That night, Xinyangzi stayed at my grandfather's house, and there was a room for groceries in the house, and there was an empty bed in it. This empty bed was made by a carpenter a long time ago, and I originally planned to wait for my grandmother to have a child, and then let the child sleep, but who knew that my grandmother's stomach was not moving, and this bed was left empty in the grocery room.

After eating, my grandmother put the grocery room in place, and laid a mat and futon on the bed, and Xinyangzi slept in the grocery room.

Nothing was said all night. The next day, because my grandfather felt that things were a bit tricky, it was a female ghost, a weir ghost, and there was only one Wang Bajing, if he himself let it go, let Xinyangzi and my grandmother deal with this matter, and he was really not at ease, mainly because he was afraid that they would not be able to take it, and there would be any danger.

After breakfast, my grandfather, as Xinyangzi's elder and friend, took my grandmother to the neighboring village with Xinyangzi.

They hit the east gate and entered the village, and as soon as they entered the village, they saw a few elderly people sitting under the trees on the side of the road, and the three of them walked over to inquire about the village chief's house, and a few old people pointed out the location of the village chief's house to my grandfather, but those old people said that the village chief may not be at home at this time, and one of his nephews died a few days ago and is buried today.

According to the position pointed by a few old people, my grandfather and the three of them came to the door of the village chief's house, there was no one at home, the door was locked, and the neighbor inquired, the neighbor said that the village chief's nephew hanged himself a few days ago, and today the funeral, the village chief's whole family is at his nephew's funeral. I inquired with the neighbor about the village chief's nephew's residence, and the three of them hurried to the village chief's nephew's house.

The nephew of the village chief lived in the northwest corner of their village, close to the thorny dirt slope in the north of the village.

At this time, it was probably less than eight o'clock in the morning.

Before the three of them walked to the door of the village chief's nephew's house, they saw a large pot in front of the door of a family in the west of the village, with a large iron pot on the pot, and the heat in the pot was boiling, and a middle-aged man with five big and three thick was wearing an apron and holding a big shovel and was busy stir-frying back and forth in the pot. My grandfather and the three of them understand that the middle-aged man is cooking "old pot dishes".

The old pot dish is our dialect here, also called the pot dish or the big stewed dish, generally cabbage, winter melon, vermicelli, meat pieces, tofu, bean sprouts, etc., stewed into a pot, first fry a few times on high heat, then simmer slowly over low heat, stew for an hour, put a bowl after coming out of the pot, with steaming white flour steamed buns, it tastes particularly delicious. Although the old pot dish is not a rare thing, it is indispensable for the red and white ceremonies in our area.

When the three of them saw this, they didn't need to look for it anymore, it must be that one.

Coming to the far gate, the courtyard gate is wide open, the house is not very good, but the yard is quite large, the yard is facing the door to set up a mourning shed, the coffin, the offering table, the lantern and so on. In front of the mourning shed, there were several filial sons who were dressed in linen and wearing filial piety, but they were all children, and it seemed that the oldest was no more than fifteen years old, which indicated that the age of the deceased should not be very old.

The three of them came to the door and stopped, and a person with a white cloth on his head and in charge of picking up customers at the door glanced at Xinyangzi, obviously recognized Xinyangzi, and hurriedly greeted him.

As I said earlier, Xinyangzi was a little famous in our area at this time, but this time I went down the mountain with my grandmother, and I didn't wear a dress, I only took a handful of dust, and when I went to the old locust tree yesterday, I was afraid of attracting the attention of others, so I didn't even take the dust, and put it in my grandfather's house. I came to the village chief today and deliberately took the dust. There is a saying that he is not a mortal with a whisk in his hand, and with some fame, others can easily recognize him.

The man who came up asked Xinyangzi if the Taoist chief was here to mourn. Xin Yangzi was very embarrassed, saying that he had something important to come to the village chief, hoping that the village chief would take the time to meet him.

When the man heard this, he immediately turned around and ran into the house and called the village chief out.

