In the blink of an eye, the autumn harvest has been completed, and the people in the village have been busy for a year and it is time to rest. It is also strange that the first snow of this winter came very early, there is no excessive light snow, and it is overwhelming as soon as it comes up, and the mountains in the distance are covered with snow, covered in silver, and swept away by the sun's afterglow that has just emerged from the top of the mountain, which is particularly dazzling and magnificent.

Early in the morning, I got up from the hot kang in the countryside and put on a padded jacket. When I opened the door, the snow had basically stopped, only a few scattered snowflakes. I grabbed a big sweep and started clearing the snow in front of the door. The snow is really not small, and when you step on it, it directly submerges your feet and necks. was working hard, only to see Liu Wuye coming from afar.

"Fifth master, why did you get up so early today, where did you go?" I hurried to say hello.

I only saw that Liu Wuye patted the snowflake on his shoulder with his hand and said: "This year's snow came quite early, this is not taking advantage of this heavy snow to enter the mountain." ”

As soon as I heard what the fifth master said, I understood.

In the mountain village every winter, as long as there is snow, everyone will go to the mountains to set rabbits, because the snow, the rabbit's footprints are clearer, and the weeds are covered, the rabbits will also come out in groups to eat in the snow, which becomes the best time to set rabbits. Rabbits are more common in mountain villages, this rodent is also strange, every time they come out of the nest, they will walk along a fixed route, so experienced people, as long as they find the right walking route, make a lasso with thin wire on the route, it is not very difficult to catch them, this kind of lasso needs to set the ring properly, as long as the rabbit puts its head in, it will struggle tighter and tighter, and finally be strangled alive.

I looked at the fifth master's sparse beard covered with ice condensed by breathing, and when paired with his broken dogskin hat, it looked very funny, so I said casually: "I said the fifth master, you want to make some hare tooth sacrifices." Aren't you afraid of killing too many creatures and meeting the rabbit god? ”

The fifth master looked disdainful, "The rabbit god has seen a lot, there is nothing to be afraid of, what you eat is its meat!" "Let's talk about it.

As soon as the fifth master said this, I instantly came to my senses, and hurriedly took a stubble, "The rabbit god has seen so much, I heard that it is quite mysterious, is it so powerful?" ”

The fifth master took over the conversation and said, "Don't underestimate this thing, I'll talk to you later." ”

The story goes back to the time of more than eight years, although people have bid farewell to the era of big pot rice, they are still poor, hungry and full. Liu Wuye, as usual, picked a pick, walked the streets and alleys to repair pots and bowls for others, this day came to a village, the village is relatively large, there are more than 100 households, this is a big village at that time, when the time to the village is still early, Liu Wuye found a vacant land in the middle of the village, took out those things in turn, and laid them all out. Then he shouted, "Curium pot, curium bowl, curium vat, the old lady's urinal does not leak soup...... After shouting for a while, he sat on the accompanying mazazi, lit a bag of dry tobacco, and waited for business while smoking the tobacco pouch.

Directly opposite this open space is a three-room black-tiled house of rural standard, with a stone wall and a large gate hole in the middle, with two half-new door panels, each with an iron ring with a large bowl in the middle.

At this time, the door opened, and out of it came a middle-aged man in his forties, carrying a bucket of iron in his hand. This person walked up to the fifth master, "Master, take a look, can this bucket still be repaired?" ”

The fifth master took the bucket, looked at it over and over in his hand, and said, "Yes, the bottom of the bucket has been eroded by water for a long time, and the repair is guaranteed to be the same as the original." ”

"Okay, master, then you can fix it well. I'm in trouble!" The middle-aged man squatted opposite Liu Wuye as he spoke.

This kind of small work is easy for the fifth master. While tinkering, the fifth master glanced up at the middle-aged man, only to see that the man's hair was messy, his brows were tightly locked, and he seemed to be preoccupied. The fifth master chatted casually, "Brother, what's on your mind?" Nagging with me. This middle-aged man seems to have been talking for a long time, and he wants to vomit quickly, and then he told Liu Wuye the whole story.

