I sat by the kang and watched.
The old cloth had some oil stains and was wrapped with three layers inside and three outside. It was a bit difficult to untie it.
Unwrapping it layer by layer, I saw that there were a few silver coins wrapped inside, a small pile of green embroidered copper coins, and an old red handkerchief.
The silver coins are all Yuan Datou. They are in average condition and have scratches. They are three and nine years old, but several of them have editions, which is good.
I said grandma, are these all inherited from your family?
She nodded and said yes. In the past, her granddaughter had no tuition fees for going to school. She looked at antique collectors and paid 80 yuan each.
"I didn't sell it. I kept it. I plan to sell it in two days. I still owe the hospital money."
I told her, grandma, don’t sell it for less. These coins are at least 380 each. The nine-year-old one is the fine-hair version, which is at least 700. The one with the puncture mark is the big-ear version. Although it is damaged, it is still intact. It could also be worth a thousand dollars.
The old lady stopped her movements and said, young man, you still know this.
I don't like these things. Qian Babai thinks it's not interesting. It's better to rob tombs. A piece of bronze or ancient jade can cost tens of thousands. This is because I have followed it for a long time and my horizons have broadened. We basically don’t rob Qing Dynasty tombs.
If Yapo's Yuan Datou is still here, the ordinary one can be sold for about 1,300 yuan, the fine-haired version is about 3,500 yuan, and the big-eared Yuan Datou version made in three years can be sold for at least 20,000 yuan. You can sell it casually.
I asked again: "Grandma, why are these copper coins of yours so dirty? The green embroidery is so serious, it shouldn't be."
The key point is that her dozen copper coins are all identical Daoguang Tongbao coins, because generally speaking, these Daoguang coins handed down from ancient times are made of black ancient paste. How can green embroidery be produced in this way, unless it is Digged from the soil.
Ya Po said: "These copper coins were all used by me to fry beans."
"Fried beans?" I asked what it meant, but I had never heard of it.
She said that she just threw the copper coins and the lentils into the water and boiled them together. She said that eating the lentils cooked in this way was good for people's health. After cooking them several times, they became rusty like this.
"Can these still be sold for money, young man?"
I said it was disgusting, maybe they could be sold for 50 cents each.
"It's okay. I don't expect to sell these to pay off the debt. I think you are interested. The main reason is to show you what the ghost snake looks like."
After speaking, she opened the red handkerchief in front of me.
"What is this? Is this a silk painting?"
I was stunned.
On this piece of old red cloth, she drew a calligraphy painting.
The ink passed through the red cloth and was already somewhat oxidized. A few grasses were drawn on the red cloth with a few strokes, and a very thin black snake was drawn next to the grass.
This black snake looks very strange. It has no nose, mouth and eyes. The snake's head was chopped off with a copper coin sword. Judging from the painting, the head and body of this strange snake are separated in the middle.
Upon closer inspection, one can vaguely see that the copper coin sword used to chop off the snake's head was all made of Daoguang Tongbao.
In short, this old canvas painting has no beginning or end, and I have no idea what it means.
Seeing me in a daze, Yapo's expression was extremely solemn, and she said: "Young man, this is the ghost cub snake."
"I still vaguely remember that when I was a child, I met the second-generation temple girl under the big tree at the entrance of the village. The mother-in-law told me that the ghost snakes first lived in those stone men. At night, they would come out of the stone men. When it crawls out, there is black air on the snake's head. If someone happens to pass by at this time, it will burrow in along the person's trouser leg."
I asked what would happen if I got in?
Ya Po said with a solemn face: "A ghost snake is a ghost snake. The Ya Po of the previous generation said that if it burrows into a human being, regardless of male or female, it will become sexually promiscuous and greedy. If it lasts for a long time... then it is not a human being. ”
I frowned and asked, "Grandma, where did you get this piece of cloth painting? I painted it myself."
I think if she drew it by herself, it would be a work of fiction. This strange snake is a figment of her own imagination and does not exist in reality.
Unexpectedly, Lao Yapo immediately shook his head and said: "I didn't draw this. It was passed down from the first generation to the second generation, and then it was given to me when I was young. I had also guessed before that it might have been given to me by the Taoist disciple." A generation of Yapo."
"Taoist priest?"
I subconsciously blurted out: "Is it Chen Meiqing, a Taoist priest of the Lushan sect?"
"You...how do you know Taoist Priest's name?" Seeing Ya Po's expression was very surprised.
There is no need to hide this from her, I just said that Grandma Xiao Tang told me.
