Hello:

I don't want to hurt you, please help me and take me out of this village. My name is Gao Shan Xing, and I am a second-year student at Fengyang Art College. I'm a human, not a ghost. You can't see me, and if you can't see the lake, you won't see anyone else in the village. But the people of the village can see you and hear your voice. Don't be afraid, because the people of the village will keep their promises and will not alarm anyone who comes to the village from outside, and wait for them to leave the village on their own initiative. Unless someone from outside is found to have contact with someone inside the village. I'm sorry to lead you into this house. Here, we are relatively safe. The entrance to the house is marked with the word "mountain", so other villagers will not easily enter the house.

I just want to beg you to take me out of this village. There are many things that are inconvenient to write in the letter, and when I go out, I will tell you everything that happened here. The way to get out is very simple. First, please take this stack of manuscript paper on the small table. I'll know you've agreed to take me away. Then please leave the village the way you came. When you leave the village and enter the woods, roll up a piece of paper and throw it as a signpost on the road you pass. Because I can't let the people of the other villages see that I'm too close to you, and I can only follow you far behind. So please show me the way in this way. In this wood, you will definitely see those "quacks" hanging from the branches, which are those spherical things that hang from the branches. But I can't see those things, and the people in the village can't see them. When you get to the edge of that "quack" forest, it's where there are fewer and fewer "quacks" hanging on them. Please stop and wait for me for a while, and throw a few more balls of paper at your feet as a marker. I'll catch up with you as soon as I can and hold your hand. You may have a very strange or terrifying feeling when holding your hand. I don't know what it's like, but I've heard that this happens. Please don't be afraid, pull me out of that "quack" forest with all your might, and we will be safe.

If you don't manage to get me out of the village, please don't spread the word about it. If a large number of people come to this ancient village, it will definitely alarm the "Mountain Maitreya". In that case, I would have no hope of escaping.

If you are willing to help me, please send a letter to the following address: Gao Zhongchen, Second Brigade, Yushugou Village, Ligou County, Wuning City, Postal Code: 110179.

In the letter, please write:

"Grandpa:

I'm Apricot Takayama. I'm still alive, in that village. Grandpa, come and take me back.

Grandpa, don't believe the words of the opera troupe, they are storytellers, and they are all in the same group as Lao Yu.

Grandpa, I know why you brought me here to sacrifice in the seventh round, and I don't blame you. Please, bring me back again. ”

Xiao Jing read the letter carefully, and turned her head to look at Yang Guangcheng, who was standing side by side with her. He was still staring at the paper with a frown, his disgruntled lips reading the contents of the paper rhythmically, word by word. After a while, he also raised his head and met Xiao Jing's eyes. In the corridors, there are patients with hideous faces enduring pain, patients waiting for results with sad faces, nurses with concerned faces to comfort their families, and doctors anxiously rushing to another consultation room. Only a good-looking young woman in jeans and a t-shirt and an uncle in a crumpled security uniform with a decadent face leaned side by side against the wall of the hallway, staring at each other.

Xiao Jing was about to open her mouth to break this unsettling silence, but her gaze suddenly crossed Yang Guangcheng and fell into the depths of the hospital corridor. Yang Guangcheng also followed Xiao Jing's gaze and turned his head to the left. I saw Shen Mingde sorting out his shirt with one hand and holding the jacket with the other hand and walked out of the CT studio.

"Xiao Shen, how are you?" Yang Guangcheng asked.

Shen Mingde waved his left hand and said lightly: "I can't die." The doctor suspected that I had a contusion on my chest and asked me to take a film. Originally, you could get the film in half an hour, but now there are many patients, and it is estimated that it will take more than an hour. Let's find a quiet place to sit for a while. ”

So, the three of them walked out of the hospital gate together.

In a small café near the hospital, Xiao Jing sat by the window. Outside the huge glass window on the right-hand side is the bustling street. A woman in a white dress walks past the glass with a parasol. Three young girls walked across from Xiao Jing with arms on each other's shoulders, and the three girls laughed and teased. Xiao Jing saw the short-haired girl in the middle laughing and approaching the girl in open-knee jeans on her left, squeezing her towards the edge of the sidewalk. The girl in the open-knee jeans just pursed her lips and smiled awkwardly, but the short-haired girl in the middle had already bent over with a smile on her own. On the far right, the girl in a short skirt with a ponytail on her left arm was carrying the short-haired girl with her left arm, snickering with the back of her free right hand, and pinning her head to the right. Xiao Jing seems to remember her college days. Unconsciously she slowly extended her right hand towards the glass window. As if stroking your own memory, gently stick your palm with your five fingers stretched against the glass. Happy memories were only a window away from herself, she could see, but she could no longer touch them.

