When I heard the old woman say this, my scalp immediately tightened. The person has been buried for almost a month. What would he look like if he were dug out?
Several members of the Hou family went to the cemetery, and Mrs. Hou asked someone to take me to their home. The elm forest here is a workshop for making lanterns, and the real place where people live is ten miles away.
Along the way, I thought of all the ideas I could think of, but it was useless. The dark words of the man in the coffin seemed to have been imprinted on the heart of the old woman Hou, and she only wanted to have a ghost marriage. Within an hour, I was taken to the Hou family. The old woman Hou said that the family wanted to have a ghost marriage, but after all, it was a ghost marriage, which could not be put on the table. The Hou family cleaned a room in the backyard and locked me in.
"Boy, be honest. I don't ask your last name or your origin. It's fate that you are married to my granddaughter. When you die in the future, you two can continue your marriage in the next life." The old woman advised me through the window: "As long as you are honest, I will never let you suffer any loss."
"I beg you, please let me go." I pleaded desperately while clinging to the window.
"Either you marry me or I'll peel off your skin and make a lantern. It's your choice."
"Please, just kill me. I will remember your kindness even after I die." I dared not even think about what the consequences of a ghost marriage would be. The words of the person in the coffin made it clear that this must not be as simple as the ghost marriages that people in the river beach had. For me, death became the best outcome.
The old lady ignored me and left alone. There were people from the Hou family guarding the house, so I couldn't escape. I was like an ant on the hot pot in the house, unable to sit still or lie still.
Now, I have to think carefully about the person in the coffin. Where did she come from? I'm afraid nothing happens without a reason in this world. She even thinks killing me is a bargain for me. How big a grudge does this have?
I sat in the room until the evening, when the Hou family brought in the granddaughter who had been dug out of the graveyard. She had been buried for a month, but her body must have been filled with mercury before burial. Her body had not rotted, but her face was as white as if covered with a layer of white flour, with spots of mercury. The Hou family also changed her into a bright red wedding dress. When she moved in, an indescribable smell filled the room.
For a normal wedding on the river beach, a wedding banquet must be held and the heaven and earth must be worshipped before the ceremony is considered complete. But for a ghost marriage, there are not so many requirements. As long as the family members agree, the living and the dead can be put together in one room, and it is considered a success.
"Move away! Move away quickly!" I shrank into the corner, unable to tell whether I was afraid or disgusted.
"Why, do you think my granddaughter is not worthy of you?" The old woman was immediately unhappy. In her opinion, her granddaughter was the best. Even if she died, it seemed that I had taken great advantage of her by marrying her to me. "Look at you , why are you moving dead ants like an ant? I'm afraid you won't be honest in the future. Go, put him up."
Two big men came straight over and without saying a word, each holding an arm, dragged me to the old lady.
"People are afraid of their hearts not being there. If the heart is not there, then the body is useless." The old woman raised her hand, and there were a few long hairs in her palm: "This is my granddaughter's hair. I'll use it to make a heart-lock buckle for you, and see if you can still run away."
A few strands of hair were wrapped around my neck. I knew it was not a good thing, but I had no way to avoid it. The hair was tied into a knot at the back of my neck. A few strands of hair should have been light as a feather, but once the hair was tied into a knot, I felt as if an iron hoop was put around my neck, making it difficult for me to breathe.
"Let him go."
Plop…
As soon as the two big men let go, I felt like a mountain was pressing down on me, so heavy that I fell to the ground with a thud. All the energy in my body seemed to be drained away at once, and I had no strength at all.
"Let's go out and ask this guy to stay here and watch over Xiaoyue."
After the old woman took people out of the house, there were still people guarding outside. But even if no one was watching me at this time, I couldn't run away.
I was the only one left in the room with the "bride" who had just been dug out of the grave. I slowly crawled to the corner and sat against the wall. I could no longer touch the few strands of hair that were tangled around my neck. My whole body felt heavy and I felt indescribably uncomfortable.
I spent the night in this room filled with a faint stench, and the next day, someone brought me food. I thought to myself that the whole night had passed, and the "bride" should be buried back in the cemetery by the Hou family.
"Give up on this idea." The Hou family member who delivered the meal looked down on me and snorted coldly, "Xiaoyue will stay in this room. You stay here with him. You are lucky. You don't have to do anything. You are provided with food and drink every day."
"How long will it take!?"
"I'll be with you until the end of the world, until the seas run dry and the rocks crumble. Haha." The man who brought the food laughed and left.
My heart was churning and I had a bad feeling. It looked like the Hou family had no intention of letting me go and was going to keep me here until I died.
I knew this, but I was powerless to resist. I stayed in this room for three days, and I felt worse and worse. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and my chest felt like something was blocking it. I vomited blood once, and the blood was black.
I have never been so miserable. I dare not think that if I am locked up in this room and spend every day with the granddaughter of the Hou family, I will slowly go crazy. Sometimes, I even think of dying, but I am still young. If it is not a last resort, I really don't want to die.
Two days later, it was the August Festival. At dinner time, the old lady Hou asked someone to deliver mooncakes. Before the person who delivered the mooncakes left, the sky suddenly became overcast, and a large dark cloud floated straight from the east and floated all the way to the front yard of the Hou family.
The full moon was suddenly blocked, and the dark cloud floated to the front yard, almost pressing down on the roof. The cloud was full of lightning, and with two loud bangs, two thunders fell straight down.
A house was immediately destroyed, and the people in the front yard shouted loudly, but in an instant, all the sounds were drowned out by the roaring thunder. Thunder and lightning flashed in the floating dark clouds, and fell like rain.
"Such a big thunder…" I looked through the window, my right eyelid twitching. In my entire life, I have never seen a thundercloud that came so quickly and was so fierce.
"This thunder is not right!" The two people delivering the mooncake stepped out of the house: "The thunder seems to be coming to collect something!"
According to folklore on the river beach, thunder is the most masculine and masculine thing in the world, and it is specially designed to overcome all kinds of evil. Sometimes, if something is too noisy or goes against the will of heaven, heaven will send down yang thunder to subdue it. This kind of thunder is different from the thunder and rain in normal thunderstorms, and it is called heavenly punishment.
The dark clouds almost never stopped, floating from the front yard to the back yard. No one dared to withstand the power of the thunder. Wherever the dark clouds went, everyone fled in panic.
Boom!!!
When the dark clouds were about to float to the house, thousands of lightning bolts crackled and fell. The closer the distance, the stronger the thunder became. The guards outside the house could not withstand it and ran away in a panic.
The thundercloud ignored everyone else and continued to drift towards me. When I wanted to run away, I was a step too late. A dark cloud floated above the room, and the lightning was like rain, fierce and terrifying.
Bang bang…
Even the strongest house could not withstand such a violent thunderbolt. In the time it took to catch its breath, half of the house was struck down, and the beams and roof collapsed. As long as I looked up, I could see the flashing lightning above my head. The clouds floated above the house and stopped moving. The crackling lightning intertwined into one, and a stronger thunderbolt could strike at any time.
It was not until this time that I vaguely realized that this dark cloud was coming towards me. It was God who wanted to take me away!