When we were young, we didn't have many places to play, but the older brothers had many tricks. They often took us to hide in the remote corners of the square and played VCDs. They drew the beginning and the end. It was said that they could summon a ghost to complete a contract and help us do anything. This was probably because we saw the spirit of the pen too much. Unfortunately, we worshipped these things that we didn't understand as gods and worshipped them very much. We never doubted anything.
At noon when the sun was shining brightly, a brother called us together mysteriously and told us not to take a lunch break but to follow him to explore a treasure land. We were very excited and scared. We agreed on where to gather, and we would form a group of several people and keep a low profile… We took advantage of the school gate not being closed and quickly went out, jogging all the way, not to mention how happy we were. Fortunately, the journey was not very far. After about 10 minutes, we came to a construction site. I was a little disappointed. This was a little different from the paradise I had expected before. I looked at my brother, hoping that he could explain something. However, my brother looked very calm and didn't seem to be ready to speak. He pointed to the small mound in front of him and motioned for us to go over. We followed the order and left. A little friend screamed. Just as we were about to pull him to question him, we were also shocked. There was actually a cave here! No, to be precise, it was an air-raid shelter. We couldn't help wanting to go down, and someone stopped me. It turned out to be my best friend Xiao A. He warned me, "There is a lunatic down there, be careful." I was very curious, "How did you know?" "I came here before you, and saw that lunatic dragging a child in, and the child never came out later. So…" Xiao A seemed very scared. "Don't listen to what they say, there is nothing down there, if you don't believe me, I'll go down and show you, haha." At this time, my brother walked in front of us proudly and walked down. I took the opportunity to look inside. It was a downhill slope, and there was a fan at the end that was slowly turning, and from time to time there were gusts of cool breeze blowing across our cheeks. My brother probably walked a few steps, and he suddenly yelled, as if he had stepped on air, fell at the corner, and disappeared. We also yelled and planned to run away. Xiao A pulled me and ran, and after a few steps, my brother suddenly leaned against the entrance of the cave and shouted to us, "Little ghosts, come on! Run for what?" We slowly breathed a sigh of relief, walked back tremblingly, and looked at him steadily, as if we were looking at a monster.
We lined up. Since the cave entrance could only accommodate one person, we squeezed in one by one. The people behind us grabbed the shoulders of the people in front of us. After all, we were all scared. We turned a corner and walked deeper into the cave entrance . It was dark and we couldn't see anything. I vaguely heard someone crying and saying that he wanted to go back. My brother yelled from behind, "Why are you crying? If you cry again, you will be left alone here!" I was about to answer and persuade him, but I seemed to step on something. I looked down and saw a head! I screamed and danced. The people around me were scared. My brother came over and took out a lighter from somewhere. We looked at it with the light of the fire. It turned out to be models scattered on the ground. My brother laughed and ridiculed us, "Look at you bears. Forget it. Let's take a break first. This place is still very spacious. I'll look around first." I borrowed a lighter from my brother and touched the blurred calligraphy and paintings on the wall. It seemed to have a long history. There was a mural that caught my attention. A woman with long hair was kneeling on the ground with her head down, as if atonement. Next to her was a man with goat horns on his head holding a long whip, as if to whip her. There were also flying bats around, with bloody mouths wide open, looking very disgusting. Just as I continued to move towards the wall, the lighter went out. I muttered in my heart, no oil? I tried to relight it, but it didn't work. I simply covered the top of the lighter with my hand, fearing that the wind would affect it. It still wouldn't light, and I smelled a strong smell of motor oil. Xiao A blamed me, "Are you sick? You made such a big smell." "No oil, I don't want to." I shrugged and explained. I looked back at the mural and found that the left side was very bright. I walked over to the light and asked, "Brother, is that you?" No one paid attention to me, and there was still that gust of cool wind.
