Old Man Li is dead.
News is like pebbles thrown into a pond, with some ripples.
Old Man Li is also a well-known figure in the surrounding area, not only because he is an old intellectual, but also because he has a tough and stubborn temper.
Several years ago, a developer looked at the site in the village and wanted to build a high-end community. Other villagers took the demolition money and left one after another, but Old Man Li refused to move. As he watched the magnificent buildings rising from the ground, Old Man Li's two-story small foreign-style building was fixed in the center like a nail.
Isn’t this deceiving?
However, the developer tried all possible means, but the old man refused to move out. The developer was so anxious that he had sores on his head and blisters on his feet.
Now, the old man passed away with a kick of his legs, and the developer reacted immediately. He brought an excavator with one hand and a group of "black suits" with the other hand, hoping to seize the opportunity to kill him first and then show off.
The excavator drove up the small dam in front of the house. The heavy tires crushed the dam, and the bucket was about to hit the brick wall.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise of gongs, drums and suonas, and a group of men and horses dressed in sackcloth and wearing filial piety came out of the diagonal stab.
Just as the people in black suits were about to step forward to stop them, a few people wearing sackcloth and wearing mourning threw a few strings of firecrackers from a distance.
Taking advantage of the chaos of the war, a few strong men carrying a big "Duang" stood in front of the bucket. A closer look revealed that it was an uncovered thick wooden coffin, with old man Li lying straight inside. , his expression was much more peaceful than before.
Nowadays, firecrackers cut corners and disappear after a few explosions. Even so, a group of black suits were blown up in a mess. Even the developer who was hiding far away was also a disaster. A firecracker was far away. It flew over and landed on his shiny back, and with a bang, he changed his hairstyle.
The developer's face suddenly darkened. The boss in the black suit didn't even care to count how many holes his clothes had been blown up. He quickly opened his collar, revealing his well-developed chest muscles and tattoos, and cursed: "Your dad..."
The words are not finished yet.
"Dad!"
A few women over there with high and bright voices had already taken the lead.
Then the other chaotic voices sounded like a harmony, "God has no eyesight. Before your bones are cold, there are bastards who will bully your children and grandchildren and tear down your house!"
After roaring this round of chorus, women, children, old and young gathered inside, crying and throwing paper money into the sky.
The young and strong people all blocked the perimeter, revealing their own steel pipes, machetes, shovel handles, table legs...
"Bah!" The boss in the black suit spat on the ground with disdain. Ever since he entered this industry, what kind of battle has he not seen? A few broken sticks and broken blades just want to scare him? He was the only one who threw shit at people's doors. How could anyone dare to throw firecrackers at him?
There’s no reason for that! Hey!
The black boss shook his chest muscles and was about to give these "filial sons" a good look, but one of his subordinates quickly grabbed him.
"What are you doing?"
"Boss." The subordinate pointed to the crowd with a panic expression.
Boss Hei took a closer look and saw a few young men half-hidden in the crowd. The guy he was carrying turned out to be a troll.
"boss."
The black boss turned around and said to the developer, "Don't be like these unscrupulous people. It's bad luck!"
……………………
Although one party is trying to preserve the house and the other is demolishing it, they are both just seeking money.
The two sides quickly negotiated a specific amount. The developer was afraid that something would happen in the future, so he simply asked someone to withdraw cash from the bank. The Li family was not ambiguous and divided the money noisily on the spot.
You bit by bit, I bit by bit, until in Li Changan's hands, all that was left was a few crumpled pictures of Grandpa Mao.
The uncle who was sharing the money was quite embarrassed. The aunt holding the child next to him quickly said: "Chang'an, don't think it's too little. We all divide it based on the head."
Oh, no wonder you even brought your mother’s child.
Li Changan smiled and said nothing.
He lost his father when he was young. Although his grandfather, Old Man Li, raised him up, he relied on his uncles to support him for school and daily living expenses, so he had no intention of competing with these relatives from the beginning.
"No."
Li Changan pushed the ticket back.
"I'll just pick something up in the house later."
