In this world, ghosts are not the most terrible thing, the most terrible thing is the human heart.

Since coming to the Tang Dynasty, Xing Ruyi has also seen a lot of cruel things, but sealing a living person into a mud tire to make a Buddha statue for sacrifice is the most shocking one for her. But now, she looked at Ah Niu and didn't seem to be lying, she sighed silently in her heart, and planned to wait until Ah Niu's house, and then ask his old mother about the Niangniang Temple. If there is really a poor man imprisoned in that temple, the little beggar's sentence "In front of the Bodhisattva, he stripped the Bodhisattva's clothes" has an explanation. Thinking of this, Xing Ruyi asked Ah Niu again.

"Have you heard of the recent uproar about the murder of the Zhu family."

Ah Niu nodded: "I heard, the burial site is near my house." Oh no, it should be said that it's near the Niangniang Temple. My house is not far from there, so when the government went to the scene to exhume the body, my mother and I were there. ”

"You're on the spot"

Ah Niu nodded: "My mother and I were called by the government for questioning." ”

"What did you ask?"

Ah Niu's expression was a little unnatural: "The government suspected that I killed the person at first, but it can be seen that my hands are sick, which eliminated my suspicion of murder." They asked me, where was my mother and I at the time of the crime, and where could I have witnesses? ”

"The Zhu family was killed at night, and you and your mother naturally stayed at home at that time, where else could you go? You and your mother are dependent on each other, and you have moved to such a remote place, what other witnesses can you have besides witnessing each other. ”

Xing Ruyi said, lifted the curtain and looked out. Since leaving the Yunjiaji, the road has become more and more bumpy. As far as the eye can see, there are bare trees and rolling hills in winter.

"What Madame said is that we really can't find anyone to testify for us except my mother. Fortunately, my mother is blind and my hands have become like this again, otherwise I would have been the one who was locked up in prison waiting to be beheaded today. ”

"Huh?" Ah Niu's words raised a trace of doubt in Xing Ruyi's heart: "Listening to the meaning of your words, it seems that you know that the little beggar is not a murderer, but was wronged?" ”

"Nope! No! Ah Niu didn't mean that. Whether the little beggar is a murderer or not depends on the judgment of the lord of the government, how dare Ah Niu say it indiscriminately. Ah Niu hurriedly waved his hand: "Ah Niu just recognizes the clothes that the little beggar is wearing." The clothes were not the deceased Zhu's, but were draped on the mother's body. ”

"Mother? That lady in the Niangniang Temple! ”

Ah Niu's words confirmed the speculation of the sentence just now. The clothes on the little beggar were really obtained from the mother, so when he was crazy, he said the incomprehensible words: "In front of the Bodhisattva, he stripped the Bodhisattva of his clothes." ”

"My mother always thinks about the lady in the mother, saying that she is a poor person and a good person, so she always goes to see her every once in a while. My family is poor, and there is nothing to sacrifice, but my mother will always go over to talk to the lady, and clean the temple a little by the way. I...... I once saw my mother crying secretly, so I thought to myself, my mother may know the mother in this temple. It's just that she doesn't take the initiative to say, and I don't dare to take the initiative to ask.

Later, my mother suffered from an eye disease, and slowly this eye was no longer visible, and it was a little inconvenient to go to the Niangniang Temple, so I went less. However, I am familiar with every grass, tree and thing in the Niangniang Temple. The coat on the little beggar was originally the clothes of the mother. The garment was made of very good materials, and my mother said that it was made by the living for the dead. ”

The living are made to show the dead?

Isn't it just to seal a big living person in a mud fetus, and pretend to sacrifice and dress him better, just to seek psychological comfort, not only for himself, but also for those who are alive.

"Then do you know how this lady was sealed in the mud womb?"

