Tang Zhou leaned against the wall of the well, and with the moonlight pouring into the well, he finally recognized that this man who was no longer in human form turned out to be Ling Xuzi. It's just that the skin on his whole body has been shriveled, as if his blood has been sucked dry. After soaking in the water for a long time, the skin began to whiten and wrinkle.
He calmed his mind and asked, "Who knows the magic trick?"
Ling Xuzi's lips trembled, as if remembering the most terrifying thing in the world: "Seven Luminaries Divine Jade, Seven Luminaries..."
"Have you seen the Seven Lights Divine Jade?"
Ling Xuzi shivered a few times, and suddenly screamed, but he had no strength at all, and his hoarse voice was as light as a mosquito. Between the screams, the body has already volleyed up. Tang Zhou hurriedly stretched out his hand to pull, only to touch a piece of cold iron claw, thinking that someone at the well had thrown the iron claw to pull him up.
He had to withdraw his hand. This is a remote place, and there are not many people who come here. If the person above has bad intentions, as long as the wellhead is sealed, he can only die at the bottom of the well. Tang Zhou thought about his interests in an instant, leaned against the wall of the well, and held his breath.
I just heard a grinning voice from the wellhead: "You old man with a nose, you have not died until now, no one will come here, no one can save you!"
Tang Zhou could understand that the voice was familiar and it was Master Shen's.
Things changed suddenly, his mind was in a mess, but he didn't know what to think.
Hearing the sound of a hoe falling to the ground, someone struggled by the well, and it was silent. Master Shen said to himself, "Isn't it clean when you die? You old Taoist monk is still a monk, but you are also so dirty. In this world, dead people are the cleanest." The sound of the hoe landing sounded again, digging up You have to work hard.
Tang Zhou was immersed in the water, but he felt cold and began to ache slightly. He inserted the dagger into the crevice of the well wall and touched it up. The tentacles were all smooth moss, and it was really difficult to climb to the top of the well. What's more, I don't know how long Master Shen will dig. If he moves rashly now, I am afraid that he will find out, and it is even more impossible to escape.
"These peach blossoms are still freshly picked, spread them on you, and smell the fragrance of flowers." Master Shen's voice became very gentle, as if talking to his sweetheart.
Tang Zhou finally understood why he buried flowers in the middle of the night.
Suddenly the sound of digging stopped, only to hear Master Shen suddenly say: "Strange, how could this well collapse in a big chunk?" His tone became fierce again, and the sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer to the well. Tang Zhou couldn't help but smile bitterly, his life would be buried in this well after all. In such a place called Tian Tian should not be, and the earth is not working, I am afraid that I can only admit that I am unlucky. It seemed that the reflection he saw in the well was not really his illusion.
The sound of the other's footsteps stopped when they were already overhead, and a burning fire fell down with a screeching sound. Tang Zhou hurriedly dived into the water, and the fire was submerged in the water with a screeching sound and then extinguished. It was only at the top of the top that someone carefully looked down, looked at it for a long time, and said to himself: "So no one..."
Tang Zhou waited until Master Shen walked away before showing his head from the water and exhaled a long breath, but before he could even mix his breath, he heard a sound of moving stones. He immediately understood that although Master Shen didn't see anyone, in order to act cautiously, he still had to completely seal the wellhead with slate. Even if he has the ability to climb up, he can support the slippery moss on his tentacles, and there is no way to push the stone slab away from the well. Although he is extremely skilled, he can't do anything except wait for death right now.
Suddenly I heard a clear voice from afar: "Bird, bird, what are you talking about? It's so dark here, if I knew I wouldn't come with you!"
The sound of moving the slate stopped abruptly, but Mr. Shen's voice was a little flustered: "You... why are you here?"
Shen Xiangjun laughed softly and said, "The bird wants me to come and see, but my sister doesn't know yet. Daddy is good, don't be afraid."
Tang Zhou was already numb from the cold, but when he heard this sentence, he had a strange feeling in his heart, as if some thought flashed through.
Master Shen didn't speak for a long time.
Only Shen Xiangjun whispered: "It's gloomy and scary here after nightfall, and I don't want to stay."
Master Shen immediately added: "Come on, I'll take you back."
Tang Zhou heard the sound of their footsteps getting farther away, and just now he touched the wall of the well, inserted his dagger into the gap, and moved up a little bit. His whole body was numb from the cold, and his movements were not very flexible. After a while, he felt that his breath became thicker. When he looked up, he was still a long way from the mouth of the well.
He took a breath, then climbed up again, suddenly weightless, and fell back into the water. This time, the fall was extremely heavy, and the bones of the whole body were almost scattered. He rested for a while, and then slowly climbed up with one breath. This time, when he was halfway up, he heard footsteps again. Tang Zhou was in a dilemma. If he dived again, he would not have the strength to escape, but it would be easy to be discovered by staying here.
