The days passed day by day, and I was about to graduate from elementary school, but there was still no news from Sun Anning. I suspect he must have gone to Minnan to find the truth, to find a way to remove the sorcery that had been inflicted on him. But my instinct also told me that he must still want to seek revenge on the person who killed him back then. I regretted that I forgot to ask him who had killed him. Also, southern Fujian is the south of Fujian, which I know, but where is that remote mountain village?

This morning, I had just taken two composition classes, and the whole class was studying on their own.

My good friend Jane went to hand in the notebook and came back, and said to me with a mysterious face: "Hey, do you know what I just saw in the office?" ”

I was still immersed in my own thoughts, casually asking, "What do you see?" ”

"A strange transfer student, I guess was going to be inserted into our class."

My heart moved, and I hurriedly asked, "Is it a ...... Pretty boys? ”

Xiao Zhen stared at me with a look of disbelief on her face and said, "Wow, squad leader, why have you become fond of pretty boys too?!" ”

I pursed my lips: "What nonsense! Tell me, is that transfer student male or female? What's so strange? ”

"It's a ...... Female! ”

"Oh." I'm disappointed, it definitely won't be Sun Anning!

Xiao Zhen saw that I was interested, and hurriedly continued: "She is so weird! Her schoolbag is made of colorful cloth, and the color is so rustic, like ...... It's self-dyed. She is very dark, and when she looks at people, that look can almost freeze people to death! ”

"You like to exaggerate!" I smiled disapprovingly.

"Really! I'm not exaggerating, she ......" Xiaozhen was about to say more, but suddenly heard a classmate by the window report: "Shhhhh ”

Xiao Zhen had no choice but to swallow the unfinished words, and we all sat up straight and waited quietly. The teacher walked into the classroom, cleared her throat and said, "Students, there is a new transfer student in our class today, and she will study with everyone in the future!" …… Everyone should live in harmony with her and help each other! ”

Then the teacher beckoned, and a girl walked in slowly outside the classroom. Sure enough, as Xiao Zhen described, it was a girl with very dark skin and an indifferent face, but she was still very beautiful. I laughed at Xiao Zhen in my heart, and when I saw that people were pretty, I said that she was weird, what a little girl!

I just heard the teacher say, "Tell us about yourself!" ”

"My name is Chen Qiu." The girl only said four words and then did not follow, her voice was very clear, but her tone was very cold, listening to her, it was like a cold north wind blowing through the cold winter wax moon, which made people can't help but feel cold all over the body!

The students looked at the teacher hesitantly, and then clapped a few times.

The teacher was unusual, and didn't let her continue, and seemed to smile at her reluctantly: "...... Ahem, okay. Chen Qiu, go and sit down on the empty seat in the back! This lesson is self-study. ”

Chen Qiu walked coldly towards the back of the classroom, and everywhere he passed, the students unconsciously shrank into their seats. She didn't stop and walked straight to me.

Only then did I remember that since the big tiger had an accident, Sun Anning had disappeared (the school's explanation for his sudden non-attendance was that he had transferred to another school), and the seat next to me had been empty. Although I don't have a good impression of this new cold-faced girl, because I have seen too many scary things, I don't overreact as much as other students. I helped her pull out the chair and prepared to go back into a daze.

"Thank you!" Unexpectedly, she sat down and thanked me coldly.

I replied softly, "It's okay." ”

Then, she took out the pencil case and the book from the cloth bag that Xiao Zhen called "real earth", and my eyes swept inadvertently, and immediately stopped dead on her hand.

It is normal for her left hand to be very dark, and her right hand has very white and tender skin, but it only has four fingers! The thumb was almost gone, but there was still a very short piece of bone wrapped in the tender red skin, and with her movements, the mutilated thumb bone moved flexibly, as if it was an independent living entity, showing its talents to the fullest. But it gives people a very frightening feeling, like an unknown poisonous insect wriggling on the back.

She noticed that I was staring at her mutilated right hand, so she stopped and asked coldly, "It's scary, isn't it?" Her tone, with a strange mockery in it, gave me the illusion that she hated me for a while.

I had to smile bitterly: "...... OK. Well, what's going on? "After asking, I regretted it, this is someone's sore spot, how can I ask casually?

"Humph! What's going on? …… Born! Her expression suddenly became vicious, and her words seemed to come from between her teeth.

I was not intimidated by her ferocity, but felt a little more sympathy for her. Who doesn't want to be healthy and beautiful? Born with a disability is a great shame for a girl! She is so cold and unapproachable, perhaps because she has been ridiculed and beaten so much!