The village chief is an old man in his sixties, looking a little younger than my grandfather, a little older than Xinyangzi, the old people said before, their village chief's surname is Ru, and his big name is Ru Qingshan, because of his high prestige in the village, the people in the village call him Ru Shanye.

The surname Ru is also a big surname in their village, and the eaves are not small.

Ru Qingshan obviously knew Xinyangzi too, looked at Xinyangzi, and then looked at my grandfather and grandmother, showing a look of surprise.

There are things at home, they are all very busy, Xin Yangzi will no longer greet Ru Qingshan so much, after a few polite words, he said to Ru Qingshan: "Yesterday evening, Huanghua Daxian dreamed of the poor road, saying that you wait for the village to derive demons and make trouble, and the poor road is ordered by the Huanghua Daxian today to go down the mountain to eliminate the demons, and I hope that Ru Shanye will help the poor road!" ”

When Ru Qingshan heard Xinyangzi's words, he was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly bowed his hand to Xinyangzi, his face was solemn, "Huanghua Daxian is really powerful, and he is like a god, Dao Ye, please ......wait a while" Saying, Ru Qingshan returned to the courtyard in a panic, my grandmother estimated that he might go back to the courtyard at this time to explain something.

After a while, Ru Qingshan returned again, with a solemn face, and was also very polite to my grandfather and the three of them, saying that it was too chaotic here, and if there was anything to say at home. Later, he invited my grandfather and the three of them to his own house.

After arriving home, Ru Qingshan invited my grandfather and the three of them to sit down, and he was busy boiling water himself and making a pot of tea for my grandfather and them.

My grandfather sniffed it with his nose, it was still a good tea, Xinyang Mao Jian'er, I couldn't help but secretly wonder, this village chief is polite, it's a little too much, the head of a village personally boils water to make tea, which makes the three of them guests, although Xinyangzi's reputation is small, but it is not enough to make the head of a village compliment to such a point, this is ...... Something's got to be right.

Ru Qingshan invited the three of them to take a sip of tea, and before Xinyangzi could speak, he spoke first, with a shocked face, "I said master, Huanghua Daxian said that there is a demon in our village, it's not fake at all......" Just said this, Ru Qingshan actually sighed, and the three of my grandfather looked at him, didn't speak, waiting for his next words.

Ru Qingshan paused for a while, and then said: "As for the nephew I am going to bury today, the one who died is strange, hanged himself, I heard my brother and daughter-in-law say that a few days before he died, my nephew didn't dare to sleep, saying that he had nightmares as soon as he closed his eyes......" Saying that, Ru Qingshan sighed again.

"What nightmare?" My grandfather asked.

Ru Qingshan glanced at my grandfather, and then looked at Xinyangzi, "This old brother is ......"

Xin Yangzi hurriedly introduced, "This is Mrs. Liu, from your neighboring village, who is not only an elder of Poor Dao, but also a friend of Poor Dao, and Poor Dao invited to help." ”

Ru Qingshan arched his hand at my grandfather, and my grandfather raised his hand to give him back. Ru Qingshan continued: "A few days before my nephew died, he had a dream every night, dreaming that his daughter-in-law, who died two years ago, was dressed in white, covered in blood, and holding a headless Wang Ba in his hand, coming to him to ask for his life! ”

A woman, a white-clothed, headless king? As soon as they heard Ru Qingshan's words, my grandfather and the three of them were shocked, but their faces were silent, and no one squeaked, and looked at each other in dismay.

I heard Ru Qingshan continue: "The most evil one, on the night my nephew hanged himself, he told his mother that he would go out to do some errands, and he would come back in a while, and ask his mother to keep the door for him, his mother, that is, my brother and daughter-in-law." My brother and daughter-in-law thought it was strange, what were they doing when they went out in the middle of the night, and they didn't dare to ask, not only did they keep the door for my nephew, but she didn't sleep herself, she sat in the house and waited. ”

"My brother and daughter-in-law waited until almost four watches, heard the courtyard door ringing, so they hurried to the courtyard to see, and saw the courtyard door open, but there was no one in the courtyard, thinking that the child had come back to the thatched house, to the thatched house door shouted twice, and no one agreed, because to leave the door for my nephew, the courtyard gate did not reach, my brother and daughter-in-law thought that the courtyard door was blown open by the wind, so they closed the courtyard door, went back to the house and waited again."

