Jing Jiujiu and his group arrived at Zhou City Airport.
"Where is your home?" Jing Jiujiu asked.
Master Zhou: "Follow me."
Jing Jiujiu and Bai Yuhuai had never been here before, so they followed Master Zhou upon hearing the voice.
This time, I first took a taxi, then the subway, and then hired a car from a car dealership, and drove on a muddy and bumpy road.
Bai Yuhuai raised his eyes: "Out of the third ring?"
Master Zhou: "Hey, my home must be outside the seventh or eighth ring road."
When they arrived, they finally understood what Master Zhou meant by the seventh and eighth rings.
His home is on a highway near Zhou City. It takes half an hour to walk on the rugged road to reach the entrance of the village.
With the advancement of urbanization, the number of people living in rural areas has been decreasing.
When they stepped into the village, it was indeed a little quiet inside, and it was obvious that not many people lived there.
Master Zhou led them around a few corners and stopped in front of a mahogany door.
Behind the wooden door is a small courtyard commonly seen in rural areas, with a wall of moderate height and an electric fence connected to the wall... It looks like this is a relatively well-off family.
Master Zhou raised his hand to push the door open, and a lot of dust fell down, choking him and making him cough several times.
Jing Jiujiu handed him a handkerchief.
Master Zhou took it and wiped his face: "… I haven't been back for a long time, haha, I'm a little embarrassed. There's dust everywhere."
At this time, an old woman passed by with a backpack on her back. She heard their movements and looked sideways: "...Who?"
"Oh, Lao Zhou. Why are you back?"
"Didn't you say you were going to the construction site to earn money to look for your son?"
The old woman asked in a nagging manner.
The smile on Master Zhou's face slowly faded, and he said, "... I didn't find it."
Old woman: "What about your granddaughter and your daughter-in-law?"
Master Zhou: “No.”
The old woman sighed and said, "Didn't they say they would call the police? Did you do that?"
Master Zhou: "I reported it. ... I can't find it." He said this, then stepped into the door first, and then turned around and called Jing Jiujiu: "Young Master, come in quickly..."
The old woman stood there, muttering to herself: "Oh, what kind of rich person did you bring here? It looks very valuable. Are you going to sell this place? Rich people still buy this?"
She muttered to herself and then walked away alone.
Jing Jiujiu looked back, then obediently let Bai Yuhuai hold her hand and walk in.
He couldn't help but whispered, "Why do you always hold my hand?"
He is already in his twenties!
Although those seven years in the castle were basically wasted!
Bai Yuhuai pinched his palm: "…Because we are in love."
Yes, he likes Bai Yuhuai, and Bai Yuhuai likes him too. They can now date openly and legitimately! Is this what you have to do when you are in love
Jing Jiujiu suddenly realized, and his heart was pounding. He unconsciously raised his hand and touched his chest. Oh, well, it was still very calm there, and there was no heart pounding.
Jing Jiujiu followed in with brisk steps, but slowly, his steps faltered...
There was corn drying in the yard, pumpkins hanging on the wall, and a bunch of red peppers.
But the corn had long been covered with a thick layer of dust, and the kernels were shrunken and moldy. The pumpkins had also shrunk, almost hollow in the middle, and covered with spider webs. The red peppers had turned into black peppers…
A farm scene that should have a strong sense of life was painted gray and dilapidated as if the wrong paint was used.
Master Zhou pressed his handkerchief to his face, as if to keep away dust. He chuckled and said, "I left in a hurry. Once I left... I never came back."
Jing Jiujiu hummed softly and walked into the living room.
Master Zhou grabbed the broom in one hand and swept the floor: "I'll chase away the bugs first..."
Bai Yuhuai didn't say anything. He just reached out and grabbed Jing Jiujiu's waist and picked her up.
That way, he won't be scared by bugs.
Jing Jiujiu was surprised for a moment, but soon he leaned on Bai Yuhuai happily.
It’s great to be in love!
No need to walk by yourself!
After Master Zhou danced around for a while, he went to the kitchen to get cups and a kettle.
Jing Jiujiu stretched her neck to look at the furnishings in the living room.
The living room is not small, but there are not many pieces of furniture in it, so it looks a bit empty.
Looking again, there was an old group photo pasted on the wall.
In the group photo, Master Zhou is slightly bent over with a warm smile on his face, and two people are standing on his left and right. The two people are holding rice and oil in their hands respectively.
Looking at the lower right corner of the photo, there is a line of words written crookedly: "Thanks to the country..."
