The Land of Unforgettable Death 2

The fog that had accumulated last night had not yet dissipated, drifting across the long river in Songshui Village, blocking Aunt Qin's inquiring gaze. She said, "That's it."

Being able to see only a small area in front of her did not affect her cleaning of clothes.

Living by the river saves their family a lot of expenses. The only drawback is that the river is said to flow through snow-capped mountains in its upper reaches, and the water is freezing cold all year round. Only in hot weather can they come here to do laundry.

The foam spread rapidly, pushing outward in waves, cleaning the clothes hastily and throwing them into the bucket. She fled to the two steps above to avoid the chill rising from her ankles soaked in it, twisting her waist and beating her legs.

The smooth twilight was wrinkled, with a white patch rising in the west and a red patch rising in the east. Small pieces of gold foil began to flutter on the surface of the river. From top to bottom, the morning sun penetrated the misty water fog, and the long and bright silver-white rays of light were revealed.

My God, you are really blinding. Aunt Qin lowered her head in awe, and as she withdrew her gaze from the distance, she inadvertently glanced towards the bridge pier.

Two upright translucent objects stood a few steps away. At first glance, they looked like discarded balloons that had been filled with water. But upon closer inspection, they had a light orange curled outer skin and five fingers on the top, which were clearly human hands stretched out and raised above the water!

“Ouch, ouch, ouch—”

Her throat was blocked and her legs and feet went limp instantly. If she hadn't considered that there was deep water below and she would probably join the owner of the human hand in a few minutes if she fell, she would probably have collapsed to her knees.

In a desperate situation, people will trigger the freezing mechanism and can do nothing but scream miserably, hoping for kind passers-by.

Aunt Wei came over when she heard the sound. Standing by the railing, she saw a pair of hands swaying with the waves and was horrified.

Isn't this the legendary water ghost pulling a substitute?!

She was worried and didn't dare to jump into the water. "Aunt Qin, wait for me to go back and call Lao Wei for help," she said. "Don't worry, you might fall."

Seeing a living person, Aunt Qin's fear immediately dissipated a lot. But she was afraid that she would leave, so she walked back tremblingly, holding the railing: "No need to go, you wait for me upstairs, I'll be up soon."

The two poor people supported each other and went to call other villagers.

The discovery of an unclaimed body in the village, which had been peaceful and tranquil for many years and where everyone lived their lives according to routine, caused a sensation. Elderly people who had nothing to do during the slack season came in groups to watch the fun under the pretext of "helping to identify the body."

The rescue team arrived soon.

Onlookers stood in groups of three or five on the shore, craning their necks to watch them take kayaks to the bridge pier, use special scoop nets to pull people into the boat, and then bring them ashore.

Qing Qiong was also among them, and she exclaimed in amazement: "Judging from her clothes, she still looks like a young kid. What a pity."

After soaking for a long time, the young woman's body was filled with water, swollen and almost unrecognizable as a human being. Her skin was stretched and cracked. During the transportation, a light red liquid continued to leak out, mixed with the fallen mud and sand and scattered all the way. The air was filled with the smell of rust and the lingering stench of dead fish.

"I watched it all by the river. The water batons rushed over but were blocked by the bridge piers. No one noticed them until the fog cleared. Aunt Qin couldn't stand the smell and ran away like crazy, but I was fine. They said the girl's backpack was fished out downstream. It was huge and heavy. I guess it fell into the river and she reached out to grab it. Let me tell you, how valuable can a bag be? If you throw it away, just throw it away. You shouldn't go down to pick it up—"

The granddaughter, who should have been at school, came out of the kitchen leisurely, chewing the freshly baked crispy meat with a crunching sound, and holding a handful of it in her raised hand.

She immediately stopped talking, her saliva flying, and watched the girl with a side ponytail walk up to her with a look of surprise on her face: "Today is Wednesday, your dad didn't send you to school?"

"My dad won't let me go!" He said confidently, as if he really wanted to go to school.

Jianlin retorted angrily, "What are you talking about? When they were about to leave, it was still on the bridge and couldn't be moved for a while. Jianye was in a hurry to go to work, so he just left. It wouldn't take more than a day or two for school."

Anping Bridge is on the only way from the village to the nearest highway. If you want to bypass it and go to the town, you have to go out of the back village and through a long road, which is time-consuming and fuel-consuming. Therefore, Jianye automatically ignores other options.

