I was raised by the iron-blooded revolution. I have always believed that good prevails over evil. As for the sayings about ghosts and gods, I only remember what my grandfather often said: If you see a ghost, kill it; if you see a god, kill the god!
In 1992, the third year after my mother passed away, my father was forced by my grandfather to marry. At that time, it was popular to wear a wedding dress, but my stepmother Jiang married my father in a red wedding dress, a pair of embroidered red shoes, and holding a clay doll brother. It was also because of that doll brother that my life changed dramatically.
The story has to start with my father''s death. It was the second month of his remarriage. The military doctor diagnosed it as a heart attack. The whole family was hit by my father''s death. I was only seven years old. I followed my father all day and found that he was getting haggard. Sometimes he squatted in a corner and talked to himself, but he seemed to be a normal person in front of others. Now he suddenly had a heart attack and seemed to be stimulated by something, but a child had little influence, so he kept his words in his heart.
After all, everyone was sad at that time, but a few days later, Jiang felt sick and went for a B-ultrasound. The result showed that she was pregnant. Later, she gave birth to a big fat boy. Grandpa was finally happy. He cried and laughed and said that the Chen family finally had an heir (I was a girl). He spent a lot of money to make a longevity lock made of gold. The next day, Jiang replaced it with a small coffin. The small coffin was about three inches long, about one inch wide and high, and was finely made. The lid and the coffin body were staggered, tied with a red rope, and hung on the child''s neck. Grandpa immediately frowned, and I also felt it was unlucky. Jiang hurriedly explained that this was a popular hand-held ornament in their southern part, which meant promotion and wealth. This child was a third-generation red, and as a mother, she naturally hoped that the child would have a prosperous career in the future.
Grandpa snorted coldly and didn''t say anything, just teasing the child, but I was looking at the word "Dian" on the small coffin, and I was horrified. Since this plaything had a word "want", it was not a real thing, but did it even have the word "Dian" written on it?
Although I was curious, I would not bother to do it.
Until the day when the child was one month old, just after the full moon banquet, my grandfather fell seriously ill without any signs. His face was pale, the corners of his mouth were blue, and the wrinkles between his eyebrows were almost spread out. He was about to die. In a daze, he called me to the bedside while I was crying. Suddenly he opened his eyes, full of energy, just like the last breath of the old people: "Chen Xi, are you still a descendant of the Chen family if you cry so much? Listen to my grandfather, you go to Jiang''s room now, steal the coffin handle from the child, and then move the baby brother away to see if there is any writing underneath."
I wiped my tears as soon as I heard it, and my heart was beating. I took this matter as my grandfather''s last wish.
The lights in the yard were bright. The news of my grandfather''s critical illness spread. Old comrades came to ask about it from time to time. Besides my grandfather and I, there was only Jiang in the family. I was just a child, so Jiang received the people who came to ask about it in the yard. I took advantage of her busyness and sneaked into her room. As soon as I entered, I was choked by the smell of incense. When I was about to cough, I covered my nose and tiptoed towards the big brother. The big brother was wearing a blue coat and was worshipped on the table. He stared at me blankly, which made me feel cold all over. Three incense sticks burned two long and one short. The middle one burned rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. I didn''t have time to think about it. I stood on a stool and climbed onto the table to move the big brother away according to my grandfather''s instructions. I saw that there was actually handwriting on the base: March 1966.
I took note, put the baby brother back to its original place, sneaked to the bedside, and climbed over the pillow blocking the bedside. Chen Shan was sleeping soundly with a small coffin on his small neck. I always felt it was unlucky, and I didn''t know what Jiang thought was good. I despised it in my heart, but my hands were light, for fear of waking Chen Shan up. I slowly lifted his head, and from time to time I checked whether the door was pushed open. Finally, I took the small coffin in my hand, but the next moment, Chen Shan suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me blankly. I subconsciously looked back at the baby brother, and I trembled with fear. The eyes were exactly the same. I began to be afraid, and quickly stepped back from the bed, ran to open the door and rushed out. Before I ran to my grandfather''s room, I heard a baby crying loudly. I looked back every three steps and finally arrived at my grandfather''s room. My grandfather had sat up at this time, his face was much rosy, and asked me if I had taken it.
