Ancient Corpse in the Mountain Village (Part 3)
Yu fell asleep in the middle of the night after the operation, and it was Jiang Yu who woke him up in the morning. When he woke up and saw Jiang Yu's calm expression, he was glad that the hand grabbing incident had not been discovered.
Jiang Yu explained the arrangements to another Taoist priest, instructed him on the procedure, and then asked Yu Shu to take him to the west of the village.
The soft morning sunlight cast a gentle glow on Yu Shu's face, making him look even softer and more obedient. His features were large and delicate, as if carefully carved, giving him a youthful look. Coupled with the dark circles under his eyes from two consecutive nights of poor rest, he looked like a sleep-deprived college student.
Jiang Yu couldn't help but smile when he saw his sleepy look.
Yu Shu was listless and ignored Jiang Yu.
The two of them strolled leisurely for about twenty minutes. The scenery west of the village became even more tranquil. It wasn't so much a lake as it was a pool half the size of a football field. Vines grew over the several old houses by the water, a vibrant vitality spreading amidst the desolation.
"That's it." Yu Shu yawned.
Yu Shu didn't have a deep impression of the west side of the village. Firstly, his grandfather had never allowed him to come here since he was a child, and secondly, the cemetery near the village in the west side of the village was actually a mass grave.
Yu Shu was stunned for a moment. He didn't react when "Uncle Zhang" said he lived in the west of the village last night. Now he remembered that the west of the village was close to the mass grave. The chill in his heart became even stronger. The hairs on his forearms stood up and large patches of chicken skin appeared.
Jiang Yu's expression grew increasingly serious as he quickly approached Yu Shu. Yu Shu's physique particularly attracted dirty creatures. They were hungry wolves, and Yu Shu was like meat, so even during the day, they might be ready to attack.
"Follow me closely." Jiang Yu stretched out his hand and held Yu Shu's. Although he didn't know that this place was close to a mass grave, he could clearly feel the gusts of cold wind that were incompatible with the quiet and elegant environment.
Yu Shu's heart started beating fast when he saw Jiang Yu's nervous expression, but he pulled his hand out reflexively.
"Don't be embarrassed. You held my hand all night last night." Jiang Yu held Yu Shu's hand tightly again, and while speaking, he pulled him towards the abandoned old house.
Yu Shu was slightly stunned. It turned out that Jiang Yu knew about it. He was dragged into this before he had time to find an excuse to explain.
The rusty iron door fell off with a slight touch, and countless fragments fell into the holes in the wooden door sill that was broken by the sun and rain. The hoarse and harsh sound of the door hinges rubbing against each other was like thick glass rolling over uneven gravel. The unpleasant and harsh sound was like thorny vines, twisting and growing in the air, drilling into the ears and stimulating people's senses.
The inside of the house is like two completely different worlds compared to the dilapidated and messy outside. The tables, chairs and shelves covered with a thick layer of dust are neatly arranged, giving people the impression that it has not been lived in for a long time, but also giving people the illusion that the owner of the house will be back soon.
Yu Shu felt like he had fallen into an ice cave. This was different from the invasive cold from the outside in when he encountered "Uncle Zhang". This was a kind of cold that circulated intensified inside. The blood flow seemed to slow down, and his spine unconsciously wanted to shrink.
Jiang Yu took off his thin new Chinese-style jacket and put it on Yu Shu, then picked up the old notebook on the table. As soon as he opened it, the strong musty smell of the damp paper hit his nose, making him feel physically uncomfortable and retching.
Yu Shu endured the unpleasant smell and watched along.
The yellowed paper was so crisp and brittle that it would leave your hands covered in crumbs if you applied a little force. The words on it were so blurred that they were difficult to recognize. Yu Shu could vaguely make out the date 1995-6-7. The other words were crookedly connected together like countless tangled snakes.
"I've decided to move. It won't let anyone born in this village leave, but if I don't leave, will I just die?"
Jiang Yu squinted his eyes to discern the handwriting and read it out haltingly.
"Yu Ding'an... is he too cruel?" Jiang Yu wasn't sure, and his voice faltered as he continued reading: "He'll pay the price."
Jiang Yu's brows furrowed more and more, and he turned his head to look at Yu Shu, who almost rested his chin on his shoulder.