Bai Yuhuai knows more than Jing Jiujiu because he needs to understand the relationships between different characters when acting.
Bai Yuhuai whispered, "The Zhou family used to be a poor household."
Jing Jiujiu: “Ah.”
The Master Zhou in the photo and the Master Zhou now do not seem to be the same person.
Bai Yuhuai turned his head and glanced at the stack of books on the Eight Immortals Table.
The covers of those books were either yellow or red, and the designs were very sloppily done. It was hard to tell at first glance that they didn't look like they were published by any reputable publishing house.
Bai Yuhuai walked over holding Jing Jiujiu and briefly flipped through it with his hand.
Printed on the cover were "Feng Shui: Teach You From Beginner to Burial", "38 Strategies of Face Reading", "Folk Customs and Tales That Can Help You"... At the bottom was a tattered dictionary that looked like it had been read to pieces.
Jing Jiujiu held Bai Yuhuai's waist, leaned sideways and lowered her head, and took out a note from the book.
"Qi, refers to tools and utensils..."
There are many notes like this, all of which are sandwiched in the book, and they all contain pinyin and interpretation notes of partial fonts.
The words above also change.
The first ones were crooked and looked like they were drawn, but the ones that followed were much neater.
Jing Jiujiu was slightly surprised: "... Master Zhou is illiterate?"
At this time, Master Zhou was still covering his face with one hand and holding a tray with a kettle and a cup in the other.
"It's clean." Master Zhou said, "You have to wait for me. There's no water in the pipe. I'll go check the well..."
Bai Yuhuai: “No need.”
Master Zhou: "Oh, I still want it. You come to my house as a guest, even though it's quite shabby... but you still want to pour me some tea."
After he finished speaking, Master Zhou saw the stack of books and said, "Excuse me, young master. I didn't know how to read before. I learned it later..."
After saying this, Master Zhou turned around and hurried out.
Jing Jiujiu pointed to the wall beside her and said, "Look there."
Bai Yuhuai carried him over.
There was no light on that wall, and there was a large photo hanging on it. It was because of the dim light that they didn't see it just now.
The photo was a common enlarged one, with not very high pixels and without even a border. It was hung up with a rope and attached to a nail on the wall.
The photo was also covered with a thick layer of dust, but the content on it could still be vaguely seen.
Master Zhou sat on a stool and smiled stiffly, as if it was his first time taking a photo.
He looked younger at the time, wearing an army green hat and dressed in a very 70s style.
Next to him was a little girl standing on his knees. The girl was wearing a bright red cotton-padded jacket. She had one hand in her mouth and the other hand was holding a pink lollipop.
Behind them was a man in his thirties wearing an ill-fitting jacket, but he was smiling brightly. Next to him was a slightly timid woman wearing a coat without waistband and ears, with a rose-red scarf tied around her neck. The combination was a bit rustic, but also eye-catching enough. At that time, dressing like this for taking photos should have been very popular.
Bai Yuhuai said calmly, "The daughter-in-law and granddaughter of Master Zhou mentioned by the old lady."
Jing Jiujiu nodded and frowned in confusion: "Are they all missing?"
Master Zhou walked in from behind, holding an empty pot in his hand. The empty pot swayed back and forth, making slight noises.
He sighed and said, "The wells are all dry."
As he spoke, he continued what Jing Jiujiu had said: "No. Only my son is missing..." He paused and said: "My daughter-in-law and my little granddaughter... are dead."
Jing Jiujiu turned her head in astonishment: "Dead?"
Master Zhou nodded, put the empty pot on the table, and without even noticing the thick dust on the stool, he just sat down.
He tilted his head slightly, as if he was looking at the photo, or at the ceiling. He put one hand on his face, moved his lips, and said, "My daughter-in-law and granddaughter live in the town. That year, my son ran home and kept saying that something was chasing him and he had to hide. How did I know what was going on? I just let him live at home.
"He covered himself with a blanket every day and bought a curtain to hang on the window to block out the light. He was scared to death. There was nothing I could do, so I cooked for him and brought him food every day... He stayed like this for seven or eight days, and then he was gone the next day."
"I couldn't understand why he was just gone. I thought, maybe he was after something and came after me. I looked everywhere for him but couldn't find him. The village secretary called the police for me but they couldn't find him either... A blind man in the village said, maybe some ghost is targeting us. So I bought a few books from the blind man... just these few books. I wanted to know what kind of ghost could have such a power. But I couldn't read after I bought them. How much money did we have back then? How could we afford to send him to school? My son went to school with the money he earned from farming...
