The scratch on Shen Mingde's right wrist seemed to be fading. The fuchsia that surrounds the scratches turns cherry red and pale pink. The palm prints and fingerprints that were once grasped by Takayama Apricot have also become smaller. Taken as a whole, however, the scratch seems to make for a strange tattoo-like picture. The image is of a purple-black sun, spewing viper-like flames in all directions. Like a starfish or an octopus, stretching out its serpentine tentacles, wriggling around his arms. However, whether it is the sun, starfish, or octopus, the color of this tattoo-like picture is purple-black. At the same time, in the center of the "tattoo", an "eye" without eyelids is presented. There is a "snake pupil" in that "eye", which is lifelike. It seems that he is monitoring all the movements of Shen Mingde and his side all the time, and he does not sleep.

Shen Mingde's raccoon cat, Nini, used to be a small wild cat. It is aggressive, wild and untamable, and sensitive and suspicious. It was only after years of contact that it let down its guard against Shen Mingde and became close to him. Recently, Nini has once again revealed her strangeness to her master. Shen Mingde came home too late these days, and fell asleep in bed, so he didn't care too much about Nini's behavior. But just last night, when Shen Mingde returned home after visiting Xiao Jing, it was not too late. Nini didn't run downstairs to greet him back and gather around him to ask for food. Shen Mingde simply searched around the house, and then took out cat food and canned food to tempt it. But all his efforts were not taken. So, he went straight to the second floor and went to the bedroom. Because he remembers that the little guy would hide in the bedroom closet when he was afraid. Yes, Nini is a cat who will open the door to her closet on her own. It can pry open the gap along the gap in the door with its little paws and squeeze its head in. After that, I jumped to the top along the ladder-like lattice in the closet, and silently lurked among the miscellaneous items and cardboard boxes, waiting there. Shen Mingde suddenly opened the door of the wardrobe, intending to surprise Nini. But the moment he opened the cabinet door, the "surprise" turned into the "fright" brought to him by Nini. I only heard the sound of "meow~", and at the same time, a swift arrow shot out of the cabinet, landed on the bed in front of the closet, and bounced to the ground, and then lost its trace under the bed. Shen Mingde suddenly rushed to his forehead with a burning pain, and then blood oozed from the left corner of his forehead.

Shen Mingde used the above story as a conversation to pass the time and told it to Xiao Jing, who was sitting in the passenger seat. She hid her mouth with the back of her hand after listening to the story, and snickered. Xiao Jing moved the eyes that looked at the "tattoo" on Shen Mingde's right wrist to the corner of his forehead, and sure enough, he found two slender scratches extending from his hair.

Xiao Jing asked curiously, "Why didn't Nini hide in the closet when I came to your house last time?" ”

Shen Mingde: "It may be more curious. It doesn't feel threatened from you. So curiosity overshadows fear. ”

Xiao Jing: "It seems that last night, Nini felt threatened from you. I've heard that cats are very sensitive animals. So they can detect ghosts, ghosts, and other unclean things. ”

Shen Mingde nodded, pretending to concentrate on driving. He was jealous of Nini's actions last night, but he didn't want to admit it. Because once you admit it, it proves that when the scratch on your wrist is imprinted, you really have some kind of change. If this is the case, then Gobwen's so-called "mark of the ghost" may be true. This fact means two important things to Shen Mingde. One is that Gao Shan Xing may really be a "resentful ghost" that can't be released, or something similar to a living corpse in a drama school. Without the help of Gao Shan Xing, he would only have to rely on guesswork and imagination to understand the whole incident. Without Gao Shanxing as a witness, Shen Mingde really didn't know how to deal with Chen Yongyi, Gao Bowen and others in the future. Another important thing is that I may not be dying. Even if music and dance are still useful to the "ghosts" or "living corpses" who come to hunt him, he may live in fear for the rest of his life. It won't be long before I don't have a nervous breakdown, and I may give up the desire to survive.

Xiao Jing saw that Shen Mingde had no desire to speak anymore, so she took the headphones with herself. She said she had been sleeping poorly for the past two days, but she believed that music would help her resolve her nightmares. In fact, she did. The soothing music brought her to calm, emptied her brain, and her fear was suppressed. Shen Mingde didn't bother her again. He just concentrates on driving, thinking about his own thoughts or countermeasures. The two of them walked the rest of the journey.

