Many of my friends don't know that the first time I worked for someone was in 1995, and the place where I worked was a creepy cemetery.Because at that time tombstones needed to be written by hand, but old calligraphers were unwilling to go, and those who were too young could not write well. This gave me, who joined the Provincial Calligraphers Association at the age of eighteen, room to display my talents.It costs 30 yuan to write a stele, and I couldn't help being excited when I thought of writing a few strokes and 30 yuan came. This was a great temptation for me at the time, so I agreed without hesitation.

Huai'an Cemetery is located in the mountains on the outskirts of Jixi City, and there is only one mountain road in front of the gate where cars can pass.Every time I go to work, I have to ride a bicycle through the urban area, the countryside in the suburbs and then up the mountain road.Apart from some small villages around, there are large areas of barren hills.The so-called cemetery is a large cemetery, with more than 800 tombstones standing on an empty hillside.There are a few bungalows on the side, which is the cemetery management office where I work.The three tile-roofed buildings of the management office are connected together, one is used as a warehouse for tombstones, one is used as a cemetery management office, and a small room is used for accommodation for night watchmen.

Although I work on the mountain, I never stay there overnight. Most of the time there are only two old men on duty in turn.After dark, the wind gusts in the mountains and there are so many cemeteries, there is a kind of indescribable horror.Except for work reasons, no one wants to spend the night on it. Just a few days after I went to work, I heard such a true story told to me by Meng Ge, who carved the stele, and the watchman, Old Wangtou. The cemetery is a public institution, and like the funeral parlor, it is under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affairs Bureau, and the salary income is very considerable, so even the old man who watches the cemetery at night has a lot of history.The two old men are on duty in turn. They only need to stay here for half a month a month, but their salary is more than 800 yuan.How many old men with such a fat job want to come.The previous watchman, Old Liu Tou, was the father of Director Liu of the Civil Affairs Bureau.He has been on the night shift at the cemetery for more than a year, and nothing has happened.He seldom goes out at night, watering the flowers, cooking something and then going to bed.During the day, I went back and forth in the cemetery to clean up.If there are people who go to the grave and go to the grave, they will join in the fun with the past.

The most lively scenes during the burial are those ceremonies arranged by Mr. Feng Shui.Mr. Feng Shui usually holds a compass, pinpoints formulas, recites mantras and measures, and then buries the urn in the tomb according to the calculated direction. There are also a series of props such as sorghum poles, ancient coins, and spirit chickens.Old Liu was very envious when he saw that Mr. Feng Shui was tossing around there for a short while and could get a big ticket of several hundred yuan. One day a family came up to the cemetery, and they came in a hurry without a Feng Shui master, so the burial position became a problem.When Old Liu saw that it was time to make money, he immediately told people that he was a Feng Shui master, and then took out the compass in the office drawer to do rituals for them.People saw him as a cemetery worker with a big beard, so naturally they didn't doubt his identity, and rewarded him five hundred yuan when he left.Happy old Liu, now he finally found a way to make money.

The good times didn't last long, and before he got the next job, something went wrong with his body.To put it mildly, the right side of his body started to develop acne, discoloration, pain and itching, but nothing happened on the left side.The place where the spots grow is the right side, the right face, right hand, right foot...the appearance is indescribably terrifying.I went to the hospital and used a lot of medicines to treat the skin disease, but not only could it not be cured, but it became more and more serious, and I couldn't go to work anymore.Director Liu was also very anxious, and led his father to transfer to the hospital several times, but there was still no result.Later, someone reminded me, if it is an evil disease, I should ask a gentleman to have a look.As soon as the family summed up, it made sense, so they found an "expert" to do the math. The "expert" said: "You are not sick, you have rushed to a ghost, and there are two ghosts, one big and one small." Old Liu thought about it, thought of the burial, and looked back to find out that he was careless that day The dead person who did things for others was a pregnant woman who died unexpectedly while giving birth.The old Liu Tou, who had never believed in evil, was now frightened, and asked someone to drive a carload of paper to the grave of the family to burn. While burning, he kept apologizing, with snot and tears.Strange to say, within a week, the skin that had been unsightly had returned to normal.

