Lao Zhang and his family live in a small village on the bank of the Wei River, with no children under their knees, and the couple depend on each other for their lives. The village has a nice name, called Zhangfeng Village, there are 23 households in the village, and most of the people in the village make a living from fishing, and there is little work in the fields. A few years ago, there was a plague in the village, and six families died, and the remaining seventeen families gradually became people, migratory migration, the wanderer did not return to the death of his parents, so far there are only four lonely families left in Zhangfeng Village, and the old Zhang family is one of two. There are many old people in the village, there are two young and healthy people, one is called Zhang Tong, one is called Zhang San, the two are coarse, simple and honest, like siblings, often rowing together to set up a stall to sell fish in Liuyuan City, which is closest to the village, when returning, always bring some rouge gouache to the only yellow flower girl Zhang Hong in the village, compete with each other a lot of times, repeatedly quarrel the next day and, Zhang Tong and Zhang San are warm-hearted, and often help Lao Zhang and his family to take care of the pastoral work. There were two young men who helped take care of the crops in the field, and the burden on Lao Zhang and his wife was much lighter. Lao Zhang is not confused, his body bones are still immortal, he can catch fish on the mountain and cut firewood, and Zhang's wife is not as good as Lao Zhang, so she has to take care of some simple housework at home, and the slightly focused work is not available, but Lao Zhang and his wife have lived so far, and they have been regarded as the longest-lived in the village. A few days ago, Lao Zhang went out fishing, ready to make some fish soup for his weak wife, but he didn't catch a few fish, and he carried a young man who died on the river beach back to the village, which scared the whole village.

The young man who Lao Zhang turned back to was pale, his body was uninjured, and it was estimated that he was soaked in water for some time, his whole body was edema, and some of his body skin was rotten, and the stench was unpleasant, which was disgusting. Several people in the village said that the young man was a water ghost, and the water ghost entered the village, how dangerous it was, and he couldn't avoid it, and persuaded Lao Zhang to throw him back into the river before he woke up, so as not to get into trouble and involve the villagers. The childless and daughterless old Zhang couple couldn't bear it, but still left the young man behind. It is also strange to say that the young man has been in a coma for three days and three nights and still has not woken up, his face is pale, and his complexion is still not good, but his body and skin have returned to normal. And a few people in the village saw that Lao Zhang and his family "did not change" and directly turned their faces and did not recognize people, alienated the two and avoided the three houses, although they did not drive them out of Zhangfeng Village, but also made a wooden fence to separate them. During the period, the dried herbs at home were empty after two days, so Lao Zhang had to personally go up the mountain to pick some herbs that nourish qi and replenish blood, people are old and inconvenient, often go up the mountain in the morning and go home at dusk, and the herbs are not much, make do with one or two meals, and the next day have to go up the mountain to pick a different place. After a few days, the young man's recovery was faster and his complexion gradually improved, but these days the two of them have been busy collecting and boiling medicines, and they have not done any work, and there is not much dry food left at home. Seeing that the young man was getting better, Lao Zhang was unwilling to ignore it, and went to the villagers for help, but was "coldly rejected". After that, Lao Zhang had to walk a little more, and when he picked medicine, he dug up some wild vegetables and went home. People live through the years of confusion, it is not bad, but the strength is weak, it is not easy to still go up the mountain to collect medicine like Lao Zhang, and then it is a little difficult to ask him to dig more on the mountain where wild vegetables are scarce, and every time he brings back some wild vegetables to save some food, it can barely withstand two meals, pad the belly. But it is not a way to go on like this, not to mention that looking at the crops being wasted, Lao Zhang and his wife were distressed, and Lao Zhang, who was in a dilemma, had to sell his old face, and early the next morning, he went to the door to intercede with a few people in the fence.

In the civil engineering house with the roof tiles leaking, Mrs. Zhang boiled the medicine, carefully held the bowl, walked and staggered, scooped the soup and blew it cold, poured a small mouthful, but the eyes were not good, and the behavior was quite slow, and suddenly heard a few coughs, was stunned for a moment, and said: "Are you awake?"

