"coming!"
Hearing Uncle San's voice, I subconsciously agreed.
The third uncle felt a little strange today. It was his wife who died, but the third uncle stood outside the yard with a dull look on his face, showing no signs of grief, and refused to cross the threshold to come in.
When we arrived at the gate of the yard, I was about to reach out to help my third uncle, and found that he was looking at me with a sinister look, his teeth were grinding in his mouth, and his forehead was very blue.
I was shocked and didn't dare to go up to help him. I asked my third uncle why he didn't come in by himself.
"The threshold is too high, I can't jump over it."
The third uncle's voice was as cold as chewing ice cubes, which made people feel terrified.
The threshold in rural areas is indeed not low. I heard from an old man that the threshold is set higher to prevent snakes, insects and other dirty things.
But the third uncle is an adult after all, so how could he fail to cross a threshold?
The more I thought about it, the more something was wrong. Before I could say anything, my third uncle suddenly reached over and squeezed my shoulder hard.
His fingers were as cold as ice, harder than iron.
I was frightened and asked him what on earth he was doing? The third uncle said sadly, "I'm here to find you," and then reached out to scratch my neck.
But just when he was about to touch my neck, the third uncle's fingers trembled violently, as if they were burned by something.
"What did you bring with you?"
I was stunned for a moment, took out the copper coin that my grandpa gave me, handed it to my third uncle, and said it was given to me by my grandpa.
"Old beast..."
The third uncle hid two steps back, still with a sinister expression, and chuckled,
"Then I'll come see you next time."
After saying that, he showed an even more terrifying evil smile, turned around and walked outside, water seeping from his trouser legs as he walked, leaving behind wet footprints.
"Uncle Third, wait!"
I subconsciously wanted to catch up, but the third uncle walked very fast and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The fog at the door of my house was very thick, and I was shivering from the cold. I really didn’t understand why my third uncle was acting weird today, and I felt weird guarding the mourning hall, so I had to run back to the room and use a bench to block the door.
When I woke up the next day, grandma still hadn't come back.
Most of the people organizing the funeral had already arrived, but my father and the others seemed to have disappeared.
I was very confused about what was going on. Wasn't it just transporting two coffins? Why did it disappear for a whole day?
I strode out of the house and prepared to go to the town to look for it. As soon as I ran out of the village entrance, I saw many villagers surrounding the river, as if they were watching the fun.
I faintly heard some crying, which seemed to be from my grandma. I was about to squeeze in out of curiosity, but the village chief grabbed my arm.
"Zhou Xuan, why are you here? Go home quickly!"
I told the village chief that I was looking for my grandma. All the funeral organizers at home arrived, but my grandma and my father never came home.
The village chief twitched, "You don't know, right? Yesterday afternoon, your third uncle also drowned in the river. The village organized people to salvage it all night. Not long after he was fished out, your grandma and your father were guarding the river. Here you go."
Hearing this answer, all the hairs on my body stood up, and I grabbed the village chief's arm hard, "What did you say, what happened to my third uncle?"
"well!"
The village chief sighed and shook his head, dragging me, who was still in my thoughts, towards the river.
Sure enough, I saw my grandma and my dad, guarding a body covered with white cloth, crying profusely.
Grandma threw herself on the body of her third uncle, crying, "My son, if you leave, how will my mother live in the future?"
My father also had a gloomy look on his face, squatting next to the body and taking long puffs of a cigarette.
The village chief said with regret, "Oh, it's true for Zhou Laosan. His wife just died yesterday, and he fell into the river and drowned. It's a pity that the couple are still so young."
The village chief said something else, but I couldn't hear it anymore. I just felt a buzzing in my head, and I was completely confused.
Third uncle fell into the ditch and drowned yesterday afternoon, so the person I saw in the middle of the night yesterday was...
Thinking back to what my third uncle said before leaving late last night, "I'll see you next time", I trembled all over, my eyes darkened and I fell to the ground.
By this time, my father had already seen me, came over with a sullen face, waved his hand and slapped me,
"What are you doing here? Why don't you stay home?"
This slap woke me up. I covered my burning cheeks and said aggrievedly, "I, there was no one at home yesterday, I was afraid."
"You worthless thing, come back with me quickly!"
Ever since I can remember, my father has never given me a good look, as if I was not his biological child.
I didn't dare to disobey him, so I bowed my head and followed the villagers back home.
The third uncle’s body was quickly transported back home. The funeral organizers were stunned when they saw it. The person in charge walked up to my father and said,
"What's going on with your family? We agreed to hold a funeral for your sister-in-law, why did you bring back another one..."
"Shut your stinky mouth, I won't waste your money!"
My father's face was particularly ugly, and he glared back at the funeral organizer with one glance.
At this time, my house was completely lively. My third uncle and his wife drowned one after another. The news became more and more bizarre. Many villagers gathered around the wall of my house to watch the fun, but few people dared to come in.
Grandma burst into tears. Her third uncle was her lifeblood. When her most beloved son died, it was as if his main soul had been taken away, and he had aged by more than ten years.
Not long after, the prepared coffins were also delivered. Fortunately, Taigong had the foresight to let grandma order two coffins, and now they all came in handy.
Just when I was enclosing my third uncle and his wife, one detail caught my attention.
The coffin delivered this time was different from ordinary coffins. The paint surface was as dark red as blood and reflected light as if it were waxed. The shape was very delicate. At first glance, it did not look like ordinary people’s birthday coffins.
I was still wondering how my grandma ordered such a coffin, but my dad already kicked me in the ass.
"What are you doing standing there in a daze? Kowtow to your third uncle!"
My father was usually very cruel to me, and I was too scared to speak. I could only kneel in front of the coffin and kowtow loudly.
In fact, I am not sad at all when my third uncle dies. He was a gangster, good at eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling, and he often made friends with some unscrupulous people.
Grandma feels sorry for this little son and will do everything she wants, even my mother...
I hate it every time I think about this.
During the funeral, my grandma cried and fainted. My dad had to carry her to the medical center in the township, leaving me alone to watch the night.
I became frightened at night, especially when I looked at my fourth uncle's coffin and recalled what he said last night. I was so frightened that I didn't dare to stay in the mourning hall for a second longer. I ran back to my room early and closed all the doors and windows. Lock it up.
Things in my family are so weird. First the third aunt and then the third uncle died almost on the same day, and even the way of death was similar.
It seems that my mother is really resentful and has come to seek the lives of the whole family.
The more I thought about it, the more scared I became. I curled up in bed and shivered. Unknowingly, a wave of sleepiness hit me, and I was about to drift off to sleep.
Bang, bang bang!
At this time, there were several banging sounds on the door of the mourning hall, which scared me so much that I woke up after dozing off.
"Who is it?" I called tentatively, but there was no response from outside, only the banging on the door, echoing in the dead silence of the room.
Like an awl, every blow digs into my heart.
My limbs were cold and I sat slumped on the bed unable to move.
The knock on the door came from the tomb.
I remember that my grandma fainted from crying in the afternoon and was sent to the township hospital by my father. The third uncle and third aunt died in such a strange way that the people in the village refused to help keep vigil.
Is it my mother or my third uncle who knocks on the door at this point?
