Chapter 4

Hearing my questioning, the woman turned her head and looked at me

Before, because the sky was dark and the distance was far, I only noticed the characteristics of women's facial features.

Looking up close at this moment, I realized that the woman in front of me was extremely young. Her face without using any cosmetics made me sure that she might be only eighteen or nineteen years old.

The woman listened to my question, looked at me, and then raised her eyebrows.

Then a pair of rosy lips turned up: You are taking it for granted? I just happened to walk the same path as you, you suspect that I followed you, are you all paranoid? Also, I wear my own sunglasses as long as I want to, what does it have to do with you? You are so careless! I frowned and waved my hand to stop the reckless behavior my brother next to me was angry.

Because there were pedestrians around the gate, if Yan Guang and his two brothers used violence at this moment, they would probably cause unnecessary trouble to me and them.

OK, it seems that we misunderstood you, I apologize to you, now we are going back to the hospitalization department, don't tell me that you are going to the hospitalization department, right? When I found out that the stalker was a woman, my heart relaxed most

In my opinion, it is unlikely that the people and forces I offended in the past would arrange for such a young and beautiful woman to follow me and wait for an opportunity to retaliate.

They can totally find a stronger and more threatening performer than this woman

After understanding this, I began to suspect that we and this woman were really a misunderstanding.

Since it was a misunderstanding, I took the initiative to lower my head and apologize to the other party. Just understand this matter.

Because if many things get entangled with women, they will cause countless troubles, and now I really don’t want to cause any trouble for myself.

Tsk, what do you mean? I really thought my aunt would follow you three stinky men? I won't go to the hospital! When the woman saw me surrender, her tone became arrogant.

But I'm not interested in arguing with her, since she has made it clear that she won't follow us

I immediately recruited and signaled the two brothers to leave together

But when my two brothers and I walked out more than ten meters, I suddenly heard the woman behind me shouting to my back: Survivor!

Hearing this title, I suddenly turned around and looked at the woman

I saw the woman showing a nearly provocative laugh at me, and the white teeth in her open mouth shone brightly under the dim lights of the surrounding buildings...

Catch her... When I heard the woman's name to me, I almost instinctively greeted the two people around me to try to catch each other and ask clearly

When the woman saw the two brothers beside me, she turned around and ran out to the back door. The speed was so fast that it was completely beyond the expectations of the three of us.

My two brothers and I followed out of the back door of the hospital and came to the alley. When we looked left and right, we couldn't see the woman's shadow.

I fuck... Is this girl practicing sprinting? She ran so fast? She saw that her goal completely disappeared

A brother exclaimed incredible amazement

I stood blankly at the back door of the hospital

Survivor... The mysterious man who appeared in front of my bed last night also called me that

Is he related to the woman who is now present?

My brain became confused in an instant...

Back to the inpatient department, I ignored the dissuasion of my two brothers and immediately found the doctor on duty to complete the discharge procedures.

For the two people who Yan Guang arranged for escort, their job is to escort and protect. Apart from this, they have no right to prevent me from being discharged from the hospital voluntarily

Therefore, both of them have no choice but to do anything about my persistence and stubbornness.

My discharge means the end of their work

Looking at me who hurriedly left the hospital, the two of them could only go to Yan Guang's residence to report.

I took the opportunity to get rid of the two of them, and when I got home, I simply packed my personal belongings, rushed to the long-distance bus station immediately after I got home.

In the bus station, I stared at the magazine left in the ward. The mysterious camouflage uniform was on the title page I made with my own hands.

In the photo below, in the background behind the man in unknown ethnic costume, something like a Tibetan Mani pile altar attracted me

Mani Dui is also called Shen Dui, which is called Bangduo in Tibetan. It is an altar for Tibetans to exorcise the evil and pray for happiness.

As a reporter, you must have rich humanistic knowledge, so I have learned about Mani Dui in the past.

The mani pile behind the man in the photo seems quite unusual to me at this moment

The general stone slabs built with mani piles are mainly engraved with six-character mantras of Buddhist Tantra, wisdom eyes, various Buddhist statues and Tibetan folk auspicious patterns, etc., but after my careful observation, I found that the pattern on the stone slabs on the mani piled behind the mani piled in the photo is not these common carvings.

A circle of stone slabs is engraved with a strange character symbol that I have never seen before. A small number of stone slabs are carved with Buddha statues under the text symbols. These Buddha statues are very common in Tantric Buddhist sitting statues, but they are extremely rare statues of Tantric Buddhist joy Buddha.