Old Liu Tou didn't dare to stay in the cemetery anymore. He left the cemetery after he recovered from his illness, and never did this job again. Later, when Director Liu came to inspect the cemetery, the old head Liu also came. He looked healthy and younger than he imagined.Old Liu Tou loves to play cards. When everyone was playing cards, Brother Meng asked him jokingly: "When will Master Liu come back to work?" This expression made me, who never believed in ghosts and gods, have to take this matter seriously. If this incident gave me, an unbelieving rookie, a head start, then the next incident would be enough to scare me to the point of numbness.

That was when I was working for three months.After a period of adaptation, I gradually got to know Brother Meng and Lao Wangtou very well.Autumn in the Northeast comes very early, and the weather is suddenly much colder.A fire was also lit in the hut, and Brother Meng and I moved our work indoors.The scene in the house is often like this: I took a brush and dipped in ink and wrote "Xian Kao Xian Concubine ×××" in official script according to the list. Brother Meng beat the chisel with a small hammer to write the tombstone I wrote. Carved out little by little, the sound of rhythmic percussion is accompanied by the splash of thin stone flowers.At this time, the old Wang Tou usually holds a small glass of white wine leisurely, watches us work, and chats a few jokes.

This old Wang Tou seems to be the only person in the cemetery who has no background. He is an ordinary rural old man. His only hobby is to have a few shochu when he has nothing to do.He was able to work in the cemetery for so long for no other reason than his boldness.The old Wangtou often walked around the cemetery in the dark and windy night, and once scared off the grave robbers.It's ridiculous to say that the so-called tomb robbery is just stealing small white marble stone lions on both sides of high-end cemeteries.Those things cost a few hundred dollars a pair, and they can be unloaded and taken home in a few minutes with a small hammer.But stealing this thing back would not be of much use, at most it would just be displayed at the door of one's own house to show off.In fact, the so-called tomb robbers are the villagers at the foot of the mountain.There are only two hills between the nearest village and the cemetery, and a bag of cigarettes is enough.But even so, it takes extraordinary courage to go to the cemetery alone in the middle of the night and shout to scare away the thieves.Therefore, the old Wangtou's bravery is deeply appreciated by the leaders above, which is why he can still keep his job.

On this day, as usual, the old Wang Tou sent away several officials from the cemetery - a director who was a little bit useless, a female accountant who talked about everything in the cemetery, and a male storekeeper who was only interested in women. After sending away two migrant workers—me and Brother Meng, he was the only one left in the mountains.He warmed up some lunch leftovers for himself, poured two taels of soju, and after eating and drinking, he was going to take a walk in the cemetery.Pushing open the door, a gust of cold air hit, and the old Wang shivered.Looking up at the sky, it turned out that there was a cold autumn rain.There was no way to go out, so I had to turn off the lights and go to bed.There is no one in the empty mountain, it is very quiet, only the slightest sound of autumn rain.Accompanied by the drunkenness, Old Wangtou gradually fell asleep.

"Dangdang, Dangdang..." The knock on the door was very clear, and it could even be said to be terrifying.Because the knock on the door was not in a densely populated community, but in a deserted mountain cemetery at night. The cold wind is howling, and the autumn rain is falling.The continuous barren hills and the pitch-black night made the hut of the cemetery management office look extraordinarily gloomy in this atmosphere.The old Wang felt completely drunk all of a sudden.In less than two years since I came to the cemetery, it was the first time someone called the door in the middle of the night.Many thoughts flashed through his mind: Is it a person or a ghost calling the door in the middle of the night?No, where does a ghost come from in this world, it must be a person; if it is a person, who is it?How courageous he is to knock on the door of the cemetery management office in the middle of the night without going home when it is raining outside!It can't be robbery, but what can I, an old man, have to rob?Met a murderous maniac?That would be miserable, no one would hear the cries for help even if they yelled out their throats.A cemetery is an excellent place to kill people.

