Chapter 192 All Mortals Will Die 14
The attic had fallen into disrepair for years, and it made a constant creaking sound when you stepped on it. After listening to it for a long time, it actually sounded like a hoarse cry of pain.
The windows were all sealed with wooden boards, not a single light could get in. However, it was night time and the cold, dark night seemed to be able to seep through the cracks, making the gloomy house even darker, as if covered by a layer of opaque black fog.
The night wind was mourning, and I was crying outside the house until I was hoarse.
Even standing inside the house, one could feel the chill that penetrated into the bones.
He shuddered unconsciously and almost wanted to turn around and leave, not dwelling on whether it was a god or not. Since his brother was trying to avoid it, it meant that there was something wrong with the god of the Jiang family.
Otherwise, why was it not recorded and no statues left?
He did not protect the Jiang family, leaving them with only his brother and himself.
"Hmph. You're trying to scare me by pretending to be a ghost." Jiang Yuelu was still a young man at heart. Thinking about how he would joke with his friends tomorrow, he couldn't miss this adventure, so he stayed and bravely searched in the attic in the dark, humming a song to cheer himself up.
The boy's clear voice echoed in the small attic. This dark and deserted place that had been dark for years became a little more lively and didn't seem as eerie as before.
After a few hums, Jiang Yuelu hummed in confusion, "This place is too dilapidated."
Unlike the shrines and temples of other families, this attic which was said to house the family's gods was narrow and dim, with rotten and blackened wooden boards. Jiang Yuelu took a look around and didn't see even a stick of incense, let alone the flowing aura of gods. He couldn't help but doubt Jiang Rihu's words.
He tried to communicate with the spirit, but there was no response.
"Is our family's god really here? Could it be that he is drunk and lying to me?"
He was so discouraged that he sat down on the ground.
Unexpectedly, after sitting down, I noticed something different.
In the distance, a faint light shone through the collapsed wooden frame of the straw basket.
Being in a dark room, such a beam of light was particularly conspicuous. It must be in the corner, blocked by a pile of broken things. He didn't see it because he was standing there looking for it.
Regardless of the thick layer of dust on the ground, Jiang Yuelu leaned over to the floor and tried to look inside through the wooden frame. There was a dark hole hidden in the corner of the wall, which could not be found without careful observation.
He was a little disappointed: "It's just a rat hole."
But how did the mouse hole get light?
Thinking of this, he gained some confidence. He quickly moved away the obstacles and squatted at the entrance of the cave to look around.
He thought a few mice would come out, but as he kept looking, he saw a light occasionally appear at the hole. In this small dark space, the faint light looked like a firefly. He reached out to catch it and clearly saw it in his palm, but when he took it back and carefully unfolded it, he found nothing.
He did not give up and lay in ambush at the entrance of the cave, waiting for the light to shine again and then reaching out to catch it.
"Hey!"
Still no.
"Where are you escaping to!"
After a while, Jiang Yuelu got a little carried away. He rubbed his hands and talked to himself, "I don't believe it. What on earth is playing tricks on me?" He was determined not to give up until he got what he wanted.
The light flickered, as if blinking and mocking him, and was about to float into the cave. Jiang Yuelu was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He shouted, "Want to run?" and suddenly reached his hand into the cave. After groping for a while, he suddenly stopped and laughed.
"What am I doing?"
It's just a grain of light, how could it be caught? It had escaped several times just now outside the cave, and now it was out of sight and there was no way to find it. I was playing hide-and-seek with a grain of light, and I was afraid that people would laugh at me if I told others about it.
Thinking of this, he was about to get up. There was an unpleasant smell in the cave. He didn't notice it when he was in high spirits just now, but now that he was close, it was simply unbearable.
But when he was retreating, his hand suddenly touched something, "Hmm?" He took it out and took a look.
It turned out to be a piece of pitch-black wood.
"No. This is not ordinary wood." He denied it immediately.
The touch was warm and smooth in the hand, and the curve was flat and delicate, and it was obvious that it had been carefully polished. Jiang Yuelu took up his sleeve and wiped it, revealing half of his handsome face.
His hand slowed down for a moment, then wiped it more carefully.
This is actually a statue of a god!
It was half broken for some reason and thrown into a stinking rat hole. Jiang Yuelu stared at it in a trance.
The half-carved statue is obviously very delicate. The person who sculpted it must have had a lot of respect for it. I don't know what happened and it failed to take shape in the end.
He ran his hand over the small idol.
This is a very beautiful god, with delicate features and face, which makes him look less divine and more childish. Jiang Yuelu had seen the statues of gods enshrined in other shrines and temples, and felt that they were too distant and noble to be respected.
The most outrageous words that are often said are: "If God ignores me, I will ignore him."
Why should I look forward to worshipping if I don't look at my God?
But the gentlemen hit him with sticks, "Who the hell do you think you can be equal to God?"
But he just couldn't love those high and mighty gods. When he first saw this statue with a unique temperament tonight, he felt it was very down-to-earth, just like he had met a destined friend.
"As for me, I love making friends. I like to interact with all kinds of people. But I have never had a god friend."
He was about to put the statue on the ground when he stopped and said, "No, it's too dirty here. I'm sorry to my good friend."
So he went downstairs, fetched a bucket of water from the well, cleaned the statue, then went back to the woodpile in the backyard, found the tools and repaired the damaged parts.
His craftsmanship was quite good. He even had the idea of carving some fine flowers on the god's clothes. When he finally looked at it under the moonlight, he nodded repeatedly.
"Yeah, perfect!"
The next morning, Jiang Rihu was awakened by a clanging sound above his head. He covered his head and came out to take a look, "Jiang Yuelu, what are you doing if you're not in school?"