"Specifically, Ah Niu doesn't know very well." Ah Niu shook his head: "Earlier, Ah Niu was bent on gaining fame, and he never cared about the side except for Ding Ding's affairs, so he didn't pay much attention to the outside affairs. This Niangniang Temple, earlier, I had only heard a few ears, but I didn't listen to it, and I didn't go to my heart. If Mrs. wants to know, when she arrives at my house later, she can ask my mother, she should be clear, but I don't know if she is willing to say. I always felt that she knew this mother. ”

Ah Niu thought for a while, raised his head, and said coldly: "My mother and I are not biological mother and son. ”

"What?"

Ah Niu's sudden words made Xing Ruyi a little surprised. She looked up and looked into Ah Niu's eyes, and Ah Niu hung her head down again in embarrassment.

"Actually, it's not a secret, many people in the Yun family know it." Ah Niu pinched the fingers of his left hand with his right hand, which is a small action he always does when he is nervous: "I told my wife before that Ah Niu's home is adjacent to Ding Ding's house. ”

Xing Ruyi understood, she understood why Ah Niu was so dignified and said this. Ah Niu and his old mother live in such a remote place, maybe he is the only family in the vicinity of a few miles, if she arrives later and sees a lonely house, she must remember what Ah Niu said before, thinking that he said that he and Ding Ding are neighbors, and they are childhood friends who grew up together is a lie. Coupled with the matter of Niangniang Temple, Ah Niu suddenly said such a sentence, and anxiously explained to Xing Ruyi.

"Ah Niu also lived in Yunjiaji at first, and the old mansion is where the Hu family is now."

"The Hu family's house?" Xing Ruyi has been to the Hu family a few times, and he also has some impressions of the Hu family's house, as if it was repaired and rebuilt later, because there are still some traces of renovation in the inner house, especially the place where Hu Da and Hu Er live, not only the style is different, but even some of the things used to build the house are also different.

"It's not the entire mansion of the Hu family, it's just one of the courtyards, in the most out-of-the-way corner." Ah Niu explained: "A few years ago, the Yun family gathered a famine and many people died, and my father and mother were among them. At that time, I was just a half-pulled scholar with no power, I couldn't read and write anything, and I almost starved to death and died of illness...... Oh, now mother, take me home and heal me with herbs I picked in the mountains.

At that time, my biological father and mother were no longer there. I thought about taking my current mother home to take her home, but she said that she would not go to the old man's house, and only wanted to live in this mountain. I don't know if it's providence, just when I was in a dilemma and didn't know what to do, the second son of the Hu family came to the door and was willing to pay a lot of money to buy my family's house. Originally, I was a little hesitant, after all, it was the ancestral house left by my father, and if it was sold, it seemed a bit rebellious. Besides, at that time, I was still thinking about Ding Ding wholeheartedly, thinking about marrying her. When you get married, you have to have a house, don't you?"

"Then why did you sell the house again?"

"Because of Tintin, she's married!" Ah Niu clenched his hands vigorously, although the feeling of his hands was weak, and he could hardly feel any strength, but only by holding it so hard could his heart get some comfort. "The second young master of the Hu family also took the silver and went to buy the house of the Ding Ding family. At that time, Tintin's father was still there, so naturally he didn't agree. Who knows, Ding Ding actually fell in love with the second young master of the Hu family, and privately agreed to the Hu family's proposal. When I learned about this, I felt very sad, so I sold the house and moved to the mountains. It's just that later, I don't know why, Ding Ding didn't marry the second young master of the Hu family, but married the eldest young master who looked fierce and vicious. Ding Ding's house was not taken away by the Hu family, but now it is dilapidated. ”

The history of the Hu family is related to the spirit snake Bai Jiao, and as for buying a house, it must also be Bai Jiao's idea. At that time, the Hu family was just an ordinary family, Hu Da was rude, and he didn't have much knowledge, although Hu Er had read some books, but he was also from a civilian family, so he might not have that courage and vision, but Bai Jiao had his own thoughts, and once he had money, he would buy a house. This is derived from the traditional concept that people in the Central Plains have a home only when they have a home.

