The carpenter woke up in fright.
With a pale face, he put the girl down from his lap and stumbled out.
"Lao Zheng, where are you going? Why are you in such a hurry? Lao Zheng!" The carpenter's wife was pouring fish bones outside the house. Seeing his look as if he had seen a ghost, she shouted in confusion.
"Something happened! You go to sleep first, don't wait for me!" The carpenter shouted as he ran. He soon ran to another carpenter's house and pulled him to find the others.
Not long after, the carpenters gathered at Li Erban's house again. Everyone was getting ready to go to bed, but suddenly this happened and they were completely confused.
"Lao Zheng, why did you call us here?"
"Isn't the coffin already nailed down?"
"Yeah, it's fine. I checked it before I left."
"… "
Old Zheng didn't say anything. He took two steps slowly towards the coffin, shaking his legs. He looked at the coffin nails carefully and found that they were not embedded in the coffin.
Apparently no one had moved.
Old Zheng heaved a sigh of relief, his calves stopped shaking, he wiped his face and wiped the sweat on his coat: "Let's go back."
Everyone was confused: "What? You're back so soon? You're doing this so late at night, and you don't want to give us an explanation?"
"I was scared by a dream." Lao Zheng laughed dryly.
Several people: “…”
"What did you dream about? Did Li Erban tell you in your dream that the coffin was not spacious enough?"
"Okay, stop talking. With the current situation in the town, who wouldn't be panicked? It's not shameful to be frightened by a dream." The old carpenter frowned and said, "Go back, everyone!"
Old Zheng left Li Erban's house with everyone else. When he crossed the threshold, he paused and said, "It might rain in the second half of the night. The door of Erban's house is not tightly closed. Let's carry the coffin inside."
A young carpenter could not help but complain: "There are so many things to do. Hey, lift, lift, lift. The dead are the greatest."
The carpenters turned around and lifted the coffin.
As soon as they took one step, the carpenters felt something was wrong. After putting Li Erban's body into the coffin, they had tested the weight.
The coffins are noticeably heavier now.
And it seemed to be just the weight of one person!
When Lao Zheng thought of his dream, he couldn't help but shudder, and his wrist slid down powerlessly.
The other carpenters were also unable to lift the coffin and withdrew their hands.
“Bang!”
The coffin fell heavily to the ground, splashing up a cloud of dust.
The candle in the room had burned down to a small candlestick. The wind blew in from the yard, and the flame flickered, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.
The young carpenter stammered: "This, this, this, this coffin..."
He turned to look at the others: "Are there two..."
He ran away before he could finish his words.
Lao Zheng and a few others also fled Li Erban's house in a hurry.
Everyone stopped at the bright spot and sat on the ground in shock.
There were a few drops of water on the timid boy's pants because he was so scared that he peed himself.
"What on earth were you dreaming about?" the old carpenter grabbed Lao Zheng.
"Old man Zhao..." Old Zheng trembled, "It's Old man Zhao, he's in there!"
"I dreamed that he climbed into the coffin and put the lid on himself." Old Zheng muttered to himself incoherently, "The nails were fine."
Then he looked at the others and asked, "How did he get in?"
No one could answer, and they didn't dare to go back and open the coffin to see if it was Old Man Zhao inside.
Everyone was stunned for a while, and Lao Zheng suggested going to Old Man Zhao's house. The others followed him, but found that there was no one there.
Now everyone was even more panicked.
The old carpenter spat at the wall and rubbed it with the sole of his shoe: "No one is home, it doesn't mean something has happened. The old guy smells so much of alcohol, it's obvious that he's drunk, maybe he's lying there now."
"In that coffin..." The little carpenter shivered.
Several people looked at each other. The weight of the coffin was there. Even if the person lying inside was not Old Man Zhao, there must be someone else.
It’s impossible that there’s only Li Erban.
"Don't tell anyone outside, and don't mention a word about it at home. Just pretend you know nothing!" said the old carpenter.
Everyone agreed.
If this matter were made public, it would only make the town more uneasy.
"I don't want to catch fish anymore." Old Zheng walked in a daze. "Gao Degui said that if you try to steal someone's life span, you will be struck by lightning."
"I don't want to either. It's written in the book my sister gave me that there are gods above our heads and that God is watching what we do. It's not that there is no retribution, it's just that the time has not come. There is also the law of cause and effect and reincarnation. I'm very afraid of retribution." The little carpenter sobbed.