Jiufengshan Village is a natural village located in the north-west of Wuning City, between the canyons of Dafeng Mountain and Xiaofeng Mountain. From the city, it takes about two and a half hours by car. Due to the unfamiliarity of the road, Shen Mingde and the two spent a full three hours on the road. When they saw the village, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. The weather was as hot and humid as yesterday, still gray. The rain and fog add a veil of mystery to this small village nestled between the valleys. What's more, they are going to visit a psychopath today.

Shen Mingde parked the car at the entrance of the village. Although it is not as imposing and obvious as Yushugou Village, he also thinks that the location of the parking is the entrance of the village. Because this seems to be the only path into the village that is connected to the road. Xiao Jing's phone call soon summoned a middle-aged man who looked like an old father. The man was of medium height, somewhat hunchbacked, walked with his shoulders upright, and his gray hair and beard were very thick. He greeted Xiao Jing in the car and the doctor who was driving, and then asked them to follow him in the car. Yes, Shen Mingde is going to play the role of a psychiatrist today. Xiao Jing seems to have asked Zhou Tengfei's uncle yesterday to find the contact information of Wang Yajuan's home. After that, she negotiated with her parents. At first the family seemed reluctant to be disturbed, but later negotiations were very successful. Xiao Jing cried to them that her husband had also disappeared by the lake and needed information from Wang Yajuan. And promised that they would get this information for a fee, and that they would also bring a good doctor to see their daughter. Wang Yajuan's parents' tone softened, and they promised that they could visit Wang Yajuan before dinner this afternoon.

The construction of this village cannot catch up with the village of Yushugou. Unplanned house courtyards are scattered on the slopes and foothills. Everywhere a dilapidated and depressed scene is revealed. Shen Mingde's car was parked in front of a lonely house at the foot of the mountain. The two of them got out of the car, and when they looked around, they could see weeds growing wildly in the broken yard fence, which seemed to have been unattended all year round. The low, single-story hut in the depths of the courtyard opened weakly, and a tall, lanky village woman stood in the doorway in the orange light of the house. Shen Mingde asked Wang Yajuan's father how the village was so depressed and why their family was so messy. Uncle Wang replied: "This is the village along the old Fengshan Mountain. Most of the villagers have already moved to the village along Xinfeng Mountain. There's a crazy girl in my family, and I don't dare let her meet anyone. So the old couple stayed here with her. Anyway, the youngest son and daughter-in-law have already moved away. As long as they are doing well, we are both satisfied. ”

Uncle Wang let the two into the house. The furnishings inside are shabby, and even lack the breath of life. My aunt didn't seem to be a talker, so she said hello and went into the kitchen. Uncle Wang is a cheerful person, and he took the initiative to take the two to Wang Yajuan without chatting a few words. They descended a flight of stairs in the hallway of the back room to the basement. Uncle Wang pointed to a wooden door at the end of the basement and told them that Wang Yajuan was locked inside, and let them talk to her by themselves. After that, Uncle Wang was ready to turn around and go upstairs.

Shen Mingde was curious, stopped him, and asked, "Aren't you going to see your daughter?" ”

Uncle Wang said with a sad face: "Hey, I watch it every day." I've heard enough of her crazy talk. If you have the ability, help see what kind of disease she is. If you don't see it well, we don't blame you. After so many years, no one has been cured. ”

As soon as the words fell, Uncle Wang walked up the "squeak" stairs by himself.

The basement is not large, and the ceiling is low, which looks very oppressive. The ventilation in the room was very poor, and there was a musty smell mixed with earth. Most of the space is filled with debris, with a narrow passage flashing through to the wooden door at the end. A small light bulb hangs from the ceiling in the center of the basement, swaying with the vibration of the stomping floor. Maybe it's because the voltage is unstable, or maybe it's because the bulb is aging over time, and the weak light often flickers on and off. Trampling on the hay and sawdust on the ground, stepping over the debris for some reason, the two approached the wooden door. Everything in this basement reminded them of what happened to them in the drama school not long ago. The wooden door has a small, square window about the height of a person, like the surveillance window on a prison door. It seems that this small window is the only connection between the inside and the outside. Looking through the monitoring window, I found that this small cubicle was a space of more than ten square meters. There are only floors and walls, and nothing else. A dim yellow table lamp with little brightness provides a light source for this room. In the center of the room sat a woman dressed in white, nervously playing with a strand of her long hair.

After a three-hour drive, Shen Mingde, who was full of stomach problems, suddenly froze. He had never spoken to a madman before, and was a little overwhelmed at this point. He looked at Xiao Jing as if asking for help. However, Xiao Jing was also very embarrassed to stand side by side with him. No, the woman suddenly spoke first.

