The sound of firecrackers lasted for a while, and if you look closely, it must have come from the 'Xiashan Village'. I was about to ask, when one of the old ladies patted her leg and said that it was a good coincidence that we had come, and that we could go to the village for a banquet in the evening. I asked what the banquet was. The old lady said that there is an old man surnamed Zhu (the youngest son) in the village, who marries his daughter-in-law today, and feasts guests and relatives at noon and people in the village in the evening. Judging from the sound of firecrackers just now, it should have been the one who saw off the guests and relatives when they left... These two old ladies are very respected by the villagers of Xiashan Village, no matter which family holds a red and white wedding banquet, they will invite them and make a few vegetarian dishes for them alone...

While chatting, a middle-aged man in a brand-new shirt and a farmer with a happy face and a greasy mouth called two old ladies over for dinner. One of the old ladies pointed to me and Xiang Feng, saying that we were pilgrims from afar, and that we could go over and have a banquet together. The people of this place are simple and very hospitable. The middle-aged man didn't think about it, and said unequivocally, why can't you go over and play together...

I hurriedly gave him a cigarette, and then smiled at Xiang Feng, "Since people are so enthusiastic, then let's go..."

Out of the temple, down from the mountain, but see the sunset spread all over the west sky, the red glow, reflecting the green vegetable crops in the paddy fields on both sides of the road, there is a river in the distance on the south side of the field, the river surface is smooth as a mirror, the river seems to be overflowing... All this is combined to form a picture of a quiet and beautiful southwest countryside...

Although the scenery is beautiful, but the land is not developed, this is not a tourist area, although there is a temple, but it is only a temple fair when there are tourists to come, and there is no development of associated industries. Most of the villagers in this village make a living by farming and working outside the village. Walking in the village, I saw that most of the houses were tiled houses, without courtyard walls, and occasionally, they were also fence walls, and all kinds of vines stretched from the top of the walls, beckoning in the evening breeze...

The village is not big, and most of the young people have gone out to work, so there are not many people. The banquet was held in an empty field in the village, the firewood was blazing, the heat was billowing, and several children gathered on the side of the road, chattering, looking for the firecrackers that had not exploded in the pile of firecrackers. I followed Xiang Feng, to put it bluntly, it was just two people who came to eat, and they were not guests at all, but they were let by the main family to the table of the village cadres. I'm embarrassed, I want to give a gift of a few hundred yuan, but others refuse to ask for it, saying it's just a meal, what kind of money to take...

After drinking the tea for a while, the banquet was opened, and it was very hearty. They hold a banquet here and are popular 'nine bowls', mainly meat, first a button meat, they call it 'burnt white', and then, in turn, what is the tamale, button chicken, elbow... Wait a minute. After eating this meal for a long time, and seeing that the food and drink were almost over, I gave each village cadre a cigarette, and then described the appearance of the man in the hat.

One of the village cadres thought about it, burped and said, "There is such a person who has come to their village...

"Oh?" I was overjoyed, "How long has he been in your village?" ”

"Stay... For a few days, stay at Zhu You's house..."

"Which one is Zhu You?" I looked around at the people who were eating.

"Zhu You—" the man stood up, "Huh? Didn't come? ”

"He's sick with his daughter," said another.

"His daughter?" I asked.

"Hmm..."

A few people nodded, and for some reason, when they talked about Zhu You's daughter, the expressions of these people looked strange. I asked Zhu You's address and one of them told me.

After the banquet dispersed, Xiang Feng and I walked towards Zhu You's house. The moon rises, and the orange moonlight gives the village a layer of tranquility and mystery. Bypassing a black bamboo forest, we came to the courtyard of Zhu You's house.

"Is anyone home?" I asked.

Hearing the movement, the lights came on in the room, and then an old man pushed the door and walked out.

"You..."

"Are you Uncle Zhu You?"

"Hmm..."

"Oh, Uncle Zhu, we have something to ask you."

The old man curled up his hand, put it to his mouth, and coughed a few times, "What... What's going on? ”

I described the man's appearance to the old man, and after listening to it, the old man looked at me, then looked at Xiang Feng, pulled his face down and said, I haven't seen it...

Then he had to close the door, because he raised his hand too violently, and he coughed again, and he couldn't breathe.

"Uncle Zhu, don't worry, don't be angry, we don't mean anything else, we just came to ask you..."

I grabbed the old man, patted him on the back, helped him into the room, picked up the teapot on the table and handed it to him. After a few sips of tea, the old man finally came to his senses.

Seeing the old man like this, we didn't dare to ask again, so after saying a word of interruption, Xiang Feng and I left this house and came to another house not far away, living in front of the bamboo forest. The men of that family had seen us at the banquet before, and they were quite enthusiastic. After smoking and drinking tea, I finally got to the point. As for the man wearing the hat, he had also seen it when he lived in Zhu You's house.

"Why did Uncle Zhu look so angry when he heard me mention that person?" I asked.

"Well..."

"Is there anything unspeakable, uncle?"