Suddenly a hemp rope hangs down and extends all the way into the water.
The people above didn't speak, just waited quietly. After a while, Tang Zhou held the hemp rope, wrapped it around his wrist a few times, and walked slowly up the wall of the well. When he was still three or four feet away from the wellhead, he let go of the hemp rope, lifted his breath and shot up, and the sudden light in front of him made him narrow his eyes.
The rising sun is coming in the east, and the morning sun is shining brightly. The gloomy-looking woman lowered her body and undid the hemp rope tied to the tree beside it, and rolled it up a few times. Tang Zhou couldn't help but say, "It's you."
The woman glanced at him coldly, with a strange smile on the corner of her mouth: "Of course it's me, otherwise who do you think it would be? My sister, my father, or your clever and clever little junior sister?"
Tang Zhou smiled bitterly: "Thank you."
Shen Yijun threw a roll of hemp rope aside and said coldly, "It seems that you have seen and heard a lot of things that you shouldn't know this night in the well." He swept back and said softly: "Your little junior sister is right. I always didn't want you to find out the secret about this Zhuangzi, but I don't want you to know it anyway."
Tang Zhou was silent. The warm spring sunshine reflected on the body, and the originally numb body began to feel a little warm.
"My mother is from the Yi ethnic group, she fell in love with my father, and even married him despite the opposition of the tribe. My mother... She actually knows witchcraft, but because my father doesn't like it, she has been hiding it. But… "
This paragraph is exactly the same as what Master Shen said before, and it is not false if you think about it.
"However, my father found out soon after, but he didn't blame my mother. Because of this matter, my mother is more obedient to him." Shen Yijun took a deep breath, "One day nine years ago, my mother went to I collected herbs in the deep mountains, but they didn't come back. Everyone searched many times but couldn't find them, so everyone said that my mother met pythons in the deep mountains and was torn up and swallowed by them. I don't believe it, there is one I went out to look for it at night. When I came back, it was only after the second watch. I saw a man who looked like Dad’s back was burying something, so I hid behind the bushes to watch. Dad was buried and left. I just wanted to go out, but I was afraid. He suddenly came back to check, so he had to squat without daring to move. Sure enough, it didn't take long for Dad to turn back and leave when he saw no one." The haze in her eyes deepened, and she said coldly, "I squatted so much that my legs and feet were numb. , I finally got up and walked to the place where Daddy buried the things, digging with both hands, the nails were also dug out, and the hands were covered with blood, and finally I saw the things buried inside." She smiled strangely at Tang Zhou: "Guess what I saw?"
Tang Zhou whispered, "... Is it Ling Tang's corpse?"
Shen Yijun nodded: "It's my mother's corpse. Her whole body is shriveled, as if she was sucked out of all the blood. She was not eaten by the python at all, but was killed by my father! This beast, After knowing that my mother knew the art of witchcraft, I begged her to teach him, and then used this method to kill her. Later, my father probably discovered that the place where he was buried had been dug up, and he began to suspect the two of us. My sister is Stupid, he didn't know anything, and he was the only one who could suspect me. I didn't know how much I had to suffer in order not to be seen by him. Later, our family moved to this Qingshi town, and there were always strange people in this town. When I die, I understand what's going on when I see the death, but there is no way to stop it."
When she said this, tears were already in her eyes: "Fortunately, my sister... She doesn't understand anything, she doesn't know anything, all this, as long as I understand it alone is enough." She wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve. : "The Taoist priest named Ling Xuzi you know was killed by my father. I'm afraid he also found something. Mr. Tang, I think you should leave, the sooner the better. Your junior sister is still young, and so on. Smart, it would be a pity to die in this living dead village."
Tang Zhou finally thought of what the flash of thought was before: the family behaved strangely everywhere, and they were obviously father and daughter, but they were wary of each other and slandered each other.
Shen Yijun mentioned Yan Dan twice, which also gave him a bad intuition. Yan Dan wouldn't have any surprises, but he was banned from most of the magic spells, and it is very possible to encounter things that cannot be dealt with.
He turned and turned back to the vestibule, bumping into someone around the corner. The man's body was soft, and he let out a soft snort, but it was Yan Dan's accent.
Yan Dan tilted his head, looked at his wet and embarrassed appearance, and said with a slight smile, "Hey, senior brother, why did you go swimming early in the morning?"
Tang Zhou looked at her and saw that she had a delightful smile, her complexion was fair and pale, like a good white porcelain that was just born.
Yan Dan heard the voice-over, stepped forward and said softly: "It's still April, how can you live if you catch a cold? Senior brother, go and change your clothes quickly."
Tang Zhou returned to the guest room and was about to take off his robe, when he realized that Yan Dan had also come in, Shi Shiran sat down at the table, supporting Yi with one hand and fiddling with the teacup with the other. Tang Zhou glanced at her: "Aren't you avoiding it?"
