Chapter 26: Heizhugou

  Dong Qinger stuttered and finally got the words out. The three of us old men didn't understand what she meant! What did Brother Qiang mean, was he going to take Dong Qinger into a grave or something? After Dong Qinger finished speaking, she raised her head and looked at us nervously. It could be seen that she was almost afraid to cry.

  Zhaofei Yu only symbolically comforted a few words. All said were things like "Don't be afraid, we will protect you". But to be honest, now we ourselves don't even understand what the situation is, how can we protect Dongqiz?

  The bed was still relatively clean, so the three of us let Dong Qingzi sleep first. I took a look at the time, it was 4 am, but none of us had much sleepiness. Zhao Feiyu pulled out a half-bottle of white wine from his backpack and waved it at me, saying magnanimously: Come on, let's go drink!

  Kong Yī and I exchanged a glance. Kong Yī chanted a Buddhist mantra, saying: Amitabha, this monk is an ordained person and cannot drink alcohol, please forgive me, benefactor.

  Zhao Feiyu cut in nonchalantly and handed the bottle of white wine to me. I looked at Zhao Feiyu, mimicked a pair of empty hands clasped together and said: Amitabha. Donor, this monk does not drink white wine.

  Zhao Feiyu looked at me and Kong Yat silently, opened the white wine bottle and took a big gulp. I could tell that Zhao Feiyu had something on his mind, so I took him outside, first to avoid disturbing Dong Qingzi's rest, and second because we three indeed had some information to exchange with each other.

  Zhao Feiyu walked while pouring himself a drink. We sat down at the entrance, and when Zhao Feiyu had drunk half of the bottle of white wine, leaving only one last mouthful, he slowly screwed on the cap.

  "Who starts first?" Zhao Feiyu put down the white wine beside him and said to us.

  "Whatever." I said casually.

  Zhao Feiyu furrowed his brow and said slowly: I'll start, you guys help me sort out my thoughts. From the beginning... after returning from Hei Zhu Gou, my master's personality changed a lot, which you all know. And it was also after returning from Hei Zhu Gou that he started playing hide-and-seek. We wouldn't see him for an entire year... At Hei Zhu Gou, there was that cave... I don't know if you guys still remember... That cave, the three of us didn't go in, so we don't know what happened inside. It was after Master and Mu Shu came out of that cave that people started to change. Maybe everything that's wrong started from that cave.

  I completely agree with what Zhao Feiyu said. Although it's been five years, I still remember why I didn't enter the cave... At that time, due to the death of some people in our team, Zhao Feiyu's mental state wasn't good. Originally, I was going to follow Old Man Guo and my dad into the cave, but they were afraid something unexpected would happen inside, so they left us three younger ones outside the cave. We waited outside for a whole day and night before they came out.

  When the two of them came out of the cave, we returned to the haunted building. It can also be said that the cave was where Mu Rong decided to dig out my seven-holed Linglong heart.

  Kong Yi just faintly murmured "uh-huh" and waited for Zhao Feiyu to continue speaking.

  Zhao Feiyu gazed up at the pitch-black sky and continued: "When Master started to disappear, there were only three of us left to rely on each other. Every time Master came back, it was either on the first or fifteenth day of the month. But this time wasn't... And when he came back this time, I could feel that he seemed very anxious. Moreover... When Master came back at that time, I was so excited that I went up to hug him. At that moment, although his whole body smelled of wine, I could sniff out that his body had the smell of a corpse. Do you know what I mean?

  Zhao Feiyu said, "Here we are again, stopping to ask us." We nodded, and Kong Yiren and I were also among those who had crawled out of the pile of corpses. Although we couldn't quite describe that specific smell, as people in this circle, we were naturally very sensitive to it.

  "Master is a man who follows the rules, for example, when he makes an appointment, he always comes back on either the first or fifteenth day of the month. So if it's not one of those days, he absolutely won't appear until then. I've been feeling like this time he appeared in a hurry... and just now, what Qīngzi said, you all heard it, right? Qīngzi's intuition doesn't need me to say more, since she had such a feeling, that means the village head must have said something. If that's really the case, then it can only mean..."

  "He crawled out of his own grave. Maybe your master did too. Is that what you mean?" I looked at Zhao Feiyu, unable to help but ask.

  Zhao Feiyu nodded after hearing what I said. Kong Yigui also seemed to have thought of this, so his face didn't look good either.

  "It's clearly written in the records that Huai Shu Village is a dead village. Why is the village chief still here? And his yang fire is also present. If both of your analyses are true, then I suppose we only have one question left. Are the people here really dead or alive?" Kong Yiren couldn't help but add.

