While they were discussing, Zhang Jianfeng's cell phone suddenly rang, and he answered a question. It turned out to be the call from Li Zhuang, who had arranged the wake. He could only hear him trembling inside: "Brother Zhang, are you coming back soon?" ?" Zhang Jianfeng said dumbfounded: "What are you doing? Just wear more clothes when it's cold." Li Zhuang said: "I'm a little scared here alone, why don't you find someone to change with me? I don't want to keep watch anymore." Zhang Jianfeng said He said: "Your leg was injured yesterday. Don't move around too much. Just stay there. What are you afraid of?" Li Zhuang said anxiously: "No, I just heard the sound of dripping water outside the door. It was very loud. , It sounds very harsh. I'm afraid it's Wang Xinjun who's back..." Zhang Jianfeng interrupted him with laughter: "You are a man after all, but you are afraid of dripping water? Besides, although Wang Xinjun died unfortunately, he was the driver. It's our fault, not ours. What will he do to you when he comes back? Besides, it's not the time to return to the Soul Night yet. Don't be so chatty that you're about to catch up with the girl." Without further ado, he hung up the phone. He said to Xiaolan: "Let's go and buy talisman paper."
After finally buying all the things they needed to buy, Xiaolan and Zhang Jianfeng started to go back to the dormitory. When they arrived downstairs, Xiaolan suddenly said "ouch": "You go up first, I have something to do." Zhang Jianfeng grabbed her and said: " What do you want to say first? Don’t you want to carry these things upstairs?” Xiaolan smashed a bunch of paper figures on Zhang Jianfeng’s body: “Do I have to report to your uncle Zhang when my aunt is going to the toilet? "After that, he ran away in a hurry. Zhang Jianfeng struggled to drag a lot of things to the stairs, while gritting his teeth and said: "I just passed countless toilets, why didn't I see you wanting to use them?"
"Li Zhuang, open the door! Li Zhuang! It's me!" No matter how Zhang Jianfeng shouted outside the door, there was no response from inside. Was he so scared that he ran out? Thinking of this, Zhang Jianfeng hurriedly looked for the key to open the door, and said at the same time: "This damn Li Zhuang actually ran out. What if the incense went out or caused a fire?" When he opened the door, there was no one in the room. Zhang Jianfeng I quickly went to see the spirit and thanked him a lot. I almost finished lighting the incense, so I quickly took three more incense sticks to pay my respects and put them in. While putting the incense, Zhang Jianfeng suddenly caught a glimpse of some liquid flowing out of Wang Xinjun's eyes on the portrait. Zhang Jianfeng looked up in shock, only to find that the portrait was covered with a thick layer of mist. The mist around his eyes liquefied into water and fell down when he was smelled by incense. Strange, the weather has been so dry these days, not even a drop of rain has fallen, how could it be so humid
"Duk duk duk" there was a knock on the door. Only then did Zhang Jianfeng wake up from his reverie and responded, "Here we come." He strode toward the door. As soon as he walked to the door, he felt that the ground was a little sticky. He looked down and saw a large water stain on the ground. A dry rice straw was lying on the water stain. For some reason, Zhang Jianfeng's heart skipped a beat. The strips of rice straw looked very familiar, as if they had been seen before. Zhang Jianfeng couldn't help but slowly squat down, put his head close to the ground, and looked at the rice straw carefully, thinking: I clearly remember seeing it somewhere, but why can't I remember it? At this time, the door banged again. Zhang Jianfeng hated being disturbed when he was deep in thought. He tilted his head and shouted: "Are you too lazy to even take out the key? Open the door yourself!" However, when he finished shouting this sentence, Zhang Jianfeng found that no more words could come out of his throat. There was a sound, because at the moment when he turned his head, he clearly saw through the crack in the door that it was empty outside, without any trace of human feet or shoes. In other words, there was no one outside the door, so the knock on the door...
