There was no light in the room, so Yan Qingcheng took out the few clothes that Yan Bailin often wore from the box in the moonlight, spread them flat on the bed, and carefully folded them. Then, he walked to the bookshelf again, picked out three of Yan Bailin's favorite ink paintings from them, and looked at them repeatedly for a long time before re-rolling them into boxes and placing them next to the folded clothes.

He looked at the room, and suddenly sorrow welled up in his chest, at first like a trickle, a trace seeping outward. Later, like a flood bursting its banks, it came so violently that he couldn't breathe.

"Father." He smoothed out a few wrinkles on Yan Bailin's clothes with his hands, and the tears in the corners of his eyes rolled down silently, "Father, it's the son's fault, the son didn't protect you, let you suffer such a crime, it's the son's incompetence......"

After closing his words, he leaned down, pressed his face against his clothes, and sobbed softly.

As soon as he bent over, something slipped from his pocket onto the floor with a "click". Yan Qingcheng picked it up and found that it was a Western candy wrapped in candy wrapper.

A bright light flashed in his eyes, a warm current flowed through his heart, and his thoughts returned to when he was a child.

"Qingcheng, when you are sad, as long as you eat a sweet candy, then even your heart will become sweet."

"Really?"

"Yes, put the sugar in your mouth, then close your eyes, and try to imagine that you are walking on a hillside, with clouds as white as cotton above your head, and green grass under your feet, and as you walk, you go over the hill and see a sea, very blue, and the sun shines softly white. What do you think? Still sad now? ”

"Or ...... There is still a little bit of it. ”

Xiangzhen took his hand, "Then imagine that I am standing on the hillside with you, with someone to accompany me, is it better to feel better." That little bit of 'sadness' is gone, right? ”

"Well, no, my sister came, and she slipped away when she was sad."

Yan Qingcheng picked up the candy, and a trace of tenderness welled up in her eyes, "She should have secretly put the candy in her pocket before the maid brought her clothes." He peeled off the candy wrapper, stuffed the fruity hard candy into his mouth, tasted it carefully, and slowly closed his eyes.

The moonlight fell on Yan Qingcheng's face, illuminating the corners of his mouth with a light smile.

"Bang bang."

The door panel was tapped a few times, and then Zhao Zimai's voice came, "Qingcheng, can I come in?" ”

***

"These clothes and scrolls are going to be put into my uncle's coffin, right?" Zhao Zimai lit the lamp, glanced at the things on the bed again, and asked softly.

Yan Qingcheng nodded slightly, "The weather is hot, it is not easy to stop the coffin for too long, and there is a lot of discussion from the outside world, so it is better to let my father enter the ground as soon as possible." ”

"Yes, in extraordinary times, the funerals that can be reduced are still reduced." At this point, he was silent for a moment, his eyes moving down to the upper of his shoe, as if he had not yet decided whether to say what was in his mind.

Yan Qingcheng had already guessed what he wanted to ask, so he smiled faintly and said, "This look of wanting to speak and stopping is not like the style of the Zhao family's son. Let's be straight, you want to ask about Xiangzhen, right? ”

Zhao Zimai raised his eyebrows, "Qingcheng, shouldn't you call her sister-in-law?" I've never heard you call your sister-in-law. ”

"Can you call someone you like?" Yan Qingcheng looked at Zhao Zimai frankly, without the slightest intention of concealing it.

"But she is married, and she is still married to your brother."

"I know, but love won't disappear because of this," Yan Qingcheng smiled bitterly, "Zimai, even if I don't want to, even if I know that it's immoral to continue to love her like this, I still can't change my heart, because she has always been here." ”

After revealing his heart, he turned his head to look at the moon outside the window, and sighed softly, "Zimai, you wrote a letter when you were in Europa, and the letter said that people there can surgically remove a certain part of the body. I'd love to ask you if there's such an operation that can dig out that shadow in my heart. She's been there for too long, and she's become a part of me. ”

Zhao Zimai showed a helpless expression, and after a while, he finally said, "So you want to leave the Yan family, not because of anything else, but because you want to stay away from her." ”

Yan Qingcheng smiled as if he was resigned, "Forget Zimai, don't talk about this, you came to me, it's definitely not just for this matter, right?" ”

Zhao Zimai nodded and moved the stool in the direction of Yan Qingcheng, "Qingcheng, I want to ask, have you ever seen an urn?" ”

"Urn?" Yan Qingcheng thought for a moment, and then said, "The water urn you said is placed in a courtyard where the four waters return to the hall?" ”