Although he thought a lot in his heart, and was indeed a little scared, the old king was the old king, and even the leaders of the funeral management office were afraid of him three points by this stubborn old man.He straightened his back, grabbed a wooden stick by the bed—it was a weapon used for self-defense when he was on watch at night—and shouted loudly: "Who, who?" The people outside didn't seem to hear his yelling, and the knocking on the door continued rhythmically. The old Wang gradually approached the front door with his stick in his hand, still shouting loudly: "Who is it, who is knocking?" At this time, a deep male voice came from outside: "Master, I'm asking someone, does Zheng Xinyuan live here?" The old Wang didn't have time to think about it, maybe to give himself courage, he replied loudly: "There are no living people here, but there are more than 800 dead people here. Hurry up, don't stay here!" No one answered outside, the whole world was surprisingly quiet, only the rustling rain outside the window. "Did you hear that, go quickly, don't stay here!" Old Wangtou couldn't hear the response, so he had to shout again. Still no response. The old Wang held the wooden stick tightly with his head, and pressed his ears against the door. He couldn't hear any noise outside except the sound of rain, and he didn't know if the people outside had left or not. He didn't dare to take any action rashly. Five minutes, ten minutes... Time passed surprisingly slowly.Beads of sweat the size of soybeans oozed from Old Wang's bald forehead. It has been more than ten minutes, and the old Wang reckoned that the person should leave.Probably a drunk from a nearby village, drunk and lost his way, came here in the middle of the night to call the door, and now he may be scared away by himself.Thinking of this, the old Wangtou couldn't help laughing secretly at himself as a false alarm.Although he felt a little relieved, he still didn't dare to be negligent. He opened the door handle carefully, and turned half of his body to push the door open a small crack... He failed, the door was not pushed open, as if something was holding it from the outside.The old Wangtou secretly increased his strength, but it still didn't work, and the door was still not pushed open.The heart that just fell to the ground hung up again. The old Wangtou had no way to push the door open.Is that person still gone?The old Wang didn't dare to move his head, he held the wooden stick against the door, his heart was pounding, and he was thinking of a solution to the matter in front of him. Time passed surprisingly slowly, and the old Wangtou finally made up his mind after struggling with himself for more than ten minutes.He quietly touched the rear window with a wooden stick, made sure there was no one outside, opened the window, and jumped out nimbly.Outside the window, the autumn rain was slapping on his body coldly, and the bush branches at the window cut his arms, but he ignored these, stood on tiptoe and took a wooden stick along the base of the wall and walked around to the front. Turning the corner in front, he could see the front door, and he became more and more nervous at this moment, not daring to imagine what he would see in a while.The rain, sweat, and blood on the arms all mixed together, giving off an indescribable feeling.Old Wang gritted his teeth, finally poked half his head forward slowly, and the situation at the front door gradually came into his field of vision. There is nothing in front of the door... The next day, the rain did not stop. Although it was not heavy, it insisted on refusing to leave. Brother Meng and I couldn't ride to work, so we had to take a taxi to the cemetery.It's really not worth it. Jixi taxis used to cost five yuan to go to the city, but ten yuan to go to the cemetery.This rain cost us again.While we were complaining about the damn weather, we lifted a few newly released stone tablets to the iron shelf. Old Wang built a fire, put medicine on his elbow, and poured two taels of soju. While drinking, he watched us work as usual. "I saw a ghost last night." Old Wang Tou opened the conversation with a thick Shandong accent. He told us what happened last night.Because Lao Wangtou is old and has bad breath, every time he drinks a little wine, he can't stop nagging himself.In order to end his topic earlier, Brother Meng and I usually politely agree or simply ignore it.But today's story really attracted us. Although we didn't stop what we were doing, our thoughts have entered into the bizarre events that happened yesterday as he narrated. Old Wangtou talked about the voice outside the door: "The person outside the door asked me if Zheng Heyuan lived here." Brother Meng suddenly stopped the hammer and chisel in his hand, and I also put down the brush in my hand. The two of us looked at each other and said a name at the same time - Zheng Xinyuan. The