A frightened cry pierced the silent night sky, and the villagers who had just fallen asleep were awakened, the lights came on, and people walked out into the street from their homes to look at each other's disheveled neighbors. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"What's going on? At this howl, the children were scared and cried. ”

"I don't know, listening to the voice, it seems to be from the old Li family."

At this moment, a rapid shout sounded in the night sky, "Something's wrong!" Something happened to the fool! ”

Everyone's faces changed, and they hurriedly ran in the direction where the voice came from. The small mountain village is not big, and after a while the village is boiling, and the light of the flashlight weaves into swaying pillars of light in the night sky.

Soon the villagers gathered on a wasteland in the northwest corner of the village, stunned by the scene that happened in front of them - Li Guosheng, who had just called, was standing there with a frightened face, next to his son Ziyang, his little face turned pale with fright, and Ah Chong, an orphan in the village, was lying motionless on the ground. In front of them, the fool lay in the mud, his chest was blurred with flesh and blood.

――――― rain―――――

Li Ziyang sat in the classroom and stared blankly at the continuous drizzle outside, habitually wandering.

The old math man on the podium was writing formulas with sonorous strokes, and when he was done, it was time to leave school, Zi Yang thought to himself.

At this time, his head was suddenly smashed by a ball of paper, Li Ziyang turned his head and found that Ah Chong was squeezing his eyebrows at him, with a smug smile on his face, and pointed to his feet - a half-deflated ball with peeling skin.

Ah Chong is Ziyang's best playmate, although he is only a teenager, but he is precocious than his peers, except for being more lively with Ziyang, he doesn't talk much to others. He was even a little gloomy when he didn't play with everyone, his parents died when he was a child, and he lived with his mentally handicapped uncle, living on the village's handouts.

Ziyang's parents like Ah Chong very much, treat him like a godson, and often leave him at home for dinner and overnight.

The old man in mathematics finally finished writing the board book, and then stretched out the Shanghai brand quartz watch on his wrist to everyone to look at it carefully, and said, "Well, class is over." ”

A group of children shouted and jumped out of the classroom, scaring the kind old man, trembling behind the children and shouting: "Slow down, slow down, the road is cloudy, be careful of wrestling......"

Ah Chong hugged Ziyang's shoulders and said brightly: "The rain has stopped, let's go back later, let's go to the playground to play ball." ”

Ah Chong was very appealing among the children, and with a wave of arms, a dozen or so wild boys roared to the dirt playground behind the school, all of them were dumbfounded, the familiar clearing had become a swamp, and there was standing water everywhere, and the water was up to knees.

When everyone was at a loss, Ah Chong took off his clothes and pants, leaving only a small pair of pants on his body, and jumped naked into the puddle to kick the ball up, "Let's play water polo." ”

A group of children immediately cheered and followed suit, and some simply jumped into the water with their bare butts. On the muddy playground, I saw more than a dozen naked children rushing around.

Suddenly, Ah Chong said, "Hey, it seems to be bubbling in the water over there", and following the direction of his finger, there was a puddle in the middle of the playground that was gurgling and gurgling bubbles out.

Ah Chong smiled and said, "I'll touch a fish to show you!" As he spoke, he leaned down and groped in the kneeless water, and suddenly, his face changed and his body sank, "Step on a hole, there's something underneath!" Ouch, there's something to catch me! ”。

"Poof" Ah Chong stumbled into the water, snorted and choked on two mouthfuls of muddy water, coughing and shouting "Quick, come and pull me" while struggling.

Zi Yang didn't look like he was joking, so he hurriedly rushed over and dragged Ah Chong's waist back, but he felt a huge force pulling Ah Chong into the water.

Zi Yang hurriedly turned around and beckoned the other children to "come over and help", and several timid people were already crying in fright.

Ah Chong's whole body was almost lying in the water, and his face was flushed and shouted, "Yes...... Something was grabbing my arm, and it hurt so much! ”

Ziyang and a few children held hands, some hugged their waists, and used a tug-of-war posture, but they collapsed enough to drag Ah Chong back but did not get Ah Chong out, feeling that there was a strange force dragging Ah Chong into the water.

Suddenly, Zi Yang felt the strength in his hand loosen, and with a bang, Ah Chong was pulled out like a radish, and everyone fell into the water on all fours.

Zi Yang held Ah Chong and dragged him to the open space, the two of them lay on the ground as if they were out of strength, and the children all ran up, standing there trembling and at a loss.

