On a winding mountain road, the black Che Ruoji drove steadily. It is a very barren mountain road, only part of it is asphalt road, and the next part of the road into the mountain is only a dirt road. It was the height of summer, probably because there had been no rain for several days, and the soil on the road was particularly floating, and the dust raised by the car made the brand new black car immediately dirty and unsightly.

The dirt road is potholed, and it looks like it has been in disrepair for a long time. The car had to slow down. By the time I saw the village, it was already evening. The car drove into the village and stopped at the entrance of the village. The people of the village had just returned from their work in the fields. When they saw the car at the head of the village, everyone would look at it as they passed by, but strangely, no one approached the car, whether it was an adult or a child.

At this time, the car door was pushed open, and a tall man with sunglasses got out of the car. The door on the other side also opened, and down came a young man in a white shirt, khaki Kuze, skateboard shoes and a sketchpad on his back, looking like a college student.

The man wearing sunglasses took off his sunglasses, and as soon as he raised his hand, a Buddhist bead bracelet leaked out of his cuffs. The man stopped a man carrying a shovel and asked politely, "Fellow, can I ask you if this is Jiaojia Village?" ”

The man looked at him with unkind eyes: "Yes, what are you doing here with us?" ”

The man didn't care about his tone, he wrapped his arm around the boy standing beside him with a sketchpad on his back: "My brother heard that the scenery here is good, come to sketch, oh, it's just painting." I'm here to spend some time with him. Where is the village chief's house? ”

The boy smiled and said, "Hello fellow." ”

Perhaps the boy's smile was too pure, and the man, who had always looked ugly, softened, and he pointed to a house in the village and said, "That's the village chief's house, you can go." He should be at home now. ”

The boy smiled and thanked, "Thank you, fellow." ”

The man picked up the shovel, and he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Are you here to paint?" ”

The boy nodded.

The man said, "Don't go too far, our mountain is no better than your city, there are wolves in the mountains." By the way, don't go out at night. ”

The boy's face remained unchanged: "Thank you." ”

The man turned away, not wanting to have anything to do with them.

The two people standing next to the car got into the car again, and they drove the car to the door of the village chief's house according to the instructions of the man before. This is a very ordinary house, with three brick houses in the large courtyard facing north and south, and two ear rooms on each side. The gate of the courtyard was open, and a young man with a very strong figure was standing in the middle of the courtyard with a towel wiping his body, and in front of him was a basin with half a basin of water.

The tall man walked over and knocked on the door, and the man who was wiping his body kept moving: "Knock on what to knock, the door is so big that you won't enter!" ”

The tall man and the short man looked at each other and the two walked in, and the tall man said, "Fellow, are you the village chief?" ”

The man stopped, turned to look at them and frowned, and asked, "Who are you?" What are you doing with my dad? ”

The tall man said, "We are from outside, and I accompanied my brother here to sketch, just to paint." We would like to ask the village chief to find a place for us to stay for a few days. ”

The man slammed the towel into the basin and shouted, "Dad, someone is looking for it." ”

The tall man looked up at the door hanging on the curtain, and a very energetic old man came out with a curtain: "Who is looking for me?" ”

The tall man immediately walked up and said, "Village chief, our brother is from outside, my brother is studying art, the scenery here is really good, so I want to come and paint for a few days, can the village chief find us a place to live for a few days, we will pay for food and accommodation." ”

The village chief, an old man in his sixties, looked at the two young people who came from outside with his hands behind his back: "What are your names?" ”

The tall man said, "My name is Shen Zezhi, and this is my younger brother Ji Ziyue." ”

The village chief said: "Not a brother? ”

Shen Zezhi: "No, he is the child of my cousin's family." ”

The village chief looked at Ji Ziyue and asked, "How old are you?" ”

Kiko said shyly: "Nineteen years old." ”

The village chief asked, "Are you in college?" ”

Noriko nodded: "Yes, the art I learned." ”

The village chief glanced at the drawing board he was carrying, and suddenly his eyes turned and he saw the Buddha beads on Shen Zezhi's wrist. He asked, "You believe in Buddhism, this Buddha bead has been opened, right?" ”

Shen Zezhi raised his hand and glanced at the Buddhist bead bracelet on his wrist and said, "It was given by an elder in the family, saying that it was to ward off evil spirits and keep peace." ”

The village chief said: "Okay, we countrymen don't need how much money you give, just give a little less when you leave, and I'll let the bolt lead you over in a while, which is the old stubborn man's house at the entrance of the village." ”

