Seventeenth Day (6) The Curse Arrives

  This morning was probably the most relaxed one in my life. In the past, I lived a muddled and aimless life, not feeling that life was very passionate. People say that you only appreciate what you have when it's gone. After experiencing the countdown of my life, I suddenly realized how much I yearn for life, how afraid I am of death, and how afraid I am of being stuck at 25 years old forever.

  Those who have never been around the edge of death always speak lightly of it.

  If you asked me if I was afraid of death, my past self would say that life is suffering from the start, so why fear death when you're already afraid to live? If you ask the current me, I'd say I'm scared, extremely scared.

  So this morning I was very relaxed, the ticking sound in my ear disappeared, and the friends who should be cursed were standing in front of me, although still trapped in these deep mountains, but with bosom friends around me, these deep mountains and old forests are a good choice for a class reunion.

  But I had always had a sense of uncertainty in my heart until I heard someone shouting that there was a dead person hanging from the pagoda tree.

  Everyone is here, this person can only be Xiaobudian.

  I've always had this sense of uncertainty, and when I heard the news, I rushed out without thinking, while others were only half a beat slower than me. After all, everyone here has experienced so many strange things, and their tension can't be much less than mine.

  It's not raining outside anymore, but the mountain road is full of stones and very slippery after several days of rain. I don't know how Jin Sanpang and others ran back, but judging from their disheveled appearance, they must have fallen many times on the way.

  The inn was on the edge of the village, and the pagoda tree was in the center of the village. This distance is not considered too far. The location of the inn was high, so to speak, when we saw the pagoda tree, we had already seen a figure hanging from it from afar.

  When I saw the figure, my foot slipped and I fell to the ground, rolling several times before scrambling back up. It seemed like I didn't feel any pain; my mind was a complete blank, with only that figure in my eyes.

  That figure looks just like Xiaobudian.

  At this moment, it can no longer be said to be a premonition. This seems to be an answer that is certain and without doubt.

  I was quite confident in this answer, but I also doubted it in my heart, because I didn't know if this was another bottomless joke that the group of friends had played on me.

  I ran over, the first to arrive under the locust tree. I looked up at Little Not's face, and suddenly remembered that night when I came back here, Little Not had hidden in this tree and talked to me. Little Not seemed to have never grown up, not only was he small in stature, but also lively and mischievous in personality. We hadn't seen each other for so many years, just last night we had a drink together, but I really treated him like my little brother.

  He is a lovely big boy, very lively, quick-witted and easy to get along with, subverting the image of programmers I saw online.

  But at this moment, the lively and boisterous big boy could only hang from the tree, swaying back and forth with the wind. His leather shoes fell to the ground, lying crosswise, covered in dry mud.

  I really wish this was a huge joke, but Xiao Didi's tongue was sticking out, his face was pale, and that paleness had a tinge of blue to it. I went up wanting to grab his hand, wanting to feel his pulse, but he fell too high, our fingertips barely touching, and that was all.

  A chill ran up my spine, I knew this wasn't a joke. If someone could really make such a joke, he must be the god of death, it must be the god of death laughing at us behind our backs.

  But I hope this is a joke, a huge joke, a joke that can scare me to death.

  I hope Xiaobudian comes back to life, hoping he would suddenly struggle on the tree and say to me, "Scared you, didn't I?"

  I looked at Xiaobudian's face, it was a dead man's face, from any angle, it belonged to a dead man.

  I felt a little unbearable and also a bit scared, so I turned my body around. Just then, the person behind me ran over and caught sight of Xiao Pang's face in an instant, and I felt like my brain was buzzing. Right, this must be a joke, that bastard Xiao Pang scaring me without any bottom line.

  I grabbed Xiao Pang's collar and pointed at Little Dian, saying "Tell me, is this your joke? Tell me, are you trying to scare me?"

  Xiao Pang's face was pale, he stood there, his body trembling. Xiao Pang's body trembled violently, he absolutely wasn't a brave person, if he wasn't afraid, then his expression could really be called the king of actors.

  I grasped his collar tightly, my eyes already blurry, I growled in a low voice, "Tell me, is this you guys' damn joke? Alright, alright, I give up, I'm scared. You guys hurry up and laugh loudly, then let Xiao Bu come down. Let him come down. I give up."