Giving the Hu family a large sum of money and helping the Hu family expand their house, on the one hand, can make the Hu family brothers fall into the pleasure of becoming rich in an instant and cannot extricate themselves, on the other hand, it can also drive the Hu family to help them do things, because once people enjoy it, they can no longer bear poverty, even if what you ask him to do is murder and arson, the devil in his heart will not let him have the slightest hesitation. Moreover, only if the house is big enough and deep enough, it is easier to hide some unknown secrets.

As for Ding Ding's matter, Xing Ruyi guessed that it was mostly related to Bai Jiao. About corpse puppets, Xing Ruyi doesn't know much, it seems that every corpse puppet has become like that because of accident, but the more accidental things are, the more there are certain laws. Bai Jiao must have discovered the law, so she found Ding Ding, and then used the spells of the Spirit Snake Clan to confuse people's hearts to prompt Ding Ding to fall in love with the Hu family and be carried in openly. As for whether Ding Ding married Hu Da or Hu Er, it has no special significance for the two brothers of the Hu family, and there is no difference for Bai Jiao, because since they saw Ding Ding, they already had the intention of turning Ding Ding into a corpse puppet.

At present, these are also some of Xing Ruyi's personal speculations, Bai Jiao has left, and she has no way to find Bai Jiao to confirm all the speculations. The affairs of the Hu family have been put on the surface, and too much investigation will not help. Therefore, for Ah Niu's explanations just now, Xing Ruyi only nodded, indicating that he understood, and did not ask too much.

"I believe that people need fate, just like the mother-son relationship between you and your mother, the acquaintance with my son Yin Yuan, and the relationship between me and my doctor. When you reach a certain time, you will naturally meet the woman who really has a husband and wife fate with you. As for Tintin, just keep it in mind. ”

"Madame understands what Ah Niu said, it's Ah Niu who is verbose."

"It's not just a chat, and what's not verbose, but what you just said helped me solve a lot of doubts in my heart, and I want to thank you." Xing Ruyi put down the hand that lifted the curtain: "When Zhu's body was discovered, you and your mother were called over by the government for questioning, what was found at that time?" For example, whether Zhu's clothes are messy, whether they are neatly dressed, or are they ...... Anyway, I wonder, is there anything out of the ordinary. ”

"Unusual thing...... Do embroidered shoes on women's feet count? Ah Niu said, his face slightly red: "That day, I was suddenly called by the government for questioning, and I was suspected of being the murderer who buried the body, and I was panicked and dazed in my heart, so people stood there stupidly, and they couldn't react to many things." Ah Niu only remembered that at that time, he took a hasty look, and the Zhu family was lying next to the mud pit, with a cloud of black hair scattered on the wild grass. Most of her body was covered with straw mats, so it was not clear whether her clothes were disheveled, but she could only see that one of her feet was bare, and she was not wearing embroidered shoes. ”

"Barefoot?" Xing Ruyi asked: "Are you sure that Zhu's feet don't have cotton socks on them?" ”

Ah Niu thought about it carefully: "No, Ah Niu remembers very clearly, one of Zhu's feet is bare, not only is he not wearing shoes, but he doesn't even have socks." At the time, I was flustered, and I didn't think about it, and I felt a little strange in retrospect. This Zhu is also a lady, and even the embroidered shoes on her feet are a little particular, unlike the kind of person who can't afford to wear them and doesn't wear socks. Oh, the other foot, Ah Niu also glanced at it at that time. Because one was wearing shoes and the other was not wearing, the contrast was really obvious, so I couldn't help but glance at the other shoeed foot. ”

"How?" Xing Ruyi's heart involuntarily raised.

"Although the foot was covered with shoes, the shoes were obviously a little loose, as if they didn't fit well." Ah Niu said, leaning over and pointing to the embroidered shoes hidden under the hem of Xing Ruyi's skirt: "And Ah Niu suspects that Zhu's shoes are not wearing socks on his feet." ”

(Education 123 Literature Network)