We were all taken aback by the appearance of the child in the light and shadow, because this child was so ugly, with sallow yellow and gray skin, a pointed mouth and a long nose, thinning hair, skinny, and only about a meter tall.

The ugly child's eyes flashed with endless hatred, and he roared like a beast, and his teeth were slightly blackened.

We all looked at Peanding and asked him if he knew the kid.

Douding shook his head and said, "There is no such person in Niujia Village, I have been to all the houses, but I have never seen this person." ”

"That's strange, could it be a child from another village?" Xiao Wu wondered.

I pointed to the ugly child's feet and said, "His feet are full of silt, and it is obvious that he walked in the lotus pond, which has the most silt and is the best place for lotus roots to grow." And he didn't wear any clothes on his body, no matter how dirty his skin was, it couldn't be this color, could it be something that grew in the river? ”

My words made Xiao Wu and Mr. Chang both frown, they looked at each other, and said in unison, "Kappa." ”

The kappa is a rumored extinct amphibian, the scientific name is the water tiger, and in fact the kappa is the water ghost and river boy in folklore. Kappa have slippery skin, live in damp places all year round, come out at night to feed, and rarely come out during the day, but sometimes they will appear near rivers to attack domestic animals near the river.

It is said that the kappa has an extremely long lifespan and that its brain development is as intelligent as that of humans. Some kappa look very much like human children, almost indistinguishable, they like to play with human children, but because of their ugly appearance, they are often rejected by children, some kappa do not care, some kappa will have a resentful heart, often when the child is lonely, drag the child into the water and drown.

The ugly child in the light and shadow is very similar to the rumored kappa, but Niujia Village has been safe for decades, why did the kappa suddenly attack humans, and hang a child in Niujia Village in front of the mountain gate of Qingliangguan in a particularly provocative way?

Xiao Wu said: "I haven't heard of kappa that can confuse people's hearts, this kappa is afraid that it is strange. ”

Mr. Chang looked at the little Zhou Tian compass in my hand and said, "If it is a spiritual kappa, you can find it with Yang Hao's compass." ”

The pointer of the Xiao Zhoutian compass can indicate where there are spiritual things nearby, but I have never used it to find anything in Futu Ridge, I carried the compass along the lotus pond, and Mr. Chang and others have been following me, always paying attention to the changes in the pointer mountain, but we have not seen the pointer on the compass shake a little after a large circle.

In the evening, we all walked to the stone bridge in the middle of Niujia Village, and the needle on the compass shook slightly, and then returned to its original position.

"It seems that there is still a problem with this stone bridge." I looked down and said.

Decades ago, the old viewer of Qingliangguan was criticized in Niujia Village, when Niujia Village was still two villages, and the problem of bridge funding in the middle could not be solved, and people from the two villages often beat each other. Later, a little girl in the village disappeared, and then two cows were missing, and the old watcher came forward to say that the little girl fell into the water, and was entangled in the aquatic plants under the lotus pond so she couldn't float up, and when she died, she had a grudge and became a ghost, and the cow could see the ghost, so she led it into the water.

Now that I think about it, there was a problem with the unsolved case back then, because the little girl fell into the water, even if she was angry when she died, it was impossible to become a ghost, unless there was something wrong with the bottom of the bridge itself, either it was feng shui spirituality, or there was something evil buried underneath.

After Mr. Chang was recalled to Qingliangguan by the old watchman, the old watchman went to the immortal and left, and he didn't have time to talk to Mr. Chang about it, and Mr. Chang also learned about it from the villagers. If what the villagers said was the truth, then the old watchman must have lied back then.

When the villagers of Niujia Village saw that several of us were gathered at the bridge, they came over and asked what was going on.

Mr. Chang said: "Gather the villagers to dig up the coffin at the bottom of the bridge. ”

"Coffin?" Everyone was puzzled when they heard Mr. Chang mention the coffin for no reason, and we all looked at Mr. Chang suspiciously.

