Chapter 3: Huang Pizi

  "Or this," said my father: "cover it with a piece of black cloth."

  According to my father's idea, after the coffin lid is closed, if the Wu family members are bullying and want to bury me alive, I think it would be difficult for me to escape. Even if the Wu family has no malicious intentions, I will suffocate inside and there is no way to remove the coffin lid to breathe in fresh air. But if only a cloth is covered, I think it would be much easier for me to jump out of the coffin.

  Old Wu thought for a moment and said: "Alright, let's use black cloth then."

  It seems that Old Man Wu is also a reasonable and understanding person.

  Then Wu Mu found a large black cloth and covered it over the coffin.

  Suddenly, it got even darker in front of me. I felt myself getting closer to the gates of hell again, as if I was really going to leave this world behind. I wanted to call out to my father not to go, but the words stuck in my throat. All I could do was hope that I would still be able to see tomorrow's sunrise, and at that moment, I deeply lamented the preciousness of life.

  Suddenly, a hand stretched in and I was startled. When I looked clearly, I found that it was my father who handed me a lighter.

  I don't know how long it took, but I felt the coffin move, and then a noise came to my ears: "Be careful! Slow down, slow down!"

  The coffin was lifted by sixteen people and slowly moved towards the empty land on the back mountain amidst a burst of gongs and drums.

  It can be imagined that behind the coffin, Wu's relatives and villagers were holding torches or flashlights, like a long dragon moving towards the back mountain, a spectacular scene.

  And Wu Lele and I lay in the coffin together, our bodies colliding from time to time with the swaying of the coffin. This coffin was both my and Wu Lele's wedding sedan chair, but this sedan chair was too strange, it was pitch black inside, I really worried that her hand would suddenly reach out to me, crawl onto my body to strangle my neck and suck my blood... The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became, and I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine.

  Later, I thought that some things don't exist at all. Many times we are just scaring ourselves. Instead of thinking about the terrifying aspects, I'd rather look at it from another angle. Wu Lele didn't die, if we make some small moves inside, will people outside know? For example, kissing... When I thought this way, my courage suddenly increased and the fear disappeared.

  It's really strange, when people are about to die, they become braver than at any other time.

  I lightly touched her, and she didn't respond. My hand involuntarily slid slowly towards her body. When I touched her arm, I hesitated again - she was already so ill, yet at this moment, I still wanted to touch her; what's the difference between me and a beast? I quickly withdrew my hand.

  Perhaps it was because of the poor road conditions or perhaps it was because the coffin was really too big and too heavy, they slowly and laboriously walked for over an hour before finally stopping.

  After those people put down the coffin and turned around to walk back, my father and Wu Mu wanted to stay here to keep watch, but were persuaded by Old Man Wu to return.

  As the last of them left, the surroundings suddenly fell silent. The only sound was the chirping of insects, as if they were playing a wedding march for us. I opened the black cloth a little, and the first thing that came into view was a round moon. The moonlight was bright and clear, like water pouring onto the coffin. I sat up, and it was then that I realized how eerily quiet everything was. Although I had been lying in the coffin for a while, suddenly finding myself outdoors on a dark night was still terrifying.

  I simply pulled the black cloth off the coffin and threw it to the ground, and moonlight immediately shot in. I looked at Wu Lele, she was still lying there quietly, as if indulging in a sweet dream.

  Is this how we "get married"? But can she really wake up?

  And on this long night, am I supposed to sit in this coffin for an entire evening?

  Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind me. My heart tightened and I quickly turned around to look, but there was nothing in front of me.

  But where did that sound come from just now?

  Is it a ghost?

  My heart suddenly jumped up, and at this time I suddenly discovered that this big coffin was also a safe harbor. I hated to hide inside and not come out, so my body unconsciously shrank into the coffin. Suddenly, I thought of the black cloth again, it had been thrown on the ground by me, and I plucked up the courage to pick it up. As soon as I stretched my hand out of the coffin, the cloth suddenly moved!

  Yes, the cloth is moving and heading towards a nearby thicket.

  I stared with my mouth agape, how could this cloth move? Has this piece of cloth become a spirit?

  I didn't notice that there was a bulge under the cloth, as if something was underneath. The bulging part was about the size of a cat, and it seemed like a small animal was crawling forward underneath. I realized that it was the thing under the cloth that was pulling it along.