I smiled relievedly, no longer staring at her right hand, but gently comforting her sincerely, "Don't be too upset! 'I was born to be useful'! ”

She jerked her head up, her face covered with frost, and said in an unusual, soft tone, "Oh? …… The trajectory of fate has long been predestined, and what is destined is irreversible! ”

I was taken aback and instinctively retorted, "How do you know that you can't change without any effort?!" As soon as I had finished speaking, my heart tightened, and the pain was so clear that I could no longer say anything else.

I clearly remember that afternoon, Chang Daochang and Sun Anning both said similar things to me, and I refuted them unwillingly.

But what happened to it? Has it changed? Did it get what I wanted? I'm just a little fool who doesn't know what to do, and I use my arms as a car!

I quickly turned my head and swallowed back my tears, the sky outside the classroom was so clear, like a large sapphire washed with clean water.

"Wishful thinking! …… What can be changed is not fate! She waved her right hand at me, deliberately holding up her mutilated thumb and shaking it from side to side a few times.

A strange feeling arose in my heart, as if a very vague thought had flashed through me, but when I tried to grasp it, I found that it had swooped into the air, as if it were just a wind that had drifted by by chance, and there was no trace of it!

I rubbed my forehead in anguish, but I couldn't get rid of the uneasiness in my heart, it seems that none of my table mates are destined to be ordinary people!

In the next half month, this girl named Chen Qiu has been sitting coldly in her seat since she arrived in class, no matter in class, after class, whether it is handing in homework or participating in group activities, she does not say a word, and ignores anyone.

The teacher probably touched the nail earlier, so he never asked her questions in class; Half of the classmates were bullies, most of them were afraid, and they all tried to avoid any language communication with her.

It's just me who can't help it, she's my tablemate, and I can't just keep my mouth shut and say nothing during class discussions, so whether she cares about me or not, I talk to her by myself, a bit like a one-man show.

As for her, when I spoke, she only listened quietly, without saying a word, and sometimes looked at me with a strange look, as if she wanted to cut me into pieces with her eyes, and then study them thoroughly.

Did she already know me? Or is she trying to study something on me?

If it had been before, I would have been tempted to jump up and get to the bottom of it, but since Sun Anning's incident, I seem to have grown up a lot, so although I feel weird, I can get along with her as much as possible.

Because from her, I thought of Sun Anning at the beginning, isn't he weird? Speaking of horror, who could be scarier than a living skeleton? But he's a good friend of mine!

Ahem, maybe she has her own troubles, weird is weird!

On this day, we had a Chinese and math test in the morning, and the school arranged two self-study sessions in the afternoon. In the second self-study class, I buried my head in my homework, and Chen Qiu looked at me coldly from the side as usual.

After a while, Xiao Zhen left her seat and came to me: "Class leader, wait for school in a while, Xu Lan invited us to her house to play." ”

I stopped my homework, looked up and asked, "What?" Is it her birthday today? ”

"I don't know." Jane shook her head.

Xu Lan sat on my left, in the third seat in a row, she turned her head when she heard the voice, smiled and said to me: "Class leader, it's rare that there are only two classes this afternoon, come to my house after school to have fun!" Besides, my grandmother is thinking about you and keeps asking me why don't you go to see her all the time? ”

My mind immediately came to mind the short, chubby Grandma Xu, who sometimes wanted to steal fruit candy like a child, and sometimes told us many mysterious and interesting stories. I couldn't help but laugh, of all Xu Lan's good friends, Grandma Xu liked me the most, and whenever I went, she would pull me and tell me stories or show me some of the weird things she had collected. It's been a long time since I've been to see her! I nodded to Xu Lan: "Okay!" I miss your grandma too! ”

"I'll go too!" A cold voice suddenly interjected, and it turned out to be Chen Qiu, who had been ignoring others! She only said three words and stared at us coldly.

Xu Lan and I were stunned, and the classroom suddenly fell silent, Xiao Zhen looked at Chen Qiu like an alien, and the classmates all looked at me and Xu Lan, not knowing how we would answer.

Xu Lan looked at me, a little overwhelmed,

I thought to myself: she has always ignored anyone, maybe this time she wants to try to get close to her classmates, or give her this chance!

So I motioned to Xu Lan with my eyes to agree to her, Xu Lan hesitated, but nodded: "...... Good! You are welcome to visit my home. That being said, the tone was somewhat forced.

I heard the sound of Xiao Zhen and a few other girls gasping, and hurriedly laughed and said, "How many people!" Let's go have fun! ”

The bell rang just in time, and I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Xu Lan beckoned our four good friends to go to her house together, and Chen Qiu followed us coldly.

