Chapter 22 Ninety-second Night Live Tomb

I have no intention of describing Mr. Jin Yong's novels, but this is indeed one of the many stories Ji Yan told me. (The following is Ji Yan's tone.) The weather started to get colder, and the speed of my travels also began to slow down. I always avoid those big cities when traveling. On this day we came to a village again. There are many villages and small towns along the way, but this one has to be said. Rather than saying that this is a village, it is better to say that it is a huge cemetery, because there is no smell of any living things here, and there are only graves that can be seen overwhelmingly.The entrance to the village is very wide, and the large stretches of dry grass are not very happy in the winter sun. Most of them have curled up their bodies like dead and dehydrated insects. Same on large flakes of wood shavings.

Next to the grass is a rough path that is two people wide, and on the other side of the road are graves.Some are tripods built with weeds mixed with dead branches, and some are tombs with broken stone steles. In the wide field of vision, there is nothing but a cow gnawing grass with its head bowed. In a place like this where there are many obstacles that block the view, we can often see farther, but I only saw a cow, and the whole village, let alone people, seemed to have no houses. Occasionally, some wind blows past my ears, and the sun is more enthusiastic, but it does not provide any heat. Standing in this kind of place, I feel even colder.

Finally, I saw a man, an old man, an old man staggering towards me. "Master, what is this place?" I pulled Li Duo over and asked. The old man bowed his head and hunched his back. He wore an almost faded sheepskin jacket, his lower body was fat black cotton trousers, and he stepped on heavy round cloth shoes.He put his hands in his cuffs, and it took him a long time to raise his head. I was shocked when I saw that his head was almost shriveled into a wrecking ball, with a pair of squinted triangular eyes embedded in it, and a vertical and horizontal groove on his face. An inexplicably sad expression.His lips were dry and cracked, revealing streaks of blood, but he didn't care, the dry and curly hair was dirty, sticking together in pieces.

"This is called Tomb Village." His voice was vague, as if he was talking with a sip of water in his mouth, and I couldn't tell what the accent was. "Tomb Village?" Li Duo asked in surprise, and the old man answered with a hum. "There are no houses here, only cemeteries, tombs of the living, and roads of the dead." The old man explained, and walked forward slowly. On that long and narrow road, the sun cast the old man's long and narrow back. He walked forward almost aimlessly. I vaguely saw a gray cloth bag hanging from his belt. "Let's move forward, maybe we can find someone else to ask." Li Duo suggested, but that's really all there is to it.

Even after walking far away, I couldn't help but look back at the old man. But he disappeared, and it was definitely not beyond my field of vision. As I said, this area is very empty, and my eyesight is very good. It has not been long since we separated, and the old man will definitely not disappear out of thin air. But he was indeed never seen on that road, and there was no one at all. "The tomb of the living, the way of the dead?" I muttered to myself in a low voice, as if I remembered something, but I couldn't remember it completely. I don't know how long we walked, but we still only saw piles of graves, but what surprised me was that these graves didn't have any offerings or traces of being worshipped.

"Could it be that they are all lonely graves?" Li Duo whispered.This village is very big, but there are only two of us walking around, so I found a problem, how should we stay overnight?The sky began to gradually soak in ink, and the light that the eyes could see was getting less and less. Li Duo suddenly let out an ah, then pulled me, and pointed to the side with his finger. I looked along her finger, it was a grave. It's a very ordinary tomb, with a bluestone tablet standing, and behind it is a circular tomb, but it's much larger than the ordinary ones I've seen.

But what was unusual was a hand stretched out from behind the grave.The woman's hand was slender and pale, maybe not very white, but it looked fairer under the contrast of the night. What came out was a hairy head. I looked carefully, and it turned out to be a human head. She supported her upper limbs with her hands and pulled it hard, as if doing push-ups. Although her body was thin, she was very vigorous. And the body came out of the grave. I suddenly felt weird, as if the girl was born from the grave. Then I saw light, cloudy and dim, but I was sure it was the light of a candle, not the pupil of a man or some animal.

Sure enough, the girl pulled out another person, short and fat, and holding a candlestick in his hand. Just like playing hide-and-seek, three people emerged from the huge grave. "Ah, there are outsiders." The girl yelled crisply, her voice was very pleasant, like a bell blown by the wind, but also wild and unruly, like the mixed fruits grown in the mountains, sweet and crunchy with sourness. "Don't make a fuss, don't startle me." The person who spoke was a calm middle-aged man. He was tall. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, he felt like a thick door panel.

Finally, the candles came a little closer and I could begin to see them clearly. A young girl, a middle-aged couple, it seems that they are a family. "That horse (mother), are they scared by us?" The girl saw that the two of us were silent, and walked over with one arm around the middle-aged woman's arm, one hand covering her mouth and laughing.The middle-aged woman's hair was neatly combed back. Although her body was already fat, judging from her regular facial features, she must have been as beautiful as this girl when she was young. The mother smiled, and shook her hand at the girl a little reproachfully, but said nothing.

