Huangliang Village, the entrance of the village.

The evening sun shines through the cracks in the old locust trees and falls on the ground, forming mottled shadows.

Under the roots of the trees sat a few village men, shirtless and smoking dry cigarettes, talking about how good the weather had been this year, and how high the crops were.

And a little farther away, under the walls of the village head, there were several half-grown children, whispering.

A little girl with two braids, her face was red, and she was clenching her little fists.

"I'll tell you a secret, but you can't tell anyone, even if ...... Even if I say it, I can't say that I said it. ”

"Okay, Sister Yaya, just say it quickly."

"Yes, Sister Yaya, don't we believe it? The mouth is the tightest. ”

The girl's black eyes swirled around and finally landed on a little boy who was covered in dirt and had two white pearls hanging from the tip of his nose.

"You and I believe it, it's millet worms...... The mouth is the biggest! ”

"That's it."

The children agreed.

Liang Mi jumped up angrily, crossed his hands on his hips, snorted and said loudly: "Zhou Yaya! I knew that you were just bullying me, no father and no mother, hmph, I won't play with you anymore. ”

"Also, my Liang Mi's mouth is the tightest!"

After speaking, Liang Mi snorted and ran away.

The adults in the shade of the trees also heard the movement, and they all looked back at each other, and immediately laughed.

It's just a joke between children, just watch it, listen to the laughter.

As soon as Liang Mi left, Zhou Yaya and the rest of her friends got together and muttered, "Didn't Brother Daoxuan's father leave last month?" ”

"Yes, what a secret this is, the whole village knows it." A little boy is about to retreat.

Zhou Yaya hurriedly pulled him back again, "Look, Huzi, you are in a hurry, I haven't even talked about the business yet." ”

"Then you should say it quickly!"

"After Brother Dao Xuan's father left last month, their family ate meat for several days." Zhou Yaya lowered her voice and said.

"What?!"

"Ate meat for days!"

"Goodong~"

The rest of the children swallowed.

Zhou Yaya continued: "Now you know why I let Liang Mi go, right? He has no father or mother, so what's the use of hearing it. ”

"I mean, why don't you go back and ask which of you is willing to die...... Then you will be able to eat meat. ”

"Then sister, do you ask?"

"I'm sure I'm going to ask."

Behind the wall on the side, Liang Mi, who had heard the secret, ran away quickly.

……

"Brother Daoxuan, Zhou Yaya said that after your father died, your family ate meat for several days."

Liang Mi was lying sneakily next to a tall teenager, his little eyes rolling around, and he had to suck it up several times when he said a word.

Li Daoxuan was lying on the haystack in the barn, still biting a straw in his mouth, and spit it it out.

"After a white incident, no one can eat meat for a few days."

"Oh, yes, it's a pity that I didn't have my father and mother early, otherwise I would have eaten the meat last time."

Li Daoxuan kicked him away, "Something without conscience, if your father and mother hear it, they will definitely crawl out of the grave and give you a few big pockets." ”

Liang Mi "hehe" smiled and climbed back again.

"Brother Daoxuan, do you still want to go to the outside world to see?"

When Li Daoxuan heard this, he looked back at the mountain, and there was a hint of hope in his eyes.

"I want to, how can I not want to, I want to ...... in my dreams"

"I also think, Brother Daoxuan, why don't you wait for me any longer, when I grow up a little more, I will go out with you to see the outside world."

I don't know what to think, Li Daoxuan suddenly got a little annoyed, knocked Liang Mi on the head, jumped off the haystack, and walked back to the village.

When she returned to the door, a woman was feeding the chickens in the yard, and when she saw Li Daoxuan coming back, she was first overjoyed, and then began to scold:

"I know that I'm running around outside, and I'm not at home, and your Uncle Wu has been here three times and I haven't seen you reply to him."

Li Daoxuan pursed his lips, "Didn't he come just to let me learn to kill pigs with him, Lao Tzu didn't learn, what can he do if he kills pigs." ”

The woman crossed her hands on her hips, "Killing pigs is not out of the way?" Look at your Uncle Wu, now they have built white-walled and blue-tiled houses in the village, how many people in the village can afford to live here? ”

"He is willing to accept you only because you are strong and strong, and you are willing to accept you if you can do this, and you don't know what to do."