A carpenter agreed: "Yes, if you eat someone else's fish, you will be worried and worried for the rest of your life. You can't live in peace."
The atmosphere is very depressing.
The old carpenter asked, "Did any of you catch your own fish?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"I didn't catch any either." Under the moonlight, the old carpenter's sparse hair had turned mostly white. He said, "The fish tide will come the day after tomorrow afternoon. Then we can work together to find our own fish and not catch other people's."
Several people glanced at the sagging eye bags of the old carpenter.
They were all thinking, a fish with someone else's name swam in front of them, it represented several decades of life, could they really not catch it
Li Erban's
The coffin board made of the best wood was pried open, and Chen Yang stood by and looked inside.
There were two bodies in the coffin.
One is Li Erban and the other is Old Man Zhao.
Folded.
Old man Zhao was on top, lying flat with his eyes closed. His dirty trouser legs were rolled up above his knees. He was barefoot, and there was mud on his toenails and soles.
There were also a few wet mud marks on the coat.
Old man Zhao had a smile on his face. He looked very happy and satisfied.
As Chen Yang watched, he had the illusion that the corpse would suddenly open its eyes. He called out to Chao Jian to help move the coffin lid back.
"From what we can see so far, when Old Man Zhao ate Li Erban's fish by the river, his own fish was also eaten, so he died soon after." Chen Yang gave his own inference, "After that, the only people moving around in the town were the dead Old Man Zhao."
"Why did old man Zhao come to find Li Erban?" Chen Yang couldn't figure it out. "He stole Li Erban's life and killed him, and even ran into his coffin. What kind of message could this be?"
Chao Jian stood beside him with a crutch: "I don't know."
Chen Yang was choked by his straightforward answer: "Okay, there are indeed too few clues, and it feels like there is not much to go on. Let's check it out again."
"It's not even eight o'clock yet, and the back door closes at ten o'clock. We're not in a hurry to go back." Chen Yang put the phone back in his pocket and pulled Chao Jian outside.
Not long ago, they found out Li Erban's home from a townsman, and when they came over, they met the carpenters running out in a panic.
At that time, Chen Yang thought that Li Erban’s family must have made a great discovery.
However, the reality is that although Li Erban's family did make a great discovery, they failed to extract the task rules from it.
Chen Yang wanted to visit other homes where people had died, perhaps he could find some similarities among the deceased.
Not only the deceased himself, but also the situation in the other party's home should be paid attention to.
Chen Yang's neck was so itchy that he almost scratched the mosquito bite. At the beginning, he had already realized the trouble of this task. The town was not like a village. It had a large area and a large population. In addition to the locals, there were also merchants from other places. They all seemed to be clues, but in fact most of them were misleading.
"Why don't mosquitoes bite you?" Chen Yang grabbed his neck and looked at Chao Jian, wonderingly.
Thinking of something, he said "Oh", "I see, you have a lot of body hair, and mosquitoes are afraid of getting lost."
"..." Chao Jian said, "You are the only one who is smart."
Chen Yang twitched his lips. "The two lumps on my neck were caused by bites at the town entrance when I was on a mission. The ones on my arms were caused later. The lumps are not big and they are not very itchy."
"The mosquitoes at the town entrance are not the same as those inside the town. The ones inside the town are milder."
Chao Jian took a look at Chen Yang's neck in the moonlight. The two lumps were bigger and redder than before he left the house, and blood was seeping out. He frowned and said, "Go back."
Chen Yang was stunned for a moment: "Going back now?"
"There are a lot of mosquitoes." Chao Jian said.
Chen Yang said: "Just keep walking and don't stop, and it will be fine. The mosquito repellent grass will be of some use."
He had barely finished speaking when he heard complaints coming from the path on the left.
"There are so many mosquitoes. I really regret it. I shouldn't have complained that the sun protection jacket I bought last year was ugly and had to wait for the new one to arrive before wearing it. I shouldn't have worn cropped pants. Exposing my ankles is a disaster. Ahhh, I'm going to die."
"Don't you have a bracelet?"
"Rubbish, I was scammed, the buyer's show is all fake, they said it was super easy to use, super mosquito repellent, and it can last for 48 to 72 hours, but it hasn't worked for me for long, it doesn't repel mosquitoes at all, I'll give a bad review when I get back!"
The girl with big eyes walked out from the path, and as soon as she stopped complaining, she waved vigorously to Chen Yang and Chao Jian, with an expression like two fellow villagers meeting, eyes full of tears.
Chen Yang waited until she and Zhu Zhu came closer, then asked, "Where did you go?"
