Chapter 5 fourth quarter

Will-o'-the-wisp listened quietly to Grandpa's words, as if still hesitating, wondering whether to believe what Grandpa said.But their flames are not as strong as before, and their attitude seems to be much softer. Grandpa said again: "This partner of yours has killed the horse butcher several times. It is only natural for us to take revenge on him. But the horse butcher will still treat him well after we are done. He is the first son of the horse butcher. Bury him It was his fault that the horse butcher didn't come to see it again, and the horse butcher will often come to see it in the future." The horse butcher nodded quickly to express his agreement with Grandpa.

The will-o'-the-wisp slowly extinguished.There is only a little bit of moonlight left around again.Those who had been squatting and not daring to move all stood up to exercise their muscles and bones, and they all praised what Grandpa just said was really convincing, no, it was convincing ghosts. Grandpa asked the horse butcher, "Where was your first son buried?" The horse butcher smiled sheepishly and pointed to a grave that was flooded with weeds. Grandpa ordered everyone to dig up the small grave and carry out a small wooden box.The wooden box was opened, and there was nothing inside.I was surprised and asked, "Why is there no body?" Grandpa said, "It's the one that was killed just now."

Everyone was going to put the little boy with a broken head into the wooden box, but Grandpa stopped him and said, "We can't use this to hold him anymore, and bury him upside down." The horse butcher asked, "Bury it upside down? Don't put it in the box?" Is it okay in the coffin?" Grandpa said: "Only in this way will he not come to harm you again." The horse butcher asked: "Why do you want to do this?" Grandpa said: "It's said in ancient books. If you ask me why, I don't know." What Grandpa said was true.I heard from my mother that my grandfather liked to read a dilapidated ancient book when he was young.I don't know where my grandfather got that book, and my mother found that broken ancient book to study when he was not paying attention, but I still don't know what it is.Because the book has no cover, the words inside are very messy, like a primary school student's calculator.Later, I also asked my grandfather if he had that book, and he said yes.I happily asked him for it, and wanted to learn some ghost-hunting skills myself.Grandpa went to the wardrobe for a long time, and finally found a book for me to read.When I saw it, it turned out to be "Book of Changes". I suspected that grandpa lied to me.Grandpa said with certainty that it was this book.So far, I still don't know if grandpa lied to me.Later, many times when I hunted ghosts, I asked him if I didn't understand his behavior, and he always said, "I don't know why, it's written like this in ancient books."

I really have nothing to do with such a weird grandpa. According to his instructions, everyone put the little boy upside down in the pit, and covered him by digging with a hoe tied with a red cloth strip.The wind became cold, and the cold air passed through the clothes, icy against the skin. I was shivering with cold, and I really wanted to go back and get into the warm bed quickly.I asked my grandpa: "That's almost it, let's go back quickly." Grandpa said: "That's the only way tonight, but this matter is not over yet. The resentment of this Ruoji ghost is so great that it has killed several sons of the horse butcher. This time, it will not let it go easily." of."

My hairs stood on end, I was done thinking, I shouldn't be here with my grandpa to catch ghosts tonight.What if it remembers my appearance and comes to seek revenge on me at night?It's okay to be next to grandpa, what if it comes to me when grandpa is not around?Thinking about it this way, I became even more frightened. I looked at my grandpa asking for help and said, "Then what should I do? How can I finish the calculation?" Grandpa said: "Come to the ghost both hard and soft, to appease it, and let it know how powerful we are. Let it have no resentment, and dare not invade again."

Everyone finished what grandpa had explained, wiped off their sweat, and looked at grandpa with questioning eyes.Grandpa waved his callused hand and said, "That's all we can do tonight. Everyone, go back to sleep. The ghost blood on your body should be washed before the sun comes out, otherwise it will be bad luck for you to do anything. Don't use water when you wash it. , wash it with chicken blood first, and then wipe it clean with rice wine. Do you hear me?" Everyone nods.The horse butcher asked, "Is it okay to wash with pig's blood?" Grandpa scolded angrily: "You cheapskate! You know that you are greedy for cheap. You won't put two sticks of incense or put two fruits on your son's grave. You said you have to use chicken blood, and you can't replace it with human blood!" "

The horse butcher smiled awkwardly, rubbed his hands and dared not reply. Everyone told the horse butcher as a joke, packed up their things and walked back together.Surrounded by silence, I didn't dare to walk beside, I tried my best to squeeze into the crowd, and I didn't even have the courage to turn my head to look at the ghost nest.Grandpa said nothing.Several other men spoke loudly, pretending that they were not afraid, but in fact they were more afraid than anyone else, and said some nonsense, no one said it seriously or listened carefully.The scene of being surrounded by will-o'-the-wisps just now still hangs in my mind.

I saw Grandpa pinch his fingers and speak vaguely.When I was about to ask, he suddenly turned his head and said to me, "Liangzi, come here with me tomorrow." When I heard it, I shook my head quickly, but couldn't help asking curiously, "What are you here for?" Grandpa said: "I have to do some important things. Although its head was broken, it was buried upside down, but just in case, I will come tomorrow to do some rituals and crucify it to death." Hearing this, the horse butcher and several others asked eagerly, "We don't need to do anything else, do we?"

Grandpa said: "Just wash off the ghost blood. Leave the rest to me. But the horse butcher..." The horse butcher quickly replied: "I'm here, what's the matter? As long as you tell me, I'll do it right away." Grandpa said: "There is something to do, but it won't be done right away." So, grandpa explained to the horse butcher in this way, asking him to do so and so.The horse butcher kept nodding.Others felt reasonable after hearing it. Back along the way, the owls in the distance were still hooting.The moon is covered by a cloud, but the moonlight shines through the edge of the cloud.Everyone dispersed, only my grandpa and I walked home with a faint shadow.I kept talking to Grandpa, for fear of quieting down.As soon as I calm down, I feel that there is something behind me.

I asked my grandfather why the Ruoji ghost wanted to kill the horse butcher. Grandpa told me it was the horse butcher's first dead son.That son died of illness, unlike the other sons who died inexplicably.After that son died, the horse butcher buried him in Huaghou Den and never visited him again.After the death of the horse butcher's first son, his wife gave birth to another child shortly after. The horse butcher loved his hard-earned second son so much that he even hugged him when he went to the butcher's stall to sell meat.Maybe his first son saw him when he passed by Huaghou's Nest to go to the meat stall with his son in his arms, so the first son felt that it was unfair to him, so he got the idea of ​​harming others, and killed the horse butcher in a row. of three sons.But the horse butcher didn't believe in evil until he heard the conversation of the two ghosts with his own ears.

I felt a little bit sympathetic to that Ruoji ghost, but when I thought of its appearance, I dared not close my eyes, for fear that it would appear in front of me as soon as I opened my eyes.