One day, the mother and daughter of the Chu family arrived at a county town in the middle of the afternoon, and the housekeeper suggested that they should stay here, otherwise they would miss it, and they would not be able to reach the next county town in time, so they could only stay in Bainiu Town in front. But the town is small, and there may not be a big inn that can accommodate more than 30 people.

Mother Chu looked at the sky, it was a waste of time not to hurry now, and she was anxious to see her son, so she told the housekeeper that if there were not so many guest rooms, she would give some reward money to make up for the next person, and let them lay on the floor in the inn hall.

So the group moved on.

When it was almost dark, we finally arrived at the White Cow Town. Before I entered the town, I saw a white lamp hanging in front of the door of the town, with white paper flowers, and the sound of someone crying and mourning came.

In the era of the Great Rejuvenation Kingdom, the cities above the county seat were separated from the "fang" and "city", while the general town market was not divided into the fang and the city. That is, there is no separation between the store and the residential area where the shopping and trading are traded. Many people who do business do business with a façade in front and a residence in the back.

It was normal for someone to hold a funeral, and everyone ignored it and continued to walk down the street. didn't go far, but I saw that the family was also doing a funeral, and continued to walk...... There's another one!

"This is really, this is not the previous war, and several families can rush together for funerals......" The old butler who drove couldn't help but sigh.

Chu Peiyao lifted the curtain and looked out, and saw that the street was very deserted, except for the voices of those who were doing funerals, the doors of other people were closed. Chu Peiyao always felt a little scared in her heart when she saw this situation, but seeing that there were dozens of her own servants in front of and behind the car, her courage grew a little.

But bad people, they walked around the town market, and they couldn't find an inn.

"There used to be an inn here! It's really strange! I passed by here when I came back from the New Year, this ......" The old housekeeper looked anxious, and asked a small group of people around him to go to the funeral to ask where they could stay.

After a while, the little guy came back and said that the two inns in the town were closed a few days ago, and now there is no inn in the town, and if you want to stay, you can only go to the Jia Yuanwai's house at the end of the town in front of you to spend the night, saying that this town is the largest in his house, and there is no problem in receiving them.

Mother Chu thought that this was not related to the family, and it was too embarrassing for so many people to rush to spend the night, and people did not necessarily agree.

The old housekeeper said that he had gone to ask before, and if it didn't work, he would give some money to see if he could make it convenient for others. Chu Mu thought that she had no choice but to do so.

The old housekeeper came back not long after he went, and said embarrassedly: "Madam, the Jia Yuanwai is full of promises, and they won't charge us a penny...... It's just this ......"

"Isn't that great?" Chu Peiyao said happily, "It doesn't matter if the conditions are simpler. ”

"Miss...... However, his family is also holding a funeral. The old butler continued.

"What, is there anyone in his family who is dead?" Chu Peiyao couldn't help but be depressed.

"Yes, I'm afraid that you and your wife will be unlucky......"

"Isn't this okay? It always feels weird!" Chu Peiyao looked at her mother and said, "Mother, what should we do?"

"It's good that people can say yes, we can't just stop on this street at night?"

Chu Peiyao thought about it, even if her mother and daughter could get along in the carriage, what should she do with so many domestic servants? You can't ask people to lie on the ground directly, and even if people are willing, then there is no cover on the street, and there are funeral people around, which makes people feel even more hairy.

"Mother is right, let's go!" Chu Peiyao said helplessly.

After walking a short distance, I turned into a street and saw a large mansion.

The gate of the courtyard was open, and the gate was hung with white silk and paper flowers, and a man dressed as a housekeeper in his fifties stood at the door, presumably waiting for everyone.

As soon as the mother and daughter of the Chu family got out of the car, they smelled the smell of burning incense, candles, and paper money wafting from the courtyard.

The housekeeper greeted him and bowed his hand very politely: "The two of you are Mrs. Chu and Miss Chu!"

Steward Chu hurriedly introduced: "Exactly!" and said to the mother and daughter of the Chu family: "Madam, this is Butler Jia." ”

Mrs. Chu said with a smile: "Thanks to Master Jia's hospitality, there is a big housekeeper to bother!"

"Madame, please come in!"

The butler was about to take them in, when a man suddenly ran up to him and shouted, "Great butler!

The housekeeper turned his head to look, and saw an old man with a big nose and a beard running over.

"Dao Chief......

"Hehe, big butler, anyway, your family has to receive people who stay overnight, so count me as one more old man!"

- The one who came was none other than Daoyi.

"Oh, the Taoist chief also wants to spend the night! That's okay, my old man is kind, and he won't mind having one more of you, so let's come in together!"

The housekeeper is also very talkative.

"Thank you, thank you!" said Dao Yi.

The housekeeper led them in, and asked a domestic servant to arrange for the accompanying Chu family servant to go to the room where the next person lived, and personally took Chu Peiyao's mother and daughter and Dao Yi to arrange the guest room, and said as he walked: "The head of the family is very sad for the death of the young lady, so I can't come to greet you in person, please forgive me......"