Mr. Chang said: "This bridge has existed for more than 100 years, I am afraid that it is still the late Qing Dynasty, this bridge is not small, the construction of the ground will inevitably drive piles, buried people underneath, if the boy and girl are buried alive together, it is necessary to use a coffin." ”

Few people of the younger generation know the meaning of piling, but some older people must know that piling is a custom before folk construction, which is to bury one or two children alive in the construction site before the construction project starts, in order to ensure the smooth operation of the project. Legend has it that this method was first proposed by Lu Ban, because when people break ground in a place, it will destroy the feng shui of the place, and will anger the unjust spirits of the place, so that accidents often occur during the construction period, so there is a "stake", the child is buried alive on the construction site to ward off evil spirits, so as to reduce accidents.

In particular, when building a bridge, it is inevitable to drive piles, capture a pair of boys and girls alive, nail them to the coffin, and then bury them alive at the bottom of the bridge, so that after the bridge is built, the boys and girls become the patron saints of the bridge, protecting passers-by.

Nowadays, people seem to be ignorant of these statements, and that is because of the openness of information and the popularization of the Internet, sitting at home and knowing the world, for the ignorant people at that time, they thought so.

In ancient times, emperors and ministers would also use raw piles when building large buildings, often burying dozens of boys and girls alive to suppress evil spirits in Yongxing.

Similar old customs are stuffed bean holes, the ancient people control the water, thinking that the dam should be plugged at the mouth of the embankment, they think that this method can reduce the flood, even some ancient famous water control ministers have used similar methods.

When the villagers heard Mr. Chang say that the bridge had been built on the basis of driving raw piles, they guessed some doorways and went home to get shovels and other tools.

After a large number of Niujia villagers gathered, Mr. Chang asked the villagers to cut off the water at both ends of the bridge and scoop up the water in the middle, and then he personally went down the bridge and instructed everyone to dig a coffin at the bottom of the bridge.

The bottom of this bridge is full of snake skin, and the night has come, and it is such a terrible thing to dig piles, if Mr. Chang does not go into battle in person, the villagers will not dare to go down.

According to Mr. Chang's instructions, the villagers really dug up a coffin in the mud under the bridge tunnel, and the surface of the coffin was all rust, and it turned out to be a coffin beaten with iron.

The villagers carried the coffin out from under the bridge, the coffin was extremely heavy, and the water was leaking underneath.

Suddenly, Donglong's body was shaken, like a sound coming from a coffin, and several villagers carrying the coffin turned blue with fright, and one of the villagers: "Don't fucking engage these moths at this time, people don't pretend to be ghosts." ”

"But I do hear a sound coming from inside the coffin, could there be something alive inside?" A young villager's hair stood on end with horror at his words.

Knock knock~

There were two muffled noises in the iron coffin, and the young villager was immediately so frightened that he opened the coffin and ran to the shore.

The iron coffin fell into the diving of the lotus pond, and the lid of the coffin was immediately shaken open, and out of it came an extremely ugly child, who was the kappa we saw in Xiao Zhoutian's compass.

The kappa surprised all the villagers when it appeared, and it roared fiercely at the crowd, making a high-pitched and piercing voice.

Several villagers with shovels in their hands surrounded the banks of the lotus pond, and the kappa's eyes scanned the crowd, and when he saw the peas standing on the bridge and looking at it with a frightened face, the thing on his arm that resembled a fish's fin suddenly opened, and the flippers suddenly grabbed the ground and pounced on the pee, no one expected this thing to jump so high.

"Look for death." Xiao Wu snorted coldly, he pulled the kappa from a long distance, the kappa immediately screamed, was fanned to the shore, a group of villagers held shovels in their hands to surround the kappa from afar, the kappa rushed left and right and couldn't escape, and his mouth let out a terrible scream.