old king was stunned.He didn't understand why Brother Meng and I called out this name in unison, and it was so accurate.Yes, the name that person asked last night was Zheng Xinyuan. "You, how do you know Zheng Xinyuan? Do you know him?" Old Wang's voice trembled a little. "I just wrote about his tombstone yesterday!" I said. "I just carved his stele yesterday!" Meng Ge said. Now the old Wangtou couldn't close his mouth, he widened his eyes and said, "You two boys, don't lie to me!" Brother Meng is very energetic, and he often helps the workers carry the steles to the cemetery after work, so he is very clear about the arrangement of the steles in the cemetery.He said to the old Wangtou: "I really didn't lie to you. If you don't believe me, you can go to the cemetery to see it. I helped the workers lift it up yesterday afternoon. It is the third one in the fourth row of the second district." The old Wangtou didn't say anything more, he opened an umbrella and went directly to the cemetery.According to Meng Ge's ranking, he found the stone tablet. It has been raining.Old Wangtou stood in front of Zheng Xinyuan's stele, not moving for a long time. Brother Meng and I stopped joking, we were all trying to explain this matter, but every result we thought of was immediately denied by ourselves.None of us dared to think about that place, thinking that way would make the whole thing scary. Terrible, terrible things are yet to come... As mentioned above, Lao Wangtou once single-handedly drove away several peasants who stole in the cemetery in the middle of the night. For this reason, Director Sun of the funeral management office drove to the cemetery to praise him.In fact, the praise was fake, and it was mainly to persuade this stubborn old man not to work so hard, and not to push forward when encountering similar things again.To be honest, in this barren mountain, no one would know if those thieves were unhappy and buried the old man. If someone died, then the leader of the funeral home would have something to do.Therefore, even though the small stone lions in the luxurious tomb lost one pair after another, the leaders still repeatedly emphasized that personal safety comes first. After the incident of beating Zheng Xinyuan, the old Wangtou's personality changed drastically. He didn't dare to go to watch the night, let alone call him a tomb robber.As soon as it gets dark, I close the door and close the house, drink a few drinks to make myself faint, and don't get up when I hear any strange noises.As for me and Brother Meng, every time we pass by the fourth row of the second district for work, we feel dizzy. I forgot the last name of the other old man who was on shift with Old Wangtou.I only remember that he was very introverted, rarely spoke, and very timid.The Zheng Xinyuan incident didn't scare Old Wangtou away, but it scared him so much that he quit his job.Not many days later, the funeral management office of the superior unit sent a new grave keeper—the old juncture.Old Guanguan is my favorite among the old men who play shifts. We all call him Teacher Guan.He is sixty-seven or eighteen years old, with a thin body and a gentle appearance, with a pair of old intellectual-style black-rimmed glasses on his face.In addition to the gray temples, more than half of her hair is black, full of vigor.His appearance didn't look like beating an old man, but more like an old professor full of talent and learning.He was also very polite and amiable when he spoke to us, full of scholarly wisdom and demeanor.In particular, he also likes calligraphy very much. With the same topic, the distance between us has been shortened more quickly.In a few days, we have become friends who forget the year. After chatting, I learned that Mr. Guan is the middle school teacher of Director Sun of the Funeral Management Office. He has just retired not long ago. Director Sun contacted him a few days ago and introduced him to this job.Teacher Guan teaches chemistry, a typical old intellectual, and also a typical atheist. That's why Director Sun feels that the teacher must be qualified for the job.Mr. Guan is a diligent person. He not only cooks clean and delicious food, but also has quick hands and feet. He often goes to the mountains to clean the cemetery. After a few months, he has organized the cemetery in an orderly manner.Mr. Guan has a very regular life and is proficient in health preservation. He gets up every morning when the rooster crows, goes to the cemetery first, and then comes back to cook after cleaning. In my own words, it's like exercising.In fact, it is not difficult to be a cemetery watchman. As long as you can cook and work hard, these officials who work during the day can eat comfortably, and the rest is just courageous and not afraid of ghosts.Teacher Guan often told us that the so-called ghosts and gods do not exist at all, but that people scare themselves. I was