In the winter of 1993, the ancient city of Fengyang. Early in the morning, the weather was cold and drizzling. I drank a little high with my brothers last night, it was already 9 o'clock, and I was still curled up in the quilt in a daze. The room I live in faces the street, and there are not many people on the street at this time, but it is still a bit noisy when cars pass by occasionally. I was about to get some sleep when a truck passed by and suddenly honked its horn, startling me and opening my eyes.

I scolded, poked my head out of the quilt, and wrapped the quilt tightly with both hands to contain the heat in the quilt. As soon as I looked up, I saw Brother Hao and Da Hao leaning on the railing of the corridor at the door, smoking cigarettes and looking into the distance, whispering from time to time. I coughed, and when the two of them saw that I was awake, Brother Hao gave me a look and asked me to pass.

"What?" I yelled at them, and they both looked back, "Come and see." I grabbed a batch of military coats thrown on the side of the bed and put them on my body, and got out of bed, because I was only wearing a pair of autumn pants on my lower body, in this weather, the cold air rushed straight up, "What kind of bird?" I muttered and dragged my shoes over, to the corridor down, crowded in the middle of him, along the look, only to see a few old men sitting in the city gate hole, in the Kan Mountain, in the middle of a bald head is still wearing a robe, just see the bald monk there spit stars flying, the rest of the people were stunned, full of worship and admiration, the monk I have seen, is Longxing Temple.

Brother Hao smiled and said, "I'm a child, those old men are going to be stunned by him, let's go over and see what these old men are talking about!" ”

I kicked my feet and scolded with a smile: "I won't go, I'll freeze to death", Brother Hao dragged me out and said, "You have nothing to do with birds, go and see the excitement, it won't be cold." "Seeing that the two of us were gone, he didn't speak, so he followed us downstairs. As soon as I arrived on the first floor, I saw my father wiping a porcelain vase there, and when he saw me coming down, he said to me: "Breakfast is in the kitchen, you want to eat yourself and heat it up" Before I could speak, Brother Hao smiled and pushed me out of the door, and my father shouted in the back: "You just wear this dress to go out, and you don't change clothes?" "We trotted to the city gate hole, the monk was on the head of Xing, didn't pay attention to the three of us at all, we picked a position, squatted there to listen to him blow, only to see the monk fingers knocked on the ground and said: "Build this capital, Liu Bowen has not made a lot of efforts, do you know, the bottom of this drum tower is through the sea eye, Liu Bowen cast four golden bulls in the town, or the entire Fengyang Mansion will be flooded!" In the end, the monk knocked the ground, and everyone was frightened, and then, the monk lowered his voice and said: "I heard that under this, Liu Bowen also locked a dragon, and there are only two people who can have this ability throughout the ages, and the other is also from the Ming Dynasty, that is, the black-clothed prime minister Yao Guangxiao." You said that this was a coincidence, and I don't know if these two people were taught by a master, and I haven't heard of such a powerful character in the rivers and lakes since then. To be honest, this kind of street literature is very marketable, everyone listens to it with relish, Brother Hao also squints and smokes and listens to it, pity me cold, I really have no interest in listening to him again, stand up and want to leave, at this time, I suddenly found that there is one more person in this building, this person doesn't know when he came, just sit against the wall, put his hands in his sleeves, wear a navy blue cotton jacket, and bring a yellowed straw hat in winter, it looks very different, I kicked Brother Hao with my foot, Angry lips to the man, the man seemed to sense that someone was looking at him, and when he looked up, I was stunned, this person I knew, it turned out to be Mr. Jiang.

Mr. also recognized me, smiled at me, I haven't seen him for three years, Mr. seems to be a little darker, a little thinner, but the overall has not changed much, I hurriedly went over to help him up, and took him home.

Seeing Mr. Jiang, my father was very pleased, pulling Mr. Jiang to ask long and short questions, but Mr. Jiang has been humble and low-key, not much to say, my father asked a sentence to answer, do not ask just smile and sit, Mr. Jiang is a wandering person, but also a cultivator, I was not in good health when I was young, at that time the old saying was frightened, the family found a lot of people to see is not optimistic, when the family is at a loss, Mr. Jiang came to the door by himself, he said to see that our family has flesh, just come and see, Asked if there was anything wrong, and the grandfather told him that his grandson was frightened, and after he understood the situation, he asked the grandfather not to worry, it was not a big problem. Later, he caught a cockscomb snake and fed me the snake gallbladder to eat, and I got better, and my grandfather was very grateful, and he must repay him, saying that he would give him the legend that his ancestors had passed down from his ancestors, and that the person was gone.