Mr. Chang led Dou Ding into the crowd, he looked at the kappa and asked indifferently, "I have no grievances with you, why do you want to hurt him?" ”

Kappa looked at Dou Ding beside Mr. Chang with his teeth and claws, his face was fierce but he didn't dare to step forward, he suddenly grabbed a stone on the ground and threw it at Dou Ding, and the stone suddenly turned back before Dou Ding could come to him, and smashed on Kappa's head, smashing his head and bleeding.

At this time, a burst of laughter came, and Zhang Jianzi came from the back of the crowd and said, "This should be the kappa, it seems that he likes our little bean ding." ”

The villagers heard Zhang Jianzi say that the child-like thing in front of them was a kappa, and their faces showed fear, although the kappa was a water ghost, but the one who had achieved cultivation was the river god, and now many villagers saw the weasel and hid far away, for fear of being remembered by Wong Tai Sin, if the kappa ran away, it would not be harmed.

One of the villagers said, "Zhang Jianzi, you said that this kappa likes little bean ding, but he is obviously harming douding like that!" ”

Xiao Wu also stepped forward and said: "This ghost thing can't tell whether it's a man or a woman, how can you like Douding?" ”

Zhang Jianzi said: "You don't know this, in the early years when I was in the southern Fujian area, I also witnessed the kappa eating children, the kappa ate children's internal organs, and then I listened to a senior to know that the kappa is a hermaphroditic creature, the reason why I eat children's internal organs is because children throw stones at it. But in reality, it is a desire to be with children. ”

"Isn't this psychopathic?" Some villagers scoffed and said.

Zhang Jianzi said: "The kappa is naturally ugly, and its group has almost extinct people, the rest of the kappa is difficult to find the same kind, this kappa has a very long lifespan, and it will never grow up, human children are relatively pure, they will try to get along with children, if my guess is right, when the bridge was built, one of the two children who was driven into the pile must be a kappa like, when he found the child, the child has been dead for many years, and what happened after that maybe you can see what happened." ”

Zhang Jianzi said and walked to me, he took my hand and moved the pointer on the compass a long distance, the light and shadow changed, in the dark night a shabby-looking old man was tied to a big tree, he looked at the bottom of the bridge, and the words in his mouth seemed to be reciting scriptures, and after a while, the water fluctuated, and a kappa came out of the bottom of the river.

And this kappa is exactly the same as the kappa in front of us.

Mr. Chang almost cried when he saw the old man, because this old man was his master, the old master of the cool view.

When the kappa came out of the river, he walked up to the old man with a body of mud, and his eyes were full of fear, and his body trembled.

The old master sighed and said: "The world is difficult, it is not easy to see you live, even if you kill someone, I don't want your life, I rely on the little girl who was killed by you for the water ghost, but you tell me, why do you want to harm people's lives?" ”

The kappa couldn't speak, so he gestured to the old viewer for a long time, and the old viewer said: "The raw pile under the bridge was buried decades ago, and you shouldn't look for the villagers here if you are looking for revenge, you are a kappa, you are hermaphroditic, the little girl naturally doesn't want to play with you when she sees your ugliness, and it is reasonable to throw stones at you, why do you want to kill her?" ”

Kappa heard the old watchman say this, his mouth let out an angry roar, the old watchman said: "You are not a human after all, after all, you are just a beast, how can you understand the affairs between humans, no matter what, God has the virtue of a good life, I am a person in the Daomen, although you will be spared the death penalty, but the living sin is not escaped, seal you in the iron coffin at the bottom of the bridge, the seal will not disappear, you will not die, the seal will disappear and you can come out." By then, I have already entered the loess, and you must not harm people's lives again, otherwise your life will not be guaranteed. ”

I put away the little Zhou Tian compass, although I knew that Zhang Jianzi might also be a person in the Taoist sect who lived in seclusion, but I was still surprised that he knew how my Xiao Zhou Tian compass was used.

Mr. Chang and Xiao Wu also showed doubts, and naturally they could see Zhang Jianzi's strangeness.

The villagers knew that I was a disciple who had learned the Tao from Mr. Chang's side, and when they saw the reappearance of the light and shadow of the past, they thought it was a means for me to use it.

