At the very back of the booth sat a Caucasian woman, who was thin and dark-skinned, but still a, and her charm was still there. Her exaggerated braids reminded Nan Zejiao of the beautiful and wild gypsies she had seen in the movies. Her braids were wrapped with gold and purple ribbons with strange patterns, she wore a gauze robe of crimson and brick red, with many ribbons and small bells tied at the ends, and she lay her hands flat on the table, her wide sleeves like two lanterns full of wind.

"Aunt Pumpkin, this is my friend. Xie Madxin enthusiastically introduced in English, "Jiaojiao, this is Aunt Pumpkin." ”

Nan Zejiao hurriedly nodded to Aunt Pumpkin, but the woman just sat in place and stared at Nan Zejiao motionlessly, and after a few seconds, she bent the corners of her mouth upwards as a return gift.

"Jiaojiao, Aunt Pumpkin can't speak. Xie continued to explain in English, "but she could hear it. There was a strange reverence and fear on his face, "Aunt Pumpkin is a pravologist, she can let you see your grandfather." ”

"How is that possible?" Nan Zejiao said without thinking, "There are no ghosts in this world, our teacher said that all those who pretend to be ghosts are deceiving people!"

Aunt Pumpkin suddenly smiled, revealing two rows of teeth wrapped in shiny gold flakes, startling Nan Zejiao.

"You can try it, you have nothing to lose anyway. Xie said kindly, "I also heard about this pumpkin aunt by chance, although I haven't seen her skills, but I think it's worth a try." ”

Nan Zejiao was extremely disappointed, she never thought that Xie Crazy Heart would actually bring her to meet a goddess. She wanted to turn around and go back immediately, but as soon as she saw Xie Yanxin's hopeful eyes, she lost the ability to move her legs.

"No matter what, Brother Crazy Heart will never lie to me or harm me. With this in mind, she settled down and walked into the booth and sat down on the bench to the right of Aunt Pumpkin.

In the middle of the three benches, a rectangular table is placed. The table is covered with a purple-black velvet tablecloth embroidered with quirky symbols. In the center of the table was a glass basin containing what appeared to be an extremely dense green liquid, almost as thick as a solid.

"It's also my first time here. Xie Crazy sat down opposite Nan Zejiao, "Do you see the position where we are sitting, does it look like a 'door' word?" He deliberately teased Nan Zejiao, hoping to make her relax.

Nan Zejiao looked at Aunt Pumpkin curiously and asked, "Does she understand Chinese?"

"Of course I don't understand. ”

"Then I just said that she was pretending to be a ghost, why should she laugh at me?" asked Nan Zejiao dissatisfiedly.

"She's a prator, isn't this skill?" Xie said disapprovingly, "And whether she can understand Chinese or not, does it matter?"

Aunt Pumpkin had already taken out a small leather box by this time. She placed the box on the edge of the table, and stared intently at Nan Zejiao.

"Jiaojiao, are you sure you want to participate in this ceremony?" Xie asked in a heartfelt manner, "Aunt Pumpkin is waiting for you to confirm." ”

Nan Zejiao was a little nervous, "Confirm...... Is there anything I need to do?"

Without waiting for Xie Madness to translate this sentence into English, Aunt Pumpkin nodded. She opened the box, lifted the covercloth, and took out two oddly shaped "short knives".

It is said to be a "short knife", but it is actually more like a soldering iron. The two "soldering irons" are about one pinch long, with a handle at one end and a cross-shaped metal attached to the other. Nan Zejiao looked at it, and the cross-shaped metal was composed of two thin short blades, which shimmered in the cold light under the illumination of the light, and looked quite scary.

"It's ...... What?" Nan Zejiao asked in a panic, "Brother Crazy Heart? ”

Aunt Pumpkin held the two "soldering irons" in her hands and motioned for Xie Crazy Heart and Nan Zejiao to take them.

"I don't know what it is, it's supposed to be a magic weapon for praying for spirits. Xie Madxin licked his lips, obviously taken aback. "Take it, Jiaojiao. ”

When the two of them took the magic weapon, Aunt Pumpkin suddenly stood up. She was tall and a little larger than the average woman, looking almost like a giantess. She took a deep breath, then stared at Nan Zejiao with all her attention.

Nan Zejiao moved her body uneasily, "Brother Crazy Heart, she ...... Why are you looking at me like that?" she remembered that Aunt Pumpkin might be able to understand what she said, and she was a little embarrassed.