It turned out that this middle-aged man, whose surname was Zhang, was the third in the family, so the people in the village called him Zhang San, this Zhang San usually worked as a farmer at home, and had no other financial resources. At that time, some families in the countryside would have hunting rifles, because the country had not officially banned guns at that time. However, this so-called shotgun, that is, a kind of homemade earthen gun, when hunting, first pour a small amount of gunpowder into the long barrel, use a thin wooden stick, compact little by little, and then pour a small pinch of iron sand into the barrel, which is considered to complete the preparation for loading. Although the killing distance of this kind of earthen gun is not far, but because it is a bullet made of fine iron sand, the iron and sand are scattered in all directions, and the killing area is very large, so the power can not be underestimated.

The family opposite the vacant land is his home, a family of five, two husband and wife, and two children, his mother has died, and only Zhang Laohan is left to live with his family. It is said that yesterday happened to be Zhang Laohan's 75th birthday. Although it was winter and the weather was cold, the neighbors, relatives and friends all came, ready to celebrate Zhang Laohan's birthday. Zhang San is also a filial son, and the family is busy from morning to night. By four o'clock in the afternoon, the meals were ready and the people were ready. More than a dozen people gathered around the table on the fire kang, which was very lively.

Zhang Lao Hanle couldn't close his mouth and sat in the innermost, leaning his back against the windowsill. Everyone was about to eat in this happy atmosphere, and suddenly Zhang Laohan seemed to be frozen, and the hand holding the wine glass was still in the air before it was released, and the wine glass fell on the table with a snap. I saw that Zhang Laohan's eyes were as wide as copper bells, his lips were tightly closed, and he could hear the gurgling of his teeth, so he overturned a table of food, and then lay on the kang and rolled. Everyone was stunned by this sudden scene, but Zhang San reacted, stepped forward and pressed Zhang Laohan under him, and everyone also hurried up to help, holding Zhang Laohan down with all hands and feet, it is strange to say, Zhang Laohan is over seventy years old, and he usually walks tremblingly, I don't know where to get such great strength.

At this time, I only listened to Zhang Laohan speak in a special voice, this voice was sharp and thin, and it made people's hairs stand on end, so I listened to "Dead old man, you are still in the mood to drink, you can't smoke a mouthful of cigarettes, and it burns my ears, I won't let you go today!" Then there was a burst of wicked laughter. When everyone heard it, they didn't know what to do, and they all knew that this was not the tone of Zhang Laohan's usual speech at all.

When everyone was at a loss, there was a neighbor's aunt who happened to be eating together, who was also in her sixties, and when she saw this situation, she understood that she was not far from ten, and hurriedly said to Zhang San: "San'er, hurry up and go to the back street to find you Li Gen and Uncle Li." Zhang San hurriedly jumped down from the kang, put on his shoes and went out.

After a while, this old man named Li Gen came, and he saw that this old man was very thin, but he looked very capable, and under his thin lips, a small mustache was raised from his chin forward, and a canvas bag was carried diagonally on his left shoulder.

Li Gen walked up and glanced at Zhang Laohan, who was still struggling at this time, and said, "Come on, come on, I'm not afraid of you!" "Something like that. I saw that Li Gen didn't say anything, and stepped forward to grab Zhang Laohan's left wrist with his right hand, the force was very strong, Zhang Laohan's body trembled, and his eyes stared at Li Gen.

Li Gen said at this time: "It's enough to play around, people have a big birthday, it may be disturbing you, please forgive me, hurry up." The tone was soft, somewhat negotiable.

I only heard Li Laohan also reply, "This family is too deceitful, I won't spare him!" As he spoke, he let out a wicked laugh.

Li Gen looked at the impossibility of discussion, and at this time he held Zhang Laohan's hand, and his strength became stronger and stronger, as if he was going to break his hand. The tone also hardened, "You brute who doesn't know what to do, don't eat and drink when you toast, don't blame me for cleaning you up!" Then he said to the people, take off his shirt, and hold him down, and don't let go. Everyone could only do so, and they stripped off Zhang Laohan's shirt by dividing it by two, and then pressed the arms and legs.

I saw Li Gen take off the canvas bag from his shoulder, put it on the kang and open it, and took out a small copper box from it, three inches square, the box is carved with fine patterns, and it looks like an old object that is some years old, and the copper around the box is polished to a yellow light, and the whole looks very eye-catching. Open the box inside is two rows of thin needles, inserted in turn on the red cloth in the box, just look at this needle, different from embroidery and sewing clothes needles, longer than those needles, and then look closely, find that the biggest difference is that this kind of needle actually has no needle eye.