Their surprised and astonished eyes met and sparks flew immediately. Yu Dingan was Yu Shu's grandfather, and this house that had been abandoned for who knows how many years actually had words about him.
Yu Shu was even more certain that "Uncle Zhang" had a clear purpose in looking for him the night after his grandfather's death. "Uncle Zhang" held a grudge against Yu Ding'an, so he was still not satisfied after Yu Ding'an's death and wanted to harm his descendants.
But if "Uncle Zhang" wanted to harm him, his alone vigil last night would have been a good opportunity, but he only said some meaningless words. The incoherent "I live in the west of the village near the lake" seemed to be trying to lead them here.
Jiang Yu wanted to say something, but Yu Shu pinched his chin forcefully and turned him back to continue identifying the handwriting for clues. However, the other words were almost completely blurred, like a blob of ink dropped into water.
"I can't see clearly behind. Let go. My chin hurts from pinching it." Jiang Yu shook his chin.
Yu Shu withdrew his hand awkwardly. He was a little excited when he heard his grandfather's name and couldn't control himself. With apology in his eyes, he said to Jiang Yu sincerely, "I'm sorry."
Jiang Yu showed an indifferent expression: "Go back first. I don't know what's going on in this place, but it's not suitable for you to stay here for too long." Jiang Yu paused and held Yu Shu's cold hand tighter, trying to share some of his warmth with him to relieve the discomfort caused by the cold and resentful air.
Yu Shu's brows twitched. Although he felt cold and uncomfortable all over, he was grateful to Jiang Yu for noticing that he was unwell. However, Jiang Yu's attitude of treating him as a weak patient made him feel uncomfortable, and he reflexively pulled his hand away.
"I'm fine. I won't bother you anymore." Yu Shu pulled his hand out forcefully.
Jiang Yu did not insist any longer. He wanted to help, but even if Yu Shu was unwilling, it didn't matter. After all, he wouldn't be the one who would suffer more later.
The information obtained from the notes was too fragmentary. Yu Shu was not sure what happened decades ago, so he went to find his second uncle. His second uncle was the oldest person Yu Shu knew and knew most things in the village. However, he was old and in poor health and was bedridden all year round. It was not convenient for him to attend his grandfather's funeral.
"Hello, second aunt. I'm Yu Shu, and this is Jiang Yu. Is your uncle at home?" Yu Shu didn't feel as cold after leaving the west of the village. Instead, his hands and feet felt sore and weak, and he had difficulty raising his hand to knock on the door.
The aunt was not in good health and was holding on to the table to steady herself. Yu Shu wanted to step forward and help the aunt to sit down, but her limbs were in so much pain that her movements were slow. Jiang Yu took a look and stepped forward in Yu Shu's place.
When Jiang Yu touched his aunt's hand, a strange look flashed across his face. Physical aging can create an illusion of age, but bone age won't. His aunt is at most sixty years old, definitely not over eighty as she looks.
Yu Shu didn't notice, but Jiang Yu saw that his aunt was wearing a pair of hand-embroidered shoes.
"He's at home, lying in his room." My aunt's eyesight was not very good, and her cloudy eyes wavered between Yu Shu and Jiang Yu. It took her a long time to recognize who was Yu Shu.
"Alas, your great uncle and I were not in good health and were unable to attend." said the aunt with a sigh.
"Grandpa will definitely be very happy to know that my aunt and uncle value it so much." Yu Shu smiled obediently and said some polite words. His eyes seemed to be soaked with the breath of spring, so gentle that it warmed people's hearts.
"I won't disturb your uncle's rest, right?" Yu Shu said.
My aunt smiled, revealing her smooth gums. The wrinkles on her face slowly smoothed out. "No, no, he's really happy that someone is talking to him."
Yu Shu was stunned when he entered the room. As a doctor, he could see that the vitality of the man lying on the bed was almost gone, and only a sickly body was left, like a pile of sand that would be blown away by the wind at any time.
"Uncle." Yu Shu moved a small stool to sit beside the bed, helped his uncle up and called softly.
"Yu Shu is back to see Uncle." Uncle recognized Yu Shu's voice, opened his eyes a little, looked around, and then said to the empty space ahead, "Did you bring your partner home?"
