Liu Erwa was so young that she was so frightened that she cried.
I'm so scared too!
At this moment, a ripple suddenly appeared in the water ahead, which was also obvious in the wave.
As a kid who often plays by the water, I could tell at a glance that there must be something swimming towards us in the water. A vague black shadow can still be vaguely seen.
"Swim, swim ashore quickly!"
My intuition was not good, so I pushed Liu Erwa next to me hard and turned around to swim.
The two of us used all our strength to suck the milk.
This is an escape!
I didn't dare look back at all. Although I didn't know what it was, I knew it would be doomed if caught.
Soon, soon!
It was almost time to reach the shore. I suddenly felt like my calf was scratched by something, and it hurt.
My scalp was numb and my spine felt like an electric shock.
Is that thing catching up with me? They all caught my feet!
"No, I can't die!"
A fierce desire to live broke out.
Sudden!
I felt a warm sensation coming from the small wooden sign that I had hung around my neck since I was a child, and it burned a little.
I was exhausted and suddenly accelerated my swimming speed.
In the last few strokes, I swam to shallow water and could stand up and run. And some adults who were threshing millet by the river came this way...
"Big daddy, big daddy."
Liu Erwa, who came ashore a little ahead of me, cried with snot and tears. I also squatted on the shore, holding my knees with my hands and tears streaming down my face.
"What's going on with you two little kids?"
Liu Erwa just cried and couldn't speak clearly. I stammered and pointed to the river behind.
"Uncle Liu, Wang Fei, Wang Fei is in the river... sinking, sinking..."
What!
When Uncle Liu and other adults heard this, they immediately went crazy.
Especially Wang Fei and his uncle were also here, running as hard as they could to the river.
Soon, there were more and more adults around, and everyone went to the river to look for someone. But where can I still see Wang Fei’s shadow?
Apparently he had drowned!
"My son, my son. Didn't I tell you not to go into the water? You died miserably."
Wang Fei's mother sat by the river and cried loudly, very sadly.
Some men with strong psychological quality began to ask me and Liu Erwa what was going on.
I stuttered and described the process, and some of the older people's faces changed slightly.
"Give me a moment, give me a moment."
My dad also rushed over at this time, pushed through the crowd, rushed over and hugged me.
He held my hand, looked around nervously, and muttered, "Baby, you're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm not hurt, I was just too scared just now. I felt something in the water was grabbing my feet, and it still hurts a little..."
My dad and other adults looked down at my ankles and gasped.
I saw their expressions were strange, and they also looked down at my ankles.
There is a clear black fingerprint there!
It's like someone's hand is holding your ankle tightly.
"Oops! This, I'm afraid this is really a water stick."
A middle-aged woman exclaimed first.
Water beats the stick, that is, the water ghost.
Sometimes people who are very good at swimming drown inexplicably while swimming in the river, and they are captured by water ghosts and used as scapegoats!
At this time, the crowd became restless and whispered.
Everyone felt that Wang Fei was beaten with water and caught with a stick, and was made a scapegoat...
Wang Fei's father clenched his fists, his eyes were red, but there was nothing he could do.
"No matter what you say, my baby's body must be fished out! Please help me find it. I, Wang Dalong, would like to thank everyone."
He bowed to everyone and hoped that everyone would help salvage it before dark.
Otherwise, it won’t be easy to fish it out when it gets dark, and you won’t know where the body will float tomorrow!
My dad squatted on the ground, touched my head, and kept comforting me not to be afraid.
I lowered my head subconsciously and found that the small wooden sign I had worn since childhood had a big crack and was completely broken.
"Dad, my little wooden sign seems to be broken."
Um?
My dad was stunned and picked it up to take a look.
Sure enough, there was a crack running through the front and back, probably because he had finally managed to hold on until now. As soon as he touched it, it cracked completely into two pieces.
"That Taoist priest really saved you once, my dear..."
he said to himself.
Obviously, hitting the stick in the water this time was my "first calamity" - if it weren't for the protection of this small wooden sign, I would have been dragged to the bottom of the water and drowned like Wang Fei.
Became the scapegoat for the water-beating stick!
But the broken wooden sign means that I will have to rely on myself for the next two calamities I may encounter.
