It took me three hours to walk from the small shop to the house where my master and I lived. It was less than ten minutes to walk from where I got off the bus. The house where my master and I lived was at the edge of the town. It was originally the warehouse of the mayor. I still remember that the mayor's house was haunted at that time. Later, my master helped the mayor get rid of the ghost. There were still many ghosts in that era, especially in rural areas or small towns like this, which were haunted every now and then.
The mayor knew that my master was a man of real ability, so he invited my master to stay and settle down, and gave him this shop. Later, my master took me to settle down in Huilong Town. The door of the shop was not closed, or it was not locked all the year round. It was originally a ghost shop, specializing in the business of the dead, and it was impossible for someone to steal things. I pushed the door open and looked around. There was dust and spider webs everywhere, and there was an empty coffin in the middle. As for some other paper money, they were gone. Maybe the neighbors came to take them during the Qingming Festival.
At this time, there was only a coffin in the middle of the storefront. The surroundings were empty, with only dust and cobwebs. I took a look, nodded, and retreated, then walked out of Huilong Town along West Street. This storefront is where my master and I usually do business. Our place is still 20 minutes away from Huilong Town. I walked toward the West Street of Huilong Town for about ten minutes. There was another road on the left side of this muddy road. Then I walked along the road on the left for about ten minutes, and finally a house appeared in front of me.
The house was not very big and only had one floor. I pushed the door open. I remember that I did not lock the door when I left. There was a lot of dust inside. There was only a table and a bed. My master and I used to live a simple life. We ate in the town.
I walked to the table in the middle of the room, took off my backpack, took out my phone and checked the time. It was already four o'clock in the afternoon. I touched the table and found dust on my fingertips. I shook my head and rummaged around. I found a piece of rag and a small bucket in the room. Then I ran to a stream not far from the door to get some water. Then I came back and started to clean the house.
The so-called tidying up actually just wiped the dust off the table and the bathroom, and then swept the floor with a broom. It was already five o'clock when I finished. I stretched myself, and I have to say, my whole body was sore after such an activity. It was quite tiring.
After I finished cleaning up, I walked to a moldy cabinet next to the bed and took out a book at random. This book had no title. When I opened it, I saw some Feng Shui tips written by the master himself. I have never understood the art of Feng Shui, but Feng Shui definitely exists. The most famous one is the corpse-raising ground, of course there are many more.
I was reading until six o'clock, when I suddenly felt my stomach growling. I touched my stomach and looked around. Then I remembered that there was nothing to eat in this old house. I picked up my backpack and went out to Huilong Town.
It was already half past six when I arrived at Huilong Town. The only decent restaurant in the town was the noodle shop next to the small shop where I bought cigarettes. This noodle shop was run by an aunt named Zhang, and the food was pretty good.
It was already dark, and I saw Aunt Zhang was about to close the shop, so I trotted over and said to her, "Aunt, I want to eat something..."
Aunt Zhang seemed to be in her forties, but she looked more than forty-five, which made her look quite old. But she was very nice. When she heard what I said, she said, "Okay, come in and sit for a while. I'll make you some noodles." After saying that, Aunt Zhang went into the kitchen.
Aunt Zhang's noodle shop is only 20 square meters and looks a bit shabby, but it's still clean. After a while, Aunt Zhang handed me a bowl of noodles and said, "Eat it while it's hot."
"Okay." I was already hungry, so I took a bite and it tasted good, so I ate it vigorously. Aunt Zhang also turned back to the kitchen and was busy with something. After a while, I saw Aunt Zhang brought out another bowl of noodles. She took it and gave it to the girl in the nearby store.
"Auntie, why doesn't this little girl cook for herself?" I asked while eating when I saw Auntie Zhang coming back. Auntie Zhang smiled and asked, "Why, are you thinking about love? Why don't you go talk to A-Lian and let you two be a couple?"
"No, no, Auntie, I have a girlfriend, so I have nothing to ask." I smiled and said, "The girl's name is A Lian. Doesn't Grandpa Liu have a son? She may be over 40 years old."
Aunt Zhang sighed when she heard this and said, "You came back too late. A-Lian's parents died together last month, and the people in the town finally pooled money to bury them."
When I heard that, I raised my eyebrows and looked at Aunt Zhang and asked, "How did he die?"
Aunt Zhang looked towards the store and said in a low voice, "I don't know, but the deaths were very strange. It was said that the two people were possessed by evil spirits."
My heart skipped a beat when I heard this. Grandpa Liu died last year, and two people in my family died this year. Something was definitely wrong.
"What kind of evil magic did it happen?" I asked subconsciously. Aunt Zhang shook her head and said, "I'm just talking nonsense. No one knows what happened. If you want to know, go ask A Lian. But you'd better not get involved in this matter. It's really strange. Your master is not here. If he was here, you could ask him."
"It's okay, I'll go ask A-Lian." I ate the noodles in two bites, handed Aunt Zhang five yuan, and walked to the nearby store. This was indeed strange. People are like this, very curious, and anyway, there were still two days before the master said.
When I walked to the entrance of the store, I saw the girl named A-Lian, who was wolfing down her bowl of noodles with her head down. She didn't notice me at all. It was only when I walked in that she came back to her senses.
She looked up and saw me, smiled awkwardly, and said, "Handsome guy, what do you want to buy again?"
I looked at her and suddenly felt something was wrong. She gave me a very strange feeling. I frowned and asked, "It's okay. I used to have a good relationship with Grandpa Liu, so I came to chat with you. How did Grandpa Liu die at that time?"
Ah Lian laughed and said, "Hehe, you're not funny because you're old. You still have to do farm work at your age. You're so funny that you're begging for mercy."
I looked at A-Lian and saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. She wasn't as indifferent as she seemed.