Little A seemed to have noticed something unusual. He pulled the corner of my clothes and asked me tremblingly, "Did you hear the laughter?" I tried to calm myself down and listened to the light. Really, Little A heard it right. It was laughter, and it was a girl's, the kind of silver bell-like laughter. I asked everyone behind to gather and be careful. We stared at the light in front of us, which was getting closer and closer. After a while, several girls with long hair came out from a corner with candles. We screamed at the same time and picked up the models on the ground and threw them at the "ghost girl". The "ghost girl" cursed, "Which bitch threw it?" At this time, I realized that we guessed wrong. Judging from the clothes she wore, she seemed to be a senior from a nearby school. Oh, it was a misunderstanding. My brother also walked over to her and apologized to her, saying that we were a group of bastards and asked her not to mind and said that we should go out together next time. We were completely speechless. I guess my brother was with them for so long? But they were really professional explorers with candles. Compared with our eye-catching play, they were really nothing to say. After they left, we followed my brother and continued to move forward towards the bright light. He introduced to us, "This used to be a city god temple. You can see the battlements on the upper floor. Later, during the Anti-Japanese War, this place was converted into an air-raid shelter. Come, be careful of the steps. You can go up and take a look." Suddenly looking up, the sunlight rushed into our eyes. The upper floor was far less attractive than the air-raid shelter below. It was a pile of ruins and bricks, and the battlements on the side were unevenly stacked, which was extremely shabby. The big tree next to it was bare and had a nest of wasps. It didn't look like a place to stay for long. We looked around and went down in shame. When my brother came out, he repeatedly emphasized, "Don't tell anyone here. This is our secret!" He made a promise and so on. It turned out that this became our after-school entertainment gathering place.
After this adventure, I always felt a little uneasy. It was not for anything else, but I felt that the mural was unusual and had an indescribable flavor. I discussed with Xiao A that we would go again, this time at night after school. He was so surprised that he couldn't speak. I guess he cursed me for being crazy more than a hundred times in his heart. After four classes, school was finally over. I didn't even want to copy my homework. I ran with my schoolbag on my back, not caring whether Xiao A could keep up. Xiao A ran behind me panting, and finally reached the entrance of the cave. He smiled bitterly, "Are you in a hurry to reincarnate?" I glanced at him, thinking that it was not for you to go back earlier. I stretched out my hand and said to him calmly, "Come on, for fairness, let's play finger-guessing. The loser goes down first." Xiao A scratched his head and agreed. I was really lucky. I lost. Xiao A wanted to laugh but held it back. I opened my schoolbag and took out the candles, lighters, and knives that I had prepared earlier. Little A looked at me in confusion, then at the knife. I shook the knife handle and stuck out my tongue at him, "Don't look at it. Even if a ghost comes, this is useless. I want to use it to dig something." Little A nodded and found something in his schoolbag. I grabbed it and asked, "What is this?" Little A was anxious and said to me word by word, "This is a treasure used to suppress ghosts, a peach charm!" I laughed. Could it be that we are here to catch ghosts today? I lit the candle, covered the flame with one hand, and slowly probed inside. I read in the book that if the candle goes out, it means that the yin energy below is heavy and it is not suitable for people to stay. I looked at Little A behind me. He kept chanting "Amitabha" and followed me with his eyes closed. I wanted to scare him, so I suddenly stopped and didn't move. He touched my back and shuddered, and asked in surprise, "What's wrong? Did you meet a ghost ?" Little A quickly took out the peach charm and waved it. I laughed so hard that I covered my stomach and slapped the wall. He was angry and looked at me hatefully. As I was tapping, I found something wrong with the wall. I remember that there were calligraphy and paintings on the wall last time I came. This time I brought a candle, but I couldn't see any traces. I tried to find the woman with long hair, but it was in vain. Little A was also looking for something with her head down. I wanted to ask, but I found that my throat seemed to be strangled by both hands, and I could only hum. Looking at the candle in my hand, the flame gradually became smaller, as if it was going to go out. I instinctively kicked him with my foot, but it was not Little A who looked up at me, but the woman on the mural! I looked at the wall in the weak candlelight, and Little A's panic was engraved on the wall, as if seeking help from me. My back felt cold and my whole body softened. I had given up the idea of escaping and waited for the arrival of death. The female ghost seemed to have no interest in me. She hovered around me for a few circles before flying away.
We both woke up in the hospital. Workers on the construction site found us lying at the entrance of the air-raid shelter and sent us to the hospital. The doctor said we just fell asleep. I was very puzzled, but I never dared to go there again. Xiao A later went to study in another place, while I went to junior high school locally. By chance, I heard a message on the radio: "… During the construction of Chenghuang Temple, the excavator dug out a lot of cultural relics, as well as a woman's coffin. Cultural relics experts have rushed to the scene to study its value…" It seems that the woman is the owner of the tomb. She has been guarding it and doesn't want to be disturbed by us. I wonder if the cold wind I encountered when passing by there again is her call?