"Second brother, let's go back quickly, my aunt will be back soon. ”

"How is it possible, she and Bai Qing went to the north of the city to run errands, and they will definitely be here at night. Bai Che said to Bai Xiu while rummaging through the cabinets.

Then, with a cheer, he pulled out an extremely delicate small box from the cabinet where the office stored the materials.

The box was so beautiful and square that he could hold it in the palm of his hand.

Bai Che couldn't wait to open the box, and a cup lid was revealed, and he couldn't help muttering: "What kind of thing is this, it's so ugly, my aunt actually used it to ward off evil spirits?"

He was not wrong, the diameter of this 'cup lid' was five or six centimeters, and the thickness was never more than one centimeter, and it was flat and round.

It was supposed to be cyan, but now it's covered in mottled red stains, and it's ugly.

"I'll take a look. Bai Xiu became curious, took the 'cup lid' and groped carefully.

Seeing that his expression gradually became solemn, Bai Che couldn't help but ask, "Brother, do you know what this thing is?"

"This is ......" Bai Xiu was just about to speak, when there was a sudden knock at the door.

Bai Che was taken aback, and when he heard this, he immediately put his mind at ease, and waved his hand with a big grin: "Don't be afraid, it's not my aunt, it is estimated that 'business' is coming." ”

He walked quickly to the door, unscrewed the lock, and saw a strange man standing in the doorway with a nervous expression.

This man is only in his thirties, but his face is full of wind and frost, and he looks a little old.

When he saw Bai Che, he was a little disappointed, and at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably, and stammered: "Please, may I ask, is this the Bai family office?

Bai Che nodded again and again, looking at him with an unfathomable expression: "Yes, come in." ”

He let this person into the house, and the latter saw Bai Xiu and the soul suppression beam in his eyes at a glance, and subconsciously asked, "This is ......?"

Bai Che's eyes rolled, and he had a bad idea in his heart: "This is Master Xie Tian, his cultivation is very profound, don't look at him young, in fact, he is already ninety years old." ”

Bai Xiu was speechless for a while, but he didn't dismantle Bai Che's platform, anyway, his second brother likes to mess around for a day or two, not to mention that no one will believe this kind of nonsense.

However, he was wrong.

As soon as this person heard Bai Che's words, he immediately respected Bai Xiu, hugged his fists and bowed, and almost knelt down to kowtow to him.

Although Bai Che is always messing around, he is also a delicate person, and when he looks at this person's reaction, he knows that he has encountered a lot of trouble, otherwise he would not believe what others say, and he would go to the doctor in a hurry.

He motioned for the other party to sit down, and asked curiously, "What the hell is the matter with you?"

"My name is Zhang Feijie. The man's eyes were red, and he held back his tears and said to the two, "Thank you, Mr. Bai, you must save my nephew."

He's a good boy, my parents are gone, my eldest brother and sister-in-law are gone, and he and I are left to depend on each other......"

In his staccato words, the two finally knew what he was asking for.

It turned out that this Zhang Feijie was not from Qucheng, but from a small village in the neighboring city called Jielu Village.

Jietong interception, which means that the road is cut off when it reaches this village, and there is no road behind.

Jielu Village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, facing water on one side, and the environment is relatively closed, although there is a road leading there, but it is only a dirt road with potholes, so few outsiders in their village will go there.

However, the scenery there is beautiful, the folk customs are simple, and it can be regarded as a modern peach blossom source.

For many years, Jielu Village has been so quiet, until a big event happened not long ago.

Speaking of this, it is necessary to mention a custom in the village of Jelu.

Because of the inconvenient transportation, the villagers rarely go to the brick kiln outside to buy bricks, but use earth explosives and machines to cut bluestone from the mountains to make bricks.

Zhang Feijie's parents are masters in the village who specialize in helping others break stone bricks.

Three months ago, Zhang Feijie, who went out to work, received a call from his eldest brother Zhang Yunjie, and learned that their parents were hit by stones above and died on the spot when they were hitting stone bricks, so he went back to Jielu Village to do his parents' funeral.

Because he had quit his job when he came back, Zhang Feijie simply stayed to keep filial piety to their parents.

That's when the oddities began.

First of all, his nephew Mingping had a high fever for no reason, and he was fine during the day, as long as it was dark, his body was like boiling water, and he couldn't touch it.

Zhang Yunjie and his wife were more superstitious, and they heard from the village master that there was something troublesome in the old house, so they wanted to build a new house and move out.

Unfortunately, a month ago, at the same place where their parents died, Zhang Yunjie and his wife were killed by stones falling from the top of the stone field while they were hitting stone bricks.

is a good family, and in a few months, only Zhang Feijie and Zhang Mingping, the two uncles and nephews, remained.

However, it is strange to say that on the night of the accident between Zhang Yunjie and his wife, Zhang Mingping's strange illness was cured, and he never had a seizure again.

After losing four relatives in a row, Zhang Feijie and Zhang Mingping were grief-stricken, and they didn't want to stay in Jielu Village to see Jingsi people, so they moved to Qucheng within a few days.

They passed a month peacefully, it was nothing, but the bad thing was that the day before yesterday was the Qingming Festival, and Zhang Feijie wanted to go back to the village to sweep the tomb.

Afraid that Zhang Mingping would not be safe at home alone, Zhang Feijie took his nephew back to Jielu Village.

As a result, something happened this time.

Because Zhang Mingping was only nine years old, according to the local elders, his soul was not yet stable and he could not go to the cemetery.

Zhang Feijie carried the sacrifices up the mountain alone, and he went for two hours, and as soon as he returned to the village, he bumped into Aunt Mi and hurriedly ran over.

