"Do you believe that there are ghosts in this world?

"Otherwise, what do you want those bulls and horses to do?" Yang Lun was called a madman Yang because of his inexplicable words every day.

The madman Yang has hair like wild grass, the long hair covers the left eye with cataracts, and there is little black sè in the pupils, and the terrible white is very scary, so that the villagers are rarely willing to contact him, so that he becomes more and more withdrawn, and every day he talks madly that he sees it, and he sees it.

Some people scolded him for being crazy, some laughed at him for being stupid, some people took pity on him, and only his mother laughed and believed everything he said.

In this unknown mountain village in Fang County, Hubei Province, there are only a few families living in it, an old man just passed away a few days ago, and he left quietly without warning, and when people found out that he had passed away, he did not know how many days had passed.

The old man's surname is Li, he is lonely, his only son is also working in the field and leaving in an accident, after a tragic white-haired man sends a black-haired man, he becomes silent and silent, and there is only a madman and an old earth dog who can accompany him every day.

The madman Yang squatted in front of the ownerless earthen house, pulling at the wild grass growing in front of the door one by one.

The villagers didn't know how the old man Li left, but the madman Yang clearly remembered that seven days ago, the roof of the earthen embryo house was shrouded in a cloud of darkness, which was seen by the madman Yang a long time ago, and the earliest was when his grandfather left, so that day he knew that the old man who had never resisted himself left, because he had the breath of his grandfather when he died, so since that day the madman Yang was very sad, he did not go to the old man Li's house as usual, and sat quietly You look at me and I look at you, many things Old Man Li understands, the madman Yang understands, but others don't understand。

The madman Yang got up and pushed open the door of the house, stroking the walls of the house inch by inch, the owner of the house had been buried by the villagers three days ago, as if it was yesterday, Old Man Li was sitting beside him, and there were some yīn shadows floating in the corner.

At this moment, the house is quiet and there is nothing but the cricket crying, and Ah Huang, who has accompanied Old Man Li for more than ten years, does not eat or drink at the grave at this moment. The madman Yang waved his sleeves to wipe down the table top in the house, and then put the freshly braised grass carp from the river on the table, as well as some steamed buns and fruits. After doing all this, the madman Yang slowly withdrew, the door was wide open, and when he was in front of the door, he took out his pocket and grabbed some bran powder for feeding the pigs and sprinkled it on the ground, and then covered it with a sieve to prevent the insects from stealing food.

Today is the old man Li's return to the sun, back to the sun, according to the tradition should be sprinkled with some plant ashes to send the ancestors, but the madman Yang wants to use bran powder instead, hoping that the old man Li can be healthier over there.

Man has a soul, otherwise what governs our thinking and action?

And what about after death?

Attached to the bones, the soul clings to its dead body, no matter how much it struggles, it can no longer command this body, and cries until the soul and the flesh are intertwined. The union was completely separated, and those who were crushed and scattered became boneless spirits.

The villagers hastily buried Old Man Li for fear of trouble, and the madman Yang Zhilu said how sad Old Man Li was at this moment, and he couldn't move or leave in that dense and wet space, and only by staying up until the seventh day could he leave his bones and enter reincarnation. Even if you can hear the whimper of Ah Huang on the grave, it will only add to the sadness.

But what could be sadder than when a man is dead?

After doing all this, the madman Yang turned around and left, sat down next to an old locust tree with a crooked neck not far away, looked at the moon above his head and muttered, "Come back soon, right?"

Legend has it that on the day of returning to the soul, the ancestors would take a look at the people they cherished during their lifetime at home, and then bribe the chicken's feet with the sumptuous dishes purchased by their families, so that they would be comfortable and not bullied before entering reincarnation. Therefore, the return of the soul is also called the return of the soul, but the madman Yang does not believe this, because he has never seen the so-called chicken foot god.

Just when the madman Yang was thinking, a dog barked to break the quiet night, Ah Huang ran back, stopped in front of the wooden door of the earthen embryo house, lay on the ground and whined happily, and there was a fragrant fish soup on the table in the room, but it did not enter a single step, as if waiting for something.