  Is it a small animal?

  Since it's not a ghost, there's nothing to be afraid of. I jumped out of the coffin and rushed up to step on the cloth. The small thing under the cloth continued to move forward and soon drilled out from under the cloth. I took a closer look, and that little thing had a slightly round head, a long neck, a long body with short limbs. My heart skipped a beat, isn't this a Huang Pizi?

  That yellow-skinned kid suddenly discovered that the cloth was no longer on his body, so he raised his head and looked back, suddenly saw me, stunned for a moment, his whole body tensed up, his eyes wide open, vigilantly and full of hostility staring at me.

  This yellow-skinned monkey is about thirty centimeters long, with a long tail that turns upwards, its whole body covered in black fur, and a pair of eyes shining brightly.

  This is no ordinary yellow skin, looking at its slender figure it should be a female, and still the best of the yellow skin, but what does it do with my cloth? Is it a quilt?

  I slowly walked towards it, and it stared at me intently, not showing any fear, but its body slowly backed away. Suddenly, another yellow-skinned one appeared before my eyes, along with my childhood friend Big Black.

  Da Hei is called Da Hei, as the name suggests, this kid is very dark, like a black pot. He usually likes to set traps and iron chains on the mountain to catch wild beasts. Today, he actually caught a yellow-skinned monkey, and it was right behind our house, on a small hill.

  That yellow-skinned one's front left leg was clamped by the iron pliers, with blood flowing profusely. Dahei was extremely excited and ready to execute the death penalty on the yellow-skinned one. The yellow-skinned one looked at me pitifully with a pair of bright eyes, I saw its pitifulness and asked Dahei to let it go. Dahei naturally didn't want to, just then my father called me from inside the house, and afterwards I went home with my father to Wu Village. Now I don't know whether that yellow-skinned one is alive or dead.

  Yellow skin has the reputation of Huang Daxian, when Huang Daxian arrives, all life on earth must give way to three points, whether it is tigers, leopards, wolves, or fierce birds and venomous snakes! It's said that messing with yellow skin can lead to family ruin, few people have won against them because they're not stupid, science has proven that within a certain distance, they can control the human brain...

  But legend is just a legend, and tonight I've encountered this little thing, it's my good fortune. Tonight, lying in the coffin with Wu Lele won't be in vain, there must be some gain. If I catch this "Huang Xiangnu" and take it back, it won't be a waste of my hard work tonight. Thinking of this, I slowly picked up the black cloth, deciding to use it as a net to cover it, then wrap it up with the cloth.

  "Huang Xiangnu" seemed to have sensed the killing intent on me, turned around and ran. I shouted loudly and chased after her. "Huang Xiangnu" jumped into the air and disappeared into the grass thicket, nowhere to be seen.

  Should I just let it go like that? I felt a lingering sense of regret, took out the lighter my father gave me and lit it up. With the faint light, I searched ahead but naturally couldn't find anything. Feeling defeated, I could only hang my head in despair and walk back to the coffin, my heart feeling extremely stifled. If only I had caught it earlier and sold it for a good price in town!

  When I approached the coffin, I always felt that something was missing here. After thinking for a while, I remembered that the black cloth was gone!

  I was momentarily stunned, where did the black cloth go? Did it walk away by itself? I immediately thought of that "yellow immortal" from earlier, could it be that it played a trick on me, using a diversion to steal the cloth while I was away?

  Fortunately, the coffin was not taken away.

  I walked to the coffin in a huff, and when I looked inside, I was stunned again. There was clearly a black cloth in the coffin! Wasn't this the same black cloth that was covering the coffin? How did it get in there? Did "Huang Xiangnu" put it there? But did Huang Xiangnu's small body have such ability?

  Has anyone come?

  Suddenly, I felt something was off. This piece of cloth was very large and it was spread out flat in the coffin. Logically speaking, Wu Lele should be lying in the coffin with the cloth covering her body, so there should be a bulge somewhere, and you could even clearly see the outline of a person under the cloth. But this black cloth was flat, and at first glance, it seemed like there was nothing underneath.

  My heart sank suddenly, and I quickly pulled out the black cloth. When I took the black cloth out of the coffin, I was stunned to find that it was empty, and Wu Lele was gone!