When she came to her senses and asked a nonsense question, Qiong Qing rolled her eyes and sent her granddaughter away in anger.

Yinsui was used to the daily quarrels between the old couple, and prepared to go to the kitchen to buy some remaining food to bring upstairs to play and eat while walking, so he stepped onto the stairs leading to the kitchen door from the lower yard.

Qiong Qing behind him suddenly remembered something and raised her voice, "Eat less. It's hot right out of the pot."

"oh."

The plan was cancelled, and she seemed to walk back in disappointment, but in fact she happily ran upstairs and lay by the window to continue eavesdropping.

Unfortunately, once interrupted, Qiong Qing's desire to share disappeared immediately, and the topic gradually turned to "matters related to the Chen Laojiao family's grave relocation." After patiently listening for a few seconds, she yawned in boredom and had to give up.

That afternoon, Chen Laojiao led a group of people in a mighty procession into the dark bamboo forest.

No one had passed through for a long time, and the bamboos had grown so densely that they didn't even consider whether they were blocking the way. They were so dense that they had to squat every two steps, otherwise they would be hit on the head by the bamboo poles.

The sunlight finds its way in through the gaps, sparsely and scatteredly planting the daylight. If you don't look up at the sky while walking in it, you won't know what time it is.

The old man in the yellow robe looked around calmly, carefully selecting a good place to stop.

Chen Jiuguan, as the eldest son, shoveled the first shovel of soil, and the rest of the family members came forward to dig the pit one by one. With strength in numbers, the square pit was quickly formed.

As the coffin slowly sank into the ground, the heavy burden on his shoulders became lighter and lighter until it disappeared completely. His back straightened involuntarily, and he looked around at the new stone tombstone of his ancestors with his head held high.

I went to the hospital but they couldn't find what was wrong with me, so I tried some Feng Shui and metaphysics to seek psychological comfort.

Noticing the change in his demeanor, Chen Laojiao, who didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, thought to himself, "If I can buy my dad's mental health, then the money I spent is not a waste."

After completing the tedious process, everyone who walked in with frowns and full of hatred came out with relaxed expressions.

When they came out, the old couple happened to be sitting at the door enjoying the cool air. Chen Jiuzhuang took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed them out: "Thank you so much for doing the Chen family a big favor."

Jianlin immediately lit one and chatted with him in the smoke.

Qing Qiong put down the palm-leaf fan in her hand. She couldn't stand seeing the old man smoking at the door, especially since his granddaughter was at home and might go out. She asked Yinsui to come downstairs to eat on the pretext that the meal was ready, so Chen Jiuzhuang tactfully excused himself and sent him to the small road to finish smoking and come back.

Yinsui was the one who suffered. When he heard his grandma calling him to eat, he hurried downstairs even though he was surprised that the meal was served so early. But as soon as he opened the living room, he was persuaded to go back and play for a while. He was confused.

Due to the taboo of some families nearby not to cook during burials, the dinner was eaten later than usual.

"Your mom has to work overtime for something unexpected, and your dad is working the night shift, so your grandpa will sleep in the small study tonight, and you and grandma will sleep on the first floor."

In the past, when Yinsui slept with the old man, grandpa slept in the same room, but since she moved out and grandpa moved back, the room became a study, with all kinds of miscellaneous things scattered everywhere, and the original small bed was covered with extracurricular books.

Feeling guilty about bothering the old man to sort out her things that had been scattered around for years, she shook her head and refused, then tossed and turned on the second floor alone, unable to sleep well, anxiously waiting for someone to come home from get off work.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound of wind passing through green waves outside the window, but there was no wind at all - if there was a slight breeze, the bamboo growing against the wall would sway and scratch the protruding awning. Yinsui was too familiar with the sound of wind and rain.

It sounded more like someone was walking underneath, the soles of their shoes scraping against the weeds on the ground, and suddenly hitting the slanted bamboo poles, making a sound with every step.

Who?

Anyway, it couldn't be my parents. They must have driven back when they left, and my family never goes into the bamboo forest for fear of snakes.

That woman climbed out of the river, soaking wet, right? Her face was pale, her eyes were cloudy, and she dragged herself forward slowly. After she reached the bottom of the building, she used all four limbs to climb in through the window to find me.