Woman: "Zhou Tengfei ascended to immortality?" ”

"Do you know Zhou Tengfei?" "Dengxian?" Xiao Jing and Shen Mingde asked two questions almost at the same time.

The woman in white ignored the question, and suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed. The laughter was shrill and piercing, like the song of the mythical banshee "siren". After laughing for a while, the woman suddenly stopped laughing, turned her head and glanced at the two people outside the monitoring window. The movements of this glance look very contrived, like acting, but there are thousands of styles in the eyes, and they look very seductive and moving. With the help of the dim light, Shen Mingde could see the woman's emaciated, slender "snake spirit face" clearly. If this woman hadn't gone crazy, she might have become a very popular Internet celebrity.

The woman spoke again. There was embarrassment and disdain in his tone: "What if you become an immortal?" What about knowing cause and effect? At the end of the day, it's not that the hits are taking you for a lunatic. ”

With that, the woman stood up and staggered to the door. These steps were very good, and Shen Mingde felt very much like the appearance of those concubines who were given death by the emperor on the drama stage.

The woman walked up to the surveillance window, her long, waterfall-like hair covering the entire left side of her face, revealing her right eye and right half of her lip between the bushes of hair. She looked at Shen Mingde with a smile in her right eye, and said, "Ascended to the immortal...... How could he come back? ”

Suddenly, the woman's pupils turned to Xiao Jing next to her. I don't know if it was too sudden, but from this woman's gaze, Xiao Jing felt a kind of hostility. She couldn't help but take a step back and hold her mouth with both hands. Seeing this scene, the woman didn't have any expression on her face, but moved her eyes to Shen Mingde again.

The woman and Shen Mingde looked at each other for a moment, then smiled sequently, and then turned away gracefully. Turning his back to the two of them, he said, "Tengfei won't come back." If it weren't for that tension and event, I would still be in the fairy land at this time. ”

"Tension brought you out?" Shen Mingde asked. But the woman turned her back to both of them without reacting. So, Shen Mingde then asked, "Who sacrificed you?" Or who did you sacrifice? ”

The woman remained silent, her back to the two of them. After a moment, Shen Mingde noticed that her shoulders began to tremble slightly, and she seemed to be crying. The woman's sobs grew louder, and so did the frequency of her shoulders and body trembling. It wasn't howling and crying, and there was no earth-shattering screaming, she just sobbed softly, crying so desolately. The woman sat quietly with her back to the door. Hit the back of your head against the wooden door, making a "thump" sound.

After a while, the woman said quietly: "It's all Zhang Baoshan and his grandfather...... It's all their father's fault. ”

Indeed, if Zhang Baoshan hadn't rescued Lao Yu, maybe everything wouldn't have happened. Xiao Jing and Shen Mingde looked at each other, not knowing what to ask. But the woman didn't wait for them to ask, so she muttered to herself: "Zhang Baoshan was a big young master before liberation. Their whole family had 'eternal life.'" Zhang Baoshan's father married another concubine. The concubine is about the same age as Zhang Baoshan. Zhang Baoshan fell in love with his little mother. Later, the little dirty thing about the concubine and Zhang Baoshan was known by his father. In a fit of rage, he killed the concubine and drove Zhang Baoshan out of the house. That Zhang Baoshan saw that the woman he liked was dead, and he was also angry. In a fit of rage, he killed his entire family overnight. The next day, he carried the body of the concubine to the lake. He walked for two days, and then caught up with the hot weather, and the corpses were rotting and stinking, and maggots were born. He asked the high priest to resurrect the concubine in the lake, but he refused. Zhang Baoshan buried the concubine by the lake. After that, whenever he had time, he came to the village to ask the priests. But the result was the same.

Then the war broke out. Zhang Baoshan became a bandit, also fought the Japanese, and was a soldier, and finally became a deserter. He has hunted, sold coolies, robbed aisles, and asked for food, no matter what kind of life he lived, he just didn't want to leave Wonton Mountain. Eventually, he settled in Elm Gully, and from time to time he ran into the mountains. After being rejected countless times, Zhang Baoshan finally made up his mind. He kidnapped the old bug, who was later called the old one. This man used to be the village bookkeeper and knew a lot of secrets. He intended to threaten the High Priest to grant his wish. However, Zhang Baoshan really underestimated the high priest. Soon after, he was killed in his own home along with his son. ”

Shen Mingde suddenly interrupted the woman's words and asked, "How did Lao Yu let you see that lake?" What else did he say to you? ”

Xiao Jing gently tugged Shen Mingde, signaling him not to ask questions and listen patiently.

