Chapter 20 What is the truth?
Because it was pitch black at night, the surrounding environment could not be seen clearly.
We waited in the darkness like blind men, but the Taoist priest seemed different. He began to close his eyes as if he was sleeping.
I didn't know what the Taoist priest was doing, but my cousin and I didn't dare to disturb him. We could only stand by and watch quietly as time passed by.
It was around half past three that I noticed that the Taoist priest had very long eyelashes.
As I was staring at him, the Taoist priest's eyes suddenly opened, and I was startled for a moment. The Taoist priest rolled his eyes at me and didn't explain anything to me. He quickly went to where the Taoist priest was. I didn't delay and followed him.
I ran a few steps and found that my cousin didn't catch up with me. When I turned around, I saw my cousin also waving at me. I had to turn around and wake him up. When we arrived at the door of Taoist priest Duan Gong's house, the Taoist priest pushed open the door without any delay.
After pushing it open, the Taoist priest said without any nonsense, "Turn on the light."
I followed the Taoist priest's instructions and turned on the light. The light illuminated the environment in the house. First of all, the body of the Taoist priest was gone. If nothing unexpected happened, it should have been taken away by people from the same village or related units.
While I was watching from inside the house with the Taoist priest, my cousin's voice came over and said, "What's wrong? What happened?"
I was actually a little nervous inside. I looked around the Taoist's house inside and out, but didn't find any clues, which made me a little disappointed.
The Taoist priest frowned for a while, but soon, she held something in her hand and asked me, "Is this your uncle's?"
My eyes fell on the thing in the Taoist priest's hand. I only took a glance at it and quickly came back to my senses.
I will never forget this pipe . In the past, when my uncle was playing with me, he would use the pipe to tease me and spray smoke in my face. I was often choked by this thing.
So I remember this pipe very clearly.
I took the pipe, still somewhat reluctant to believe it, but after repeated inspection, I realized that this was my cousin's pipe.
At this time, the Taoist priest said something that shocked me. He said, "Boy, your uncle is not dead at all."
When these words came out, it was like dropping a depth charge onto the calm water. My heart was immediately filled with disbelief.
My cousin also said loudly: "Master, do you think my eldest cousin is not dead?"
"He's probably not dead."
When my uncle heard this, he smiled and said, "That's a good thing."
The Taoist priest glanced at his uncle and immediately said, "How could I have such a stupid disciple like you? You really bring shame to me."
The smile on my cousin's face disappeared instantly.
"Master, is it a good thing that my eldest cousin is not dead?"
My cousin asked doubtfully. I came back to my senses and waited for the Taoist priest's answer. Actually, my cousin and I had the same doubt in our hearts.
The Taoist priest didn't say anything more, and kept us waiting. My cousin and I couldn't wait any longer. After about ten minutes, or about a minute, the Taoist priest said, "Your uncle must be looking for something when he comes back."
When I heard it, I asked, "What are you looking for?"
The Taoist priest answered immediately: "If you ask me, I don't know how to ask, but what is certain is that your uncle should not have been found."
The Taoist priest's words made me think for a while. After thinking about it, I understood what the Taoist priest meant. If my uncle really found something, he would not be so flustered that he didn't even take his pipe with him.
But I felt something was wrong. That day I clearly saw my uncle kneeling on the ground with his body stiff. He was clearly in a state of death, but how could he suddenly come back to life?
And why does uncle do these things?
Also, the ghost from the previous place said that my uncle was not as simple as I thought. Did he mean that my uncle was not dead, or that there was someone else behind my uncle? When I thought about these things, I felt my thoughts were extremely confused.
The more I think about it, the more something seems wrong. I can't figure out what shocking secret is hidden behind this.
The Taoist priest did not say anything and continued to look for something in the Taoist priest's house.
My cousin and I quickly joined in the search, but after a while, it seemed that we didn't find anything.
There was nothing else in the house except some relics of Master Duan.
The Taoist priest searched for a while and then stopped what he was doing.
My cousin said, "Master, this Taoist priest is very poor. He has nothing at home."
"no."
The Taoist priest replied.
"Master, what's wrong with this? There's nothing in the room."
My uncle continued to speak, but the Taoist priest ignored him and stood there, seemingly thinking about something.
Time passed by, and no one knew how long it had been before the Taoist priest suddenly said, "Boy, take a look in this room to see if there is anything your uncle wants."
I just followed my uncle to look through the boxes and cabinets, but we didn't find anything that my uncle liked.
I thought about it for a while, then shook my head and said, "No."
After I said no, the Taoist priest seemed to not believe me and asked me, "Are you sure you don't have it?"
The Taoist priest's question stumped me, so this time I did not answer him immediately, but went over the information in my mind.
I carefully recalled every moment I had spent with my uncle, and even recounted some of the conversations I had with him.
But after careful recollection, no flaws were found.
I can finally say with certainty, “No.”
We looked at each other, and the Taoist priest chose to believe me this time, and then said: "In this case, it seems that your uncle didn't find what he wanted either."
"Master, why do you think my uncle pretended to be dead?"
I asked the ultimate question in my mind.
My uncle also spoke up: "Yes, Master, my eldest cousin has always been a kind and honest man. There is no need for him to pretend to be dead or anything like that."
After we finished talking, we all waited for the Taoist priest to explain to us.
The Taoist priest paused for a moment, then said, "Have you ever thought that maybe he is not your uncle or your cousin at all?"
The Taoist priest's words made me fall into deep thought. After , I actually felt that there was some truth in what he said.
Since a Duangong can be not a Duangong, then an uncle can also be not an uncle. This is something that makes sense.
But if uncle is not uncle, then who is he?
After listening to the Taoist priest talking about these things, my cousin was even more confused and asked directly: "Master, what should we do next? Can we still find my eldest cousin?"