"Not really..."

"That's... Uncle tell us about it..."

"I know why, but it's a private matter in someone's family, so it's hard to say..."

After all my troubles, this man finally told us...

As for the man wearing the hat, he didn't know what his occupation was, only that he had come here to collect wind from them, carrying a camera and a large drawing board. Because it was late, I borrowed Zhu You's house, and I didn't want to stay for several days. At first, this person was very strange, and there was nothing good in their village, why did that person still live and not want to leave? Later, he learned that it was because of Zhu You's daughter...

Zhu You has a daughter, who is very beautiful, she went to Guangdong to work a few years ago, learned badly from others, and became a young lady, which everyone in their village knows. Zhu You couldn't control it, so he could only let her.

The morning after the man in the hat stayed at Zhu You's house, Zhu You's daughter returned from Guangdong. Then somehow, I got involved with that person, and the two of them did dew mandarin ducks for a few days... One night, the two were in a wild patch outside the village when they were hit by a villager. Then word spread throughout the village. It wasn't until yesterday after the man left that this matter reached Zhu You's ears. The old man felt that his daughter had lost his old face, and in his own village, he actually did such a degrading thing, and in anger, he beat his daughter, and then he was also angry...

Coming out of this man's house, Xiang Feng and I squatted by the bamboo forest and lit a cigarette each.

"You say, did the man in the hat hit the evil in this village?" I say.

"It's hard to say." Windward ducts.

I thought about it for a while and said, "I'll see Zhu You's daughter tomorrow and see if I can ask where she and the man have been in addition to the barren grassland, let's go one place to another, and if we don't find it, go to it, and we'll go back." ”

"Hmm."

I snuffed out the cigarette butt, got up and looked at the time, and said, "It's past ten o'clock, let's go, let's go back to the temple and sleep." ”

When the two of them were about to leave, they suddenly heard a 'squeak' from the bamboo forest to open the door. Looking back, through the bamboo forest, you can see faint lights.

"Could it be that Zhu You's daughter came out?" I glanced at Xiang Feng, "Let's go, go over and have a look..."

Bypassing the bamboo forest, I looked and saw the lights in Zhu You's kitchen room lit up, and with the sound of 'crackling' firewood burning, wisps of cooking smoke floated out along the chimney on the roof. I can't help but wonder, in the middle of the night, this is cooking? Xiang Feng's face was also full of doubts...

After more than ten minutes or so, Zhu You walked out of the kitchen room, holding a rice bowl in his hand, and I don't know what it contained, steaming. The old man hobbled to the door of a side room, knocked on the door, and said, get up and eat...

After a while, there was no movement, and the old man pushed the door open and walked in. Soon, the lights came on in the house. I listened intently to the movement in the room, and suddenly, there was a 'bang', followed by a 'bang'...

My heart sank, something had happened!

"Let's take a look!"

With a wave of my hand, I rushed over one after the other and rushed into the house. I saw Zhu You lying on the ground, the rice bowl was buckled there, porridge was all over the ground, and there were a few pieces of sour radish and a few slices of sour cabbage. Xiang Feng hurriedly helped the old man to sit up.

"Uncle Zhu, what's wrong?" I hurriedly asked.

"Ah Leng..."

Xiang Feng pointed with his hand, and I hurriedly looked over, only to see a girl lying upright on the bed, covered with a thin sheet, as if she was dead...

The tendons in my head swelled, I didn't have time to think about it, I rushed to the side of the bed and tried it with my hand, I felt that this girl was not dead, there was a faint breathing, my heart was just so wide, when I saw this girl's appearance, my heart almost didn't jump out again, because, this girl's appearance is really a little scary... Rolling his eyes, his mouth open, his face was white as if he had been smeared with flour...

"This..."

I don't know what the situation is, but since the girl is still breathing, my first thought is to call an ambulance. But this place is so remote, and the road is so difficult to walk, how long will it take for the ambulance to arrive... I can't care about it so much, so I'll call first. I quickly took out my mobile phone and was about to make a call, when Xiang Feng suddenly said, "Don't call, Ah Leng turned off the phone..."

"What's wrong?" I was startled, and subconsciously 'clicked' to pick off the phone cover and remove the battery.

"You hold him," Xiang Feng said.

I held Zhu You, got up and walked over to the wind, lifted the sheets little by little, stared at the girl up and down, my brows twisted up a little, Xiang Feng had heavenly eyes, I don't know what I saw...

"Ah Leng...", turned to the wind.

"Huh?" I hurriedly answered.

"You stay here, don't touch this girl, I'll go to the temple to get the magic weapon, and I'll be back soon..."

Xiang Feng only explained this sentence and left, and I don't know what it is. This old man Zhu You didn't know whether he was scared, or he fell, fainted, and didn't wake up yet. The room was very quiet, and I was so quiet that I didn't dare to think about it, and I didn't dare to look at the girl, so I looked around, and suddenly, I saw a strange thing carved on a blue brick at the window of this room...