It took nearly 20 hours to travel by train to Guixing according to the number of tickets sent, Ye Yingzhi decisively told Chi Yan to forget the two tickets, and bought a new ticket for the two of them.
On the day of departure, Chi Yan turned on his mobile phone after the plane landed, and received extremely unfortunate news—the two masters he invited received a series of bad omens before departure, and decided to turn off the business and pay him liquidated damages.
By now, it is definitely too late to invite anyone else. Even if he invites again, other experts may not be willing to follow after hearing the performance of these two masters. Chi Yan bit her lower lip, the anxiety in her heart widened. Just as there is an unknown force that has been pushing and even forcing him and Ye Yingzhi to embark on this journey, it is clear that there is also an invisible force preventing others from walking with them.
He looked at Ye Yingzhi hesitantly: "Yingzhi, why don't we go back?"
Ye Yingzhi hugged him and walked out of the airport: "We're all here, let's at least have some fun before we can go back?"
He pointed to the big bag behind him: "Besides, it doesn't matter if those two don't come, we still have so many things. They are not people who know the bottom line, they may not protect us at critical times, maybe for self-protection It will also harm other people, so it’s okay if you don’t come.”
Chi Yan thought for a while, and felt that what Ye Yingzhi said also made sense.
Chi Yan accompanied Ye Yingzhi to visit the scenic spots they visited back then, and finally returned to the provincial capital. During this period, he was also persuaded by Ye Yingzhi, and decided to go to Hongtu Village to take a look - going to Hongtu Village is not the same as entering the mountain. After all, there are many villagers in Hongtu Village, so there should be no problem, maybe it can be Find some clues. As long as you don't go into the mountains, there should be no problem.
Just like the old woman who was called "crazy woman" by the villagers back then, Chi Yan felt that she knew some information that others didn't. And there might be more than one person like her in the village. That way, they can dig out a lot of information even just from these people.
The first house in the village is doing white affairs.
There is a simple mourning hall in the small house, with simple seasonal fruits. Occasionally, villagers stop and stand at the door to take a look.
In Chi Yan's impression, this was the old woman's residence, because it happened to be the first house in the village, and the house was more dilapidated than other villagers, so it was particularly impressive. He stopped a middle-aged woman who seemed to have a good face and asked, "Auntie, I'm asking you, who is running errands? I remember that there used to be a mother-in-law living in this house. How is that mother-in-law now? Like?"
"It's her house." The woman nodded. "The person disappeared only two days ago."
She saw that Chi Yan looked clean and beautiful, which made her feel good, and she was idle and had nothing to do. Seeing that Chi Yan was interested, she simply waved him aside and told him all the relevant information she knew.
It turned out that the old woman's husband died young and did not leave any children, so she has lived alone for many years, and only her husband's younger brother's family can be called relatives. But her younger brother and daughter-in-law didn't interact with her very much, and she didn't care about her. After her death, her brother's son, her nephew, simply took care of the funeral. People in the village secretly said that the reason why the nephew was willing to do this was her. There are two plots of land under the name and that dilapidated house.
Chi Yan was very embarrassed when he heard it, and vaguely said that he had been to Hongtu Village when he was traveling, and the old woman had helped him.
People in the village may still have some impressions of that incident, but at that time, Chi Yan had just graduated from high school, and he was still childish. In all aspects of dressing, he looked like a half-old child who had never left home. But now that he has worked for many years, his appearance and temperament are very different from those at that time. Even if some people in the village feel vaguely familiar, they will not recognize him.
Because he had already arrived at the door of the house, Chi Yan asked Ye Yingzhi to wait for him outside, intending to go in alone to worship the old woman. Their hometown is very particular about this kind of red and white matters. Ye Yingzhi and the old woman have no relationship or intersection. If they are not led by their nephews and nephews, it is not convenient to rush to worship.
Unexpectedly, two people were already standing in the mourning hall at this time. One is an old man in his sixtieth year, wearing a cool, breathable and soft black Tang suit style; the other looks like the old man's assistant, wearing a black suit, and has been standing respectfully behind him. Both of them were well-dressed, which seemed out of tune with this slightly closed and backward village, but the old man was unaware of it, and only calmly paid tribute to the deceased, with a deep sadness on his face. The arrival of Chi Yan did not cause them too much attention.
Chi Yan didn't know who the two were and what their relationship was with the old woman. She didn't disturb the other party, she just bowed before the spirit and thanked the old woman silently in her heart for telling him about the "ghost". information.
After praying, he turned around and was about to leave, when he saw a young man standing three steps behind him. The young man was wearing a somewhat old-fashioned black sweater, a pair of ordinary jeans, a dark blue peaked cap, and a schoolbag on his back, looking like a student.
