Preface.

Human perception of this world is superficial. The so-called science can explain the known, but it cannot reveal the unknown. Therefore, whether there are spirits in the world or not, no one can be sure.

Who knows? Around you and me, there are always strange things happening, like the eyes in the darkness at the end of the candle flame, staring at us silently.

Maybe there's something standing behind you right now, and you can't see it......

……

It was getting dark, it seemed to rain, and the tidal air was filled with the dampness of the earth.

I put my suitcase on the wet and soft grass and rested.

Someone dies every day, as if night falls every day.

As a funeral home worker who often deals with dead bodies, it is normal for one or two unusual things to happen. But as the saying goes, bottled water will eventually overflow one day, not to mention negative emotions.

I was told I had a nervous breakdown due to a long period of "work stress" and the doctor told me I had to recuperate for a while. On the recommendation of a colleague, I came to this ancient town. According to the doctor, the landscape can restore my nerves.

This ancient town still preserves a good humanistic spirit, a long history of cultural relics and a quiet environment in the modern era of rapid construction and comprehensive renewal, and is indeed a good place for recuperation. This ancient town has a very beautiful name - Cangling.

Although Cangling Town is a town, the number of people is really small, and there are only more than two or three hundred people when it is full.

Due to the late weather, many of the shops on the streets of this town with an imperfect electricity supply also close early, and only a few people go back and forth on the wide avenue.

I was desperate to find a place to stay, or I would end up on the streets.

I've seen the state-run hotel at the station, and it's scary dirty. The walls were pitch black, and there was simply a wooden bed with a thermos on the floor, and I was disgusted to see. Especially the dark and thick quilt on the bed, I suspect that there are enough lice in it to form a legion. The windows of this house are broken, and the smell of sweat and the stench of not bathing in a long time wafts from another room next to it.

What annoyed me even more was the thunderous snoring, and I was almost certain that the eight-person room next to me was inhabited by a large group of migrant workers.

So no matter how the middle-aged woman recommended it, she said that this is the best house here, the only single room, only eighty yuan a day, and you can be given a discount at such a late hour, sixty is enough......

Soon I found a very old building, and I couldn't help but feel a sigh of relief - finally, I could sleep peacefully.

Walking to the old house, I realized what a false impression those huge references had given me. From a distance, the house was nothing more than an old one, with tall brick walls covered with vines and shadows in the trees. But when I walked in, I found that one door was more than three meters high, and the two doors were made of solid mountain wood, covered with a layer of iron sheets, and nailed with copper nails.

The threshold is made of long strips of bluestone, and the stone strips on both sides of the gate are carved with subcouplets, one side is "the sun flowers and trees are always in spring", and the other side is "the good people are more than happy". It's a very familiar couplet, but it fits the layout of this house very well.

When I walked to the door, I grabbed the knocker, and a cold chill hit my heart, as if I had touched a piece of ice. I knocked on the door, and someone inside answered, "Coming, coming." "The voice is very old, it sounds like a female voice.

As the people inside the door came to open the door for me with their shoes on, I looked back at the smoky night scene. For some reason, when I looked into the forest not far away, a wave of terror struck me. At that moment, I felt like I was in an ice cellar, and my whole body was extremely cold.

What's there?

I was staring at the woods when the door creaked open.

The door was opened by an old woman in her sixties, her thin face covered with wrinkles, silently telling others about the hardships of her master. Under the wide robe, the two arms are shrunk inward, and it is difficult to see really.

"Accommodation, huh?" The piercing and shrill voice sounded again. The difference is that this time it is clearer and more intuitive.

As she spoke, she gave me a terrifying smile: her black lips lifted, revealing the already mutilated teeth on the bright red gums. The eyes like a black hole narrowed slightly, emitting a strange light.

I calmed down and replied, "Yes." ”

She smiled again and said, "You're so lucky, that four-person room isn't full yet, just in time, you can squeeze in." ”

What the? When I heard that I was going to live with someone again, I couldn't help but think of the scene of the station hostel, which was not good.