The young man looked at his body, glanced around him a few times, and finally looked at the old woman sitting on the edge of the couch, with slightly ulcerated eyes and a broken bowl, and asked blankly, "Where am I?"

Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "This is Zhang Feng Village. Some time ago, my old man went out to fish, and when he saw you lying on the beach, he carried you back. You have been looking bad these days, so the old man of my family will go up the mountain to collect medicine for you. You've been in a coma for ten days and ten nights. I have had a serious illness before, similar to you, I have been in a coma for several days, but I will be safe and sound, now that you have woken up, you can recuperate for a few days. Now your body has not fully recovered, and your qi and blood are insufficient, these decoctions nourish qi and replenish blood, even if people wake up, but this medicine can't be stopped, come, drink the medicine first. ”

The young man took the decoction handed by the old woman and looked at the latter in a daze, with a complicated expression and mixed feelings.

He thought about it again, but still didn't say thank you.

Mrs. Zhang vaguely saw that the young man was just holding the bowl in a daze, picking at the palm, and said: "Silly child, what are you doing in a daze, drink the medicine quickly, it's good to take advantage of the heat, maybe it's bitter, but the good medicine is bitter and good for the sick, don't think about it, drink it in one breath and it'll be fine." My old man went to find the rest of the village, but now you wake up and don't need that. When he comes back, I will ask him to go to the river to catch two water fish and come back, and boil fish soup to replenish your body. I, a lot of age, inconvenient, eyes can't see clearly, the past few years have become more and more bad, the old man can't do it, but the old man will always go to the river every day to catch a few water fish to make soup, the old woman is better, I think you should be in this situation is ten ** inseparable. ”

The young man looked down and looked at the decoction in his hand in a daze.

Before long, there was a small scolding sound outside the door.

Mrs. Zhang, who has excellent ear power, said happily: "My old man is back." ”

Looking at the path outside the door, there was an old man walking around the corner with overgrown weeds, and his legs and feet were quite brisk. As soon as he entered the door, he was still muttering something, but when he saw the young man who was not awake sitting on the bed, he smiled with relief and muttered gently: "It's good to wake up, it's good to wake up." ”

Mrs. Zhang got up and walked in small steps, pulled Lao Zhang aside, leaned closer and whispered, "Are you okay?"

Lao Zhang waved his hand and said: "It's okay, what can it be, are you afraid that they will kill the old man? Alas, this group of people who kill a thousand knives are ungrateful, I think you and I have helped them many times when we were young, especially Zhang San's father, if it weren't for the matchmaker we said, hey, how could he have a filial son today? Zhang San, this kid is okay, talking to me and being kind, stopping others, unlike the others. But Zhang Hong, this girl is extremely hateful, she has the same virtue as her mother, and her mouth is poisonous, guess what she is doing with me scolding the old man? The straight thief mother blocked my face and scolded, 'The old immortal still dares to raise water ghosts, and he can't die well'! I knew that today, when my wife first arrived, you shouldn't have given her mother a small and not a big one, she, in private, didn't curse us less, saying that your wife killed his mother. I didn't dare to tell you this before, for fear that you would be angry, but the old man knew it, and he had to say it today. In the past, everyone was still amiable, and they didn't dare to understand it, but now that they have a falling out, what is there to scold. You don't know, the sweet-mouthed Zhang Tong is not as polite as in the past when he sees me now, and he dares to scold the old man, his conscience is afraid that the dog will eat it, and he doesn't want to think about his father and mother when he was a child, who took him for a year?

Lao Zhang felt that it was boring to talk about it, so he sighed and shook his head again and again.

The words are full of words, and the stuffiness is stored in the chest, but it cannot be vented.