Zhuzhu said: "Just strolling around."
The big-eyed girl spoke to her at the same time: "We went to the small attic opposite the inn."
Chen Yang looked at Zhu Zhu.
"Yes, we went to the attic and then wandered around the town after a while." Zhuzhu said, "We ate something and wandered around until now."
Chen Yang's eyes moved down to the phone between her fingers: "Taking pictures at night?"
Zhuzhu held the phone with both hands, and she seemed to like it this way: "I didn't take many photos, I just held it."
"You hold it like this, and the phone is all sweaty." The big-eyed girl grumbled, scratching her face and saying to Chen Yang, "Mr. Chen, Zhuzhu and I have only met you guys so far, and haven't seen anyone else."
"The mission site is not closed, it's very dangerous. It's not easy to meet each other when we act separately. If something happens to anyone, we won't know it in the first place."
Chen Yang raised his eyebrows. In fact, it was closed, just a larger scene.
He asked, "You want to go back?"
"Well, we'll investigate again tomorrow during the day." Zhuzhu's sun protection jacket was white and very long. She wore it draped over her body, with the hat buttoned up at the back to cover her short blue hair.
"In this weather, I can't go out at night." Big-eyed girl complained, "There are not many mosquitoes before dark, but once it gets dark, my god, the mosquitoes come all the way with me, so affectionate."
Chen Yang: “…”
The girl with big eyes said: "Everyone in the town eats fish. The fish bones and fish entrails are dumped at the door or in the corner of the house. They smell fishy and are easy to attract mosquitoes."
Chen Yang nodded in agreement. It tasted fishy.
At dinner time, the town was filled with the aroma of fish, but now there is only the fishy smell.
Everywhere.
It was as if the whole town was in the belly of a fish.
"Even mosquitoes don't bite Zhuzhu." The big-eyed girl said enviously.
Zhuzhu coughed twice: "Well, it's because your physique is too attractive to them. I am with you and I am benefiting from you."
Big-eyed girl: “…”
She wanted to ask Chen Yang for some mosquito repellent grass, but she was too embarrassed to ask.
Chen Yang saw what the little girl was thinking and took the initiative to give her a hand.
The big-eyed girl's hands were shaking with excitement, and her heart was beating: "Thank you!"
"Mr. Chen, you are handsome and kind, you will definitely be able to return alive, oh no, live to the end, at the very end, I wish you the best and protect you..."
The more he spoke, the more exaggerated he became, even using gestures, and he began to move himself.
Chen Yang pulled up his backpack with a puzzled look. He remembered a sentence he had read somewhere, that everyone has a histrionic personality in their heart, but some are strong, some are weak, and some are always offline and only come online occasionally.
Hipsters belong to the former.
Most people belong to the latter two.
Chen Yang told the story about Li Erban and Old Man Zhao. He was used to showing goodwill first, indicating that he cared about teamwork, and then asked the two girls if they had noticed anything.
"We found out that there are only fish for adults, not children," Zhuzhu said, "Children won't suffer this."
The girl with big eyes was immersed in the ghost story of two people sharing one coffin, her voice trembling: "It's actually painful, the parents died, and the children were left without a home."
"We are not from this world, there is nothing we can do." Zhuzhu sighed.
The four people stood in pairs, one of them remained silent, and the other three suddenly fell silent.
"Oh, right, we didn't dare to go to the crazy woman, we went to a house in the west of the town!" said the big-eyed girl, "The male owner of that house is called Yang Erzhu. When he entertained us, he would walk away from time to time. Every time he left, he was very nervous, and when he came back, he was very relaxed. He looked especially like when I took in the little puppy."
"Zhuzhu and I suspected that he caught his own fish and kept them in the house."
"We wanted to sneak into his house to check, but failed. His wife was watching us the whole time." Zhuzhu said, "I guess we can only have a chance when the fish tide comes the day after tomorrow."
Chen Yang seemed to be thinking about something.
"I'm leaving."
A low, cold and impatient voice sounded beside his ears, and Chen Yang's thoughts returned. He said to the two girls: "My brother and I will walk for a while. Be careful on your way back."
Chen Yang added: "If you see other people after you return to the inn, tell them to gather at 9:30, and then we can exchange information."
The girl with big eyes looked at Chen Yang and Chao Jian walking away. She said ambiguously, "This brother is not that brother. How good."
Zhuzhu was speechless: "What are you envious of?"