He disappeared like this, and when I saw him again, it was already five years later, and it was raining that day, and my mother and aunt were in the house to get shoes, and I was playing at my mother's feet, and my aunt saw Mr. first, and he stood outside the door, wearing a straw hat, and did not come in, my mother had a good memory, and immediately recognized that this was the gentleman who had saved me, and quickly got up to welcome him into the house, poured tea for him and bowed, and pulled me to kowtow to him, saying that this is my savior, Mr. Jiang hurriedly flashed people, and even said not to be polite. He said he was just passing by and came to see me, and he stared at me for a while, then got up and was about to leave. Mother naturally couldn't let him go, saying that it was raining so heavily that he had to eat dinner before leaving, and said that his father would come back when dinner, and Mr. Jiang wanted to excuse himself, so my mother asked me to call my grandfather to come, and I went in response, and my grandfather was also very excited when he heard about it, so he hurriedly came over and grabbed Mr. Jiang and couldn't leave, so Mr. Jiang didn't refuse, and sat down in the corner of the house.

Grandpa is very respectful to Mr. Jiang, when eating at night, Mr. Jiang is still reluctant to go to the table, to eat outside with rice, grandpa let everyone not be ready to move chopsticks, I gluttonously pinched a piece of egg, was slapped by my father, hit wow wow crying, Mr. Jiang saw it and quickly ran over, hugged me, touched my head, said that I can't hit the child, put me on the seat, and then sat down next to me. Mr. Jiang doesn't eat meat, only eats some green vegetables, and every time he eats, he uses his own dishes and chopsticks, saying that he always runs outside and is dirty. That night, my grandfather and my father discussed when to discuss it late, and the next morning, he pulled me to kowtow to Mr. Jiang, wanting to recognize Mr. Jiang as his godfather, Mr. Jiang probably never thought about such a thing, and was a little overwhelmed. Grandpa said that if he didn't agree, I couldn't get up on my knees, Mr. Jiang stared at me for a long time, agreed, grandpa and dad were very happy, and specially invited someone to come over and take pictures together, it was very fashionable to take pictures that year, Mr. Jiang didn't seem to like photography, but for my sake, we still took pictures together. After recognizing his relatives, his grandfather pulled Mr. Jiang to stay for a few more days, and Mr. Jiang stayed.

Then the rain became heavier and heavier, and it continued for several days, and the grandfather sighed and said, "It seems that the water is going to rise again." After that night, Mr. Jiang said goodbye, and after Mr. Jiang left, the rain stopped, and the water did not rise, and Grandpa often muttered that this person was a cultivated person. After that, he will appear once every three years and five years, and each time he stays for a short time, this time it has been more than 20 years in the blink of an eye, and this seems to be the fifth time I have seen Mr. Jiang.

Although I recognized my godfather, Mr. Jiang still asked me to call him Mr. Jiang, he is a cultivator, and we can understand it if it is not according to ordinary people, so I have always called him Mr. Jiang, I think it is very good to be called this way, and it sounds very respectful.

It rained for many days, the sky seemed to leak, my father sat in the store and looked out of the door, sighed all the time, and said to me: "The bay is going to suffer again, according to this method, the Huai River is estimated to break the dam again", Mr. Jiang sat at the door, quietly looking at the rain outside, did not speak, and looked at the drum tower in the rain from time to time.

In the evening, Mr. Jiang asked me to go out with him and bring a flashlight. I didn't ask much, at night, I took something and went out with him, I saw that he wore a yellow straw hat and did not play an umbrella, walking fast in the rain, I held an umbrella and a flashlight to follow behind a little can't keep up, I saw him go straight to the Drum Tower City Gate Cave, to the hole, I saw him squatting on the ground for a while, then stopped, and then bit his finger and dropped two drops of blood on the ground, and then stepped aside, turned off the flashlight, and waited quietly.

The rain outside is getting heavier and heavier, through the reverberation of the drum tower cave amplified, more and more deafening, I don't know how long we have to wait here, I looked at Mr. Jiang, he squatted there, like a stone, not moving, just when I was upset, suddenly in this drum tower hole, there was a clear rooster crow, clucking, I was frightened by this sound of a chill, at this moment, but saw Mr. Jiang's figure flashed, and the person was fixed there again, after a while, Mr. Jiang said that it could be brightened, I turned on the flashlight, I saw that Mr. Jiang had a long snake in his hand, and I saw that the snake was red, but the most peculiar thing was that the snake had a blood-red crown on its head, which looked very mad, and exuded an evil aura all over its body, and the snake was now soft in Mr. Jiang's hands, and it looked dead, even so, the snake eyes that were still open when they were dead seemed to be looking at me, and my scalp was numb when I saw it.

