The sky is gradually dawning, the light blue sky is inlaid with a few residual stars, and the earth is hazy, like a silver-gray veil. The whole world was silent, and the air was filled with the chill of dawn. Liu Laosan yawned for a long time and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He is the only remaining watchman in Guanzhuang Town. He has lived in this ancient town for 70 years and worked as a watchman for 50 years. watchman. "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The sky is dry and things are dry, be careful of the fire." Liu Laosan cheered up and screamed at the throat. After this trip, today's work is considered complete, and I will come back later After getting home, I can have a good night's sleep, and in the afternoon, I will find Zhang Laosi and the others to play mahjong and win back all that I lost yesterday.

Guanzhuang Town is the east gate of Xiangxi. It was originally a thousand-year-old town. In recent years, the warlords have fought and most of the young and middle-aged people in the town have been arrested to become strong men, making this small town with a small population even more desolate.It rained all night, making the dusty roads look extraordinarily clean. Suddenly, a black dog that had fallen asleep with its ears down suddenly stood up, barked a few times, began to circle in place with an uneasy expression, and then ran forward. "You cut off your head." Liu Laosan was frightened by the black dog that jumped out of the slanting stab, and kicked the black dog. The black dog grunted in pain and ran away.

Suddenly there was a crisp ringtone in the distance, Liu Laosan hurriedly listened, his expression became more and more serious, and he murmured, "Damn, this sound hasn't appeared for nearly forty or fifty years, could it be, someone started doing that again?" trick?" "Bah, bah, bah, auspicious, auspicious." Liu Laosan spat.He didn't care if he didn't finish knocking on the clapper, wrapped up his coat, and quickly disappeared into the mist of late autumn. The bell was getting closer and closer, accompanied by an old voice: "The god of joy passes through the border, and the ghosts and humans retreat."

Three figures gradually appeared in the mist, the leading one was an old man, wearing green cloth and kudzu clothes, with a black belt around his waist. There will be sparse braids left, but the forehead has begun to grow hair, which looks a bit nondescript, and the fierce look on the face makes people very unhappy. Although the autumn is heavy, but still only wearing a pair of straw sandals.The one in the middle wears a bamboo hat and covers his face with a light gauze.He was dressed in white clothes and trousers all over his body, like the shrouds worn by the dead, and he walked in a very special way, with stiff hands and feet, and followed behind the old man.The last person was an eleven or twelve-year-old child, wearing patched coarse cloth clothes, but also wearing a black belt around his waist, and carrying a dirty package behind his back.

Strangely, the child was holding a large white bowl in his hand, which seemed to be filled with clear water. He walked carefully behind the two of them, as if he was very afraid of spilling the clear water in his hand. The old man held a stack of thick yellow paper in his hand, on which a string of fine holes like copper coins were pierced with a sharp tool like a copper coin. These are the unique ghost coins in western Hunan. The old man sprinkled the ghost coins into the sky and shouted: " The god of joy is passing through the border, buy a way to pass by, ordinary people, don't get close, return home in a hurry, and go to the earth for peace!"

The old man stopped in front of a small wooden house and stared blankly, "I didn't expect that I haven't seen it for so many years, and it has become so dilapidated." This wooden house has been so dilapidated that its age cannot be seen. It was propped up randomly with a few bamboos to prevent it from collapsing. The two gates were closed tightly. Light.The four words "Xi Shen Inn" are faintly engraved on the lintel. "Xishen Inn, Grandpa, is this here?" "It's here. This is the corpse inn we're going to stay in. However, it's still called the Xishen Inn to the outside world."

"It's been so many years, and I don't know if that old brother is still there—Ning'er, go knock on the door and remember the method I taught you." The child responded, and carefully handed the porcelain bowl in his hand to the old man.He walked forward, straightened his back, cleared his throat, and said crisply and authentically: "The sky will not be taken away, the land will not be kept, and it will come and go and return the east. I borrowed your store today, and the gold bricks will be put in your cabinet." There was no sound in the room. The child looked at the old man and shouted again, but the voice was a little louder than before.Called three times in a row, but still no one answered in the house, the old man said sadly: "Sure enough, there is no one. Let's go."