"Is it the young lady who went?" Chu Peiyao was surprised.

"Exactly! The old man has passed away a few years ago, and now the young master is the head of the family, and he has been doing business in Bozhou, but the young lady has been frail, and her condition has worsened not long ago, so the head of the family has taken out the business in Bozhou, and took the young lady back to his hometown to recuperate, but I didn't expect it...... Hey, in the end, I still couldn't take care of my body, so I went at such a young age. The butler was not without regret.

"That's really unfortunate! The deceased is gone, and the lord's family mourns......" Chu Mu comforted.

Dao Yi, who was following the side, had been looking left and right since he entered the door, and when he heard Chu Mu's words, he suddenly muttered: "The deceased is not over, how can the living be safe?"

"Huh?" the butler suddenly heard this, and looked at Daoyi in a slight shock, "What did the Taoist chief say just now?"

"Oh...... I mean, the young lady should have been at peace sooner. This hasn't been buried yet, and the living people always think about it, and they must be sad in their hearts. ”

"Yes, that's what I persuaded the head of the house, old servant. But the head of the family said that he had met a Jurchen in Bozhou before, and she had shown the young lady her life. That real person is really powerful, and he really calculated that my young lady will die three days ago. The Jurchen said that the young lady's life is very peculiar, and she must be buried seven days after she dies, and before that, she must stop in a wide and ventilated place outside the house, otherwise the family will be in calamity again, so now she only stops in the backyard. ”

"Is that so?"

The mother and daughter of the Chu family also felt strange when they heard it.

"Yes!" As he spoke, he had already led several people to the back garden

In the middle of the garden is a pond rockery, surrounded by many flowers and trees, and white lights are hung around it. However, when Chu Peiyao set his eyes on the place on the other side of the rockery where the white candles were burning, the whole person couldn't help but shudder.

It turned out that a simple shed was built under the tree over there, and on a wooden board inside, a white piece of paper was attached to a corpse, only the shoes were exposed, and there was a pile of ashes from burning incense and paper at the feet.

Chu Peiyao subconsciously tightened her mother's hand.

The housekeeper said apologetically: "Several, the old servant was still talking just now, and the young lady is stopping in this backyard now...... There's no way to do it, but the rooms of several people have separate courtyards, and there's nothing. ”

As he spoke, the butler brought the three of them to an arch on the west side of the garden, and said to the maidservant standing by the door, "Welcome the two distinguished guests to their rooms!"

He turned his head to the other and said, "Dao Chief, please come here to your room!"

As he spoke, he led the way into the arch on the north side.

Chu Peiyao's mother and daughter followed the maid into the archway, and there was a small courtyard dam inside, which was about the size of an ordinary guest room, and three rooms were built on each of the three sides. The light was on in one of the rooms, and when I heard someone coming in, the door of the room opened, and a well-dressed woman came out, and when she saw the mother and daughter of the Chu family, she said happily: "Are the two of you also here to spend the night? ”

Chu Mu smiled and said, "Exactly, is my sister-in-law also staying here?"

"Yes, I went back to my hometown not long ago, and there was an inn here when I went here, but I didn't expect that it would only be a few days, and then I returned to the capital, and the inn would be gone, don't you say it's unlucky?" the woman complained helplessly.

While speaking, the maidservant had already opened the room opposite the woman to the mother and daughter of the Chu family, and went to light the lamp inside.

Chu Mu smiled and said, "I live opposite you, don't disturb the sister-in-law's tranquility." ”

"No, no, I'm feeling a little ......," he said, pointing to the outside of the courtyard with a worried brow, shaking his head and saying, "If I live here alone, it's really weird and scary to think about,"

The maid arranged it out, invited the mother and daughter of the Chu family to go in to rest, and the mother of Chu and the woman opposite chatted a few words, and then went back to the house.

Mother and daughter lived together, turned on the oil lamp in the house, and looked at the light of the woman's room opposite, and the fear in her heart finally lessened a little.

At night, Chu Peiyao couldn't sleep no matter what, she only had a pair of big eyes open, and her ears were pricked up vigilantly paying attention to everything around her. She was always upset inside and felt that something was wrong.

The night grew deeper and quieter, and Jingde could hear the rustle of the leaves in the garden......

Suddenly, Chu Peiyao heard a strange noise in the courtyard!

At this moment, in the small shed of the garden, a thin and sallow hand slowly stretched out from under the white paper, and the white paper was slowly lifted with stiff movements, and the female corpse sat up straight, with two gray and dull eyes, and the eyes were fixed and motionless. She stood up and walked towards Chu Peiyao's small courtyard step by step. Sniffing your nose as you walk.

Chu Peiyao listened to the sound of slow and stiff footsteps outside, and slowly walked towards her.

Chu Peiyao's hairs stood on end, and her intuition told her that this was definitely not a normal person...... She immediately wanted to call her mother, but suddenly she found that she couldn't move, she couldn't even make a sound.