I asked if I could stay in a single room, I could pay a high price. The old woman glared at me with cloudy eyes, and said, "There is no single room, do you think we are a station hotel, you can go and have a look first." ”

Then he said something and led me through the door.

The yard was large and full of all kinds of flowers, jasmine, gardenias, calla lilies, roses, and a few unspeakable words, but one thing oddly enough, they were all white.

It's like a sea of white and green leaves, and instead of being beautiful, it's weird. The evening breeze blew gently, bringing a rich fragrance, and I felt a little itchy on the tip of my nose and sneezed.

"Allergic to pollen?" The old woman spoke without looking back.

I was startled and said, "No, I smell a lot of exhaust gas in the city, and I suddenly ask about so many flowers, which is a little uncomfortable." At the same time, I secretly complained in my heart that the old woman interrupted my thinking.

The old woman smiled sadly and said nothing.

When she arrived at the courtyard, the old woman pushed open one of the many doors. At first glance, it is indeed very refreshing, the house is well furnished, and the furniture is made of solid wood, the only fly in the ointment is that there are already three people inside.

After looking around for a week, the old woman cast an inquiring glance at me.

I'm hesitating, whether to live or not to live?

After some negotiation with the old woman, she reluctantly picked up the registration book and flipped through it slowly.

Just as I waited impatiently, she finally put down the register, and said in a tone that was obviously gloating: "Young man, there is no way, I still have a vacant seat in that room just now, and the other rooms are full. If you want to live, you can register, and if you don't live, please be early. ”

Depend on! This dead old woman clearly wanted to say: "Love to live, don't stop and get out." "Well!

It's not that the person in the house has any special illness and can't live with others, but if you really want to stay in Cangling Town for a while, this kind of thing is to live together, and the small house is still acceptable, and you will feel clumsy if you live for a long time.

I turned to leave, but out of the corner of my eye, I inadvertently saw a room on the second floor with a half-hidden door, and my heart jumped - at this time, the rooms of the occupants were all closed and the lights were out, and the room was not the old woman's (because she had told me the location of her room during the rounds just now), and she seemed to live alone. Otherwise, she must be the only one who received me at this time.

With a last glimmer of hope, I consulted her about the owner of the room.

"That room," I wondered, noticing that she was a little lonely at this time, "that is my daughter's room, but she's gone, and it's unused." ”

"How about I move in? I can offer double the price. "I was overjoyed.

"This ...... It's not right. "The old woman is full of embarrassment, but in my opinion, it is obviously pretentious to drive up the housing price.

"Make a price." It's not easy to find a place to stay, and I don't want to look for a hotel in the dark. I don't know how the security here is, if one unlucky person is robbed, there is nowhere to cry.

The old woman took out an old yellow calendar from a blackened cabinet behind her, checked something, and then obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and said to me: "Young man, if you are lucky, that room will be for you to live in, but the price is higher than before, after all, that room is the best decoration I have." ”

I was too busy to agree, and I paid the money in one go - now I was physically and mentally exhausted, and I just wanted to find a big bed to lie down peacefully, not to think about anything, and to sleep well.

……

When I entered this room, my eyes lit up.

With references to previous "ordinary" houses, this room has undoubtedly changed from ordinary to low-key luxury.

The brand-new bookcase, the elegant lamp, the plush carpet, the chiffon quilt and the large bed that looked very soft all seemed to be made to my heart, and it looked very comfortable.

In front of the green balcony, the floor-to-ceiling windows are half-hidden, and the evening breeze blows, bringing a burst of fragrance and freshness, which is incomparable in the city.

The pain of spending hundreds of oceans of flesh suddenly felt worth it.

I took a hot bath in the bathroom equipped with the room and relieved the fatigue of a day's travel.

Lying on the big bed, I felt that my whole body was crispy, like a puddle of mud, and I didn't want to move anymore.

Sleep, sleep......