Ancient Corpse in the Mountain Village (Part 2)
As the night deepened, the occasional chirping of insects could be heard. The dim kerosene lamp illuminated the traces of time on the walls of the utility room, and also made the black and white photo of my grandfather look even more rugged and thin.
Originally, there was a Taoist priest helping to keep watch, but Yu Shu felt guilty and insisted on keeping vigil alone tonight.
Jiang Yu had advised him not to joke about his own safety. It was because he took into consideration that Jiang Yu lived at home that he dared to give himself a chance to reduce the guilt that occupied his heart.
"Hey, Uncle Yu..."
The strange voice that popped up in the silence startled Yu Shu. He turned around and saw an old man wearing an outdated printed shirt. There was a small, light red birthmark in the shape of a teardrop on his right earlobe.
Yu Shu stood up straight. It was too strange for him to come at this hour, but it seemed that he was an acquaintance, so he frowned and asked, "Do you know my grandfather?" Before he could finish his words, Yu Shu felt a biting chill penetrating through his skin and flesh, and he shivered unconsciously.
The uncle's eyes were filled with helplessness and regret. He seemed to have traveled from far away, and his voice was tired. At the same time, there was a special accent with a rising ending: "Yes, I know him. According to seniority, you should call me Uncle Zhang."
"Oh. Hello, Uncle Zhang." Yu Shu couldn't find any trace of this uncle in his memory, so he was being polite with full of suspicion.
"I moved out and live far away. No matter how hard I try, it's still too late." Uncle Zhang said to himself, his hoarse, old voice echoing in the mourning hall: "Are you keeping vigil alone?"
Yu Shu nodded but didn't respond. He felt like there was ice stuck in his throat and his breathing was a little slow.
Uncle Zhang looked at him for several seconds before continuing, "I'm so sorry I came at a bad time."
"No, you came so far to see Grandpa."
Uncle Zhang smiled meaningfully and said nothing more. He knelt in front of the coffin, his cloudy eyes dull and lifeless.
After less than five minutes, Uncle Zhang abruptly said he had to leave, saying it was too late. Yu Shu was apprehensive about someone coming so late at night and feeling cold in the summer, but he politely escorted the person to the door.
Uncle Zhang walked five or six meters out and suddenly called Yu Shu's name: "I live in the west of the village, near the lake."
Yu Shu was about to say "Be careful" when Jiang Yu ran into his sight with an anxious look on his face. When he looked in the direction of Zhang Bo again, he had completely disappeared.
Jiang Yu changed into a casual white T-shirt and jeans, which was completely different from the solemn new Chinese style and Taoist robe he wore during the day. He looked much more sunny and lively.
"You are really carefree." The strands of hair on Jiang Yu's forehead swayed slightly in the night wind, revealing a small area of smooth forehead.
Yu Shu rubbed his hands in coldness. Jiang Yu's words still made him a little confused. How could he be so careless?
As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly walked over and felt Yu Shu's temperature. Sure enough, his temperature was abnormally low. If he had appeared a little later, Yu Shu would probably have been possessed by the so-called Uncle Zhang and had no idea where he was.
However, what surprised Jiang Yu even more was the strong yin energy in Yu Shu, which was pure and gentle.
It was a destiny of pure yin in his eight characters. He had only heard about it from his master, but this kind of physique was rarely seen in hundreds of years, and he actually encountered it today.
Jiang Yu patted Yu Shu's shoulders. A person has three fires: the shoulders and the crown of the head. When a living person encounters a ghost, the life fire on their shoulders tends to weaken. Jiang Yu patted Yu Shu's shoulders, using his own fire to reignite his fire, to make him feel better and not shiver in the summer heat.
Yu Shu didn't understand the reasoning, but he felt his body warming up and looked at Jiang Yu with gratitude.
"Didn't you see that Uncle Zhang has no shadow?" Jiang Yu narrowed his eyes and said coldly.
Yu Shu took a deep breath, his face full of disbelief.
"If I had come a little later, you would have been taken away by him." Jiang Yu's words were filled with helplessness, and his facial features had a unique cold charm under the dim light.
Yu Shu's palms were sweating, and he really didn't notice whether Uncle Zhang was there or not. No wonder Uncle Zhang came to the mourning hall so late at night and said he was an acquaintance, but he had no impression of him at all.
Judging from Jiang Yu's serious expression and tone, this time he really saw something weird.