Mrs. Zhang seemed to look at Lao Zhang, her eyes were "dazed", she took the old man's hand with her dry hand, patted it lightly, and said kindly: "Okay, okay, it's okay to be right and wrong to be a man and do things, but it's shameful to ask for it." ”

Lao Zhang patted the back of his wife's hand in turn and sighed: "You, your temper has not changed at all, and you don't have a long memory after suffering losses for so many years." ”

The old woman smiled, "Isn't there still you?" ”

Lao Zhang sighed and said helplessly: "Let's pack up our things first, we have to move, otherwise a few rabbit cubs will come over to rebel." ”

Mrs. Zhang was silent for a moment, forced a smile, "looked" around, nodded, and said, "Okay, let's move." ”

The two of them set out to tidy up their things.

The old Zhang couple talked in a low voice, the young man didn't say a word, his hair was scattered, he couldn't see his expression clearly, I saw his lips trembling, I don't know when two lines of water droplets fell into the broken bowl in his hand, the soup was still hot, he suddenly raised his head and drank all the bitter soup, but tasted a taste that he had never had in his life.

There is bitterness in sweetness.

Later, the old couple and the young man who had been evicted from Zhangfeng Village built a simple wooden house at the foot of the mountain outside the village. After working hard for most of their lives, Lao Zhang and his wife finally came to the bitter end. The young man is hard-working, reluctant to let the old Zhang couple do it, repair the wooden house alone, make new furniture and utensils, skillful hands and feet, less than four days of work, all of them, compared with the old house in Zhangfeng Village, the world is different, and it looks new. The young man saw that there were still a few pieces of wood left, so he made two rocking chairs, and the second old man always liked to lie on the rocking chair and laugh with the young man these days, living a comfortable life, and worry-free food and clothing. During the period, the two elders saw that the young man was extraordinary, cutting wood and chopping wood, such as seeing the sword and sword, only to know that he was a person who practiced martial arts, asked the name, the young man shook his head and said that there was no name and no surname, a prodigal child, before the riverside drowning in the Wei River, if it were not for the two elders to save the corpse in the wilderness, so he was willing to be a righteous son to serve the second elder in order to repay the great kindness. The old Zhang couple accepted it without thinking about it, and took its name, Zhang Xiaozhi.

The good times did not last long, and before he arrived seven days after moving out of Zhangfeng Village, Zhang Xiaozhi suddenly fell into a strange illness, his hair fell out, his nails turned purple and elongated, his skin was ulcerated and dried, his face was as thin as bones, his teeth and molars fell off one after another, his temperament was very irritable, he often lost control and was close to madness, and once he had an attack, he ran outside. Lao Zhang and his wife were also scared at first, and even almost injured once, but after all, it was the righteous son who was not like a parent and a child, and whenever Zhang Xiaozhi ran outside, due to the inconvenience of Zhang's wife's legs and feet, the worried old Zhang had to wander alone to find it, even if it was clear that Zhang Xiaozhi would come back by himself after he was sober. Born and raised for decades, Lao Zhang Ke knows very well that there are often tigers in several places in these deep mountains, eating people and not spitting out bones, even if the righteous son Zhang Xiaozhi is too ordinary, it is difficult to protect that he can't fight the beasts in the mountains. This time Zhang Xiaozhi didn't know how many times he was crazy to "go out", Lao Zhang searched all the places where the former might go, and even ventured into the tiger-infested mountains alone, but he couldn't find Zhang Xiaozhi, and the search for two whole days was still fruitless. Lao Zhang, who still hadn't seen Zhang Xiaozhi going home after going home, suddenly had a thought in his mind that it was impossible to think no matter what, and he was shocked in his heart, not afraid of 10,000, he was afraid of what happened, and got up and rushed to the place where he had been born and raised for decades.