Shen Zezhi smiled and thanked him: "Thank you village chief." ”

The village chief said: "You stay for a few days and leave quickly, it will rain here in a few days, and we are prone to flash floods when it rains, and you won't be able to leave if you want to." ”

Shen Zezhi nodded hurriedly, he took out his wallet and counted out five hundred yuan and stuffed it to the village chief: "Thank you so much." ”

The village chief was not polite, and took it and put it on his body. Shen Zezhi took the opportunity to close: "I don't know your surname yet, village chief?" ”

The village chief said: "The surname is Jiao." We are Jiaojia Village, and the whole village is surnamed Jiao. ”

Shen Zezhi said: "Village Chief Jiao." ”

At this time, the man who was called a plug by the village chief Jiao came out, and he was the man who was wiping his body in the yard just now. He put a black T-shirt on his body and said expressionlessly, "Let's go." ”

Ji Ziyue followed the bolt, and Shen Zezhi drove the car and walked slowly behind them. However, the village was small, and they soon arrived at the house of the old stubborn man in the mouth of the village chief.

The old stubborn man's house was about the same size as the village chief's house. Before entering the door, the bolt said: "The son and daughter-in-law of the stubborn uncle's family are working outside, and he is alone at home." Their house is big, and you just live there. Uncle Stubborn is good, but he doesn't like to talk. ”

Shen Zezhi nodded. The bolt directly pushed open the courtyard door and went in, standing in the courtyard and shouting: "Uncle stubborn! Is Uncle Stubborn absent? ”

Before he could finish speaking, an old man came out of the house. He looked about the same age as Village Chief Jiao, and when he saw that the person who came was a bolt, he smiled on his face: "The bolt is here, how is your daughter-in-law and son?" ”

The expression on his face when he mentioned his wife and children's plug instantly softened, and he smiled: "Okay, the kid can eat a lot, and my mother-in-law's * is not enough for him to eat." ”

"It's good to be able to eat, and it's strong to eat for as long as you can. Bolt, what are you doing at my uncle's house? The old stubborn asked.

The bolt pointed at Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue and said: "There are guests in the village, my father asked them to stay at my uncle's house for a few days, and they will leave in a few days." ”

The smile on the old stubborn man's face was immediately retracted, and he looked at Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue unceremoniously: "Your father knows to make trouble for me." ”

The bolt smiled and said, "Uncle stubborn, my father said that it was not in vain. They give money. ”

Shen Zezhi also immediately said: "Yes, yes, we will pay the accommodation fee." ”

The old stubborn snorted from his nose and said, "Let them live for the sake of your father's face." ”

The bolt said: "Okay, uncle, I'll go back first." ”

The old stubborn man waved his hand: "Let's go, let's go." He looked at Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue and said, "You come with me." ”

Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue immediately followed the old stubborn man, and the old stubborn man took them to the east side of the ear room and said, "You guys live here, the bedding was washed by my daughter-in-law for the New Year, and no one used it." I took it out and dried it the other day. I'll call you at dinner. Go to bed early at night if you have nothing to do, and don't go out casually. Again, he emphasized: "Don't go out at night. ”

Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue immediately nodded. The old man said, "I'll cook, you can rest in the house first." After saying that, the old stubborn man left.

Ji Ziyue stood in front of the window and watched the old stubborn head enter the kitchen before turning his head to Shen Zezhi: "Brother." ”

Shen Zezhi smiled and rubbed his hair: "You really look like you are ten * years old." ”

Noriko smiled shyly. Shen Zezhi asked, "Do you see anything?" ”

Ji Ziyue said: "Don't go out at night. ”

Shen Zezhi nodded: "That's right, don't go out at night." ”

Why did Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue pretend to be brothers and come to such an isolated village, the matter started a month ago.

A month ago, one of Shen Zezhi's college roommates came to him for help. Shen Zezhi's roommate returned to his hometown to work after graduating from university, and worked in a sub-bureau in Ningbei, two months ago, the three policemen in their bureau, Zhang Yuan, the captain of the criminal investigation team, and members Wang Qiang and Wu Liang chased a murderer who was on the run, but the three of them followed the murderer into the mountains and lost contact with each other, and then no one was seen alive or dead. Although the sub-bureau quickly sent people down to look for it, they only found the car that had been scrapped under a mountain pass. It's just that there are no three people in the car.