"It's getting dark, my mom is going to scold me," said a slightly older child with a crying voice, picking up his clothes and pants on the ground and running away, while the others scattered.

There were only two people left in the empty playground, Zi Yang touched Ah Chong's hand and said, "I, let's go too", and when the words came out, it didn't feel like his own voice.

Ah Chong lay on the ground with his head down, and said as if exhausted: "I, I can't walk, I have no strength." ”

Zi Yang put Ah Chong's arm on his shoulder, hugged Ah Chong's waist with one hand, and held his clothes with the other, and the two dragged towards the village. As I walked, I felt the cold air in the back of my head and shivered all over.

When he dragged to the door of Ziyang's house, it was already completely dark.

As soon as he entered the house, Ziyang's father, who had a black face, kicked the two mud children away with a sweeping leg: "Where are you going crazy when it's so late?" Ah, the new clothes that I just wore for two days are all dirty like this?! ”

Zi Yang's mother was about to come up and continue the lecture, when she saw the two children curled up on the side without saying a word, she immediately changed her face and slapped Zi Yang's father's arm, "You old immortal don't know the depths, what should I do if I break my child?" Saying that, he came over with the oil lamp to take a closer look, but it didn't matter, the oil lamp in Ziyang's mother's hand almost fell to the ground, and the two children's faces were pale and their lips were bloodless.

Zi Yang's mother was in a hurry, and one hand twisted Zi Yang's father's ear and screwed it down desperately, "You beat my child!" You've broken my boy! ”

Zi Yang's father was also frightened, and let his ears be stretched half a foot long, and said with a frightened face, "I didn't use much force......"

"Mom, it wasn't my dad who beat me" Zi Yang snorted and said, "We were playing on the playground just now, and Ah Chong was caught by the water ghost......"

Zi Yang didn't know how to describe what had just happened, and vaguely remembered that the old man had scared the child not to go to the pond to play, and he would be caught by the water ghost.

Zi Yang's father lightly slapped Zi Yang's head, "I really know how to pretend, scare Lao Tzu, how can there be water ghosts on dry land like the school playground?" ”

Zi Yang hurriedly defended: "I was really caught by the water ghost, look at Ah Chong's hand." Saying that, he showed Ah Chong's hand to his parents, but it didn't matter, and even Ziyang himself was taken aback.

I didn't pay attention to it just now, Ah Chong's right hand was already swollen, as if it had been grabbed by some wild beast, and it was blue and black from the wrist to the forearm, and there was a faint smell of fish.

Ziyang's mother said distressedly: "Are you fighting with someone again?" ”

Ziyang was so anxious that he almost cried: "I really didn't fight, I was really caught by the water ghost, I don't believe you go and ask Xiaochun ...... them"

Ah Chong, who had been groggy just now, also barely propped up his body and said weakly, "Uncle, we really didn't fight......

Zi Yang's father said with a heavy face: "This doesn't look like he was injured, I have walked the rivers and lakes for decades, and I have never seen such an injury......"

Ziyang's mother said: "Don't squat there and break around, you old turtle, quickly scrub the child and carry it to the kang......

Ziyang's father silently scrubbed the two children clean, hugged them to the kang and surrounded them with quilts, and the two children were still trembling in the quilt.

The village was surprisingly quiet that night, and the noise of chickens and dogs suddenly disappeared.

The food on the table didn't move, and no one was in the mood to eat. Zi Yang's father squatted on the ground, holding his knees with his hands at a loss, Ah Chong lay on the kang in a delirium, gritted his teeth, and softly read "Cold, cold...... Scald, hot", beads of sweat the size of soybeans flowed down his pale face.

Zi Yang sat on the side with tears in her eyes, and Zi Yang's mother whispered to the man, "Why don't you ask the barefoot doctor in the village to take a look?" ”

Zi Yang's father said angrily: "The barefoot doctor went to Xiao Wangzhuang's son-in-law to eat wine today, and he won't be able to come back for the past two days." ”

Ziyang's mother sighed and said, "God, what kind of sin is this, how can this poor child be so miserable." ”

Ah Yan opened his eyes and said, "Uncle, I'm going to find my uncle."

Zi Yang's father pressed Ah Chong, who was about to get up, and said, "Don't move, lie down." I'm going to call your uncle," he said, picking up a flashlight from the kang. Just as he was about to go out, two shouts suddenly sounded in the dark and quiet night outside......