombs were crowded together, and the weeds on the tombs swayed in the breeze, as if the people in the tombs were writhing uncomfortably because of the overcrowding.The trees on the mountain rustled, as if to appease them not to move.Only one piece of floating cloud can be seen where the moon passes, and the floating cloud moves slowly, as if the wind on the ground also blows them.The red cloth strips tied around his hands moved around as if they were alive, making the back of his hands itchy.

Suddenly a flame as small as a firefly rose slowly on a small grave, glowing red.The flame gradually grew larger, and the color began to change, from red to dark red, and then to white, and then a strange blue light radiated around the white.Then, a flame the size of a firefly appeared in another part of the tomb, and the change was the same as the previous one.The two flames gradually approached each other, one with the wind, which is not surprising, but the other against the wind, as if pushed by a powerful force. I looked at my grandfather in fear. His face was resolute, and his eyes were fixed on the flames on the grave, like an arrow waiting to be fired.But the horse butcher's hands were already shaking violently, he didn't know whether it was because of fear or hatred, and he was just waiting for Grandpa's order.I don't know about the others.

At this time, a girl's voice appeared: "Don't you have to wait seven days to come back?" The male voice replied: "The horse butcher seems to have discovered something, and his behavior is not the same as before. He may have discovered my plan, so I came early." At the same time as the words were spoken, the two flames changed into the appearance of a boy and a girl respectively.The boy's face was facing me, so I could see his face clearly.His shoulder-length blond hair fluttered in the breeze.The eyebrows are short and thick, as if roughly drawn with a crayon.His face was pale, but his lips were vermilion. He was wearing an overly thick red coat that covered his knees, and was hidden in the grass below his knees.The whole person looks like a corpse placed in a coffin after death, which is really scary.

The little girl turned her back to me, and only saw a pair of upright goat pigtails, wearing a gray and white dress.But the ears are pointed, like the ears of a bat. At this time, grandpa yelled a mantra: "Call up the jade girl, it's bad luck to take it in!" He threw out the yellow paper with the talisman on it and the wine on it.The yellow paper shot straight at the little boy like an arrow off the string.Immediately, people hiding in various dark places rushed out and held the little boy down.Seeing that the situation was not good, the little girl immediately transformed into a blazing fire.The few people who threw themselves on the little girl grinned and shouted mother.The little boy was restrained by his grandfather's yellow paper talisman, and he couldn't change. He just howled "Aww", like a pig that was about to be slaughtered during the Chinese New Year.

"Hit it on the head!" Grandpa yelled. "You can't catch it, how can you beat it!" a man complained.Seven or eight people held down the little boy, but the little boy kept struggling with great strength. Two people were kicked down by him, and the others were also covered in sweat. "You can't subdue it unless you hit it on the head!" Grandpa shouted harshly. Several people quickly raised their hoes and smashed them on the little boy's head. A few drops of blood splashed on my body. It felt very hot, like freshly boiled water, with a fishy smell.Grandpa stretched out his index and middle fingers to press the yellow paper amulet stuck on the little boy's forehead, not daring to let go for a moment.I stood by the side in a daze, its sound like a pig whining made me feel uncomfortable.

At this moment, the surroundings became brighter, gradually becoming like daylight.We were all around the little boy not paying attention to this.The little boy finally struggled a few times and stopped moving.We breathed a sigh of relief and were about to sit down when we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by blue flames.More than a dozen will-o'-the-wisps flickered, surrounding us in the middle.We were all petrified, only Grandpa said in time: "Everyone show the red cloth strip. There is a woman's menstrual blood on it, to avoid evil spirits." Everyone immediately rolled up their sleeves and revealed the red cloth strips on their wrists.Sure enough, the will-o'-the-wisps no longer approached us, but they refused to leave either.They are here to save their companions, but they can't do anything about the red cloth strips in our hands.We are deadlocked like this.The face of the horse butcher was distorted with fright, and it was terrifying under the blue firelight. I took one look and dared not look again, as if he was the terrible ghost.

Grandpa lowered his voice and spoke to those will-o'-the-wisps: "Everyone, we have nothing to do. The horse butcher's wife has given birth to several babies, but she didn't keep a single child. If this continues, his wife's mood and body will not be able to bear it." of." Those will-o'-the-wisps swayed from side to side in the wind, as if they were listening to grandpa reasoning with them. Grandpa then said kindly: "Think about it, how much pain your death has caused your parents. Which parent doesn't love their children? They don't want to see your unexpected death."

At this time, the wind made a strange cry, which sounded like the cry of a newborn baby, but the sound was very low.The horse butcher quietly said to the other stunned men: "It seems that they really listen to people's persuasion." But they still didn't leave, and we didn't dare to make big moves. We were careful when we moved our feet when our feet were sore, for fear of disturbing them. Grandpa then patiently said in the gentle and irresistible voice of an elder as he usually taught me: "I know that no one of you here will burn paper, burn incense and set off firecrackers, but it's not that your parents don't miss you, they just feel more distressed when they see you." It's not that I don't want to see you, but I can't bear to see you. But I promise you, I will ask your parents to visit you often in the future, cut weeds for your graves, place fruits in front of your graves, and order Serve the incense. Okay?"

Grandpa looked around and said in an understanding tone: "Look, there are weeds everywhere here, and there are no sacrifices. No wonder you are making trouble. But will someone come because you hurt people? They will only hate you more. You go back Well, I promise to all the uncles and uncles here that there will be no weeds here tomorrow, and sacrifices will be sent for you to enjoy." Grandpa was full of emotion, sighed from time to time, and what he said was reasonable and worrying.