First Chapter 43: Go at night as usual
In theory, we have done this at night more than once, but I still hesitated. The last time I was in the ancestral hall, I was really overwhelmed, and I haven't recovered yet. I hesitated for a while, but I still felt that I couldn't let go of the duck in my mouth, so I finally agreed.
As usual, I followed Qin Yiheng to prepare some things for the evening. However, there were not many things to buy this time. He just took me to the supermarket to buy a pair of chopsticks and a bowl, and then we found a beverage store to kill time. The day passed quickly, and after dinner, it was almost dark. We waited for a while, and he took out a piece of yellow paper from his bag, asked for a glass of water to mix ink, and wrote something on the yellow paper. I didn't have much interest in it, so I didn't look at it carefully. We waited until he finished writing and the ink was dry before we set off to the house.
When we got there, we realized that this area was full of restaurants, and they were still open at this time, with many customers coming and going. We had no choice but to sit in the car until almost 11pm, and then open the door of the house after all the restaurants next to us closed. This house looked messy and uncomfortable during the day, and it was even more uncomfortable in the middle of the night. As soon as I entered the house, I couldn't stop feeling cold all over. I don't know if it was a psychological effect or because it was getting dark and the temperature dropped.
Qin Yiheng prepared the things as if nothing had happened, and he didn't ask me to help him, so I had to sit next to him and smoke. He fiddled with it on the ground for a while, and it seemed that he used a string to connect the chopsticks one by one, and then he used transparent tape to stick both ends of the string to the wall, and the chopsticks were all hung upside down, looking like the clips on the clothesline. I was watching and thought it was quite interesting, so I asked him what he was doing.
Qin Yiheng smiled at me and said, "You'll know in a while." Then he took out the yellow paper he had written on and gave it to me, telling me to read the words on the paper aloud. He said I could only stop when I had to, otherwise I had to keep reading.
There was still some light in the store, and there were street lights outside the store, but because of the distance, it was still very dim, and his handwriting was not very neat. I held the paper for a long time, but I couldn't see what was written on it. I took out my phone and took a picture, and I was amused. I thought he asked me to read something like a spell or a secret code, but I didn't expect that the content was similar to the purchase list of the restaurant kitchen, with half a pig, a few pounds of apples, a few bowls of duck blood, etc. I was very surprised, thinking that he must have given me the wrong paper. Wasn't he kidding me by asking me to read these things in this situation?
I asked him for confirmation, and Qin Yiheng nodded at me very seriously and said, "Yes, these are the detailed lists of tributes. We are here tonight to seduce the little ghosts who were here last night!"
When he said that, I immediately felt that this was not fun at all, and I became nervous instantly. According to what he meant, tonight the two of us were going to have a close encounter with those little ghosts? Thinking of this, I didn't dare to neglect it, and quickly read the things on the paper again, fearing that I would get stuck or read it wrong. After about ten minutes, Qin Yiheng looked at the time and said that it was about time, so he took out the bowl he bought before, tied it with a rope and hung it upside down on the door, and then pulled down the shutter door.
The room was instantly dark, and my heartbeat began to accelerate. Qin Yiheng comforted me and lit a candle, and I calmed down. Seeing that I was no longer so panicked, he whispered "Begin", and I quickly read by candlelight. To be honest, this was more stressful than my thesis defense when I graduated from college, and it made me sweat all over, but fortunately I didn't make any mistakes. But after reading for a long time, my mouth was dry and I didn't see any special signs in the store. I wanted to take a break, and Qin Yiheng didn't ask me to stop, so I had to keep reading. After reading for a few more minutes, I suddenly heard him say "um" over there, and then the whole house became gloomy. This eerie feeling is hard to describe, but I know something has come in. After dealing with these things for so long, even though I have adapted to the oppressive feeling of being in the same room with them, people still instinctively feel weak in the legs. I wanted to look back to see if there was anything behind me, but I was afraid that I would be distracted and read the wrong words, so I had to adjust my body slightly so that I was facing Qin Yiheng, and I felt somewhat comforted.