"Tick-tock" "Tick-tock" Two clear sounds came from outside the door. Zhang Jianfeng leaned down to look at the crack in the door again. The area between the inside and outside of the door was already wet. At the same time, scattered water drops continued to fall from the crack in the door. "Tuk-tuk" the knock on the door rang again. Zhang Jianfeng understood it as soon as he thought about it and said with a smile: "Li Zhuang, please stop trying to trick me and come out quickly. I have already guessed it was you." He went to open the door. At this time, a hissing sound like something burning suddenly came from his arms. Zhang Jianfeng was startled. He quickly put his hands into the inner bag and rummaged around, but he pulled out a piece of paper. What was originally white has turned into black. It was given to him by his boss when he bought the talisman. He said that if he meets an evil spirit, the paper will turn black, which is very useful. At that time, he thought the boss was trying to sell his business, so he just laughed it off and put it in his pocket to throw it away. Now, it couldn't be more real, turning black like magic.
"I just heard the sound of dripping water outside the door," Li Zhuang's voice passed by Zhang Jianfeng's ear: "I'm afraid Wang Xinjun is back..." Zhang Jianfeng suddenly felt a cold chill all over his body, and he stared at the Before the door was opened, he took a deep breath, put his hand on the door handle, and with a little force, the lock unscrewed. Zhang Jianfeng slowly opened the door, and there was no one outside. Only a large pool of water was left on the ground, which was shocking among the surrounding dry ground. Zhang Jianfeng looked outside the door. The long corridor was extremely quiet. The people in the surrounding dormitories were all from the same class, and they all went out to buy things. This meant that he was the only one in this corridor on this floor. If someone really knocked on the door just now, then this little time is definitely not enough for him to run through this long corridor and hide, so that means...
Zhang Jianfeng carefully avoided the water stain, went out to the corridor, and looked under the balcony. It was quiet and there was nothing unusual. Just when Zhang Jianfeng was hesitating whether to go to the corner of the stairs to take a look, at the end of the corridor Suddenly a childish voice floated from the sky: "Hee hee, how good is my sister?" "Tianjun Talisman!" Zhang Jianfeng didn't even turn his head, and instinctively waved a yellow talisman towards the place where the sound originated. The yellow talisman turned into a blazing flame, roared past, and hit the floor at the end of the corridor with a blinding light. When Zhang Jianfeng hurried over to take a look, the yellow talisman had been burned down to the last remnant, and the burned ashes contained a very obvious cyan color. In other words, there was really something non-human hiding here just now, and the yellow talisman was The talisman also hit it, but why can't I smell its death? Did it escape
"Hehe..." Laughter came again, this time from the stairs. At the same time, a steady sound of footsteps was clearly heard on the stairs. Zhang Jianfeng suddenly woke up: It's broken, Xiaolan is coming up. Just when she was about to run over there, she saw that Xiaolan had already come up safely. When she saw Zhang Jianfeng standing at the end of the corridor and looking at her blankly, she was shocked: "Eh? What are you doing standing there? What? Why is your face so pale?" Zhang Jianfeng forced a smile and tried his best to keep his tone calm and gentle: "Did you see anything when you came upstairs just now?" Xiaolan said blankly: "What did you see? What did you mean? What?" Didn't see it? Zhang Jianfeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said listlessly: "It's okay if there's nothing."
"Where is Li Zhuang?" Xiaolan immediately discovered the problem. Zhang Jianfeng thought for a while and said, "He just called and said that he was scared. I guess this kid couldn't hold himself back and ran out." Xiaolan undoubtedly had He was quickly attracted by the water stains at the door: "Who is this? He is so wicked that he made the door wet." As he said this, he glared at Zhang Jianfeng. Zhang Jianfeng smiled bitterly and said: "It's not me. I came back with you. Needless to say, it was also the kid Li Zhuang who did it." Xiaolan said doubtfully: "He was just afraid of running out. Why did he pour water here? Still here? Putting a rice straw here is really a troublemaker!" He complained as he went in. Zhang Jianfeng watched her put things away, then hurriedly knelt down to pick up the rice straw and put it in his pocket.
