Chapter 1: The Strange Red Cheongsam 3. The strange old man and the house
After the bus left , many motorcycle drivers came over and asked where they were going. Wu Yu said he wanted to go to No. 109 Minxin Road. The driver heard that and flew away like a gust of wind. They stood there in amazement. What kind of place was that? Was it really as scary as Xiaoxue said?
Seeing that the driver was unwilling to take them, Wu Yu looked at Yunyun helplessly and said, "Let's go to the town first." Then he picked up the luggage and walked towards the street in the town with Yunyun.
Entering Wuzhen, they immediately felt the charm of the Jiangnan water town with its winding alleys and riverside houses. The Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings were "connected by eaves and lived along the river", and exquisite stone arch bridges and riverside docks were everywhere, as if taking them back to the Jiangnan water town described by Mao Dun 100 years ago.
They walked for a while, and it was getting dark. The old houses were gradually getting darker. They were eager to find the legendary house. There were few people on the street, and it was difficult to find a local to ask. At this time, they saw a figure coming out of the alley. Looking closely, it was a white-haired old man walking in the opposite direction of them. Wu Yu hurriedly pulled Yunyun to catch up.
"Uncle." Wu Yu called softly.
The old man stopped and slowly turned around. They were startled. The old man seemed very old, with a thin face and white eyes. One of his eyes seemed to be dead. He looked them up and down like a ghost, and then said, "What's the matter, young man?" His voice was hoarse, as if it came from underground.
Yunyun felt her heart pounding. She felt that the old man was staring at her, so she timidly held Wu Yu tightly and did not dare to look at him.
Wu Yu was a man of seven feet, so he didn't think it was that scary. He thought that old people were always like this, so he said, "It's like this, we want to know where is No. 109 Minxin Road?"
The old man seemed very uneasy after hearing this. He looked at him strangely, and then asked quietly, "What do you want to know about this old house?"
"A friend of mine sent me a letter, the address was that old house, so we came from Guangzhou to visit him." Wu Yu lied.
The old man was surprised after hearing this and lowered his voice to ask: "It is said that it is very spooky there. Do you dare to go there?"
Wu Yu and Yun Yun were startled. Yun Yun looked at Wu Yu and said timidly, "Yu, what should we do?"
Wu Yu held Yunyun's hand tightly and said to the old man, "Please take us there."
The old man nodded, then turned silently and walked towards the dark street ahead.
Wu Yu wanted to follow the old man, but Yunyun still held her hand tightly. Wu Yu turned around and looked at Yunyun and said, "What's there to be afraid of? Let's go."
Yunyun thought about it and felt that there was nothing to be afraid of, so she relaxed and followed the old man with Wu Yu.
The old man did not turn around to talk to them along the way, and they wanted to ask him if he knew a man named Su Wei, but they did not dare to ask. They felt that the old man's footsteps were very light, as if there was nothing. The old man led them all the way to the street and then turned into an alley. They found that this area seemed very desolate, without even a single person. After walking in, they felt more and more silent, and the air was filled with a cold breath, which instantly made them feel uneasy.
They followed the old man and walked slowly to the middle of the alley. The old man stopped in front of a courtyard door, turned around and looked at them and whispered, "This is it, let's go in." Through the dim light, it can be seen that the old courtyard house is very gloomy and exudes a sense of jackdaw. When they saw it, their hearts skipped a beat, "But it's night, so we'll just make do with it." They thought so.
The old man pushed the door gently, and the wooden door creaked, a sound that penetrated the heart. Wu Yu and Yun Yun walked in. Although it was dark, they found that the house was large and gloomy. They opened their eyes wide in surprise. Yun Yun felt scared and held Wu Yu tightly. Wu Yu also felt vaguely uneasy and hushed at the same time.
"It is said that this place is haunted. Are you scared?" The old man looked at them dimly.
When they heard this, they panicked a little, but Wu Yu calmed down and said, "How could it be? If so, it must have been man-made."