When Lao Zhang has not yet stepped into Zhangfeng Village to engrave three big characters stone tablet at the entrance of the village, the nose is a faint smell of blood, frightened, lightly and carefully into the village, has not walked a few steps away, suddenly heard a few screams in the bottom of the sky, Zhang Feng Village always has to leave so many people, Lao Zhang heard it is clear that not long ago also scolded his own Zhang Hong girl, unconsciously the pace sped up a few points, on the way through a few places actually bloodstained all over the field, and then a corner of the frightening glance, the first into the eye, a thousand years of old Zhang no matter how to think about it, can not think of such a scene, once to eat cereals for the mortal and is his own righteous son, was lying on a female corpse and devouring its still warm flesh and blood, just like the night resentment of the inhuman bloodthirsty person who exclusively eats human flesh and blood in the strange things that circulated, so frightened that Lao Zhang's face was bloodless for a while, and his legs and feet trembled and hid behind the wall a few steps away, and he didn't dare to breathe.

After a long time, Lao Zhang's expression finally recovered a little, and he carefully poked his head out, but suddenly saw a bloody face close at hand.

There were a few more screams, but there was no movement.

Poor Mrs. Zhang, who was a few hundred meters away, didn't know, still waiting for her father and son to come home with anticipation and a little worry.

But after waiting for two days in a row, Mrs. Zhang still didn't wait for the father and son, she was very worried, anxious, and went out alone with a wooden pole, and she had to wrestle on the slightly potholed road, and the flesh wounds were not less, but she still persevered to find the father and son. When it was approaching dusk, Mrs. Zhang hesitated at the foot of the mountain for a long time, but finally dared to set foot in the mountains and forests, and slowly went up along the mountain road-

The sunset at dusk is like a beautiful girl, a little shy when she sees her favorite person, falling on the branches, and the insects and birds in the mountains and forests are hundreds.

There is a mountain rock under the open air in the forest, and two farmers who have gone up the mountain to hunt sit leisurely on it, chatting happily.

After chatting, the strong man with a black beard looked at the sky, his voice was like thunder, and said: "It's not early, this is the time when the game comes out to feed, there is a lot of game in this mountain and forest area, and then wait for a while, let's go to the place where the guy is buried and take a look, not to mention that he can catch rabbits and pheasants or something, but at least one or two are at least there, hey, this old Zhu Li dares to pack tickets." Lao Wang, don't you know, last time I was lucky, I caught eight wild meat in one go, sold seven, and the rest went home for my daughter-in-law to burn and eat, the taste is amazing, and your son Tingxian likes it. But you can't be greedy and wait for a long time, otherwise it will be difficult to do it when it gets dark, there are fierce tigers in this mountain, if you meet it, it is difficult to say that you will die in your life. I heard that in the past few years, several people have been eaten by tigers, and there are no bones left. ”

Lao Wang looked like an honest man, nodded, and then complained slightly: "Look, you are embarrassed to say, if you hadn't pulled my family fairy to taste the game and got out of control, how could you be so greedy that you ran to your old Zhu's house every once in a while?"

Lao Zhu patted his belly and laughed, and said: "Your son Tingxian is the same as you, his temperament is up to you, his face is thin, every time he goes to my house, he says that he is here to play with my son potatoes, but when is it not to look at the private to ask the potatoes if they have caught the game back, this bear baby is not funny, every time the potatoes are said at the dinner table, they can make me and the child laugh at their mother's stomach." ”

The helpless old Wang sighed, and said with a sad face: "Alas, it's not, I was called to get him some game all day long, and his ears were calloused, and he had to put aside the work in the fields several times to relieve his hunger." ”

Lao Zhu patted and gave birth to a good friend of a scholar for many years, and quipped: "According to me, your old king still don't go to work in the fields, and you can't make a lot of money, it's better to go up the mountain to hunt with me, fight for a few days and rest for a few days, but it is more comfortable than you running in the fields every day, and you can earn a lot of silver." ”

The angry Lao Wang snorted, slapped away Lao Zhu's hand that was deliberately laughing at him, and pretended to be cold.

