The First Part Chapter 2 The Mysterious Village (4)
"A midnight wedding?" I said incredulously, but apparently my guess was a weak one.
Old Jin laughed and then said something that made my heart skip a beat, "Hehe, there's something you might not know. When we just entered the village, how many households did you see? But I'll tell you, those people left the village long ago. So for a very long time now, our household has been the only one left in the village. That's why I found that sound of gongs and drums so strange."
I nodded: "So it was!"
Old Jin let out a long sigh and said, "Yes, so at that time my heart was hanging in the air. I've also lived more than half of my life, experiencing countless winds and rains. But that night, I really got a shock. And amidst the sound of gongs and drums, there were actually several people's loud laughter. I immediately signaled to Tang Jun to extinguish the kerosene lamp in the house, and pulled out the chopping knife pressed against the edge of the bed. This knife was passed down from my ancestors, and when my dad joined the guerrilla team, he cut off many Japanese dogs' heads with it, and the dog's blood should also be able to ward off evil! Tang Jun usually didn't hunt, but since childhood, he had been doing farm work, having a strong physique. At this time, he also sensed that something was wrong, took out the dagger from his waist, ready for any situation.
Tang Jun saw my panic and quietly opened the door, holding a dagger as he slowly moved out. "Dad, stand still in the house, there's nothing at our doorstep." This was already within my expectations. I sat in the house with a knife, feeling annoyed, and the night passed. The next morning when I got up to cook, I found Hongying still sleeping, so I started preparing food. However, I discovered that something was off in the house, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Suddenly, I remembered that we originally had three water jars at home because this village only had a well at the entrance, so we prepared several jars and went to fetch water every few days, which could be used for a long time. But now, there were only two water jars in the house. Old Jin's head said as he lightly licked his dry, cracked lips.
"Tang Jun seemed to have noticed something too, and expressed his doubts: 'Dad, I'm a light sleeper, if someone sneaks in, I'll definitely notice. The water tank isn't small, and the three tanks were just filled with water yesterday. Now there's not even a drop of water on the ground. If someone wanted to steal those three tanks, at least three or five strong young men would need to work together to lift them. There's no way I wouldn't have heard anything, let alone the fact that there are no footprints on the ground.'"
"Yes, we hunters have always relied on observing animal tracks to follow the trail of our prey, so we are extremely sensitive to footprints." Old Jin's words made my heart hang completely.
"All day long, I was worried about the fate of those two children. Hongying woke up, but she kept shouting that she was thirsty and hardly ate anything, only drinking water. Jindouzi cried all day and night because he had no breast milk, but Hongying seemed to treat this child as if he were air, not caring about him at all. This exhausted us two men, and we finally managed to feed the hungry child with millet porridge after a whole day and night without food."
"So, the day finally passed, and that night I extinguished the kerosene lamp early, holding a knife in my hand, leaning against the edge of the kang. If I heard that sound again today, I was ready to rush out and take a look." Old Jin said with a slight cough.
"How was it that night?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Has it happened again?" I asked further.
The old man fell silent again, heaved a sigh, and then said in a smooth tone: "The second night passed without hearing that noisy suona sound, everything was very quiet. I leaned against the wall with my knife, and dozed off in a daze, vaguely hearing a 'yi ya' sound in my sleep, like an actress singing on stage, only lacking accompaniment. The voice was extremely piercing, as if it had directly drilled into my brain. I suddenly woke up with a start, but the 'yi ya' sound still lingered in my ears. Listening carefully, the sound seemed to be coming from the door again. I thought, can't hesitate anymore. So I took my knife and rushed out. With one kick, I opened the door, only to find that Tang Jun was standing motionless in the middle of the courtyard, staring blankly at some place. And the sound I had just heard suddenly became as faint as a strand of silk, seemingly drifting through the mountains."
