Chapter 8 Chapter 8 The Murderer

Desperately, I climbed up to the cemetery and found the stone tablet I wanted to describe according to the list.Brother Meng and the director were chatting not far in front, and when they saw me up there, they waved at me as a greeting.I smiled at them too, and started my work. After writing a monument, my eyes were a little blurry, so I stood up and looked into the distance.Just after Qingming, there are still a lot of flowers and food left in the cemetery.Not many people came to visit the grave today, and there were only two people in the huge cemetery: one was an old man, standing in front of a tomb next to me; the other was a woman, standing three or four rows behind me.Although it was not close to me, I recognized it at a glance. It was Zhang Shuqing, the wife of Zheng Xinyuan who was hit and killed by a car.

The old man next to me turned his head to look at me and gave me a friendly smile.It was a very kind face, different from Mr. Guan's thin figure, this old man was a bit fat, but the wrinkles on his face told me that he was very old, probably about seventy years old. "Young man, you are describing the monument. Did you write all the monuments here?" I also smiled at the old man, "Yes, someone else wrote it before, but now I am the only one." "Well, it's well written. The clerical script has the artistic conception of the Han stele, and it seems that I have practiced it for a long time." It seems that the old man also likes calligraphy, and I immediately became interested.

"Yes, it's been a few years. I used to practice "Zhang Qian" and "Yi Ying" a lot." I replied. The old man pointed to the stele in front of him, "What if the names or dates of birth and death are wrongly written?" Oh, I laughed, "You really asked, we have indeed encountered this kind of situation. If it's just a wrong writing, it's okay, just wipe it off with a rag dampened with water. If the engraving is also wrong, it's okay It's more troublesome." "Oh, what should we do?" The old man was very interested. I pointed to Brother Meng in the distance: "That's his specialty. I try to correct the wrong characters with strokes, and then he chisels them into correct characters, and then I paint them with paint. If the strokes are really difficult to repair, we will find a worker to paint it with white cement and re-carve it." Brother Meng found out that I was pointing at him and made a face at me.

Thoughtful, the old man muttered in a low voice: "Well, if the date is really engraved wrongly, the dead will not be at peace." He lowered his head and straightened the bouquet placed in front of the tomb. During the conversation with the old man, I unconsciously looked backwards at Zhang Shuqing.There was little blood on her face, and her thin body stood upright in the cemetery, three parts like a human, and seven parts like a ghost.Why didn't she come to Qingming yesterday?Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in my mind, and I had a new idea.From the dark and windy intersection of Chaoyang Village to the empty cemetery, Zhang Shuqing was alone every time she appeared. Could she be a ghost?Can others see her?I heard that only ghosts can see other ghosts, and ordinary people can't see them with their naked eyes.It's not like I, a new ghost, can see her.Thinking of this, I immediately asked the old man beside me for confirmation: "Grandpa, how is your eyesight?"

The old man smiled and said, "Well, regardless of my age, my eyes are not bad." "Then can you see that person in the back?" I curled my lips and pointed the direction of Zhang Shuqing to the old man with my eyes. He followed my movements and looked back, "Where is someone?" I felt cold, Zhang Shuqing was indeed a ghost, and only I could see her. The old man went on to say: "Oh, do you mean the woman behind the rows of steles?" It turned out that he didn't see the woman in the distance just now because there were rows of steles in the middle. One of my hearts finally fell to the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" The old man was a little surprised by my behavior. "Oh, it's nothing. I just think that woman is a bit strange, and she is often there alone." I smiled, a little unnaturally. I continued to trace my stele, and the old man stood behind me watching with great interest. "Do you think there are ghosts in this world?" I asked.I don't know why, although we met for the first time, we felt like old friends at first sight. "Hehe, you young people should know this best. If you believe it, you have it. If you don't believe it, you don't have it." The old man smiled gently, but it seemed that there were many mysteries hidden in his words.