As soon as she saw him, she shouted: "Mingping went to look for you, I can't persuade him, I just saw him running up the mountain, did you meet him?"

Zhang Feijie inexplicably broke out in a layer of cold sweat on his back, and he soon understood the problem.

There was only one path up the mountain, and there were cliffs beside it, and he had just come down and saw no one, and Aunt Mi saw his nephew go up the mountain, so where did his nephew go?

Or is it that what Aunt Mi saw was not Ming Ping at all?

He came back to his senses, asked Aunt Mi to look in the village, and turned his head and went up the mountain again.

After walking for a few minutes, he found a faint familiar figure in front of him, who was it not Zhang Mingping?

He hurriedly shouted, but the other party turned a deaf ear and still walked quickly towards the mountain.

At that time, Zhang Feijie was still thinking about the previous question, obviously he didn't meet Mingping, how did his nephew go behind him?

While pondering, he trotted, thinking that he would soon be able to catch up with Zhang Mingping.

But when he looked up again, the figure was still hanging in the distance, only this time his nephew had turned around.

At this glance, Zhang Feijie was instantly frightened, Zhang Mingping's face was white and blank, and there was nothing.

Zhang Feijie rubbed his eyes vigorously, his nephew's face was still bare, not to mention any eyes, nose and mouth, there was not even a hole.

But after the fright, he didn't feel scared anymore.

Zhang Mingping is his only relative, what is going to happen, how can he be worthy of his dead parents, brothers and sisters-in-law.

Thinking about him, he chased after him.

The other man stood there motionless, allowing him to relax a little.

When he got closer, he saw that Zhang Mingping's face was originally wearing a mask made of white paper, and when he looked away, it was like his whole face was empty.

He thought that the child was playing a prank, and couldn't help but complain: "Mingping, why did you come here? Come home with me." ”

The other party moved his head, did not answer him, turned around and continued to walk forward.

Zhang Feijie was curious, and followed step by step, but as he walked, he realized that something was wrong, his nephew didn't want to go to the stone field, right?

Sure enough, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the place where the stone bricks were being made in the village.

The quarry was built against the path of the mountainside, half on the left side of the road and half on the right side of the road.

The terrain in this area is relatively gentle, but because the village has been mining here for generations, digging deep into the mountains on both sides, people can hardly see what is going on in the back when they stand on the side of the road.

Zhang Mingping stopped at the entrance of the stone field for a few seconds, and went to the left without looking back.

Could it be that he misses his grandparents and his parents?

As soon as this thought came to mind, Zhang Feijie couldn't help but feel a little sad, why did his nephew have such a hard life, he lost his parents and depended on him at a young age.

He sighed and followed.

The day of the Qingming Festival was still a little cold in Jielu Village, especially when he entered the stone field, Zhang Feijie obviously felt a cold air rushing towards his body.

He rubbed his wrist and said to Zhang Mingping: "Mingping, just say goodbye, it's going to be dark soon, we have to go back quickly." ”

Zhang Mingping ignored him, but walked quickly to the edge of the innermost cliff of the stone field, where his parents were stoned to death, and knelt down.

Almost at the same time, there was a sound of "goo, goo, goo" from a nearby stone as if water was boiling.

At first, Zhang Feijie thought he had heard it wrong, but the strange sound became louder and louder, and finally exploded in his ears like thunder.

He was excited, picked up Zhang Mingping and ran down the mountain.

Aunt Mian was talking to the master in the village, and when she saw him coming back, she persuaded him: "Feijie, I still think Ming Ping is a little strange, it's better to let the master take a look." ”

Zhang Feijie was also a little hairy in his heart, and he didn't care whether he believed it or not, so he invited his master into the house.

He put down Zhang Mingping and was about to take off the mask on his nephew's face, but was stopped by his master.

The latter lowered his head and stared at Zhang Mingping's face for a while, and then spoke with a solemn expression: "It's broken, this is not a mask, but a 'corpse cicada', there is a vain ghost looking for him as a stand-in!"

Zhang Feijie's heart moved, remembering the abnormality when he was in the stone field, and immediately told him the details.

Shigong's face became more and more ugly, and he scolded in local dialect for the tablet of Zhang Yunjie and his wife in the hall.

Seeing Zhang Feijie looking at him dumbfounded, the master shouted: "You also scold, they actually want to find their son as a substitute for the dead ghost, they should be scolded!"

Zhang Feijie was stunned: "You, you mean ......?"

Shigong picked up his crutches and poked the floor hard, and his anger did not diminish at all: "The stone you said is the one that killed them."

Your brother and sister-in-law are not like your parents, the two old people are old, and they are considered to be dead, but they are dying, their souls are trapped in stones, and they can only be reincarnated as long as they find a substitute for the dead.

Ming Ping is young and his soul is unstable, so he is the most suitable for this substitute ghost, fortunately you just ran fast, otherwise he would have been bad!"

Zhang Feijie secretly said that it was dangerous, and hurriedly asked again: "Master, how can I take this corpse cicada?"

Shigong pondered for a moment and said to him: "This thing can't be destroyed by external force, you go buy a rooster, and tomorrow at noon we will go to worship them, so that they don't want to come nonsense." ”

Shigong explained a few more words before leaving.

Zhang Feijie was anxious, but he could only wait for the next day to visit.

The next day, he bought a big rooster in the village early in the morning, and then went to his father-in-law's house with Zhang Mingping in his arms.

Shigong also understood his feelings, and without waiting for noon, he prepared paper money and incense candles and went up the mountain with them.