This is a story I heard.
I was still helping out in my uncle's shop, and he was just one of my thousands of customers. To be honest, it would be difficult for him to attract people's attention if he was sitting in a crowd. What interests me is the scar on his back, a scar like a crimson snake crawling on his back. I think he should be the kind of person with a story, so I deliberately approached him, as if approaching a mystery.
"Did you know? An experience can change your life." He said, as if he was asking me, but also himself. After finishing speaking, he raised his neck and swallowed the wine in his hand.
"Me?" I said, "I don't know."
That year he went north to Beijing to rush for the exam, and one evening he passed a village, feeling hungry and poor, so he decided to stay overnight.
It was an old man who came out to receive him. The old man wondered when he knew his reason for coming: "The food is okay, but this place to live…" "Look, my little grandson and I only live in such a small hut. His father has two bigger houses, but it's a pity My son died prematurely, and my daughter-in-law has been depressed all day since then, and she couldn't make it through. No, she is still parked in the house over there. Sigh~". The little grandson looked like he was three or four years old, snuggling up obediently on his grandfather's lap, with one arm around the child, and the other hand wiping his tear-ridden face.
He hurriedly begged: "Old man, don't be too sad, your body is important. It's okay, just let me stay there for one night! Those of us who study don't believe that." The old man was a little surprised and wanted to say something What but he hesitated to say anything, and reluctantly nodded.
After dinner, it's getting late. The old man put his grandson to sleep first, then found the broken lantern that had not been used for a long time, and took him to a small house at the head of the village. These two thatched cottages are indeed bigger than the one where the old man lives, and there are fences around them. Mud walls, straw roofs, wooden doors, beams and windows, the window lattices were pasted with paper but are already dilapidated.
The old man opened the door and led him in. It is said that there are two rooms, but in fact there is no wall in the middle, only two columns are used to separate them. The outer one is considered as a living room, and the inside is empty, but a temporary bed is placed in the middle because the mother of the child needs to park. The child's mother was lying on it, dressed in white, with long hair, and a peaceful face as if she was asleep. In the middle of the back room, there is an earthen kang, which is regarded as a bedroom, and there are not many decent furnishings, because the kang is much larger than the bed in the outer room, so it looks narrower.
The old man helped him spread the quilt, fetched the chamber pot, gave a few more insignificant instructions, and then went back. Because I didn't know him well enough, I didn't forget to lock it outside before leaving. He could only follow behind the old man and bow to him again and again to thank him, until the old man went away, and finally he could not even hear the sound of footsteps. After that, because of the exhaustion of the journey, he didn't think much about it, and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, probably because he had almost rested, in his light sleep, he was awakened by the sound of light breathing. In the first moment, he was unconscious, safe out of instinct, and he didn't even know why he woke up for no reason. But as his consciousness gradually strengthened, the tight panting sounds not far away made him feel more and more that something was wrong. So he turned his face curiously, and he saw a face that was also looking at him from the side, so he couldn't help shivering, and jumped up from the kang. He felt his heart rise to his throat. Beads of sweat were densely oozing from his whole body. Every hair on his body stood up straight. The sound of his heartbeat seemed to be connected into a thread. His mouth was opened wide, wanting to shout , but nothing can come out. . . . . .
I saw that ghost (yes, because I was in the same room for too long and absorbed his yang energy, and turned into a ghost, a fierce ghost that can take people's lives, no matter how well-behaved and filial it was in front of the old man, and in front of her husband How virtuous, and how kind he is in front of the child, but it can’t change this indisputable fact.) also sat up from the bed, and walked slowly towards this side, but because the absorbed Yang Qi was still limited, his whole body looked limp Yes, look weak. If you continue like this, it will actively approach you looking for scents, find you, and then absorb all your yang energy until you die from exhaustion. And it will use these strengths to find the next target in order to maintain its "alive" state. In fact, he had heard of this kind of legend, but he never thought it would be true, and it happened to him.
what to do? what to do? what to do? While thinking so eagerly, he instinctively hid to the other side of the kang. In the dim moonlight, he saw the white dress again, his hair spread out to cover his entire face, and he stretched out his hands and groped as if looking for a straw to save his life. One chased and the other hid, they just circled around the kang, turning around constantly. It's just that its strength is getting stronger and stronger, and its movements are becoming more and more agile. But he, on the contrary, started to feel powerless within a few turns, the soles of his feet felt inexplicably weak, and he was sweating profusely. The distance between them was getting closer and closer, and he already felt the cool air coming from it. He couldn't last long at this rate, he thought. The desire to survive forced him to calm down a little and look for a way out. . . . . .
Through the moonlight, he saw that because the master didn't want the kang to wear out too quickly, a string of green bricks were inlaid in the corners; and the reason why the moonlight could shine in was because the windows were very old, and the window lattices were too rotten to stick together. The degree of window paper. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but have an idea and paid attention. As he continued to run, he tried to tear off a brick from the edge of the kang, and threw it at the window. If not, the window was smashed into a big hole in an instant. In this way, every time he turned around, he would give the window a blow. When he felt that he would not be in a hurry if he didn't get out, he sprinted a few steps and tried his last strength to jump through the window hole that was not big enough to accommodate himself. jumped out. From fear, exhaustion, and the sharp pain in his back, he passed out almost as soon as he hit the ground. And the ghost jumped to nothing, and was lying on the window sill at this time.
Early the next morning, he was found by passing villagers and rescued him. The village chief and the old man rushed over to deal with the matter after hearing the news, only to see that the ghost's long nails had penetrated deeply into the gap of the window sill.
That was the first time he went to Beijing to rush for the exam and it became the last time. He asked me, can an experience change your life, do you believe it?
I looked at the man in front of me, with rough hands, dark skin, and messy braids. Because he passed the Juren in the provincial examination, it is very likely that he will be named on the gold list when he entered Beijing, and thus start another life. But now, he has completely become the appearance of this farmer.
I said, I believe it.