I've always felt that people of his age have seen all the vicissitudes, and there's nothing they don't know.And this old man looks very knowledgeable, maybe he really is an old professor.I followed his words and continued to ask: "After I worked in the cemetery, I often encountered some strange things. Do you think it has something to do with ghosts?" "Hehe, it's hard to say, it depends on what's going on. But the so-called supernatural events scare me more." "What does that ghost look like?" I asked tentatively. "Well, I think the so-called ghost is also a kind of energy. In fact, to put it bluntly, it is just a person in another state. 'Wuji produces Taiji, Taiji produces Liangyi'. Thousands of things in this world are relative. Both have two sides. Where there is life, there is death, where there is heaven, there is earth, where there is male, there is female, and some people can also think that there are ghosts.”

What he said made sense and sounded simple.Yu Gaoren couldn't miss it, so I continued to ask: "Then do you know that ghosts can live under the sun? In other words, can ghosts live in this world like people?" He thought for a while before saying: "Under normal circumstances, it is not possible. Because ghosts and people are like two channels on a radio, they are not on the same frequency at all. Even if they are in the same place, there is no difference between them. It cannot be seen. Unless this ghost wants to participate in the affairs of the world because of some mortal ties, then he may emit a strong energy to let others feel it. However, it is also difficult for everyone to see it together. , at most one or a few.”

"Ah!" If what the old man said is true, then how could I be a ghost?Everyone can still see me.Could it be, am I not a ghost? "Is there such a ghost, the kind that everyone can see?" I asked a heavy question. "Well, there are no real ghosts. Unless it's..." "Unless what?" I was very curious. "Hehe, little brother, let's communicate when we have time. I still have something to do, so I'm going back first." The old man seemed to have remembered something, turned around and walked quickly outside the cemetery. "Old man, let's go after talking. Unless what is it?"

"Next time, we will meet later." The old man said as he walked, and went down to the cemetery in a blink of an eye. I watched him go away, feeling lost, and still recalling what he said in my mind. After finishing my work, I looked back.That Zhang Shuqing had left at some point.The entire cemetery was empty.I couldn't help shivering when the cool wind blew, I collected my tools and walked out of the cemetery quickly. Brother Meng and the director were still chatting at the door, and I wondered why they had been chatting for so long. "There are really few people who came to visit the grave this afternoon, just two people. Hehe." I just said hello and wanted to go back to the house to put the tools.

"Two people? The director and I have been at the gate, and we only saw one person?" Brother Meng was a little puzzled by my words. "Alone?" I was startled. Could it be that Zhang Shuqing is still a ghost, only me and the old man can see it? I asked eagerly, "Don't you just see that old man?" "Old man? There is no such thing as an old man. There is only one woman." The two of them said together. I felt a bone-piercing coldness.But after thinking about it again, it’s not surprising, am I also a ghost?It's a pity that the old man didn't tell me what kind of ghost I am that everyone can see. "Where did these two people come from?" The director and Brother Meng are very sensitive to such strange things now, and asked me together. I blinked mischievously: "Hehe, I'm human too, plus me, aren't there only two people in the cemetery this afternoon?" Brother Meng was annoyed by me, "This Taozi, I can't see that honesty can play this kind of trick." I opened the door to enter the room, and almost ran into Teacher Guan who was walking out quickly.As a pair of faces, we were taken aback by each other's defenselessness.Teacher Guan's face was pale, and his expression was very strange. "Why are you in such a hurry?" I watched his hurried steps, as if something terrible had just happened. He didn't seem to hear me, and trotted all the way to Director Sun's Nissan.Director Sun also followed, and the two hurriedly got into the car and drove away. What's wrong?I have never seen Teacher Guan with such an expression. Zhang Da came out of the room.The director, me, and brother Meng surrounded us together.Now only he knows what happened in the house just now.All of us were stunned by his words: "Ms. Guan answered a phone call just now, saying that his son died at home." "Ah!" We were surprised again. Mr. Guan has a