After finishing speaking, the old man knocked Xiao Yinluo and was about to leave when a voice in the room said slowly: "The sky must be harvested, the earth must be kept, and the dead will be turned into gold bricks, and the gold will be returned." Put the bricks in my cabinet." The old man's expression brightened immediately, and the child clapped his hands happily, and hurriedly said, "Grandpa, there is someone, there is someone." At this time, the person in the back room said again: "Is Mr. Ya here?" The child quickly replied, "It's not Mr. Ya."

The person in the back room asked again: "Is Mr. Foot here?" The child replied, "It's not Mr. Foot." "Is it Mr. Boat?" "It's not Mr. Boat." "Is it Mr. Che?" "It was Mr. Che who came." "Can you drink the Underworld Forgotten Soul Soup?" "Just drink a pot of tea in Yangjian." The people in the back room were silent for a while, and said: "I didn't expect Mr. Che to come here now. After a while, I will welcome the god of joy and enter the cabinet." There was a rustling sound in the inner room, obviously the person was tidying up. After a while, an old man with gray hair opened two large wooden doors. The old man took out a charm made of yellow paper from his arms, and took off his white clothes. The cloak on the man's head revealed a pale face with no trace of blood on it. His eyes were closed tightly, but his lips were as red as blood. There was a sense of terror covering his whole body. This was really a corpse.

The old man put the yellow paper in his hand on the forehead of the corpse, pointed his right hand at his face, gestured and shouted: "I invite the god of happiness to come into the cabinet." Sure enough, the corpse moved! The corpse stretched its hands straight ahead, its eyes closed tightly, like an ordinary person sleepwalking.But the movement is much stiffer than that of a human, walking forward slowly, the bones of the body rub against each other, making a strange sound, as harsh as a sharp knife across a porcelain plate, jumping straight over the threshold, and standing directly behind the door.

Fortunately, there was no one else around except the three, otherwise, seeing this situation, they would have fainted from fright on the spot. It turned out that these two people were morticians who had disappeared for a long time in Xiangxi, and the man in white was naturally the "God of Joy".And this place is naturally the "Corpse Inn" that has not been patronized by the god of joy for many years. It was just dawn. There is no difference between the corpse inn and most of the farmhouses in Guanzhuang, except that most of the farmhouses here like to close the door with door panels, that is, more than a dozen wooden boards are inserted into the lintel at a time, and then tied with wooden sticks. Such a big wooden door.There is an old table in the middle of the room. It was originally painted black, but it has almost peeled off, and the top is shiny. The round corners of the four benches have also been polished. I don’t know how many years they have been used.The whole room was pitch black, with an indescribably eerie feeling. The boss who opened the door was bald, and I don't know if it was because he was often locked in the room. His face was an unhealthy blue color, and his lips were slightly purple. When he saw Xishen entering the room, a look of surprise flashed across his face , and then calm down.He took a deep look at the grandpa and grandson, and went into the house without looking back. Xiao Ning had been holding the big bowl all night, her arm was already hurting to death, she hurried forward, and just about to sit down, her grandpa stopped her: "Xiao Ning, what did grandpa teach you?" Xiao Ning pouted, took out a simple oil lamp from her schoolbag, and came to the southeast corner of the inn, where a small bamboo basket was hanging from the roof beam, Xiao Ning put the oil lamp in the small bamboo basket .Then, the old man took out a piece of yellow paper from his bosom, pinched his hands, and it actually ignited in his hands. Xiao Ning was dumbfounded, and the old man muttered: "I owe my destiny to you, and if you owe me, the destiny No, light a shade lamp to illuminate your future, you will live up to me, please do not blow the lamp." After finishing speaking, he lit the lamp with the yellow paper in his hand, and the ancient lamp shone with a faint blue light, and the flame would not move at all despite the wind blowing. "Xiao Ning, take care, don't let the light go out, if it goes out, it will be a big disaster." Xiao Ning pouted and said, "I've been tired all night. If I had known how tiring walking, I wouldn't have come out." The old man patted Xiao Ning's head kindly, and said with a smile: "You were the one who was arguing to come out, and now you are the one who said no, good boy, after another night, we will send the God of Joy, and we will go back. I promise you, when I go back, I will teach you the method of lighting an oil lamp without a fire just now." Xiao Ning jumped three feet high, clapped her hands and laughed, "Grandpa means what he says."