Li Gen took out a slender needle with his right hand, looked at it in front of his eyes, and then came to Zhang Laohan, and carefully groped for Zhang Laohan's head with his left hand, and then touched the back of his head and ears, as if he was looking for something. After that, I touched it down my neck all the way down, and I didn't let go of a single position. When his left hand touched Zhang Laohan's armpit, he stopped. At this time, everyone found that Zhang Laohan's armpit did not know when there was an extra lump of flesh, the size of his thumb and belly, and he had been pinched by Li Gen's thumb and index finger at this time. The moment he pinched the pimple, Zhang Laohan trembled all over, struggling even more, everyone was almost exhausted and collapsed, and he still held Zhang Laohan to death.

Li Gen didn't care about Zhang Laohan's struggle, pinched the pimple with his left hand, held the needle in his right hand, and pierced it at the meat pimple. At this time, Zhang Laohan was like a deflated ball, he suddenly collapsed, trembling all over, and everyone let go of their hands.

I only heard Zhang Laohan still say in such a tone: "Hey, it hurts me to death, spare me, please spare me!" Don't dare anymore! ”

Li Gen also continued: "It's too late to beg for mercy now, I gave you a chance just now!" You brute. ”

"I really don't dare anymore, please let me go." Zhang Laohan said and trembled even more.

Li Gen stroked the beard on his chin with his hand and said, "It's okay to spare you, tell me quickly, where are you at this time?" ”

Just look at Li Laohan at this time, his whole body trembled like sifting chaff, and he stumbled in his speech, "I, I'm in the cowshed in the yard, please, let me go." "The voice was extremely harsh.

Li Gen asked Zhang San to hurry up to the yard cowshed to take a look, Zhang San didn't dare to delay, ran to the yard and went straight to the cowshed. This cowshed sits at the west end of the yard with its back against a stone wall. Zhang San came to the cowshed and looked inside, only to see a big rabbit lying on his stomach in the corner of the cowshed, this rabbit looked like it had lived for a few years, it was bigger than an ordinary rabbit, and the rabbit fur on its back was yellow-brown. Seeing the rabbit lying in the corner of the wall trembling, Zhang San carefully observed the rabbit, and felt familiar. As he spoke, he grabbed the rabbit's ears and picked it up.

At this time, everyone also followed Li Gen from the house to the yard, Li Gen took the rabbit, rounded his arms, and threw it to the ground, only to see that the rabbit bounced on the ground a few times and then did not move. Li Gen said to Zhang San: "This kind of rabbit that harms people can't be left, if I don't seal it with a silver needle, I really can't cure it." ”

At this time, everyone returned to the house, Zhang Laohan had fainted from collapse, he was already old, and after such a toss, even young people couldn't stand it. Li Gen lifted Zhang Laohan's arm and saw that the needle was still in the armpit, but the lump of flesh was gone. said to everyone: "It's okay now, boil some sugar water for the old lady and pour it down, just rest for a few days." When the people saw that the matter was settled, and the meal was not finished, they dispersed together.

In the evening, Zhang Laohan also recovered little by little and sobered up. After waking up, Zhang San asked Zhang Laohan what was going on, and Zhang Laohan was also confused at first. When Zhang San told him the whole story, Zhang Laohan suddenly realized.

It turned out that just this morning, everyone else was busy with the big birthday, and Zhang Laohan was resting on the windowsill alone. In order to heat every winter, a basin made of pig iron is used to collect the carbon fire left over from cooking in the stove, put it in the brazier, and bring it to the kang. Zhang Laohan's family is no exception, and there is also a brazier. Zhang Laohan leaned against the windowsill, sat around the brazier, and by the way, he lit his copper rod and big cigarette pouch, smoking dry tobacco and closing his eyes to recuperate. When I smoked and smoked Zhang Laohan, I felt that something was wrong, because every time I took a deep puff of cigarette, I felt that the cigarette was not inhaled into my mouth at all, just like inhaling air, and I took several puffs repeatedly. Zhang Laohan was very puzzled, so he squinted and glanced out of the window sill, because the countryside was relatively poor at that time, and many people did not have glass at all, and the window frames were pasted with white paper, which was not only insulated, but also very bright, although the light transmittance was not as good as glass. Zhang Laohan saw the shadow of a rabbit through the paper window, squatting on the windowsill outside, and the rabbit was holding a wooden stick on its paws.

