Chapter 1 Ghost Festival, Ghosts Knock on the Door
Many strange and terrifying things always happen in ancient and remote places.
And these things happened right next to Hua Jiunan.
Even Hua Jiu Di is part of these things.
For example, he is the son of a corpse!
Jiudaogou Village is located in the deepest part of Shiwanda Mountain in the North Country.
It's freezing cold here, and it's covered in wind and snow all year round.
Even in the early 1980s, villagers lived almost isolated lives.
Deaf grandma and Uncle Li make the final decision on all matters in the village.
The deaf mother-in-law is a disciple of Chuma.
There has been a saying in my country since ancient times that "Mao in the south and Ma in the north".
Nanmao refers to the Taoist priests of Maoshan;
Bei Ma refers to the horse fairy from the north.
The orthodox disciples all worship the "four beams and eight pillars" of the twelve immortals in their homes.
The four beams refer to: Hu (fox), Huang (weasel), Chang (snake) and Qingfeng.
Qingfeng is an evil ghost who died suddenly.
The so-called eight pillars are the eight halls of sweeping, watching, stringing, protecting, connecting to the sky, returning to the earth, blocking obstacles, and exploring soldiers.
The division of labor among the four beams and eight pillars will be explained later.
The deaf mother-in-law is actually not deaf. Her maiden name is Zhang and her full name is Wang Zhang.
Just because her horse fairy is a snake, and snakes are also called little dragons, so everyone calls her Deaf (dragon) Granny.
The deaf mother-in-law’s wife died early, and two of her three sons also died in infancy due to accidents.
Only the third child was waiting for the deaf mother-in-law.
Villagers, regardless of their size, generally call him Wang San.
Today is the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival.
Therefore, as soon as night fell, the deaf mother-in-law asked Wang San to close the courtyard door and wanted to have an early rest.
After all, humans and ghosts are on different paths, and if they collide with each other, it will not be good for anyone.
But before she could lie down, there was a sudden knock on the door in the courtyard.
The sound was so loud and dull, it was more like a collision than a knock.
Wang San was very dissatisfied. He put on his patched cotton coat and went to open the door, cursing:
"Come on, come on, don't knock!"
"You're going to die, why don't you call for help or call the door at night?"
The courtyard door opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in my face.
The person outside the door was like a leaning piece of wood, falling straight into the yard with a bang.
Only a human-shaped mark was left on the thick snow.
"Oh, if I go, I won't really die, will I?!"
Wang San pulled the visitor out of the snow and shouted into the house:
"Mom, come out and take a look!"
In fact, the moment Wang San opened the door, the deaf mother-in-law was shocked.
She ran to the side room dedicated to the immortal family in a few steps, grabbed the rope to bind the immortals and ran out.
The fairy binding rope here is not the magic weapon in myths and legends.
Instead, the disciples made it by weaving it from willow branches, their own hair, old coins (copper coins in ancient times), etc.
Then mix pine oil with incense ash and soak it for three years.
After three years, take it out, wash it, and place it under the Immortal Family Seat for worship.
The fairy rope is six feet six inches long, completely black, and has the function of exorcising ghosts and warding off evil spirits.
The deaf mother-in-law screamed in her heart as she ran:
During the Ghost Festival, ghosts knock on the door, bringing bad luck!
At the same time, Uncle Li who lived next door heard the sound and rushed over.
He is a migrant and moved to the village only three years ago.
After the villagers knew that Uncle Li was a veteran who had defeated the Japanese, they all respected him very much.
The two old men used the reflection of the snow to see that the woman Wang Sange was pulling up was a pale-faced woman.
She seemed to be frozen, and her whole body was stiff.
So much so that Wang San only had to hold the woman's shoulders to keep her from falling.
In this state, a woman's bulging belly becomes more obvious.
It was clearly a pregnant woman who was about to give birth.
The deaf mother-in-law said to the woman in a stern voice:
"The eighth master of the Ma Xian family, Chang, is sitting in the hall. The old lady advises you to leave as soon as possible!"
The woman twisted her neck like a machine, and there was a faint creaking sound.
His eyes were completely gray, and every word he spoke was the sound of rubbing his throat.
It looked like a rusty machine.
"Please, please, you!"
"Save, save, the baby in my belly!"
Wang San was very nervous and didn’t think there was anything strange about it. Instead, he greeted him warmly:
"Are you looking for someone to deliver the baby? My mother can only exorcise evil spirits, not deliver babies."
"You have to find the Zhang family's wife, the head of the village, to deliver the baby."
"Oh, forget it. It's hard for you to walk like this. I'll go and help you."
When the deaf mother-in-law saw that her son had really gone out, she quickly stopped her:
"Stop, Sanwa, she is dead!"
Wang San was startled when he heard this, and took a quick step to protect his deaf mother-in-law behind him:
"It's late at night, mother, don't scare me!"
Uncle Li frowned and took a step forward to stand with Wang San.
"Deaf woman, are you sure?!"
The deaf mother-in-law stared at the woman cautiously and answered softly:
"The old lady is neither deaf nor blind, so she can't see it wrong!"
"Look carefully, you two, this thing isn't breathing at all!"
Uncle Li looked carefully:
Isn't it?
The three of them stood on the snow, spitting out white steam with every breath.
As for the woman opposite, not only was there no steam coming out, but even the snow on her face had frozen!
After hearing what her deaf mother-in-law said, the woman suddenly became irritable.
A pair of eyes rolled up desperately, so that only the whites of the eyes were left.
She dragged her legs and walked towards the three people opposite.