Shi Yitong nodded, and then said in a deep voice, "Sometimes, until twelve o'clock in the morning, there will be noises in that room."
I felt a little creepy when I heard it, "Sound?"
Shi Yitong nodded, "The first time I heard a strange noise was not long after I transferred from junior high school. I drank a little too much that night, so I got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. The toilet at Grandpa's house happened to be At the back of the grocery store, when I passed there, I heard a strange sound coming from inside. The sound was 'knock, knock', one sound, very rhythmic, like someone knocking on a wooden board The same. The sound was not loud or small all the time, and occasionally stopped for a while, and then continued to sound. At that time, I was very scared, but also very curious, so I slipped back into the house to get a flashlight, and approached the grocery store cautiously. "
I swallowed a small mouthful of saliva, nodded, and motioned for him to continue.
"Then I soon discovered that the sound came from one of the empty coffins, which was right at the door, so the sound was very clear. I worked up the courage and walked over, and the light of the flashlight fell on the coffin. On the coffin, the coffin suddenly stopped ringing. There was no response when I knocked on it. I opened a crack and looked in. The inside was empty, and there was nothing. There was no other way, so I didn’t care about it anymore. After going to the toilet, I went back to sleep."
"This... could it be the sound of the wind, or the cracking of the coffin's planks?" I asked tentatively.
Shi Yitong shook his head, "No. It would be like that without the wind, and it wouldn't be that kind of sound if the wood cracked. But the most important thing is that on the second day, a family suddenly visited my grandfather, saying that someone died It’s time for a funeral and to buy a coffin. I secretly followed my grandfather to watch the family pick out the coffin, and they picked the coffin that made the “knock-knock” sound the night before. After that, I heard it several times in the middle of the night. The sound of knocking on empty coffins, and someone will definitely come to buy coffins the next day, and the coffins that were knocked on the previous night must be taken away. Later, my grandfather told me that it is not people who pick coffins, but people who pick coffins. What? What kind of coffin lies in what kind of person, never miss it.”
I nodded half understanding, but I still didn't understand what Shi Yitong meant. This story is indeed a wonderful one, but hearing his tone, it seems that their family has long been used to it. What is he afraid of
"But, that's the problem." Shi Yitong rubbed his hands, his expression became more anxious, as if hesitating how to describe it to me, "In the past, as long as there was an empty coffin to be knocked on, the coffin would definitely be knocked the next day. Lying down. This has never been inaccurate from my junior high school to high school. However, a week ago... a coffin was knocked in the grocery store. It is also relatively high, so it has been placed for a long time without anyone buying it. My grandma and I thought that the coffin was finally going to be sold, but no one came to buy the coffin the next day."
"After a day like that, at night, the coffin was 'knocking' again. I couldn't sleep well all night, and I only hoped that someone would pick up the coffin the next day. But the second day One day, no one came to buy the coffin. It continued like this, until the third day, the fourth day... every night the coffin would be knocked, but no one came to buy the coffin the next day. That is, from that time, Grandpa It's starting to go wrong."
"It's... what's wrong?"
"How should I put it, it's just not right." Shi Yitong worked hard to organize his words, "He is often in a trance, always shutting himself in the room, not even eating, saying that he has no appetite. And he often says something Words that make people unintelligible."
"Unintelligible?"
"Yeah, didn't you see it too? Just like just now, they said 'fate', 'cherish' and other magical words, and sometimes asked some questions that we couldn't understand. I also asked He talked about the coffin several times, but he just laughed and talked nonsense about it, as if he was out of spirit. And recently, grandpa didn't even practice Tai Chi, his favorite, but just stared at him all day long. Scroll is in a daze, it's really... unspeakably weird."
After listening to Shi Yitong's words, my back also felt hairy, and there was an indescribably weird feeling, and I even regretted coming to his house with Shi Yitong in my heart. But seeing the worry on Shi Yitong's face, I couldn't help feeling sympathetic and wanting to help him.
"To tell you the truth, I'm so scared that I can't sleep at night, and I got up several times to watch by the coffin. But it still rings when it should ring, and when I lift the lid, there's nothing inside. And this weird situation still hasn't changed." Shi Yitong scratched his hair vigorously, and I could see the despair on his face, "...my grandpa said before, 'People in our profession, sooner or later It’s going to be retribution’. I’ve also heard that many people who did funerals were revenged by ghosts and died strangely and tragically. Now our family has encountered such a strange thing, but I can’t do anything about it. I don’t even know what to do. I can only hide under the blanket and shiver like a coward. I'm really, really useless."
The expression on Shi Yitong's face was completely different from when he picked me up at the train station. I fixedly looked at the sad expression on his face, and felt that my heart became heavy along with him.
"It's okay." I patted him on the shoulder lightly, "After all, nothing happened now, right? I think maybe it's just your overthinking. When you're old, it's okay if you don't like activities. It's normal. If you still don't feel relieved, go talk to the old man tomorrow."
My consolation even sounded lame to me, but Shi Yitong seemed to have really calmed down, and then nodded slightly.
In the evening, Shi Yitong and I chatted nonsense for a long time, until we couldn't stand the sleepiness, and we staggered on the bed and fell asleep.
I slept until I don't know when, I suddenly woke up inexplicably, it was pitch black outside the window, I turned my head to see Shi Yitong was still sleeping soundly beside him. I got up from the bed, put on my shoes, opened the door, and went outside, ready to go to the bathroom. I don't know why, but my consciousness is very clear, and I don't feel sleepy at all.
Just when I walked to the middle of the yard, a voice came from my ear.
"The moon is bright tonight, isn't it?"