The candle went out, as if even the light of the flashlight in the third uncle's hand had weakened. I shivered excitedly, and a strange cold wind seemed to rush up from the river.

There was a strange feeling that made me want to look down from the edge of the boat, as if something was attracting me in the dark water.

Suddenly, a large hand jerked me back and pressed me against the side of the boat.

"Baby, close your eyes." The third uncle told me with a solemn expression, I woke up like a dream, and closed my eyes obediently, but I couldn't help but be curious, and secretly opened the crack and peeked at what the third uncle was going to do.

The night was thick like indelible ink, and the third uncle didn't notice me peeking. He grabbed a handful of paper money from his satchel, sprinkled it into the air, and read: "The three souls are eternal, and Kuixing participates in the fight." Seven spirits follow their orders, with the reflection of the stars, ghosts and ghosts, help me get up! ”

Hula-la.

A sudden gust of wind ruffled the paper money in the air, and wisps of shadows seemed to compete for the fluttering paper money, and then fell to the water.

Knock knock knock.

The water next to the boat blistered, as if there was a big stove under the water, boiling the river. I vaguely saw two white shadows on the river, wet on either side of the boat.

Because I squinted my eyes, I was a little unsure at first, but when I looked closely, I couldn't help but feel a little bit in my heart.

Isn't that me?

I saw a pale-faced me, appearing on the left side of the boat, dressed in paper figure clothes and wearing a bright blush on my face.

And on the right is Yingying's paper figure, floating on the right side of the boat, she is still the appearance of a paper figure, and I can't understand, how can there be another me standing on the water?

"Soul Attraction." The third uncle said two words with a solemn face, and the other one and Ying Ying of the paper man disappeared silently.

The surface of the water shone with a faint white light, and I could faintly see a black algae floating on the water, as if it had just hit the bottom of the boat.

The third uncle stood at the bow of the boat with a solemn face, picked up the nine bamboo poles and stretched them down, and then hooked something and slowly pulled it up.

The thing seemed to be very heavy, and the third uncle was full of strength, standing on the bow of the boat with his feet outstretched, and even the boat swayed with it. The waves on both sides of the wooden boat made me unsteady, so I quickly grabbed the horizontal board to stabilize my body.

The third uncle's thick arm was bruised, and it took a lot of strength to pull up about half of the nine bamboo poles, and then I saw that the black 'algae' left the water, and below it was a large white patch.

That's a person.

That's when I realized that it wasn't algae, but human hair floating on the water.

Someone standing in the water?

I unconsciously opened my eyes wide, looking at the person who was pulled out of the water by the third uncle, a familiar and unfamiliar feeling came to my face, and in a trance, there seemed to be a faint voice in my ears that someone gently called my name.

"Shao Shao..."

"Shao Shao..."

The voice was soft and faint, ethereal and ethereal, I don't know where it came from.

"Baby, don't respond when you hear anyone calling you." The third uncle didn't look back, he was still pulling his nine-section bamboo pole hard, and the hook at the head of the pole hooked the man's belt, and he had already pulled up half of his body.

The voice was familiar and unfamiliar, echoing erratically in the reeds, and I covered my ears vigorously, and I dared to crouch with my head in my hands and tears rolling in my eyes with fear I had never felt before.

In the shadow of the reeds, something seemed to be shaking, flashing with red and black scales.

These few minutes were the longest and most difficult minutes I ever had, until when there was a loud bang, the third uncle threw the bamboo pole on the board of the boat, supported the armpit of the man in the river with both hands, and dragged the man onto the boat.

The voice faded away, and the two paper figures did not resurface.

The man who was pulled up was motionless, his face was covered by black hair wrapped in aquatic plants, and he couldn't see clearly. She was dressed in white, stained with yellow river mud, and a pair of blue cropped pants.

My heart suddenly panicked, and an indescribable sense of fear made me afraid to approach the third uncle and the motionless 'her'.

The third uncle took a breath, looked at me, didn't speak, took the extinguished candle, relit it, and placed it about an inch above the person's head.

This time, the green flame did not shake anymore, but beat steadily, exuding a disgusting and uncomfortable smell.

"Good boy." The third uncle was a little tired, and after doing this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and left the reeds with a bamboo pole to support the boat. I didn't speak, or rather, a strange feeling kept me from speaking.

I sat far away, as far away as I could from the familiar and strange person. I should have known about her... But at that time, I was ignorant and realized that she was a little different from the one I knew.

The third uncle didn't speak all the way, and I didn't speak, just stared at the green flame until my eyes were a little dry, and then I blinked.

Back at the small pier, the third uncle asked me to go to his house to sleep, I shook my head, now the time has pointed to two o'clock in the morning, I am really afraid of being alone.

On the river, I stayed with my third uncle for nearly two hours, and these two hours... No, it should be, what happened tonight should be something I will never forget.

