Outside, the wind was biting cold.
The snow on the ground soon froze again after melting, forming an ice surface that sparkled in the sun. As soon as I went out, I was caught off guard and fell flat on my face.
This was a typical run-down farmyard, with a few chickens strolling around. The house was low and had not been repaired for many years. It looked like it would collapse at any time. Washed clothes were hung on a wire in front of the door of another room, but in this weather, the clothes were also frozen hard. They were obviously women's clothes. It seemed that An Ru should live there, but she seemed to have gone out. There was half-rubbed corn in front of the door, and there was a small clay pot next to it. There were some things with ice crystals similar to bean sprouts. The leaves were thick and the roots were as red as blood. It should be the kind of cool grass she said. It was still green in this season.
I picked it up and smelled it. There was a strong iron smell.
"Why is this thing so evil, emitting a bloody smell..."
I frowned, subconsciously threw away the cool grass, shook my head, and walked out of the yard.
Desolate!
This is the first impression that this Heixiazigou gave me!
There is no vitality, no people, the sky is gray, the ground is bare, only the color of the earth is left, and from time to time there is a cold wind whistling past, making a sound like ghosts crying and wolves howling, with an indescribable sense of desolation and gloom!
This village is built on a bare hilltop, and its scale is very small. It is estimated that the village committee can be seen from the head of the village. On both sides of the hilltop, there are deep and bottomless ravines, which are extremely steep. If you come out at night, you can roll down the mountain and fall to death.
You can't see any farther away.
The ravine surrounding the village is like a natural moat, isolating this mountain. The ravine is misty, and you can vaguely see the mountains opposite the village, but unfortunately they are all covered in the mist and can no longer be seen clearly.
Thinking that An Ru actually came here without telling me, I don't know what she went through on the way.
For a moment, my gratitude grew stronger.
But, this village is too weird!
To be precise, except for the farmyard where An Ru lives, there is no intact house.
The village is very small, and it looks like there are only dozens of houses, at most only 20 to 30 households, but some of these houses have collapsed completely, and some have collapsed halfway.
An Ru said that there is another family in the village, but I walked here for a long time and didn't see anyone at all!
How did she survive here?
I walked into a courtyard where the walls had collapsed and the roof of the house had collapsed on a large area. The situation inside was even more bizarre.
I saw that the weathered and faded door had a lock hanging on it. It looked like the brass toad lock that was quite popular in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. In other words, this house had been uninhabited in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.
If the owner was going to leave the courtyard and seal up the old house at that time, the door should have been locked, but the brass toad lock was hanging, which gave people a very strange feeling.
When I got into the house, this feeling was even stronger!
The kang had collapsed a long time ago, revealing the flue inside. There were some old tables, chairs and benches in the house, most of which were rotten, and there were bowls and chopsticks on them. Especially in the plates, there were piles of black things. I picked up a wooden stick and dug it, and found that it seemed to be the residue left by the weathering, disintegration and rot of food!
I have a feeling that the owner of this house is not like An Ru said, who went to a distant place. Instead, it seems that something happened during dinner and he fled in a hurry, or... disappeared directly?
These discoveries made me alert and felt extremely weird.
On one side is the kind and pure girl who saved my life, and on the other side is the remote village and the ruins left by the villagers who fled. The two appeared in the same place at the same time, forming a strong contrast, which shocked me greatly!
This village is definitely not a normal place! !
But... An Ru is really a living person. After several days of getting along, I think I can still confirm this! !
Could it be that I was wrong?
I know that there are indeed some things in this world that can confuse people's vision and judgment, and it is difficult to distinguish life and death. Even a character like my master may not dare to say that he can distinguish between yin and yang, life and death, let alone me?
But if An Ru is really an evil spirit, if she wants my life, why bother so much? She doesn't have to care about me at all, I have to fend for myself!!
My thoughts were in a mess, and I went to several more dilapidated and abandoned houses, and the situation inside was still the same!!
Some pots had food residues in them...
Some rouge and powder boxes were open in front of the dressing table, as if the owner of the house was still putting on makeup the night before leaving.
I even found a few silver dollars in a house, with the words "10th Year of the Republic of China" written on them, which means that this village was still inhabited in 1921.
Who would leave money at home when leaving their hometown? Even idiots know that red bills are good things, so you can't lose anything but bills!
All the signs tell me that the villagers in this village definitely left suddenly, and it doesn't seem like they set out after making countless preparations and set out on the road to leaving their hometown!
The doubts in my heart became heavier.
While thinking about the details of getting along with An Ru for a few days, I was thinking about this strange deserted village.
Before I knew it, I came to a blue brick house.
Although this house is also old, it is not completely collapsed like other houses. It seems that someone still lives there. At least there is not so much dust on the door and windowsill. Someone should be cleaning!
An Ru said that there is another family in the village. Is this the family?
I decided to find out. The situation here is too disturbing. I immediately went forward and knocked on the door.
Unfortunately, there was no response from inside.
"Is anyone there?"
I shouted in front of the door, but there was still no response from inside, so I pushed the door with my hand and found that it was ajar. It opened automatically with a "creak".
This is also the most typical house layout in the old society.