  So many days of oppression have kept my spirit on the verge of collapse, and I haven't collapsed because I've been holding my nerves tight all along. But last night they gave me a perfect explanation, gave me beautiful hope, and made my nerves relax.

  Then they gave me another fatal blow.

  I have thoroughly surrendered, I am conquered by fear. In these days, I saw a lot of death, but they were all someone else's and had nothing to do with me. Although I was also sighing and fearing, I ultimately watched the whole process like an outsider watching a play. Although I was also afraid, I always felt that this thing behind my back had no connection with me at all.

  But at this moment, Xiaobudian died, he hanged himself on this tree, just like the Roc hanged itself in the ancient temple.

  This is also a beginning, it's the death knell blown by the Death God for us, but why? Why did he choose this particular moment?

  I looked at Little Ai, Little Ai has always been sympathetic towards me, she knew I was really scared and would definitely let me off.

  But Xiao Ai didn't look at me, she covered her mouth and stared at the little dot on the locust tree in shock. I saw tears as big as beans falling from her eyes nonstop, she was completely frightened, and she didn't know it was a play either.

  I looked at the second donkey again, and he furrowed his brow. He didn't look at the locust tree, but instead turned around to look behind the crowd. I followed his gaze and saw Ma Tiancheng and the dwarf slowly walking towards us from behind, still not reaching the front of the locust tree.

  I looked down at the little fatty in front of me, but he didn't look at me. He was staring at the little not on the tree beside my body, his body trembling with fear and panic all over his face.

  I loosened my grip and fell to the ground, I looked up at Xiao Pang and said, please, tell me this is a joke, this is a play you've arranged, you're a genius director. Please, tell me.

  Fengyue walked over, she squatted beside me and said in a low voice, "Your friend is already dead. It seems the murderer not only kills our people, but also yours. Hurry up, be a man, think about why he suddenly killed you guys."

  I sat there shaking my head and said to Fengyue, "This is all fake, it's just my friend playing a joke on me."

  Fengyue pressed down on my shoulder, then leaned in close to my ear and said, "I guarantee this isn't a joke. Your friend is already dead. No one takes murder as a joke. Listen to me, hurry up and get up, think carefully about what's going on."

  I shook my head, letting Fengyue pull on my arm. She was using a lot of force, but I forcefully shook off her grip and said to Fengyue, "In this godforsaken place, do you need a reason to kill someone? Let me tell you, just like you guys, these are all ghosts, ghosts that are killing us one by one. At first, I thought the students' deaths had nothing to do with me, I thought my own death and yours were two parallel lines, but now it seems no one can escape."

  Feng Yue stood there and said to me, "Everyone has a damn reason for dying, no one dies without cause. What the hell did you guys die for?"

  I shook my head, I didn't know, I really didn't know, at this moment all I knew was that Xiaobudian had died.

  The two donkeys finally waited for Ma Tiancheng to walk over and said, "Brother, what's wrong with this?"

  Ma Tiancheng took a look at Xiaobudian, then said, "Let's put the person down first. The village is not peaceful, you also know that these days, many people have died in the inn, I think there might really be some kind of murderous evil spirit lurking around here."

  The two donkeys hummed and walked over to grab Xiao Buzhi's leg, lifting it up with force, but the rope around his neck didn't loosen.

  The two donkeys said to Ma Tiancheng, "Brother, why not get a ladder?"

  Ma Tiancheng nodded and said, I'll go get it.

  I looked at the little dot on the tree, and then I saw the second donkey hugging the little dot's leg. Suddenly, it got up from the ground and shouted loudly: "Don't move! Don't move! Nobody move!"

  Everyone was startled by my shout, and the second donkey suddenly let go of Xiaobudian's leg. I walked over to Er Luosi and said, "How tall are you?"

  Two donkeys said, what did you say?

  I said, how tall are you, one meter eight?

  Two donkeys said, "Hmm, 1 meter 82."

  I'm asking, is Xiaobudian around 1.65 meters tall? Answer me, is he or isn't he?

  No one knows what I want to say, they stare at me blankly, I've gone crazy, spinning around in a circle on the ground, looking at Little Ai, I said, Little Ai, isn't your height about the same as Xiao Bu Dian's? How tall are you?

  Xiao Ai said, I am 1 meter 65, I compared with Xiaobudian, almost the same.

  I pointed at Xiaobudian and said to Er Luosi, "You hold onto his leg again, hurry up and hold on."