Xu Lan's house is in a small alley not too far from the school, but the whole alley is hers. The ancestor of her family has cleared out a champion in the past, and has also ordered several Hanlin. Xu Lan's grandfather and grandmother have all studied in famous foreign universities, one is an archaeologist, the other is a linguist, Xu Lan's father and mother are now studying for a doctorate in the United States, which can be regarded as a scholarly family.

Walking into the small alley of Xu Lan's house, the bluestone pavement is smoother than the road outside, and there are some vines and plants climbing on the walls on both sides, which are green and vibrant. You can see a round stone cave door in front of you, as long as you pass through this stone cave door, you will reach the courtyard of Xu Lan's house.

It was a small, beautifully arranged garden-like courtyard. In the center of the yard is a rockery of Taihu Lake stone, there are several sycamore trees and a tall locust tree planted on both sides, there is a fish pond in front of the rockery, which is in the shape of "8", the fish pond is a few weeping willows, and a corridor extends to the rockery from the stone cave door to both sides.

Behind the rockery is a two-storey two-story two-entry brick and wood structure of Xu Lan's house, and the ground floor in front of the first entry originally lived Xu Lan's grandfather and grandmother, after Xu Lan's grandfather died, there were only Xu Lan's grandmother and Aunt Liu, the nanny who took care of her. The second floor is where Xu Lan lives with her father and mother, and now only Xu Lan is left. Across a small patio, on the ground floor of the back of the entrance lives Aunt Liu's husband, Uncle Tang, who specializes in tidying up the courtyard and doing some chores. On the second floor lives Xu Lan's aunt, she is the sister of Xu Lan's father, but she rarely goes downstairs, and we basically haven't seen her face clearly, and I heard that she is not mentally normal.

In the past, when we went to Xu Lan's house, there were a few good friends talking and laughing, but today the atmosphere was dull, everyone was walking, and they secretly glanced back, and when their eyes touched Chen Qiu behind, they hurriedly moved away.

Xiao Zhen whispered in my ear: "Squad leader, look, you want to let that 'cold-faced girl' come, how awkward it is now!" ”

I replied softly, "Don't complain! You go first, and she and I will follow slowly. ”

Then, I deliberately slowed down and fell behind side by side with Chen Qiu. Xu Lan and the others quickened their steps and entered through the stone cave door.

Chen Qiu and I silently walked to the door of the stone cave, and I was just about to step into the door, when Chen Qiu suddenly spoke: "You really want to go in?" ”

I looked back and said strangely, "What? Didn't we go to Xu Lan's house as guests? Why not go in? ”

"Humph! …… Perhaps, something terrible is waiting for you inside! There was a hint of sarcasm on her face.

I frowned slightly, her tone was really like a witch, she didn't have a crystal ball in her hand! (I've been reading Western science fiction lately) I had to say, "I've seen a lot of terrible things anyway!" I don't care how many I see! ”

She didn't say anything more, just glanced at me coldly, and walked through the stone cave door first.

"Little Star, you're here! I haven't come to see Grandma Xu for so long, have you forgotten Grandma Xu? The short, chubby, smiling Grandma Xu greeted me and beckoned to me from afar.

She strode over and took my hand, "Little Star, guess what, Grandma Xu has something interesting to show you?" ”

Without waiting for me to answer, Xiao Zhen and the others all smiled and said, "Wow, Grandma Xu, you are so eccentric!" Isn't it true that interesting things are only shown to us squad leaders, not to us? ”

"Haha, where is Grandma Xu eccentric? Wait a while, everyone will have something good to eat, and everyone will watch something interesting! ”

"Oh, Grandma Xu is the best!" Xiao Zhen and the others cheered happily, chattering around Grandma Xu and saying this and that.

I was also infected by their happiness, and said to Xu Lan with a smile: "You invited a group of little gluttonous cats, as soon as you heard that there was something delicious, look at their happy looks!" ”

Xu Lanwaner: "Anyway, my grandma likes little gluttonous cats the most!" ”

Grandma Xu smiled and said, "Yes! A group of little gluttonous cats, let's hurry into the house, whoever arrives last will not be able to eat good things! With that, they took the lead and ran towards the living room on the ground floor, Xiao Zhen and the others hurriedly picked up Xu Lan and chased after him with a smile.

My smile was still on my face, but I found that Chen Qiu's gaze stopped coldly on the rockery and the fish pond, with a strange expression on his face, which seemed to be a little angry and a little fearful.

I followed her line of sight, and there were only a few trees standing quietly by the rockery and the fish pond, and there was not even a single figure in sight.

What is she looking at? I looked at her puzzled.

Sensing my gaze, she looked away, turned her head to me, and said, "Go in!" Although the tone was still cold, I could hear a hint of imperceptible warmth in it.

