Ning Nanxi raised her hand as she said and pointed to the place where the coffin was placed in the courtyard, and Li Hai and I immediately looked in the direction of her finger.

After about three or five seconds, Li Hai and I looked at each other, but we didn't notice anything unusual.

The coffin is made of exquisite materials, and the carved patterns on it are very exquisite.

The themes and characters on each coffin are different, some are group portraits, some are landscapes, and some are carved with dragon and phoenix patterns.

Although Chen Papi's temper is a little weird, but the craftsmanship is ingenious, and the patterns he carved are not even thought of, let alone carved.

"There's nothing wrong with the pattern on this coffin, what do you want us to see?" I looked at Ning Nanxi with some puzzlement and asked.

Ning Nanxi glanced at me, and his face showed a look of hatred for iron and steel: "It is reasonable that you have shallow knowledge and don't know the origin of the patterns on it, but there is something I want to tell you, the patterns on these coffins are not simple, they are the hundred opera pictures of the Han Dynasty and the dragon ascending to immortal pictures of the Northern Dynasty, these coffin patterns are old, not to mention thousands of years old, Chen Paopi is just a rural villager, how could he have seen this exquisite and complicated pattern?" ”

"What's wrong with the mountain villager, you must not look down on people, I am not talking to Chen Papi, this person's temperament is not very good, but the craftsmanship is not bad, there are also masters who carve coffins in several nearby villages, but the villagers in neighboring villages will find Chen Papi to make coffins, doesn't this still explain the problem, how do you know that this pattern is not his own idea?" I retorted.

Ning Nanxi sneered after hearing this: "It's even more impossible if you say that he came up with it himself, because these patterns are all historical, so this is not a pattern he fabricated out of thin air at all, but a pattern he has really seen!" ”

"Where have you seen it, could it be a museum?" Li Hai asked.

"Do you think Chen Papi may have been to the museum?" Ning Nanxi asked rhetorically.

Seeing that Li Hai was speechless, Ning Nanxi continued: "The coffins carved with these patterns are very old, and after they are dug up, they are generally placed in museums for exhibition, and they have never appeared on the market, so it is impossible for Chen Papi to see these patterns on the market, so the only possibility is that he has seen these patterns in the tomb, which also proves from the side why he has the smell of death, because he has been dealing with coffins underground all year round, so his body will be contaminated with this smell." ”

After listening to Ning Nanxi, I couldn't help but gasp, just when I was full of surprise, Li Hai sneered, he glanced at the room where Chen Papi was, and then said with a smile: "Don't talk about it, this dead lame man can still rob the tomb if his legs are useless?" I've broken my ankle for a few days, and I can't walk, let alone his dead leg, so if I go to the grave in this state, I won't die inside? ”

Ning Nanxi was not angry at Li Hai's ridicule, and snorted coldly: "If it is said that his leg was smashed in the tomb, wouldn't this matter make sense?" ”

Although Ning Nanxi's guess is bold, it does make some sense when you think about it carefully.

Suppose Chen Papi made a living by robbing tombs in his early years, and later quit this business after breaking his leg in the tomb, and finally chose to retreat in our village and make a few coffins to survive.

If this is the case, it is not surprising that he was able to carve the Han Dynasty and the Northern Dynasty motifs on the coffin, after all, he had seen it with his own eyes, and possibly touched it with his own hands.

Although I think what Ning Nanxi said has some truth, Li Hai doesn't think so, and just as the two of them kept refuting, a sound of procrastinating footsteps suddenly came from the house.

Hearing the sound, Li Hai and the others immediately stopped talking, and then looked in the direction of the door.

At this time, Chen Papi was limping out of the door, holding a virgin in a red shirt in one hand and a bamboo basket in the other, in addition to ingots and candles, there were stacks of paper money.

"The king of Hades is so troublesome to the little ghosts, these paper money are given to you by me, no matter who you burn these things to, you always have to make a little bit on the road, these paper money should be regarded as road money, otherwise this virgin and ingots will not be easy to take down." Chen Papi smiled at me.

Seeing that Chen Papi not only did not cut corners, but gave us paper money, the anger in my heart suddenly disappeared.

After taking the paper virgin and the incense candle ingot, he said: "Thank you, now that we have two clear money, we won't bother much." ”

After saying that, I was about to leave with Li Hai and Ning Nanxi, but before I could turn around, Chen Papi suddenly grabbed my arm with a dry and sallow palm.

"For the sake of the same village, I have something to remind you, the two coffins in the courtyard are good, and when you use them, I originally prepared a better one for you, but judging from the current situation, you can't use it." As he spoke, Chen Papi raised his finger and pointed to the two coffins parked in the courtyard.

What happened just now originally made me have a little good impression of Chen Papi, and I thought that he was not bad, but I didn't expect him to say such bad things again in the blink of an eye, which couldn't help but make me angry.

I shook his palm away and said angrily: "This coffin is still left for your own use, we can't use it at home!" ”

After throwing down a sentence, I took Li Hai and the others out of Chen Papi's house, and as soon as I walked out of the door, Chen Papi's voice floated out of the courtyard: "Boy, you will definitely come to me in two days, I will keep the door for you, and the coffin will be taken by yourself!" ”

"Take your mother's head, keep the fire for yourself, dead lame!" I scolded angrily and walked in the direction of home without looking back.