At this time, the madman Yang lifted the hair that covered his left eye, and a rare black eye suddenly widened, and it was bloodshot for a while, and he finally saw the rickety shadow, the shadow without a body, so he stood quietly in front of the door, standing beside Ah Huang, raising his eyes to look at the madman Yang, a pair of wandering eyes full of emotion.

The madman Yang only felt a restless and resentful thought violently hit his head, and a nosebleed slowly flowed out of his nostrils, and when he looked at it again, the rickety shadow had slowly left, and he turned around and left before entering the house, was he dissatisfied with the delicacies placed on the place, or was he no longer concerned about everything in this house?

Ah Huang, who was lying on the ground, was lifeless, and he didn't know when he had died.

"Did you hear about it? Last night, the madman Yang greeted Old Man Li, but there were no footprints or chicken footprints at the door. ”

"Hey, he's working blindly, it's not enough for seven days, you still believe what the madman did. ”

"Do you know what Lu Dao is, that old man Li died early, when we found out, we didn't know that Lu Dao had been dead for a few days, and the time to return to his soul had long passed. ”

"But Ah Huang, who guarded the grave, died in front of Old Man Li last night?"

"Anyway, Old Man Li has already left. ”

At this time, the madman Yang Lun who passed by hooked his head and said tremblingly: "He...... He didn't go, he was there for us. ”

He ...... He didn't go. Like a spell, it lingered in everyone's ears for a long time.

It was night, and the sleeping Li Jun's door was gently knocked, slowly and rhythmically.

"Someone knocked on our door. Li Jun's daughter-in-law pushed Li Jun.

"Someone, you heard me wrong. Li Jun muttered.

At this time, an old voice sounded outside the door, "Open the door, open the door." ”

"The head of the house, there is really someone you listen to, it seems to be the old man Li, it is difficult that the first seven souls can't find their way to our house. Li Jun's daughter-in-law muttered tremblingly.

When Li Jun heard this, he kicked him twice and scolded: "Bastard girls know how to think nonsense all day long, give me peace of mind to sleep with you." After finishing speaking, he pulled the quilt and covered the heads of the two, and the old shouts outside the door continued, Li Jun only felt that the heart in his chest was like a drum, and trembling filled his head from the tips of his toes.

The next night, there was a knock on the door of Zhang Liang's house.

When Old Man Li died, it was still the corpse that Zhang Liang helped to carry, and the news from the mouths of the women learned that Old Man Li's soul did not leave and seemed to be still wandering in the village, and the barking of dogs in the village was obviously more common in the past two nights.

When the old hoarse voice sounded from outside the door, Zhang Liang's scalp suddenly exploded, and he rolled down to the bottom of the bed tremblingly wrapped in the quilt, cowering in a corner and shivering.

The knock continued for five days, and the entire village became depressed and panicked.

Li Jun's dog was bitten to death by an inexplicable object, and everyone said that it was a ghost, and the same was the report chicken and the hen that laid eggs in the Kong Fang family. They all died in the shape of a tearing neck bite, which was miserable.

"Did you hear that? Old Man Li didn't leave, is he still in our village?"

"But no, the big black dog of Li Jun's family was bitten to death by him, and the chickens of the Kong Fang family, you see, if the wolf or weasel is bitten to death, it will definitely be dragged away, but the ghosts don't eat meat, they specialize in sucking souls, I tell you not to go out at night." ”

"It's not good to hide all the time? What if the village is eaten up with so many livestock? Don't you still have to eat people, or invite a Taoist priest to come, just spend some money to solve this matter." ”

"I don't think I'll sleep tonight, everyone will gather around, so that I won't be afraid of him. ”

"Okay, that's it. ”

On the evening of the sixth day, everyone gathered around a campfire and talked, full of fear, fearing that the old man who had just passed away would come again to suck his soul.

The madman Yang alone came to the back mountainside, where the ancestors of the village were buried, and a newly piled small earthen bag was at the very edge of this group of graves, short and inconspicuous, with a willow branch hanging some white flocculents, and in front of the grave of the old man Li, who had no relatives and no reason, there were some steamed buns and burning ashes that had just been delivered.

"Old man Li, I'm sorry. The madman Yang Shen muttered and pulled out the willow branches from the grave. Use a shovel to clear the soil from the grave little by little.

