1. Margaret
It was another sunny day. Ah Mei turned the sign at the entrance of the bar to the "open" side. She had already wiped the tables and the bar, and watered the flowers planted in front of the bar. She opened the window and the fresh air hit her face.
Ye Feng and Yao Gou both went to do ghost exorcism commissions, and Lu Yingjiu followed them to the ghost world. The bartender was still drowsy behind the bar.
However, there are fewer people in the morning and they have a lot of free time.
Ah Mei pushed her hair behind her ears, sat by the window, and watched the cars coming and going on the road.
"...Have you heard of Yueshan Village?" a voice came from behind.
Ah Mei was startled, and when she looked up, she saw the bartender casually swiping his phone: "It's the Yueshan Village near us, the one connected to the sanatorium that burned down. I'm reading the latest popular ghost stories, and many of them are based on this. You see, some people say that the fire was caused by the anger of the mountain god, and some people say that there is a group of patients who are lingering in the ruins of the sanatorium, and they have parties every night."
The bartender didn't know that Yueshan Village, the sanatorium and the mountain range had all been invaded by the Spider Mother, and that Ah Mei came from that village.
For her, that incident was a nightmare that she would never forget.
Ah Mei nodded slightly and said vaguely: "I have heard of it."
The bartender was about to say something when he heard the doorbell ring.
A guest came in.
The two entertained the guests and did not continue the topic.
It was a few days later in the evening when we talked about this matter again.
Weekend nights are always lively. One of them was serving guests while the other was mixing drinks. They were very busy. After finally waiting until the early morning, the two of them closed the shop and walked side by side to the bus stop a few hundred meters away.
The moonlight was slightly cool, and their footsteps mixed with each other.
Ah Mei said, "We... have known each other for almost two years."
"A year and a half to be exact." The bartender walked lightly. "I came here in the summer, and the air conditioner happened to be broken at that time. We struggled with it for a long time."
"Yes." A Mei smiled, "Yes, I remember now."
"Why are you talking about this all of a sudden?" the bartender said. "Want to reminisce?"
"I guess so." Ah Mei bit her lip, "Actually, my hometown is in Yueshan Village..."
For the first time in her life, she told others stories about her past.
The bartender had been exposed to exorcism, but he was not good at it. He was stunned when he heard it. After a long time, he slowly said: "This is really unimaginable. It's a miracle that you can escape."
"They are very good," said Amei, "They can always escape."
She exhaled. "I'm not as fanatical as the others, and I don't believe in the Spider Mother. That's probably why I'm still conscious and alive. Even so, I was once a monster."
The bartender was silent for a moment, then said, "I'd like to make you a Margarita."
"Why?" Amei asked curiously.
"When my sister is in a bad mood, she likes to drink Margarita," the bartender said. "After drinking it, she takes a nap and all her worries go away."
The next night, he indeed called Margaret.
Margarita is a very suitable cocktail for women. Tequila and lemon juice are mixed with unique fruity aroma. The rim of the glass is made of lime juice and salt, which is sweet and sour and refreshing.
Ah Mei sat at the bar, sipping her drink. The dim light fell into the transparent cup, and the bartender said, "I don't want to persuade you to let it go. It's easy to say, but everyone knows it's unrealistic."
Ah Mei shook her wine glass and said with a smile: "Maybe..."
“But from what I can see, you’re no different,” the bartender said. “You have more zest for life than most people, and I envy that.”
He was right.
From the exquisite layout of the bar, the neatly arranged picture frames on the wall, the carefully arranged decorations on the bar, to the simple drawings on the small blackboard in front of the bar, and the lush and vigorous plants - lush green leaves and bright flowers, this kind of landscape would never be possible without meticulous and enthusiastic care.
Perhaps she knew that this peaceful life was hard-won, so she worked very hard. Not only did she want to repay Lu Yingjiu for bringing her out of the village, but she also loved life.
The bartender said, "You're going to have a wonderful life."
Amei was slightly stunned.
Then her brows relaxed a little, a smile appeared on the corners of her mouth, and she whispered: "... How old is your sister? Where is she?"
The bartender said, "She will always be eighteen years old and stay in Beishan Cemetery." He took out his camera and found an old photo to show Ah Mei.
After a brief silence, Ah Mei said, "She is very beautiful."
"Thank you. She would say the same thing if she could see you."
After drinking, it was already late at night, so they walked to the bar together.
Ah Mei suddenly said, "Hey, it's blooming."
On the windowsill of the bar, the roses that were still in bud in the afternoon suddenly blossomed vigorously, with deep red and light yellow intertwined together, which was very eye-catching.