  The two donkeys stupidly hugged Xiao Budo's leg, turned their heads to me and said, "You won't think I killed Xiao Budo, will you? I grew up with him since childhood, I absolutely wouldn't..."

  I waved my hand and took a few steps back, saying to Little Fatty, "Did you see that?"

  Xiao Pang shook his head and said, "What do you want to say? It can't be Er Zhu Zi, our relationship is very good."

  I pointed to the two donkeys and Little Dantian, then said to Little Fatty, "Did you see that? The second donkey can only hold onto Little Dantian's leg. Look again, there are many other tree forks around this one, some taller, some shorter, so why is it specifically this one?"

  Xiao Pang said, how would I know? What exactly do you want to say?

  I said, Er Duzi is 1.8 meters tall, he only held onto Xiaobudian's calf, Xiaobudian is 1.65 meters tall, Er Duzi's head just reached the position of Xiaobudian's buttocks, I think there is a difference of 1.2 meters, what do you think? You all think carefully, why when a person hangs himself to death, his shoes are still on the ground, why? Why are his shoes on the ground?

  Xiao Pang said, what do you mean?

  Xia Ai covered her mouth and exclaimed on the side, "You mean Xia Bu Dian is exactly three meters above the ground?"

  When the word "three meters" came out, others didn't think much of it, but we were all scared. The second donkey suddenly jumped to one side, and Xiao Pang pointed at Xiaobudian and then at Er Duzi, saying with a crying tone, "It seems like it's really three meters, it seems like it's really three meters."

  Others didn't understand, Ma Tiancheng was just called by me and kept turning around to look at me. He walked over and said, "What does three meters mean? Do you know the murderer?"

  I shook my head and said I didn't know who the murderer was, but Sanmi is a curse to us.

  Xiao Pang said, "No way, those are all scams, I made them up to trick you."

  I slapped my forehead and said, right, right, you all deceived me. You said that the contents of the time-space pouch had been changed at first, what exactly did you change? Is it different from this one?

  The little fatty shook his head dazedly and said, "That piece of paper has been in the box for too long, we can't mail it to you, so we just kept it and copied down the wishes on it. The ones about us are all true. Only Xiao Ai's... she said at the time that it would affect the overall plan a bit... so we didn't write it."

  I was stunned for a moment, then said, "Isn't Xiaoyi's wish to marry me?"

  Xiao Ai said, you're thinking beautifully.

  Xiao Pang'er shook her head and said in a low voice, "Her wish is... hoping everyone can reunite again, and then each person can fulfill their own wishes... She... Xiao Bu Dian... she..."

  Xiao Pangzi kept pointing at Xiao Buzhen and Xiao Ai, as if his tongue had been swallowed.

  Xiao Ai's face turned pale, her body went limp, I stretched out my hand to hold her waist, she leaned on my shoulder and said, "Is it my wish that killed Little Not?"

  I shook my head and said, perhaps our curse was never lifted, it just needed a trigger ceremony, which is our reunion.

  Xiao Ai said, but she is my sister...

  I'm saying your sister has arrived in a certain sense, right? You've been pretending to be a big shot all along, haven't you?

  Xiao Pang said, "No way, I made all those up, I was just trying to scare you."

  I let out a sigh and stood there, staring straight at Xiaobu.

  He effortlessly achieved his wish, he had a three-meter stature, he could forever become a small giant, he died easily on this tree, leaving us with eternal fear.

  Xiao Ai pulled my arm and whispered, what should we do?

  I didn't answer her, but instead gently placed my index finger on my lips and said, "Did you hear that?"

  Xiao Ai said, what did you hear?

  I said, tick-tock, tick-tock, did you hear the ticking sound? Did you hear it? Did you hear it?

  Xiao Ai's face turned pale as she said to me, "Don't scare me."

  I smiled and shook my head. At this moment, the ticking sound permeated my entire world. I could no longer hear any other sounds. The whole world was left with only the ticking sound.

  Listen, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

  Happily as if Death itself was knocking on the door.

  I still have seventeen days of life, what about my friends?

  I don't know, all I know is this ticking sound is driving me crazy.

  Perhaps I will commit suicide before the god of death arrives, I am almost powerless to face everything again, especially after experiencing yesterday's illusion.

  Since you've made me desperate, why give me hope?