25 years later, Yuzhou City, Midnight Bookstore.

At one o'clock in the morning, a bearded man walked into the bookstore in the middle of the night and asked, "Boss, are there any good books to read?" He picked up a book and flipped through it.

The owner of the bookstore in the middle of the night is called Zhao Ruozhi, 26 years old, wearing a pair of glasses, looking very sven, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, showing that he is even more delicate, he looked at the visitor incredulously and asked, "Lao Sha?" ”

The bearded man showed an evil smile on his face, he opened his mouth and laughed, revealing two rows of teeth, the left side of the upper row of big teeth was empty, I don't know when he lost a tooth, he didn't look like a good person at a glance, he said happily: "Mentally handicapped, your broken place can make it easy for me to find." ”

Zhao Ruozhi said happily: "It's really Lao Sha." He stepped forward and gave the man a warm hug.

Lao Sha's name is Sha Dutian, and Zhao Ruozhi are high school classmates, the two went to different universities six years ago, and they have not had the opportunity to meet since then, after graduation, Sha Dutian went to be a soldier, and Zhao Ruozhi went back to his hometown to open a bookstore.

Zhao Ruozhi pulled over a stool and said: "Come on, come on, sit down, when did you demobilize, you didn't say hello in advance when you came, there was no place to drink wine in the middle of the night." ”

Sha Dutian touched the beard on his face and said, "Isn't this trying to surprise you, I just got out of the car and came to look for you, buddy is good to you." Zhao Ruozhi took a moment, this Lao Sha is really different, he came back by car in the middle of the night, he thought it was wrong, Lao Sha didn't take anything, if it was demobilized and came back, how could the backpack be less, this Lao Sha must have something, he smiled and asked: "Say, is it looking for a brother with any bad intentions." ”

Lao Shahaha smiled and said: "You kid is still so shrewd, he can't hide anything from you, there is really one thing..." He looked left and right, and at this time there were no more visitors in the bookstore, and he whispered: "I remember when I was in high school, you said that there were twelve street holes in your hometown?" ”

Zhao Ruozhi's face was full of doubts, he didn't expect Sha Dutian to ask about this, he said: "That's all the names we used to run and play in the ditch when we were children, there are many deep ditches in my hometown, and there are many holes in the wall of the deep ditch. ”

Sha Dutian became energetic when he heard this, and his glowing eyes were a little irrepressible and joyful and said, "When will you take me to take a look." Zhao Ruozhi asked with a puzzled face: "Lao Sha, why are you suddenly interested in this?" There was nothing in there, we went in and saw it. ”

Sha Dutian put down the book and said: "Just go to play and relax, I don't yearn for your legend, this shows that my Lao Sha loves your hometown." ”

Zhao Ruozhi looked at Sha Dutian with disdain, and he thought to himself: "Lao Sha must have some purpose, otherwise how could he suddenly be interested in a boring legend, just look at his smug appearance, you can know that this guy will definitely not tell the truth." He shook his head helplessly and said, "I haven't been back to my hometown for a long time, since my mother died..."

Of course, Sha Dutian saw Zhao Ruozhi's sadness, and he hurriedly said: "Wait for us to go back and kowtow to her old man's house, go to the grave, and report her safety, so that her old man can feel at ease." Zhao Ruozhi nodded, he thought to himself: "Sha Dutian is his best friend, although I don't know what his purpose is, he will definitely not harm himself, and he should go back to his hometown." ”

The next day, at noon, Zhaixi Village.

Zhao Ruozhi opened the door of the house, and saw that the messy plants forcibly occupied the land that could survive, even the tile cracks on the roof were overgrown with weeds, a two-person surrounded paulownia tree stood in the yard, the sparrows on the tree, chirping, I don't know if it was welcoming the return of the owner, the flower pond was blooming in the moon, red like a dancing girl, the bees were buzzing between the flowers, it was very pleasant, the vines in front of the hall extended outward, although no one took care of it, but the bunches of green grapes were hung with branches.

Zhao Ruozhi looked at the weeds all over the yard and said, "Lao Sha, it seems that you have to work first." ”

Along the way, Sha Dutian was sweating profusely from the sun, and when he heard Zhao Ruozhi's words, he couldn't help complaining: "Alas, I just came, I didn't drink a sip of water, and I had to work, and I was too pitiful." ”

"How many bottles of good wine are hidden in my cellar, take a sip after I finish my work?" Zhao Ruozhi tempted Sha Dutian.

Sha Dutian's eyes lit up and asked, "Is there any good wine?" What wine? How long have you been hiding in the cellar, you can't lie to me, right? "As soon as he heard that there was wine, Sha Dutian became energetic.

Zhao Ruozhi walked to the corner of the courtyard and said, "Look at your virtue, it's really useless, there are a few bottles of Wuliangye hidden in the cellar." Sha Dutian hurriedly followed and said, "There really is." ”

The mouth of the cellar was already overgrown with weeds, and Sha Dutian said: "This cellar is hidden enough, lurking under the weeds, let my old sand repair them." ”

After the weeds were cleared, several bundles of shrunken sesame stalks were revealed, which were spread on the mouth of the cellar. Zhao Ruozhi brought a piece of rope and a basket, and put a flashlight and a small shovel in the basket, he tied the rope to the basket and said, "Lao Sha, I'll go down to get wine, and you put the basket down when I call you." ”

The cellar is six or seven meters deep, circular and straight, vertical to the ground, looking down along the cellar, you can see the bottom of the cellar at a glance, the vertical wall of the cellar, two rows of pedal holes symmetrically on the left and right.

