Chapter 16 Ghosts in Sushui City

one The legend of the headless ghost concubine has been circulating in Sushui City. It may not be a very clever story, but the blind old storyteller at the gate of the city has been telling this story for decades. This is a place called Dongshi, so there are always people who stop and throw one and a half copper coins into the small copper basin in front of the blind old man, and go home happily when they hear the sky darken: That day the emperor finally discovered the big secret. It turned out that his favorite concubine was actually a female ghost.That night he had a stomachache, woke up in the middle of the night, and found that the concubine sleeping next to him was not lying next to him, but her whole body was huddled under the quilt.

The emperor thought that his concubine must have had a nightmare. He opened the brocade quilt and found that what was wrapped in the quilt was the body of a headless woman, broken from the neck, and above it was a smooth body section without any wounds. , and no blood flowed.The emperor was shocked immediately, his face turned pale, he fell off the bed, and shouted: "Come here, come here!" The Fuhe Temple in the third watch was already full of people.Maids, ministers, eunuchs, imperial doctors, and other concubines who came to see the excitement.When there were too many people, everyone became more courageous. The emperor ordered the woman's body to be placed in the center of the hall. The old imperial doctor walked forward tremblingly and took the woman's pulse, and reported that it was no different from ordinary women. .Everyone saw that except for the headless woman, she looked like an ordinary woman in deep sleep: she sometimes turned over, turned sideways, sometimes curled her legs, and even scratched her right hand with her left hand.Everyone in the room held their breath and were stunned.The emperor's six-year-old son was so bold that he rushed to the woman, reached out his hand, touched the neck of the missing head, and said loudly, "It's hot here too!" His nurse was so frightened that she grabbed him. When they came back, everyone was frightened.At this time, the emperor suddenly came back to his senses, and announced loudly: "Quick, quick, quick, quickly invite the Great Master of the Lotus Temple!"

The archmage really is the archmage, he pushed aside the crowd of onlookers, came to the center of the hall, saw the headless woman, frowned slightly, stared at the woman intently, pinched his fingers for a moment, and then comprehended the providence-like slight nod.He turned his head and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this is just a female ghost, you don't have to worry about it." The emperor trembled, pushed back a few steps, and said in a trembling voice: "She, she came to murder the widow? What should I do? How can this be done!" The Taoist turned and glanced at the female ghost, and turned to report to the Yellow Emperor: "This female ghost does not seem to have any intention of murdering your majesty. If so, how can your majesty be safe so far? But at the moment It's better to get rid of the female ghost before she becomes a big deal."

The emperor hurriedly asked: "How to get rid of this female ghost?" The Taoist smiled slightly: "It's very simple, all you need is a saucer with a larger diameter." The emperor hurriedly sent a large and sturdy plate from the imperial dining room.The Taoist took the plate, wiped it with his sleeve, and then put the plate upside down on the neck where the woman's head was connected.Then the Taoist ordered the two Taoist boys he brought, one on the left and one on the right, to use the plate to press the female ghost's neck. The Taoist said again: "Your Majesty, you only need to order a few more people to alternate with my apprentice, and within 24 hours, make the dish not leave the neck of this female ghost, and when her head flies back, it will not be able to grow back again." , within twenty-four hours, the head of the female ghost was no longer in the same place, and the head and body died separately.

The emperor was overjoyed, and quickly sent more people, and everyone also became happy, saying that the Taoist priest of the Lotus Temple is indeed a master of Taoism. two People who have heard this ghost story say that the reason why this story lasts for a long time is that the blind old man who told the story probably wanted to create a terrifying atmosphere. The next thing is beyond my ability to tell. You just close your eyes and calm down quietly. The wronged female ghost will come out quietly and tell you her story.You didn't believe his ridiculous statement at first, but when you closed your eyes, you could really see the treetops moving, a black-haired figure hanging from the treetops, and the body was invisible:

I usually leave at the second watch.At this moment, I will wake up automatically, my eyes are shining, and every cell in my body is like a soaked rice getting the fragrance of new life.The man on my left was soundly asleep. I pulled out the arms that were pressed under his body, then hugged the head with both arms, and pulled it up hard, and the head and body were separated without any pain.What I am most proud of is that there seems to be a very effective suction cup between my body and my head, so even if they are separated from each other, they all have a pleasing smooth cross-section, and there will be no wounds, and no blood. Set aside a drop.I usually leave my body to sleep and just go out with my head.It is very light, with black hair as smooth as a ribbon, and can fly in the air, like a kite enchanted to confuse people.

My extremely happy mood can't always make my head fly smoothly.My head was bumped up and down, and I once pulled the lingering hair on the treetops.But I don't feel pain, I don't feel pain because I know that all the pain in my previous life has gathered on my body, whether it is riddled with holes or has an incredible smell, it has nothing to do with me at this moment, I just need to Together with my head, it is not only clean but has already removed all the deeply buried painful nerves. It always presses down, smashes, and destroys the memories I bring up over and over again like a beautiful garbage processor .