After that, they arranged flowers and plants together and drank many cups of Margarita. The flowers and plants bloomed more and more luxuriantly every time they sipped them. Margarita had a fruity aroma and shone like a yellow gem. They became volunteers, counseling and relieving the emotions of those who were traumatized by supernatural events, and they always left a large bouquet of flowers before leaving.
Occasionally they would talk about the past.
But when the glasses clink at the end, the bartender always smiles and says, "Cheers to your passion."
Ah Mei also raised her glass and curled her lips: "To tomorrow."
2. Pigeon
The sports car stopped at the beach.
The lights faded away, the pier and the sea were dark, and several ships were floating up and down. The woman in the red skirt lit a cigarette and took a deep breath in the sea breeze. The orange-red cigarette butt vaguely reflected her delicate makeup.
The two young men sitting on the other side shouted, "Sister Xiaoling, it's so cold, don't sit here."
"You guys take care of me." Chen Xiaoling said vaguely, "Give me two more bottles of wine, and I can sit here until dawn."
Those two people, like Chen Xiaoling, were from the Chen family. They were not very talented and basically had no chance of becoming exorcists.
They thought they would live an ordinary life, but unexpectedly, Chen Xiaoling extended an olive branch to them.
—Chen Xiaoling is not very old, only in her early thirties, but she is a well-known figure in the family. Her sources of information are very wide, covering all walks of life, and countless "pigeons" will come to her at any time to inquire about the secrets. Perhaps she has been idle recently, so she picked up two little apprentices and planned to train them well.
The young apprentice followed her and learned slowly, and gradually got the hang of it.
They just lack confidence and sometimes even back down.
Chen Xiaoling was half drunk today and kept talking to them.
Another person said, "Sister Xiaoling, you've been chatting all night, take a rest."
"I'm not going." Chen Xiaoling frowned. "I'm not going. I haven't told you about my feelings yet. Come on, sit down. Come on, sit down."
The two of them obediently found a place to sit and listened to Chen Xiaoling name the people he had liked from elementary school to college until now, one by one.
Not a lot.
Just a member of a football team.
"Don't think I'm climbing over walls all day long," Chen Xiaoling emphasized, "I've also been in love, even if I was alone."
The two apprentices: “Hmmmm.”
Chen Xiaoling flicked the ash off his cigarette, his consciousness drifting slightly away: "The way I met him was quite dramatic. At that time, there was an evil ghost wandering near my parents' home. It was him - I'll call him Xiaolu. It was Xiaolu who passed by and saved my parents. That's how we met."
The two apprentices: "Wow! Thank you for saving my life!"
"Yes," Chen Xiaoling said, "That being said, it is true that I have a good impression of him, but I don't know whether I really like him or not. I just live in confusion like this. Before I figured it out, he..."
The two apprentices stretched their necks and asked, "What is he?"
Chen Xiaoling's eyebrows were raised: "He just ran away with a big demon!!"
Apprentice: "...Huh? What big demon?"
"A big goblin is a big goblin." Chen Xiaoling sighed, and Jing Xian's handsome face appeared in his mind. "It's just a big goblin, very annoying, can fly, gets jealous, and drinks other people's matcha latte."
Apprentices: “…”
Apprentice A: "Sister Xiaoling, you are really drunk."
Apprentice B: "Sister Xiaoling, you are so beautiful that you can captivate people. You don't have to hang yourself on a tree."
Chen Xiaoling: "Tsk, how could I do such a stupid thing." She shook her head, "Maybe I've never really liked anyone. 'Finding someone to spend the rest of my life with' is too incredible for me."
"My favorite animals when I was a child were pigeons. My neighbor raised five or six of them. Every morning I watched them fly out, their wings turning white and gold in the sun. I felt that they were the freest creatures in the world, and I wanted to live like this for the rest of my life."
"The most difficult thing in this world is to do whatever you want. They say freedom never dies, but few people can live up to it. I didn't have the ability before, and I can't do it now, but at some point in the future, we will all be as free as birds."
The two apprentices looked at each other, and finally said weakly: "There will always be true love."
"No, no, no, you don't understand me at all. Fuck true love! Who cares? People don't live for love."
Chen Xiaoling smiled: "You don't really think that I would get drunk because of a broken heart, do you? I have plenty of money, and there are so many men in the world, young wolves, young milk dogs and rich old men are waiting for me. If one doesn't work, I'll dump him. Anyway, the other one is more obedient."
"What do you call this? This is called confidence!"
