The New Year is about escaping from a monster called Xi. Everyone knows that the Nian monster is afraid of light, red and loud noises. According to this theory, it can't be overwhelmed. A string of 800 small firecrackers can deal with it. I have no idea about this thing. The New Year is just a transition from one year to another. In the past, there were red envelopes to be received, but now, except for the increase in age, nothing else has increased.
When my mother found out that I was not going back for the New Year, she complained a lot, but she still brought me some pickled New Year goods and new clothes. Bai Yi also received the New Year goods from home, and we were busy stringing up the pickled things and hanging them on the window. Southerners like to eat pickled duck and bacon during the New Year. So I like pickled things very much, and there must be sausages and salted duck in the New Year's Eve dinner. Although Bai Yi is also from the south, it is obvious that his family has a light taste, so they just brought some seafood.
My mother also brought me a red blessing sticker for the door, and told me to put it up on New Year's Eve. But I thought it was too troublesome, and thought it would be the same to put it up now. So I asked Bai Yi to stick the blessing character on the door. He is half a head taller than me, and I usually feel uneasy inside, so now is a good opportunity to use him. While peeling peanut shells, I looked at the position of the door sticker to see if it was biased. Although I am not good at everything, I studied art after all, and I am particularly sensitive to the placement of the sticker. After a long while, Bai Yi's hand holding the blessing sticker began to tremble. He turned around and said to me: "Are you ready? If you go any further, I will become a gibbon." I ignored him, bit the peanut kernel, and compared the position with my hand. After I saw that it was stable, I nodded and said to Bai Yi: "There, stick it on!"
After Bai Yi finished applying the stickers, he shook his arms, glanced at me and said, "Do I have to apply this thing so carefully?"
I chewed some peanuts and nodded seriously, saying, "Of course, good fortune comes! How could you, an intellectual with a lot of knowledge, not know this?"
He shook his head helplessly, without saying anything, and went back to the house to clean up the ancient books that were scattered everywhere in the past few days. After the incident with the double happiness ghost, Zhao Yunyun came to our place several times, and brought something every time. Thanks to her, the peanuts in my hand were sent by her.
Bai Yi put all the books into the box, and he usually only put some popular dictionaries and history books on the bookshelf. All those weird things were stuffed under the bed. It saved space. At this time, he suddenly thought of something and turned to me and said, "Do you know that another function of the door sticker is actually to avoid the Nian beast?"
I nodded and said, "I know, it's Xi, so New Year's Eve is also called New Year's Eve. It means to kill the monster Xi."
He frowned unhappily, then shook his head and said, "The Nian Beast is not as violent as you think. Its existence is very important. Its function is to guard the last solar term of the year. Humans cannot kill it at all. They can only drive it away or escape from it."
As soon as I heard the story, I threw the peanut shells in my hand into the trash can, clapped my hands and said, "What? There is such a saying?"
Bai Yi pushed up his glasses and said to me, "Xi actually originated from the Dragon Palace in the deep sea. It only comes to the human world on the last day of every year. It is actually a kind of dragon. You can also say that it is of the same clan as the Qionglong."
I found this interesting, so I asked, "So this thing is actually a dragon?"
He nodded and said, "It belongs to the dragon clan, but it is not a dragon. I died early because I studied history . The dragon clan has many side branches, so a dragon gave birth to nine sons, each with a different temperament. But they cannot be called dragons."
I sighed and said, "No matter how nervous we are, it's still a man-eating monster. No matter how noble its status is, everyone will avoid it."
Bai Yi lowered his head in thought and didn't respond to my words. I saw that he didn't want to continue chatting with me, so I turned on the computer and prepared to go online. Nowadays, the New Year really doesn't have much flavor. Everyone squats in front of the monitor from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Who has the energy to do so many customs?
At this time, a message popped up on QQ. I clicked it out of curiosity. It said that a bronze tripod with an animal face was salvaged in the Yellow River Basin. It was exhibited in the city's history museum today. According to experts, it was a sacrifice used to worship the Yellow River in the pre-Qin period. "There were also several photos of the tripod in the message, including photos of the salvage site. To be honest, this antique is just a piece of copper in my eyes. I guess it's better to sell it to an old man in a scrap recycling station.