People came back one after another, and more and more things were placed. Finally, Xiao Qing, who was coordinating the girls' side, also came over. Xiaolan started to count the people and found that only Li Zhuang was missing. Xiaolan asked in surprise: "Li Zhuang hasn't come back yet?" Xiao Qing asked hurriedly: "Where did Li Zhuang go? Didn't he say to keep a vigil?" Xiaolan said: "Yes, but he seems to be very scared. When we get back we will I can't see him anymore. I think he ran out to seek refuge." Zhang Jianfeng said: "He has an injury on his foot. Even if he goes out, he won't go far. There must be something wrong if he hasn't been back for so long. I'll go out and look for him." Xiao Qing stopped him and said: "But the wake time is about to begin. I heard that if you miss the time, the effect of the wake will be greatly reduced. You are a member of the magic world, don't you know this common sense? For Wang Xinjun , I suggest that Xiaolan preside over the ceremony first, which will only last a few minutes, and then you go out to find him when the official wake is reached." What Xiaoqing said was reasonable, and Zhang Jianfeng had to stop reluctantly.
Thus, the wake ceremony officially began. Xiaolan was originally timid about hosting this memorial ceremony, but as the squad leader, she had no choice but to stand beside the portrait and said: "Wang Xinjun's memorial ceremony begins now. First of all, three moments of silence..." Zhang Jianfeng, who had been standing by the door, suddenly heard The familiar sound of dripping water came from outside the door again, and he shouted: "Who is outside?!" A voice immediately came from outside and said: "I am Li Zhuang." Is it Li Zhuang? The whole class was stunned for a moment. Chen Zhongxin hurriedly ran up and opened the door: "Thank God, you are finally willing to come back." However, when Chen Zhongxin opened the door, he was shocked. Li Zhuang stood outside all wet, like a drowned rat, with drops of water dripping from his hair. He looked at him haggardly. Chen Zhongxin was surprised and suspicious: "You... what's wrong with you? What's the matter? It ended up like this?" Li Zhuang waved his hands and said: "Don't say it. I was so lucky that I accidentally slipped and fell into the East Lake. Fortunately, I can swim and managed to climb out." Chen Zhongxin stepped aside and said: "Go in and change clothes quickly. , be careful to catch a cold." Li Zhuang hurriedly ducked inside and bumped into Zhang Jianfeng. Xiaolan was surprised to find that Zhang Jianfeng's face was even paler than Li Zhuang's. Zhang Jianfeng looked around Li Zhuang's whole body twice before saying slowly: "It seems, I remember, there are railings around the East Lake." Li Zhuang was stunned for a moment and said: "Yes, my watch fell off , I went over the railing to pick it up, and then fell in. What? Is there anything wrong?" Zhang Jianfeng shook his head, but his eyes moved upward and said: "There seems to be something on your hair?" Li Zhuang touched it with his hand. , turned out to be a dry rice straw. Xiaolan couldn't help but said: "Really, who buys groceries? Throwing those straws everywhere. Just now I saw another one by the door." When Li Zhuang heard this, his whole body couldn't help but trembled slightly. Zhang Jianfeng had already He took the rice straw and said, "Leave it to me. You can quickly change your clothes." After saying that, he stuffed the rice straw into his pocket.
After Xiaolan stammered out her eulogy, there was a three-minute silence. Zhang Jianfeng lowered his head and held tightly the two rice straws he said he wanted to throw away. It looked familiar, it really looked familiar. Why did a few rice straws give him such a big shock? He must have seen it in some unusual place. Zhang Jianfeng thought of the scene of the car accident almost immediately. In those three minutes, he repeatedly recalled the incident of the car accident: Wang Xinjun strode across the road, tilted his head to the left, the truck rushed over, and then people on both sides screamed, and then a pool of smelly darkness poured out from under the tires. Red blood, and later...it seemed like the police had arrived. hateful! Zhang Jianfeng remembered that his master once told him about the symptom of "memory blank period". After a person is stimulated by the extremely cruel and painful death method of the same kind around him, the memory of the incident will be interrupted or even completely forgotten. That car accident was so weird that even though he had received formal Taoist training, he still couldn't connect the whole thing. If I had known today, I should have gone to Jiuhua Mountain to practice hard.