son and a daughter under his knees.The son has been influenced by his father since he was a child, and his academic performance has always been good. He was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology with excellent results in the college entrance examination.Later, he studied for a master's degree and a doctor's degree in succession. At the age of 30, he served as the chief engineer of a high-tech company.The young and promising son has always been Teacher Guan's greatest pride.Just now my daughter-in-law called and said that her son died suddenly at home. It was really a wave of unrest. I just witnessed the death of Accountant Xu last night, and today I heard the sad news of my son.In Director Sun's car, Teacher Guan felt the world spinning. Teacher Guan breathed a sigh of relief and said to the director: "Director Sun, thank you for caring about me for so long. You send me to the long-distance bus station, and I will take a bus to Harbin." The director shook his head: "Teacher, I'm really worried, I'll drive you there." "How can this be!" From Jixi to Harbin, it takes five or six hours by car at the fastest, and ten hours by train. It stands to reason that Director Sun doesn't have to take him that far.Teacher Guan was so moved that he didn't know what to say. "One family doesn't speak two languages, you are my teacher." Director Sun accelerated the car and drove directly onto the national road from Jixi to Harbin. There was a long siren from the cemetery, and everyone was shocked.It wasn't the Ivek that came back this morning, but the Duke of Captain Chen of the criminal police team.The cemetery has been really noisy these past few days. The few of us looked at each other and shook our heads, helpless. Captain Chen and the other three policemen got out of the car, and the director went up to meet him and said, "Welcome, Captain Chen. Is there any clue to the case?" Captain Chen had a smile on his face, as if he had already made up his mind, "Well, it's not too much. Let's investigate again." As he entered the room, he whispered to the director: "We want to talk to Zhang Da again." "Of course, of course." Investigating Zhang Da was exactly what he wanted, and the director showed a smile that was hard for others to detect. "Everyone come out, let's give the office to Captain Chen and the others." The director called everyone to stand outside for a while, "Zhang Da, go and cooperate with Captain Chen and the others to conduct an investigation." Zhang Da's sweat was about to come down, so he bit the bullet and entered the room.The four policemen sat in a semicircle, and the middle seat was given to Zhang Da. "Don't be nervous Zhang Da, we're just looking for you to find out more about the situation." Captain Chen was quite amiable. Zhang Da didn't feel relaxed at all, but felt more pressure on the contrary. "Did you come to the cemetery last night?" Zhang Da didn't dare to speak casually anymore, he was wondering if Captain Chen and the others had some evidence, "Well... yes... I have been here." "What are you doing here?" Captain Chen's voice gradually became severe. Zhang Da's forehead was covered with cold sweat: "I, I forgot something at work, come back and get it." "Come back to get it? Then what are you doing over there in the pine forest?" "I heard movement over there, so I went to have a look, but I didn't see anything, so I went back." Captain Chen smiled: "Zhang Da, you have a criminal record, do you want to go in again?" Zhang Da's whole body was almost drenched: "It's really not me, it's really not me." "It's not you. Well, then tell me what happened." Captain Chen stared at him like a hunter staring at his prey. Zhang Da saw that he would be in more trouble if he didn’t tell the truth, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, “Captain Chen, let me explain. I went to Xiaoshulin yesterday to make an appointment with Accountant Xu…” He consigned all the scandals between himself and Accountant Xu out.Captain Chen and several others kept nodding.In the end, Captain Chen sent a copy of the transcript to Zhang Da: "This is what you explained just now. Check to see if it is correct. If there is no problem, sign it." Zhang Da signed it with a dejected expression on his face. Captain Chen patted him on the shoulder, "Well, today's performance is not bad. We finally understand some of the doubts we found earlier. We checked your fingerprints and footprints left at the scene, but we didn't think clearly about your motive. Now finally The truth is out." Zhang Da looked confused: "Captain Chen, what do you mean? Who killed Accountant Xu?" Captain Chen said: "The murderer who killed Accountant Xu was none other than herself!" Zhang Da was surprised: "Why?" Captain Chen said: "We found through the autopsy that the cause of her sudden death was excessive fright. The imprint you left was obviously after her death. Through a lot of investigations, we found that accountant Xu often had hallucinations recently. Some symptoms of splitting. She was alone in the pine forest last night, and the environment was very easy to induce her hallucinations. That is to say, she was most likely scared to death by herself." Zhang Da was dumbfounded, but finally heaved a sigh of relief, he could be considered to have escaped the involvement of this. "Let's go first, but we still need to be more careful in terms of personal style in the future." After speaking, Captain Chen led the team members to get up and leave. Unexpectedly, the cause of Xu Accountant's death finally came to such a conclusion-natural death.This is obviously not very fair to her.But from a scientific point of view, this is the only answer that can be justified. What a terrible two days.During these two days, I knew that I had become a ghost, was cheated out of 200 yuan by a young lady, and also killed two people—accountant Xu and the son of Mr. Guan.It's worse than everything that's happened to me in my nineteen years.When I got home from get off work, I threw myself on the bed, trying to sleep and forget everything. But I'm completely sleepless.Turning on the light, I took out the photo I took with Xiao Jing in the park that day.In the photo, she is smiling, as if she is snuggled up next to someone.But there was no one next to her, it was empty.I dug out the "Border Town Newspaper" again, who gave it to me?What does Zheng Xinyuan have to do with me?I glued the photos and newspapers to the wall and stared at them with my arms under my head. Still no idea at all.Mr. Guan and I suspected that Accountant Xu was a ghost, but in the end he killed him.I suspected that Xiaojing was a ghost, but it turned out that he was fine.It was suspected that Zhang Shuqing was a ghost, but she turned out to be an ordinary housewife.But I found out that I was a ghost.Are things in this world so unbelievable?And the old man today, why is he a ghost?What he said meant so much to me.He told me what a ghost is and what the habits of a ghost are. Unfortunately, in the end, I still couldn't know what a ghost like myself that can live in the crowd is called.I can't wait to find that old man quickly and ask the answer I want.Even if he is really a ghost. A person's life is long and long, but it is really too short to say short.I believe that everyone who has a terminal illness has this kind of experience, and finally realizes that the most terrible thing is not death, but that many things that should be done are not done, and those who should be loved are not loved.Although I don't know when I will leave this world suddenly, I guess that day is not far away.A ghost should have no power to stay in the world for many days.If ghosts can survive in the world for a long time like humans, wouldn't the world around us be full of ghosts wandering around the world?What a terrible thing that was, I dare not imagine. In the past few days, my parents have noticed my changes-the children have become more sensible, rushing to do everything, and will take time to go for a walk with them.They asked me why, I just laughed and didn't answer. In fact, my idea is very simple, that is, try to give them some warmth in the few days. I heard that Yu Jingjing was admitted to a junior college.It turns out that the city medical school has been upgraded, and now it can not only recruit technical secondary school students, but also newly added junior college classes.Jingjing is the first batch of students admitted to the junior college class.This is undoubtedly good news.She even called me specifically for this.I was also happy for her, and clamored for her to treat her another day, but she smiled and said no problem. On the cemetery side, Old Wangtou is always on duty.Teacher Guan has not come back, and it has been a few days since I went to Harbin.Haven't heard anything about him, and don't know how things are going.We are all a little worried for him, can such an older person bear such a heavy blow?Director Sun didn't come back either, it was better to have him with Mr. Guan.The cemetery held a memorial service for Accountant Xu, and the funeral management office specially ordered a pair of wreaths for her. The elegiac couplet read: "White horses and plain cars make melancholy dream, blue sky and blue sea melancholy call back my soul."Her husband, whose eyes were red from crying, held the hands of the director and Zhang Da, thanking them for taking care of his wife at work.Little did he know that these two people did take care of