Bai Yi also came over to read the news. He read more and more carefully, and finally he pushed me aside and sat in front of the display screen. He saved the picture and enlarged it. Then I could see that there was indeed a monster with tentacles engraved on the copper lump. I couldn't tell whether it was a lion or a tiger. Anyway, because it had been soaked in water for a long time, the pattern had become very blurry.
I said, "Why, Lao Bai, you also study cultural relics, you are really a talent!"
He lowered his head and muttered, "They actually dug this out. I guess that thing should have come out earlier." So he closed the message, nodded and said, "You continue to play . I died early studying history . I'm going out for once."
I turned around and asked, "Where are we going?"
He had already put on his coat and said without turning his head, "Let's go to the museum."
When I heard that, I immediately stopped him and said, "Come back, come back. Look at the time. When you get there, the door will be closed."
He looked at the wall clock, then sat back down helplessly, looking a little strange. Seeing how much Bai Yi cared about this thing, I asked, "What is the title of that piece of copper… oh no, bronze artifact?"
He shook his head and said, "I'm not sure. I can't see the original appearance of the copper lump. I want to see the real thing, but now I can only wait until tomorrow…" Then he opened the picture again, but the picture was too blurry and the pixels were very low. Once it was enlarged, it turned into mosaics. In the end, Bai Yi had no choice but to give up.
After a busy afternoon, we had to clean up the house and prepare New Year's goods. We just had some dumplings for dinner. All the delicious food was saved for New Year's Eve. This is a Chinese tradition. On the last day of the year, everyone cooks a very rich meal. Even if you are poor, you have to make one or two meat dishes. In fact, the New Year's Eve dinner not only reunites, but also has the function of predicting the next year's fortune. If you eat well, you will have a peaceful and prosperous next year.
When I looked at the drunken chicken and pickled duck hanging on the window with satisfaction, I began to look forward to having two bowls of cold dishes to eat on New Year's Eve. Bai Yi usually goes to bed earlier than me, so when I went to bed, he was already asleep. A good habit formed in the dormitory is to keep the noise down when others are asleep so as not to wake them up. I crawled into the bed and reached out to turn off the light when I suddenly heard a knock on the door. The sound was very slow and weak. Bai Yi turned over and was not woken up. I reluctantly called out someone, and then the sound disappeared. I wondered for a moment. Although I was a little confused, who would be willing to open the door to see what was going on in such a cold weather? So I cursed in a low voice and turned off the light and lay down.
It actually started to rain at midnight, and the wind was particularly strong. In the quiet environment, the whistling sound of the wind seemed particularly noisy outside. I vaguely heard the sound of raindrops hitting the window glass. I was worried that the New Year goods that had just been hung out would get wet. So I turned over and was about to get out of bed to move those things into the house. Suddenly, I found that there seemed to be a person squatting at the window. I was startled for a moment, and I didn't dare to make a sound, but just turned over. The person felt me moving and trembled, and the head of a drunk chicken rolled over. I saw that the head of the drunk chicken was gnawed. The weirdo was still huddled by the window, holding the New Year goods that we had just hung up during the day.
Bai Yi turned over and turned his face towards me, still sleeping soundly. The weirdo was less than ten centimeters away from him. If he rushed down, no matter how powerful Bai was, he would not be able to escape. At this time, we couldn't make too much noise, otherwise the squatting weirdo would do something unknown. At least he just ate a chicken alive, and who knows if he would eat a person alive.