Qin Yiheng seemed to be quite satisfied with the current situation. He paused for a moment and asked out of nowhere: "Which direction is it, east, south, west or north?" I knew in my heart that this question was definitely not asked to me, but no one in the room answered. It sounded like a chopstick had fallen to the ground.
Qin Yiheng said "hmm" again and continued to ask: "Is it a boy or a girl? Soon another chopstick fell down."
Now I finally understood why he had so many chopsticks hanging. It turned out that he was using them to talk to the little ghost. My guess was proven to be correct. Qin Yiheng then asked several questions in a row. However, these questions sounded a bit confusing. They were all questions that had nothing to do with this house. But after each question, a chopstick would fall to the ground. After asking for three or four minutes, he was silent for a while, and then asked, "It's not you? Another chopstick fell."
Qin Yiheng groaned, and continued to ask, "Is it a dog spirit?" The chopsticks continued to fall to the ground. However, after asking this question, Qin Yiheng fell silent, as if he was thinking. His silence made me anxious. I was almost vomiting blood while reading beside him. When will it stop? I couldn't say anything, so I could only stomp my feet to remind him. He seemed to remember me, muttered "Fuck", then quickly walked to my side and said to me that he forgot to buy a broom, and now the little ghost can't go out!
If I hadn't been busy, I would have cursed him out right away. Damn it! How could he mess up when his life was at stake? But now that things had come to this, I had no choice but to hold back my indignation and look at him to ask him what to do. Qin Yiheng thought about it for a while, and then told me in my ear that there were two ways. One was that he should go out and find a broom; the other was that we should just keep doing this until dawn. I thought about it and felt that the first way was more feasible. If I had to keep doing this until dawn, I'm afraid my tongue would be tired and broken. I immediately stretched out a finger, motioning for him to use the first way. Qin Yiheng said "hmm" when he saw this, and then told me to "be careful", then opened the door and went out.
After he left, he did not pull down the shutter again, so I felt more at ease. At least if something happened, I would still have time to escape. But I didn't expect that it would start to be windy outside not long after. The wind was not very strong, but it just happened to blow in from outside, causing the candle flame to flicker. I was afraid that the candle would be blown out, but there was nothing I could do for a while, so I had to pray that Qin Yiheng would come back soon. I guess God couldn't take care of me. The more I prayed, the more unstable the candle flame became. It shook twice and actually went out. The room was dark in an instant. The light from the street lamp outside could penetrate a little, but it could only illuminate the position near the door. I couldn't see anything where I was standing.
At this point, sweat started to break out on my forehead. Regardless of whether the things in this room were dangerous or not, the main thing was that I would definitely not be able to read the list if the light source disappeared. I managed to continue a few sentences based on my memory, but in the end, I really couldn't continue, so I could only shut up and move towards the door. But just as I took a step, I heard a "click" sound behind me. It sounded like another chopstick had fallen. I was completely panicked. Qin Yiheng was not in front of me, and I couldn't handle even the smallest situation. I hurriedly listened carefully again, but there was no special movement. I thought to myself: "Could it be that the wind just now blew it down? At that time, I didn't see how Qin Yiheng tied the chopsticks. Maybe he just tied a loose knot, and it was not tied tightly. It fell down with a little vibration. This is understandable. "Thinking of this, I was not so scared. I simply walked to the door and looked out. I happened to see Qin Yiheng walking towards me quickly, and I hurriedly called him "Hurry up."
When he saw me at the door, he was also puzzled and frowned at me. I went up to him and told him what happened just now. After listening, he muttered something, pulled me back into the house, pulled down the shutter, and lit the candle again. After entering the house, I noticed that what he brought back was not a broom, but a tattered mop that he had found from somewhere, and the top was almost rotten. He put the tattered mop upside down in the corner near the door, looked around, and then turned around to ask me, did you really drop a chopstick just now? Originally, I heard it clearly, but after he asked me this, I hesitated a little, fearing that I had heard it wrongly.
Seeing that I was hesitating, Qin Yiheng didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he walked to where he hung the chopsticks, lowered his head to count them, clicked his tongue, turned back and said to me, there aren't many chopsticks on the ground.