Seeing him turn around, the man took the initiative to ask him, "Want to go into the mountains?" His voice was a little hoarse, as if he didn't speak often, and it didn't sound good. Chi Yan frowned slightly, he felt that the voice was a bit familiar.
In fact, this young man gave him a familiar feeling.
Chi Yan was the first to think of why he thought that voice was familiar. Because Liushun also spoke in such a rough and hoarse voice that was like sandpaper, Wang Sheng felt that his voice was not right at the time, and asked the other party if there was any problem, Liushun explained that his throat was injured when he was a child. .
The memories of that year were instantly recalled, and Chi Yan suddenly remembered where he had seen young people - this outfit was clearly the same as Cheng Tao back then.
Chi Yan froze there, the name stuck in his throat, but he couldn't spit it out, he just felt cold all over. He tried hard to see the young man's face clearly, but he felt as if there was a layer of mist on the other's face, so that he could never see the other's appearance, but subconsciously ignored it.
It was the same back then. After he was rescued, someone asked him about the appearance of Liushun. He tried to recall it, but found that he didn't remember or paid attention to Liushun's appearance at all.
At this time, the young man dressed like Cheng Tao asked again, "Do you want to go into the mountains? The scenery in the mountains is very good."
Chi Yan didn't wait for the other party to say anything else, and answered directly: "Yes."
The other party nodded: "Tomorrow morning, I will wait for you at your place."
The thing quickly disappeared from view. Chi Yan only felt that her whole body was out of strength, and the cold sweat from her spine almost soaked the back of her shirt.
At this moment, the old man turned to look at Chi Yan, and said, "You shouldn't have agreed to it just now. If I read it correctly, that thing is not a human being, but a ghost."
Chi Yan looked at the old man suddenly, with pain and regret on his face. He stroked his forehead and said, "I know, but I just couldn't refuse... I came here before, and all my companions were killed, but I was the only one who survived, the ghost and my companion who was killed back then. One of them was exactly the same. So at that time, I was like Zhongxie and couldn't help but agree."
Judging from the fact that the old man can see the identity of the thing at a glance, and that he seems to have a close relationship with the old woman, Chi Yan judged that the other party should also know some things in this regard, and maybe it can help him solve the current predicament. So I also intend to take this opportunity to talk about my problems to the other party.
What he said was topsy-turvy, but the old man showed full patience: "It doesn't matter, young man, you can talk slowly. Or why don't you tell me first, what is your relationship with Xiuyun, you don't seem to be from here, why are you here? worship her."
Chi Yan didn't know who "Xiuyun" was, but she guessed that it should be the old woman's name. He didn't hide it, didn't add fuel to it, just told the old man what happened back then, the reason why he came back here, and the old woman's advice to him.
After hearing this, the old man nodded again and again, and then took the initiative to tell Chi Yan his story. When people get old, they often like to reminisce and talk about the life they have experienced to their younger generation, and this old man is obviously no exception.
It turned out that the father of the old woman named Xiuyun was a well-known local Mr. Yin-Yang in his time. The old man was an orphan who was accepted by Mr. Yin and Yang as an apprentice and was raised from a young age. Therefore, he and Xiuyun also grew up together, and they are like brothers and sisters.
Later in the political catastrophe, the old man was only seventeen years old at the time. He followed his friend and ran away when something was wrong. Mr. Yin Yang, as a representative of feudal superstition, was of course severely criticized locally. Later, he could not bear the husband and wife. Both committed suicide. Xiuyun was only fourteen or fifteen years old at the time, and she was stimulated to witness the suicide of her parents, and she had some mental problems since then.
The old man followed a friend to the current special administrative region at that time. He was very smart. With the skills he learned from Mr. Yin Yang, he quickly became popular in the local area. He not only made a fortune but also was respected. But he has always been concerned about the master's family. After the situation improved, he began to ask people to inquire about Mr. Yin and Yang's family. He wanted to take the master's family to his side, but only found that the master and his mother had died, and the younger sister Xiuyun was mentally stimulated, and then he didn't know what to do. bad news.
In the past few decades, he has never given up on tracing Xiuyun's whereabouts. Only recently did he get the exact news that Xiuyun was married to Hongtu Village.
After listening to Chi Yan, he persuaded the old man to mourn and change. Unexpectedly, the old man took the initiative to say: "Thank you for coming to see Xiuyun on the last ride. It is also fate for me to see you. So, boy, I will accompany you into the mountain tomorrow, just follow that If the ghost finds the cave, I can try to save your cousins and the others outside the cave, which is regarded as a thank you for sending Xiuyun. Just one thing to remember, no matter what the ghost says, don't go into the cave in."