I lowered my voice and called out, but Bai Yi was obviously sleeping soundly and didn't feel the weirdo behind him at all. Since he had food, the weirdo still focused all his energy on the New Year's goods and had no intention of attacking us. I guess Bai Yi was very tired from tidying up the house today and slept soundly. Even with the loud chewing sound of the monster behind him, he was still sleeping! I was scared and distressed. He had eaten all the New Year's goods, and it was estimated that the minced meat was stained with his saliva. Because of the rain, the room was dark and I couldn't see his face clearly. There was only a black shadow squatting at the window. It felt that his body was very large, but it was different from an animal because he was wearing clothes and a very strange tall hat on his head. There was a strong earthy smell coming from his body. And this is the second floor. It was incredible that he could climb up without any protection.
The weirdo was pulling the bacon. I was afraid the rope was not secure, so I strung it with wire. He had a hard time pulling it. It was tied very tightly. The weirdo was pulling more and more violently, and the noise was getting louder and louder.
At this time, Bai Yi woke up slowly, and the weirdo noticed Bai Yi's movements. He leaned forward slightly, ready to pounce. I saw that if I didn't take action, Bai Yi would be in trouble. I picked up the pillow behind me and threw it at the window. However, due to the urgency, I didn't use enough strength, and the weirdo didn't hit the weirdo, but hit Bai Yi's face properly.
My head buzzed. It was over. Old White was going to get mad…
Bai Yi was fully awake. He probably hadn't figured out what was going on yet. He looked at me and yelled, "Why are you not sleeping at midnight? What the hell are you doing?"
The monster was right behind Bai Yi. After all the trouble, the weirdo focused all his attention on me. I had nothing to throw except a quilt.
The weirdo made a grinding sound. Bai Yi probably heard it too. He was very sensible and didn't look back. He just asked calmly, "Is there something behind me?"
I nodded seriously, my heart almost jumping out of my throat. Bai Yi also nodded, then quickly picked up the pillow, threw it back without looking back, and quickly leaned towards me. The weirdo didn't react and was hit directly, but the strange thing was that he didn't move at all, it felt like he was hit against the wall. I immediately turned on the light and found that there was no weirdo except chicken bones and meat pieces on the ground.
The windows were also closed. On the surface, the rain hit the glass, making a sound of drops, but there was indeed a persistent earthy smell in the air.
I rubbed my eyes. What happened before couldn't be an illusion. I looked at Bai Yi. He was cleaning the house and throwing the scraps of meat and bones into the trash can. He didn't look surprised. He was indeed a man who had seen a lot of things. He was very brave. I watched him clean up with admiration, so I asked, "Will that thing come back again?"
He nodded, and I looked at the pieces of meat on the ground. The force of the bite had crushed the bones into pieces, and there were bones like dregs everywhere. I resisted the urge to vomit and asked, "Is this thing a human?"
Bai Yi said: "I guess so. I didn't see it. But it seems like it will come again."
I looked at the empty window and said, "Again? What can I feed him next?"
Bai Yi smiled and said, "Aren't there still two of us alive?"
The next day, I guess no one would wait at the museum gate as early as we did. After the weirdo came last night, we didn't dare to sleep at all. The lights were on brightly and we stayed up until dawn. Bai Yi rushed to the museum early in the morning. I felt that this incident was definitely related to the weirdo last night. I had to follow him without him saying anything.
Because it rained yesterday and we came early, we were the first group of visitors to the museum and entered the empty exhibition hall. The light around was dimmed, giving people a distant and mysterious feeling. Particularly strange exhibits were placed in various positions. There was a special display sign under each cultural relic. The light shone on the cultural relics, giving them a wonderful halo. It was like a long-burning lamp in a gloomy tunnel. It is estimated that the designer wanted to give us a feeling that the Yellow River is a river of transformation, and these things are bright lights in the river. But in my opinion, there is an inexplicable sense of weirdness here. These things seem to have eyes, and they are looking at us and peeping at us in the gloom.
There is a huge introduction board at the entrance, which records a lot of information about the Yellow River Culture period of the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Since I bought a ticket to come in, I looked carefully, at least to broaden my horizons. However, Bai Yi only cared about the new bronze ware and didn't look at anything else. He is a history teacher. Before I had time to take a few glances, he dragged me away. The strange bronze ware was a highlight of this exhibition. So it was placed in a very special position. There were almost no other exhibits around. The whole dark space only had this huge copper lump. When I looked at the photo at the beginning, I didn't find it so special. But when I looked closely, it was indeed a very strange but very shocking bronze ware.
