Grandpa decided to go to the old lady's house first to do ideological work for her family.

Her family didn't agree at first, but when she heard her grandfather say that the old lady often harassed passers-by on the side of that steep slope, she felt guilty and agreed to her grandfather's request. After all, the people who are scared are all villagers, and if you look down and don't look up, you will be embarrassed if you encounter it in the future.

Grandpa also made a promise to take the old lady for a spin and then take her away.

The old lady's family is still not at ease. The old lady's son, who was about fifty years old, asked his grandfather, "If my mother comes, shall we greet her?" ”

Grandpa waved his hand and said, "I brought her here, and you can't see her." ”

"My grandson is only four or five years old, and I heard that children with simple eyes may see ghosts," he said. If he saw his grandmother, he would be frightened. We just held a funeral for the old lady. ”

Grandpa thought about it and asked him to find a piece of yellow paper, draw a talisman on it, and then burn the yellow paper. Grandpa collected the paper ashes, put them in a small tea cup, handed them to him, and said, "After dinner today, you flush this paper ash and give it to your grandson to drink." In this way, he will not be able to see when the old lady returns. It's only temporary, and it won't work after tonight. ”

He was a little relieved.

Before leaving, the grandfather remembered something and explained to him: "When I come to your house tonight, your family can greet me, but you have to pretend not to know that I have brought the old lady back." You should do what you usually do, this time. Don't ask me where she is or what she's doing. ”

"Why?" He asked.

"You pretend to forget her, and you don't know that she exists. That way she would leave with peace of mind. If you keep thinking about her and let her know, she will be even more reluctant to leave and will stay at home. Grandpa explained.

He sighed and nodded.

"Remember to talk to everyone else in your family." Grandpa instructed.

When Grandpa was about to leave, the man grabbed Grandpa again and said, "Master Ma, I am not a person without conscience. It turned out that it was not easy for my mother to raise me in the old society, and two older sisters starved to death in front of me. She kept everything she was supposed to eat for her sister and gave it to me secretly. But I have children and grandchildren now, and I have to take care of them, or I'll let me live with the old lady's ghost. ”

Grandpa patted the back of his hand and understood, "I know." ”

That evening, Grandpa and Mom went up that steep slope. My mother brought a bamboo basket as my grandfather instructed, and the basket was full of paper money.

When I got to the place where my brother said that I met the old lady, my grandfather asked my mother to burn the paper money first. He himself went around in circles. Mom didn't know what he was looking at.

The black dog followed him like a shadow of his grandfather. I don't know if it's afraid that its mother will hit it, so it follows grandpa closely.

While burning paper, my mother said things like asking the old lady not to make trouble. The paper money was halfway burned, and the muffled eyes suddenly barked wildly. It rushed in front of Grandpa and barked at it as if it was trying to block something, and then quickly turned around and hid behind Grandpa's feet, as if it was afraid of something.

The paper that had been burned well was suddenly swept up by a gust of wind, and the burned and unburned paper money were in a mess. Mom hurriedly picked them up and burned them together.

Grandpa looked at the dog, then at the fire, and said, "Attention, she's coming." ”

Only then did my mother know the difference between the four eyes, and then I believed that my grandfather said that it was a good dog.

The direction of the four-eyed barking must be the direction the old lady is coming from.

After a while, Four-Eyes no longer ran in front of Grandpa, but ran to the back and barked wildly, and then returned to Grandpa's feet. Apparently, the old lady had already walked past her grandfather.

Grandpa guessed the old lady's path from the changes in the four eyes. He hurried to the front to intercept the old lady who was out of sight.

Mom didn't dare to talk much at this time, so she just cared about sending paper money to the fire one after another. The fire was like a tongue that could eat, devouring paper money one after another, swallowing it into an invisible stomach.

Grandpa walked to the side of the road and shouted as if greeting someone he knew, "Xiumei, I can take you back to your home." ”

Mom didn't know that Grandpa had inquired about the old lady's name. The wind in front of my mother suddenly calmed down, and the paper money burned much smoother. The black dog followed the grandfather, still barking twice from time to time, as if to make a strong presence for his master.

Mom didn't hear the old lady's response, of course she didn't.

But Grandpa seemed to hear it, and he nodded and said, "Aren't you always thinking about going back?" I don't have to look for someone else, I can. You should have heard my name when you were alive, my name is Ma Yueyun. ”

Then Grandpa laughed and said lightly, "Yes." It is Ma Yueyun of Thrush Village. ”

There was silence again. Grandpa seemed to be listening to the sounds of the night sky.

After a while, Grandpa said to himself, "Yes." That's all I can do. At that time, they should have come here to pick you up for your funeral, maybe it was too far away, they didn't bother to run so far. But you also have to be considerate of them, it will not be easy for a few people to carry your coffin up the mountain, if you come here to pick up your soul first, I am afraid that the Eight King Kongs will not be able to carry it. ”

Grandpa listened for a while, and then said, "Well, you scared my grandson last time, don't embarrass the child." I've been to your house, and you have children at home. I'm in the same mood as you are for juniors. Don't look for him, I'll take you there now. ”

The paper money in the bamboo basket brought by her mother was almost burned, and she didn't know what to do after it was burned. Fortunately, before the paper money was burned, her grandfather shouted at her, "Let's go." I took the old lady back to her house. ”

Mom hurriedly piled all the remaining paper money on the flame, picked up the basket and followed Grandpa back.

It is a long way from the steep slope to the old lady's house, more than ten miles.

Grandpa rarely spoke all the way, and occasionally asked his mother to walk slowly, saying that the old lady walked slowly and couldn't keep up.

Four eyes ran to the place in front of him for a while, ran back and followed his grandfather for a while, and then ran to the front and disappeared, going back and forth repeatedly.

Seeing this, my mother said, "Aren't you tired of running around like this?" No wonder it's so thin. ”

Grandpa smiled and said, "It's clearing the way for us." Drive away all the unclean things in front of us, so that we can go smoothly. ”

"I've walked this way countless times, and whether there are any unclean things or not, I've gone smoothly." Mom said.

Grandpa said: "In the past, when you left, of course it went smoothly." Now it's not just us, it's her. Grandpa glanced to the side and motioned for him to say the old lady.

"Those unclean things can't bother us, but they can intrude on her, hold her, and don't let her go." Grandpa continued.

Mom didn't understand and asked, "She is also an unclean thing, isn't it still afraid that the unclean thing will not be successful?" ”