The cold salad on the table is colorful, and the two bowls of chicken soup next to it are quietly bubbling with aroma. Looking up, the clock on the wall pointed to twelve o'clock, and at the same time, there was a "knock knock" sound on the other side of the stairs.

Someone, on crutches, is walking down the stairs step by step.

The sound of the crutch hitting on the floor tiles was sonorous and powerful.

In the hall, me, Liang Yuan, Wang Gang, and Liu Kui, all four pairs of eyes looked at the stairs in unison. At this moment, the ceiling light in the hall flashed a few times, and there were several "whoosh" electric sounds.

The atmosphere suddenly became extremely tense, and at that moment, I felt that the air was a little frozen.

The blind man approached me, his face was not very good, and his voice trembled slightly: "Tang Xiaofan, who is coming down, and what is wrong with this lamp?" ”

I gave him a blank look and didn't speak.

This Wang Gang, hasn't he been swaggering and deceiving for so many years, saying all day long that he is a "great immortal" who can catch ghosts or something, how can he encounter a little wind and grass, he is so scared that he can't speak normally.

Looking towards the staircase, a figure finally appeared at the other end.

All of us, gasped.

A man, dressed in a dark gray suit and on a wooden cane, stands at the top of the stairs with a straight body. The most striking thing is that around his neck, stands a chicken head.

The red cockscomb, standing tall and straight.

It stares at all of us, its eyes blazing, its eyes looking at it all.

The four of us stood at one end of the hall and looked at each other, and noticed that everyone's faces were not very good.

In the taxi, Wang Blind Man and I told Liang Yuan about what Lao Yu had encountered, and he was already prepared, so he didn't panic too much.

And Liu Kui, he also saw this thing appear in his room a few years ago, so he didn't lose too much color when he faced it again.

At this moment, the strange man was standing at the top of the stairs, as if waiting for a welcome ceremony or something, and he looked at us standing in the living room, stretched out his hand, beckoned to us, and gestured.

Liang Yuan didn't quite understand what it was going to do, so he lowered his head and approached me and asked softly:

"Tang Xiaofan, what does it want to do, is it really that we want to meet it?"

I didn't speak, just walked over to the dining table, picked up one of the chopsticks, and tapped the rim of the glass a few rhythmically and lightly.

Three long and two short, followed by three short and two long.

And so on.

The glass is made of glass, and it contains half a glass of liquid, and when the chopsticks are struck, it makes a crisp sound that sounds like a percussion instrument.

This way of percussion is the requiem recorded on the first page of the first half of the book "Autumn Moon Eclipse List".

It is said that during the Chinese New Year, people will cook for the "ancestors".

"Ancestors" refers to deceased elders and relatives.

A table of meals, the "ancestors" eat first, they have eaten it, and the descendants can eat it.

When the food is served, you must use chopsticks to tap the wine glass according to the method of "three long and two short, three short and two long", and the lonely soul will follow the guidance and come to the table to eat.

Our family doesn't pay much attention to this, so I haven't tried it.

Moreover, even if it is used, no one can see whether the "ancestors" have come to eat it or not.

And then, at this moment, when I banged on the wine glass, the strange man really walked towards us, step by step.

I turned my head to look at it, when it walked, its posture was still upright, the sound of crutches hitting the floor tiles was crisp and powerful, and its black bean-like eyes were looking ahead, as if it could see through people.

The weirdo came to the table, and I stopped banging.

The weirdo, too, stopped.

It stood still, looked around, bowed politely to the four of us, and looked over to the table.

Although there was only a plate of snake gall on it, the strange man actually swallowed his throat, as if attracted by the delicacy.

After staring at the dish for a long time, it suddenly looked up at me: "This is snake gall!?" How do you know that I like to eat this thing? ”

I smiled at it.

After that, I didn't say anything, but said to him, "Please be seated." ”

The strange man paused and sat down on the other side of the glass. I also sat down across from it, holding Erlang's legs with my hands, and without speaking, I just looked at it silently.

Liu Kui, Liang Yuan and Wang Gang all stood behind me with tacit understanding.

The movement of my stilted legs seems to be very chic, but in fact, I am just trying my best to hide my weakness.

After all, in the face of such a strange thing, I was not very comfortable at once.

"This snake gall is really not good." I said, "In order to find this thing, I have made a lot of effort, asking someone to find a relationship or something, so I can get such a little bit for you to eat, don't dislike it, although my cooking skills are not very good, you will just eat some." ”

As I said this, I kept staring at the weirdo, and its head couldn't see any expression on its face.

After hearing me, the weirdo nodded, and then it picked up its chopsticks.

Before it was eaten, I specially instructed: "Stir it, I put a lot of spices, and it tastes better with it, otherwise it won't taste good." ”

The strange man nodded again, stirred it casually, and then picked up one of the snake gall and put it in his mouth.

I've never eaten snake gall, but I know that anything like animal gall has a bitter taste.

The human tongue is inherently resistant to bitter tastes.

In this world, there are many things with bitter taste, such as bitter gourd, rape head, bitter endive, green bamboo shoots, baby cabbage, etc...... These things are bitter to eat, but they all have a common characteristic - they can defeat fire.

The tongue actually has a memory function, and over time, it will naturally adapt to the taste it didn't like, and begin to attach to this taste.

It's just that I don't know what the taste of this cold snake gall is in the mouth.

I added the seasoning according to my own ideas, and I didn't know if it was to the other person's taste.

When the weirdo ate snake gall, I stared at it, noticing its changes.

After eating a snake gall, it did not immediately take a second bite, but raised the wine glass next to it, took a sip of white wine, and after two smacks, said:

"It tastes good, your craftsmanship is good."

It was so sharp that it sounded like a fingernail scratching glass, and it was uncomfortable to listen to.

I got goosebumps, and after a pause, I suddenly said, "Lao Yu is a good person, you just let it go." ”

"He's a good guy?" I heard a sneer from its snort. Immediately, it suddenly asked me: "Tang Xiaofan, are you ...... Do you know what is the greatest weakness of human nature? ”

I thought for a moment: "Lazy? ”

"That's not right!" It shook its head.

Then, the strange man picked up another snake gall and put it in his mouth.

"What's that?" I asked.

The strange man ate and said, "Man, there are two greatest weaknesses, one is fear, and the other is greed! ”