When I was on the top of the mountain, I observed Hongye Village. The village was not too big, and it could even be said to be a little small. The whole village had only about 500 people, and the houses were basically wooden houses, with only a few mud houses. Brick houses were not seen at all, but after thinking about it, it was indeed the case. After all, if brick houses were to be built, how to transport the bricks into the mountain would be a big problem. There were many fields outside the village, and there were not many people in the fields now. They were probably cooking at home. What made me curious was why they did not move out of the mountain, but chose to stay in this isolated place, but after thinking about it, I could not come to any conclusion, let alone asking Chen Lei, because he did not know.
I followed Chen Lei into the village. Many people were eating in their houses. When they saw Chen Lei, they came out to greet them one by one. It seemed that Chen Lei was very popular among these people. However, when they saw me, they asked about my identity. Chen Lei smiled and told them that I was a policeman and that I was here to investigate Xiaoxiang's case.
The villagers were very simple. When they first heard that I was a policeman, they looked at me with some respect, which made me feel embarrassed. These villagers had little education and felt that the police were educated people and intellectuals, so they had to respect them. But when they heard that I was here to investigate Xiaoxiang's case, their faces immediately froze. I was even more puzzled. What could scare these simple villagers like this
I followed Chen Lei around all the way, making me dizzy. Finally, I arrived in front of a wooden house that looked very old. Chen Lei took me and pushed the door open, shouting, "Village head, the police are here, come out quickly."
It was quite dark inside, with a dirt floor. In the middle of the hall there was an altar with some wild fruits, incense and candles, and a portrait of Laozi.
"Xiao Leizi, have you gone out and found a police comrade to help you? Good." An old voice came as soon as I entered the inner room.
"Comrade policeman, please wait a moment. I will go and help the village chief out." Chen Lei whispered to me, and then ran into the inner room. I also heard the sound of coughing coming from inside. It seems that the old man is not in good health.
After a while, Chen Lei came out, supporting an old man with white hair. The old man looked to be at least eighty years old, with wrinkles all over his face.
"Hello, old man. I am the police officer sent to investigate this matter. My name is Wu Jiu." I shouted loudly in the old man's ear.
"Ouch, keep your voice down, you're almost breaking my ears. Although I'm old, my hearing is still good. By the way, what's your name?" The old village chief rubbed his ears and stared at me.
"My name is Wu Jiu." I spoke softer this time.
"Ah, oh." The old man looked a little surprised. He was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses.
I was surprised to see this old man's reaction, so I asked him, "Does the old man know me?"
Who would have thought that the old man would be so panicked that he replied, "I don't know him, police officer, please tell me how you want to solve the problem of ghosts in our village."
Looking at the old man's expression, I felt that there must be something going on. However, I knew that curiosity killed the cat, and asking would do me no good, so I did not continue to ask. I replied, "I don't know what kind of ghost it is yet, so I have to observe it at night. If there is a chance, maybe I can help the village solve the ghost problem tonight."
After hearing this, the village chief nodded and said, "Well, let's do this for now. Xiao Leizi, go cook some food for the police comrade, and then arrange for him to stay at your house. I'll go back to the house to rest." After saying that, he hurried back to the house without even looking back. I felt strange when I saw this, as I felt like the old man was avoiding me, and I'm not ugly.
In fact, Chen Lei just brought me here to say hello to the village chief. After hearing what the village chief said, he took me out. We walked in the village for a while before we arrived at his house. His house was different from other wooden houses. It was made of mud, and it seemed that the conditions at home were worse than those of other houses in the village.
"Comrade police, please take a seat. I'll go get my grandpa to come out." Chen Lei wanted to turn around and walk back into the house. I immediately stopped him and said, "Forget it. Let's not disturb the old man. It's embarrassing. By the way, where are your parents?"
After hearing what I said, Chen Lei's cheerful mood suddenly became depressed, and he whispered: "My parents died when I was a child, and it was my grandfather who raised me."
When I heard that, I immediately said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up."
"It's okay, it's nothing, I'm used to it anyway." Chen Lei raised his head and smiled stiffly, then turned and walked into a room that looked like a kitchen to tinker with it. Although he was forcing a smile, I could still feel that he was quite disappointed. I could understand his feelings because I didn't have any impression of my parents. I asked the master, but the master didn't tell me what was going on. He only told me the story of Hongye Village. Wait, I was stunned for a moment. This place is also called Hongye Village. Is there any connection between them? Thinking of the reaction of the village chief, my heart suddenly became excited. Is this the village where I was born
Although I was very excited at this time, I still planned to solve the ghost issue first and then ask the village chief about it. There was no rush now.
"Brother Chen, let me help you cook." It was quite boring sitting in the house. Seeing Chen Lei busying himself in there, I couldn't help myself.
"That won't do. Police comrade, you are an educated person and cannot do such rough work." Unexpectedly, Chen Lei objected.
"What's the big deal? I grew up in a rural county town. I'm not one of those city-dwelling young masters or rich girls." I said as I walked in, then walked to the fire place and started a fire. Chen Lei saw that I said this, so he didn't say anything.
"Brother Chen, can you tell me about that Xiangxiang in the past?" It suddenly occurred to me that even if she is a ghost, her personality is very important. For example, the extremely evil Ji Yin in the past, although she became an evil ghost, she was kind-hearted, so it was easy to persuade her to reincarnate. So I had to first find out about this Xiangxiang.
Chen Lei was cooking. After listening to what I said, he pondered for a while and said, "I told you about Xiaoxiang. Xiaoxiang is very gentle and kind. She would never do anything to harm others. This is the only explanation for why she became a ghost but never harmed anyone. I watched her grow up. Hong Chengze also liked her very much. They were going to get married soon, but he was bewitched by that woman in the city. Alas."
I nodded and said, "It seems that Xiaoxiang has not become a ghost, but it is strange that she still stays in the world. It is really strange. Maybe she has some unfulfilled wishes, and she can only be reincarnated after they are fulfilled."
"Wish? What other wish could she have? Her only wish before was to marry Hong Chengze. It can't be this." Chen Lei asked doubtfully.
I shook my head. Although there is such a thing as ghost marriage, it is too detrimental to one's virtue. The main thing is that the person involved will suffer great harm, ranging from illness to shortened lifespan. If that is her wish, then I can only help her to be reincarnated or kill her. But if there are other things, as long as they do not damage one's virtue and are very difficult to accomplish, I can help her complete them so that she can rest in peace and reincarnate.
Then Chen Lei and I started chatting about other things, this and that, and I learned a lot, such as some common sense of survival in the mountains. Then we cooked the meal and started eating. You know what, it was really delicious. It was worthy of being cooked by the fire I burned, it tasted different.
After dinner, Chen Lei found a room for me, cleaned it up briefly, and I went to sleep. I had to prepare for tonight's event. After all, I didn't get enough rest last night, and my head was still dizzy. I lay down and closed my eyes. It felt like it was only a dozen seconds, and I fell asleep in a daze.