"Aunt Pumpkin should be waiting for you to get ready. Xie explained in a hearty way, "You have to meditate on the person you want to see in your heart. ”

"Oh, okay. Nan Zejiao sat up straight in a panic.

Aunt Pumpkin stretched out two hands and pressed them on the heads of Xie Crazy Heart and Nan Zejiao respectively, and then patted them gently. Xie Madxin raised his head and saw that Aunt Pumpkin pointed to the fingering device, so he said knowingly: "Jiaojiao, it's time for you to use the magic weapon." ”

"Huh, how do you use it?" Nan Zejiao stared at the magic weapon in his hand, "I haven't used ......"

"I haven't used it either. "Aunt Pumpkin, how should I use this?" he asked in English.

Aunt Pumpkin gestured to the palms of the two of them expressionlessly, and made a gesture of shaking hands above the glass basin.

"It has to be like this?" Xie Madxin's face sank, "Aunt Pumpkin, I didn't know that praying for the spirit was such a dangerous thing before! Can't you use other methods?"

Nan Zejiao saw that Xie Madheart's face was ugly, and quickly stood up, "Brother Madheart, forget it, don't be like this, we are begging others to pray for the spirit, don't be fierce......"

Aunt Pumpkin smiled slightly, as if she was not surprised by Xie Madxin's reaction. She stood there for a long time, with a "I don't care" expression.

Xie Madxin sighed, "Jiaojiao, I really didn't know to do this in advance, I thought it was similar to the prayer spirit of the Neon Country, just chanting some spells or something, but I didn't expect to pray for blood." ”

"Aunt Pumpkin can't speak, maybe this is her unique trick?" Nan Zejiao comforted Xie Crazy in turn, "It won't be much to lose if you give it a try." ”

Xie Madness looked at her in embarrassment, "Jiaojiao, are you afraid of pain?"

"I'm afraid, I'm scared. Nan Zejiao thought in her heart, but she didn't want to be looked down upon by Xie Madxin, so she said stiffly, "I'm very bold, so I'm not afraid of pain." ”

"That's good. Xie Madxin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and stood up as well.

At this time, Aunt Pumpkin made a few gestures, and Xie Crazy quickly understood what she meant. "We're going to have to draw different hands so we can hold them together later. He held the weapon with his left hand, which was not very flexible, and aimed it at the palm of his right hand, "I'll come first." ”

"Let's do it together. Nan Zejiao took a deep breath, "It's like drawing blood." She made a deliberate grimace.

But the sudden pain still made Nan Zejiao gasp, and she looked at her palm in disbelief, where a cross-shaped wound had appeared, and blood was slowly pouring out. She held back the pain and said to Xie Crazy Heart with tears in her eyes: "Then what? Brother Crazy Heart, do you want to shake hands now?"

Aunt Pumpkin nodded solemnly as if she understood Nan Zejiao's words, and at the same time raised her arms, as if she was about to start the ceremony.

Xie Madxin stretched out his right hand, which was also bleeding, and interlocked his fingers with Nan Zejiao.

Nan Zejiao immediately felt a hot power, she held Xie Madxin's hand tightly, and her eyes were firmly fixed on Aunt Pumpkin. Blood slowly trickled down their arms and into the glass basin. The red blood slowly melted into the emerald green liquid, like the head of the big man at the door.

Aunt Pumpkin motioned for the two to sit down, but asked them to keep shaking hands. Nan Zejiao and Xie Crazy had to put their arms on the table awkwardly, and they didn't dare to move.

Aunt Pumpkin danced in the small space. The range of her movements is not large, but her gestures are full of weird atmosphere, which makes Nan Zejiao feel a little uncomfortable.

Aunt Pumpkin suddenly tilted her head back, and the angle of her neck was almost broken. But her arms were stretched forward, twisting like a snake at one time, then stiffening, the little bells on her robe "jingled" and rattled so that it was chilling to hear, her throat made a strange hoarse sound that seemed like a bitter smile and a cry, and her voice grew louder and louder, and her head was tilted back so that it was impossible to see her expression. An atmosphere of despair and sadness pervades this small space, which contrasts sharply with the lively hall.