"I also want a brother as good-looking as him." The big-eyed girl suddenly said, "Zhuzhu, you look creepy wearing a white hat at night."
Zhuzhu shuddered: "I didn't think there was anything wrong, but when you said that, my hair stood on end."
She quickly took off the hood of her sun jacket, rubbed her arms and said, "Let's go."
Finally, he said, "Go to a bright place."
"I know. I won't go to dark places. What if a hand suddenly reaches out..." The girl with big eyes stopped talking.
Chen Yang and Chao Jian did not go to the land temple to see the crazy woman. That place was not close to their current location. If they walked back and forth and searched around, they would probably miss the closing time of the inn.
They walked in one direction and ended up behind a small attic opposite the inn.
Now that you're here, there's no reason not to go in.
Chen Yang looked up at the small attic in the night. Compared to entering such a place with a strong Republic of China flavor at night, he actually prefers daytime, but some things like night and only come out at night.
Just as he was thinking this, a figure appeared at the attic door.
Chen Yang suddenly froze in place.
It wasn't until the figure came closer to him that he could see who it was.
"Ms. Xiang, it's you." Chen Yang grabbed Chao Jian's crutch and greeted with a smile.
Xiang Zimu has no makeup on, her skin is very white, and her hair is very black. The visual impact makes her look like a cartoon, unreal. Her voice seems alienated against the dim background.
"Mr. Chen, Mr. Chao."
Chen Yang frowned. Among the group of taskers, only Xiang Zimu would call Chao Jian so formally, while others would call him "your brother".
"Is there anything going on in the attic?"
"No." Xiang Zimu straightened his left sleeve.
Chen Yang noticed this detail of hers. To be precise, it was not called "ignoring" but "pulling down".
In the hot summer, you will sweat whether you move or not. The reason why the painter wears long sleeves is that he is afraid that his body will touch dirt, so he wraps himself so tightly.
What is this woman for
Sun protection
No, sunscreen should be like beads.
Chen Yang took a closer look at Xiang Zimu's left wrist and said, "It's pitch black in the attic. Ms. Xiang, aren't you afraid to go in alone?"
Xiang Zimu said: "I have a cell phone and turned on the flashlight."
Chen Yang: “…”
Xiang Zimu seemed to know what was going on in Chen Yang's mind, and she gave him another explanation: "I believe in past lives, in ghosts and gods, and in karma. There is no darkness in my heart, so I am not afraid of walking into darkness."
Chen Yang said: "But this town is a mission world. The evil spirits here will only kill people according to the rules. The rules set taboos, and if they are violated, they will be killed, even if there is no grudge involved in the mission background."
Xiang Zimu's eyes were indifferent: "I am talking about me, and it only represents my personal views on life."
Chen Yang looked at her: "Like this."
Xiang Zimu asked Chen Yang: "Do you want to go into the attic?"
Just as Chen Yang was about to answer, he heard Chao Jian say in annoyance, "Is it never going to end?"
Xiang Zimu left immediately.
It was so fast that Chen Yang didn't have time to react. He smelled the fragrance in the air. It was the smell of Xiang Zimu's body. He was not sure whether it was incense or bath products.
"I haven't talked to her in detail yet. Forget it, let's go back and talk about it." Chen Yang glanced at Jian, "You don't like her."
Chao Jian's face was full of gloom: "I hate all ugly things."
"Yes, the whole world is ugly."
Chen Yang turned on the flashlight on his phone and walked into the attic: "If we can make it to the end and unbind the ID number, I will take you to see an ophthalmologist."
Twitching towards Jane's face.
The attic was empty, there was nothing in it. Chen Yang went upstairs from downstairs, looked at the inn opposite, and saw the VIP area on the second floor.
The room where the merchants lived.
Light bulbs were on in the windows, and Qijia Inn was offering its best to entertain the merchants.
"I thought there would be screens, guqin, tables, dressing tables, etc. inside," Chen Yang held up his phone and took a picture behind him, "at the very least there should be a Buddha statue or a jade Guanyin, but I didn't expect it to be an empty building."
There was a crunching sound between Chao Jian's teeth. If Chen Yang hadn't smelled the milk, he would have thought he was eating milk tablets.
Now Chao Jian doesn't even swallow the medicine, he just bites it into pieces.
Chen Yang suspected that Chao Jian was using the bitterness to restrain himself.
"You chewed the pills to pieces. Doesn't the taste in your mouth hurt?" Chen Yang took off his backpack. "There are two bottles in the bag. One is Liziyuan and the other is boiled water. Take whichever you want to drink."