He wished that it was just a dream he had when he fell asleep while keeping vigil. He pinched his thigh lightly, and the pain made him grit his teeth and hiss.
Jiang Yu had already taken in all of Yu Shu's little movements and expressions. Finally, some emotion fluctuated on his face. He raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes slightly. He always felt that it was a bit silly for a grown man to do such a thing.
Jiang Yu yawned and fiddled with his phone to make a call.
"Come back with me, I'll call someone over."
Jiang Yu stayed at Yu Shu's house, and the other two Taoists who came with him were arranged by Yu Huan to stay at his second uncle's house.
"Thank you for taking the trouble to make a special trip for my safety." Yu Shu sorted out his thoughts, looked at Jiang Yu, and nodded sincerely.
Jiang Yu's appearance in front of him during the break was enough for him to express his sincere gratitude, not to mention that he really couldn't guarantee what would happen if Jiang Yu didn't come.
"If you know it's hard work, just listen to my advice. I told you not to keep watch." Jiang Yu grinned. Although it was short, his expression became lively in that instant, and his eyes were shining. He was completely different from his previous expressionless face.
Jiang Yu's smile was less distant, a strong youthful aura wafting through him. Yu Shu's mind unconsciously conjured up images of sunny beaches. He couldn't help but marvel at Jiang Yu's beautiful features, which remained impeccable even under the naturally yellowed, faded, aged light of LED lighting.
Yu Shu was still a little cold, and although he relaxed a little with Jiang Yu's smile, the "hmm" he responded softly was still a little trembling. He felt that Jiang Yu was not as cold as he seemed. Although he was quiet, he was still easy to get along with.
Jiang Yu called again to urge him.
The temporary mourning hall was not far from the main house, only about ten meters away, and two people about 1.8 meters tall could walk there in three or two steps.
As soon as I entered the room, there was a knock on the door.
“Boom.”
Yu Shu thought he had misheard again and was about to ask Jiang Yu if he heard the knock on the door, but Jiang Yu frowned and gave the answer first.
"Yu Huan?" Yu Shu called out tentatively.
A second knock was answered.
"who..."
Before Yu Shu could even utter those two words, Jiang Yu covered Yu Shu's mouth and pulled him behind him.
"Bang..."
The third tone is obviously longer than the previous two.
Yu Shu thought of Zhang Bo, so he leaned closer to Jiang Yu and whispered, "Did he follow me back?"
"no."
Jiang Yu pointed to the gap between the floor and the door, then reached out to take the small mirror on the table, and placed it diagonally towards the gap to reflect the situation outside the door.
Yu Shu looked through the mirror and saw no human figure but only a pair of red embroidered shoes.
Yu Shu's head buzzed and became confused. Although his expression remained unchanged, his breathing had already become numb.
"I bumped into two of them in one night." Jiang Yu said thoughtfully.
“Boom.”
At the same time, there was a fourth knock on the door, which was particularly heavy, like being hit by a fist, and the muffled sound echoed in the room.
Yu Shu couldn't describe his feelings. Although there was no one outside, he could clearly hear the knock on the door and feel the slight vibration of the solid wooden door after being subjected to force.
"What should we do now?" Yu Shu held onto the table and tried to remain calm. "Will he just come through the door?"
It was so strange to see no one but a pair of red embroidered shoes through the crack in the door. He wished he was dreaming. Everything was normal during the day, but the dirty things that came one after another at night made him so nervous that he was about to break his nerves.
Seeing that Yu Shu was getting nervous, Jiang Yu relaxed his nerves and sat down on the floor.
"sleep."
Yu Shu couldn't believe his ears, his eyes were filled with surprise and disbelief.
How can I sleep?!
Just let him treat patients and perform surgery. If you encounter a ghost, there is no way you can do anything. You can't ask the ghost, "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? I'll treat you, please let me go."
The knocking sound stopped, but Yu Shu saw out of the corner of his eye that the red embroidered shoes were still there.
"Look, you're the only one capable of handling this kind of situation, are you going to send the Buddha to the west?" Yu Shu didn't know if lowering his posture would work on Jiang Yu, but little boys around twenty years old were easy to coax, and talking to them nicely and satisfying their self-esteem should work.
Unfortunately, this trick didn't seem to work on Jiang Yu. He fell backward onto the soft blanket with a plop. His eyes were stinging from the incandescent light, so he simply closed them.
