As soon as these words came out, the courtyard became quiet again. Mr. Wang and I all focused our attention on the proprietress, wanting to know the real truth from her mouth.
After hearing this, the lady boss turned her head and looked at me, then pointed at me and told Wu Tinghan that she wanted to make him a real living person.
This simple sentence was like a bolt from the blue.
And before I could react, Mr. Wang on the side spoke first. Impossible! Is it possible to create a person out of thin air? Even the Luo court can't do it!
The landlady looked at Mr. Wang and said, which one was made out of thin air?
Mr. Wang said, even if there is a painting, it is impossible! I've never heard of someone who can turn a painting into a living person. That's all stuff from fairy tales and novels. Do you really think that your uncle, Luo Chaoting, is a god?
The landlady was not angry, but said in an orderly manner, what if this bastard was actually a living person?
Hearing this, not only Mr. Wang and I, but also Wu Tinghan were stunned. Moreover, the expression on Wu Tinghan's face changed more than ever before. I don't know why she was so excited, but from the way she leaned forward, I knew she was very interested in this matter.
After being stunned for a while, Mr. Wang spoke again, "Do you mean that Luo Chaoting plans to use the forbidden technique of 'resurrection'?"
The landlady shook her head and said, since you all know that 'resurrection from the dead' is a forbidden technique, maybe my uncle can use it? From the very beginning, he had planned to hide everything, hoping to accumulate enough luck, and then deceive God to let the bastard get out of this painting, and truly bring death back to life.
I was completely stupid. In my memory, I never knew that I had died once.
The landlady looked at me and said, "Of course you don't know that after you left, it was your grandfather who found my uncle and asked him to help save you." But people cannot be resurrected. This is an iron law of God. Even my uncle can't do it.
But your grandpa held you on your knees in front of my uncle's house for six days and six nights. My uncle had no choice but to decide to help you before your first seven days. But from the beginning, my uncle told me that he didn’t know if this method would be useful, and it would have serious side effects.
I asked hurriedly, what are the side effects?
She said, don't interrupt, you will know after you listen to me.
So she went on to say, after my uncle agreed to take action, he immediately used the corpse exorcism technique to save your body. However, this can only ensure that your body is not rotten, but it cannot resurrect you, so my uncle thought of it. This is a way to hide the truth.
But there is a problem here, that is, the luck you and your grandfather had at that time was not enough to support you. In other words, even if you were revived, you would die in a few days. So my uncle and his wife thought of another way - to steal luck!
You already know the specific method of stealing luck. The paper face on your grandfather’s head was drawn by my lady. As for the side effects, your grandfather has to go to my place to repair it every once in a while. Moreover, there are three types of unfilial piety after death, and having no heirs is the biggest problem.
In addition, in order to prevent you and your grandfather from being discovered by outsiders, and to provide you with a good living environment since childhood, they spent most of the month without sleep painting another picture of Chenjia Village. Drop painting allows you to live inside it, and when you have enough luck, you can use it to hide the sky and make you become a truly alive person.
After the boss lady finished speaking, she leaned back on the chair and the yard became quiet again.
I glanced at Wu Tinghan and found that she and Mr. Wang looked at each other subtly, and then nodded slightly, as if they had reached some kind of tacit understanding.
If they had communicated like this secretly in the past, I wouldn't have taken it to heart at all, but this time, I had already noticed the clues, and felt that their subtle actions would only further support my guess.
So I asked the boss lady, so my grandfather and Senior Luo just wanted me to become a living person from the beginning?
The boss lady nodded and said, but it failed.
I ignored it, but looked at Wu Tinghan and said, do you have a different opinion?
Wu Tinghan shook his head.
I asked Mr. Wang the same question again. Like Wu Tinghan, he also shook his head.
Seeing this, I couldn't help but smile, and then I looked at the yard illuminated by the bright moon and said, although you keep scolding me for being stupid, in fact, I feel better about many things. The boss lady said so much, it seemed reasonable, but in fact there was a big loophole.
Before I said this, I had been staring at Wu Tinghan and Mr. Wang from the corner of my eye. As expected, when I said this, both of their expressions changed. It's just that they control it very well and it's fleeting.
Mr. Wang even deliberately asked me, the logic is very clear, where are the loopholes?
Let me tell you, the time is not right.
Mr. Wang's expression changed again, but he still held it back and asked me, what's wrong with me?
Let me tell you, since you entered the village, you told me that my grandfather hid here fifty-five years ago. He had already changed his appearance at that time. Could it be that I was already dead at that time?
Mr. Wang said, I only know that he hid at that time, but it does not prove that he had changed his appearance at that time. Could it be that he changed his appearance after you died?
Let me tell you, although this is possible, how do you explain the other loophole? That is, what about the villagers who originally lived in Chenjia Village? Where did they go? My grandfather couldn't hide in a deep mountain and old forest. Wouldn't that be more eye-catching? What's the difference from not hiding?
Hiding in the city was the most reliable way to hide in those ten years. If he were hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, he would be reported to the police after being discovered by hunters, and then my grandfather would be subject to all kinds of scrutiny.
So he must have been living in the village at that time. So, what about the people in the village at that time? Could it be that Luo Chaoting and Wu Zhiying moved them into the painting?
If this is the case, wouldn't it contradict what Wu Tinghan said before? After all, Wu Tinghan was very sure that the people in the painting were all painted, otherwise they would have realized that they were living in the painting.
I looked at the lady boss of the noodle shop and said, "So, why did you make up such a story to lie to me?"