"Li Yushi...did she let you see the piece of Yinluo cloth?"
"Luoyin cloth, the one who watches Luoyin?"
She frowned and said yes, and then told: "After the Guizai Temple was built, as the temple maid chosen by Taoist Master Chen, each of us temple maids had a piece of this cloth for their own use. Only the yellow talisman will be circulated."
"What kind of yellow charm?" I asked.
When I asked about this, her eyes were a little dodgey and she said that she had accidentally damaged the talisman and it was no longer there.
I know that the talisman was sewn into her granddaughter's clothes. It is said that if you wear this talisman, you can become a dragon or a phoenix among men. I am boldly guessing that maybe it is sewn into Xiao Tang's pants now.
"So...each generation of you see temple girls have a canvas, what are they?"
Ya Po shook his head and said: "The previous generations were not very clear. They should have been taken to the grave after death. Li Yushi's is Guanluoyin, mine is Ghost Cub Snake, and there are also a few doors that should be painted. Going forward ....I don’t know.”
"Young man, I can see that you are kind in your heart and you are a good person."
"You should go quickly and leave our village as far away as possible."
"I was injured, causing the big sacrifice to not be completed, and the statue of the Gui Zai Temple fell into the water. From that moment on, I knew that the Gui Zai Snake must have come out..."
"Let's go..."
"Let's go...run farther..."
When she said this, she could see a hint of tenacity in Lao Yafu's eyes, but more importantly, fear.
The area in Xiangxi, Hunan, has been full of insects and snakes since ancient times. Some experts have asserted that there are still many undiscovered snakes, insects, rats, and ants in the vast mountains. Whether Ya Po is talking nonsense because of the death of her granddaughter, I dare not draw a conclusion easily.
I gently closed the door and left my grandmother's house with my bag.
A few steps away from the village, I suddenly thought of something and secretly returned.
I have a very good memory and did not take the main road in the village. Relying on my memory, I took my bag and found the female doctor's house from the small road behind other people's houses.
The clinic was open at her home in broad daylight. When I got there, I found the door closed.
This is a bit abnormal. If anyone wants to buy medicine and injections, they must keep the door open.
I stole through the gate and looked in. No one was in the yard, and the door was locked.
I looked up and saw that this wall should be able to be climbed over. Brother Yu taught me. She said that when jumping over the wall, you should jump sideways and land on your toes first, then on your heels, so that there will be no sound. .
I put my bag on my back and climbed over the wall into the courtyard.
I walked forward quietly, but before I got close to the door, I suddenly heard a faint sound of crying in the room, a woman's cry.
The crying sounded weird, intermittent, high and low, like something... It was a bit like the crying sound in TV dramas where a woman clutches the quilt with both hands when she gives birth to a baby.
In addition to the crying, there was a sound like a music box.
My heart skipped a beat, and I wondered what was going on... Could it be that a person was giving birth to a child in hiding?
Although it was daytime, her house was a brick house built against a mountain. It did not receive sunlight, and it was even a little cool in the yard.
Stand still and listen carefully, the crying is still intermittent.
Three parts fear, two parts curiosity, I want to see what is going on.
Close to the window.
I turned sideways, trying to look into the room through the crack in the window, but it was blocked by the drawn curtains and I couldn't see anything.
I picked up a thin branch, stretched it through the crack of the window, and slowly used the branch to open a corner of the curtain.
There were no lights on in the room, so it was a little dark.
The female doctor has disheveled hair and is half leaning on the bed in her pajamas. There is a music notebook on her bedside table. I used to play with this kind of music notebook when I was a child. When you open the notebook, small lights will light up inside, and you can write some blessing words on the card. , and can also sing. When I was in junior high school, I saw someone buying them. Like celebrity stationery, they were used to chase female classmates.
He opened the curtains and peeked in secretly.
I saw the female doctor leaning on the bed, there was no light in the room, and her head was bowed very low.
The music notebook placed on the bedside table was opened, ticking music, and the small red light flashed.
The female doctor was lying on the bed and making strange movements.
I was full of doubts, thinking what was this doing?
After waiting for a few minutes, I saw her open the bedside table and take out a roll of paper towels.
Afterwards, the female doctor got out of bed with her bare feet, took a glass of water, unscrewed the medicine bottle, and took a lot of medicine.
After taking the medicine, she sat cross-legged on the bed in her pajamas, holding her mobile phone in her hand and started dialing.
The call was connected and I couldn't hear what the other party said.
It's just that her face is very red, very red.
At the same time, she said urgently: "Come to me quickly."