I smiled at her, "Okay, I probably won't be able to eat anything if it's too late!" ”

The two of us walked into the large living room on the ground floor of the Xu family one after the other. It's really lively inside, a big long mahogany table is placed in the middle, below is a matching stool eight, the table is full of plates, there are fifteen or six, the plates are some famous snacks in Suzhou, there are zongzi candy, black and white slices (sesame sugar), pine nut candy, clove fructose, rose walnut cake, jujube paste sesame cake, marinated dried tofu, begonia cake, cloud cake, fish skin peanuts, strange beans and several kinds of melon seeds.

Grandma Xu was busy beckoning us to sit down on both sides, and everyone was chatting and laughing while happily eating all kinds of snacks on the plate. When we ate until our mouths were dry, Grandma Xu's nanny, Aunt Liu, brought each of us a bowl of red bean dumplings soup, which tasted so good, and everyone snorted and ate it all the way, and even Chen Qiu drank several sips.

After eating and drinking, we started to clean up the table together, and Xiao Zhen and the others stretched their necks and waited for Grandma Xu to come out with strange and interesting things. Grandma Xu wiped the table clean and asked Xu Lan to help take down two large wooden boxes from upstairs.

She opened a slightly larger box first, and we gathered around to see that it was full of all kinds of fossils. Some stones are snow-white with colorful shells or jellyfish inside; Some of the stones were jet-black, and there were patches of flocculent stuff like cotton; There are also fossils of relatively large tree trunks, where veins and rough bark can be clearly seen; The most are translucent amber, which is wrapped in all sorts of things: there are pine needles, seeds, small leaves, small insects, etc. With Grandma Xu's permission, we gently put the fossils on the table and looked at them.

Suddenly, Jane took a rummaging amber and said to everyone, "Look, there are two little worms in this amber!" ”

Everyone heard the sound and took a closer look, really, there were two small insects wrapped in the amber in Xiao Zhen's hand, and on the left was a relatively large spider, which seemed to be crawling in its own woven web, and not far from it there was a very small fly struggling, and its small feet were covered with spider webs. It seems that a fly crashed into the web of a predator, but before the spider could eat its own food, it was wrapped in resin, and then the resin turned into a fossil, and the two small bugs kept the scene before they died.

"It's funny! We can see such thin cobwebs very clearly! ”

"Spider thought there was a good meal! As a result, they were wrapped in resin along with the flies and turned into fossils! "I'm a little emotional.

"Hmph...... 'Praying mantis catches cicadas, yellow finches follow'!" There was obvious sarcasm in the cold voice, and I didn't need to look at it, I knew that it must be Chen Qiu.

Everyone was stunned, and the atmosphere suddenly became dull.

Grandma Xu glanced at Chen Qiu thoughtfully, and changed the topic with a smile: "Let's guess, what's in the other box?" ”

"What is it?" Jane was anxious to know, and her head was almost on the lid of the box.

Grandma Xu deliberately opened the box slowly, everyone's attention was attracted by another box, and the atmosphere immediately became active again.

The box opened, and there were two things inside. The big one is a white jade statue, carved with two sheep's horns on the top, a pair of blood-red copper bell giant eyes, and a very hideous appearance.

As soon as I saw this monster, my body shook violently, and I almost screamed! The appearance of this monster is actually very familiar to me, it is the appearance of the bronze giant beast that once existed in the "magic stone" in the fantasy world on the side of the road where the big tiger had an accident, in Sun Anning's narration, and in the "Waste Garden" fighting method!

I stared at it in amazement, and all I felt was that the air around me seemed to be getting cold.

"Little Star, what's wrong? Are you scared of it too? "I came back to my senses and found that Grandma Xu, Xu Lan and Xiao Zhen were all looking at me strangely.

“…… Ahem, it's not. What is it? Why is it so ...... Terrible? "My voice is a little astringent.

Grandma Xu carefully took out the white jade statue, gently placed it on the table, and then said with a little pride: "This is carved from an ancient jade." If you take a closer look, what makes it different? ”

Everyone watched it carefully.

“…… Hey? It doesn't seem to have a body! Xiao Zhen was the first to cry, and then looked at Xu Lan.

"yes, that's weird! What is this? It's a bit like a sheep, a bit like a cow, a bit like a wolf, a bit like a dragon, and it's a little bit like a dragon, and it's still a little bodyless! The other two classmates also looked at Xu Lan in confusion.

"Don't look at me. I don't know what it is! It's the first time I've seen it so closely! Xu Lan shook her head and said with a smile.