"That's what I want!" The eldest aunt snatched the money and stuffed it into her pocket with a smile on her face.
The valuable things in the house had long been moved away.
……………………
"One, two, three, get up!"
Several uncles in their prime shouted slogans and lifted the coffin.
A group of people wearing sackcloth and filial piety came over to kill the general, and then returned with the pots, pans, tables and benches that they had plundered from the house.
Li Changan, who was walking among a group of contented and smiling people, looked back.
Amidst the roar of the excavator, the small building that held many of his memories collapsed into a pile of ruins, and with it, it seemed, his last attachment to this land.
"Forget it, go back!"
……………………
It was night, and the banquet was just about to disperse in front of the mourning hall.
The older ones gather with their friends to play mahjong, while the younger ones gather together to play on their mobile phones and watch TV.
Li Changan huddled alone in a bedroom, holding an old thread-bound book in his hand.
This was one of the gadgets he brought out from his grandfather's house. Most of them were worthless, and he only kept them as souvenirs.
But this book is different. Li Changan chose it from inside the house because he had no impression of this book at all.
He grew up in that house, and every corner and every object was extremely familiar. When Li Changan found this book, he was lying quietly in the bookcase. Like other things in the bookcase, it was covered with dust, but there was no trace of it in Li Changan's memory.
This made Li Changan a little puzzled, and he looked at the book carefully.
The book cover is a yellow hard cover with layers of wrinkles all over it, and the pages in the middle have turned yellow. The threading on the spine of the book is not regular, but looks like it was drilled by oneself and threaded with thick hemp thread.
Li Changan turned to the first page.
There were densely written small words on it, two words in groups, occupying the entire page, but it seemed that the ink had faded due to the age.
Li Changan turned on the lights brighter and read each word carefully.
"To clear the secluded area, drive away gods, carry mountains, forbid water, borrow wind, spread fog, pray for sunshine, pray for rain..."
"Isn't this the Taoist seventy-two techniques of earth evil?"
The seventy-two techniques of earth evil, or to change to a more famous name, the seventy-two transformations, Sun Dasheng's special skills are part of the Taoist transformation method.
This method of transformation is not simply a male-to-female or a human-to-sheep transformation, but a magic to transform all things, such as moving clouds and rain, moving mountains and seas, and stealing the sky and changing the sun. It is regarded as the foundation of all Taoism.
Knowing what was written, Li Changan stopped reading carefully. He turned to the second page, but there was a picture of an ugly and ferocious ghost drawn on it.
"Could this be a ghost album?"
Li Changan flipped through the pages at the back, but was surprised to find that they were all blank.
"This is really inexplicable..."
Li Changan shook his head and was about to close the book.
Suddenly, the moment his eyes left the page, there was a "buzzing" sound in his ears, and Li Changan's mind suddenly became dizzy.
He just felt dizzy, all the shapes in front of him began to distort, and various colors melted and mixed together, making people feel depressed. There were also many words that came to mind in my ears, but I couldn't hear them clearly. I could only hear them speaking in various weird southern and northern accents. Like the sound of a gong, Peking opera, clappers, yellow plum blossoms, flower drums... all started singing together, and the noise reached his ears, making Li Changan's stomach juices churn.
But just when he couldn't hold on any longer, when a live broadcast came, his eyes and ears suddenly became clear. He quickly held on to the table, took a few deep breaths, and finally calmed down... Huh? table? Weren't you still lying in bed just now? Where did the table come from? He suddenly raised his head, but was stunned... Oh my god, where is this?
Li Changan found himself in a small and simple house. The walls of the house were rough but khaki-yellow, and the bamboo slits in the wall could be vaguely seen. This was actually an earthen wall made of bamboo, straw, and soil.
Looking up, he saw a few logs building up the roof, but most of the tiles on the roof were gone. The cold moonlight shone down, making Li Changan look confused.
"Is it possible?"
He muttered dumbly and lowered his head.
The moonlight shines on the portrait of the evil ghost on the page of the book, and the outlined lines seem to come to life, making the portrait more vivid and vivid, and it will jump out of the book and choose people to devour.