"The village party secretary tried to persuade me that it wasn't a ghost. There are no ghosts now, so it might have gone back to the city. I didn't listen. I thought it was a ghost, otherwise why would my son be so scared? The village party secretary couldn't persuade me, so he gave me a dictionary and said that I could learn a few words, so that I could buy a ticket to go to the town to see my daughter-in-law, and maybe I could find my son..."
Master Zhou took the book and flipped it roughly, causing a lot of dust to fly.
He narrowed his eyes and pressed the handkerchief tighter on his face.
"I learned to recognize words every day. If I couldn't recognize any, I would go and ask the village party secretary. He was a college student... he could read. I actually hadn't finished reading the two books below. I read them for a month. The town police came to tell me that they still hadn't found the person, and my daughter-in-law was missing.
"I quickly asked the village party secretary to buy me a bus ticket and went to the town. My son bought a house in the town, which was only more than 30 square meters. When I got there, I saw someone banging on the door..."
At this point, Master Zhou's voice was filled with anger.
Master Zhou gritted his teeth and said, "I saw this and realized what the hell he was hiding from. He was hiding from his creditors! They were all here to collect debts! They were all very fierce, throwing paint and writing big words... I told them, I'll pay for it, no matter how much they owe me, my son is missing, I have to go see my daughter-in-law and granddaughter first..."
"Good fellow, he owes 80,000 yuan. Even if you kill me, you can't get the money out..."
Jing Jiujiu tilted her head in confusion.
Then... why did Master Zhou later feel that his son was missing like those people
Aren’t you hiding from debt
Master Zhou muttered, "The debt collectors cursed at me a bit, saying that I'm not to be trifled with. ... Hey, you think I'm quite moral, right? They didn't catch me and beat me up."
"I waited until they left before I took out my key and went in. Just as they said, there was no one inside. Not to mention my daughter-in-law, I didn't even see my granddaughter. I was thinking, could it be that these people couldn't catch my son, so they kidnapped them? I was so anxious that I went to the store downstairs, took out 50 cents, and asked the owner to call the police for me."
Master Zhou raised his head higher: "When I went back to wait for the police, I always smelled something bad. I was very familiar with that bad smell. When I was young, I often carried corpses in the countryside to make money. I carried corpses that others were unwilling to carry. I could earn an extra 18 yuan... I was anxious and looked everywhere. Under the bed, in the cabinet... I couldn't find it. I saw a huge cardboard box in the living room with an electric fan on top. I walked over and took the electric fan. Inside the cardboard box, my little granddaughter and her mother were wrapped tightly with tape, curled up with their heads down, and their bodies had long been hard. When I touched them, they were cold. But they looked like they were still asleep..."
He murmured to himself, and the handkerchief could finally no longer cover his tears. Two muddy tears mixed with dust flowed down his face.
"How strange is this death? No fingerprints, no other traces. It's not homicide. But if you say it's suicide, could someone wrap tape around himself and suffocate himself in a box? And then turn on an electric fan after he died? I think this is really weird, really weird!" Master Zhou's veins were bulging.
He held the dusty books tightly in his hands and asked Bai Yuhuai, "Mr. Bai, isn't that right?"
Bai Yuhuai: "If I could see the photos of the scene, maybe I would know what happened."
Master Zhou nodded and said, "Oh, let's talk about it later. I stayed in the town for three months. I didn't expect that I would never go back home after that. ... But it doesn't matter now. Anyway, everyone in the family is dead, so how can there be a home
"I wanted to look up some books to find out what the hell this thing was. But I didn't have enough money. Books are expensive in the city, more than 10 or 20 yuan a copy. How could I afford it? So they told me to take the money to a bigger provincial capital, saying there was a library there where I could find any book I wanted and borrow it for free. So I took a train to the provincial capital..."
"I didn't find anything..." Master Zhou pressed the handkerchief hard, "Nothing... I have never heard from my son since then. Nothing at all... I also heard that there is a demigod in the south of the city who can tell fortunes. I went to ask him, and he charged 300 yuan for a divination! Why didn't he just rob him? I was listening nearby, and I was like, damn, he doesn't even know as much as I do from reading books!"
Jing Jiujiu said in a low voice: "... Then, you will also become a half-immortal?"
