"Hand in Hand Travel"

Author: Lu You

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Exploring the Secret of the Uninhabited Village

The umbrella we held out was deformed by the strong wind......

I struggled to support the umbrella with my right hand to shield Xu Lixue from the wind and rain, and Xu Lixue was close to my body, she held my arm, and the two of them walked slowly......

In order to prevent Xu Lixue from getting wet in the heavy rain, I covered all the umbrellas on her body, and my shoulders and back were already soaked.

"Gao Qidao, your body is wet. You don't have to put all your umbrellas close to me, you have to keep out the rain!"

"I'm fine. When I was a child, I was often exposed to the rain and was used to it. ”

"I'm worried that you're getting wet from the rain and catching a cold. ”

"Ahh

"I feel sorry for you. Xu Lixue moved closer to my body and warmed each other.

We stepped on a potholed dirt road......

There was a soft mud on the heel of my shoe, the cloth shoe was badly waterlogged, and the damp and cold socks rubbed against the skin, which was extremely uncomfortable.

We walked the field path, and in front of us was the uninhabited village where Chai Fu said that strange things had happened.

At this time, because it was late at night, the village in front of me could not be seen very clearly. In the darkness, in the distance, you can only see the outlines of uneven houses, without a single light, deserted, and overgrown with weeds nearby. Suddenly, there was a loud and long chirp of the collared horned owl, and the cold air made people feel creepy.

"This uninhabited village is eerie, let's not go in. Zhu Yujia trembled and hugged his chest with his hands, "I'm so scared, I don't dare to go in." ”

"Coward, what are you afraid of? There are so many of us!" Zhang Wenxuan said insistently, "I will protect you!"

Zhu Yujia shook Zhang Wenxuan's arm with his hand and begged, "Let's go back, right?"

"We're all here. Go into the village tonight to take shelter from the rain, and go back tomorrow at dawn. Zhang Wenxuan stubbornly walked into the uninhabited village.

We walked up the mossy stone stairs and shone our flashlights: the houses in the uninhabited village were all crawling with creepers, some of the ceilings had collapsed, leaking and moldy cracks, the walls were caught by the roots of the octopus, and all around was a desolation of dwarf shrubs.

We approached the house and saw that the wooden door was rotten, the iron lock hanging from the door was rusty, the doorway was covered with a thick layer of yellow leaves, and the broken glass windows on the wall showed that it had been uninhabited for a long time.

Suddenly, behind us came the hoarse voice of an old man, "What are you doing here?"

"Ahh!!h

We turned our heads to see an old man in a black raincoat, with a wrinkled face and a cane in hand, standing under the bamboo forest......

In the middle of the night, what is an old man doing standing under the dark bamboo forest?

"Who are you?"

"We are a group of students. Xu Lixue pressed her hand on her chest and said, maybe she was frightened just now.

"Why are you here?"

"We came here for camping. It was raining heavily, so I had to go into the village to take shelter from the rain. "I wiped the rain from my forehead with my hands to keep it from dripping into my eyes.

"I'm the village chief here. A lot of strange things happened in the village one after another. I suggest you don't go into the village. ”

"What's your last name?" I asked curiously, "Why?"

"My name is Huang Junhao. The village chief continued, "Because many people in the village have died of strange diseases. The goddess divined and said: There is a spell in the village. The middle-aged people in the village moved out of Taoyuan Village for fear of illness, and the young people also went to work in other places and rarely returned. Taoyuan Village has become an uninhabited village. In the middle of the night, the uninhabited village becomes a paradise for thieves, and theft is rampant. ”

"What spell did the goddess say the village has fallen into?" I walked up to the village chief Huang Junhao and asked.

"The goddess said, "This village has fallen under the spell of death." Village Chief Huang Junhao's face changed in panic, "This spell will cause a bloody disaster. ”

"Village Chief, it's so late, what are you doing here alone?" I thought the village chief's whereabouts were suspicious.

"On rainy days, there are a lot of chickens in the fields. I thought of going to the field to catch some pheasants. I saw your light and came to me. ”

Now in the middle of the night, there is a heavy rainstorm, where are the field chickens? Field chickens are generally after the rainy day, and there are more in the evening.

After I looked at the village chief carefully, "Village chief, can you take us into the village to hide from the rain?"

"Yes, but ......"

"But what?"

"You have to get the consent of the gods. ”

What age is it now? The village chief is still so feudal and superstitious!

"How are we going to get the consent of the gods?"

"I'll take you to meet someone. ”

"Who?"

"Goddess. ”

"Why should we meet the goddess?"

"Because you have to draw the Guanyin Spirit Lottery to decide whether it is suitable to stay in Taoyuan Village. ”

We followed the village chief, Huang Junhao, up a sloping hill and saw a dilapidated temple.