Li Daoxuan threw the door irritably and went out again.

Looking at his back, the woman who was feeding the chickens was a little stunned, as if she regretted that she had spoken too much.

Li Daoxuan, who went out, just passed by a courtyard, suddenly thought of something, walked in, and came out after a while.

As soon as he left.

Zhou Yaya was tied to a tree in this yard, and she beckoned to her with a broom in a girlish manner.

"If you still eat meat, you just hope that the two of us will die early, right, you conscienceless."

Zhou Ya cried angrily.

"Li Daoxuan, you bastard, you are so old and you still come to sue, you are shameless!"

"And Liang Mi, you big mouth woo."

Zhou Yaya was crying, and her father came over again and took the broom from her mother's hand.

Zhou Yaya seemed to see the hope of life, and cried and said: "Dad, save me, my mother really beat me, she really beat me." ”

The woman stared.

The man took the broom and said helplessly: "You rest, I'll fight." ”

Zhou Yaya sang a cheerful song, even if he walked out for a long time, Li Daoxuan could hear it, the corners of his mouth were upturned, and he smiled very happily.

It's night.

At the end of Huangliang Village, in the abandoned mountain temple, Li Daoxuan and Liang Mi were both lying on the straw pile in the corner.

Scattered on the ground on the side were the buds they had stolen.

It was roasted over the fire, it was very fragrant, and the mouths of the two people who ate it were also black.

This is also Liang Mi's home.

Liang Mi has a family himself, but I don't know when it started, he doesn't go home, and he has been living in this mountain temple.

"Millet bugs."

"What's wrong with Brother Daoxuan? Not full? Wang's chickens don't return to the cage at night......"

"Who made you know to steal chickens and dogs at a young age!" Li Daoxuan knocked Liang Mi's little head again.

Liang Mi hugged his head in pain, bared his teeth and muttered: "When you stole the bud rice just now, you were the happiest, and you picked the big one." ”

"What did you say?"

"I said, Brother Xuan is right."

The two of them were silent again, both looking at the summer night sky through the hollowed-out roof, and the stars were vast.

"Millet bugs."

Li Daoxuan shouted a second time.

Liang Mi turned his head to look at him suspiciously, Liang Mi always felt that something seemed to be wrong with today's "Brother Daoxuan".

"Brother Daoxuan, what's wrong with you?"

Li Daoxuan sighed and grabbed his hair irritably, "I may not go out." ”

"Huh?"

"I want to go with Wu Fafa to kill pigs, my mother is also old, just one child, my father is gone, if I go again...... No one knew about her death at home. ”

The brilliance in Liang Mi's eyes gradually faded, he lowered his head, and was silent for a long time before he said "oh".

Liang Mi couldn't understand it.

He doesn't have a father.

"When are you going, Brother Xuan?"

"Tomorrow, I'm afraid that in a few days, I won't be able to make up my mind again."

"Millet worm, the outside world, you can only help me to see it...... I, I can't go. ”

"Okay."

Liang Mi nodded vigorously.

Li Daoxuan didn't knock on his head again this time, but rubbed it gently, and then got up and walked towards the outside of the mountain temple.

It's just at the door.

Liang Mi suddenly shouted: "Brother Daoxuan, do you really like to kill pigs?" ”

Li Daoxuan stopped, also thinking about this question, but he couldn't think of an answer, just waved his hand, "Who knows?" ”

"Perhaps."

"Brother Li, stay away from Zhou Yaya's house......" Liang Mi said again.

Li Daoxuan turned his head, only thinking that Liang Mi was an angry joke between children, and turned his head and left.

After he left, Liang Mi didn't know what to remember, and immediately shrank into the corner, his face pale and trembling.

The next day.

Li Daoxuan prepared a piece of bacon left at home and went to the house of Wu Fa, the butcher of Huangliang Village.

It's also this day.

Liang Mi left Huangliang Village.

……

Two years later.

Li Daoxuan has become the hot Li butcher in Huangliang Village, and his knife skills are extremely clean and neat, whether it is killing pigs and cattle or killing chickens and fish.

And in the same way, in the eyes of the matchmaker in Huangliang Village, he is also hot......