Seeing Lao Wang's expression, Lao Zhu laughed a few more times, continued to pat the former's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Yo, I'm angry, I can't ask for such a good son." If you think your son is annoying, let him be my son, and the potatoes will be given to you. ”

Lao Wang snorted again, suffocating his internal injuries, this time he seemed to be really angry, and he got up and left.

Lao Zhu, who pretended to be confused, followed closely, and kept nagging jokes next to the silent old Wang's ear.

The two of them just talked non-stop, one was silently dumber than a dumb man, the left ear went in and the right ear went out, and they looked at the place where the gang was buried in the morning, and they were lucky, they caught three game, and then went to the last place, it was a trap, if they were lucky, maybe they could eat mountain pork, and they could sell some silver taels.

When the two of them arrived, they were overjoyed, and the dead branches and leaves on the trap were gone, and they hurriedly ran to the trap, but this look really frightened the two of them.

Inside the trap was a sparsely haired, demon-like monster with long purple nails and a bloody face covered in dried blood.

When Lao Wang and the two looked down, the monster also looked up, and the three of them looked at each other.

The two of them got up and ran, ignoring even the game they had just caught.

The monster Huo Ran jumped out of the trap, ran like a leopard, and caught Lao Zhu, who was running slower with his legs and feet, and Lao Wang saw that the situation was not good, so he hurriedly turned back and rushed away from the monster to save Lao Zhu.

Lao Zhu was so frightened that he panicked, and after picking up a life, he forgot to take care of Lao Wang, who saved his life, and ran wildly, but he stumbled and rolled down the mountain.

The monster caught Lao Wang, who was left behind, and with a wrench of both hands, he tore the latter's body in half and ate it in large gulps.

But after gnawing for a while, the monster's eyes returned a little, as if reason had returned again, a dazed face, at a loss, at a loss, the scene in front of him was like a dream, and then a historical picture poured into his mind, he suddenly held his head and knelt on the ground and howled, and then stared in a daze, looked at the trembling hands, and muttered: "How can there be such retribution......"

Immediately, he ran wildly through the forest like a madman, howling and laughing wildly, stopping at a pool of water in the mountains, leaning down at the microwave water, holding his face, and muttering to himself, "Who am I? What is my name? Why am I ?...... here?"

After a long time, he finally returned to normal, and on the way home, he reminded as he walked: "Yes, my name is Zhang Xiaozhi, Zhang Xiaozhi, I still have a stepmother, and I have a ......."

Suddenly, he heard his name being called not far away, but in a moment there was the sound of a tiger roaring from a flock of birds not far away, followed by a terrible scream, and the familiar sound made him rush to that place again like crazy.

When he arrived, he saw only half of the old man's corpse, and there were two tigers, a male and a female, and three tiger cubs next to him, biting and eating the stump meat.

Suddenly, his lips trembled in disbelief, his eyes turned red, and he rushed down with an angry shout, tearing the five tigers to pieces, beating them into a puddle of flesh and mud, and blood stained all over the ground, and he couldn't tell whether human blood or tiger blood was missing.

Zhang Xiaozhi knelt on the ground, his hands trembled like fragile branches that were about to break in the wind, and he wanted to touch the old man's body, but he couldn't touch it, hanging in the air, like a thousand stones pulling his arms.

He remembered that when he was sacrificing to the river god in Liuyuan City, a young man at the bottom of the Weijiang River who was halfway out of the way to bite the gold stirred up the situation, and flicked a chrysalis cocoon that was originally given to the woman on the water in Hualien into his abdomen, so there is today's karma.

Hatred strikes the brain, and the mind is lost.

Before the only remaining shred of reason disappeared, Zhang Xiaozhi slowly ate the old man's corpse.

When eating, two lines of hot tears.

He finally had a home, and he was disillusioned because of it.

And the other lying in another place is better than him, because he has a home, and tonight there is a wife sitting at the dinner table waiting for him to return, refusing to move the dishes and chopsticks.

But the mother and son don't know that even if they wait for a lifetime, they will eventually see each other again.