Ruyi Rouge Shop never receives guests in the early hours of the morning, but tonight was an accident.

The guest was standing on the porch, the lantern above his head swaying softly, casting a faint yellow light on the ground.

Xing Ruyi could only see half of her face, and the other half was hiding in the dark. A water-red dress looks particularly dazzling in the winter night. Her hands, half-hidden in the wide sleeves of her coat, spoke in a very small voice, so small that she had to work hard to hear clearly.

"I'm Dongzhu, and my mother once went to the girl's shop to ask for medicine for me."

"Door-to-door is a guest, Dongzhu girl, please!" Xing Ruyi said, and motioned to Li Mao to dim the lights and candles in the shop.

Dongzhu raised his head and showed a grateful look: "Thank you, girl!" ”

After closing his words, he raised his feet lightly and stepped in.

"Dongzhu took the liberty to come tonight, one is to thank the girl, the girl's jade Rongsan, I used it very well. Second, I have some doubts in my heart, and I hope to get answers from the girl. ”

"Miss Dongzhu doesn't have to be polite, if you have anything to say, just say it." Xing Ruyi poured a cup of tea, which the fox had begged for from Yinsi. Usually it is left in the shop, and if there is a ghost passing by, they will be invited in for a drink.

Dongzhu lowered his head and took a sip, and smiled at Xing Ruyi: "This tea is delicious!" ”

"If you like it." Xing Ruyi said, and poured another cup for Dongzhu.

"Actually, I know the Ruyi Rouge Shop, and I've heard the story of Ruyi girl from others." Dongzhu held the cup in his hand and looked at the faint smoke rising from the cup: "I wanted to come when my mother came to you to buy medicine, because Dongzhu also had some doubts in her heart, and I wanted to ask the girl to help answer them." It's just that my mother doesn't allow it. ”

"Why?"

"I don't know!" Dongzhu shook her head: "Probably since a few years ago, my mother didn't allow me to go out. At the beginning, it was not allowed day or night, but the past two years have been slightly better. Just like now, I can come out in the wee hours of the morning to breathe. It is also thanks to this that I can come to the girl. ”

"And what do you do when you go out at night?"

"Nor do you do anything? Just walk around and see the night. The girl also knew that at this time, it was difficult to see anyone else on the street except drunken men, begging beggars, and watchmen. When Dongzhu said this, he lowered his head: "In the beginning, because I was timid, I would hide when I heard the sound of beating from a distance. As for the beggars and drunken men, I dare not provoke them. But then, I noticed something very strange. ”

"What's the matter?"

"I remember one night, I tried to walk a long way, and I ended up in front of the temple gate of the old man. Originally, I wanted to go in, chat with Master Chenghuang, and ask him when my husband will be able to come back. As a result, as soon as I got a little closer, I went limp, and my head cracked. I think I need to be the lord of the city god, and I don't want to see my ghostly appearance. ”

Dongzhu said, covering the half of her face with her hand.

Xing Ruyi sighed in his heart, and said in his heart, where is this because the old man of the city god dislikes you, but people and ghosts have different paths, and yin and yang are separated. Although the old man of the city god also cares about the little ghosts, he is not a ghost like you who can approach casually. He didn't scatter your soul, and he didn't arrest you back to Yin Si to ask for guilt, which is already considered an extrajudicial favor.

Although Xing Ruyi understood these things in his heart, he couldn't bear to explain them to Dongzhu, so he just found a sentence to perfunctory it.

"In the middle of the night, everyone is asleep, and the old man has to rest after a busy day. Since it is to rest, of course, the door must also be closed, and outsiders are not allowed to disturb casually. ”

Hearing the girl say this, Dongzhu knew that she was reckless. Another day, I must go to Lord Chenghuang and apologize in person. Dongzhu said, the expression on his face softened slightly: "But there is another strange thing! That night, when I returned from the temple of the old man of the city god, I met a watchman halfway, and he passed in front of my eyes as if he didn't see me. ”

"If I met a girl in the middle of the night, if it were me, I would probably have passed by mistake."

"Why?" Dongzhu asked.

"It's easy! In the middle of the night, a beautiful girl suddenly appeared on the street, either a conspiracy, a trap, or a fairy fox monster. If it were you, I'm afraid you would hide far away. ”

Dongzhu sneered and laughed: "Thinking about it like this, it's the same." Ordinary girl, I'm afraid that I have already fallen asleep at that time. If it is a young lady from a rich family, it is even more impossible to walk around the street. Besides, my face is still like this, I'm afraid that I also scared the old man who beat the guard at that time, so that he mistook me for a ghost, right? ”

Xing Ruyi thought in his heart, isn't it a ghost? She is just a mortal, how can a mortal see her.

