My home is in a remote rural area in Shanxi Province. It is said that poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people, and this is not an exaggeration at all in my impression.
I have been left behind since I was young, relying on my grandfather and my uncle for support. My grandfather is a coroner in the village, making a living by helping villagers with funerals.
"Wuzuo" is a local dialect, which has similar meaning to "Duangong" in the south and "Xingsheng" in the north.
I was ten years old that year, and my uncle was almost thirty, but still had no family. My grandfather was in a hurry and went to another village to buy a girl named Liu Yan to be my uncle's wife.
Although Liu Yan was pretty, she was a fool, so her uncle was very unhappy with her and was indifferent to her.
Who would have known that later on, it was because of her uncle's attitude that Liu Yan was put in hell, causing irreversible consequences.
…
This story starts from the day when my uncle got married. In the evening of that day, my house was decorated with lights and colorful decorations inside and outside, and my uncle and Liu Yan were in a mess in the bridal chamber.
I stood at the door holding a tray of wedding cigarettes, entertaining the villagers who came to join in the fun.
Not long after, Li Zhongfu, a well-known thug in our village, shouted in the house, asking my uncle to lie on Liu Yan and do 100 push-ups. As soon as he said this, all the men present followed suit.
It has basically become a custom here to make trouble in the bridal chamber. Li Zhongfu's tricks are normal, so I didn't take it seriously.
But the uncle had an indifferent look on his face at this time. He was urged by everyone and glared at Liu Yan with disgust and asked Li Zhongfu to do it for him!
Hearing this, there was an uproar in the house. Looking at Li Zhongfu's obscene and sly smile, I felt vaguely uneasy, so I turned around and ran to find my grandfather.
I just ran a few steps before I remembered that my grandfather had been drunk at noon and should still be drunk. I thought to myself, there are many elders in the house now, no matter how brave Li Zhongfu is, he will not dare to be presumptuous. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to the new house.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw Li Zhongfu pressing Liu Yan on the bed to do push-ups, while the latter had no expression on her face and let him do whatever he wanted. My uncle looked a little unhappy, but he didn't say anything.
After a few minutes, Li Zhongfu pretended to be exhausted and lay down next to Liu Yan, blatantly taking advantage of her.
Although I was only ten years old at the time, I still understood some things. I walked to my uncle's side, glared at Li Zhongfu, and signaled my uncle to stop it.
But my uncle snorted coldly, turned his head away and pretended he saw nothing.
Li Zhongfu saw the whole scene and became even more presumptuous. He kissed Liu Yan's neck several times and made some obscene movements from time to time.
After finishing the hundred push-ups quickly, Li Zhongfu deliberately weakened his arms and fell flat on Liu Yan's thin body, almost kissing her red lips.
I was immediately furious and went forward to tear off Li Zhongfu's trouser legs, asking him to get down quickly.
Li Zhongfu's body suddenly froze, then he rolled off the bed with a look of horror and ran out crawling.
Everyone present was confused as to what kind of evil spirit it was . At this time, the matchmaker who was helping Liu Yan put away her clothes screamed again, with a trembling voice, saying that Liu Yan had died!
My mind was suddenly struck by lightning. I came to my senses and hurried to my grandfather's side room to find out what the evil spirit was . I pushed and shouted, and finally woke him up.
After hearing my incoherent talk, my grandfather came to his senses immediately. His face looked very ugly, and he didn't even bother to put on his shoes and ran to the new house barefoot.
It was already late at night, and the villagers were afraid of getting into trouble, so they quickly dispersed. Only me, my grandfather, my uncle, and the dead Liu Yan were left in the house.
"Get down on your knees, you beast!"
Grandpa frowned, looked angry, and scolded my uncle.
Although my uncle usually disobeyed my grandfather's wishes, now that someone has died, he is so scared that he dares not disobey, so he kneels beside the bed.
I don’t know if it was my illusion or what, but I suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop a lot. “Grandpa, what should we do now?”
I was still young at that time, and I was afraid of getting anxious, so I grabbed the corner of my grandfather's clothes and dared not let go.
Grandpa pushed my hand away, walked over to take a look at Liu Yan's dead face, and then said, "She died on her wedding night, with her eyes open, wearing a red dress and embroidered shoes, and she absorbed Yang energy, so she must have become a fierce ghost."
As Grandpa spoke, he took out a bottle of red powder from his pocket and poured some into Liu Yan's nostrils, eyes, mouth, and ears.
Later I learned that this is called cinnabar to suppress evil spirits, and it is most effective against evil spirits that have not yet taken shape and are trapped in the human body.
"Go and find Li Zhongfu quickly, otherwise we will all die when midnight comes." Grandpa put the porcelain bottle into his pocket and said solemnly.
My uncle and I did not dare to delay and quickly turned around and ran to Li Zhongfu's house. When we arrived, Li Zhongfu had fainted on the ground and he would not wake up even after being called for a long time. My uncle had no choice but to carry him all the way to my house.
"Girl Liu Yan, I really didn't expect something like this to happen today. I've found the person who hurt you. You can do whatever you want to him. I just ask you not to hurt my son and grandson."
Grandpa held three incense sticks in his hands, kneeling in front of the bed, repeating this sentence over and over again. My uncle and I huddled together tightly, not daring to breathe, because Grandpa was a coroner. He often deals with ghosts and monsters, and as his family members, my uncle and I are naturally somewhat exposed to them.
Not long after, a strong wind suddenly blew in the house. I subconsciously covered my eyes with my arms. When the wind stopped and I took my arms away, I saw my grandfather and my uncle both lying on the ground. I didn't know whether they were alive or dead. , and Li Zhongfu’s body was nowhere to be found, which really scared me.
When I recovered and ran over to test my grandfather and uncle's nose, I saw Liu Yan slowly sitting up on the bed, her red lips slightly parted, and she made a harsh sound: "Why didn't you save me? Why did you look at me?" I am dying, why…"
I was so scared that I screamed "Ah", but then I opened my eyes and saw my grandfather and uncle standing next to me, their faces full of concern and anxiety.
"Grandpa, uncle, I'm so glad you're all okay." After all, I was still too young, so I threw myself into my grandfather's arms and started crying.
Grandpa patted my shoulder and said kindly, "Silly child, what could have happened to us? Just now a gust of wind suddenly blew in the room, and when we opened our eyes, we saw you lying on the ground unconscious."
It didn’t matter whether this was a dream or who fainted first. I hurriedly asked Grandpa, “Where’s Li Zhongfu, and where’s Aunt Liu Yan?”
Grandpa looked at me, sighed again, and said, "Liu Yan's body disappeared inexplicably, and she took Li Zhongfu with her, but she didn't stop me from finishing the incense burning, which means she promised not to hurt you."
I breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what my grandfather said. Since it was already midnight and I was very sleepy, I went back to sleep.
The next morning, my uncle suddenly yelled, and I woke up. I quickly got up and ran out to take a look. I was scared to death. My grandfather was hanged under the eaves. There was a The overturned bench was enough to prove that he hanged himself.
But after my grandfather died, my family was very peaceful until my uncle grew old and I had a family. Then he told me the secret that he had hidden for decades.
It turned out that when my grandfather used incense to pray to Liu Yan, he only begged Liu Yan to let me and my uncle go, and did not mention himself, because as a coroner, he knew very well that if someone in my family did not die, Liu Yan's grievances would definitely be It wouldn't disappear, so he sacrificed himself in exchange for the safety of me and my uncle.