July 14 is the Midyear Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, and a certain sect administers this Obon Festival.

It is said that the ghost gate of the underworld is wide open this night, and there are lonely ghosts everywhere, so many people will sacrifice the souls of the dead on this day, praying that these passers-by will not come to mess with themselves or their families.

Lin Fengzhen has always had a reserved program on this night, which is to beat villains.

The so-called beating of the villain is to bring incense paper candles, rotten shoes, and then take a paper figure or straw tied villain, at night, go to the three-way intersection, burn incense, light candles and burn paper money, and then silently recite the name of the person you hate, while telling the other party's crimes and cursing, while slapping the villain with rotten shoes.

This is tantamount to complaining to passers-by and asking them to find trouble with their enemies.

This kind of scene is naturally extremely eerie, and it is usually done by the old woman.

And these old wives are usually some people who have been bullied and are unable to take revenge, looking for a trace of solace.

It's night, the moon is shining, the night breeze is blowing, the lit candlelight is swaying at the intersection, and at each three-way intersection, there are one or three or four old women playing villains.

In addition to the streets of the town, there are also many people at the intersections on the outskirts of the town.

There is a wide three-way intersection in the south of the town, where the most villainous wives gather.

The blood in their hearts has nowhere to be extended, and the grievances that have been suppressed for a long time are all vented at this time.

The night was getting deeper, and Mrs. Zhang, who had finished beating the villain, sighed, and her sad and gloomy face flickered in the candlelight.

She threw away what she was holding and stood up to go home.

The three or four companions who came together all stood more than ten meters away.

Suddenly, a terrible scream was heard not far away.

Several old women looked for prestige in surprise, but saw a large courtyard two or three miles away full of people and noisy, as if something had happened.

"The bandits are coming!"

There was a faint voice over there. Mrs. Zhang's dull gaze seemed to flash a glimmer of light.

"Help, bandits are robbing and killing."

Hearing this sentence more clearly, Mrs. Zhang trembled when she heard this, her eyes stared at that side, and her lips trembled.

"Is that the Deng family over there?"

She approached her companion in the darkness and asked uncertainly.

In the big courtyard, people kept running out, crying, or shouting.

"It seems to be the Deng family! It's too dark, and I'm not sure. ”

Mrs. Zhang's eyes lit up again.

In the darkness there was a figure running this way, shouting as he ran; "Come on! Help, the bandits are coming, and Deng Yuanwai was killed. ”

An old woman beside Mrs. Zhang said in surprise; "Why did the bandits come to our place, where are the bandits?!"

Another lady said; "There are bandits in Dagui Mountain near here, shouldn't they be?"

"Everyone, run, go home and hide."

Several people immediately ran home in a panic.

"Sister-in-law Zhang, what did you do in the past? There are bandits over there. In the panic, someone noticed Mrs. Zhang's abnormality and called her.

Mrs. Zhang didn't answer her, and her mouth made a strange sound, as if her voice had changed tone when she was extremely excited; "Hahaha, the bandits are here, they are wonderful, God has opened their eyes, God has eyes!"

"Come back, don't go over!" A kind lady came to pull her.

Mrs. Zhang was extremely strong at this time, and pushed her away, almost letting the other party fall into the paddy field; "What am I afraid of as a lonely old woman, I have no money on me, and I don't have a few catties of rice at home, why are the bandits coming to rob me? I'm not afraid. ”

After a pause, his voice became more and more poignant, as if he was gritting his teeth and saying it; "I'm going to see the Deng family who has lost their children and grandchildren, and I want to see their family ruined with my own eyes."

As he spoke, he walked along the ridge road with one foot high and one foot low, approaching the Deng family compound.

At this time, the people who had been asleep in the town were also awakened, and countless people lit lamps and looked in the east direction of the town.

"It's on fire, the bandits have killed people and set it on fire!"

There were still people running out of the Deng family's compound, and those who were closer recognized this as the Deng family's housekeeper.

On weekdays, he is a blessing, but at this time he is like a lost dog.

A few big men chased him out behind him, and when they saw him running fast, they didn't chase anymore, laughing wantonly in the night.

Mrs. Zhang, who was in the dark, walked fifty or sixty meters away from the Deng family at this time, and saw it clearly, and after seeing that it was indeed the Deng family, two turbid tears flowed down instantly, and she read the voice that only she could hear; "Old man, son, someone has avenged you, daughter-in-law, the brute who abused you has been punished, have you seen it? See? Woo~"

At this time, most of the adults in the town came out and watched quietly from afar.

The bandits came suddenly and went quickly, and after seeing that the fire had already burned, dozens of bandits either picked or carried bags of marijuana, and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

When they walked away, they saw the lively residents from a distance walking forward one after another, looking at it from dozens of meters away, their eyes showing excitement.

"Help put out the fire! Folks, please, help. ”

There were voices of pleading in the compound.

A few young people may be overwhelmed and want to help with buckets.

"Don't go, whoever goes to fight the fire will just not be able to get along with everyone." Someone shouted in the darkness.

"Yes, no one is allowed to go." Someone in the crowd kept responding, and even the young people who were going to help at the beginning retreated.

So in addition to the people of the Deng family, only Wang Zhutou and a few servants went to help.

There are few officials in a town, and he doesn't dare to lead people to chase those bandits, and even if he does, the officials may not follow him.

So he wisely chose to help put out the fire, which can be regarded as doing his duty.

At this moment, a burst of singing sounded out of nowhere, accompanied by the sound of crackling fire.

The singer has a bleak voice, but he sings a cheerful slang blessing song, which is usually sung by the troupe at the temple fair on New Year's Day or during the big day.

And at this time, this song house makes people feel desolate and sad.

It's a very wonderful song, but everybody understands what it means.

Joyful blessings are offered to those who have just been killed, while mourning is a remembrance of the tragedies of the past.

Among the onlookers, some silently sang along, others laughed, and some cried.

The fire was like a huge bonfire, lighting up the sky of Lin Feng Town.

Jiang Yi stood in the backyard and watched for a long time, and when it was very late at night, the fire gradually became smaller.

Two figures walked in outside the courtyard gate.

"How many people did you kill?" Jiang Yi didn't look back and asked in a low voice.

"I killed Deng Guanxin's dog thief, but when I set the fire, two or three old servants and Deng Guanxin's mother didn't run out, and they were all burned to death in the fire."

Jiang Yi didn't speak again.

"This time, I robbed more than 100 loads of grain, and there are four or five hundred taels of silver, and my father said to give you 100 taels." The speaker walked over to the table next to him, placed a cloth bag, and there was a rattling sound.

"I don't want it, please help the master, you can take it back." Jiang Yi said to another person next to him.

"Why not?"

"Don't ask why." Jiang Yi smiled; "Also, Brother Zhi'er, if you plan to do a good job on my side, don't go back to Daguishan, I don't want others to know that the Bu family has something to do with Daguishan."

"If you want to contact your father in the future, go through the Xu Gang Master."

Chen Zhi lowered his head thoughtfully. Finally, he said in a deep voice; "I understand! Helper Xu, go back quickly, and call my mother back when you return to the mountain. ”

Xu Changlin nodded, and quickly dived into the darkness with a bag of silver.