After the silence, everyone was speechless for a moment. I don’t know who mentioned the unscrupulous driver. Everyone was filled with indignation and scolded each other in a low voice. Some said they saw the driver laughing and rushing over, and some said they suspected that the driver had a grudge against Wang Xinjun. There are different opinions about going to demonstrations to increase pressure on the courts. Xiaolan glanced at the portrait. On it, Wang Xinjun had a cool and sullen face, but Xiaolan always felt that the corners of his mouth were curved upward, just like the weird smile he gave before he died. Thinking of this, I felt a cold wind blowing, and I suddenly became scared. Could it be that Wang Xinjun had really come back? Xiaolan felt her heart tingling, and quickly found an excuse to go outside. Facing the biting cold wind, she walked along the railing for a while before she felt better. Thinking of going to see the rotting corpse tomorrow, she got a headache again. When he lowered his head, he saw a large puddle under his feet, and at the same time, he clearly heard a "tick-tock" sound of dripping water coming from behind him. Xiaolan quickly turned around, and there was a figure behind her. Xiaolan was startled: "Li Zhuang? Didn't I tell you to change clothes? Why are you still so wet?" Li Zhuang smiled lightly and said: "It doesn't matter, wait. It won't be too late to change. I have something important to say to you. Can you come with me for a while?" Xiaolan said: "Your face is as white as a piece of paper, and you said it doesn't matter. Go and change your clothes quickly. ! Let’s talk about it if there’s anything else.” Li Zhuang said anxiously: “No, this sentence is extremely urgent and must be said now. Follow me downstairs to find a secret place.” Seeing Xiaolan’s face full of suspicion , paused and then said: "It's about Wang Xinjun's death, don't you want to know?" He dragged Xiaolan past and ran downstairs: "If it's too late, it's too late."
"Where are you two going in such a hurry? You will be punished for sneaking out halfway." Zhang Jianfeng appeared at the top of the stairs with a smile. Li Zhuang changed his expression and said: "You... why are you here?" Zhang Jianfeng said: "Like you two, you can't sit still inside and come outside to enjoy the breeze. But you two went too far and even wanted to sneak away Go downstairs." Xiaolan hurriedly defended: "Li Zhuang said he wanted to tell me something important, about the car accident. Don't accuse people unjustly." Zhang Jianfeng said: "Xinjun has already left, what else is important? Are you going to help him keep his wake? It doesn't matter if you two ran downstairs, but we will be offering incense together later. If everyone finds out that you two are not there, I'm afraid the impact will not be good. Li Zhuang, what do you mean? What?" Xiaolan said: "That's true. How about Li Zhuang, go change your clothes first, warm your hands, and then talk to me." Li Zhuang forced a smile and said, "That's all we have to do." I pushed the door open and went in. Looking at Li Zhuang's back, a strange smile appeared on Zhang Jianfeng's face.
Zhang Jianfeng watched Li Zhuang enter, then whispered to Xiaolan: "Miss, didn't I tell you? Don't run around." Xiaolan spat and said: "I'm not a child, I want you to teach me a lesson! Zhang Jianfeng said: "Tonight is the night of returning to the soul, which is unusual. Haven't you heard of the legend of the night of returning to the soul? According to folklore, the soul of the dead must pass through the Naihe Bridge, drink Mengpo soup, and forget all the worldly things before being reborn. Fate. In order to commemorate the memory that is about to be lost, the soul of the deceased who is attached to the people in life will usually return to the place where he lived for the last night in the first seven nights. In order for the soul of the deceased to enter reincarnation without regrets, all his relatives and friends must keep vigil. , wait for the dead soul to come and join them. Because the dead souls come in from the main entrance, if someone runs around at this time, the dead souls will be scared away. Now you run from east to west, and be careful to scare away the dead souls of Xinjun. When you arrive, If he can't be reborn then, don't blame me if he becomes an unjust ghost and wants to settle a score with you." Xiaolan said in fear, "Is that so? Are you scaring... me?" Zhang Jianfeng was so angry with her that she said, "I said that. My saliva has dried up. Does it take so much effort to scare someone?" Xiaolan looked around at the dark railings, tugged on Zhang Jianfeng's lapel and said, "Hey, um, are all folklore reliable?" Zhang Jianfeng said: "I don't know about this. I've heard about it too. Since you want to know, it's very simple. I'll cast a spell to call Xinjun out and you can ask him face to face, okay?" "No!" Xiaolan screamed and immediately got into the door. No trace inside. Zhang Jianfeng shook his head and said with a smile: "It's really hard not to scare these little girls."