Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 1130: Looking Outside

"My mother has a soft heart. She's never had a quarrel in her life. She's always willing to help anyone in need. How could she possibly offend anyone? It was just... ten years ago, that village girl, Mrs. Li, was always arguing with her. She said her red embroidered shoes were bourgeois and her long hair was a feudal relic, and she told her to cut her hair and throw away her shoes." Mrs. Li was a village activist in her fifties, loud and nosy. She spearheaded the campaign to destroy the "Four Olds," raiding and burning old belongings from several households. Among them was Erzhu's old family tree. The book, bound with thread and yellowed with paper, had been passed down from Erzhu's great-grandfather. Erzhu's mother had kept it safe until Mrs. Li found it and threw it into the fire in front of the entire village, scolding her for "backward thinking and not keeping up with the revolution." After Erzhu's mother fell into the well, everyone in the village was very sad, but Mrs. Li said sarcastic things behind her back, saying that she was "seeking her own death and bringing shame to the revolutionary masses", and that she was "harmed by feudal superstition and deserved to die". Erzhu was young at the time, and he had an argument with Mrs. Li after hearing this, and was pulled back by his father. "Mrs. Li..." Uncle Lao Gen frowned and tapped his fingers on his pipe, "Did she also go to the old well to fetch water yesterday? Did she have any conflicts with anyone while fetching water?" Erzhu thought for a while, nodded and said, "She was the first one to go in the morning. When I went there, she was carrying water back and she was trying to grab the bucket from me, saying that I was slow and was delaying everyone from fetching water. I didn't argue with her at the time and let her pass first." Uncle Lao Gen didn't say anything else, just stared at the incense stick in the yard. The incense burned steadily, its smoke rising straight up. But mid-air, it suddenly seemed to be tugged by something, lurching westward. The tobacco fell to the ground, leaving tiny black spots. To the west, it was the direction of Mrs. Li's house. "Tonight... I'm afraid something's going to happen," Uncle Lao Gen sighed, tapping his pipe against the sole of his shoe. "Stay at my house tonight, don't go out." Er Zhu nodded, his fear growing deeper. He lay on Uncle Lao Gen's kang, listening to the wind outside, unable to fall asleep. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard a distant cry, a woman's, shrill, and carried far into the night. "It's towards Mrs. Li's house!" Uncle Lao Gen sat up, grabbed his pipe from the edge of the kang, and ran out. Er Zhu quickly got up and followed Uncle Lao Gen. The crying woke the villagers, who fled their homes and rushed to Mrs. Li's house. The gate to Li Pozi's house was not closed, but ajar. The crying sound came from inside the house. When everyone pushed the door open and went in, the house was in chaos. Li Pozi's daughter-in-law was sitting on the ground crying, and Li Pozi's grandson was lying on the edge of the kang, trembling with fear. On the kang, Li Pozi was lying there, her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth, and she was no longer breathing. In her hand, she was tightly holding a handful of ears of corn. The blood beads on the ears of corn had not dried yet, and they were dark red, exactly the same as the ears of corn that were oozing blood on the west slope. What was even more frightening was that at Li Pozi's feet, there was half a red embroidered shoe - red cloth, with peach blossoms embroidered on the toe, and the hole was right in front of Li Pozi's toe, making it a perfect pair with the one in Erzhu's water tank. "I was wrong... I shouldn't have burned your family tree... I shouldn't have said bad things about you..." Mrs. Li's mouth was still slightly open, as if she were talking, her voice so soft that only those close enough could hear her. "Don't look for me, look for someone else... Look for those who took your things..." Before dawn, the commune arrived. They investigated for a long time but couldn't find the cause of Mrs. Li's death, so they could only treat it as a "sudden illness." But everyone in the village knew that Mrs. Li was possessed by the things in the well. On the day of her burial, someone discovered that a pair of red embroidered shoes had been added to Mrs. Li's feet. They were exactly the same as the two half-used red embroidered shoes, with red cloth embroidered with peach blossoms, and the holes in the toes were right in front of her toes, as if someone had forcibly put the shoes on her feet after her death. That night, Erzhu heard the sound of water again, this time not next to his ears, but in the direction of the old well. He lay on the windowsill of Uncle Lao Gen's house and looked out. He saw a shadow in red clothes under the old poplar tree by the old well. It was holding a pair of red embroidered shoes and was walking towards the well. It walked very slowly, without touching the ground. Soon it disappeared behind the edge of the well and never came out again. , It hung down to the waist. When the wind blew, its hair fluttered like a curtain. I thought it was a member who forgot to take something back, so I shouted "Who is it?" and the shadow suddenly floated away in the direction of the old well. It floated very quickly and disappeared in an instant. "As soon as these words came out, the west slope was completely quiet. Even the sound of the wind blowing the grain seemed to have disappeared. The sun gradually sank to the west. The originally hot weather suddenly turned cool. The wind also became chilly. When it blew on people, it felt like countless cold little hands were touching them, from the neck to the back, which made people get goose bumps. Wang Tieniu gritted his teeth and waved his hand: "Don't just stand there! Cut off all the bleeding ears of corn and bury them in the ditch in the north. Don't let other people see them. After burying, cut the corn quickly and finish work early! "The members did not dare to disobey. They picked up sickles and carefully cut off the bleeding ears of corn and put them in a bamboo basket. Chuntao did not dare to touch the ears of corn and hid aside to help pass the bamboo basket. Uncle Lao Gen also started to work. He cut very slowly, his eyes fixed on the roots of the ears of corn, as if looking for something. After all the bleeding ears of corn were cut off, Wang Tieniu led a few people and carried the bamboo baskets to the ditch in the north. The ditch was very deep. It was washed out by the rain before and was full of weeds. They dug a hole and buried the ears of corn. Just as they were about to fill the soil, Uncle Lao Gen suddenly shouted "Wait a minute." He squatted down, dug apart the ears of corn with his hands, and pulled out a black hair from the root of the bottom ear of corn - that The hair was long and thin, and could be wrapped around the finger twice. It was exactly the same as the hair that had floated in the villagers' bowls and was fished out of the well. It was wrapped around the base of the ear of grain, as if it was tied there on purpose. "This..." Wang Tieniu looked at the hair, his throat tightened, and he couldn't speak. Uncle Lao Gen didn't say anything, but just put the hair into his pipe, then filled the hole with soil, and stepped on it a few times, as if he was afraid that something would run out. When work was over in the evening, it was already dark. The members of the cooperative trotted all the way home, and no one dared to stay outside. Erzhu followed Uncle Lao Gen. He didn't dare to go home. Cuilan was at home with the baby, and he was afraid that going back would cause trouble for them. "Uncle Lao Gen, let me go to your house with you." Erzhu said in a low voice. Uncle Lao Gen nodded and said nothing.