Happy Buddha is unique to Tibetan Buddhism

But even in Tantric temples, there are not many Buddhist temples, let alone carved on the Mani pile

This made me deeply confused, but more importantly, the strange characters and symbols on the carvings of Happy Buddha were more important.

Although my reason told me that it was the first time I saw these strange characters, for some reason, these symbols had a similar feeling in my mind...

Where? Where have I seen it... By the way, it's there... The place that makes me still unwilling to recall or go back again! Staring at the blurry symbolic images in the photo, I suddenly looked up and leaned my whole body against the backrest of the waiting room seat in the station.

Could it be God's will... something is guiding me? So I came to the station unconsciously? Thinking of this, I came to the ticket window like a walking corpse

Purchase a long-distance bus ticket

At this moment, the work of the editorial department, the application for transfer, the tragedy that happened at Lu Zhihang's home... Everything, the Buddha has nothing to do with me anymore

I am under the control of an unspeakable emotion

With the ticket and magazine, I boarded the long-distance bus back to my hometown.

According to my uncle's death, in my hometown, our Yan family was once a prominent family. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, several Juren and Jinshi were born in the family, and they were once quite prosperous.

Now there is only one ancestral home left in my hometown

And my childhood and youth were spent in this ancestral home...

Only after adulthood did I realize that my mother might have died of difficult childbirth because of giving birth to me

Children without mothers are generally miserable and pitiful

But I don't feel much about it, because my grandmother is still there

I was raised by my grandmother, and my grandmother's existence has basically filled my mother's shortcomings

At that time, my grandmother took me to live alone in my hometown. My father worked in the city and would only rush back to my hometown to visit our grandparents and grandchildren on weekends. This situation continued until I went to the city to attend junior high school, and then my grandmother was left alone in my ancestral home.

When I was sixteen, I experienced a huge family change that ordinary people could not imagine

At that time, the news came from my hometown that my grandmother was seriously ill, and my father hurriedly took me back to my hometown to visit me.

But it was a step late after all. When my father and I arrived at the ancestral home, my grandmother had already passed away.

In that era, neighborhood relations were much closer than they are now, so neighbors and neighbors had already helped deal with most of the funerals before my father and I arrived.

Grandma was buried in the coffin, and the mourning hall at home was built

That night, my father and I were sober in the mourning hall after thanking the neighbors who helped us thanked us and helped us.

After I got home and heard that my grandmother had passed away, my father immediately notified my uncle. I only knew that my grandmother was seriously ill, so my father brought me back mainly to visit her.

Now that my grandmother has passed away, my uncle needs to come back to the funeral.

Late at 11 o'clock in the evening, my father thought that his uncle's long-distance bus might be coming, so he asked me to go to the bus station in the town to pick up people. He stayed at home alone to keep a soul.

I came to the bus station in the wind and rain only learned that I had a vain trip when I arrived at the bus station.

Due to heavy rain, the road leading to the county town was blocked by mudslides and landslides.

The bus that my uncle was riding was stopped halfway. What could he do? The station staff could not predict.

I couldn't get my uncle, so I could only run back to my ancestral house in the rain alone

When I returned to my ancestral home, I saw the horror scene that will last forever forever in my life...

My father was covered in blood and was lying naked in the middle of the mourning hall.

Someone was painting various strange graphic symbols on the ground around my father.

And I don’t know when the mourning hall was filled with candles…

I rushed to my father and shook his body desperately. When my father was breathing a sigh of relief, when he saw me, he used all his last strength to say three words to me: Hiding... and then he died

Seeing my father tragically tragically dying in front of me, I rushed out of the mourning hall under the domination of fear.

But when I rushed to the gate of my ancestral home, I found that the gate was locked from inside by someone.

The huge iron padlock firmly locked the door bolt, and I forgot where the padlock key was

I was knocking on the door panel desperately, shouting for help, but it was covered by the strong storm sound at that time. At this moment, I felt a creepy sound coming from the mourning hall behind me.

Under the control of my survival instinct, I rushed into the east wing room regardless of everything and got into the bed in the room...

This brother has arrived! Get off Ah quickly, I'm still rushing home to sleep... The urging sound of the bus driver awakened me from my memories

I just realized that the bus had arrived at the station, and all the passengers on the bus had gotten off and left. I was the only one sitting in my seat and was in a daze.

I quickly got up and sued the driver, and then left the bus with my carry-on luggage

Walking out of the station, I looked at the surrounding scenery with a little confused

It has been almost twenty years since I left my hometown, and the remote and quiet town that year has undergone tremendous changes at this time

Hotels outside the station, restaurants are lined with dazzling lights

Although it was already late at night, there were still many passengers coming and going and passengers gathered outside the exit of the station.