  The three of us fell silent after bringing up this topic. None of the three of us knew the answer to this question, and all we could do was sit here in silence.

  Zhao Feiyu was fiddling with a wine bottle, I was holding an unlit cigarette, and Kong Yiji was idly turning his Buddhist beads. The three of us just sat there like that until dawn broke, when suddenly I said to the other two: "Let's go take a look at Qiang Shu's place?"

  "Alright." Zhao Feiyu agreed readily.

  Kong Yizi didn't object either, and the three of us stood up. I glanced at the time again, it was 6 o'clock in the morning.

  Under my lead, the three of us walked towards Village Chief Zhang's house. When we were halfway there, a loud rooster crow suddenly echoed around us. The sound was very loud and lasted much longer than usual.

  I looked around and suddenly found a problem.

  Where is the chicken for these four weeks?

  Zhao Feiyu looked around and also sensed that something was wrong. He looked at me and Kong Yi and said, "Be careful! Something's not right!"

  I naturally knew it was wrong. The three of us were all on high alert, looking around, and I was also searching for where the chicken cry came from.

  Just as we were thinking, the big gate of the house in front of us suddenly opened. The three of us looked at each other nervously, and we had no idea what would come out.

  That residence was the home of Uncle Chen San, and since Uncle San's heart was dug out, only Aunt San and her daughter-in-law, Sister Hua, still lived there. However, when I found that the people who came out were Aunt San and Sister Hua, I didn't know what to say for a while.

  The two of them seemed to have not seen the three of us, walking forward with expressionless faces. I tried calling out to them, but they didn't react at all.

  It's not just Chen San Shu's home, the doors of other houses are also open one after another. The villagers living inside are all walking with expressionless faces, no matter how I call them, they have no reaction at all. Moreover, it seems like they can't see us.

  "Follow them!" Zhao Feiyu said to us as he watched them.

  All the villagers were heading towards Qiang Shu's home. The three of us followed behind their large group, with no idea what they wanted to do.

  I saw Uncle Qiang standing at the gate of his courtyard from afar, as if waiting for these villagers. After these villagers arrived, Uncle Qiang turned around and led the troops to continue walking. I wanted to catch up, but was pulled back by someone. I turned my head to see that it was Old Man Guo.

  "Just don't disturb them anymore." Old Man Guo said seriously as he looked at me.

  I have a belly full of questions, I don't know who to ask, when I see Old Guo, I was just about to ask him, but he said: Don't ask me any questions for now, I reckon I won't answer you anyway.

  Hearing Old Man Guo's words, I could be said to have suppressed another bellyful of fire. But now, apart from being angry, what else can I do? I simply furrowed my brow and said to Old Man Guo: Let's go, let's head back first. Qingzi is alone over there.

  I was about to head back when Mu Rong suddenly called out to me, saying: "Some things are meant to be said when Dong Qing Zi is not around. Do you understand what I mean?"

  The three of us fell silent, and Old Guo pointed at Qiang Shu's courtyard, continuing: Go in and talk.

  The three of us walked in honestly, just like primary school students waiting to be educated by the teacher. Old Man Guo looked at the three of us, took out a pack of cigarettes from his bag, and said to us: You can only ask me three questions, if there are more, I won't answer.

  "Ever since you came out of Hei Zhu Gou, you've disappeared as a person. Can you explain why?" Zhao Feiyu asked without thinking.

  I rubbed my forehead, this question was indeed asked very directly. Never mind, as a disciple, Zhao Feiyu's concern for his master is understandable. I didn't say much and quietly waited for Old Man Guo's response.

  Guo Lao Tou took a puff of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke and said calmly: I've discovered some things, so Old Mu and I have been searching everywhere. I know you haven't even learned half of what I know, so on the first and fifteenth of every month, I'll come back to take a look at you. However, lately, there's been more and more going on, and I've rarely had time to see you.

  "This time, why have you come back?" Just as Old Guo finished answering, Kong Yi immediately asked again.

  Old Guo raised his head, looked at the empty space for a moment, and then pointed at me and Zhao Feiyu, saying: "One is my apprentice, and the other is the son of my good friend. They've gotten into trouble, and if I don't come back to clean up after them, what else can I do? Can I just let you guys bear the burden of so many lives?"

  Zhao Feiyu and I looked at each other, not knowing what we had done wrong. Now these two people can be said to have wasted two questions, and we can only ask the last question.

  I furrowed my brow and thought carefully, after a few minutes, I slowly opened my mouth to ask: Five years ago, Hei Zhu Gou. The cave you and Dad entered, what did you see?

  Old Guo's cigarette-smoking motion came to a halt.