his wife all the year round, and also put on a big cuckold hat for him.Everyone chose a good tomb for Accountant Xu and chose a date for burial.That's the end of the matter. Speaking of this day, Brother Meng called me and said that there was work at the cemetery.The part-time junior college I am studying has already started, and I have classes three days a week, and today is the day of classes.I had to ask the school for leave to go to work in the cemetery. I was filled with emotion when I saw the familiar cemetery.There are hundreds of ghosts buried here, each with their own stories, each with their own grievances, it is normal for one and a half to come out and make trouble, isn't it? When I opened the door of the management office and saw a person in the room, I was immediately frightened into a cold sweat. who?It was the old man I met in the cemetery last time. In broad daylight, a ghost actually ran to the management office, it must be too courageous.I was thinking about what to do when the director said, "Taozi, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Sun. Didn't Mr. Guan have something at home recently? He's here to take the place first. This is Taozi, from our cemetery. The stele writer." Mr. Sun still smiled and said, "We've known each other for a long time, haha." I was so surprised that I couldn't speak. It seemed that everyone in the room could see him.What exactly is going on?Although I was confused, I could only swallow my saliva and say in shock: "Hello." As the weather got warmer, Brother Meng and I moved the place where we wrote inscriptions to the outside, and built a shed on the west side of the cemetery management office to keep out the wind and rain.Under the shed, two iron frames were welded with steel bars as workbenches.There are quite a lot of monuments to be written today. The two of us carried out four or five yuan of stone monuments weighing more than three hundred catties in one go.Meng Geli was as big as a bull, so he didn't grow angry and his face didn't change, but I was already sweating profusely.He laughed at the side that I was a flower in the greenhouse, and I didn't argue with him, panting heavily. The director hurriedly drove the pickup truck to the management office for a meeting.Mr. Sun began to clean the office. Zhang Da was still holding the pornographic novel, but he never took his eyes off Mr. Sun for a moment.After a while, he finally couldn't help but asked, "Sun, Mr. Sun, I want to ask you something." Mr. Sun stopped what he was doing and looked at him gently: "What is it, tell me." "A few days ago, a family in Hongxing Township built a new house, and a pile of sand fell in the middle of the road. I couldn't drive through, so I went to the work shed to make noise and dig the sand for a long time. The person in the work shed is you, right? "After saying these words, Zhang Da himself felt cold all over his body.Since he came this morning, he has recognized the old man.Under the faint light, his expression left a deep impression on people. "That's right, it's me." To Zhang Da's surprise, Mr. Sun answered very happily and naturally. Zhang Da hesitated and didn't know how to express: "Then you, how did you go there? Is that the house built by your family?" Mr. Sun smiled: "Of course not. I rushed there to save you." Zhang Da was even more confused: "Save me? Why?" "Accountant Xu is doomed to have such a catastrophe, so it is better not to involve other people. There is a saying in Buddhism: 'Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda'. Although I am not a Buddhist, I am dedicated to goodness and can help you Just give me a hand." Zhang Da suddenly realized that if he had gone to the pine forest on time that day, he might be the one who was scared to death.It was someone who saved his life.But is there really such an expert in the world?At that time, I even kicked over someone's table and almost hit the old man.Feeling very ashamed when he thought of these things, he plopped and knelt down in front of Mr. Sun: "Mr. Sun, thank you for saving your life. Your lord has a lot. It was my fault that day, and Zhang Da will compensate you here." The old man hurriedly clasped his hands together: "You're welcome, this is nothing." Looking at each other, Zhang Da was startled again, this Mr. Sun looked so much like someone, so familiar but couldn't remember where he saw him.It's full of mystery. My "flower in the greenhouse" was sitting by the door panting, and Mr. Sun was already sitting beside me with a smile, "Young man, I am right, we will meet again soon." Is this the grave guard who came to replace Mr. Guan?Why is his smile so familiar today, so much like a person.Who on earth is it?I used my brain to search for someone