Chapter 301

At night I heard some noise and woke up. When I looked up, I didn't see a mouse, but I saw a person sitting on the bed, staring at me.

I was startled, but I didn't make any sound, so I was stunned for a moment.

The person on the bed woke up because of the noise. He was originally sitting on the edge of the bed, but now he stood up, walked around me, opened the door and went out.

After taking the photo, I went to the living room. I walked around in the dark without bumping into anything and turned on an electrical socket.

When the power strip was turned on, something lit up red. It was the thing that would generate heat that he had mentioned before going to bed.

He said something incomprehensible, opened the door and wanted to go out, walked around the river and came back, and didn't sleep the whole night, so I had to follow him around.

There was nothing fun outside. It was dark and there were not many people around. The wind was blowing and I was shivering with cold.

The next morning he opened his eyes and got up from the bed. He asked me why I got up so early and why I had dark circles under my eyes.

"I remember you went to bed very early last night, why do you still have dark circles under your eyes? Did you not sleep well? Are you not used to sleeping on the floor? Let's switch tonight."

Chef Zhang asked with a smile.

"That's not the reason why I didn't sleep well. It's because you sleepwalked at night."

I answered with a smile.

"I didn't sleepwalk at all. I never sleepwalk. No one around me told me that I had symptoms of sleepwalking. And when I went to the hospital before, the doctor didn't tell me either."

Chef Zhang opened his eyes wide and shook his head, trying to deny it, so I showed him the video I recorded last night, which also included the audio and even the ambient sound outside.

Although the sound coming from the mobile phone didn't sound loud, it sounded quite loud last night. If I had heard such a sound while lying in bed, I would have been so scared that I couldn't fall asleep at all.

Luckily I didn't sleep.

Otherwise, I really don’t know whether I would be more sleepy if I followed others sleepwalking outside with my eyes open all night, or if I was scared by others all night and couldn’t fall asleep at all, which would make me more sleepy.

"So it seems I really was sleepwalking, but I never knew that."

Chef Zhang said with his eyes wide open.

"Maybe there are too few people around you, and none of them know."

I smiled back at him.

"Then I guess I have to go find that man today."

Chef Zhang thought about it.

"You should come with me. This way I will have a safer future and won't have to worry about him knocking me out and then selling me off."

Chef Zhang smiled at me.

I nodded.

The two of us went to where the man lived, which was a small hotel and not even on the first floor.

He went in alone, and I waited for him at the door. When he came out, his face was pale, there was sweat on his forehead, and his legs were shaking, as if he had fought with someone.

"What happened?"

I asked him doubtfully.

“I asked, and he answered me.

One question is, does he have sleepwalking?

He said he didn't know.

I asked him again, what did he want to tell me before?

He said that the person who actually cheated on him was the woman he was divorcing.

The child that woman later brought up was conceived as a result of her infidelity and had nothing to do with him.

If I don't believe him, he still has the evidence, but he needs time to get it. He doesn't have it with him and he doesn't want to see it.

Seeing that thing would make him unhappy and think of something even more unhappy.

He said he could give it to me tomorrow at the earliest, but I couldn’t get it today.

He also said that I was indeed his child because he used my toothbrush to go to the hospital for identification.

He also said that the woman knew about this, and that she cheated on him after she found out about this. He wasn't sure if that was the case, but it was definitely not a good thing."

Chef Zhang said, leaning against the wall.

"But it shouldn't have turned out like this, right? What else?"

I asked.

"Indeed, he told me other stories about sleepwalking.

He told me a story about sleepwalking in his hometown. The reason I said it was his hometown is because I was not born in his hometown, so he and I are not from the same hometown.

But he also told me that because I am his son, I have the blood of his hometown, the stories of his hometown will follow me, and things from his hometown may happen to me.

This could be the reason for my sleepwalking, but I don’t believe it.”

Chef Zhang said.

"You don't sound like you really don't believe it, but rather like you're afraid."

I shivered and felt a little cold.

He was much more frightened than I was, so his eyes weren't even on me. He was just staring at a spot on the wall next to him, as if there was a bug crawling around there. He felt completely lost in thought.

After a long while, he finally remembered that I was still waiting for him to speak, and he opened his mouth.

"Where was I just now? Was it the story about sleepwalking in my hometown that my father told me about? Let me continue."