The woman really ignored the other people's questions, and continued, "The Dengxian Festival is not the same as the Nightmare Suppression Festival. If you get it wrong, you'll die. The fruit is brought out regularly, and if it falls to the ground, it will be terrible. If anyone catches the fruit, he will be terrible. The one who catches the fruit can see what is not supposed to be seen. Those things know you're looking at it, and it's going to be upset. Don't say I'm laughing at you, you don't even have the qualifications to be a 'town girl'. ”

Xiao Jing suddenly had an idea and asked, "Can't the woman Zhang Baoshan like receive the fruit?" ”

The woman replied, "She has been dead for too long to eat." ”

Shen Mingde also seemed to understand the meaning of these "nonsense", and he made a thumbs up gesture to Xiao Jing.

Xiao Jing asked again: "Then what is the 'town girl'?" ”

The woman was underneath the wooden door, and the two of them could barely see the woman from the surveillance window. However, he heard the woman rebuke with disgust: "The town girl is the town girl, suppressing the evil woman." Dead over and over again, Shan Miro just doesn't take it. ”

Shen Mingde suddenly asked, as if he had been triggered by a certain mechanism: "Gao Shan Xing?" Do you know Apricot Takayama? ”

The woman replied angrily, "Yes." Of course I know. Skinny as a dead man. I can't even say the word 'no', and I was born to be a material for a 'town girl'. ”

"No way. When Gao Shan Xing first arrived in Yushugou, you may have seen it. After Lao Yu was sent to a psychiatric hospital, you had already moved out of Elm Gully. Takayama Apricot began to sacrifice after the establishment of the drama school the following year. How do you know about her? Who told you that? Shen Mingde couldn't believe this woman. Maybe she heard from her parents about the follow-up of Gao Shan Xing and Yushugou, or maybe she had a connection with the people of Yushugou.

The woman stood up and took two steps back. Shen Mingde and Xiao Jing could clearly see that the woman's wide coat like a "filial piety dress" and the long black hair that almost covered her cheeks were trembling slightly. Piercing shrill laughter echoed through the basement again. The laughter mixed with the cold, damp, musty air underneath sent chills down the shoulders of both of them.

The basement is an interesting place, it is always warm in winter and cool in summer. That chilly feeling is exactly the opposite of the damp heat outside today. Xiao Jing was even more aware of this at this time. She was still in the hospital yesterday for an injection, and she has been feeling very weak ever since. She wrapped her hands around her shoulders and rubbed her arms hard. She hoped to warm her body up in this way, but to no avail. She involuntarily chilled all over her body, and then shivered like a fever caused by a cold. At the same time, the woman's laughter became more harsh, and the amplitude of her body swinging back and forth from laughter gradually increased. Xiao Jing's eardrums bulged, and the sounds around her turned into a "whine" sound that could only be heard underwater. Immediately afterward, her ears seemed to lose their hearing function, and she could hear the woman's laughter or other sounds. In the deathly silence, Xiao Jing saw the woman in the room standing upright, bending over in a knotted manner, leaning back, bending over, leaning back, bending up, bending back, back and forth, back and forth, flicking her long hair like a waterfall. She saw that the woman's face had lost its luster, her cheeks began to sunken, her eye sockets deepened, her eyeballs bulged, her lips turned and grinned, and from the big mouth that laughed wildly, Xiao Jing could even see the molars on the left and right sides. The woman has become a living corpse! It's exactly like a living corpse in a drama school!

Xiao Jing's eyes suddenly went dark, as if she had been sucked into a black hole. She leaned back heavily, falling to the wall beside her, which was nailed out of wooden strips. said that it was too late, Shen Mingde grabbed Xiao Jing's shoulders, and then he called out her name and shook Xiao Jing. Xiao Jing heard Shen Mingde's shouting from far and near, and she slowly came back to her senses. Weakly, perhaps subconsciously, she put the back of her right hand on her forehead. In an instant, she felt a piece of 10,000-year-old ice freeze her forehead. In fact, she couldn't tell whether her hands were too cold or her forehead was too hot, maybe both.

Shen Mingde felt that Xiao Jing's illness was not cured, and he began to have a fever again. He asked her to wait upstairs, but Xiao Jing refused. She didn't dare to go upstairs alone, so she asked Shen Mingde to continue, and she rested beside him. Xiao Jing turned her head to the left to look at the woman in white standing motionless in the room. She suddenly had the feeling that she was watching a TV series and jumped straight from episode 1 to episode 8. As for what happened in between, she was confused. At this time, she didn't care about the content, and pointed to restoring her calm as soon as possible. Shen Mingde gently leaned her against the wall. Xiao Jing slowly squatted down and put on the headphones.