The old man said nothing after hearing this, and turned to walk towards the front yard. They followed him closely. They found that the old man was walking very fast in the dim light, and guessed that the old man was very familiar with this old house, otherwise he would not have walked so fast. Wu Yu suddenly remembered Xiaoxue's words, "It is said that this old house has always been empty and haunted every night." He was stunned. He thought that if the old house has always been empty, who is this old man in front of him? Why is he so familiar with this place? Could he be someone who has died in the old house? When he thought of this, he panicked. But his reason told him that there were no ghosts in the world.
When they reached the house in the front yard, the old man stopped and said, "I live in the backyard, you can live in the house in this area. But I'm going to the backyard to light the lamp now, you guys wait here for a while." As he spoke, the old man walked towards the backyard and disappeared after a while.
They stood in the darkness, feeling it was dark and scary, and so quiet that not even the tiny cries of small animals could be heard.
Yunyun was timid, so she was naturally even more frightened. She said timidly, "Yu, do we dare to live in this place?"
"What is there to be afraid of? We might as well make the best of it now that we're here. But why is there no electricity in this courtyard? It's as if I've walked into a haunted house in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Besides, is this really the address Su Wei sent the letter to? Is there anyone else living in this courtyard besides the old man?" Wu Yu has always been a curious person. Although he is not particularly courageous, he does not believe in superstition. He believes that the most important thing is to do things openly and honestly, and not to be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door at midnight.
As Wu Yu was talking, suddenly two candle-like lights in the backyard floated towards them in midair, and then they heard light footsteps, and then they could see the figure of the old man. As they were shocked, the old man had already floated over, and said in a voice as soft as silk: "Please follow me." He walked to the door of one of the rooms, stopped, and then gently pushed the door open and went in.
The old man placed a lantern on the table, looked at Wu Yu and said, "You can rent this house. If there is any inconvenience, you can find me in the backyard tomorrow. But I must remind you of one thing. You'd better not move the things in the house. Also, although this courtyard has been empty, you'd better not go to other houses."
They didn't understand the hidden meaning of the old man's words, but since he said so, there must be some reason, so they nodded and agreed to him. Wu Yu said, "That's troublesome, but the rent--"
The old man smiled, revealing his two rows of sparse teeth, and said, "Let's talk about this tomorrow. I'll go back to my room first." After saying that, the old man turned and left.
Yunyun then closed the door. From the dim light, they found that the house was very spacious. All the furnishings in the room, the screen windows, the lattice doors, the classical bed, the wooden basin and the screen mirror for women's bathing, etc., all looked antique, just like walking into the boudoir of a lady from the Republic of China period, which seemed warm and strange.
Yunyun walked to the bedside and reached out to touch the curtains. She was surprised to find that they were as soft as silk and dust-free. It was obvious that someone cleaned them regularly. She felt vaguely uneasy and whispered, "Yu, do you find this house strange?"
Wu Yu hugged her gently, put his face against hers, and said softly, "Maybe the old houses from the Republic of China era are filled with this mysterious and weird atmosphere."
Yunyun felt the warmth coming from Wu Yu's words. The warmth from his body slowly spread through every nerve in her body, and she became shy.
"Yu, are we really planning to live here? But it seems that this old house is too weird and mysterious, and it's eerie and scary."
"Let's stay here tonight and make some plans later. Besides, the purpose of our coming to the ancient house is to find out the truth about Su Wei's death. It wouldn't be a bad idea if we can stay here."
Yunyun nodded, but she still felt vaguely scared.
At this moment, suddenly, the light of the lantern seemed to jump, and a black shadow flashed outside the window, followed by a chilling scream from outside the door, and they couldn't help but tremble.
Yunyun stammered, "What's that sound?"
While Wu Yu was wondering, the sound that gave him goosebumps rang out again, sounding sad. Before they could hear it clearly, another similar sound rang out. They listened carefully and relaxed. They could hear clearly that it was the cry of a cat. But at this time, they were already half heartbroken.