The cold touch of the glass made Xiao Jing retract her hand, and she straightened her seat, leaning her back against the back of the couch wrapped in dark red flannel. The couch chairs on this side could have sat two or three people side by side. But Xiao Jing's side was empty. The sun softened around four o'clock in the afternoon as it passed through the brown glass window of the coffee shop, and the light carved an acute triangle on the rectangular table in front of Xiao Jing, allowing her to enjoy the warmth alone. Xiao Jing looked at Shen Mingde and Yang Guangcheng, who were sitting opposite her, abandoned in the dark, and continued to listen to Shen Mingde's wonderful experience in the ancient village.

“…… Then I waited for a while at the edge of the woods. I was a little scared at the time, I was really scared of the feeling of being pulled by an apricot in Takayama this time. Later, after calming down, I felt that the feeling of being pulled by the apricot should be a feeling from another world that I had never experienced. Even my brain couldn't explain it exactly. As a result, all kinds of negative feelings and emotions will take turns. It may be that my brain is constantly trying to understand which sensations and emotions I need to understand more accurately. Shen Mingde's tone was jealous, and at the same time, the forearm of his right hand, which had been concealed with his jacket, stretched out and showed it to Yang Guangcheng and Xiao Jing.

The two of them looked very surprised after seeing it. I saw that on Shen Mingde's forearm, the bruise on the position where he had been grasped clearly showed the shape of a small fingerprint. Not only that, but just around a few fingerprints, they began to show a purple-red color, and like a halo, they almost covered Shen Mingde's right wrist.

"Xiao Shen, isn't this the 'ghost handprint'?" Yang Guangcheng said fearfully.

"What did the doctor say?" Xiao Jing asked.

"I didn't dare to give a reply. If the doctor asks how it happened, I don't know how to answer. But it doesn't hurt or itch, so I don't think it's okay. Maybe it will disappear in a few days. Shen Mingde said.

"How can this be done," Yang Guangcheng said eagerly, "This ghost handprint is a kind of mark. Those who are marked will be haunted by ghosts. Xiao Shen, when you go home, go buy a few sticks of incense and paper money. Burn the paper money, worship on a few sticks of incense, and beg those ghosts to let you go. Then wash this mudra well with incense ash. If it really doesn't work, let's go and ask a master to help you take a look. “

Shen Mingde looked at Yang Guangcheng with a smile and replied casually, "Okay, okay." ”

Xiao Jing felt that Shen Mingde was just expressing his feelings for the kindness of this big brother, but he would never do it himself. So, she said, "I don't think it's a ghost mudra, and the villagers in that village, including Takayama Xing, should all be human." It's just that you can't see it." Xiao Jing pointed at Shen Mingde, and then told her experience today. ”…… I was so scared that I flagged down a taxi on the highway and went home. Until just now, Shen Mingde's phone called me to the hospital. ”

Xiao Jing ended her story. I don't know if it's because the afternoon is too comfortable, or Xiao Jing's voice is pleasant, I saw that Shen Mingde and Yang Guangcheng both entered a state of half-asleep and half-awake with blank faces. Xiao Jing waved her hand a few times in front of them, bringing the two back to reality, and then continued to conclude: "So, there are no ghosts, no other worlds, and no crossings. The lake is real, and so are the people in the village. Shen Mingde and I both saw the well in the village, and this is evidence. Shen Mingde could only see the scenery and the dense fog in the village, while I could see the people in the village. When I could see the lake, the fog lifted. I don't know how the villagers did it. But it seems that the lake is the key to breaking this magic."