A monster with no body, only a head? Like sheep, cows, wolves, and a bit like dragons? I thought about it carefully and lowered my head, I guessed that it was the gluttony of the mythical beast in ancient legends.

"This monster with only a head and no body is a kind of mythical beast in the ancient legends of our country, it is called gluttony! Legend has it that it is a very gluttonous monster that eats whatever it sees, and because it eats too much, it is finally strung to death! Grandma Xu revealed the answer, and it was gluttony.

Then, in the "magic stone" that Sun Anning left me, the bronze giant beast that once appeared should also be it! I saw the bronze beast disappear into the air with my own eyes, and Sun Anning also told me that it would no longer harm people, and now this white jade statue is just a work of art, and I don't need to be afraid.

I settled, walked over to the table, and once again examined the statue of the white jade glutton. It is carved from a single piece of white jade, with a slight yellowing at the two corners, probably because of its age. And the reason why its pair of copper bell-like eyes are blood-red is because its eye sockets are inlaid with two red gems, the gems are bright red as blood, and they are very cleverly inlaid, and they are so natural that if you don't look very carefully, you can't see that they are inlaid at all. Its mouth was large, but it was tightly closed, and it looked strange, as if it had been sealed by some invisible force.

"Grandma Xu, isn't gluttony a greedy monster? How do you carve it into a closed mouth? I couldn't help but ask.

Grandma Xu's expression changed suddenly, a few palpitations flashed in her eyes, as if she was touched by some painful memory and tried her best to hide it: "Ahem, is it?" …… Probably the person who carved it thought it was too greedy, so carved it with its mouth closed! ”

I was very surprised, although Grandma Xu's expression immediately returned to normal, but I felt from her horror that she must know the reason, but did not want to tell me.

Why? I thought about it again, Grandma Xu refused to tell me, there is always a reason, why do I have to know?

So, I went to look at the other thing in the box.

When I saw it, my heart chuckled, it was also something that made me look extremely familiar! A rectangular, not too thick black stone, was lying quietly in the box.

"Magic Stone"?!

…… No, this black stone is much larger than mine, and the texture of the stone is smoother and shiny, the kind of luster that resembles beautiful jade.

However, I still unconsciously put my right hand into the pocket of my pants, where there has been the "magic stone" left by Sun Anning. My right hand touched the familiar, hard but rough "magic stone", and my heart settled.

"Hmph, it's funny to take a broken stone as a treasure!" As soon as I turned my head, I found Chen Qiu standing beside me, staring at the black stone in the box, and his tone was very strange.

"Hey, why are you so rude? What nonsense! Xiao Zhen angrily accused her, although everyone did not agree, but everyone's eyes suddenly focused on Chen Qiu.

Chen Qiu ignored Xiao Zhen, but raised his head and glanced at Grandma Xu coldly.

Grandma Xu hurriedly said, "It's okay! Grandma Xu's baby, some are very interesting, some are very strange, and they may not all be valuable! This black thing is very interesting. It is a stone, but it has the feel and luster of jade. Come on, everyone come and touch it! ”

Everyone gathered around and grinned and touched the stone.

I also gently touched the black stone with my right hand, the tentacles were cold and smooth, but my mind suddenly became in a trance, as if a deep, mysterious black hole had sucked me in, and the air I smelled between my nose became very moist, mixed with choking flying dust, with a very unpleasant, musty fishy smell. It's not dark ahead, but I can't see anything clearly, it's like fate, I obviously saw its shadow, but when I stretched out my hand, it was nothing. I sank into nothingness, not knowing where it wanted to take me.

"Little Star, what's wrong with you? What are you doing? Grandma Xu's voice sounded in time.

I finally came to my senses, and there was no black hole in front of me, and I couldn't smell the strange fishy smell. I felt like I was in prostration, and I didn't have any strength at all! Sweat was on my forehead, and the feeling of being wet made me very uncomfortable.

At this time, I heard a soft grunt that seemed to be nothing, who was it? Chen Qiu? I secretly paid attention to Chen Qiu, only to see her lower her head and fiddle with her fingers. The thumb of her mutilated right hand swayed nimbly from side to side as if dancing.

I was about to say something when an earth-shattering thunderclap suddenly sounded in the sky outside the house, and then everyone heard the loud sound of trees breaking and falling to the ground outside the building. Everyone ran to the door to see, and I was going to follow along.

Before I could lift my foot, I suddenly felt a huge pain in the palm of my right hand, like the feeling of being in the "abandoned garden" at that time, and the flames were burning my hand. I hurriedly stretched out my right hand to check, and the burn mark in my palm that had been burned black that day began to turn red and hot for no reason, as if it was about to burst into flames!