with the same friendly smile, and it dawned on me in a moment.So much alike, so much alike, his smile is so much like Director Sun. The director calls him Mr. Sun, and his surname is also Sun?Then he must be—the director's father? "Hehe, you guessed it right, I am Director Sun's father." Mr. Sun said casually. "What?" Could it be that the old man in front of me can read minds and guess what I'm thinking? He seemed to see my doubts, "Taozi, don't be surprised, I read it from your eyes." I stared straight at Mr. Sun, as if I was afraid that he would run away. "Mr. Sun, mind if I ask you some questions?" "But it doesn't matter." I whispered: "What did you come to the cemetery that day? How did you get here and how did you get away?" "Hehe, your question is really difficult, but I can answer it too, you have to keep it a secret." Mr. Sun made a mysterious expression. "Yeah." I nodded.There is a natural sincerity in my expression. "Recently, Mr. Guan has been hit by a bit of a blow and needs to rest for a while. Your Director Sun asked me to take his place for a few days. Before I came, I heard that there were many strange things happening in the cemetery. So I picked a time to go up the mountain to see the terrain before I officially went to work. In order not to interfere with your work, I entered and exited through the back door." "Oh." The truth came out, and my heart finally fell to the ground.It turned out that Mr. Sun came in and out through the back door, no wonder the director and Brother Meng didn't notice him. "Can you tell me the question I asked you that day?" I asked impatiently. "What did you ask that day? When you get older, your brain is not very useful, and you can't remember things." "Oh, I want to ask you, are there any ghosts that can live in the human world? That is, they can live normally like humans, and everyone can see his existence?" Mr. Sun didn't find it strange at all about my question.He thought for a while and replied: "Accordingly, this kind of situation is not common, otherwise the people around us may be ghosts, wouldn't the world be too scary? However, there are exceptions." "What special case?" I listened with my eyes wide open, for fear of missing any key details. "Well, there is an intermediate creature that is neither human nor ghost. We usually call them the living dead." "Living dead?" I broke out in a cold sweat when I heard that, the name alone was scary enough. "Can you explain it to me carefully?" I suddenly remembered that Wang Chongyang, the leader of the Quanzhen sect, had a nickname called the living dead. Is there any similarity with this living dead? "The living dead is a state between humans and ghosts in the legend. The human body has died, but due to some special circumstances at the time of death, it has not completely turned into a ghost. This kind of living dead can often Exist in the world for a period of time, as short as a few days, as long as a year." "How do you know this?" I wondered.Judging from Mr. Sun's conversation, he should have a deep understanding of supernatural aspects. "Well, I also heard it from others. It's just a folk rumor. I can't confirm its authenticity. Since you asked, I'll just tell it as a story. Don't say I'm a feudal superstition." I thought for a while: "That means that this kind of living dead may display the characteristics of a human or a ghost at the same time?" Mr. Sun replied: "Well, this is very easy to explain. Have you ever seen the Yin-Yang fish? It is the pattern in the middle of the Eight Diagrams. The white part represents the sun, the black part represents the Taiyin, and there is a black dot inside the white represents Shaoyin. There is a white dot in it representing Shaoyang. These are the four states of yin and yang in all things. Human nature is yang, ghost nature is yin, and yin and yang are opposite to each other. Whichever is stronger, its attribute will dominate .When the yin qi covers everything in the end, people will naturally become real ghosts." "You said that people need to catch up with some special environment to become a living dead when they die. What kind of environment is it?" I am most concerned about this. "Oh, first of all, it must be on a cloudy day. For example, the weather is cold, at night... I don't know about the others. Taozi, don't ask me such questions again. I also heard it from hearsay. It's not good to mislead people. "Mr. Sun suddenly stopped the topic as if he had reservations, so it's inconvenient for me to ask again.What he said was indeed something I had never heard of.Whether it is true or not, at least I feel that I have benefited a lot.What he said was exactly the answer I was looking for, because I—was what he called the living dead.