Yang Guangcheng asked bluntly: "Xiao Jing has seen the lake now, so what are you going to do next?" Did you go into the village and go to find Zhou Tengfei? Those villagers aren't very friendly. ”

Before Xiao Jing could speak, Shen Mingde said, "Indeed. I wouldn't advise you to go back to that village on your own. I think the next step is to go to Yushugou Village. Although it may not be appropriate to say this, I think Yushugou Village should be the 'zero location' where this incident occurred. If you think that the people in that village are real people, then Takayama Apricot should also be real." As he spoke, Shen Mingde released a recording of Gao Shan Xing in his mobile phone. Then, Shen Mingde looked at the expressions of the two, and then said: "The recording is clearly legible, and the time also shows that I recorded it when I was in the village, and you can all hear this recording. Therefore, it can be proved that what Xiao Jing just said is the truth. Someone was around me at the time, but I couldn't see it. Then, this letter from Gao Shan Xing is also credible. Zhou Tengfei and Gao Shan Xing are both from Yushugou, so I think someone there must know something. “

Xiao Jing let go of her biting lower lip and said, "Maybe Zhou Tengfei's aunt only knows a small part of this matter. This time we should go directly to Gao Shan Xing's grandfather, the one named Gao Zhongchen, he should be the core of the incident."

"What are you doing there? Ask people what? Could it be that he just said, 'Tell Gao Zhongchen to come out for me, your granddaughter is waiting for you in that village!' ’。 Yang Guangcheng suddenly took over the conversation, and continued: "I'm not stopping you from investigating. Look at Gao Shan Xing's letter to his grandfather, which obviously tells her grandfather that Gao Shan Xing knows why her grandfather took her to sacrifice. The reason for this sacrifice must have been his grandfather's secret. If I were her grandfather, I would know that my granddaughter knew his secret. Just let her stay in that village and fend for herself. ”

Shen Mingde took out the letter again. The three of them read the messages that Gao Shan Xing gave to her grandfather again. "The seventh sacrifice", "I don't blame you", Xiao Jing felt more and more that Yang Guangcheng's words were reasonable, so she said: "Suddenly reminded me of the story of the injured people told by the sixth uncle. The rich man's daughter must have taken the injured man to the sixth uncle's village. The sorcerers in the Sixth Uncle's village will hold a ritual, which should be a sacrifice. If it is a sacrifice, a sacrifice is required. Then the sacrifice may have been the daughter of the rich man. And the alpine apricot is also a sacrifice. This ritual of sacrifice may have been a way to heal wounds and heal diseases, but it required the blood of certain people to be used as a primer for medicine. So the alpine apricot was sacrificed seven times. Each time, she survived and was brought back to the village by her grandfather. But the seventh time, that Gao Zhongchen left her in the village forever. ”

Yang Guangcheng showed a mysterious smile and said, "Every sacrifice has to be bled up, how is that possible!" I see that this sacrifice is very famous. I think it's Uncle Six, they tricked that old man into their cult. Then he asked the old man to bring his granddaughter to their village as a sacrifice. Passing on the lineage to the singles in the village......"

Before Yang Guangcheng could finish speaking, Xiao Jing threw a napkin on his head, and then shouted: "Can Zhou Tengfei also have children?" ”

Because of these words, the three of them burst into laughter.

After laughing, Yang Guangcheng's face became serious and said, "What I just said is not just a joke. Quite a few female college students were sold to the mountains. Zhou Tengfei may have been detained in that village to work as a coolie. ”

Xiao Jing also calmed down, and then said: "No matter what the sacrifice is, at least through Gao Shan Xing's letter, we know what those things hanging on the tree are for. I also learned how to bring people out of the village. But the difficulty now is that I don't know where Zhou Tengfei's position is. And even if we knew, it was estimated that the three of us would not be able to deal with those villagers. Moreover, Shan Xing also reminded us in the letter that if we bring too many people to the village, it may not be good for her and Zhou Tengfei. The villagers might take him somewhere else, or kill him outright. ”

Shen Mingde, who had been contemplating his eyebrows, suddenly said: "No, no, no. I think it's very meaningful to ask for this sacrifice. The so-called sacrifice takes out the sacrifice in exchange for some kind of benefit with the gods. Perhaps, as Xiao Jing said just now, sacrifice can make Gao Zhongchen healthy or something. But Takayama got real information in the village. Through this information, she knew that the sixth uncle and those who told stories and sang operas were not to be trusted. The 'benefits' they gave to Gao Zhongchen were not necessarily what Gao Zhongchen wanted. If this is the case, then by revealing the truth about the sacrifice, we should be able to get Gao Zhongchen on our side. ”