More than 20 days after these people disappeared, Shen Zezhi's roommate received an email, and the time to read the email should have been sent from the three missing people in the days when they disappeared. I don't know why the email was delayed for so many days before they received it. The sender was none other than Zhang Yuan, the missing captain of the criminal investigation team. The content of the email was only three words: "Jiaojia Village." ”

Shen Zezhi's roommate immediately looked for someone to look for Jiaojia Village, but found that they couldn't find this so-called Jiaojia Village. In the end, there was really no way, Shen Zezhi's classmates thought of Shen Zezhi, so they went to Pingjing for help. That's why Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue came to Jiaojia Village as brothers today.

Ji Ziyue said: "This place is really closed enough, when I came, I noticed that there doesn't seem to be electricity here." ”

Shen Zezhi nodded, he picked up something from the table and asked Ji Ziyue, "Do you know what this is?" ”

Ji Ziyue looked at it for a long time and shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Shen Zezhi said: "This is called a kerosene lamp. ”

Ji Ziyue pointed to the "kerosene lamp" in Shen Zezhi's hand and said, "This is a lamp?" ”

Shen Zezhi raised his eyebrows: "The homemade kerosene lamp is also a lamp." As he spoke, he took out a lighter from his body and lit the wick, and Kikoko finally believed that it was a lamp. There's no electricity here, what about our phones? ”

Shen Zezhi said with a smile: "You still expect your mobile phone to work without electricity, there is no signal here." ”

Ji Ziyue looked at his fully functional mobile phone helplessly, and put him back in his pocket. Shen Zezhi went to the car to move their daily necessities off the car, while Ji Ziyue moved a stool and sat in the yard to paint the sunset. The air in the mountains is not polluted, the air is fresh and the sunset is beautiful. Ji Ziyue held a pen to sketch a rare beauty, while Shen Zezhi stood behind him and watched him draw.

The old stubborn man stood at the kitchen door and watched them for a while, and then turned back to cook. When Ji Ziyue's sketch was almost finished, the old stubborn called them to eat.

Ji Ziyue put away the drawing board, and Shen Zezhi asked the old stubborn from the kitchen for a clean basin, and poured half a basin of water for him to wash his hands. The old stubborn looked at it and said, "You are very good to your brother." ”

Shen Zezhi said with a smile: "He is still young, and the children have to be taken care of." ”

The old stubborn nodded, and his tone softened a little, and he told them to go to the hall for dinner. The hall is very well decorated, and the rooms are clean and tidy, not at all like a home without women. Shen Zezhi asked who decorated the room, and the old stubborn man said with a smug look on his face that his son did it, and his son did this in the city.

Dinner was rice, and the old stubborn man fried three dishes, one meat dish and two vegetarian dishes, and mixed a cold dish. It's a green wild vegetable, and Kikoko has never eaten it before, but it has a fresh fragrance in the mouth, and it's delicious. Because there is no electricity, of course, there is no gas, and people here use firewood for cooking. This kind of rice made with firewood is surprisingly delicious. Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue both ate a lot.

As soon as the sun set, it quickly darkened. Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue went back to the room and lit the kerosene lamp. The light of the kerosene lamp was very limited, and the two of them washed up with the hot water brought by the old stubborn man and fell asleep. Before going to sleep, Shen Zezhi found that the old stubborn man had locked the door.

They slept on a clay kang unique to the countryside, and the kang was covered with felt and mattresses, and it was very comfortable to sleep on. There is a big difference in temperature between day and night in the mountains, and the temperature drops quickly after the sun sets, so they don't feel hot when they are covered with the quilt that the old stubborn man brought them. The night in the mountains was not as quiet as imagined, but the frogs and insects were constantly chirping, Shen Zezhi and Ji Ziyue couldn't sleep for a while, and the two of them were lying on the bed chatting. Since they entered the village, they have not found anything special, it is just a small isolated mountain village. Although there are some xenophobia, it can be seen that the villagers are still very kind.

Speaking of which, I have to talk about how Shen Zezhi and they got in. Ji Ziyue also asked curiously, "Why couldn't they find it before?" Obviously, you can see the village when you follow the road. ”

Shen Zezhi touched the round Buddha beads on his wrist and said, "This is where there is a problem in this Jiaojia Village." There is an enchantment outside the village. ”

"Enchantment?" Kikoko was surprised.

Shen Zezhi said: "Yes, so ordinary people can't get in at all." There are quirks in this village. ”

Kiko Yue Zhengse said: "So the three policemen who disappeared before may be related to this village?" ”

Shen Zezhi said: "It's too early to say this, having an enchantment can only mean that there may be someone or something else here." Whether it has anything to do with the missing policeman or not, we'll go out tomorrow and see. ”