It turned out to be a ghost caused by this rabbit, Zhang Laohan also understood, still pretending not to see it, and secretly stretched the pipe of the copper rod cigarette pouch into the brazier with a carbon fire in front of him. After about five minutes of burning, the copper pipe was burned red due to the exuberant charcoal fire. Zhang Laohan took the cigarette pouch out of the brazier violently, and poked at the shadow of the rabbit outside the window, only to hear a sound of smoke, and the rabbit was burned to the ear because he was not guarded, and ran away with a snort.

Zhang San completely understood after listening to his father's explanation, but there was still a problem bothering him, he wondered why this rabbit didn't go to someone else's house, but ran to his house to make trouble. I thought about it carefully during this time, and suddenly I understood.

It turned out that Zhang San was a well-known hunting master in this village, and with a native gun in his hand, it could be said that he could hit every shot, as long as he targeted the prey, very few escaped. Every time I came back from the mountains, I carried a bag of prey, including hares, pheasants, and other mountain goods. These mountain goods are brought back, which not only allows the family to occasionally taste wild meat and nourish the body, but also sells some money to subsidize the family, killing two birds with one stone. So as long as it was winter, Zhang San would go into the mountains with the earthen gun and enough ammunition on his back when he was fine, and he never missed.

Anyway, this was just a week ago, just after a winter snow that day, and the weather slowly cleared up, Zhang San, as usual, packed up the earthen gun, brought ammunition, and set off again. Because he was born and raised in the local area, and he often runs the mountains, it didn't take long for him to reach the mountains. With experience, Zhang San quickly tracked down a rabbit according to the footprints of the animal, and through the size of the footprints, Zhang San decided that it was a big rabbit, and if it hit, it would be enough for the family to eat the stew pot meat for several days. Zhang San's legs and feet were also sharp, and he soon found the trace of the rabbit, and chased after him with the footprints he left.

After a few trips to the ditch, I finally caught up with the rabbit, and I saw that this rabbit was really not ordinarily big, standing under a pine tree not far away, with its front paws raised, its ears standing, and its back was covered with yellowish fur, which was shining like it was shining in the sun's rays. Because the rabbit has short front paws and long hind legs, if the snow on the ground is a little thicker, it will have a hard time moving, because the front paws will always sink into the snowdrift, and it will be very slow and laborious to run. Zhang San looked at the rabbit from a distance, thinking that the rabbit was tired. Seeing that the distance was also within the killing range of the shotgun, he put the earthen gun in place and aimed at the rabbit under the pine tree.

Zhang San looked at the rabbit and didn't move, thinking that this was not looking for death. Then he aimed the muzzle of the gun at the rabbit, aimed it accurately, and pressed the index finger on the trigger, the rabbit not only did not mean to run, but also stared at Zhang San from a distance. At the moment when Zhang San pulled the trigger, he suddenly found that the rabbit was gone, and squatting under the pine tree was his father, that is, Zhang Laohan. Zhang San gasped, glad that he didn't shoot, and wondered when his father came here. Zhang San took the opportunity to put down the earthen gun, and then looked under the pine tree, and under the tree was obviously standing the big rabbit, still with his front paws raised, his ears standing, and he was motionless in front of him. Zhang San thought that he must be nervous and dazzled.

Zhang San raised the earthen spear for the second time and aimed it at the rabbit. When it was time to pull the trigger, the rabbit under the tree became his father again. Zhang San's brain went blank in an instant, could it be that he was alive, and the cold sweat on his forehead came out. However, Zhang San is a person who does not believe in evil, although he vaguely feels that this rabbit is unusual, but he is also determined to defeat it. Then he held the spear tightly with both hands, and his eyes were fixed on the rabbit. said that it was too late, but I saw Zhang San raise the gun suddenly, and with his instincts, he shot at the rabbit with a bang. After firing the gun, he didn't wait, and ran straight like that pine tree.

Running under the pine tree, there was no rabbit carcass, and the gun sand broke off a large chunk of the pine bark. And on the snow under the pine trees, there are a few rabbit hairs scattered on the surface. Zhang San knew that he had missed, but he couldn't calm down for a long time because of what happened just now. At this time, the sun was already in the west, and Zhang San was the only time he went home empty-handed.

When he arrived at home, Zhang San didn't tell his family about it, only saying that there were few mountain goods recently, and he didn't get anything.

Through the causes and consequences of this incident, I finally understood why Zhang Laohan was entangled by the rabbit god. Zhang San was also haunted by this incident, so there was the beginning of the story.