The third uncle didn't force me, he sighed: "Baby, it stands to reason that Uncle shouldn't let you see this." But without you, Uncle wouldn't be able to find it...... Alas, forget it, your eight characters also show that you have to deal with the Xuanmen sooner or later, and it may be a good thing to see you sooner. ”

I listened to the third uncle's words, looked at his expression that seemed to hesitate and make a sudden move, and finally became worried, I didn't quite understand what he meant, so I just sat on the dock with him and waited.

After a while, I saw two headlights on the side of the gourd, which were dazzling. A small truck drove up and stopped in front of the house, and Sun Hong opened the door and jumped out.

"How?" Sun Hong asked nervously after coming down.

The third uncle dusted his hands, stood up and said, "It's fished up, it's a little wasted." ”

"Okay, before dawn, let's go into the coffin first." Sun Hong breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and beckoned the third uncle to carry down the mahogany coffin loaded in the back of the small truck.

I sat on a small bench and watched the two men carry the coffin one after the other, the kind of mahogany coffin I had never seen before, although it was painted with red and bright paint, it gave me a cold feeling.

The third uncle and Sun Hong parked the coffin by the dock, and then the two of them worked together to put the motionless 'she' on the boat into the coffin, and at this time, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go back to sleep, I'll keep vigil." The third uncle said to Sun Hong.

Sun Hong shook his head and said, "No, people are old, and they don't feel good." You sleep with the baby, and by the way, think about how to talk to the Jiang family tomorrow. ”

"It's not something I should think about, let the public security come tomorrow morning, and I can do whatever I want." The third uncle said, looking at me sitting on the side, "I just thought, don't pull this baby in." ”

"This baby, it's hard to say." Sun Hong waved his hand, took out an ever-bright lamp and lit it, placed it in front of the coffin, and then sat down himself, lit a cigarette, "Go to sleep, I'll watch." ”

The third uncle didn't insist and beckoned me into the house to sleep.

As soon as the third uncle lay down, it didn't take long for me to start snoring, and I couldn't sleep over and over, my mind was messy, thinking about the big snake with a head, a paper figure like me.

I fell asleep in a daze, feeling a chill in my sleep, as if I was sinking into the water.

I slept until the next day, I was in very bad spirits, and I kept yawning when I was sent home by my third uncle. My mother also seems to be sleeping very poorly, her eyes are dark, and I found that some glass in my house is cracked.

When I got home, I lay down to catch up on my sleep, vaguely hearing sirens and cries and screams from next door.

That day, someone in Sister Fang's house was crying all the time, her mother was not at home, and her grandmother said that her mother went to help. I didn't know what to help, but I saw my grandmother sighing and wiping her tears from time to time.

The next day, white flowers were hung at Sister Fang's house, and my mother asked me to wear clean clothes, hang a black cloth on my shoulder, and take me to Sister Fang's house.

I saw a mahogany coffin parked in the courtyard, and it was very familiar.

There was a black-and-white photo in front of the coffin, and in the photo was Sister Fang, who was smiling at me.

That was the first time I came into contact with what death was all about, and the first time I knew that the dead would never come back.

But if you see the dead coming back, you should never talk to them.

If they call you by name, don't answer them!

I didn't dare to sleep well for half a month, and my dreams were full of snakes. I didn't tell my parents what happened that night, and I was laughed at for a long time because I shared a bed with them at the age of seven.

I didn't tell them why, and I didn't dare to wonder what happened to 'Sister Fang' on the wall that day.

I developed a habit of not sleeping by the window, and not looking at the wall when I slept, for fear of seeing a woman's head appear on the wall.

Fortunately, all these worries did not happen, and everything about the beautiful snake was gradually buried in my memory with the burial of Sister Fang.

I have heard from my mother's small talk about the cause of Sister Fang's death, which seems to be related to a murderer who robbed Se. I don't know if that person was caught, because Aunt Jiang's family moved out later.

And I went to school, to high school, then to college, to other places. Everything about the gourd mouth and the reeds was gradually forgotten by me, and it became a memory that I deliberately did not recall.

It's a holiday, and I'll go back to Hulukou for the holidays. Look at my mother and grandmother, visit my third uncle, and bring some health care products to Sun Hong, who is getting older and older.

But I was a little resistant and deliberate, and I never went to Sister Fang's grave to worship.

Maybe everything there cast a shadow on my image of that big sister.

It wasn't until my third year of college that when I returned to Hulukou during the holidays, I received a letter with a wedding card.

I was a little surprised to see the sender's name, Zhang Bin, an old classmate of mine in high school.

And when I opened the wedding card and saw the engagement photos inside, I suddenly froze, the smile froze at the corners of my mouth, and the wedding card fell from my hand.

There was a quiet girl standing next to Zhang Bin, with silky black hair, wearing a white shirt, beautiful and elegant, smiling faintly at me through the photo.

It was a living girl.

Her name appears in the bride's column: Jiang Fang.