I did not keep secrets about the whereabouts of the night.I like to talk, I talk to birds, I talk to trees, and I talk to bugs.As my leaping head passed through the woods, old birds often scolded me: "Hey, you ran out like this, what are you going to do, scare people to death?" "I'm just looking at my husband. I don't bother to scare others. Don't worry about it!" I raised my mouth and refuted loudly, and then continued to fly to Dongshi without looking away.I don't care, I don't care, I just want to go to Dongshi to see my husband, and I have to go every second watch.

From this angle, you can see that the branch of the laurel near the window lattice is almost horizontal here, it is wide and smooth.As soon as my head went up, it stopped on this tree branch, and settled down after shaking a few times.I spend every night here.This is an old thatched hut in disrepair. Thirty years ago, a wronged and desperate woman was hanged. There is a chilly smell that ghosts like. I feel refreshed when I inhale. Besides, here My most beloved man also lives here, I really have no reason not to like it here.However, facing this desolate and desolate suburb of Dongshi, I had to think of how impoverished my husband's life was.

From the tree I parked, I can clearly see into the room.The window was originally covered with a thick layer of white paper. But last spring's strong wind had blown them away, and they had no choice but to pull each other like butterflies out of season, still flapping their white wings broodingly. My husband is a 20-year-old man. He is wearing a blue shirt and sitting at a desk facing the windowsill. The waste rice paper used by others, find a blank corner and start writing articles.The brush is always dry in this windy spring, and he keeps dipping it in ink.But the inkstone is almost dry, he doesn't have a woman to grind ink for him, and he doesn't have a boy.