He shouted for a long time, but no one responded. The noise above his head became louder. Without even having time to put on his clothes, Jiang Rihu grabbed a stick and went up to the house to beat his brother. But when he was halfway up the stairs, he saw his brother coming down covered in dust.
"Are you... are you destroying the house?!"
Jiang Yuelu was busy all morning and was exhausted. He hadn't eaten yet and was already so hungry that he was blind. He didn't bother to talk to his brother and floated down the stairs. He ate a few mouthfuls before coming back to life, "I'm so tired..."
Jiang Rihu felt more suspicious, "What are you doing?"
"I'm..." Jiang Yuelu thought, this cannot be said directly, I have to ask in a roundabout way.
"I'm cleaning."
How could Jiang Rihu believe it? "You are so lazy. I asked you to go chop some wood but you kept making excuses. Are you up to something bad again? Tell me now."
"I am indeed cleaning. The upstairs is too dirty. By the way, brother, I found a statue of a god up there. What should I do with it? Should I find a table to worship it?"
Jiang Rihu was surprised. "What? There's a statue in the attic?"
“…”
Jiang Yuelu felt that it was not worth it for her own god.
The unfilial descendants of this family threw him into a rat hole, where he stayed with the stinking garbage beasts for many years, and finally even forgot about it.
Jiang Yuelu felt very unhappy when he thought about other people's gods being worshipped, praised by clansmen and placed in magnificent temples, and then when he thought about the fact that his own god didn't even have a complete statue.
The young man felt so unwilling and unworthy.
Only he knew that moment.
After a long while, he raised his head and gave his brother a complicated look. Jiang Rihu didn't know why he suddenly got angry, "What's wrong with you again?"
Jiang Yuelu snorted, "I don't want to bother with you!"
If there is no complete statue, he will polish and paint it, and then add a better one.
If no one offers offerings to him, he will find an altar and become his first believer.
Since there was no bustling temple, he would clean up the attic so that the poor little god would have a place to stay out of the wind and rain.
He promised the statue: "No one cares about you, I will take care of you!"
Jiang Yuelu was quite excited as it was the first time in his life that he had arranged a divine residence. He spent the entire afternoon without going to school, and racked his brains to come up with a design, and built a simple and cozy little residence for this new friend.
It is a small attic with everything, including a dining area, a doghouse, and a row of flowers and plants as the "back garden of the gods".
Fearing that this new friend would suffer from loneliness for a hundred years, Jiang Yuelu found a few birds and turtles and put them into the little world, making it very lively with their chirping.
The attic was extremely dirty before, with the windows sealed shut so that not even a ray of light could get in.
The attic is now full of singing birds and fragrant flowers. At dusk, a large patch of red clouds shine in, making everything lively. Even the statues of gods seem to be smiling.
He said with satisfaction: "The shrine of my Jiang family is complete!"
Jiang Rihu heard his brother's clapping from the attic and was puzzled. "What are you doing all day long?" Then he went to burn incense for his parents.
"The spirits in heaven must bless Jiang Yuelu to pass the exam, please show your spirit, please show your spirit..."
Jiang Yuelu heard this in the attic and curled his lips and said, "What's the use of asking my parents for help? It's better to come up and beg you, right?" He said to the statue.
The Jiang family god is now in a much better situation than before. He placed him in a simple shrine he made on the altar (actually just a wooden box). The stove for burning incense is Jiang Rihu's rice bowl (he has been looking for it for a day). Although it is not in a proper shape, it is intact and clean. The god is surrounded by fragrant mist and has his eyes closed, which really makes him look like an immortal.
Jiang Yuelu is a talkative person who can chat about anything even with a piece of wood. He lay on the ground, looking at the attic which is now very different, and felt a sense of accomplishment.
At a time when praise is so urgently needed, it's really boring to be surrounded by silence.
He rolled on the ground twice, shouting that he was so bored, so bored, and so bored to have no one to accompany him.
Finally, he stood up and stared at the statue, "Hey, you are not a good brother. I did all this for you, and you didn't even say thank you? You are so uneducated, didn't anyone teach you to be polite? You should say thank you when you are helped. This is the basic principle of being a human being."
He was talking about a bunch of outrageous and twisted ideas just to make himself feel good. He didn't care at all whether anyone responded or not, and just fell asleep.
The next morning, when it was just getting light, he opened his eyes drowsily and saw a figure sitting next to him. He thought it was Jiang Rihu who came up. "Brother, it's not time to go to school yet. I'll take a nap." So he turned over and fell into a deep sleep again.
It took a while before he woke up completely. He sat up, turned his head dazedly, and saw the figure from before was still there.
Not moving.
“…”
This is not his brother!
Jiang Yuelu screamed out, "There's a ghost!!!"
He crawled back to the door, knocking over countless things along the way without caring about anything else. He ran out of the door in a panic and slammed it shut. He felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.
Jiang Rihu yelled downstairs, "Jiang Yuelu, you want to die!"
"I'm sorry!" he yelled back.
After calming down for a while, he quietly opened the door a tiny crack and peeked inside.
Not in the same place as before...
Did you follow me?!
His heart beat faster and he subconsciously wanted to lock the door, but he was inexplicably angry and said, "I want to see what it is that has taken over the space I just cleaned!"
So he opened the door and rushed in with great vigor and confidence, "Who are you, monster? Come here and let me go..." After he finished saying the word "let me go", Jiang Yuelu stood there in a daze.
The man who had frightened him was still in the house, arranging the flowers and plants that had been knocked down and taking the turtle that was lying on its back back. Jiang Yuelu calmed down at this moment and could see his face clearly, and suddenly felt familiar with him.
Then he was startled, "You..."
Looks exactly like the statue!
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