Facing the door is a living room, and there are bedrooms on the left and right sides.
The house is neat and tidy. Someone is indeed cleaning from time to time.
I saw that there was no one in the house, so I went straight into the bedroom on the left. It seemed to be an old man's room. There was a long dry tobacco pipe on the kang table. I touched it and it was still warm.
"Are you the big brother that sister An Ru brought back?"
A crisp voice suddenly sounded behind me.
I was startled. I was already highly nervous, but I didn't feel anything before. The moment I looked back and saw the other person clearly, I got goose bumps all over my body!
This was a little girl who looked only six or seven years old. She had a pair of pigtails. It was freezing outside, but she was only wearing a bellyband that children in the old society wore. Her skin was a strange black and blue color, and there was a deep purple mark on her neck. Her hands were on her chest, and there were a lot of flower ropes wrapped around her hands. It seemed that she was playing a rope-picking game. She looked at me with her eyes turned up, and her eyes were bloodshot...
After all this, I'm not sure if An Ru is a human, but the little girl in front of me is definitely a ghost! !
Moreover, she was probably strangled to death!
I just don't understand, how could she come out during the day when the Yang energy is strong? !
I subconsciously touched behind me, and there was nothing behind me. Then I remembered that I didn't bring the Heavenly Official Blade when I came out! !
A ceremonial officer without the Heavenly Official Blade is a waste. It is not difficult for this little devil in front of me to strangle me to death.
"Big brother, what are you looking for?"
The little girl tilted her head and looked at me: "I'm asking you a question, why don't you answer me?"
I forced myself to calm down. Looking at the little girl's appearance, although she was killed violently, she didn't seem to be very aggressive, so I squeezed out a smile and said: "I was indeed picked up by Sister Anru. I'm not familiar with this place, so I got lost..."
"Big brother, stupid, the village is so small, how can you get lost?"
The little girl stuck out her tongue, which was a bit scary, and then she pouted: "But, Xiao Mi is also a little stupid. Grandpa taught me many times, but every time I play the pick-up, I forget how to do it later. Big brother, do you know how to do it?"
It's come to this point, I have to learn it even if I don't know it...
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. In fact, I almost vomited from playing this kind of rope-turning game, so I gritted my teeth and waved my hand to let Xiao Mi come over. I pinched the forks on both sides of the rope in her hand, reached down, and immediately took the rope.
Xiao Mi clapped her hands and jumped up. She was very happy. She leaned on my legs and made my eyelids twitch. She was calm and played the rope-turning game with me.
To be honest, the ceremonial officer is a ghost catcher. This is the first time to play with a ghost child.
However, Xiao Mi's fierceness is not very aggressive. Gradually, my nervousness disappeared and time passed quickly.
After playing back and forth for several rounds, Xiao Mi suddenly stopped moving, tilted her head to look towards the window, and whispered: "Oh, we can't play anymore, Sister An Ru and Grandpa are back."
After saying this, she suddenly hugged my neck, her little arms were cold, and whispered quickly beside my ear: "Big brother, thank you, Xiao Mi had a lot of fun, Grandpa and Sister An Ru didn't play with me, but the New Year is coming soon, you can't stay here any longer, find a chance to run quickly, the farther the better, go out of the village, go west, don't look back, you will be able to get out soon..."
I was stunned, looking at her scary face, but my eyes gradually softened.
Perhaps, ghosts are not necessarily scary. I have seen spirits who gave up reincarnation and stood in eternal darkness to protect their loved ones. Maybe this Xiao Mi is also a poor child.
I rubbed her head and asked softly, "Why do you want big brother to run?"
"Oh, just run if I tell you to run!"
Xiao Mi stamped her feet anxiously, but blood appeared in her eyes, and she was about to cry anxiously: "Big brother is a good man, I don't want to see anyone hurt you, run quickly!!"
New Year, run...
I looked at the child steadily and fell into deep thought.
At this time, An Ru's call came from outside. I immediately held Xiao Mi's cold face and wiped off the blood that spilled from her, and then I got up and walked out.
Outside the house, An Ru stood with an old man. That should be Xiao Mi's grandfather. He was hunched over, leaning on a cane, with a face, but his head was lowered, and his appearance could not be seen clearly, but this was definitely not a person, because his heels were slightly cushioned, and there was always a gap between him and the ground. Only ghosts would be like this, unable to connect with the ground.
When An Ru saw me, she immediately laughed, came up and took my hand and complained that I was running around everywhere, making her look for it for a long time. Then she waved to the old man and Xiao Mi, and immediately took me away.
A little away from Xiao Mi and his grandfather, An Ru looked behind her, and then said anxiously: "Brother Jingzhe, why are you running around everywhere?"
I thought about it, and decided not to say anything or ask anything, so I evaded the question: "I was a little bored staying in the house, so I came out to get some fresh air..."
An Ru was silent for a while, and then said: "Don't do this in the future, and don't play with Xiao Mi. This child has a strange disease, and her mood is unpredictable. Sometimes she will hurt people. You'd better have less contact with her."
After that, she stopped talking.
I looked at her deeply and nodded silently, but the doubts in my heart still lingered...