At this point in her fantasy, the sound really stopped. She mustered up the courage to lift the quilt and looked out. In the pitch-black room, a white face was pressed tightly against the glass.

I was so scared that I couldn't scream, and it was difficult to look away. I stared there like a fool for a long time. After my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, I realized that the white object was just the white T-shirt that my mother had casually draped on the windowsill last night.

"I scared myself." Yinsui patted his chest and laughed at himself.

It would have been fine if he hadn't said it, but once he did, it seemed to have really alarmed something below, and as soon as he finished speaking, it started moving again.

She didn't dare move at all when it moved. She kept her eyes wide open and didn't even dare to pick up the quilt that fell on her stomach to cover her eyes.

Finally, the people below started talking: "Get up and take a walk." The hoarse old man drew out the last word and spoke softly as if he was earnestly persuading someone to get up and exercise.

After a few seconds, the same words were spoken again in the same tone, and then the words were repeated over and over again like a possessed person.

"Get up and walk around."

"Get up and walk around."

······

Until the roar of a motorcycle engine was heard in the distance, Ji Lin, who was returning home from the night shift, also heard the noise. He stood at the entrance and raised his high-beam flashlight to shine the light on the old wine jar where he was digging the soil with his hands covered in blood.

"What are you doing?!"

A loud shout cut through the night sky, startling Qiongqing and Jianlin awake. They quickly put on their clothes and ran outside. Together with their son, they witnessed him digging at his ancestral grave with his bare hands.

Since it was their own business anyway, the two old men felt relieved and went to his house to report the news leisurely, leaving Ji Lin to look after him.

Chen Laojiao rushed over and took the embarrassed father away, and the matter came to an end.

The light in the kitchen came on. Jilin lit some hay and threw it into the stove to ignite the firewood. He saw his daughter, disheveled and slippers clacking, walking to the door. She peeked in with bright eyes. He thought she was hungry and asked, "Want some noodles?"

Yinsui shook his head, his hair swaying. "What were you doing outside just now?"

"Catch the madman."

It turned out to be a lunatic. She was completely relieved: "I thought it was the woman from this morning."

Ji Lin chuckled. "She was carried away by the search and rescue team this afternoon. I guess she'll be buried soon. If there are really ghosts and zombies in the world, there won't be enough space on Earth to stand there for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Young Master, think about it. Don't watch those movies with your mother anymore. Go back to sleep. I won't give you leave tomorrow."

"I want to eat noodles." In fact, he was afraid of sleeping alone and wanted to stay with someone.

In the brightly lit living room, Yinsui tilted his head and bit the tip of his chopsticks, feeling both fearful and curious. "So what does she look like?"

"It's just a piece of meat. When a person dies, they're just a piece of meat. The only thing that's different from the other meat you eat is that it has hair. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Where's the madman?"

The man, buried in his rice, took a moment to answer his daughter: "Mad men are like living people."

"I think it's so scary." He mumbled some incomprehensible words and did things that were incomprehensible.

"Then stay away from him. I've discussed it with your grandmother and the others. Tomorrow we'll return all the things and ask them to move the grave. It's no use for Chen Jiuzhuang to come and dig every night."

It would be a good idea to move out, she agreed loudly.

——"Dad, Dad, he's here again."

Ji Lin opened his eyes in a drowsy sleep in the middle of the night, and saw a long-haired head floating beside the bed. He was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, completely forgetting that he had just been talking about atheism.

The head opened its mouth and cried pitifully, "Dad, a madman is crying under my window."

It turns out to be Sui Sui.

The fear faded, replaced by a ghostly rage. Chen Jiuguan took the man back but didn't keep a close eye on him, and released his biological father to go crazy and disturb the people.

Ji Lin got up with a surprised look on his face and took his daughter to the next room.

He didn't hear any crying when he entered the room, but he was still angry. He went to the window, opened it, and cursed at the people below in a low voice. He relied on the fact that he didn't see anyone and said that he didn't know the identity of the people below. He was really outspoken.

"You old fool, you're still howling in the middle of the night. Get out of here!"

After scolding, she put away her angry expression and said in a gentle voice, "If you're scared, go and sleep with grandma. Are you still scared?"

"I'm not afraid anymore."

"Okay, if you're not afraid, just sleep well."