originally a materialist, but I was too young at that time, and when those two strange things happened, I surrendered to idealism.Fortunately, the relevant teachers gave me timely guidance, which enabled me to return to the atheism camp smoothly.Mr. Guan has a kind of persuasive power unique to the profession of people's teachers, and those "demons and ghosts" in front of him are not worth mentioning at all.I wanted to mention to him the strange things that happened before several times, but I finally felt too embarrassed to open my mouth, for fear that the old man would secretly laugh at my timidity and ignorance after I said it.Brother Meng was twenty-seven years old at the time, and the man with the axle was full of strength. Sometimes he could remove a three- to four-hundred-pound stele by himself without a hand, and he had a heroic spirit that was not afraid of anything.Although two strange things happened before, he never knew what it meant to be afraid. After a long time, those strange things disappeared without anyone mentioning them. The cemetery has indeed been quiet for a few days since then.The weather is getting colder, winter is here, and cemeteries, like many industries, have entered the off-season.In the past, several steles were produced a day, but now there are only one or two steles to be engraved a week.Brother Meng and I don't have to go to work all day.My pager is only used when we are needed at the cemetery.At that time, I was using a Casio digital pager, which was a very popular style at that time.At that time, I was still studying in a junior college on a part-time basis. I was very fulfilled while studying and having fun while working. In a blink of an eye, it was the twelfth lunar month again.The winter in Heilongjiang is already very cold, and the twelfth lunar month is even colder.The cemetery was built on the hillside, and there was not even a piece of wind-shielding forest around it. The north wind blew past, and it was indescribably biting.If the mountain is blocked by heavy snow, taxis will not be able to get up at all.During this time, not to mention us, even the errands from the cemetery didn't like to come.Some people reported sickness, and some said they had to ask for a long vacation. The director sometimes bought some rice noodles and vegetables and drove them to the mountains for daily needs.On this barren mountain, it looked even more deserted, and there was no one around all day long.Lao Wangtou and Mr. Guan changed their shifts from every two days to once a week, so as to save them from having to push their bicycles up the mountain in the cold weather. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Teacher Guan's class.A thin layer of snow fell while lighting the lamps.After dinner, the snow stopped, and Teacher Guan went out to watch the night as usual. It's not too cold outside, no wind.When the snow stopped, the half moon hung high in the sky.The green hills on all sides were covered with a layer of white coat by thin snow.The green pines on the distant mountains stand proudly through this coat.scenery is beautiful.The surroundings are extremely quiet, occasionally only the chirping of birds and beasts can be heard in the distance.Teacher Guan took a wooden stick as a walking stick, put on a cotton coat and walked out of the hut.Infected by the beautiful scenery, the spirit is particularly refreshing.Going straight forward, when we reached the open space in front of the cemetery gate, Mr. Guan was stunned by the sight in front of him... On both sides of the gate of the cemetery, there are two huge stone lions guarding the gate, with a dignified look.There is a small open space in front of it, the size of two or three basketball courts, which is usually used to park the vehicles for going to the grave and burying it. At this time, it has been covered with thin snow, and it is white.What makes Teacher Guan so horrifying? Footprints, two footprints, were clearly printed in the middle of the clearing. Who has been up the mountain?How could someone walk to the gate of the cemetery at this time, leaving only footprints but not seeing the person? These are not terrible problems.The most frightening thing is that there are two footprints left in the middle of the snow, not two rows of footprints. The two footprints were clearly imprinted in the snow, and the front, back, left, and right were all white, without any traces.Could it be that this person fell from the sky and then flew into the sky? Teacher Guan didn't move forward, and stopped about three or four meters away from the footprints.The surroundings were extremely quiet, as if he was the only one left in the world, and he could only hear his heavy breathing.Although he was surprised, he didn't seem very panicked.The world view he has maintained all his life cannot be changed in this short half minute.He made rational judgments and analyzes