"It's the same with you. They look down on our family, but now they are very respectful to me. You two have to be as promising as me. Only when you stand up straight will others look up to you!"
"Give me some confidence, and stop looking at me with that sad face. We are still young and have a bright future ahead of us!"
The two disciples nodded their heads excitedly, "Remember, remember! We must work hard! We will not let Sister Xiao Ling down!"
Chen Xiaoling was quite satisfied and waved his hand: "Let's go! Let's continue drinking!"
Before leaving, the sea breeze howled, ruffling Chen Xiaoling's hair and making her red skirt flutter like waves.
At this moment, she recalled many things from the past.
But she smiled soon, and walked away gracefully in her ten-centimeter high heels. Above their heads, birds flew in the wind, spreading their wings towards a brilliant sea of lights.
3. You can tell a person's future at the age of three, and his old age at the age of seven.
The Chu family has been extremely busy lately, and even the workaholic Chu Banyang has taken half a month off.
The reason was simple: the children's welfare home built by the Chu family was well-known far and wide. A few days ago, someone left an abandoned baby at the door of the welfare home.
This kind of thing is not uncommon.
The problem is that the baby has a shallow birthmark on his shoulder blade, which is shaped like a flying bird.
—Chu Qianju has such a birthmark in every life.
The Chu family was shocked for a while, and all the elders ran to the welfare home.
The welfare home has an elegant environment, with blooming flowers and shady trees. When I walked to the front, there were more than a dozen Chu family members in the huge room.
They were... around a baby carriage.
This scene is somewhat weird.
The people present were capable of risking their lives and fighting bravely, but they were helpless in front of the child. The rattles and dolls they held looked like they were holding knives or guns. Fortunately, there was a young woman at the scene, leaning against the stroller, smiling and playing with the child.
However, no matter how hard they tried, the baby never smiled at all. His face remained calm and composed. When an elder made a face at him, there was a gleam of disdain in his eyes, as if he disliked his childishness.
This expression is simply unique to Chu Qianju.
Even though he is only half a year old now, even though he has no memory at all, he can still accurately express his calmness.
At this point, the Chu family completely confirmed his identity.
After that, Chu Qianju showed amazing learning ability. He was indeed a reincarnated genius. He was less than one year old, did not cry or make a fuss, and could actually speak many simple phrases.
Soon, it will be his first birthday.
According to the tradition of the Chu family, all children who are one year old have to do the "Zhuazhou" ceremony. For example, when Chu Banyang did the "Zhuazhou" ceremony, he held a piece of talisman paper in his right hand and a perfect score test paper in his left hand, and he would not let go of them.
In front of Chu Qianju, various items were laid out in turn: talisman paper, gold pens, copper coins, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, ancient books, abacus, food and toys... everything you could think of was available, dazzling.
Chu Qianju sat there indifferently, lacking interest and simply disdaining to play this game with them.
No one could force him.
Just when they were once again impressed by his uniqueness, they saw that he finally moved.
Chu Qianju seemed to be attracted by something. His eyes fell to the left and he stretched out his hand towards a thick ghost-exorcism book.
Several seniors couldn't help but show their approval, thinking that he was indeed a genius of the Chu family.
Chu Qianju touched the man's spine, turned the book over with all his strength, and then reached out to grab the man's back and pulled out a... blue-green peacock feather
Everyone:
Chu Qianju grabbed the feather and suddenly smiled.
Everyone:
The days slowly move forward.
There is a saying that goes, "You can tell a person's future from the age of three and his old age from the age of seven." Everything in childhood, including personality and hobbies, has already determined a person's future path.
When Chu Qianju was three years old, he was calm and composed. Every day he would draw talismans on paper crookedly and play with peacock feathers happily.
When Chu Qianju was seven years old, he was still calm and composed. Every day he would draw talismans and play with peacock feathers happily.
… the future is in sight.
Finally, when Chu Qianju was ten years old, the Peacock God awakened.
In the past, the Peacock God would wake up twenty or thirty years after Chu Qianju's reincarnation, and when he woke up he would go mad, and then be killed by Chu Qianju. This cycle would repeat itself without end.
I don’t know if the curse has been resolved, but this awakening happened many years earlier.
However, there was an unexpected problem—
That day, the Chu family gathered around a little peacock, all of them looking confused.
Why, why has even the Peacock God turned into a juvenile form? !
No one knew what to do. Moreover, the Peacock God had lost his memory and became childish, tilting his head and looking at everyone with his beautiful golden eyes.
