The Female Ghost Welcomes Her Husband

  As early as in Shanghai, I heard that Yunnan is like spring all year round. Although it's mid-September, it shouldn't be as cool as Guizhou.

  Not yet seeing the prosperity of Dali, we went to a village called Luozhuo along the bumpy road. In fact, at this time, we were still on our way to Luozhuo Village. Uncle took out the old cloth given by Qin Nainai to study it. Under the sunlight, I saw the fluorescent dot on the red thread, faintly visible.

  "Didn't Old Lady Qin know where Xiao Bai's family was?" Seeing Ah Shu frowning slightly, I leaned forward and asked.

  "Hmm, maybe." Uncle picked up the tattered cloth, and in this instant, I always felt that this tattered cloth was like a map, what Uncle was looking for might be on this piece of cloth.

  Could it be that there's something going on between Grandma Qin and Uncle that they're hiding from me?

  I stroked the soft fur on Xiaobai's back, from Weng'an to Guiyang airport, and then arrived in Dali. After staying for one night, Xiaobai's wound healed in just two days, I couldn't help but admire this hundred-year-old spirit.

  Xiaobai is sleeping in my arms with its eyes closed, and the warm sunlight shines on it, so lazy.

  "Uncle, what are you looking at?" I followed Uncle forward, coming to this forest, occasionally with sunlight sprinkling down from the leaves, Uncle stopped in his tracks, and I looked over in the direction of his gaze and asked.

  Uncle didn't say a word, I narrowed my eyes and looked towards the other end of the forest, but couldn't see anything.

  "It turns out that Uncle was going to find your family." Uncle glanced at the little white in my arms, and I seemed to understand something, bowing my head to say to the sleeping Little White.

  I fantasize about Xiao Bai's family, a group of clever white foxes surrounding me and Uncle Ah, dancing with joy at the sight of long-lost Xiao Bai. The entire forest is filled with the leaping bodies of spirit foxes, forming a perfect arc.

  Xiao Bai might be sleeping too soundly and didn't hear what I said at all, because she didn't give me any response.

  The little fox's ears were pointed, and Xiao Bai simply shook her two small ears and continued sleeping in my arms.

  "Uncle, why can't we get out of this forest?" Until dusk, holding Xiao Bai's arm was a bit sore, Uncle's expression was strange, tightly furrowed his brow, I looked around, the sunset had already gone down the mountain, the whole forest was somewhat dark, I leaned in close to Uncle and asked softly.

  Uncle grabbed my hand and held it tightly, a pain sensation came, I frowned slightly.

  My heart skipped a beat as Uncle took the initiative to hold my hand, although it felt a bit awkward, but I felt warmth and comfort in my heart, I liked the feeling of Uncle holding my hand.

  "It seems we'll have to spend the night here." Uncle's expression was somewhat solemn, but upon hearing my low chuckle, a faint smile also emerged from the corner of his mouth.

  "Since leaving Shanghai with Uncle, I've seen so many ghosts that even if you left me alone in this forest overnight, I wouldn't be afraid." Actually, I was just saying that because I knew Uncle wouldn't leave me behind.

  It's just casual talk, but Uncle doesn't believe it!

  He let go of my hand and I could feel his faint smile. "Then I won't care about you, if you're scared, just wake up Xiaobai."

  "Uncle." Suddenly, it seemed like I had said something wrong. The moment Uncle let go of my hand was like the most important thing in life leaving my body, and it felt very painful. As he turned around, I reached out and grabbed his sleeve, staring at him with pleading eyes.

  "Where are you going?" Like this, I'm afraid Uncle really wants me to stay here alone, where would I dare.

  What I just said was only to win my uncle's favor, to let him know that I am not a weak woman, and it was only to make my uncle feel pleased.

  "You were so confident and self-righteous just now, how come you're so deflated so quickly?" Uncle is teasing me.

  "Uh...I'm doing this for Uncle's sake, aren't I?" I muttered under my breath, shifting my gaze to the little white thing in my arms.

  At this time!

  Uncle fell silent, he took two steps back and stood beside me.

  Time stood still, the entire forest was eerily quiet. After dusk, the forest quickly fell silent, becoming increasingly hazy, and soon the entire forest was pitch black.

  Right at this moment!

  A bad premonition spread throughout my body, and I couldn't help but shiver, because my uncle's expression was serious.

  A gust of wind passed, and I shivered, tightening my arms around Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai, feeling uncomfortable, shifted in my embrace, but his muscles remained tense.

  Huh? Huh?

  The strange melody suddenly came to mind, as if it was coming from an unknown place...

  I didn't dare to raise my head, I looked down at the ground and saw Uncle's slightly moving footsteps, he took a step forward, and I followed with a small step, not daring to leave Uncle's side.

  Waaah, waaah......

  It seemed like a girl's crying voice, sometimes ringing out and sometimes breaking off, which was somewhat eerie in this dark and quiet forest.

  "Ah, Uncle Ah, what is this sound." The music became more urgent, the crying more genuine, a cool breeze entered my body, my trembling legs, stuttering finally spoke up.

  "It's a ghostly wedding procession."

