We walked through the narrow gap between the houses in the village, followed the old river for a while, and crossed a few ridges through a bare hill before we came to the ghost den. At this time, it was already the lights of thousands of homes, and the moon was shining brightly. The village was far behind, and the only thing I could hear was the barking of the dogs, and the noise of the gnats that did not know where they were hiding. The owl chirping, which had been heard clearly at first, was now inaudible.

Grandpa pinched his fingers and said, "Everyone, find a place to hide, the ghost is about to come out!" ”

When everyone heard this, they hurriedly found a place to hide. My grandfather and the horse butcher and I hid behind the big rock and held our breath. Some of the others hid behind rocks, some behind big trees, and they didn't dare to make a sound.

I scrutinized the terrain of the haunt's nest. Under the quiet movement of the moon, the ghost nest located in the mountain col looks extremely strange. Many small graves like steamed buns were crowded together, and the wild grass on the graves swayed in the breeze, as if the people in the graves were twisting uncomfortably because of the excessive crowding. The trees on the hill rustled, as if to reassure them not to move. The puffy clouds could only be seen where the moon passed, and the puffy clouds moved slowly, as if the wind on the ground had also blown them. The strips of red cloth tied on his hands also moved as if they were alive, making the back of his hands tickle.

Suddenly, a flame as small as a firefly slowly rose on a small grave, red. As the flames grew larger, the color began to change, from red to dark red, then to white, and then to an eerie blue glow around the white. Then, a flame the size of a firefly appeared in another part of the mound, and the change was the same as the former. The two flames gradually moved closer to each other, one with the wind, which was not surprising, but the other against the wind, as if a powerful force was pushing behind.

I looked at my grandfather in fear, and his face was resolute, and his eyes were fixed on the flames on the grave, like an arrow ready to be fired. And the horse butcher's hand was already trembling violently, I don't know if it was because of fear or hatred, just waiting for Grandpa's order. I don't know about the others.

Then a girl's voice appeared: "Aren't you going to wait seven days to come back?" ”

The male voice replied, "That horse butcher seems to have discovered something, and he is not acting like before." I probably found out what I was going to do, so I came early. ”

As he spoke, the two flames changed into the appearance of a boy and a woman. The boy's face was facing me, so I could see his face. His withered yellow hair was shoulder-length and fluttered in the breeze. The eyebrows are short and thick, as if they were roughly drawn with crayons. His face was pale, his lips were scarlet, and he wore an overly thick red tunic that covered his knees and was hidden in the grass below his knees. The whole person looks like a corpse in a coffin after death, which is terrifying.

The little girl had her back to me, and all I could see was a pair of upright goat pigtails and a gray dress. But the ears are pointy, like the ears of bats.

At this time, the grandfather shouted a spell: "Call the jade girl, the harvest is ominous!" He shook his hand and threw out the yellow paper with the talisman drawn and sprinkled with wine. The yellow paper shot straight at the little boy like an arrow off the string. Immediately, the people hiding in various shadows rushed out and held the little boy down. When the little girl saw that the situation was not good, she immediately transformed into a raging fire. Several people who pounced on the little girl grinned and shouted loudly at the little girl. The little boy was stopped by his grandfather's yellow paper charm, and he couldn't change, just a "whoosh" howl, like a pig to be slaughtered during the New Year.

"Punch it in the head!" Grandpa shouted.

"I can't catch it, how can I fight!" A man complained. Seven or eight people held down the little boy, but the little boy kept struggling, and his strength was very strong, two people were kicked down by him, and the others were also sweating.

"You can't subdue it without hitting it in the head!" Grandpa shouted roughly.

Several people hurriedly raised their hoes and smashed them on the little boy's head, and a few drops of blood splashed on my body, which felt very hot, like freshly boiled water, and a little fishy. Grandpa stretched out his index and middle fingers to hold down the yellow paper charm glued to the little boy's forehead, and did not dare to let go for a moment. I stood beside me in a daze, and the sound of it barking like a pig made me feel uncomfortable.

At this moment, the surroundings became brighter, and gradually became like day. We all gathered around the little boy and didn't pay attention to any of this. The little boy finally struggled twice. We let out a breath and were about to sit down when we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by blue flames. A dozen ghostly fires flickered, enveloping us in the middle. We were all stunned, only Grandpa said in time, "Everyone show the red cloth." There was a woman's menstrual blood on it, to ward off evil spirits. ”

Everyone immediately rolled up their sleeves and showed the red cloth strips on their wrists. Sure enough, the fires no longer came near us, but they wouldn't leave. They came to save their companions, but they couldn't do anything about the red cloth strips on our hands. We're at a stalemate. The horse butcher's face was distorted with fright, and it was terrifying in the blue light of the fire, and I looked at it and did not dare to look again, as if he were a terrible ghost.

Grandpa lowered his voice and spoke to those ghost fires: "Children, we can't help it, the horse butcher's daughter-in-law has given birth to several children, but she hasn't kept a single child. If this continues, his daughter-in-law's mood and body can't stand it. ”

The ghost fires swayed from side to side in the wind, as if listening to their grandfather reason with them.

Grandpa then said kindly, "Think about how much pain your death has caused to your parents. What parent doesn't love their child? Their untimely death is something they don't want to see. ”

The wind made a strange cry, sounding like a newborn baby crying, but it was low. The horse butcher whispered to the other stunned men, "It seems that they really listen to persuasion." ”

But they still don't leave, and we don't dare to make big moves, and we are careful to move our positions when our feet are sore, for fear of alarming them.

Grandpa then patiently said in the gentle and irresistible voice of the elders as he usually taught me: "I know that no one of you here comes to burn paper, burn incense and set off firecrackers, but your parents don't want you, but they will feel more distressed when they see you." It's not that I don't want to come to see you, but I can't bear to see you. But I promise you that I will have your father and mother come to see you often, and I will cut the grass for your graves, and put fruit and incense in front of your graves. All right? ”

Grandpa looked around and said in an understanding tone, "Look, there are weeds everywhere, and there are no sacrifices, so it's no wonder you want to make trouble." But do you hurt others, and do people come? They will only hate you more. Go back, and I promise you that tomorrow there will be no grass here, and we will bring sacrifices for you to enjoy. ”

Grandpa's voice was full of emotion, sighing from time to time, and what he said was reasonable and worrying.