"Village Chief, I would like to ask you a question: How many people still live in the village?" I asked as I walked.

"I've moved to the next village. There is a temple on the hillside next to the village, and there is a goddess living in the temple, He Yuexia. ”

"You're the only one in the whole village?"

"Yes. ”

"Today we met a chaifu in the Tiannu bath, who is he?" Didn't the village chief say that it was only him and the goddess He Yuexia? But today Xu Lixue and I also met chaifu. I felt a little confused.

"You mean Lin Baiqian? He has been working in other places for three years. I wonder why he's coming back this month?"

The temple in front of me is about five meters high, and the roof tiles are somewhat falling off, because of the disrepair, the beams are rotten and broken, and the roof collapses with a large circular hole.

Village Chief Huang Junhao knocked on the wooden door with his hand, making a knocking sound, "He Xiangu!"

"Who?" echoed an old man from inside the temple.

"I, the village chief. ”

"Huang Junhao, it's so late now, do you have anything to do?"

"There are four young people who want to go into the village to hide from the rain, will their appearance violate the rules of heaven?"

With a grin, the wooden door of the temple opened.

At the door stood an old man in his seventies, with long straight and drooping white hair, a wrinkled face, a pointed chin, and a hunched back. She was wearing a crimson Tang costume, a white cloud-shaped Fu Lu Shou pattern, black cloth shoes, and a white and cyan jade bracelet on her hand.

"Please come in. Goddess He Yuexia said in a deep voice.

The goddess He Yuexia took out a rectangular box of matches from her pocket, and with a click, lit the red candle on the four-legged square offering table, and the candle emitted a red and yellow sharp flame......

I took a closer look: in the shrine on the wall, there was a statue holding a net bottle with willow inserted in his hand, and a white ceramic Guanyin was sitting on a lotus mat with a serene expression. There is a circular incense burner on the offering table, which is filled with burned bamboo sticks and incense, and the bottom is filled with many light white ashes. Brightly colored Buddhist five-color flags are placed on both sides of the shrine.

"This is the Guanyin Spiritual Lottery. "The goddess He Yuexia handed me a bamboo tube full of bamboo sticks, "You kneel in front of Guanyin with both feet, and keep shaking the Guanyin spirit stick with both hands." It will automatically pop up a spiritual lotion that belongs to you. ”

"Good. ”

I knelt down in front of the statue of Guanyin, and my hands kept shaking the Guanyin spirit sign up and down, making a clattering sound......

Suddenly, a Guanyin spirit stick fell to the ground with a snap.

I picked up the Guanyin spirit sign on the ground with my hand and handed it to the goddess He Yuexia, "Please help us untie the sign." ”

The goddess He Yuexia looked at the Guanyin spirit sign I asked for, and was shocked, "It's not good, this is the sign." ”

"What's wrong with this Guanyin spirit lottery?" Xu Lixue asked worriedly.

"You're drawing lots. It is an ominous omen. I advise you not to enter the uninhabited village. If you enter an uninhabited village, an unexpected disaster will occur. ”

"So terrifying?!" Zhu Yujia was shocked.

Xu Lixue gently tugged at my sleeve, "Do we still want to enter the uninhabited village?"

I think the uninhabited village is a bit strange, unpredictable, and seems to be hiding some secrets.

"Of course we have to enter the uninhabited village to hide from the rain!" I deliberately raised my voice, "I wonder if the village chief agrees?"

"This ......," the village chief Huang Junhao hesitated.

"It's raining so hard right now. Xu Lixue looked at the pool of stagnant water outside the temple gate, about a fist of water level, "Village chief, okay?"

Xu Lixue, a stupid girl, was so scared to leave the uninhabited village just now, but now that I am told to stay in the uninhabited village, she immediately supports my idea.

"You can enter the village. Huang Junhao, the village head, picked up his cane and shook it to the ground, roaring like a bell, "However, if anything happens to you, it's none of my business! ”

When we heard the tone of the village chief Huang Junhao's words, we felt that he seemed to be angry.

"Village chief, there is no suitable place for them to live in the village, it is better to let them for a while

Living in Mrs. Meng's house?" the hunchbacked goddess He Yuexia raised her forehead.

"What does Mother Meng's family do?" asked Xu Lixue curiously.

"Meng Po opened a small restaurant in the village to sell Meng Po soup. It is said that drinking Meng Po soup can forget all love, hatred, and hatred. The village chief continued, "However, I have never drunk Meng Po soup. I've just heard about it. ”

"It's amazing! I'd like to taste it. Xu Lixue's eyes were full of expectation.

"It's a pity that you can't drink the Meng Po soup that Meng Po personally boiled. ”

"Why?" Zhu Yujia's eyes widened in curiosity.

"Because Meng Po has been dead for two years. Village Chief Huang Junhao sighed regretfully.