"My dear, you go back to your mother first and have a good rest. I want to help your Uncle Wang catch Wang Fei."
My dad thought I was also frightened and wanted me to go home.
I shook my head.
"No, I want to take a look."
Although I have been thin since I was a child, my personality is very stubborn. Even nine cows can't bring back what has been decided.
My dad had no choice but to wave his hand: "If you're not afraid, just follow me and watch."
So, the whole village began to help salvage Wang Fei's body.
Some people who live near the river usually go boating and fishing.
At this time, we rowed a few small wooden boats over three or four meters long, used long bamboo poles to constantly stir in the river, and dragged the fishing nets against the river... If we felt a body, we could get it up immediately.
The experienced elders in the village said that this would not work and that they should try the backwater tuo downstream.
Because the water rushing upstream usually swirls in the Tuo River and sinks there, it is generally not easy to wash away.
If Wang Fei's body went down the river, it would probably be spinning under the water in Huishuituo.
Everyone thought it made sense and divided a group of people to prepare to go downstream.
At this moment, a man suddenly came out, stopped the villagers, and let out a contemptuous and crazy laugh.
"Hehe, hahaha. It's impossible to retrieve the body like you. No matter how you look for it, it's all in vain. From the perspective of Feng Shui, the backwater downstream is called a toad entering the pool. Don't worry about life or death. Don’t even think about coming up there. There are layers of corpses under the water and you can’t even fish them out.”
Everyone took a look and found that the person blocking the road was actually the crazy woman living at the end of the village!
Speaking of this crazy woman, she is considered a weirdo in our village.
My dad said that she probably came to our village when I was about four or five years old.
I don’t know where he wandered here from. His body was dirty and his face was covered with mud. His original appearance was almost gone.
The clothes are like tattered sacks, wrapped around the body, airtight even in summer. She's not afraid of the heat either!
There is a dilapidated house at the end of the village that has not been lived in for many years. The doors and windows are broken.
So this crazy woman moved in by herself.
She would often laugh inexplicably while walking on the road, shout something to people suddenly, say some strange words, and startle them.
At first the villagers thought she was a real madman and wanted to drive her away.
It was later discovered that his behavior was just exaggerated and weird, and he was still able to speak and communicate with people normally.
It's just that the nickname "Crazy Woman" has become deeply rooted in people's hearts.
When I grew up, because I was quite naughty, I liked to play with the children in the village, running around the village and chasing chickens and dogs. I often meet her.
She always sat on the rocks behind the shabby house to bask in the sun, picking lice from her body and throwing them into her mouth. It makes a crunching sound, just like eating fried soybeans.
When she saw us playing, she made strange noises on purpose. Usually at this time, the friends around me would be so scared that they would run away in all directions, but I was the only one who was not afraid.
Not only was I not afraid, I deliberately walked over and asked her what she was calling.
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
"You don't eat people, so I'm afraid of what you will do." I was only six years old at that time, puffing up my chest and trying to look like a little adult.
So she laughed and wanted to come over and touch my head, but I avoided her.
But anyway, from then on, my relationship with this crazy woman seemed to be better than others. Sometimes, I would bring steamed buns from home for her to eat, and she would eat them all with a smile...
This has been the case for the past few years.
Unexpectedly, she would stop people in the village to retrieve corpses this year.
Wang Fei's father had just died and was in extreme grief, so he mustered up the energy to retrieve his son's body. But he was blocked by a crazy woman. He was so angry that he suddenly cursed with red eyes.
"You crazy bitch, get out of here! Otherwise I'll be rude to you."
As he spoke, he raised his fist to threaten her.
This crazy woman seemed to have suddenly changed her gender today. She just said coldly: "I think your son was the least afraid of me except Wu Wa'er when he was alive. Although we didn't have much communication, I still wanted him to be buried in peace. If you look for it like this, you can’t find it.”
The "Wu Wa'er" in her mouth was referring to me.
I don’t know why, but I held my dad’s hand and watched honestly, and I felt that this crazy woman had a special aura about her. It was as if I had to listen to her.
Not only me, a little kid, but other adults were also stunned.
The old village chief asked her: "So tell me, where do you want to find it?"