Mr. Jiang took the snake, took the flashlight in my hand, and began to shine on the bricks on the cave wall, and soon, he stared at a brick, he smeared the snake's blood on the brick, I saw that there were words on the brick, this kind of words are generally the names of the craftsmen who burn the bricks, and the names left by the royal buildings are used to track and hold accountable, and this brick is written on Suzhou Mansion, Yao Guangshun. After doing this, Mr. Jiang pulled me out and came to the door opening, he took out three incense sticks, lit them and inserted them in the brick cracks on the ground, the incense was not burned, Mr. Jiang kept standing, as the incense burned shorter and shorter, the rain outside became smaller and smaller, and when the last wisp of smoke rose to the sky, something magical happened, and the rain stopped.

I don't understand what's going on, I don't dare ask, I'm cold right now, I just want to hurry back to sleep. It's almost twelve o'clock when I get home, lying in bed, I feel that this thing is very strange, I turn it over and over, the more I think about it, the more scared I become, and Mimi falls asleep in a daze.

I was sleeping soundly, and suddenly heard a noise in the window, as if someone was knocking on the window, I got up and opened the window to see that it was Brother Hao, who was standing downstairs waving to me, shouting at me, come down. I was a little confused, so I shouted into my father's room downstairs, but my father didn't answer. I was even more strange, so I got dressed and went downstairs, pulled up the roller shutter door, Brother Hao stood outside the door, "What's the matter", "Follow me", Brother Hao turned around and left, I hurried to follow, the night in early spring was still a little cold, I wrapped my clothes tightly, and I caught up with Brother Hao at a trot, Brother Hao walked in a hurry, and he was a little out of breath, but today it was very strange, he didn't talk much along the way, he was a little surprised that he could shut his mouth, and it didn't take a while, and he arrived in a laneway, there is a house here, We can often see when we pass by, but this house is locked all the year round, there are no windows, no one has ever entered, no one lives, what are you doing in this place in the middle of the night, then I saw Brother Hao actually opened the door and beckoned me to come in, I went in only to find that there was a flashing window on the top of the house, and there was nothing in the house, only a well in the middle of the house.

This well looks like it has been around for some years, and there are many patterns carved along the edge of the stone well, but there is a lot of green moss growing on it, and it is impossible to see what the pattern is. I don't know what's going on, Brother Hao said to me, you come and see what this is, I'm curious, bend down and look into the well, the water in the ancient well is very deep, the water surface is very calm, reflecting the moon looks like a quiet beauty, suddenly the water surface ripples, the well water is also flooded with a very peculiar fragrance, this smell is very special, sweet but faintly fishy, I have a feeling of uneasiness in my heart, I want to go at this moment, suddenly my feet are empty, I was lifted into the well, dog, I haven't finished scolding, I have fallen into the well water, the water is very cold, I went headfirst into the water, choked on a big mouthful of water, I struggled, through the moonlight I saw Brother Hao's expression gloomy and compassionate, suddenly I felt like the dead cockscomb snake, at this time there was a strange sound from the dark well, under the well, very deep down, I didn't hear clearly, but I suddenly felt very frightened, I stopped struggling, listened quietly, a dull roar came from the depths below, my scalp exploded, I could feel something swimming towards me quickly, I struggled desperately, The feeling of suffocation became stronger and stronger, and I was afraid to open my mouth and scream, and the water poured into my lungs, and at this time, a pair of hands suddenly reached into the water and lifted me up, and in the haze I saw that it was Mr. Jiang, and then I began to cough violently。。。。。

When I woke up, it was already dawn, I felt cold sweat all over my body, I was so thirsty, when I picked up the water to drink, I remembered the feeling of choking on water in the dream just now, and a wave of disgust rose in my heart, and I put down the water glass again.

Mr. Jiang is gone, just like the last time he left, he didn't say goodbye to anyone, this time, and I don't know when we will meet again, he doesn't seem to belong to this world, he always comes and goes, leaving no traces, after knowing him for so many years, I suddenly found that I didn't know anything about him, except that I knew that his surname was Jiang, I didn't know anything else, he was like an ancient secret in this world, no one knew where he came from, where he was going, year after year, when I saw it, it was always like that, Wearing that straw hat and inconspicuous clothes, he always looks like a middle-aged man, when he lives in our house, I can see him meditating at night, when I was a child, I once asked him what he was doing, he smiled and said, "I'm cultivating, refining Neidan", I don't understand, he doesn't like to talk, he enters his own world after speaking, I don't react when I talk again, he seems to have been living in your memories, and he will only appear when you are about to forget him.