After walking a few steps, Li Hai couldn't take this breath, and said angrily: "I thought that my mouth was damaged enough, but I didn't expect this dead lame's mouth to be more damaged than mine, otherwise according to my previous thoughts, let's take advantage of the middle of the night to burn all the paper coffins in his yard to him, anyway, there is no monitoring here, even if he guesses that we did it, there is no evidence." ”

"Okay, since the things have been obtained, don't be like him, the wicked have their own harvest, and this kind of person will definitely be punished."

After speaking, I turned my head to look at Ning Nanxi, and was about to ask her when she would open the altar and invite the monkey to come up, but when I looked at her, I found that her eyes were hollow and her face was solemn, as if she had something on her mind.

I raised my hand and patted Ning Nanxi on the shoulder and asked, "What's wrong with you, are you okay?" ”

Ning Nanxi came back to his senses and looked at me, shook his head and said, "It's okay, I was just thinking about the words that Chen Papi said when he left just now." ”

"He's just quick to talk for a while, don't take it to heart, by the way, when are you going to open the altar, I can't take these paper people and incense candle ingots home, if I really bring them back, my parents will definitely scold me, maybe my dad will slap my mouth." I looked at Ning Nanxi helplessly and said.

Ning Nanxi looked up at the sun when he heard this, and said that it was just past noon, and it was the most vicious time of the day, not to mention that the yin spirit did not dare to appear, and even the yin cha couldn't stand this pure yang qi, so he had to wait until midnight, as for these things, he would find a place to hide them first, and then sneak out after nightfall.

After listening to Ning Nanxi, I nodded and agreed, and then took a detour to the wasteland near our village.

Now that the autumn harvest has been completed and new seeds have been planted, few people come to the field on weekdays, so it is safest to hide the paper man and the ingots incense candle here.

After hiding our things, the three of us went home, while my parents were drinking tea and chatting in the main house, and I didn't say hello to them, and went into the bedroom to rest on my own.

After sleeping all afternoon, after supper, we went back to the house again, and it was not until eleven o'clock in the evening that the three of us walked out of the yard with the rooster and the incense stand in a whispering manner.

At this time, the night was dark, the village road was already empty, and the cold autumn wind swept the ground, and the rustle of fallen leaves could be heard from time to time.

The three of us walked forward in the moonlight, and after walking for about seven or eight minutes, we came to the wasteland where the paper man and the incense candle ingots were hidden.

Ning Nanxi and Li Hai grabbed the rooster and set up the incense table, while I was arranged to take the paper man and the ingots incense candles.

There was a dead silence above the wasteland, only the sound of the wind blowing the weeds and the soles of my feet on the ground, and I followed my memories and soon came to my hiding place.

I thought that the paper man and the incense candle ingots would still be placed in place at this moment, but what I didn't expect was that the incense candle ingots were still there, but the virgin girl who tied the paper was gone!

My head buzzed after discovering that the paper virgin was missing, how could this good paper man disappear?

The paper man is not a living creature, it is impossible for him to run away with long legs, and besides, this virgin tied with paper is burned to the dead, how can a living person steal such an obscure thing.

Just as I was glancing around, Ning Nanxi's voice came from not far away: "Why are you doing something so slow, hurry up and move things over!" ”

Seeing Ning Nanxi's urging, I had no choice but to speak: "The ingots incense candle is still there, but the virgin who tied the paper is gone!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Ning Nanxi and Li Haiden showed a look of surprise on their faces, and then ran towards me quickly.

Walking in front of them, the two looked towards the grass, and when they saw that there were only incense candle ingots left in the grass, their faces showed disbelief.

"How so? Isn't the virgin made of paper, how could the person who made the paper disappear, could it be that the wild thing in the mountains was taken away? Li Hai grabbed the rooster and guessed.

"Impossible, although this virgin looks similar to a real person, but after all, she is a paper person, if a wild thing is found, it will definitely take a bite, and if it finds out that it is a paper person, she will definitely leave immediately, and she will definitely not take it away." I looked at Li Hai and retorted.

"What's going on, this paper man wasn't sent by the Fuling Sect, so it's impossible for Cheng Jing to run away by himself, right?" Li Hai was puzzled.

"Nonsense, if Chen Papi wants to do this, can he stay in the village?" I gave Li Hai a blank look.

Just when I was arguing with Li Hai, I found that Ning Nanxi had been silent, her face was gloomy, her eyes were looking into the distance, and her ears were tilted sideways, as if she was listening to something.

"What's the matter, Miss Ning, did you find something?" I looked at Ning Nanxi and asked.

"Don't talk, there's movement over there, you two come with me to take a look, you must be careful, don't startle the snake." Ning Nanxi whispered.

Seeing that Li Hai and I nodded in agreement, Ning Nanxi cautiously walked in the direction where the sound came from, and as he stepped forward, a rustling sound came from not far ahead, as if a wild beast was gnawing on something.

We followed the sound and continued to pace, and after about a minute of walking, the sound was less than three meters away.

Seeing that the thing was in front of me, I just wanted to continue walking, but Ning Nanxi stopped, raised his hand and waved, signaling us not to go any further.

Then she picked up a branch about two meters long from the grass next to her, gently poked the branch out and removed the weeds in front of her.

The missing papier-mâché virgin was lying on the ground and gnawing on a disemboweled hare!