"You are foreigners. You don't know our rules. I'm sorry to frighten you." The middle-aged man's Mandarin is pretty good, so I immediately nodded to him. "It's nothing, it's just a little strange." I smiled. So, the family invited us into their home—the big tomb. I would never think that I could go into the grave alive. This feeling is quite weird. I even feel a little dazed, whether I am alive or dead. Maybe it doesn't matter. The inside is wider than I imagined, a bit similar to cave dwellings in Shaanxi, but it is round, like a huge iron pot turned upside down.The height of the tomb is about 2.5 meters, and the length and width are each 4 meters. It seems that digging the tomb was really laborious.The entrance is nearly two meters away from the inside. Although there is a mound of dirt to step on, it is still not easy to climb up.The surrounding area is very smooth, although it is made of mud, it is very dry, with a gray earth color, and has a unique smell, but the air is dull and a little oppressive when staying inside.

"I know you must be very surprised, why we have to live in the grave." The girl said with a hearty smile and looked at us.She shook her head, and her whole body made a crunchy sound. Listening to her was like eating a sweet and crunchy apple. I took a closer look at her, she was wrapped in a dark blue cotton dress with beautiful patterns on it, and there were some silverware hanging on her body, no wonder there was a sound.The girl is very beautiful, but her facial features are still slightly immature, her skin is also very fair, and she wears a silver ornament on her wrist, which is very beautiful.It just seemed that the jewelry was heavy, leaving bruises on her wrists. "Don't mess around." The mother pulled her away. The girl was a little reluctant, but she left anyway. It turns out that there is a passage next to it, which is probably the way to the inner room. If I still bow my head when I go there, it seems that it is the girl's room. This place, which can be called home tentatively, has everything for daily life, including tables, chairs, benches, tea and food.The host gave us two matchbox-sized white desserts, which seemed to be made of glutinous rice and were very sweet. "This place is called Tomb Village. There are many families like me living in such piles of graves. These days, everyone will not go out during the day, and only come out at night to get some air. People, didn't scare you?" The middle-aged man has a broad face and thick eyebrows, a high nose and a square mouth, with a heroic expression, but his eyes are a little dull, as if he has something on his mind. "Will no one be around during the day?" I asked.The man nodded affirmatively. I suddenly thought of that old man, the old man with strange speech and appearance, who disappeared on that road all of a sudden. "Why are there such strange rules?" Li Duo asked curiously.In fact, I really want to ask, but sometimes people may not want to tell you. In other words, if people want to say it, they will say it without asking. Sure enough, he had a look of embarrassment on his face, as if he hesitated.He squinted at the side, and it seemed that the girl was still chatting with his mother, so he said slowly: "We have lived in this village for many years, and no one knows when this rule was established. It is said that long ago the Han people wanted to recruit soldiers here, and the old people were afraid that young and strong men would die on the battlefield, so Hide them all in living graves, leaving only air holes and some food. Those men dare not come out during the day and can only show up at night. Later, these people survived, and thus the village is today. So every year At this time, everyone will hide in the graves that have been built long ago to commemorate, and it is also very warm here in winter, and it has become a habit over time. Outsiders don't understand it, and often rumors that we are a ghost village." I oh.He also told me that, in fact, his family has their own house, but it is still some distance away from here, and it takes more than an hour for good feet. I asked him what the Tomb of the Living and the Way of the Dead meant. The man was taken aback and asked me how I knew that both the girl and her mother had come out. "I'll take you there together, and you'll know what the Tomb of the Living and the Way of the Dead mean. You came here by coincidence, and you can only see it at this time of the year." He said Yuanyuan, and then climbed out of the tomb again. As soon as I came out, there were scattered lights outside in twos and threes, like fireflies, but now it is winter and I am beside the graveyard, so there is no such poetic feeling at all. The fire gradually gathered, and we sat down with the middle-aged man. There were about a hundred people gathered, and most of them were dressed in the same clothes. Although they were thin, they didn't look cold. It's just that there was an old man who lowered his head and coughed non-stop. He seemed to have a bit of imagination with the old man he saw during the day. Everyone kept silent, surrounded the old man, and moved forward slowly. They all walked on both sides of the road, and only the old man walked in the middle of the road. I don't know how long I walked, but there are many large and small holes at the foot of the mountain, each about 0.8 meters high and 1 meter wide. I can't tell how deep it is.They came to an unsealed hole, and the old man went in by himself. The old man said nothing, but walked very slowly.Under the illumination of many torches, the night also appeared bright, but the background of the old man was still gray. He stooped in and sat there, and a young man next to him put in a bottle of water and a bag of food, and I still don't understand what they were trying to do. Soon, all the people piled up a stone in front of the old man. It turned out that they were going to seal the hole and let him die in it.When the old man drank his last mouthful of water and gnawed his last mouthful of dry food, there was only death waiting for him.I tried to stop him from being buried alive, but was held back by a big hand. Looking back, it turned out to be the