The woman in white laughed enough, and didn't pay attention to what had just happened. She just looked to herself and continued, "I know. Locked up in this room, but I know everything. All the people who ascended to the immortals, all the people who soaked in that lake are all connected to each other. As long as you know that person, as long as you are willing to look for it, you can see the memory of that person. For example: I now know how this woman deceived my parents and asked them to bring you to me! ”

As she spoke, the woman in white raised her right arm and pointed to the position where Xiao Jing was sitting on the ground outside the door. Shen Mingde struck a spirit, and he quickly turned his head and looked at the stairs.

The woman continued: "I also know that the sixth uncle died in the hospital. He's too old, too long, too far away from that lake. ”

After hearing this, Shen Mingde seemed to understand why Chen Yongyi was so rich, but he had been nesting in the small city of Wuning. He asked, "So what kind of story does Chen Yongyi have?" ”

The woman frowned and replied, "I don't know him." Even if you occasionally see the memories of someone you don't know, it's just a bunch of meaningless stories. You mortals, you don't understand what you say. ”

Xiao Jing suddenly spoke weakly. "What is a 'guide'?" she asked. ”

When the woman heard Xiao Jing's faint voice, she reflexively asked, "What kind of leader?" ”

Shen Mingde understood, he immediately rolled up the long sleeve on the right side, and stretched his wrist in front of the monitoring window. I saw that the woman leaned in close attention to take a closer look, suddenly exclaimed, took a few steps back, and then sat down on the ground. The woman began to weep again, muttering something faintly. Her series of movements are different from just now, and she doesn't have the feeling of acting on stage. Shen Mingde listened carefully to the woman's mouth, which seemed to be chanting a name, as if it was "Lingling". He felt that this woman had changed the way she had just made a tone, but was sincerely missing an old friend in pain. It seems that this woman is really afraid of the scratches on Shen Mingde's wrists, and she is also really sad for "Lingling". Xiao Jing seemed to have eased up a lot. She ripped off her headphones and turned her head to look in the direction of the wooden door. She seems to be interested in what is coming.

Shen Mingde then asked, "Do you know this scratch?" This is left by Takayama apricots. ”

The woman inside the door said with an uncontrollable cry: "Gao Shan Xing is a 'town girl'. She fills all fears and suppresses what is not clean. And then...... Killed again and again. She resents all living people...... She hates the world. ”

"Gao Shan asked me to take her out. It was only with my consent that she grabbed my wrist......" Shen Mingde retorted.

However, before he could finish his sentence, the woman shouted angrily: "Of course, she can only brand you if you agree with her!" A sucker! ”

Shen Mingde asked, "Then she will kill me?" ”

But the question was not answered by the woman, who was still sitting on the ground and chanting "Bell Ring...... Bell bell ......"

Shen Mingde asked tentatively under Xiao Jing's signal: "Is Lingling Jiangling?" ”

The woman in white seemed to react, she stopped sobbing, paused her body swinging back and forth, and said, "Ling Ling is my best friend." Always follow me like my own sister. Zhang Baoshan wants to use all the children in the village as sacrifices in exchange for the lives of his own! The sixth uncle helped him find a sacrifice. I was the oldest and dumbest of the kids. The sixth uncle tricked me into the village by the lake. I saw the statue of the god Yamamira there. Then an invisible man said to me, 'Little sister, take me out.' I agreed. And he took me by the hand. I was terrified, I felt cold, tingling, tingling, fearful, lonely, hopeless. I ran back to the village. I have that brand on my hand. The sixth uncle said to me, 'If you see that lake, you can see that ghost.' Sacrifice in the lake, ghosts dare not touch the immortals. You can talk to the demon and ask it to take back the brand. If you can't see the lake yet, you'll die in a few days! ’

After a few days, I could see the lake and the situation changed. Uncle Wang took me and Lingling to the lake, saying that he could save my life. I was terrified. In order to survive, I gave the bell to ...... Drowned......"

The woman in white was already crying silently, and it seemed that she could no longer say anything.

Shen Mingde stood in front of the window in a daze, rubbing his right wrist heavily with his left hand, as if hoping to rub the brand off.

Xiao Jing sat on the ground and shrunk into a ball. She propped her head on her knees, as if she was mourning with the woman in white.

After a while, Xiao Jing spoke softly and asked, "How do you see the lake?" ”

In the dim basement, in the woman's crying, Shen Mingde seemed to hear a sentence out of nowhere.

"Believe...... Fear ......"