With my memory, I walked along the street for a while. When I approached the edge of the town, the pedestrians on the street became scarce.

After walking for more than half a mile away, the gloomy scene of the ancestral home closed the door appeared in front of me again

The streets around the ancestral home are empty, and even the street lights appear dim

The murder that happened in this house back then had already made the residents of the town consider it a malicious house

Now that night comes, no one wants to approach

I stood on the edge of the street more than ten meters away from the gate, staring at it for a long time, but finally gave up on going back to my ancestral home to spend the night

Turning his head back towards the bustling and bustling place in the center of the town

After returning to the town center, I entered a hotel and checked in

After putting my luggage in the room, I came to the street again, found a street stall, ordered beer and late-night snacks, and decided to sit down and eat something before going back to the room to sleep.

But just after I picked up the beer and took two sips, there were screams and scolding in the foot washing room opposite the stall.

I looked up lazyly and soon saw an exposed woman being pushed out of the door of the foot washing room by a man

The man was obviously drunk and scolded the woman, touching her feet

Although women are at a disadvantage due to gender reasons, they are not willing to be outdone and keep scolding each other, and they are also trying their best to fight back against the man's actions.

Behind the man, there were a few men and women, constantly reaching out to hold the man, as if he was trying to dissuade him...

From their scoldings, I roughly understood the reason for the dispute... The man was obviously a guest in the foot washing room. Because he drank too much, he couldn't help but touch the foot washing girl because he was drunk.

The footwashing girl obviously has a tough personality and of course she doesn't want to suffer any losses, so she had a conflict with the male guest.

The other men and women are companions who come with men and employees in the foot washing room.

Men's behavior is obviously wrong, so they are trying to persuade men not to make a big deal.

The dispute over the foot washing room naturally attracted the attention of pedestrians. In a short while, dozens of onlookers gathered outside the foot washing room.

The onlookers blocked my sight, and I could only hear the cheers of the crowd and the sharp screams of women

The farce lasted for more than ten minutes, and the onlookers suddenly dispersed. I was confused and couldn't figure out what was going on. I saw the man who had beaten and scolded the woman before rushed out of the crowd in panic and ran towards me in the direction I was.

Behind him, the insulted woman chased after her with a kitchen knife

When I realized it, the man had already escaped to me, and the woman followed closely

I don't know if it's my bad luck. The man sprained his foot when he passed by me and threw himself to the ground

The woman was obviously crazy at this moment. When she saw the man pounce, she rushed to the man's back and raised her hand and fell down...

I was about to die, so I almost instinctively stood up, reached out and hugged the woman's waist, and pushed the woman to the ground

The man took the opportunity to roll and crawl and stood up, limping and fleeing desperately.

The woman fell down, and the knife in her hand also fell out.

I was worried that the woman would get up and then go to the knife to commit murder, so I could only try my best to press the woman to the ground tightly.

The crowd who had watched before and the relevant personnel in the foot washing room reacted and rushed over.

I guess I noticed that I, a man, was really indecent to press on a woman.

Several women on the scene quickly replaced my job, and controlled the crazy woman in front of me.

I was able to get up from the ground and tidy up my clothes

The crazy woman could no longer catch up with the man who took advantage of her, and sat on the ground and cried loudly.

The other women on the scene could only keep comforting her

I guessed that this matter should come to an end for the time being, so I turned around and came to the stall owner to settle the score and then went back to the hotel to sleep. I felt someone patting my back gently. When I turned around, I found that a woman appeared behind me at some point.

Thank you so much just now... If you hadn't stopped you, Xiao Tao would have cut that guy... Hey... you, aren't you Yan Ping? The woman looked like the boss of the foot washing room. As she spoke, she showed a surprised expression and then called out my name.

I was stunned, but in the end I could identify the other person's identity from his facial features and appearance

You, by the way, you, you are Wen Zhaodi. When I saw me recognize her, Wen Zhaodi smiled and grabbed my hand.

Brother Yan Ping, it’s really you... Why did you suddenly come back and didn’t say hello to your relatives and friends here in advance? I forced a smile when I heard Wen Zhaodi say this.

Wen Zhaodi said that's what she said, but in fact she was just polite words.

Since the ancestral home murder, I have never returned to my hometown

Uncle and Yan Guang have come back a few times, but they are only dealing with some economic affairs of the family here.

After my uncle and my family left, my hometown had no close immediate family members.