girl's father. He looked ugly, and his face seemed to be kneaded by several hands.He pulled Li Duo and me back with great effort, and called his wife and daughter to walk back together. On the way, I asked him what was going on, and when I slowly calmed down my surprise and anger, the man slowly explained to me. "In the village, everyone, as long as they are dying, will be moved there, everyone will leave some water and food, seal the door, and then let him end up in the hole, everyone is like this, I will do this in the future , my daughter will too, so you don't have to be angry and puzzled." "At this time last year, I also impregnated my Poirot (father-in-law) with my own hands." His voice was very small, and he uttered these words as his Adam's apple wriggled up and down. The girl next to him and his wife both silent. I really can't understand their habits, suddenly, I think of the old man in the daytime. Because I saw him again, he was not far ahead, still bent over and staring at us with his sleeves rolled up, no, it should be said to be staring at the man.He was standing on the path, the path that the old man who was buried in the grotto just walked by. The middle-aged man saw it too, and so did the girl and her mother. They coincidentally froze in place.The old man was walking slowly towards here, while the family was backing away. "Ada!" The girl seemed very excited and shouted to go over, but her parents held her back desperately. The old man stopped and stood there motionless. "Em (father-in-law), I'm sorry for you, don't look for children." The middle-aged man suddenly stood in front of his wife and daughter and said sharply. The old man remained silent, just pointing to the girl who was held by her mother.He moved over slowly, as if thinking about grabbing the girl's hand. "Ada, Ada!" the girl cried, and stretched out her hand, but her parents pulled her away. I walked over in a hurry, the old man saw me coming, suddenly retreated slowly to that road, and gradually disappeared. The family was in shock, especially the girl crying for her grandfather. Back in the tomb, the mother managed to put the girl to sleep. "There is nothing we can do." The man scratched his hair in pain, and his wife gently stroked her husband's generous back, but there were still tears in her eyes. "My family is so poor that I can't even get enough money for Micai's (daughter) to go to school. She likes to sing, and the folk songs are very good. The children around her like her, but I can't afford to send her to school. When I get a disease for which I don't know the reason, money seems to be thrown into a bottomless pit, and I can't see it well. "Seeing that I couldn't survive, I had no choice but to kneel in front of the old man with her and beg him. I knew that I would suffer retribution. People who enter the living graves cannot come out. Unless they want to go in, no one can force them. People in the village know that if we ask the elders in our family to enter the living tomb, we will be scolded to death and driven out. We Miao people have different ages and no distinctions. The old people are respected by the village, and children When she was young, she ran a caravan, sold gold, and sweated and bled for the village. Everyone respected him as Ziyou, and no one of her generation was more respected by the villagers than him. "He is old and sick, and he can't even speak, but he loves his granddaughter very much and likes to listen to her singing. We would not do this if we had no choice but to do so. When we begged him, he said no He just kept pointing at his granddaughter without saying a word. "So we told the villagers that he himself agreed to enter the living tomb. When the villagers came to ask, he had no choice but to nod his head with difficulty, but he kept crying. "It's been a year since I built the stone wall for him with my own hands. There's no way he's still alive. I'm not afraid of anything else but that he will take away my Mi Cai." Hug together. "Ada!" Suddenly a girl's sharp cry came from inside, and we hurried in. The old man was actually here. He was stroking the girl's head with one hand and holding the girl's hand with the other, with no expression on his face.I was so worried that I even wanted to rush to rescue the girl.Li Duo held me tightly, she shook her head and pointed at the girl. The girl looked at her grandfather with tears in her eyes, and I suddenly felt that the old man would not hurt her. "No, no." The girl's mother knelt on the ground, and the man also knelt down. The old man didn't speak, but just took off the jewelry on the girl's hand. He put the ornaments on the edge of the bed, and slowly walked out of the tomb again.After a long time, the couple got up and hugged their daughter quickly, for fear that she might miss something. I picked up the accessories on the edge of the bed and found that the weight was wrong. I pushed it with my hand and found that it was actually movable. It turned out to be hollow, filled with sand-like things, to be precise, gold sand. The couple looked at the gold in amazement, and then took off the daughter's other silver ornaments, which were said to be given to the granddaughter by the old man before his death, but it turned out that they were all filled with gold dust. Only then did the couple understand the reason why the old man came back. They hugged their daughter and wept bitterly. Every other year, the dead will walk back to their hometown along that path to see their family members, so people in this village will hide in their tombs at this time, which means that they are not in the world to see their deceased family members.And that way they won't be too scared to show up. I asked Li Duo why she understood the meaning of the old man, she just said lightly that Li Zheng looked at her in the same way as the old man before—although he was indifferent, but with reluctance. The next day, we left the cemetery village, and the couple took a daughter to the place where the old man was buried to pay homage.Perhaps there will never be so-called hatred for relatives, but only care and understanding.As for that road, maybe everyone will go up it, me too, and you too.