When everyone saw the truth, and then looked at the fierce kappa in front of them, some people showed pity, and some people still hated and disgusted.

Zhang Jianzi said: "This kappa likes good-looking children, Xiaodouding has naturally become the object of his attention, plus Xiaodouding is a disciple of Qingliang Mountain, the kappa both loves and hates, and with his heart, he naturally wants to take Xiaodouding's life." ”

Zhang Jianzi said, touched Douding's bald head, smiled and left.

The villagers looked at Mr. Chang and asked what he meant, but no one thought that the kappa would still be alive, after all, he had killed the village children last night.

Mr. Chang looked at the kappa and said, "My master left you alive because you have the virtue of a good life in heaven, but you don't change your evil thoughts, and if you don't kill you, you can't explain to the villagers, and death is also a relief for you." ”

As he spoke, Mr. Chang walked over to the kappa, and when the kappa saw that there was nowhere to escape, he sat on the ground like a monk and began to cry.

Mr. Chang's hand pressed on the top of the kappa's head, and white smoke suddenly rose from the kappa's body, and then a fire ignited on the kappa's body, which burned to ashes in the raging fire.

Mr. Chang led the sad Douding out of the crowd and walked in the direction of Qingliang Mountain.

Mr. Chang said: "In the future, there will be less evil, I don't want such a thing in the village in the future, my generation is the last generation of Qingliangguan." ”

Xiao Wu and I followed Mr. Chang back to Qingliangguan, that night, no one said much, originally wanted to tease Dou Ding, but Dou Ding's mood was obviously bad, I don't know if it was because of the death of his friend Ergui, or the death of Kappa.

Douding followed Mr. Chang for a few years, but Mr. Chang never taught Douding, because he felt that there were many killings in the Daomen world, and if Douding learned the skills, it would not be safe. Mr. Chang really loves Douding and can't bear to be hurt.

But on the way back that night, I saw Mr. Chang give Xiao Wu a look, and Xiao Wu pretended not to see it, maybe he had reached some consensus with Mr. Chang.

After nightfall, Douding next to me fell asleep after saying goodnight to me, but Xiao Wu never slept because his breathing was too even, and he didn't snort for two hours in bed.

"Haozi?" Xiao Wu suddenly called me.

I pretended to be asleep and didn't make a sound, Xiao Wu called me again, saw that I was asleep, got up and walked out of the meditation room, I felt strange, so I quietly got up and followed Xiao Wu.

After Xiao Wu came out of the meditation room, he walked straight to the backyard, and Mr. Chang was standing in the backyard at this time, looking at the bright moon in the sky.

"Chang Lao, what did you tell me about, can't Haozi and Douding know about it?" Xiao Wu asked.

Mr. Chang said: "When the person named Zhang Jianzi used Dao Qi to trigger Xiao Zhoutian's compass, I sensed that there was a powerful person in the dark peeping here, I can't count who the person in the secret is, but the death of Yang Hao and Dou Ding has arrived." ”

"Death, why would anyone want to kill them for no reason?" Xiao Wu's face changed in shock.

Mr. Chang shook his head and said, "I don't know, but death is inevitable, and I must get rid of the possible threat in the dark." ”

"Chang always suspects Zhang Scissors? Xiao Douding seems to have the best relationship with Zhang Jianzi, according to Yang Hao, Zhang Jianzi suddenly came to Niujia Village more than ten years ago, so many years have passed, if he wanted to harm Douding, he would have been harmed a long time ago, why wait until now? Xiao Wu said.

Mr. Chang said: "Maybe the time has not come, but now the time has come. Yang Hao is the son of Yang Sanqian, Dou Ding is my apprentice, death is coming, I must get rid of Zhang Jianzi, when he used Dao Qi to contact Xiao Zhoutian's compass, Yang Hao and Dou Ding's death was immediately revealed. ”

"When do you want to do it?" Xiao Wu asked.

Mr. Chang said, "Now." ”