For some reason, Chao Jian suddenly became a little manic. He poured two more pills into his mouth, staring at Chen Yang, and his teeth kept making sounds of opening and closing.
Chen Yang shone the flashlight over there, and Chao Jian looked like a ghost.
"Let's go down." Chen Yang quickly put down his phone and pointed the light at the wooden board in front of him.
Chao Jian did not move. He still stared at Chen Yang, breathing heavily: "Do you remember everything I said?"
Chen Yang asked blankly: "Which sentence?"
There was a noise downstairs, interrupting the conversation between Chen Yang and Chao Jian.
The ones who came back were Teacher Xie and Old Wu.
Old Wu was talking about Miss Qiao's bad behavior, saying that she was not decent and dared to mess around in the mission world, as if she couldn't live without a man.
Teacher Xie mercilessly exposed: "You thought you could have anything happen with her, but she sent you away and chose someone else. She looked down on you, so you called her a bitch."
Old Wu's face was burning with anger: "That's not the case!"
Teacher Xie said in a rigid tone: "Let's not talk about the fact that this is a mission world. If you say you will die, you will die. You have a ring on your hand. People with a family cannot betray you..."
Old Wu interrupted him angrily, "I've already told you that it's not like that, Teacher Xie. I call you teacher to give you face. Don't really think of me as your student, otherwise we won't be able to work together!"
A person came from the back door of the inn. It was Widow Zhou. She was holding a lantern and stopped after walking a short distance.
Widow Zhou did not call Teacher Xie and Old Wu, but just stood quietly on the side of the road.
Like a guide.
Chen Yang returned to the attic, gently closed the half window, and whispered to Chao Jian: "We..."
The voice stopped because of a weight.
The young man took Chen Yang's backpack and put it on his back. He leaned on his back and held the crutches in both hands, placing them horizontally in front of his neck: "Carry me."
Chen Yang: “…”
So sudden.
Although Chen Yang's fingernails have not grown yet, it does not affect their use. He no longer needs to use his arms to support Chao Jian's legs and can just use his hands directly.
The person on his back suddenly said, "I haven't taken my milk tablets for more than half an hour."
"Ah? Yeah." Chen Yang said as he walked, "You don't have any money in your pocket? If not, then..."
A warm breath brushed against Chen Yang's left earlobe, brushed across his cheek, and approached his mouth and nose, accompanied by the boy's hoarse voice: "It doesn't taste like milk."
Chen Yang sniffed subconsciously: "Hmm, no."
It smells extremely bitter and it smells terrible.
When Chen Yang reached the stairs, Chao Jian got off his back, with two crutches on each side: "Take the backpack away."
"It's dark, I might as well carry you down." Chen Yang put on his backpack, and seeing that Chao Jian insisted on walking alone, he had to give up, "I'll light the way for you, just walk slowly."
The stairs are made of wood and squeak when you step on them.
Chen Yang's habit of counting came up unconsciously. He shone the flashlight downwards and said after counting: "I've read a ghost story before, which talked about counting stairs and finding one extra or one less floor. It scared me so much that I didn't dare to climb the stairs alone at that time. I had to hold my sister's hand."
The boy's voice sounded beside him: "Really?"
When Chen Yang's words came to his lips, all the pores on his body opened up instantly.
wrong!
The sound and rhythm of the cane hitting the wooden board are different!
The person next to him is not Chao Jian!
The young man stood on the stairs below, turned around with his crutches, and looked at Chen Yang at eye level: "What's wrong?"
Chen Yang tried to control his heartbeat and breathing, but found that it had little effect. He rushed down the stairs in a few big strides.
The voice behind him followed him.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Yang bit his knuckles vigorously, the pain binding his frantically beating nerves. He turned back as if nothing had happened: "Nothing, let's go back to the inn, it will be closed if we are any later."
The boy looked at him from the stairs: "Okay."
Cold sweat broke out on Chen Yang's back. No, he couldn't leave. Chao Jian was still waiting for him in the attic.
And he felt that the way to get rid of this ghost might very well be here.
If you leave, you'll never be able to leave.
Calm down, Chen Yang closed his eyes. The ghost was Chao Jian’s face, which was not scary. This made him feel a little better and he was not unable to think.
"Didn't you say you were going back to the inn? Why aren't you leaving again?"
The young man walked towards Chen Yang with a cane, lowered his head, and smiled at him: "Why do you always say one thing and do another? You are playing tricks on me, brother."