Its appearance is very rough and its size is huge. Although it feels like a tripod, its shape is very fresh. It looks exactly like a monster with its mouth wide open. In order to match this exhibit, a kind of chime music with a very deep sound is played around it. The rhythm is slow.
Bai Yi looked at the bronze vessel, and his expression changed slightly. He touched his chin out of habit, lowered his head, and thought about something. I wanted to look at it more carefully, so I walked around it and suddenly found a greasy handprint on the glass cover at the back.
I waved to Bai Yi, pointed at the mark and said, "Old Bai, do you think it's possible for this thing to come back to life?"
Bai Yi looked at me and said, "Do you think a piece of copper can come alive? Xiao An, all those years of studying have been in vain."
I ignored his sneer and frowned. Then I said to him, "So what do you think this thing is? Let me tell you first, since I met you, my understanding of the material structure of this world has changed a lot. Now if you point to a stone and say it is a child, I will nod and say maybe."
He smiled and said, "Don't be so exaggerated. This thing can never turn into a human, and a human can't turn into a copper block. But I guess this incident is indeed related to this thing."
I hate this kind of mysterious tone that keeps people on edge. Don't treat others like idiots. I said impatiently, "Just tell me what you know. Don't always tell me half the story. I'm not watching the Discovery Channel show, brother."
He sighed and said, "Why would I fool you? This thing is probably a demon-sealing cauldron. The thing sealed inside is a troublesome creature. You and I both know that thing, it is the Nian beast – Xi. The one that followed us home is just its spiritual connection."
I smiled foolishly and shook my head, saying, "Doesn't that thing only appear on New Year's Eve? How come it's so early? And it came to us without any reason. What the hell is going on?"
He nodded and said, "Since this thing is here, he can definitely appear at night. When it was not dug out, he could only appear on New Year's Eve. But now as long as the tripod is still there, he can move around wherever the tripod is. Of course, there is no so-called time limit issue."
I heard the result I least wanted to hear. When I came here, I was wondering what the event would be this time. I didn't want to encounter such fierce ghosts every time. I am just an ordinary person, an ordinary middle school intern art teacher.
Just when I was extremely frustrated, a black shadow suddenly flashed in the corner of my eyes, with a tall hat and all black. I suppressed my saliva, pulled Bai Yi's clothes and said, "I seem to have seen that thing…"
He nodded and said, "Well, this thing is always here. It seems that he thinks your New Year's gifts are good. I guess he will come back for another meal."
I had no intention of joking at this time. If such a thing really existed, I would rather go home for the New Year now. Not to mention that I couldn't buy a train ticket, I would walk back even if I had to. It's better than waiting here for that thing to come to me.
I grabbed Bai Yi's collar and said threateningly, "You are so capable, think of a way to drive that thing away for me!"
He shook off my hand, looked at the bronze vessel and said, "Humans have no ability of their own and have always relied on others. If it had not been dug out, it would have been buried at the bottom of the river forever. It would only come out once a year."
I glared at him. Why is this kid so rude? I yelled, "Don't underestimate me. Don't forget that you are a human being too!"
He was speechless, and we just stared at each other. The security guard standing in the distance had thought we were weird from the beginning, and now seeing that we were about to get away, he immediately ran over and asked, "What's wrong with you two? This is a public place, please be careful. Don't make too much noise and disturb other tourists."
Bai Yixian sighed and said, "Now that I've finished reading, I can talk about any questions when I get home."
I didn't say anything, but I felt uneasy just standing next to this strange thing. Moreover, after knowing that this was a demon-sealing cauldron, I felt that there was a sinister aura inside, and I didn't want to stay here for a moment.
Bai Yi said hello and followed me out, but I couldn't help but look back. Behind the security guard, there stood a cold black figure wearing a tall hat. I turned my head immediately. I was sure that thing would come again…