Although the Yan surname is still a local surname and his ancestors are indeed of the same clan, for me, they are all distant relatives who have been sent to the five sermons, so there are actually no relatives in the true sense.

As for my friends, I was probably the same, but I left for nearly twenty years, and my friendship when I was young has long faded.

Haha... Look at what you said, you don't know my situation. Where are there any relatives and friends in my hometown? I reluctantly greeted Wen Zhaodi, and tried hard to recall the memories of the woman in front of me.

Wen Zhaodi and I were my childhood playmates, two years younger than me

In my memory, her father worked in a small town supply and marketing cooperative

At this moment, the Wen Zhaodi in front of me was not only the appearance of childhood, but she was no longer as lively and clear as she was back then. Under the heavy makeup, she was full of dust.

I'm not surprised by this change at all

What did you say? Am I not your friend? You can see that Wen Zhaodi is sincerely grateful to me for stopping that woman from committing crimes in time just now.

While pulling me and talking, he winked at the stall owner

The stall is opposite the foot washing room, so the stall owner is probably quite familiar with Wen Zhaodi.

Seeing Wen Zhaodi's gesture, he immediately spoke out and said that he had waived my consumption here.

Wen Zhaodi greeted several foot-washing girls around the crazy woman and helped the crazy woman back to the foot-washing room. Then, regardless of whether I wanted or not, she pulled me into a dimly lit bar on the street.

After chatting with each other for a few words, I roughly understand the other person's current situation

Although Wen Zhaodi's father was a township cadre, he was not helpful to her future and employment. Therefore, Wen Zhaodi went to Guangdong to work after graduating from high school.

Working is of course nominal statement. In fact, a girl with no skills and no diploma can pursue a very limited career.

What Wen Zhaodi did in Guangdong? Although she didn't say it clearly, I guessed it from her words.

Finally, Wen Zhaodi is smart and has never been fooled by men, and is not infected with the vanity habits that are common in her peers. After working hard in Guangdong for several years, she saved some money.

Ten years ago, Wen Zhaodi returned to her hometown to get married with her hard-earned money

Although Wen Zhaodi successfully concealed her past, she still encountered the misfortune of her marriage. It was not that she met the wrong person. Her marriage with her husband was quite happy, but it was extremely short-lived.

After only two years of marriage, my husband died in a traffic accident.

Wen Zhaodi, who became a widow, felt discouraged by rumors like her, and she extinguished her idea of ​​remarrying.

I opened a foot washing room in the town and supported my mother who died. As a result, I have gained some good reputation in the local area over the years

After listening to Wen Zhaodi's story, I also reciprocated and briefly talked about my experience after leaving my hometown.

Although the ingredients are mostly polite, being able to meet an old friend to communicate with each other has somewhat relieved my uneasy mood for days.

So what is Brother Yan Ping planning to come back this time? You have no relatives here anymore. We kids are not the purpose of your return, right?

I plan to go back to my old house to see it, because I will go abroad next time, and whether I can come back alive is a question, so I will clean up the things in my hometown when I come back this time... I made up an excuse to Wen Zhaodi's insincerely for her inquiry...

Your old house? When Wen Zhaodi heard me mention the ancestral house, she showed a little fear at this moment

I was not surprised by Wen Zhaodi's expression at this moment. In just one day, my grandmother passed away and my father died. Two consecutive lives were found in that house. The name of the ancestral home and the haunted house has long been widely circulated in my hometown.

Wen Zhaodi was only fourteen years old when the tragedy happened. Such rumors are naturally vivid in memory for the girl who was only fourteen years old at the time.

However, it has been almost twenty years since this incident. Wen Zhaodi, who is already middle-aged, is still so afraid, and I have some doubts.

What's wrong? Did something happen to the house after I left? Wen Zhaodi nodded

I looked at her in surprise, she picked up the beer and sipped it, and started to tell her

I don't know very well what happened. After your family was in trouble, the house became a haunted house. The neighbors next door on both sides of your house were afraid and moved out after building new houses in other places in the town. Now the town is centered on your old house. More than ten houses around it have become empty houses. Nothing happened in a few years after you left. However, after I came back from Guangdong, I heard that when I went to Guangdong, your old house started to be haunted. It is said that when it comes to thunderstorms, all kinds of messy noises will be heard in your yard. The neighbors across the road and across the room once deliberately climbed the wall on thunderstorms to see what happened. But it is said that after seeing it several times, they only heard the sound but could not see anyone. They were afraid, so they moved out for a while. The area around the house has completely become a ghost area in the town. No one dared to go there until night...