"After my brother and daughter-in-law returned to the house, it was not long before I suddenly heard the shrill laughter of a woman in the yard, which frightened my brother and daughter-in-law, and hurried out of the door to see ......" Ru Qingshan said this, his face became terrifying and ugly, "My brother and daughter-in-law saw my nephew, hanging on the jujube tree in the yard of his house, or just hung up, holding the rope around his neck with both hands, where are the two legs still kicking straight, my brother and daughter-in-law were just about to run over, and saw the courtyard door open by itself, and the courtyard door was ...... There was a woman in white clothes standing, the clothes were full of blood, and in the woman's hands, there was also a headless king Ba ......" Ru Qingshan said this, trembling and took a big sip of the tea bowl.

"What happened?" My grandmother asked.

Ru Qingshan glanced at my grandmother, and Xin Yangzi hurriedly introduced again, "This is the Bai family, the daughter-in-law of Old Lady Liu, and she was also invited by Poor Dao to help." ”

Ru Qingshan nodded at Xinyangzi, put down the tea bowl and said: "Later, my brother and daughter-in-law were so frightened that they sat on the ground, and the woman in white smiled, led Wang Ba and left, and when my brother and daughter-in-law came back to their senses and remembered her son on the tree, it was too late...... My brother and daughter-in-law came to our house and woke me up, I took my sons and got my nephew's body off the tree, my brother and daughter-in-law said, the woman who led the princess was her daughter-in-law who died two years ago, and now, my brother and daughter-in-law are also scared out of the problem, the son is lying in the coffin, she is lying on the bed in the back room, this family, alas......"

When Ru Qingshan said this, he stopped talking, the whole room was quiet, and my grandfather and the three of them didn't speak, because this is a bit messy, the woman holding the eldest king and eight has not been following Chen Hui, why did she become the daughter-in-law of the village chief's nephew again?

"And where did your nephew go out in the middle of the night? Does no one know? After a while, my grandmother asked.

Ru Qingshan glanced at my grandmother and shook his head, "The ghost knows where he went, but when my sons got him off the jujube tree, his shoes and trouser legs were full of new mud, as if he was digging a hole somewhere......"

Ru Qingshan's words made the three of them look at each other again, thinking about the mud on his shoes......

After a pause, my grandfather asked Ru Qingshan, "Your nephew, who hanged himself a few days ago?" ”

"Two days ago, today is the third day." Ru Shanye replied.

"And your nephew...... What is it called? My grandfather asked again.

Ru Shanye hurriedly said, "The big name is Ru Siqing, just because this name is not good, those bad-hearted people in the village call him Ru Gonggong, and now there are not many people who call him his big name, adults and children call him Father-in-law, and a bunch of people are ruined." ”

Ru Siqingru's father-in-law, as mentioned earlier, was his daughter-in-law who had an affair with Chen Bald, and he also turned Chen Bald into a bald man and a eunuch.

As soon as he heard that Ru Qingshan's nephew was Ru Siqing, my grandfather sneered, and he was about to be on the right track.

Ru Siqing's daughter-in-law, probably the great-granddaughter of my grandfather's third uncle, caught Ru Siqing in bed, beat and abused, and when there was a famine, she may have killed Ru Siqing and ate meat.

My grandfather seemed to be careless and asked again: "Where is your niece and daughter-in-law?" ”

Ru Qingshan didn't know what my grandfather was thinking at this time, so he didn't even think about it, and blurted out: "Liu Zhuang by the Yellow River, there was a great character in her family decades ago......"