Yan Dan smiled and said, "I'm just sitting here talking, and I won't look at you." She paused, then added, "You asked me yesterday if you sometimes have an illusion, but you were in that well. What did you see?"
This matter is nothing compared to the most important thing. Tang Zhou casually hummed and changed his soaked clothes.
Yan Dan smiled lightly: "This matter is very important, don't perfunctory me."
Tang Zhou looked at her and said slowly, "Do you already know something?"
Yan Dan rolled his eyes and settled on him quietly, the corners of his mouth slightly curved: "Why don't we talk about the conditions again? I'll tell you everything I know, and then you will unblock me."
Tang Zhou immediately said, "Don't even think about it." If she knew it, he knew it all, and this kind of exchange was meaningless.
Yan Dan stood up abruptly: "Since we can't agree, then we have to forget it." Seeing her walking to the door, Tang Zhou almost wanted to stop her, but he finally held back. Sure enough, Yan Dan turned around and asked without giving up: "Are you really not agreeing?"
Tang Zhou laughed in his heart: "Instead of trusting you, I might as well think for myself."
Yan Dan sighed and had no choice but to return.
Tang Zhou put on his robe, the hand that tied the belt suddenly slipped, and the belt fell to the ground. He slowly lowered his body to pick it up, and suddenly thought of one thing: Judging from what Mr. Shen did, he didn't know why the well edge collapsed. So, did someone cut the edge of the well on purpose, or was it just a coincidence that the edge of the well collapsed just then
If this is just a coincidence, then there are too many such coincidences. How did Shen Yijun know that he was at the bottom of the well? Why did Master Shen leave with Shen Xiangjun halfway through
If someone did it on purpose, what was the point of doing it
Yan Dan sat on the edge of the lotus pond, put her hand into the water, and a small fish cautiously approached, bit her fingertips, and swung her tail away with a swish. She couldn't help chuckling, and after a while, she saw the little fish slowly approaching, bit her tentatively, and then escaped, but this time it didn't hide as far as last time.
Yan Dan touched her face and was very distressed: "Am I so unbelievable? People are always smiling and so friendly..." She suddenly heard footsteps approaching behind her, and saw a slender figure. The woman was already standing behind her. She smiled slightly: "Miss Shen."
The woman smiled playfully: "I will talk to the birds. Seeing that you often sit here, are you talking to the fish?"
Yan Dan nodded: "Yes, they tell me a lot of things."
Shen Xiangjun sat down beside her and tilted his head slightly: "What would the fish say?"
"They said that there are many resentful spirits here, and they can't leave unless they are restrained. They also said that when entering this village, you must bring something to ward off evil spirits." Yan Dan raised his hand and shook it, "Fortunately, my brother gave me this before. Bracelet. This bracelet also has the Taoist method he made. Even if something bad happens to me, he can feel it."
Shen Xiangjun stretched out his hand and touched the bracelet on her wrist. The tentacles were smooth and moist: "This bracelet is very beautiful and feels very comfortable to touch. He treats you so well..."
Yan Dan was so choked that Tang Zhou's "benefits" for treating her were simply too numerous to describe, and the world could not tolerate it. However, she felt that there was no need to cry to the other party, so she could only hum in embarrassment.
Shen Xiangjun looked at her, his eyes were crystal clear, and there were a few ripples in his eyes. Yan Dan stared at her for a moment, looking dazed, and slowly closed her eyes. Shen Xiangjun reached out and took off the bracelet on her wrist, and threw it into the lotus pond, only to hear a thud, and the bracelet immediately sank to the bottom of the pond.
She slowly lowered her face, her eyes were vaguely fierce, and said coldly: "Without this bracelet to ward off evil spirits, what's the use of being a little clever?" She stood up, and Sister Hu, who had brought them to the Shen residence, came over immediately. , wrapped the wide robe around Yan Dan, then picked her up and said with a smile, "Miss, this little girl is so light that she doesn't seem to have any bones."
Shen Yijun pulled the corner of her mouth, revealing a weird smile: "If your body is heavier, you'd better suffer less." She walked straight to the backyard, and Sister Hu followed Yan Dan with her arms in her arms.
When Shen Yijun walked to the abandoned well, she stopped, turned her head and said to Mrs. Hu, "Throw it down." Mrs. Hu threw Yan Dan into the well, only to hear the sound of water, and the robe wrapped around her immediately floated up. came up. Shen Yijun glanced at the flat slate lying nearby, and reached out and grabbed the end: "lift this slate and press it on the well."
With a click, the slate was firmly pressed against the edge of the well, and there were still some gaps in the collapsed area, but the gap was too small for a child to crawl through.
Shen Yijun stretched out his hand and pressed it on the slate, then brushed off the ash on his hand, and the smile that slowly bloomed was like a spring flower.