Fortunately, the nonsense of the "old man" did not deceive people, Li Congyan went all the way east, and when he was about to be exhausted, he finally found Lijiazhuang.

It's late at night.

The village was dark and silent, without a glimmer of light.

It's so dark that it's frightening.

Li Congyan stood outside the village and did not enter rashly.

Instead, he used the technique of "Secret Communication", and a faint divine light appeared in his pupils.

Moments later......

"It's all the breath of a living person. ”

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he followed his memories and found his old house.

Push open the door of the outhouse, find half a candle in the dark, and light it.

The candlelight flickered, and what caught my eye was a scene of the four walls of the house, with tattered walls, leaky roofs, lame and broken tables and chairs...... Walking into the back room, there was not even a decent piece of furniture, the door of the cabinet was crooked and would fall down at any moment, and there was nothing inside, and the bedding was missing, except for the bare wooden planks.

Li Congyan was tired all day, and he was frightened at night, his spirit and body were already exhausted to the extreme, and he just wanted to have a good rest at the moment.

Although the conditions were a little worse, he couldn't take care of it so much, he lay down on the hard bed in embarrassment, turned over again, hugged his arms, and the whole person curled up in a ball, and fell asleep in a daze.

That night, he didn't sleep soundly.

In my mind, for a while, it was the encounter of the ghost village, and for a while, it was a picture of my life in Lijiazhuang in the past, and from time to time there were memories of before the crossing......

From beginning to end, he was in a half-asleep state.

......

The sky is slightly bright.

The east just showed the white of the fish belly.

Li Congyan struggled to sit up from the bed, feeling that he was in a bad state, his brain was in chaos, and his ears were ringing.

I wiped my face with well water and barely sobered up.

Then he ran to the back of the village. In the ground, there is the tombstone of Li's father.

Remove the weeds from the grave and make a simple worship.

After doing this, Li Congyan looked up at the sky, and the red sun had crossed the horizon. At this time, the villagers also got up, washed and eaten, and prepared to start the day's work.

"Let's get back to the city early. ”

Walk outside the village and walk all the way.

He saw many faces that only existed in his memory, the dark-skinned second uncle next door, the short, thin widow Liu, his childhood playmate Ergou, and the gray-haired Muramasa Li Sanye......

Nodding his head, he said hello.

It's just that it's a little raw.

......

Tou.

Li Sanye sat on the threshold of his house, holding a dry tobacco, swallowing clouds and spitting fog, his eyes chasing his junior Li Congyan who grew up and walking farther and farther.

At this time, a little boy of seven or eight years old came out of the house, all naked, bouncing, and the little finches were flicked one after another.

"Grandpa, is that Brother Cheng?"

The little boy threw himself into Li Sanye's arms.

"It's him. ”

"It's fun in town. The little boy yearned, "When I grow up, I want to be like Brother Cheng and go to the city to be a son-in-law." ”

"You dare to be a son-in-law, old man, I will break your legs. Li Sanye's tone was majestic, not like a joke.

"Grandpa is bad. ”

Li Sanye hugged his grandson and touched his head dotingly:

"Go back to the house and put on your clothes, have you forgotten what Grandpa said before, the dark spots on your stomach can't be seen. ”

The little boy lowered his head when he heard this, and there was a large black spot on his belly, which spread like a spider web, and now it was covering his entire abdomen, and was spreading to his chest, and there were thin black hairs on it, which looked very terrible.

"When the autumn harvest sells the grain, grandpa will take you to see the doctor. ”

Li Sanye looked melancholy.

======

My uncle didn't come back all night.

Xiaoyu is in a hurry.

Uncle can't be lost, Miss told herself to take care of your uncle, but ...... I knew I should have gone with me yesterday.

The little maid was in a hurry, but she didn't know where to look for someone, so she had to wait at the door.

It's close to noon.

Li Congyan dragged his tired body and appeared on the street.

"Uncle, where did you go!"

The little maid saw it from a distance and immediately trotted over.

"The little fish are dying. ”

"Something happened temporarily, and I didn't have time to come back yesterday. ”

Li Congyan didn't elaborate, but said, "I'm a little tired, go back to the room and sleep first." ”

The Zhao family's house is a two-entry quadrangle, divided into a front yard and a back yard. This scale is medium. It is much stronger than ordinary people, but compared with the gentry, it is much inferior, and the old rich live in three and four hospitals. is even more outrageous, such as Jia's mother in "Dream of Red Mansions", who lives in a big mansion in Wujin, which is luxurious to the extreme.

Li Congyan's bedroom is in the front yard, next to the people's wings.

The backyard is where the old lady and the young lady of the Zhao family live, and one of his sons-in-law is not qualified to enter.

As for sharing a room with his wife, don't even think about it.

Like other concubines, concubines cannot sleep with their husbands without the consent of their husbands or their wives. The same goes for the son-in-law, without the nod of his wife, he can only sleep alone honestly.

After entering the room, he sent away Xiaoyu, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, Li Congyan fell asleep in a daze.

The past day and night have been so torturous. Now, I can finally take a good rest.

======

Afternoon.

A sturdy white horse came to the Zhao Mansion, and the beautiful woman on horseback pulled the reins, and the horse stopped at the door.