After hearing what I said, the landlady looked a little surprised, but she shook her head firmly and said, "Everything I tell you is the truth. How could I possibly lie to you?"
Let me tell you, how do you explain these two loopholes?
The landlady shook her head and said, I don’t know, anyway, everything I tell you is the truth.
The boss lady's words immediately blinded me. This stupid attitude of not being afraid of boiling water made me not know how to continue for a while.
Wu Tinghan told me at this time, you don’t have to embarrass her, and she did not lie, because what she just said was indeed what she knew.
I said it, but it was obviously not right. Why didn't she feel something was wrong?
Wu Tinghan said that maybe this was the reason why she had been able to stay here for fifty-five years.
I was a little confused and asked her, is there any relationship between the two?
Wu Tinghan said, just ask her to lift up the trousers of her left leg.
I looked at the proprietress. Upon seeing this, the latter took the initiative to lift up the trouser leg of her left leg... Then, Mr. Wang and I couldn't help but take a deep breath.
We saw that there was a big hole in her left leg, but no blood flowed out. Instead, we could see through the hole, and it turned out to be a bamboo strip as thick as a baby's arm!
Seeing the surprised expressions on Mr. Wang and I's faces, the landlady asked me with confusion, "Is there something wrong with you seeing me like this?"
Wu Tinghan shook his head and said, no. But I suddenly remembered that when I just went out, I seemed to see some holes in the upper left corner of this painting. Why don't you go out and check for the holes first? When we finish talking, I will come out to find you.
Upon hearing this, the lady boss turned back to her friendly and kind smile and said, OK, I'll wait for you outside.
After saying that, she limped out of the yard and closed the door from the outside.
After confirming that she was gone, Wu Tinghan asked me, now do you know?
I nodded and said that I had a general understanding, but I didn't fully understand it.
Wu Tinghan said, if I guessed correctly, she shouldn't be considered a complete Yang person. She was probably a paper figurine made by Senior Luo, so she had no concept of time at all. And her memory should have been deliberately deleted or modified by Senior Luo.
I asked, how to say it?
Wu Tinghan said that she only remembered what happened fifty-five years ago, but she had no idea what happened to you.
I'm even more puzzled. Speaking of it, it shouldn't be that I don't know anything at all. Otherwise, how could I speak so clearly? Even after I died, I still remember so clearly that I knelt in front of Senior Luo’s door for six days and six nights. And apart from the time mismatch, it is indeed difficult to find loopholes.
Wu Tinghan said, but what if what happened fifty-five years ago was what she said?
This time I was completely stunned. If it was really what she said, wouldn't it mean that another person died at that time?
Wu Tinghan gave a rare sigh and said, what I am going to say next is the truth that Wang Minghua and I don't want to tell you. I originally thought that the boss lady could deceive you, but I didn't expect that you would suddenly stop being stupid.
I glanced at Wu Tinghan resentfully, and then urged her to speak quickly.
Wu Tinghan glanced at Mr. Wang, and after seeing him nod, he started to tell me, the truth is that what the noodle shop proprietress just said probably happened to your father.
My father! ?
The man I've never met! ?
Even though I was mentally prepared, after hearing this explanation, I was still so nervous that I couldn't help but tremble.
Wu Tinghan nodded and continued. If I infer correctly, the correct past story should be like this. After your father passed away, your grandfather himself used the forbidden technique to 'resurrection', and the price was to bring down the entire Chenjia Village. They were all buried with him.
But even if everyone in the village is dead, your father still cannot be saved, or in other words, your father cannot be completely saved. So your grandfather ran to Luo Chaoting and asked him to help clean up the mess.
Luo Chaoting did not intend to help at first, so your grandfather knelt for six days and nights, and finally agreed to help. Only when he went to Chenjia Village did he find out that your grandfather had slaughtered the entire village. This is why Senior Luo and my aunt would stay awake and draw a panoramic view of Chenjia Village as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, if it is just for you to have a good living environment, why bother in such a hurry? Isn’t it okay to draw slowly? Then I encountered those ten years, which happened to provide a cover for the disappearance of Chenjiacun. After all, it was not uncommon for a village to disappear in those ten years.
Since then, Chenjiacun has completely disappeared, and no one is pursuing it. From then on, it only existed in the painting, where your grandfather and your father lived peacefully. And in order to prevent your father from discovering that he was living in a painting, your grandfather let him live a normal life, which led to you.
Logically speaking, you really shouldn't exist in this world. After all, your father shouldn't even exist. But your father probably wanted you to be born smoothly, so on the day you were born, he transferred the craftsmanship that Senior Luo had applied to him to your body.
To be precise, the secret that Senior Luo prepared was for your father. But because of your appearance, he chose to die and gave up everything that originally belonged to him, just to keep the hope of life alive. onto you.
And this should be the truth of the whole thing. But Senior Luo was worried that you would be too sad after knowing the truth, so he tampered with the landlady. If you succeed in concealing the truth, you won't have to bear such a heavy burden and can live a good life.
Quietness returned to the yard. I didn't cry. It was just that the night wind that happened to pass by made my eyes hurt. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing out of my eyes...
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I don’t know how long I have been crying. I only know that when the east became brighter, the courtyard door was kicked open, and a voice came first: "I have an ancestor in your house, who dares to touch Wu Tinghan, I Destroy your whole family!"
In the haze of tears, I saw two familiar figures who were panting. One was wearing black sunglasses and holding a bamboo stick in his hand, named Zhang Polu; the other was white and clean, holding a bamboo knife in his hand. , called Luo Xiaoyang...