It's the day.

Li Daoxuan, who was already close to 1.9 meters, bent over before entering his house, carrying a pig's intestine with a straw rope in his hand.

"Mother, mother, I'm back, hehe."

A gray-haired woman wearing an apron walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron as she walked, "Look at you, bring these things back, didn't your Uncle Wu say anything about you?" ”

"No, what can he say about me, I've paid for it."

Li Daoxuan glared and laughed: "Mother, you take it and blanch it, I'll drink tonight." ”

"Drink less, you look at her father that week, don't you just drink to death, alas, wine is not a good thing."

Mother Li said, but she still carried the pig's large intestine to the kitchen.

Looking at her increasingly stiff back, Li Daoxuan also sighed leisurely, turned his head and went out again.

Along the way, whenever there is a school-age woman in the house, they all shout "Dao Xuan Dao Xuan" affectionately.

Li Daoxuan also lived up to what they thought in their hearts and responded to them, just whenever they talked about marriage.

Lee Do-hyun would change the subject, and then promised that when he bought meat for everyone, it would be cheaper.

Give everyone a cheaper, and then before selling the meat, say that the price is inflated, so that no one loses, and everyone is happy.

This is also the way of doing business taught by Wu Fa to Li Daoxuan.

All the way from the head of the village to the end of the village, Li Daoxuan returned to the mountain temple where Liang Mi had lived.

didn't go in, just passed by the door and took a look, and knew that Liang Mi still hadn't come back.

Li Daoxuan sighed again, now he doesn't expect Liang Mi to see anything, he only hopes that Liang Mi can come back safely.

When Liang Mi left, he was only eight years old.

He was about to go back, but he was startled to find a red figure behind the mountain temple.

"Scared—"

He took a step back, but after seeing it clearly, he realized that the red figure was actually a girl in a red dress squatting there.

"Yaya, what are you doing squatting there?"

Li Daoxuan is eighteen, and Zhou Yaya is only twelve.

Zhou Yaya heard the voice, looked back, didn't say anything, and scribbled on the ground again.

Li Daoxuan saw that the little girl was crying there, he stepped forward and found Zhou Yaya painting on the ground.

Stick figure drawing with a tree branch on a dirt floor.

Although it is simple, Li Daoxuan can see it at a glance, and the painting shows a person strangling another person with a rope.

"What are you drawing?"

Zhou Yaya raised her head, two lines of tears flowed from her eyes, "Brother Li, can I trust you?" ”

Li Daoxuan hesitated slightly, but nodded, "I think it's okay." ”

Zhou Yaya's tears flowed more, but there was still no crying, "I finally know why Liang Mi didn't play with me before." ”

Li Daoxuan's mind came up with the words that Liang Mi said before leaving.

He reminded Li Daoxuan to stay away from Zhou Yaya's family.

"Why?"

Zhou Yaya pointed to the painting she painted on the ground, and said in a slightly crying tone: "This is my mother, this is my father." ”

Li Daoxuan looked along and swallowed his saliva.

"You mean, your mother strangled your father with a rope?"

"My mother, she's a ghost!"

Zhou Yaya finally burst into tears.

Li Daoxuan didn't coax people, so he let Zhou Yaya cry loudly, anyway, there was no one around here, and no one would hear her crying.

It was a long time before she stopped sobbing.

"I finally know why Liang Mi has been living in this mountain temple."

Zhou Yaya looked inside along the crack in the wall of the temple, and the head of the idol inside fell, leaving only a dilapidated golden body.

Li Daoxuan also understood.

They all felt that the temple could protect them, and even if they couldn't, it would give them peace of mind.

"Are you...... How was it discovered? Li Daoxuan asked.

Zhou Yaya wiped away the tears on her face, with a hint of fear in her eyes, and said: "Actually, long before that, I felt that my mother was a little wrong, she ......"

Zhou Yaya swallowed her saliva and said: "Once I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, she slept next to me, I glanced at her, and the result was ...... As a result, what I saw, Brother Li, do you know what it is? I saw a white skeleton. ”

"I was so frightened that I couldn't believe it, I shivered, and in the blink of an eye, my mother was lying next to me intact."

"I was so scared that I didn't sleep all night, but I didn't find anything else, so I thought it was me, and I was wrong."

