Yuan Mu once said in "Zi Bu Silent" that you must know that there are all kinds of people, there are human beings who do not know the strange, and there are strange people who are virtuous in others, and they cannot cling to one or the other.

I grew up knowing that some of my friends couldn't tell anyone!

My name is Zhao Dabao, I am an orphan, my name was given by Zhao Sanye, and I have lived with him in Zhaojia Village by the Yellow River since I was a child.

There is a hill a few miles away from Zhaojia Village, and there are tombs under the mountainside, and the old people who have passed away in ten miles and eight villages will basically be buried here, and Zhao Sanye is the grave keeper of this tomb mountain.

Although he is only a tomb keeper, the rules of the third master are very large, whether it is people from other villages or people from this village, anyone who wants to bury the deceased old people in the family on this side of the tomb mountain must follow the rules of the third master.

First, all those who are buried in the grave mountain have to let the third master keep an eye on the side, from choosing the cemetery to being buried in the coffin, the whole process must ensure that they obey the instructions of the third master.

Second, no one is allowed to go through the area behind the mountain.

Third, anyone who drowned on the side of the Yellow River is not allowed to be buried on the side of the grave.

……

The back mountain of the tomb mountain is a ravine several miles long, which is called the dead man's ditch by the villagers. The grass is everywhere, planted with willow and locust trees, and there is no sunlight all year round, which is very gloomy.

And I was picked up by the third master in that dead man's ditch, which also caused many people in the village to avoid me like a snake and scorpion, and some gossip about me accompanied me throughout my childhood.

I didn't have any friends until I was eight years old!

On the day of my eighth birthday, the third master seemed to be very happy that night, and he had to let me drink some wine with him. When I first came into contact with spicy liquor, I was forced to be poured half a glass by him, and soon I was drunk and unconscious!

And when I woke up, I only felt a tingling pain in my back, and the third master took advantage of my drunkenness to tattoo a scarlet weird eye tattoo on my back near my right shoulder, which was very ugly and scary.

In the words of the third master, this thing is for my life, and he did not elaborate on the specific situation, only that every year on my birthday in the future, he would tattoo a tattoo on my back until I turned eighteen.

It was also from that day that I had my first friend, a little boy who looked like a little beggar in shambled clothes and unkempt, looked at me timidly, very timid, and felt about the same age as me.

The third master said that his name was Erbao, and about Erbao, the third master asked me not to tell anyone, and I couldn't leave the area around the tomb mountain with Erbao.

Every year on my birthday, the third master will tattoo a tattoo on my back, and at the same time, I will have an extra friend, such as three treasures, four treasures, etc.

As I grew older, I also saw some signs that Erbao was different from others.

For example, Erbao seems to never grow up, and he always maintains the appearance of seven or eight years old. Sambo couldn't see the sun, and after standing in the sun for a while, her skin quickly turned black as if it had been burned by the flames. There is always a faint smell of decay on Sibao's body, and every once in a while his body is swollen, like a rotting corpse that has been soaked in water for a long time......

I once asked the third master about the origin of Erbao, but the third master never told me, just let me regard Erbao and them as my playmates. And Erbao didn't want to mention to me about them and Sanye, as if there was something unspeakable.

After many years of getting along, even though I know that Erbao is different from ordinary people, I still regard them as my best friends. And the third master, I have long regarded him as my own grandfather.

And when I turned eighteen, everything changed!

The day before my eighteenth birthday, the daughter-in-law of the old village chief committed suicide by throwing herself into the river, and many people in the village rushed to the Yellow River early in the morning to watch the excitement.

The son of the old village chief has been doing business outside, and he doesn't know what kind of business he is doing, but he has made a lot of money anyway, and he just married a very beautiful bride from another place a few days ago, and many people in the village are envious and jealous.

As a result, within a few days, the bride committed suicide by throwing herself into the river, and I don't know what the reason was.

Anyway, these have nothing to do with our family, after all, the third master and I rarely deal with people in the village.

However, it didn't take long for someone from the village to hurriedly come over to find the third master!

The person who came was our neighbor Zhao Laohan, who was honest and honest, and had a good relationship with the third master, and the two would occasionally drink a little wine and play chess.

"Big brother, go over and take a look!"

After Zhao Laohan walked into the door of my courtyard, he said to the third master urgently: "Zhao Yong's new daughter-in-law has been fished up from the river, Zhao Yong didn't listen to people's advice, I don't know where to find a few people from outside the village to go to the grave mountain, ready to bury his new daughter-in-law on the grave mountain, and said cruel that whoever dares to stop will break someone's leg......"

Before Zhao Laohan's words were finished, the third master, who was smoking dry cigarettes, jumped to his feet and scolded, and directly greeted the female relatives of the eight generations of ancestors of the old village chief's family.

People who drowned in the Yellow River are not allowed to be buried in the grave mountain, this is the death rule of the third master, and no one can break it.

And now, Zhao Yong, the son of the old village chief, openly provoked the rules set by the third master, which suddenly made the third master angry.

When the third master went out, he seemed to think of something, turned his head and said to me in a solemn tone: "Dabao, don't go out today, I won't come back, no matter who calls you, don't go out of the house!" ”

I don't know why the third master told me such a thing at this time, but looking at his dignified appearance, I still nodded in response.