Chef Zhang said.

"You don't mind what your father said about your mother cheating on you?"

I have some doubts.

“That’s one thing I’ll try to verify later.

But the man inside told me that if the child that woman was raising did not sleepwalk, it would already prove that the child was not his.

I'm not sure why he said this, but I found it strange because he said he didn't know if he was sleepwalking, and he didn't know if I was sleepwalking.

How does he know if the child is sleepwalking? And how can he think that the child is not his if he is not sleepwalking? "

Chef Zhang also looked puzzled.

"You better continue with your story."

I interrupted his thoughts.

"Okay, I'll continue.

The man inside told me that there is such a custom in their hometown.

A newborn baby must be bathed in the stream by the river to wash away the blood stains and remove the breath of others from the body before it can be considered a true baby.

This ritual is also for the child to become a good person and have a pure heart in the future.

After the baby grows up and becomes a teenager, there is another ceremony. When the child is about ten years old, the village will build a stage, just like the stage for opera, which is tall, wide and big.

The boy will have an adoptive father, who does not really raise him. Rather, he is like a stone in the village who is regarded as his godfather. The adoptive father will stand on a platform and wait for people in advance.

They have to wear a set of old clothes passed down from generation to generation, a mask on their face, and they can be barefoot or wear wooden shoes.

You can also wear your own shoes, but if you do, you must not let anyone see what you look like.

There is a saying that if people see the shape of your shoes, your identity will be recognized.

The villagers would say that ghosts would come to the stage to watch the show, and if their identities were discovered, they would follow them home, and the person returning home would get sick and die, and the rest of the family would be in big trouble, and probably die as well.

After a very simple ceremony, you can come down and change into your normal clothes as if nothing had happened. When you see the sun the next day, the ceremony is over.

It doesn’t matter if there is no sunlight, as long as there is daybreak the next day.

If one cannot see the dawn the next day, the ritual will be considered a failure. If it fails, one’s eyes will become blind and one will die.

The specific rituals are recorded in a book, the village chronicle. It is said that the book has a name, but I can't remember it.

The first page seemed to be the process and specific operation methods of the ceremony. The person inside told me that there were only three steps. But it was hard to say in reality.

Moreover, the boy and his adoptive father have completely two sets of procedures, which means that each of them has to remember what they should do. If they make even a slight mistake, they will go crazy and then die.

After a boy becomes an adult, that is, around the age of 20, there is another ceremony, but this ceremony does not have to be held on the day of his 20th birthday. It can be delayed or held two years in advance.

I am also in my 20s now.

But I have never performed any of these three ceremonies because I was not born there, nor did I celebrate my tenth birthday there, and I was certainly not there when I turned 20.

The 20-year-old ceremony is the simplest. You only need to call a friend, go back to the village, and follow a predetermined route to a cave in the back mountain of the village.

The two of them went into the cave together and came out after a while.

To be on the safe side and to ensure the ceremony goes smoothly, we should set out from the village at dusk, climb the mountain when it is dark, and enter the cave at night.

If it is already dark, it only takes half an hour to enter the cave, rest for ten minutes, and then walk out to complete the ceremony.

The ritual is completed as long as you leave the cave entrance. You don't have to go all the way to the starting point to complete it.

I think this is good for us.

If it is not dark when you arrive at the cave, it is best to wait until dark, but after dark, the cave will definitely be more dangerous.

He also told me that if we arrived at the cave while it was still daylight and went straight in, something bad would happen, but when I asked him what would happen, he said he didn't know.

His face looked unhappy, but it didn't seem like he really didn't know. That could only mean that he didn't want to tell me, or that something worse would happen if I knew.

I did not pursue this further.

He also said that if you enter the cave at daybreak, you will not be able to get out in one hour. You will have to stay in there for at least six hours before you can get out.

Not even a minute or a second more will do.

Because if the time is wrong, you may not be able to return home after coming out of the cave.

That sounds scary.

I asked him why?

He answered my question and told me that I might go to another world, a place where there would never be daybreak.

I don't believe it.

He said it’s up to you.

It’s hard to continue talking about this.

I asked him if he had any other evidence, and he said we would have to wait until at least tomorrow.

He came here just to tell me that he wasn't the one who cheated on me, but he had no ritual evidence to back up his words."