Not too many chopsticks? Did I just hear the sound? I recalled it again. The voice was too real, so I wanted to ask him to confirm it again. Qin Yiheng pointed at me with his finger as if he had suddenly realized something and said, "Damn, who put one on the table!" I immediately looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, there was a chopstick on the table without knowing when.
I saw Qin Yiheng's surprised expression. It was obvious that he didn't put the chopstick here by mistake. Moreover, we had propped this table up from the ground to make it easier to place candles. There was no possibility that the chopstick was left here before. Judging from this, it must have a great origin.
Qin Yiheng thought for a moment and said, if what you just said is true, this chopstick must not have been dropped by the little ghost, and the sound you heard at that time, the chopstick clearly fell on the ground, and now it inexplicably appeared on the table, it must be intentional by the other party to remind us of something. After that, he pointed to the chopsticks on the ground and told me that this game is called "Shou Lian", which was originally used in ancient times to calculate the life span of family members. This chopstick represents seven years. Most of them use the method of summoning souls to lead their deceased elders out, and then burn incense and pay tribute. Finally, the whole family turns their backs to "Shou Lian" and waits until the elders' souls return, and then turns back to count the chopsticks on the ground. However, the scope of application of this game is not so limited. In fact, to put it bluntly, "Shou Lian" is just a medium and a way to deal with these ghosts. There is no rigid requirement to ask anything. Therefore, he thought about using the list of tributes to hook the little ghosts over tonight and see if he could get some clues about the house. The result of the inquiry was not too surprising. The previous boss was not killed by these little ghosts, nor was it the revenge of the dog spirit.
After Qin Yiheng finished speaking, he walked to the table again, stared at the chopstick and thought for a while, then said, if his guess was correct, this chopstick must have been placed here by the deceased boss, so the boss's death might have another hidden reason. However, we still need to after dawn. If it is really as I guessed, then this chopstick cannot be cut with a new knife, and it must be cut with a bloody knife that has been used to cut meat or kill chickens.
After listening to Qin Yiheng's analysis, I became even more confused. Could it be that there was a murder case behind this house? However, recalling the face of the proprietress crying, it didn't seem like she was pretending. I wanted to ask him for his opinion, but he was fiddling with the broken mop beside me. I realized then, didn't he say he was going to find a broom? How did he get such a thing back? After asking, I found out that it was too difficult to find a broom at this time, and he had to steal the mop from a public toilet because he had no choice. Qin Yiheng said that the things in this filthy place can actually ward off evil spirits, which is exactly the opposite of our usual impression. Most of us ordinary people are influenced by those ghost movies, and we always associate these filthy places, especially toilets, with ghosts, but in fact, this is not the case. Ghosts have an instinctive resistance to filth, and many places in the folk still have the custom of using stinky fish and rotten shrimp to drive away evil spirits. Hanging a broom on the door, to put it bluntly, means sending guests away, and it is not a method of exorcising ghosts in magic. So he estimated that if he hung a mop on the door, the little ghosts would be able to see through it.
As he said that, Qin Yiheng told me to step back, and used several layers of transparent tape to stick the mop on the door. Then he raised a candle and looked around the room. Finally, he put the candle next to the door and told me not to panic if the candle went out, because that proved that the ghost had already gone out. Also, don't rush out, be careful not to accidentally mix into the ghost's group and lead me to some other road.
After saying this, he walked back to the table, put the chopsticks into his bag, and then stood next to me, staring at the candle. I saw that his expression seemed quite solemn, so I also moved my eyes to the candle. Sure enough, after a while, the candle went out.
Qin Yiheng reminded me, "Don't move," and we continued to spend time patiently in the dark. After about ten minutes, he said, "You can go out now," and I hurriedly followed him out the door. The darkness inside was really depressing, and I took a few deep breaths after I went out before I felt a little better.
After working for most of the night, Qin Yiheng didn't mean to go back to rest. Instead, he asked me to follow him to stroll on the street, saying that he wanted me to get rid of the negative energy. Otherwise, if I went back to sleep, I would get sick easily. Anyway, I wasn't sleepy, and it was almost dawn, so I just walked around with him for a few laps. Finally, the two of us had breakfast and went back to the hotel to rest.