Just such a madman, with a shovel, dug up the newly built grave again.

When digging into the pit, it seemed that he was afraid of hurting the dead, so he almost dug with his hands, dug out all the buried loose soil, until he tore open the straw mat, carried out the old man Li with a miserable face, and slowly drove towards the village.

If the deceased does not return, there will be something to hang.

Then I will fulfill the last wish for the deceased.

"Li Jun, have you seen it? The lights in Old Man Li's house are on. Kong Fang asked.

"It's really light on, it's ...... What's going on?" Li Jun said in horror.

"If you're afraid of so many of us, just go and see. One person shouted, and suddenly many echoes, even if he was afraid, he couldn't let this fear be pressed on the top of everyone's heads, as the saying goes, wine is strong and intimidating, and a few bold people poured a few sips of Zhijiang wine and took the lead in walking to Old Man Li's house.

Even when everyone came here, a cold sweat suddenly broke out, and the drunkenness that had just surged up suddenly dissipated.

Old man Li sat on a chair in the hall, his mouth and eyes wide, and his pale face seemed to want to say something. The madman Yang next to him was sitting on the ground at the moment and convulsing, his head was shaking, and his mouth was dripping with hazel and unknown white foam.

"Son, what's wrong with you?" a woman pounced on her and cried, shaking the body of the madman Yang in an attempt to bring him back.

The madman Yang didn't react at all, and kept twitching like a ghost.

The people around the door cowered and did not dare to step forward, and the women and children all clung to their men's hands, looking at this strange scene, and looked at each other and did not dare to speak.

At this moment, the madman Yang stopped his convulsions, drooped his head and slowly stood up straight and said, "You all owe me, you all owe me." The voice was low and hollow, as if it came from the depths of the Nine Shadows, and it frightened the madman Yang's mother to not dare to approach.

Some of the timid children even burst into tears.

The madman Yang was still repeating in that frictional voice: "You all owe me, you all owe me." ”

Panic continued to spread through the crowd, like a glass in a high temperature that could collapse at any moment.

"Old Man Li, I'm sorry for you, just spare me, spare me. Zhang Liang rushed out of the crowd and knelt in front of the hall and cried: "It's me who is wrong, it's me bastard, I shouldn't take your Jade Buddha, please spare me, please spare me......"

"What jade Buddha? Isn't it a woman with a Buddha?"

"I remembered, it was a relic of Old Man Li's wife. ”

At this moment, Zhang Liang's daughter-in-law rushed to Zhang Liang like crazy and scolded: "You bastard, I let you be greedy, look at what good things you have done......"

The madman Yang sat on the ground like a prostration, stopped screaming and looked at the farce in front of him. The old man Li who was sitting in the chair finally lowered his head, and his huge eyes slowly closed.

"Old man Li is very good, I remember that when my father built a house, he was still helping to burn tiles and transport bricks, and now that he has money, he can't lose this affection, so let's do it, I will pay to help Old Man Li erect a monument. One said.

"I'll also contribute some money, it's because I'm greedy that I caused such a thing. Zhang Liang said.

"Then I'll do something too. Kong Fang also responded.

For a while, everyone was willing to shout and pay to help bury Old Man Li.

The next day, a brand new coffin was transported into the village, and Old Man Li was ceremoniously buried by the villagers, and the excitement seemed to be no less than that of those who married daughters-in-law.

The jade Buddha pendant, his wife's relic, finally accompanied him into the coffin.

The only one who did not attend the funeral was the madman Yang Lun, who sat in front of the earthen embryo house, with a dog's tail grass in his mouth, and the corners of his mouth slowly pulled, revealing a seductive sunny smile.

He thought of the doors he had knocked on one by one at night, and of the big black dog he had killed. He thought of the jade Buddha that Zhang Liang secretly picked up when he carried the corpse, and he thought of the old man Li who had seen a lot of rì with him.

"Yang Lun, the big black dog of Li Jun's family took away the bacon I had, I just don't want to say it. There is also the corn cob that Kong Fang's daughter-in-law stole from my field, and I also know that people in a village are really not careful. ”

"Yang Lun, they all said that I don't think you're crazy, I feel like it would be nice if you were my son. ”

"Daddy Li, you are my father. ”