I don't know what books he read and what he wrote.I just like watching him like this: he reads, he writes, and he takes out half of a cold cake from the cloth pocket it was wrapped in.If it was a very cold day, he would take out another long gown and put it on, this one was obviously not as decent as the one inside, and there were already holes in it gnawed by moths. I was leaving at the fourth watch, which was the time when he began to drowsy. I saw him stand up, bowed, blow out the lamp, and fell heavily on the bed.I sighed, flew up again, and detoured to the back of the yard. There was a dilapidated stable here, which was full of broken mats, saddles, bundles of dry wood, and weeds from the previous home.Most of the roof above the stables has been blown away by the wind. I stopped on the broken roof and turned my head a few times, shaking my tangled hair from side to side, let it spread out, and it all slid down. After this I return to the palace.The sleeping man was on the left, and I tucked my arms back under the man's fat body. I wasn't overly panicked about the end, but it still caught me off guard.I thought it was an ordinary night, I went to see my lover and then returned.However, when I stayed on the tree branch and watched my husband, I suddenly felt a sense of suffocation.I could feel it coming from my body resting in the palace.What kind of cold object is pressing down on my neck.I lit a lamp in my heart with the condensed energy of ghosts, and I could see thousands of miles away: the center of the Hall of Fuhe was full of people, the emperor, concubines, and those whose names I still can’t even name child.I gently looked away from the crowd, and finally saw my body lying under the magnificent lighting in the middle of the hall.It was tightly tied to a long wooden table, and my arms were tightly held down by two sturdy guards. Their other hands grabbed this ceramic plate, and the plate was firmly pressed against me. neck.Yes, that's what nearly suffocates me.I narrowed my eyes slightly, letting all the farce in the hall become a speck of dust on my eyelashes. I'm just, I'm just wronging my body, it's always being bullied, and in the end even I despise it. My body was ruined by some bastards in my previous life, how I hated it, so when I died and my head left my body, I even felt a faint pleasure, I think they are finally separated, clean into the clean, and the filthy in the filthy. I knew it was a Taoist priest who wanted to kill me, it was really simple.For twenty-four hours, if my head could not return to my body, I would die of exhaustion.However, there is nothing wrong with him. His Lotus Temple has been desolate for a long time, and it is my public morality to believe that my death can revitalize his Taoist Temple. I'm still on that branch, and my husband is in the house just around the corner.I think I can't care so much anymore, I have to jump out and tell him something.I flew down like this, this is the scene I have imagined in so many dreams, I finally flew down the tree, and for the first time I was able to look at my husband at the same level. I leaned against the window sill and looked at him. He was tall, with broad shoulders, thick eyebrows, and extremely full lips.These are all very different from him I met in my previous life.The only constant is a kind of peace between his broad eyebrows, which always draws me back, no matter how far I go. At this time, he saw me out of the corner of his eye, and he was obviously frightened. The brush in his hand shook, and a ball of thick ink fell on the white rice paper.I was very distressed, that was the first time I saw him write on a brand new paper, and there were rows and rows on it, every word should be his painstaking effort.I secretly blamed myself for coming out too abruptly. "Don't be afraid, I have no malicious intentions, and I won't hurt you." I said this to him, feeling funny in my heart, as if every female ghost should say the opening line to men. "You, are you a ghost?" He trembled, staring blankly at the woman's head standing on the windowsill. "I'm a ghost now, but I was your wife in my previous life." I think I have to finish this quickly, I don't know how much time he needs to accept this reality.Can I wait for the rest of my life until this man becomes intimate with me again. He stared at me blankly, another ball of ink dripped on the rice paper. I said, "I was your loving wife in my previous life. But in my previous life, I was decapitated when I died, so I couldn't be reborn as a human being. But I still miss you often, so I am always with you." He thought about it for a while, and boldly asked, "Why did you die so miserably?" "You went to the capital to take the exam and never came back. People in the town bullied me, so I put poison to kill them. I was punished by the guillotine by the magistrate." He froze for a moment, and said in a low voice: "Then I am too ungrateful, and you are too vicious." I also froze for a moment.Ignoring his words, he laughed and said: "This is also my retribution. At that time, my father decided not to allow me to marry you, saying that you are not a kind person. I will regret it in the future. He locked me at home and forced me to swear. But I still jumped out of the window I ran to find you, and ran with you." I paused, and then said, "Do you know what my oath said?" He shook his head. "Father, if I marry that prince in the future, I will be decapitated after death, and I will never be in peace." After I finished speaking, I looked at his pale face and laughed again. He looked at me sadly.Compassion flashed across his frightened face.I just like his warm expression. I remember that in my previous life, I was so stupid. When I saw his warm face, I forgot the vows I made and the grievances I suffered. I sighed, and felt that there was nothing more to complain about, I just hoped that he would live a prosperous life in the future.So I said, "You come with me." I hung in the air for a while, and stopped at the stable to wait for him.He came over hesitantly.I took a breath, looked away from his tattered shoes, and said, "Open this stable, and hug the mats and grass inside." He did.It took him a while to get all the sundries out, and the whole yard was filled with dust.But he can still see that there is a golden piece in the innermost part of the stable.He quickly got under the ground and got in.I was behind him, so I couldn't see his surprised expression, but I could feel his whole body trembling with uncontrollable joy—what he saw were countless pearl hairpins, diamond hairpins, among them Each piece is priceless treasure. He was ecstatic, turned around and said to me: "Did you give these to me, did you give these to me?" I said: "Use them to contact the stupid examiners at all levels. With your talent and learning, you will definitely win the top prize. Isn't this what you have been longing for?" He wept with joy. I suddenly looked at him sadly and said, "If you really appreciate me, can you promise me something?" Seeing him nodding repeatedly, I said: "Can you go to the cemetery behind the palace to find my body, and then bury my head and body together. And, you have to write the tomb of the dead wife on the tombstone, forever Acknowledge that I am your wife, so that the King of Hades will know that I am not an unknown corpse, I can be reborn as a human being, and maybe we can be husband and wife again in the future." He nodded. I said, "You have to remember what happened to me when I broke my oath." three At this time, the blind old man looked at you, smiled slightly, and said dumbly, "You know about the headless female ghost, right?" Then he sighed, tilted his head, and let you know with a sly smile full of mystery, There must be more to come.But you'll have to add a few more coppers to hear the rest of the story: It is said that after the emperor got rid of the female ghost, his heart trembled for a long time. A minister suggested: The third princess has reached the age of marriage, why not lend the princess the happy event of recruiting a son-in-law to get rid of the ghost in the palace?The emperor was very happy at the moment and announced to the world that on the fifth day of the next lunar month, a hydrangea ball throwing to recruit a son-in-law would be held on the city tower, and all men without wives could participate. The latter matter was even more bizarre when told by the blind old man: It is said that the scene on the day of recruiting relatives was extremely lively.Unmarried men all over the city came to see the beauty of the three princesses, and also wanted to test whether they had the fate of the royal family.Sure enough, the third princess did not disappoint everyone, her appearance was amazing, even better than her two older sisters.Many married men secretly regret that they got married too early, otherwise they could give it a try today. Later, the person who received the hydrangea from the Three Princesses was said to be a young scholar with delicate features and delicate features. He was also dressed in brocade and twill gowns embroidered with silk edges. His extraordinary bearing could be seen in every move of his hand and every throw of his foot. It is a natural champion.It is said that when the princess saw the person who caught the hydrangea, she immediately covered her face and smiled. She must be secretly grateful to God for giving her a good husband.And the handsome scholar was also overjoyed, he was pushed by the cheering crowd to the gate tower. Just when the emperor ordered people to open the city gate to welcome the new son-in-law, the people surrounding the new son-in-law suddenly exclaimed and fled. The jade is lost.The new son-in-law was stunned, he lowered his head and looked: but he saw that the ball in his hand was not a vermilion brocade hydrangea, the heavy one was a woman's head with scattered hair and a very sad expression.