"I don't think it's necessarily Gao Zhongchen who was deceived." Xiao Jing retorted: "Gao Shan Xing's two sentences to grandpa can be interpreted in a variety of ways. One is that Gao Zhongchen has been deceived by the sixth uncle, and he has taken his granddaughter to sacrifice seven times in a row. Another is that Gao Zhongchen and the sixth uncle both knew the truth about the sacrifice, but he coaxed his granddaughter to make the sacrifice. Takayama was left in the village after the last sacrifice, and she learned the truth. At the same time, she thinks that both she and her grandfather have been deceived. If the second possibility is the case, it would be pointless for us to reveal the truth about the sacrifice. Because Gao Zhongchen already knew the truth. At the same time, he also received the benefits he wanted from the sacrifice. Or maybe he was convinced of the sacrifice itself and the object of the sacrifice. Combined with the sentence written by Gao Shan Xing in the back, I think the second possibility will be a little higher. If you do something many times in a row and it doesn't work, I don't think Gao Zhongchen will stick to it. It was because he had received the benefit and his sacrifice was reciprocated that he offered seven sacrifices. Now the focus is on the seventh and final sacrifice. In the letter, Takayama said, 'I know why you brought me to sacrifice in the seventh round.' If we read this sentence with a focus on the word 'I', we might get a different interpretation. ”

Yang Guangcheng became interested, and he moved the page of manuscript paper in front of him. Shen Mingde also took advantage of the situation. The two of them read the sentence on both sides softly, and put the accent on the word "I" again. Suddenly, the two of them suddenly raised their heads.

Xiao Jing nodded slightly to them, and then explained, "If we follow the literal understanding just now, we have all focused on the purpose of the sacrifice and the number of sacrifices. However, as long as I combine the actual situation of Gao Shan Xing trapped in the village, and what I did to the sixth uncle, I have a different opinion. The sixth uncle came to Yushugou Village and attracted many children. Later, after the sixth uncle was driven away, I guessed that another drama troupe came. Gao Shan warned her grandfather that 'the opera troupe and the sixth uncle are in the same group', so that means that what they do should be the same. Remember the story of the two little girls who went to find the lake, and then one disappeared and the other moved. Uncle Six and the opera troupe should make the children believe in the existence of the lake through storytelling, and then go to find the lake. If I'm not mistaken, I think the sixth uncle and the opera troupe are cultivating the 'sacrifice' for sacrifice. Later, their secret was discovered by Gao Zhongchen. Through the fact that Gao Zhongchen can use his granddaughter as a sacrifice, I think he is a person who can be easily bought. So, he came to some kind of agreement with the troupe. Gao Zhongchen may have received money or some kind of benefit from the troupe, and he made it easy for the troupe to cultivate sacrifices in Yushugou Village. At the same time, he also took on the task of taking the child to the village to make sacrifices. In fact, there are many children who can be selected as sacrifices. But his own granddaughter is the most convenient and probably the most obedient. So, the alpine apricot was sacrificed six times. In the process, Gao Shan Xing may have known the truth. Just now, Uncle Yang's words reminded me. Therefore, I believe that the real purpose of the seventh sacrifice was that Gao Zhongchen wanted his granddaughter to disappear. ”

The crowd fell silent. It seemed that a cumulonimbus cloud of anger, solemnity, doubt, and other emotions hovered over the heads of the three of them. The sun outside the window is no longer so bright. The sunlight that began to sink in the west made the left half of Xiao Jing's body, who was sitting by the window, submerged in shadows because of the angle. "Jingle bell ......" a pleasant sound sounded from the door of the store. It was the sound of a string of bells hanging on the door of the store as it opened and closed. I don't know if someone left or someone came in.

Shen Mingde looked at the time, looked a little impatient, and finally ended the conversation with a sentence "Too many questions, too little information". So, the three of them decided that they should go to Yushugou Village again to learn more about the sacrifices, the opera troupe, Gao Zhongchen, and Gao Shan Xing. Because Yang Guangcheng still hopes to be able to accompany his son more in the hospital, he will not go with Shen Mingde and Xiao Jing. However, Yang Guangcheng agreed to go to the Fengyang Art Academy as soon as possible to investigate more information about Gao Shan Xing.