Zhao Ruozhi supported his hands on the edge of the cellar mouth, and his feet stepped on the pedal hole, and the soil on the edge of the pedal hole was overwhelmed, and fell off one after another, falling on the fallen leaves at the bottom of the cellar, making a loud noise.

Sha Dutian said: "You can't do it, let me go, look at your small body, be careful if you don't come for a while." ”

"My own cellar, I am more familiar than you" Zhao Ruozhi said that his whole body was already in the cellar, and after a few efforts, he had reached the bottom of the cellar, he squatted down, and the smell of dead leaves came to his nose. There was a large hole in the wall at the bottom of the cellar, which had been used to store sweet potatoes, but now it was abandoned, and he burrowed into the hole and cried out, "Old Sha, put the basket down." ”

Sha Dutian put the basket down, the space in the cellar was very narrow, and a sense of depression came to mind, Zhao Ruozhi thought about the place where the wine was buried, and carefully dug it up.

Sha Dutian looked at the bottom of the cellar intently, at this time, behind him, a man in black looked at him silently, Sha Dutian felt that there was something staring at him behind him, extremely uncomfortable, he turned his head and looked, the moon season was very beautiful, the vines were full of grapes, and there was nothing abnormal.

"Ah" A loud cry came from the cellar, Sha Dutian immediately looked at the cellar, and hurriedly asked, "Old Zhao, what's wrong?" ”

Zhao Ruozhi, who was in a panic, climbed out quickly, sat on the edge of the cellar mouth, with a rough breath, his forehead was soaked with fine sweat, he pointed to the bottom of the cellar, and said angrily: "Snake, there is a strange snake." ”

Sha Dutian covered his stomach and smiled: "Mentally retarded, I thought you met a female ghost, a snake scared you like this, it's not a shame, come on, my old Sha wants to see what the snake king who scared our mentally handicapped soul looks like." ”

Zhao Ruozhi was shocked, how could he care about Sha Dutian mocking himself, he saw that Sha Dutian was about to go down, came back to his senses, and said with concern: "Lao Sha, it's a strange snake, you take a guy down." ”

"Mentally retarded, it's not buddy blowing, the snake has to take a detour when it sees me, you just wait for me to catch the snake and bring it to justice," Sha Dutian said and had reached the bottom of the cellar.

The black-clothed man under the grapevine looked at Zhao Ruozhi, who was sitting on the ground, and showed complicated eyes, and a wisp of black silk wandered in his eyes.

"That's your son?"

"If you don't answer, you're acquiescing, and if he finds something, don't blame me for being merciless."

"You dare, hmph, for 25 years, I have found that you do not have full control over my consciousness, and if he makes any mistakes, I will make you pay."

"Hehehe, what a big breath, that's it, that's it, just look at your face, but even if he finds out that secret, he doesn't know what it is."

"Hmph"

Zhao Ruozhi felt something, and looked at the vine, there were still many grapes hanging under the vine, and the man in black was gone.

Sha Dutian turned on the flashlight very cautiously, shining towards the cave, he slowly swept every corner of the cave, after sweeping through, there was no trace of the snake, he was about to say 'where there is a snake', when he saw a human face on the opposite wall, triangular head, revealing the snake core, it was really terrifying.

Sha Dutian shouted: "Damn, what is this?" ”

Hearing Sha Dutian's shout, Zhao Ruozhi looked down anxiously and shouted, "Lao Sha, are you okay?" After daring to ask, I heard, "How can there be anything wrong with my old sand, mentally retarded, you have a beautiful snake at home." "It's all at this time, Sha Dutian said that the snake is a beautiful snake, if it is really a beautiful snake, then he is lucky to hit the peach blossom.

Sha Dutian's flashlight shone on the snake, most of the snake's body has been exposed, out of vigilance, the snake did not attack Sha Dutian, maybe it was afraid of light, it curled up, ready to jump up at any time to directly seal the throat of Sha Dutian, how could Sha Dutian give it such a chance, I saw Sha Dutian half bent over, his eyes were fast, and he grabbed the snake's neck like lightning, the snake was caught by Sha Dutian, and resisted violently, its body began to wrap around Sha Dutian's arm, the green tendons on Sha Dutian's arm were exposed, he increased his strength and pinched the snake's neck violently, And the strength of the snake winding also increased, Sha Dutian shook his arm violently, smashed the wall, the snake ate the sore spot, slightly loosened, Sha Dutian had already put down the flashlight, the other hand took advantage of the situation repeatedly, straightened the snake's body, stepped on the snake's seven inches, the snake twitched a few times, and it seemed that it could not live.

Sha Dutian said: "Mother, dare to fight with Lao Tzu, I can't kill you, mentally retarded, it's done, I'm ready to drink good wine." He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and he was also frightened by the fierce fight just now, for fear that the snake would release some tricks, but now it seems that the snake is only a little scary, and has not become a sperm.

Sha Dutian put the wine in the basket and was about to come up, when he heard a 'ding dong', the sound was very small, he used a flashlight to scan the cellar again, 'ding dong', this time he heard this sound clearly, this sound came from the small hole that the snake had just drilled.