The words Yu Shu had organized got stuck in his throat. His great-uncle's eyesight had become so bad that he couldn't see clearly anywhere and couldn't tell the difference between men and women.
He glanced at Jiang Yu, who stood there expressionless, and took a breath without leaving a trace. If he explained, he would have to talk about irrelevant topics. He took advantage of the situation and tried to cheer up the elderly man who was not long for death. "Uncle, you look in good spirits. How about I open the window for you to get some fresh air?"
"Okay." My uncle slowly squeezed out two words from his throat.
"Uncle, do you know what's going on with those houses by the lake in the west of the village?" Yu Shu went straight to the point.
The uncle's body twitched, and his neck turned towards Yu Shu with a click like a rusty gear: "Ask, what are you doing?" The uncle spoke with a bit of difficulty, and his voice was obviously nervous.
"Oh, I was just with him." Although he knew that his uncle couldn't see clearly, Yu Shu still pointed at Jiang Yu: "I was walking over there and saw that the environment was beautiful, but the house was abandoned."
"Don't go there. It's a mass grave and there are a lot of strange things happening there. After those families moved out, they had accidents one after another. I heard that those who had accidents appeared in the living people's dreams, asking them to be buried back and move back." The great uncle closed his eyes and spoke intermittently.
Yu Shu nodded patiently, humming a "hmm" in response. Jiang Yu, who had been sitting quietly beside him, patted his shoulder, signaling him to hurry up and ask. He wanted to ask, but the whole village had a bad impression of Cunxi, so how could he bring himself to ask so abruptly? He was just thinking about how to follow up with questions about his grandfather, but Jiang Yu's pat interrupted his train of thought. He glanced at Jiang Yu unhappily, telling him to hold his breath.
When the two of them exchanged glances, my uncle suddenly thought of something. His eyes widened and became clear, which was very different from his expression of no anger just now.
"Oh, they, they were brought into the village by your grandfather, Yu Dingan. There was a family named Zhang. Not long after he came back, he went crazy and kept making noises every day, saying that Yu Dingan had harmed the entire village." The uncle was immersed in memories and spoke breathlessly.
"Old woman, where did you put that photo? Show it to Yu Shu." The uncle shouted at the top of his voice and coughed a few times because he was so strong.
The aunt responded and appeared at the door of the room. Yu Shu wanted to help her but he had to accompany his uncle, so he asked Jiang Yu to help the aunt.
The aunt smiled kindly at Jiang Yu, walked to the bedside table and hunched over to search. She took out a rusty iron mooncake box very solemnly, and then found a black-and-white photo that looked a bit old from among various red and purple plastic bags.
"See the photo? There's a teardrop-shaped birthmark on the ear. That's Zhang." The uncle took a deep breath and said, "I saw him passing by my window last night."
The uncle pointed to the side window and said, "Old woman, did you see it too? Maybe when you are old and dying, you will see people you shouldn't see."
My aunt stared at the window for a few seconds before slowly nodding.
Yu Shu always felt that after mentioning "Uncle Zhang", her aunt became unusually quiet. Maybe she didn't see it and was just responding to her uncle's words, or maybe she couldn't accept that her husband's health was so poor.
"Hey, uncle, you were sleeping in bed and you just dreamed about it. You will definitely get better." Yu Shu comforted him.
But he knew that the person his uncle saw last night was "Uncle Zhang", and the deceased had returned.
Yu Shu talked to his grandfather several times around "Uncle Zhang", but his great uncle seemed to be missing a piece of his memory. He only remembered that Yu Dingan brought people into the village, and then went crazy after moving back. When asked why he moved out, he dropped the topic.
He had no choice but to give up. In order to avoid the topic ending too abruptly, he chatted with his uncle and aunt about some family matters. When the two of them left, his aunt insisted on seeing them off to the roadside.
"He's really back. You and Yu Huan, be careful." The aunt looked back at the house five or six meters away, grabbed Yu Shu's hands with both hands, and said tremblingly.
Before Yu Shu could recover from her shock, her aunt grabbed Jiang Yu's hand again and said earnestly, "You are the Taoist priest I invited here, right? Please take good care of Yu Shu."
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