Li Daoxuan gently patted her back, for fear that she would be scared to death.

"Anything else?"

"Also, one day it was too hot, I rushed home from outside, and found my mother washing her hands, but the hands in the basin turned out to be a pair of skeletal hands, I was frightened and stunned in place, but in the blink of an eye, she, her hands returned to normal."

Li Daoxuan was also a little infiltrating when he heard it, "Then this time, how did you know that your mother killed your father." ”

"That's it...... It was that night. Zhou Yaya's eyes showed a trace of memory, "That night, my father came back from drinking at Uncle Wang's house, and as soon as he got home, he lay on the bed and fell asleep, doing nothing. ”

"My mother, she was very angry, saying that my father knew how to drink and did nothing, and it was a sin to live."

Then she came back with a rope from outside, which our family used when we killed the New Year's pig, and took advantage of my father's sleep to ...... Strangled. ”

Zhou Yaya said a little distracted, still thinking about it, and said subconsciously with her mouth.

"I remember my father struggling desperately, struggling desperately, but he is such a big man, and his strength is not as strong as my mother."

"My mother dragged him to the foot of the bed and strangled him for a long time, and I watched from the sidelines, and I was so frightened that I didn't dare to move."

"My mother asked me for help, but I didn't dare to move because my mother's head was ...... It's a skull. ”

When Zhou Yaya said this, her face was extremely pale.

Li Daoxuan shook her vigorously, and she woke up, scared out of a cold sweat, gasping for breath.

Li Daoxuan said in a deep voice: "Actually, it's not safe here, if your mother comes to you...... I suggest you stay at your uncle's house for a few days and tell him about it. ”

"Good...... Good. Then Brother Li, you send me there. ”

"Okay."

Li Daoxuan nodded vigorously, he was still willing to help with this little favor.

There was nothing to do all the way, Li Daoxuan sent Zhou Yaya to her second uncle's house safely, and he left.

On the way home, Li Daoxuan was thinking about the possibility of this.

Zhou Yaya was so frightened that she looked, it shouldn't be fake, the probability of lying is not high, but he doesn't believe in ghosts.

He's grown so big, that is, he'd heard of ghosts from some old people, but he'd never seen them himself.

And if Zhou's mother is really a ghost, then why has she only killed Zhou's father for so long?

Halfway through, Li Daoxuan suddenly felt that he couldn't ask his wife what he was, so it was better to ask Master Wu.

As a pig slaughterer in the village, he should know a little more.

Familiar with the way to Wu Fa's house, his family has finished eating, Wu Fa, who is five big and three coarse, is sitting in the courtyard to enjoy the cool, and a girl who is also "five big and three coarse" is fanning him.

As soon as she saw Li Daoxuan coming, after the girl shouted "Brother Li", she immediately ran away with a red face.

"What are you doing when you kid don't eat at home, I don't have that much to eat at home." Wu Fa said angrily.

"It's not that I'm here to eat, it's something else, I want to ask Master."

"Oh? What can you do kid? ”

Wu Fa had never heard Li Daoxuan say this, and he suddenly became a little interested.

Li Daoxuan said what he had just heard from Zhou Yaya, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by Wu Fa.

He looked angry, got up and yelled, "Ghost, where did the ghost come from!" ”

"Damn it, as long as you dare to come, Lao Tzu will chop it with a knife!"

"Let's chop one and chop one, let's chop two and chop a pair."

At this point, Li Daoxuan knew that he couldn't ask anything from Wu Fa.

He, like himself, was an unbeliever.

Li Daoxuan nodded yes and left to return home.

When he returned home, Li's mother had already prepared a meal and waited, but Li Daoxuan didn't drink again tonight.

Looking at his mother's old appearance, Li Daoxuan still didn't tell him about it, he was afraid of frightening his mother.

It's night.

Li Daoxuan was resting at home, but suddenly heard someone knocking hard...... It's not a knock, it's a knock on the door.

By the time he got up, the man was already outside his window.

Slapped the window hard and said loudly:

"Dao Xuan Dao Xuan, hurry up, there are ghosts, there are really ghosts!"

The one who speaks...... It's Wu Fa!

(End of chapter)