Several little girls from the Chu family finally got to see the ghosts and gods that had formed a pact with their family, and they were so pretty and cute… They really couldn’t help themselves, so they took the delicious food and fed it to the ghosts as if to offer it to them, and wanted to go up to touch its gorgeous feathers, but they were pecked one by one and burst into tears.
As it turns out, the peacock god has a very bad temper. He pecks at people he sees, walks around his territory with his head held high all day long, and spends hours carefully combing his feathers to ensure that he looks beautiful.
After all, he was a ghost god. After a few days, he recovered a lot of strength and was able to transform.
—After he transformed into a human form, he turned into a little beauty, about nine or ten years old, with light blue-green dyed on his temples and a pair of crystal clear eyes, but his face was full of disdain and he was unwilling to say a word.
Man: "Wow you are so strong!"
Peacock God: "Tsk, I feel the same way."
Person: “This is the dessert I made for you!”
Peacock God: "Take it away, it's not easy to grab."
Child: "Peacock! Can you give me a feather?"
Peacock God: "If not, I will become a bald chicken."
The child ran away sadly.
After a while, the peacock came over proudly and stuffed a feather into his chest, emphasizing: "This is a gift from me to you!"
The child smiled happily.
After a few more days, when the Peacock God's incarnation became stable, everyone tentatively brought Chu Qianju to the Peacock.
When the two sides met, they were both stunned.
The memory was still frozen like an iceberg, but deep in the soul there was a shock spanning hundreds of years, like an undercurrent sweeping up from the bottom of the sea, shattering the rocks, spreading out in circles, making people tremble.
The peacock smiled—
For the first time, a brilliant smile broke out on that face that was always full of disdain and arrogance. His brows were relaxed, his eyes were shining, and every inch of his expression was filled with surging joy that could not be hidden.
He almost flew over and threw himself into Chu Qianju's arms. Chu Qianju hugged him tightly, as if he was holding a treasure that had been lost and returned many years ago.
In the days that followed, they were almost inseparable.
Peacocks represent ghosts and gods, and they travel between the human world and the ghost world.
According to a ghost king who wishes to remain anonymous, every time Peacock goes to the ghost world, he will go find other priests to fight.
One reason was that it was his nature. A priest who did not show his strength had no place in the ghost world. The other reason was that he really felt that the priest was too ugly, and it was an eyesore to see him hanging around in front of him.
No matter what, every time after going to the ghost world, the Peacock God would come back with injuries, messy feathers, and a sense of smug pride.
He wanted to save face, so he wouldn't show this miserable look to anyone else. He would only go to Chu Qianju every day.
Chu Qianju was so distressed that he couldn't help but hold Peacock to comb his feathers and bandage his wounds. Peacock whispered in his ear, as if telling a story about the ghost world, or as if he was acting coquettishly.
Just like in the wilderness all those years ago.
The boy picked up a wounded peacock. He took it home and started a wonderful journey.
In this situation, a normal person would say, "Don't go to the ghost world this time."
But Chu Qianju is different.
The senior passing by heard clearly that he said firmly: "It's okay, I'll help you beat that ugly thing next time."
Senior:
"Okay." Peacock smiled in his arms, his eyes curved, his voice too soft to be true, "Help me beat them up."
Chu Qianju really helped him beat up the priest.
But that’s all in the past.
Later—
Later, they all grew up.
The young man's body grew taller, becoming slender and elegant. Chu Qianju soon became famous again for his ability to exorcise ghosts, and the Peacock God also used his own cultivation to create a place for himself in the ghost world.
They still didn't think about the past.
But this doesn't stop them from sticking together every day.
It is true that you can tell a person’s future at the age of three by the age of seven.
When he was seven years old, Chu Qianju was drawing talisman paper and playing with peacock feathers.
When he was seventeen, Chu Qianju was still drawing talismans and playing peacocks with...
An elder said with emotion: "This is fate! I wonder when they will remember each other."
"That day will come." Another person replied with a smile, "After all, true love is invincible."
In the sunlight in the distance, the handsome young man pulled Chu Qianju aside again and told him about what he had seen and heard in the ghost world this time.
He said that he had beaten so many evil spirits, scared off so many beasts, and expanded his territory a lot. Except for a silly fur ball who came to steal food every day, all the other priests bowed down to him.
He would talk for several hours and must show off his achievements.
Chu Qianju listened intently.
Finally, he picked up Peacock and said seriously, "Well, I know you are the best."
After saying that, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Then, the eyes in my arms shone with light, like an undercurrent sweeping over, a breeze filling the mountains and rivers, and the joy entwined into a gentle golden ocean.