"Originally, these things have been in my heart, and I have never wondered if those people are strange or I am strange. After listening to the girl's explanation tonight, these doubts in Dongzhu's heart were finally solved and put down. ”

Dongzhu lowered his head and took another sip of tea.

"Actually, in addition to these two things, there are some strange things going on around me. But my mother and she did not allow me to ask, nor did she answer me. ”

"Oh? If you can, tell me about it. Such a quiet night is not only suitable for listening to stories, but also suitable for helping people answer questions. Although, I may not be able to answer your next question. ”

"If the wishful girl can answer, it is naturally the best, if not, it is fine. These things have been piled up in Dongzhu's heart for a long time. The girl is willing to sit here tonight and listen to Dongzhu's chatter, and Dongzhu is already very grateful. Dong Zhu said, got up, made a big bow to Xing Ruyi, sat down, and said slowly: "There are a lot of things, and for a while, Dong Zhu doesn't know where to start." These strange things seem to happen naturally, but when you think about it carefully, you can't remember it, and it started on that day. ”

"For example......

"For example, my mother and she will never speak to me again."

"Your mother, she won't open her mouth to talk to you?" Xing Ruyi carefully recalled all kinds of Dong Zhu Niang, and suddenly discovered a secret. That is, every time Dongzhu Niang comes, although I can hear her voice, I never pay attention to the shape of her mouth. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that every time she speaks, the movement of her mouth is very small.

"Did your mother talk to you before? I mean when you were little. ”

"My mother, although she doesn't talk much, she still talks to me at that time. What she said the most was my father, how talented my father was, how handsome and chic, how she left her hometown, and how my father came to Luoyang, and how she got married and had me. But after that, she refused to say. ”

"Does she often tell you these things?"

"It's not! She talked about these things for sixteen years, until the eve of my marriage. After Dongzhu finished speaking, he added: "Oh, I don't mean that my mother has been repeating this for sixteen years, but it took sixteen years to finish these things." Every year, she says very little, and only when she is in a good mood, she will say a few more words. ”

"Your mother, have you ever told me where your father is?"

"Nope!" Dongzhu shook his head: "I remember when I was very young, because I was not sensible, I also asked my mother, where did my father go?" But my mother just looked at me with a pair of red eyes, and she didn't speak for a long time. Then, late one night, I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't see my mother, so I went out barefoot to find her.

At that time, my mother was sitting in the courtyard, and the moonlight was shining on her, and she was wearing only a very thin dress. I saw my mother looking down at a string of beads in her hand. I didn't ask about the origin of the beads, because the workmanship looked crude, and it didn't look like they had been bought from the bazaar, and my mother cherished it so much that it was supposed to be a gift from my father.

Later, as I grew up, I learned a few things from my neighbors. I knew that my father had abandoned me and my mother, so I never asked again. Since then, my mother's words have become less and less, but she still says a few words every day, such as calling me to eat, telling me to be careful at work, not to get sick or something. ”

"Then when did your mother stop talking?"

"I don't know!" Dongzhu lowered his head: "I can't remember!" Probably before I realized something was wrong, my mother stopped talking. Even sometimes, when I begged her, she just looked at me and wouldn't even open her mouth. ”

"Even the mouth...... Not Zhang? ”

"Yes!" Dongzhu sighed: "I think, my mother may have encountered something else, she is afraid that I will be worried, afraid that I will be sad, so that's why she is like that." ”

"Your mother, she should be the one who cares about you the most!" Xing Ruyi sighed lightly, "In addition to the fact that your mother no longer speaks, is there anything else strange happening?" ”

"Yes! The candles in my house always jump inexplicably and then go out. Then, my mother would light a red candle and let the red candle burn until dawn. In the air, there will be a very special fragrance. ”

"The matter of red candles and scents, your mother didn't mention it to you?" Xing Ruyi carefully recalled the furnishings in Dongzhu's home. In her memory, she didn't see any red candles, but she probably knew the source of the strange fragrance.

According to legend, as early as the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a person named Wen Qiao, who came to Niuzhuji, saw that the water was unfathomable, and it was said that there were many water monsters in the water. Wen Qiao lit the horn of the rhinoceros to take care of it, and saw that the underwater lights were bright, and the water monsters were strangely shaped, some were riding in carriages, and some were wearing red clothes. At night, Wen Qiao dreamed that a person maliciously blamed him for not using rhinoceros horn to shine on fire. So, the next day, Wen Qiao suffered a stroke due to toothache and tooth extraction, and died less than ten days after returning to the town. This is the original story about "rhino psychic".

The ancient Chinese, by burning the rhinoceros horn, using the light emitted by the rhinoceros horn, you can see the gods and monsters that cannot be seen by the naked eye, and in Dongzhu's house, Xing Ruyi once smelled the smell of rhinoceros horn when burning. It may not be a smell for ordinary mortals, but ghosts will find it very fragrant.

(Education 123 Literature Network)