So that's it. No wonder I went to the old house just now. I couldn't see a pedestrian on the road. Except for the street lights, the surrounding houses were all dark.

It turns out that you have already seen it? But it should be fine now. There are fewer pedestrians there because there are no people living there. Your haunted family was solved by the town a few years ago.

What? It's done? I don't quite understand what Wen Zhaodi means at this moment

I mean, the house is no longer haunted now, and there will be no messy noises even on thunderstorms. Wen Zhaodi explained with a smile.

What's the reason for this? I was stunned

A few years ago, a Taoist priest passed by the town. When he passed by your old house, he said that there were ghosts in the house. I was not in the town at that time. However, the old people in the town were very concerned and asked the Taoist priest to find a way to solve the problem. It is said that after a whole day of practice, nothing strange happened in the house. However, the people who lived there were now used to the new home, so even if they were not haunted, they did not intend to move back, so it is rare to see pedestrians there. When Wen Zhaodi said this, I couldn't help but smile.

I think that Taoist priest used the haunted house to cheat money? After being a reporter for so many years, I have seen a lot of feudal superstitious scams. What kind of Taoism and other things are just jokes in my eyes.

No money spent! The Taoist priest didn't collect a penny from the town from beginning to end. He just stayed at Mr. Lin's house for a night and then ate two meals. He heard that he had been tossing at the door of the house for a whole day, just to cheat two meals and sing and dancing all day. Don't you think this is too exaggerated?

Didn't ask for money? I shook my head

You also said that you were not in the town at that time, so how could you know if the Taoist priest confiscates the money?

I'm not in the town, but Mr. Lin, my mother-in-law and others went to the practice site, and giving money is not something that cannot be said. They won't lie to me. Wen Zhaodi obviously doesn't agree with my opinion.

Wen Zhaodi was obviously a little unhappy when she saw me.

Brother Yan Ping, if you don’t believe it, go directly to Mr. Lin and the others to ask Ah I realized the other party’s mood and thought that I would not argue with her over these trivial matters, so I no longer insisted on my own opinion. In this way, the atmosphere between each other will be restored.

It was already early in the morning, and Wen Zhaodi asked the bar owner to settle the fee

Walk out of the bar with me

How about going to my shop tonight and I will arrange for a sister to accompany you? When I walked to the entrance of the hotel, Wen Zhaodi invited me with a teasing voice.

The hints in this are self-evident

Why, your store is really doing that kind of business? I've experienced that dispute before and asked in confusion

Ah, but it depends on the person! That guy was obviously drunk just now... He might not get any money after doing his business, and whether the sister in my store answered depends on them... Brother Yan Ping, you are so handsome, I guess they are willing to accompany you. Speaking of this, Wen Zhaodi covered her mouth and giggled

It's all said to this level, I don't know where the other party is looking for me to be happy

After understanding this, I smiled and shook my head

I came here overnight. I am really tired now. I still have the energy to deal with those sisters. Ah, don’t be happy with me, just let me go back to my room for a sleep. After hearing what I said, Wen Zhaodi also noticed that I was in a low spirit, so she didn’t force anything else.

After sending me into the hotel gate, I turned around and returned to the foot washing room across the street

I returned to the room, lay on the bed and read the pages in the magazine again. The title pages I made with my own hands

It's been almost twenty years, and I don't know if my memory is wrong. However, the graphic symbols on the Mani pile in the photo were indeed seen around my father's body on that rainy night... But maybe it's just a similar shape?

As for haunting and other things... it only happens in thunderstorms. It must be a natural phenomenon caused by some sound resonance or wind blowing through a certain place, right?

Taoist priests do exorcism and other things, and it is even more nonsense that those symbols appear on the Mani pile, indicating that those symbols should be related to Tibetan Buddhism. If there is really something strange and chaotic, it is not a Taoist priest who comes forward to expel Ah? This is completely two religious mythological systems. Can it be taken?

However, Zhaodi said that the Taoist priest confiscated the money... This is a bit strange. Even if the Taoist priest pretends to be a ghost, the purpose is naturally to cheat money. Ah confiscated the money and performs rituals in the town for free. This makes it difficult for Mr. Lin. It should be Lin Youcai, who lived in the south of the town and specializes in handling funerals for others. Old man Lin, when he was a child, he heard that the old man had done tomb robbers when he was young, and was quite proficient in yin and yang, feng shui and other things. He also wrote good characters and was considered a respected elder in the town. Well... It seems that it is necessary to go to him tomorrow to inquire about the matters on the old house after I left. As I thought about it, I unknowingly fell asleep.