Master Zhou nodded, "I started mixing cement on the construction site. There were some young people on the construction site who said that if they couldn't find it in the book, they could look for it on the Internet. I listened to them, took the money, and went to the Internet cafe. There was a forum for metaphysics exchange... Oh, what Ouija... what are those things... It was full of people teaching people how to play with these things, and there was no serious one. I looked again, and all the people who spoke were young people in their teens and twenties... These people don't know how to be respectful. They have never seen what it looks like when someone dies quietly and tragically. That's not scary, it's painful. My granddaughter's daughter-in-law died, and I felt as if my intestines were ruptured in my stomach... I advised them not to mess around."
Master Zhou laughed muffledly, "Ha! In the end, these little brats were not persuaded. But someone came to me, calling me Master, and gave me 10,000 yuan, saying that I must know something, and asked me to help him tell his fortune... Where had I seen 10,000 yuan at that time? I took it and gave it to the creditor. So, my son is so useless, maybe he learned it from me. He can't walk when he sees money... It only took me three years to pay off the 80,000 yuan. Later, more and more people came to me for fortune-telling... I thought, I have only met some half-immortals... Will I meet a real immortal one day? He can answer my doubts, let me know how my granddaughter and daughter-in-law died, let me know where my son went... If I can find him again, I will kick his brain into a watermelon."
"Hey, Mr. Bai, are you tired of holding the young master? Let me wipe the bench for you, sit down." Master Zhou said, first wiping the dust off the bench with his sleeve, and then continued: "At that time, my granddaughter and daughter-in-law were sent for cremation, and they were put together in a small jar. There was no place to bury them. Why? The cemetery was too expensive. At that time, I carried them in my backpack, and carried them for four or five years. I actually made some money from this fraud. How novel, after death, I also let my granddaughter and daughter-in-law live in the most expensive cemetery in the provincial capital..."
Master Zhou finally took off the handkerchief from his face, revealing his eyes that were swollen like walnuts and covered with wrinkles.
"But I still haven't found my son. I don't know why he hid from his creditors, I don't know how he disappeared, and I don't know why my granddaughter and daughter-in-law died so tragically after he left... Their deaths didn't seem right, and my son's disappearance didn't seem right either. It didn't seem like he was hiding from his creditors."
Jing Jiujiu's face wrinkled into a ball and she stopped talking.
He grabbed Bai Yuhuai's sleeve unconsciously.
Bai Yuhuai held his slightly cold fingers with his backhand.
"Later, I was detained in the detention center for several times, but it seemed that the best luck in my life was used up at this time. It was as if my daughter-in-law and her family were all dead. Hey, I sucked away all their luck like an old witch. Someone introduced me to some little celebrities to bless them. Didn't my career go up and down after that? I also met the young master and Mr. Bai." Master Zhou stood up and bowed, "I also want to thank Mr. Bai for being so kind at that time, allowing a person like me to get the money of the Jing family..."
Master Zhou's face was tense, and the corners of his mouth pulled back: "Who knows? I only know a few words, 'qian', 'kuai', 'mao'... I know these words."
No one knows how he went from being a farmer who bent over and struggled to flip through a dictionary, to walking from a village to the most prosperous city, and becoming Master Zhou, who can talk to everyone and is good at dealing with people.
Master Zhou sighed and said, "This matter... It's not easy anyway. I know Mr. Bai is not short of money, and the young master is not short of money either. But, this is the only wish I have left."
Bai Yuhuai was silent for a moment, but couldn't help but remind him: "Even if it is a ghost, after so many years, there may not be any negative energy left in the house..."
Jing Jiujiu: "This is a simple matter."
Bai Yuhuai: "Hmm?"
Master Zhou: “Ah?”
Jing Jiujiu: "Did anyone die in your village?"
"Someone is going to die."
Jing Jiujiu: "I'll call out a few ghosts who died in your village and ask them, won't I know the answer?"
Master Zhou: "Oh my god! Young Master, you are truly a living Bodhisattva..."
Bai Yuhuai paused and watched a golden light flash quickly across Jing Jiujiu's body.
This golden light is extremely solid and its color is deep and rich.
Jing Jiujiu was completely unaware. He jumped off Bai Yuhuai and walked out with a swagger.
He glanced around and wondered if he should stomp his feet and shout “Land Land Land!” like Sun Wukong. No, he should just shout “Little ghost, little ghost!” and then come out
Jing Jiujiu stamped her feet.
A gust of wind blew over, making the black rotten peppers rustle.
Jing Jiujiu suddenly shrank her shoulders.