"The chariots, the horses, and the pedestrians have bows and arrows at their waists. The grandmother and wife sent each other off, and the dust did not see the Xianyang Bridge. The clothes stopped crying, and the crying went straight to the sky. Nan Zejiao suddenly remembered a poem she had recited to participate in a speech contest. She didn't understand the meaning of the poem very much, but at this moment she felt extremely sad inexplicably, and almost cried with Aunt Pumpkin's "cry".

At the moment when Nan Zejiao was about to cry, Aunt Pumpkin suddenly stopped dancing and raised her head. She swept Nan Zejiao with her eyes sunken in her eye sockets, and the latter glanced at her and suddenly shuddered. "This woman's eyes are so sharp, like two whips!" Nan Zejiao thought to herself.

Eventually, Aunt Pumpkin's eyes fell on the glass basin, and her face changed.

Nan Zejiao followed her gaze to the glass basin, and couldn't help but be stunned—I don't know when a word appeared in the basin, an English word that she was all too familiar with: destiny.

"Fate. Nan Zejiao silently recited in her heart, this is the English name she prepared for her debut. She still remembers that before her official debut, she took her grandfather's hand and wrote the word on her grandfather's palm. Tao was very unimpressed with the name at the time, saying that it was long and difficult to remember.

Thinking of this, Nan Zejiao only felt a pain in her heart, she bit her lip and tried her best to resist the urge to cry. She stared at the bloodstained word, and felt a faint sense of fear.

"Jiaojiao. A low, muffled, inarticulate voice suddenly appeared.

Nan Zejiao screamed in fright.

Xie Madheart glared at her with a slight reproach, and then she remembered that she had come to see her grandfather "for the last time". She glanced at Aunt Pumpkin tremblingly, and at the same time grabbed Xie Qiangxin's hand.

Outside the booth, the noisy music never stopped, but inside the booth, the three people sat silently.

Aunt Pumpkin closed her eyes and was silent. Xie Madness reluctantly shook Nan Zejiao's hand and motioned for her to ask a question. Nan Zejiao was stunned for two seconds before she reacted, Aunt Pumpkin might be her grandfather now! She looked at Aunt Pumpkin suspiciously for a while, and then asked, "Is it Grandpa?"

"Yes. The deep voice reappeared. Nan Zejiao looked at Aunt Pumpkin's face in disbelief, and the latter's eyes were closed, his mouth did not move, and his hands were on the table. She looked at Xie Madxin, and Xie Madxin was also surprised.

"Why do you ...... Suddenly left us?" Nan Zejiao said this, and tears began to roll in her eyes.

A sigh.

After about a minute of silence, Nan Zejiao realized that Tao couldn't help but be unwilling to answer the question.

She cried and said, "Grandpa, I miss you! Mom and Dad miss you too!"

There was another heavy sigh, and Nan Zejiao shed tears. After a while, she suddenly asked, "Have you been killed?"

"Nope. A short and powerful answer. Although the pronunciation was still vague, the tone made Nan Zejiao feel extremely kind.

"Can you come out and show me?" she asked, plucking up her courage.

"Nope. ”

Nan Zejiao lowered her eyes in disappointment, and after a few seconds, she asked again, "Don't you want to come out and see me?"

Tao's sigh was so painful and helpless that Nan Zejiao immediately burst into tears, "Grandpa, what's wrong with you?" She cried so hard that she almost pulled her hand out of Xie Mad's palm. Fortunately, Xie Madxin firmly grasped her little hand, so that the ceremony was not interrupted.

"You can't get out?" Nan Zejiao finally thought of this.

"Yes. ”

"That'...... Grandpa, I have a lot to say to you, can you stay a little longer?" asked Nan Zejiao, crying.

Silent. Tao couldn't have returned to the question, but the answer was already forthcoming.

Nan Zejiao looked at Aunt Pumpkin and remembered a question that had been entangled in her mind for a long time. "Grandpa, the reason for your departure will not be...... Just like my little grandfather, right?"

She was mentally prepared not to get an answer, but unexpectedly heard a rough answer, "Yes." ”

Nan Zejiao's eyelids flashed with colorful lights, but in the blink of an eye, they were blurred into a halo of tears. She closed her eyes hard until the tears were almost released, and she didn't open them again, "So, did someone force you to do this?"

"Yes. ”

This short answer can be considered almost categorical. Nan Zejiao felt dazed and confused, "Who is it?"

Tao couldn't be silent again.

Nan Zejiao thought for a while, then looked at Xie Madxin, who was worried, and blurted out at the same time, "Is it someone you can't talk about?"