The dead man in the coffin

  Uncle looked up and gazed into the distance, but I followed his gaze to look at the sky. The sun had set in the sky, with dark clouds rising, shrouding the entire slope of the earth mound.

  "Uncle, how can we see Grandma Qin?" I stuttered and asked beside Uncle.

  "As long as I'm here, don't be afraid."

  "Uh-huh." I nodded at Uncle and released his sleeve, taking two steps back.

  Uncle saw that I had retreated, his hands clasped together and muttered some words. The crows on the tree branches had left, at this time the entire slope of the tomb was eerily quiet. I stared intently at Uncle reciting incantations, afraid that if I blinked, Uncle would leave.

  After a while, I heard the sound of thumping coming from the mound of earth, like someone knocking on the door. After listening carefully, I felt that this sound was so muffled. My uncle also heard it and stopped his incantation. I ran over to his side.

  "If we went into a coffin, would you be scared?"

  I nodded, but thought it was wrong, with Uncle here, I shouldn't be afraid, Uncle will protect me, and I shook my head again.

  Uncle smiled and reached out to stroke my cheek. "A Li, you must follow me, only then can we live a good life."

  I don't understand what Uncle Ah said. Why must we go to the grave in order to live a good life? Are you and Uncle Ah going to die?

  Or is there another reason?

  I nodded at Uncle Ah, and Uncle Ah covered my eyes. The wind whizzed past my ears, and in an instant, Uncle Ah and I were sitting on the soft ground.

  Uncle reminded me again and again, "No matter what you see, you can't make a sound."

  I pursed my lips and nodded at Uncle Ah.

  Uncle moved his hand away, and a faint light appeared. I adapted to this light, and saw a yellow talisman, black clothes, white bones, and hair that had fallen to the ground beside my feet... As I looked at all of this, my heart racing, Uncle was by my side, but what I saw was the deceased Qin Nainai. Qin Nainai's corpse had already rotted away, leaving only a skeleton dressed in black clothes. Beside her lay a small child who had also died, about the size of a bean. Although this was just speculation, it could be inferred from their clothing.

  I wanted to scream, but I couldn't scream, I clung tightly to Uncle, my whole body trembling.

  At this time, I and Uncle Ah were sitting in Grandma Qin's coffin. The coffin was not big, normally it couldn't hold people, but once Uncle Ah told me that the world of yin and yang has differences, if you want to go to the underworld, your own body can only adapt to the world of the dead.

  So now, both I and Uncle Ah can sit down in the coffin, have we arrived at the netherworld?

  "Yang, you've finally arrived." A familiar voice echoed in my ear, and I knew it was Qin Nainai. Her voice hadn't changed a bit. Out of the corner of my eye, a dark shadow flashed by, and I saw Qin Nainai slowly getting up from her bed and sitting down right across from me.

  The white bones on her face were slowly filled with rotting flesh, and after a moment, like a newly buried corpse, she reached out and picked up the child next to her, cradling him in her own arms. The flesh on the child's face also began to grow slowly, until it formed a complete face.

  "This child, didn't sleep well even before birth, and when someone came, he still wouldn't wake up." Grandma Qin said to herself, I looked at the child's face and suddenly felt it was very similar to someone.

  I couldn't think of it.

  "Second Aunt, what exactly has happened over these past ten years?" Uncle finally spoke up, getting straight to the point, although I had no idea what his purpose was.

  I saw the indifference on Grandma Qin's face, and after hearing Uncle's question, he stretched out his hand to stroke the child's cheek in his arms, and let out a bitter laugh.

  "That woman should die, she's laid hands on such a small child, and it's her own son to boot!" Qin Nainai seethed with resentment, gritting her teeth at the so-called damned woman.

  I don't know who that woman is, who killed her own biological son?

  "What's his name?" asked Uncle, glancing at the child in Qin Nainai's arms.

  "Beans."

  "Bean bean?" I looked at Grandma Qin in surprise. How could this boy be Bean bean? Uncle was also somewhat puzzled.

  "Grandma Qin's tone was still as calm as ever, 'You've misunderstood, this isn't my grandson Doudou.' After saying that, she looked at the child in her arms, 'This child has a bitter fate, he just happens to have the same name as my grandson Doudou. He is actually the son of that woman, and she strangled him with her own hands.'"

  Grandma Qin said, I saw the child in her arms move, I leaned closer to Uncle, the child suddenly raised his hand, my heart skipped a beat, he rubbed his eyes and climbed out of Grandma Qin's arms.

  He softly called out, "Grandma."

  This voice is so similar to that of the living DouDou, and his appearance I finally remembered, has some resemblance to Xiaoyun's father.

  Doudou turned around and saw me, his crimson lips smiling at me. He jumped out of Qin Nainai's arms and leaped to my front.

  "A Li jie, we meet again."

  This looks familiar, we saw each other just a few days ago.

  He seemed to see that I wasn't speaking, and was somewhat disheartened. "Sister, you don't recognize me, sorry Ah Li sister, every night it's me who gets on top of DouDou's body, I just wanted revenge, using DouDou's body for revenge, I didn't want to hurt DouDou."