Zhao Zimai showed a look of surprise on his face, "That's right, you also know it?" ”

Yan Qingcheng frowned, "I remember seeing it when I was a child, is there still a red cloth on the mouth of the urn?" ”

"It wasn't covered with any cloth, the mouth of the urn was cracked, and a large piece was missing." Saying this, Zhao Zimai's expression became more and more solemn, and he sped up his voice and asked, "Qingcheng, what is the origin of that urn?" ”

"Origin? It is said that it once contained a decoction that could cure all kinds of diseases and bring back the dead. Oh, by the way, it was concocted by the ancestor of our Yan family, and because of this medicine, he became a divine doctor with exquisite skills. Speaking of this, he was stunned for a moment, "But the courtyard, I remember when I was a child, it was unlocked and unlocked, and this was repeated several times, and later, my father did not allow anyone to enter at all, and as for the reason, I did not ask much." ”

"If it's locked, how can the urn break for no reason?"

Yan Qingcheng thought for a while, and suddenly said, "Yes, I forgot, some time ago, someone went back and forth to say that the urn was broken, as if it was because the people accidentally knocked it down when they were cleaning the yard, because there were many things at that time, and I didn't study it carefully." After speaking, he frowned again, "Zimai, why are you asking about this old urn?" Could it be that what happened in the past few days has something to do with it? ”

"Looks like Uncle didn't tell you either." Zhao Zimai said thoughtfully.

"Didn't tell me? Zimai, do you mean what secret his father is hiding, huh? What is that? Yan Qingcheng stared at the wall behind Zhao Zimai, and suddenly lowered his voice, "Why are there three shadows on the wall?" ”

As soon as he finished saying this, a gust of wind blew in from outside the window, extinguishing the candles on the table. The figure on the wall disappeared, and only the white smoke of the candle wick rose, reflecting Zhao Zimai's face in confusion.

"Three shadows?" Zhao Zimai got up and walked to Yan Qingcheng's side, following his gaze to look at the white wall, "One candle, two people, how can there be three figures?" Is it a mistake to mistake the shadow of the tree for a human figure? ”

"Maybe, maybe I'm wrong." As he said this, the branches of the weeping willow outside the house were being blown up by the wind and striking the window edge, making a "crackling" sound like a ghost hand that hooked the soul.

"It looks like it's going to change again," Zhao Zimai glanced out the window, "Let's go back, save yourself a while from raining." ”

Yan Qingcheng reluctantly looked around the room, and then he and Zhao Zimai got up and prepared to leave, but before they could take a step, they heard a "knock" sound under Yan Bailin's bed, which was not big, but it was extremely clear, and every sound seemed to hit the hearts of the two.

Zhao Zimai's body froze, and Yan Qingcheng was also fixed there, both of them looking at the bottom of the black hole bed, with obvious confusion on their faces.

"Knock...... Boom...... Knock ......"

The sound continued, and instead of being drowned out by the wind crashing against the window, it was distinctive, hitting the ear drums.

"What's under the bed?" In an instant, Zhao Zimai had already taken out a brass knife with a lion's head and a lion's head that he was wearing, and asked Yan Qingcheng quietly.

"A wooden box, usually collect some miscellaneous items that you need to use." Yan Qingcheng's breathing suddenly became a little rapid, as if he suddenly thought of something, "Listening to the sound, it seems to come from a wooden box." ”

"Could it be a mouse?"

"Maybe, the family has been busy these days, and I don't know if there are rats." Yan Qingcheng's tightened shoulders relaxed slightly.

Zhao Zimai nodded, walked quickly to the side of the bed and squatted, reached in, grabbed the copper rings on both sides of the wooden box, and pulled it out.

The box was much heavier than he had imagined, and he used a lot of strength to drag it out only three or four inches.

"What weighs so much?" Zhao Zimai turned his head to look at Yan Qingcheng, who was squatting beside him, and there was a little confusion in his eyes, but soon, the confusion disappeared, and it was replaced by a touch of panic.

"Qingcheng, do you smell anything?" As he said this, his hand jerked loosen of the brass ring, his eyes staring directly at the black slit in the box, his back tense like a fully drawn bow.

Yan Qingcheng didn't speak, but the look on his face had clearly told Zhao Zimai that his inner thoughts were the same as him at this moment.

With a "bang", the box was pulled out by the two of them. Zhao Zimai clenched the handle of the knife and slammed the lid open with the tip of the knife.