This place looks like a horror movie scene.
The farmyard has been abandoned for a long time. Outside the yard is an old village with few people. There is also a dry well not far from the yard... What should I do if Sadako crawls out of it
Jing Jiujiu thought it over again and again, then turned back to the living room.
Bai Yuhuai and Master Zhou looked at him at the same time.
Jing Jiujiu looked at Bai Yuhuai and said dryly, "It is... still a little difficult."
Bai Yuhuai caught a glimpse of his appearance and laughed in his heart: "Huh?"
Jing Jiujiu blinked, her long eyelashes trembling slightly: "You said... Is there a ghost in the well?"
Bai Yuhuai understood the implication of his words.
Bai Yuhuai: "I'll accompany..."
You haven't said a word yet.
Jing Jiujiu suddenly became happy: "Oh, I have an idea. It doesn't matter if there is a ghost in the well, I am not afraid of ghosts in the bed!"
He ran to open the backpack he brought with him, took out the Yan Mo statue from it, quickly carried it out, put it on the ground, and poked Yan Mo's head: "... Can you call out all the ghosts here?"
Bai Yuhuai: “…”
He was so jealous that he was filled with jealousy.
So he is no longer useful? Huh
Master Zhou followed him out. Last time, he had learned from the reactions of those bigwigs in the metaphysics circle that this statue was one of the Ten Kings of Hell! Where was the real King of Hell
Master Zhou said worriedly: "This... Your Majesty, can you handle it?"
Jing Jiujiu raised her slender fingers and poked the statue again.
A tall and thin figure suddenly emerged from the statue, and his head was taller than the eaves.
Master Zhou was so shocked that he sat down on the ground.
Yan Mo lowered his eyes and whispered a few words, which sounded like ancient Chinese. Then he took out a pen from his palm and drew a line in the air...
There was a strong wind blowing around and there seemed to be a whistling sound in my ears.
Countless figures were drawn together by that stroke of the pen.
Invisible ropes tied them together, and with a thud, they all fell in front of Jing Jiujiu.
Master Zhou's face turned pale, and he felt both scared and sad.
I underestimated you, young master!
So... it seems that my luck in this life has really been used up in my old age...
Jing Jiujiu squatted down and chatted with the ghosts: "Are you from here?"
The ghosts were making “Ah-wu-wu-ah-ababa-ababa” sounds as if they were stupid.
Jing Jiujiu:
Bai Yuhuai thought to himself that he could finally use me.
He took a step forward and said calmly, "These are all lonely ghosts who are very old and have incomplete souls. They don't even have basic consciousness."
Jing Jiujiu sighed softly and patted Yan Mo on the shoulder: "Thank you for your hard work. Find a smarter ghost."
Yan Mo was really hardworking and silently waved the pen in his hand again.
Jing Jiujiu turned around and saw Master Zhou sitting on the ground. He thought for a moment, rummaged through his pocket, took out a handkerchief, and handed it to Master Zhou: "The one just now is dirty."
The handkerchief on the paper version of Jing Jiujiu was a real thing, and Master Zhou took it as soon as he stretched out his hand... He smiled softly: "Okay, thank you, young master."
Jing Jiujiu turned her head to look at Bai Yuhuai again and saw that he had a cold expression and was standing there without saying a word.
Oh... He must be thinking, am I not as important as a ghost? Why doesn't Jing Jiujiu look at me more
Jing Jiujiu remembers that many girls on the Internet feel insecure after falling in love.
It's not easy to be in love with a ghost, but I want to be a considerate boyfriend!
I fell in love with someone once, and after the first time, I wanted to fall in love with him again!
So Jing Jiujiu walked forward, leaned close to Bai Yuhuai's ear, and asked in a low voice: "Are you a little unhappy?"
Bai Yuhuai's heart softened: "No."
By the time Jing Jiujiu came to ask him, he had already been worn out and had no temper left.
Jing Jiujiu secretly hooked his palm and whispered, "Boyfriend, don't be unhappy. I'll let you bite me today. You can also kiss me like this..."
He stuck out his tongue.
"This way, even if it gets wet inside, no one outside can see it."
Bai Yuhuai's throat tightened and he clenched his fingers. Then, unable to suppress his emotions, he slowly and slightly erotically raised his hand to stroke the boy's chin, neck, and Adam's apple.
He would hand Master Zhou a handkerchief and would also turn around to comfort him. He seemed to be born with the ability to comfort others.
He was so comforted that his heart softened and his blood boiled.