This kind of soul-attracting bell is just an ordinary bell with two white cloth strips hanging on both sides. It has no effect in exorcising evil spirits and attracting souls. It is just a local custom.
This is quite common in our area. Usually after someone dies, they hang it at the door before the first seven days, in order to guide the soul of the deceased on the way home.
Of course, some people may miss the person who has passed away too much, and it is possible that they will hang on the door for months or even a year or two.
At this time, there is such a soul-inducing bell hanging at the door of my mother's dumpling restaurant. Why is this?
My heart skipped a beat:
Did my mother think I was dead?
Without thinking much, I just opened the door and went in. There were no customers in the dumpling restaurant at this time, and the tables in the living room were neatly arranged. There seemed to be some dust. It seemed that it had not been open for a long time.
Maybe I pushed the door open and came in. I heard my mother's voice coming from the room inside: "Who is it? The store is closed now."
Then, there were footsteps coming from inside, and I immediately shouted: "Mom?"
After I yelled, there was no movement at all in the room. My mother seemed to be standing still, probably because she was a little confused by my voice.
"Jianjun? Is that you?" Then came my mother's questioning voice.
"It's me." I replied and walked towards the back room. As I walked there, I felt quite uneasy because I was not 100% sure that I was in an illusory time and space. , or in the real world, I don’t know if I can meet my mother normally.
When I walked to the door of the back room, opened the door curtain and went in, my mother was standing in the middle of the back room, frowning and looking over. She must have seen me, her eyes twinkled obviously, I don't know if it was... Thinking I was a ghost, she was obviously frightened, her body trembled, and then she took a step back.
I looked at my mother. She looked much more haggard. She seemed to have a lot more white hair, and her eyes looked a little red and swollen. She must have cried like this. She felt uncomfortable and distressed when she looked at me.
"Mom! I'm back!" I said, and then walked towards my mother.
My mother hesitated for a while, but finally came over to welcome me. After all, to her, I was her son. I guess she would be very happy even if I came back as a ghost.
When we met each other, I grabbed my mother's hand. My mother probably felt my presence. She looked confused: "Jian... Jianjun... you... you are still alive." ?"
I nodded and said, "I'm still alive, Mom. I'm not dead. I escaped from that tomb. I'm still alive."
"You...are you really alive?" My mother asked me, and suddenly she jumped up with excitement, and then hugged me: "It was really you who founded the army. Mom thought you were dead. This period of time has been very uncomfortable, and you are finally back!"
"Mom, I'm cold. Please bring me some clothes or a quilt to wrap me up." I said.
My mother immediately turned around and got me her cotton-padded jacket and cotton trousers. After I put them on, she said I was a little hungry, and my mother went to cook for me quickly. During this time, she probably still couldn't believe that I was still alive. Every minute or two, they would come over and touch me. Maybe it was because I was wearing cotton clothes and trousers, and the body temperature slowly came up. My mother finally confirmed that I was really alive, and she seemed even more excited and happy. .
And I quickly asked her: "Where are Zhao Hu and the others, are they still alive?"
My mother nodded: "Alive, they are all alive."
"Then what's going on? When did you know I was missing?" I asked.
Then my mother told me about it, and I understood what was probably going on.
When I came out of the thief's cave to look for the girl with short hair and pigtails, Zhao Hu and the others lost contact with me. Zhao Hu and the others waited for a long time but never saw me go back with pigtails and the girl with short hair, so he led the people back. However, people outside said they didn't see me coming out at all, and it was like I disappeared out of thin air.
After that, they looked for me everywhere, and even went to the tomb to look for me, but they couldn't find me. The few people who originally entered the tomb were all dead, including the elephant. In addition, they searched for me for many days. They couldn't find it, so they all thought something had happened to me and I was dead.
As for the cemetery, it was later discovered by relevant units, and several of the robber holes were backfilled. Zhao Hu and Xiao Zhuizi did not rob the tomb during this period. They often came to the dumpling restaurant to accompany my mother to prevent her. So sad.
As for the short-haired girl, she returned to Shanghai, Xiaoye returned to Beijing, and Sister Yuan went back to work with Zhang Qingshan. Zhang Qingshan also made a lot of money from the funerary objects he received this time, and is still in the east of the city. I bought a large piece of land and plan to build a shopping mall next year.
After hearing this, I felt quite lucky, at least all of our people were still alive.
I asked my mother if I could call Zhao Hu Xiaozi now and ask them to come over.
My mother said of course, she took out her phone and dialed Zhao Hu’s number.
Soon, the phone call came through. When my mother told Zhao Hu that I was still alive, Zhao Hu became very excited on the other end. He asked several times if it was true and to make sure that I was still alive. He said that he would pick up the child right away. Braids, come to my house right now.
Soon, Zhao Hu and Xiao Zizi came. After the three brothers met, we immediately hugged each other. Even though Zhao Hu has always been a carefree and strong young man, he actually started crying pretentiously when he saw me this time. , the little braid also started crying.
I can understand their feelings. After all, to them, I am a brother who has come back from the dead, a brother who disappeared for several months and then suddenly came back to life. They must be excited and crying.
But for me, it’s only been a few hours since I “lost contact” with them. I definitely don’t “miss” them too deeply, so I can’t cry at this time. , I just wonder, why did things develop to this point?
Did I really suddenly travel to a few months later?
Or are you still trapped in an illusion?
I don't know, I still can't make up my mind.
Later, I asked Zhao Hu and Xiao Zizi to tell me in detail what happened that night.
What Zhao Hu told me was similar to what my mother told me, except that he added a few more details about the tomb, how they divided the funerary objects with Zhang Qingshan and the others after I disappeared, and who Xiao Ye, the short-haired girl, was. How come we were sad in our place for a month or two, and finally left after being completely heartbroken.
What can I say? What they told me felt very real to me, and there seemed to be no problem with the logic. But I just couldn’t figure out how I suddenly traveled to winter. It was a bit hard for me to understand.
In other words, I am a little scared. I am afraid that this is just a very real dream. If I don't come out of it, I may live in this dream forever.