  Uncle lowered his voice and looked around cautiously, but I didn't see anything. However, the scene of the ghost welcoming the bride just appeared in my mind.

  Standing alone on the mound, the funeral procession passed in front of me. The man sat on the coffin, and behind it, a paper sedan chair held that woman as thin as paper. I saw them clearly.

  A strange and eerie melody began to play, the man on the coffin turned his head towards me with a wide grin, his bright red lips oozing pus that dripped onto the coffin, making a faint ticking sound.

  I took two steps back in fright, and that man just appeared right before my eyes, I let out a terrified shriek...

  This scene is too real, I've seen it thousands of times, in my dreams. It's in my dreams that I often see this strange man and this eerie scene.

  This is what they call "ghost wedding".

  My whole body started trembling, although this scene only existed in my mind. Uncle seemed to have noticed my discomfort and turned around, tightly embracing me in his arms. I trembled with my body, the scene couldn't be shaken off, although the forest didn't see this scene, but the eerie music and the woman's sobbing cry pierced my ears...

  The uncle pinched his fingers with one hand and muttered some words in his mouth. I couldn't hear clearly and couldn't understand either.

  After a while, the music faded away, and the woman's crying voice grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared...

  I poked my head out of Uncle Ah's arms and asked, "What is a ghost wedding? Is the groom dead or alive? Is the bride dead or made of paper?"

  "There's too much resentment here, we can't leave, all we can do is wait..."

  Uncle wanted to say something but stopped, I asked Uncle, "Just waiting for what?"

  "Leave first." Uncle didn't respond to me, letting me follow him closely and leave the original place.

  ……

  The appearance of the ancient temple I have seen in Sha Wo Village, Xiao Yun once needed my body to revive, and took me there. As soon as I thought that there would be coffins in the ancient temple, my legs could not move forward.

  Uncle led me through the twists and turns, and in the time it took to burn an incense stick, we arrived at the front of this ancient temple. I hesitated, not daring to take a step forward. Uncle's familiarity with the forest made me wonder if he had been here before?

  "Is there a coffin inside?" I stuttered, swallowing a mouthful of saliva with a heavy gulp.

  "You're really thinking too much."

  Uncle still had the heart to joke with me, my mind was not much, just afraid, forever unable to forget that I once lay in the coffin where Xiaoyun's body slept.

  Coffin, I've lain in it more than once, the only time I was scared was that black coffin in Sha Weng Village.

  At the bottom of the river at Ximen in Yuan'an County, I once fell into the coffin where Liu Xiujun was lying, but I wasn't afraid. Even if a thousand-year-old female corpse was lying in the same coffin as me, I still wouldn't be afraid. Was it because Liu Xiujun was Uncle's most beloved person? Or was it because she didn't cause any harm to me?

  The only thing I can be sure of is that I'm not afraid of Liu Xi Jun at all, but instead, I more urgently want to see Liu Xi Jun again.

  "Tonight, just put up with it for now. Tomorrow morning, we'll leave here and head to the village." Uncle ignored my confusion and continued walking towards the ancient temple in front of us.

  Having no other choice, I could only follow Uncle Ah's back. I was afraid to hear the eerie music of the ghostly wedding procession and also afraid to hear that woman's strange crying.

  The old temple may be dilapidated, but it still makes me feel at ease. Even if there are no candles inside, the moonlight that shines in has a somewhat eerie feeling, but there is no dark coffin.

  I looked around and made sure there wasn't one.

  A spider web is densely covered in the ancient temple, where there are no stone Buddhas, only a candle holder remains. Perhaps it has been many years since anyone was here to take care of it, and the incense burner has been extinguished.

  Thinking so in his heart, he also prayed that the gods who once lived here would not know about his doubts about cutting off incense.

  Although the sun shines brightly during the day, the cold wind that enters through this window without a screen and the wooden door with peeling red paint makes Uncle bring some firewood from outside the old temple. The flames crackle as the wind blows in, and he sits on the dry grass holding Little White.

  The uncle sat beside me, occasionally using a small wooden stick to poke the dry firewood, making the flames even bigger. On this deep autumn night, it didn't feel cold at all.

  Time, just a little bit has passed, in the quiet night, you can hear the sound of the second hand moving on your watch, tick tock.

  Maybe it's the exhaustion of these few days, from Guizhou's Wengan Qin Village, in just two days' time, we arrived at a small village in Yunnan Dali. And this was still on the way to the small village, Uncle said he had to come here because he could sense that what we were looking for was right here.

  I'm confused, didn't we come here to find Xiaobai's family? But Uncle seems to have another important matter to attend to.

  I rested my head on Uncle's shoulder, the flames in front of me becoming increasingly blurry, and I gradually fell asleep, leaning against Uncle's body, sleeping so peacefully.

  I'm not afraid in the forest, nor am I afraid in the ancient temple. As long as Uncle is there, I'm not afraid, even if it's in a chaotic burial mound.

  "A Li." Perhaps, I was born in Guizhou and grew up in Qin Village. People from Guizhou have thin skin and can't take jokes. Whatever they say is taken literally. Just as I was falling asleep, I heard my uncle's voice whispering in my ear, calling out to me.