"There's a gossip at the door of your room..." Jiang Yu yawned as he spoke, "Mirror. As long as you don't open the door, He can't get in."
“But He’s always at the door.”
"Then open the door and let Him in."
Jiang Yu turned over and lay on his side with his cheek supported. His biceps arched in a beautiful arc, and the blood on the back of his hand was slightly raised, giving people a sense of strength at a glance.
"Since you said it's okay, I'd better put my heart at ease." Yu Shu comforted me while maintaining his apparent calmness.
Forget it, it should be fine as long as Jiang Yu is here.
Jiang Yu didn't respond. He yawned, lay back down, and turned his back to Yu Shu.
Yu Shu couldn't sleep in this situation. He turned his back to the door for fear of turning over and seeing something he shouldn't see, but he didn't dare face the door for fear of seeing the pair of red embroidered shoes through the crack.
The more he didn't dare to look, the more his attention went there. He could only force himself to stare at the back of Jiang Yu's head, almost making a hole in it.
"If you're scared, you can sleep with me."
Jiang Yu turned around, his eyes half-closed as he looked out of sight, with a kind of powerless, hazy beauty.
Yu Shu put on an air-conditioning blanket, squatted like a penguin, walked to the floor, and lay down opposite Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu was so stunned that he didn't know what to say. He just wanted to make a joke, but why did Yu Shu take it seriously?
The next second, Jiang Yu's eyes suddenly became clear, and he could see Yu Shu speaking seriously.
"I want to sleep inside. Can you sleep near the door?"
Jiang Yu had a feeling Yu Shu would jump up if he told him this was a joke. Never mind. They were two grown men, so sharing a bed for the night wasn't a big deal. Besides, he was paid for his job, so protecting Yu Shu was part of his job. Since the joke had become reality, and Yu Shu was quite playful and could easily take a tease, he decided to go all out and tease him again.
Otherwise, Yu Shu would be so worried about the appearance of the red embroidered shoes that couldn't get in that he might not even dare to sleep in the same bed with him and would stare at him until dawn.
Jiang Yu coughed lightly to attract Yu Shu's attention.
"What's wrong?" Yu Shu frowned and looked at Jiang Yu with some confusion. He was a little nervous, afraid that Jiang Yu would say something unexpected, and his hands unconsciously made more wrinkles in the quilt.
Jiang Yu blinked, his thick, long eyelashes fluttering like a fan. "If you sleep with your hands on the quilt, your muscles will be sore the next day from being bent for so long."
"Although I know this, thank you for reminding me." Yu Shu had no intention of letting go of his hands and relaxing.
Jiang Yu said this to Yu Shu. He stretched out his hand in front of Yu Shu and said jokingly with a serious face: "I am a Taoist priest, full of righteousness. How about I lend you my hand?"
He joked to lighten the mood. The thing outside couldn't get in and hurt them, but Yu Shu kept his attention on him. He definitely wouldn't get any sleep tonight. And since Yu Shu had just been tricked, Jiang Yu calmly assumed he'd learned his lesson and wouldn't fall for his obvious jokes again. It was strange enough for two men to share a bed, and even holding hands to sleep was unbelievable.
"I understand." Yu Shu wrapped himself in the quilt and shook his head: "You are safe here, so I won't hold your hand."
A refreshing and brief smile flashed across Jiang Yu's eyes: "Then close your eyes and go to sleep. Tomorrow I need you to take me to the west of the village, by the lake."
Yu Shu closed his eyes and nodded.
The night was long, and Yu Shu couldn't fall asleep. He kept thinking about the red embroidered shoes, worried that Jiang Yu would go find Yu Huan. Fortunately, every time he opened his eyes, he could see the embroidered shoes. The only sound in his ears was Jiang Yu's steady breathing as he fell asleep. The silence was eerie, and he could even hear his own heartbeat, pounding with anxiety.
I really want to ignore everything outside and fall asleep!
But I can't do it.
Yu Shu felt a little regretful. He could tell Jiang Yu was joking, but he had politely declined, considering Jiang Yu was just trying to lighten the mood and that Jiang Yu might not accept such behavior. But if he had admitted his fear without caring about his appearance, he wouldn't have been so scared even if they held his hand.
Anyway, Jiang Yu was asleep, so he shouldn't notice if he caught him quietly. If Jiang Yu woke up, he would pretend to be asleep and not know anything.
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