"Miss, you're back. ”

The little fish happily ran out to greet him.

Zhao Erniang turned over and dismounted, looking tired.

He handed the reins to the keeper of the door, and said to the little maid, "Tell the kitchen to boil some hot water, and I will bathe." ”

"Xiao Yu knew that the young lady was coming back, so he had already ordered it. ”

......

Half an hour later.

In the boudoir, Zhao Erniang sat in front of the dresser, dressed in light gauze and thin wings, and her delicate figure loomed.

The little maid was chattering while giving her own young lady a thrush.

"Miss is so beautiful. ”

"On the day of the visit, my uncle fell down, but Xiaoyu was frightened, but fortunately it was fine. ”

"My uncle is very good, not like someone else says he's a nerd. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Erniang frowned slightly and asked, "Li ...... What's the difference between him and the rumors?"

Xiao Yu bit his lip and thought about it, and said:

"The first time I saw my uncle on the street, I felt like a goose. ”

"Now, my uncle is ...... Well...... The way of speaking has changed, the eyes are very bright, and Xiaoyu sometimes doesn't dare to look into his uncle's eyes......"

Zhao Erniang saw that she couldn't come up with a reason, so she interrupted her: "Where is Xianggong?"

"Uncle is resting in the room. ”

"Help me change my clothes first, and call him over later. ”

A quarter of an hour later.

"Miss, it's not good!"

The little fish ran back in a panic.

"Uncle, he has a fever. ”

In Li Congyan's room, I saw him lying on his back, his eyes closed, his face flushed, his breathing short, and muttering words that others couldn't understand.

Zhao Erniang opened his eyelids and looked at it, then opened his chin and took a look, and finally pinched his wrist and began to take his pulse.

As we all know, she is a talented woman and has commendable literary attainments. But what others don't know is that she can also heal, divination, stargazing, etc., which is really versatile.

"Xianggong was frightened and lost his soul, so he would be like this. ”

Zhao Erniang diagnosed, "Wait for me to prescribe a prescription and send someone to grab a few pairs of medicines, and I will be cured in three or five days." ”

On the side, Xiao Yu was also greatly relieved when he heard this.

"Do you know why he was frightened?" Zhao Erniang asked.

The little maid thought about it, and told her uncle about going out of the city yesterday and not returning all night.

"Most of the time I came across something unclean at night. ”

After that, Zhao Erniang instructed again: "You go and get a basin of warm water and wipe his body for him to cool down and reduce fever." ”

"Got it, miss. ”

"Well, I'll go back to my room and rest first. ”

......

A quarter of an hour later.

"Miss, it's not good!"

Xiaoyu ran into the backyard in a panic again.

“......”

Zhao Erniang was a little big, "What?"

The little maid ran in a hurry, panting: "Uncle...... He...... Corpse spots!"

Lividity?

Zhao Erniang was startled, she was still alive just now, why did she suddenly have corpse spots?

The master and servant hurried over.

I saw Li Congyan's shirt open, and his thin upper body was naked.

Xiaoyu was about to wipe his uncle's body, and as soon as he unbuttoned his clothes, he saw corpse spots on his uncle's belly. ”

The little maid pointed at Li Congyan's stomach with a frightened face, where there was a palm-sized marking, purple and black, which looked like a corpse spot at first glance, which was really scary.

Zhao Erniang leaned over to observe, and then reached out to wipe the bun on the back of her head, and a silver needle appeared between her fingers.

Pinch the silver needle and prick it gently.

"Huh......"

She was surprised to find that the silver needle could not pierce the skin at the markings.

With a little force, the silver needle bent uncontrollably, as if it was not human skin, but iron skin.

Retract the silver needle that has been bent in an arc.

Zhao Erniang's luck shook, and the silver needle instantly straightened.

Stab down again.

There was a "bang", as if it had been pierced into some kind of hard leather. Pulling out the silver needle, red blood came out.

The tip of the needle picked up a drop of blood and sniffed—

A faint fishy smell lingered on the tip of the nose.

The little maid was anxious on the side, and couldn't help asking, "Miss, what's wrong with him?"

Zhao Erniang's eyes were cold, she shook her head, and did not explain.

He only said: "This matter should not be spread outside, remember!"

"Oh...... The little fish got it. ”

......

Went back to the room.

Zhao Erniang sat at the desk with a solemn face, not knowing what she was thinking.

After a while.

She pulled out a piece of yellow paper from under a stack of rice paper, laid it out, pressed it with a ruler, and began to grind the ink.

After grinding the ink, he dipped it in a brush and wrote on yellow paper.

She didn't put down her pen until she filled a full page.

When the ink dries, the green jade finger skillfully folds the yellow paper into a paper bird, and then uses a brush to dot the two black eyes.

Zhao Erniang held a yellow paper bird in her hand and came to the door.

Say it in your mouth.

"Go!"

Toss the paper bird into the air.

The paper bird did not land, only heard a bang, and a cloud of smoke exploded in the air.

The smoke cleared, and the paper bird had turned into a living white crane.

"Whoa-oh"

The white crane roared loudly, circled twice under the eaves, and then spread its wings, soared into the sky, and headed away to the north, and disappeared after a while.

There was only one slender figure left, standing in place, looking at the sky.