for these footprints time and time again. The footprints are very small, obviously left by a pair of women's shoes, and judging from the small and slender heels, they are still high-heeled shoes. But it was obvious that Xinxue had just lived in the surrounding area, and the quilt was as neat as a satin quilt, without any other traces.No matter how far this woman jumps, it is impossible to fly away from the sky after stepping on this pair of footprints.There are no trees above the clearing, and there are not even any plants around it. The terrain is flat.It is also impossible for someone to find a tree and vine to swing around like Tarzan the ape. After making these judgments, Teacher Guan was also a little sweaty. "Don't worry, could this be my illusion, people's eyes are easy to blur when they get older." Thinking of this, Teacher Guan took a few steps closer to the footprints. When Mr. Guan was only two meters away from those footprints, he never dared to move forward again.The moonlight was bright, although it was only half moonlight, but the snow was reflected very white and clear.The footprints left by the pair of women's shoes are clearly in front of my eyes.This is definitely not an illusion. In the clear night, Teacher Guan suddenly felt a chill all over his body. This is impossible, it does not conform to common sense, and it does not conform to what Mr. Guan has seen and learned all his life.He took a deep breath, and didn't dare to approach the pair of footprints again, but circled around the pair of footprints twice with a radius of two meters. Teacher Guan once again saw the pair of footprints clearly from various angles, yes, it was a pair of women's high heels... Teacher Guan left quickly and returned to the hut of the management office.He still didn't believe this fact, and he wanted to go back to the house to get the lamp.There is a multi-purpose battery lamp beside the kang for the watchmen to rest.This kind of light is portable, and there is a small battery inside, which weighs about half a catty to one catty. There are several light sources that can be used on it, and there is a very bright searchlight directly in front.Although this thing is big and bulky, it has the advantages of sufficient power, high brightness, and long standby time. It can handle it even if the cemetery is turned off overnight. Most night watchmen don't use lights, just like I never use a flashlight.My reason is that if you have a flashlight, you can't see the opponent hidden in the dark, and the opponent can easily figure out your position.Of course, there is no basis for this reason, just personal preference.I think the old men don't like to carry the lamp because the thing is too heavy and inconvenient.But now, Teacher Guan really needs it to help prove his worldview. Teacher Guan walked out of the room quickly with the lamp in hand, and rushed straight there according to the route he had just left.The light source in front of the multi-purpose lamp is really powerful, and it can form a long beam of light in this clear night.Every time it shakes up, the beam of light will go straight to Xiaohan.The long beam of light pointed to the open space with footprints in the middle, and the circles of footprints around it were left by Mr. Guan when he observed the footprints of the woman.You can see where there are footprints in the middle of the clearing, but nothing. Teacher Guan was stunned.The outside world is so quiet.Bright moonlight, peaceful earth.But he couldn't stop the churning in his heart, the blood kept roaring in his veins, and rushed straight to his brain, causing him to feel dizzy for a while. Could it be that a female ghost has just arrived? Teacher Xiaguan was quite frightened.He never dared to step into the circle he drew with his footsteps.Unexpectedly, such a strange thing would happen on such a clear night with a bright moon in the sky.With mixed feelings, he didn't know how he got back to the hut, and his mind was full of the pair of footprints. After taking two Jiuxin Pills, Teacher Guan still couldn't fall asleep. night, quiet.I don't know what animal made a dull sound in the distance, piercing the night sky, but the sound was too far away and had already changed its original appearance.There is also the sound of running water, as if there are people walking back and forth.Teacher Guan didn't care about these sounds anymore, just put the wooden stick and battery light beside him, covered with a quilt and remained still.Sometimes people are like this, the only thing they can do with things that they can't control or escape is to stay the same.To put it nicely, it's called Yijing braking, but to put it bluntly, "Man is the knife, I'm the fish", what else is there to move. On the night of Laba, the lights in the city are brightly lit. Mr. Guan is alone in this isolated mountain, suffering from the fear that permeates his whole body...