The more I looked at Grandpa, the more he seemed to be in his last moments. I felt bad and put the small coffin in Grandpa''s hands.
Grandpa touched the small coffin and took out a small knife from under the pillow. The knife looked a little blunt and had been used for years. The handle was covered with yellow paper and there were some faint red marks on it. It was held by Grandpa, and only a little was exposed. I couldn''t see it clearly. I could only focus on the small coffin.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"There are descendants nails!" Grandpa was shocked. I looked up and Grandpa''s lips were trembling. He knocked the small coffin open with a knife. I carefully counted and pried it seven times. Then he shoveled it hard and the lid of the coffin fell on Grandpa''s legs. The next moment, a clay figurine lay in the coffin, wrapped in red cloth, just like the newborn baby Chen Shan with his hands and feet bound, but his eyebrows, eyes and nose looked very much like the baby brother.
Grandpa''s hand trembled, and the small coffin slipped from his legs and fell to the ground. The clay figurine broke into three pieces, and a white note fell out from the bottom. I hurried to pick it up and took a look: November 1966.
Suddenly, a pressure filled the room, like a pair of invisible big hands pinching my neck, and I couldn''t breathe. The note slipped from my hand. I looked up with difficulty, but saw Jiang holding Chen Shan in her left hand and the baby brother in her right hand. The cold wind blew, and Jiang was laughing. Blood was flowing from her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth corners. The laughter and the heart-wrenching cry of the baby were mixed together.
"Xiao Xi!" Grandpa yelled, and I didn''t know where he got the strength. He jumped off the bed, hugged me with one hand, and pointed the coffin-opening knife at Jiang with the other hand, muttering something at an incredibly fast speed.
Jiang, who was pointed at by the knife, stopped for a moment, her head drooped, her black hair covering her face, and the dolls in her hands, my elder brother and Chen Shan, were also motionless. Grandpa took the opportunity to hold me and ran out of the door. As soon as I ran out of the heavy district compound, I heard the cry of a baby behind me. Grandpa held me and ran while putting the knife in my pocket, his eyes full of bloodshot: "Chen Xi, remember to go out of the compound and find a family surnamed Ge in J District, T City, find Ge Tao, and ask him to contact your second uncle. The only thing Grandpa can leave is this knife, but Chen Xi, you must remember that Grandpa wants you to live happily and never come back again, remember, never again!" After saying that, I felt that I was thrown out by Grandpa. The intense pain of landing made me dizzy, and I could vaguely hear Grandpa''s painful cry and the baby''s sinister smile I heard the sound of a tumbling sound, and I ran away, crawling and rolling. The special critical area is in the deep mountains and old forests, surrounded by wild forests. On the ground are the shadows of tree branches cast by the moon, swaying like the hem of Jiang''s skirt. I shivered in my heart and ran out with my head held high. I saw that I had reached the end of the wild forest. There was a big river in front of me. The big river flowed from the west. The forest stretched to the south of the big river. Walking east along the big river, you can see the road. At that time, I felt that my legs and feet were no longer my own. I ran for an unknown period of time and finally got out of the wild forest. I immediately sat by the river and breathed heavily.
There was no end to the east along the river. If you want to walk to the road, it will take at least a day and a night. My grandfather raised me as a boy since I was a child, and I was very tough. I squatted by the river and drank water. Thinking of my grandfather, my heart tightened and I dared not delay any longer.
I got up and walked along the river. There was a slight sound of footsteps behind me. I immediately quickened my pace and walked faster and faster...
Suddenly! A black car came into view in front of me. It was unusual for a car to appear out of nowhere on the way from the special heavy area to the highway, but the situation at that time did not allow me to think too much. I was afraid that something was really following me, so I ran over and knocked on the car window: "Can you give me a ride?"
The car window rolled down, and a man with black semi-long hair sat in the driver''s seat. His nose was a little crooked and his lips were pale. I said I was going to T City, and he just nodded and asked me to get in the car. The car drove slowly, and I felt more and more that something was wrong: "What are you doing here so late?"
The driver didn''t say anything either. I shrank in the seat and felt a little uneasy. I took out the carving knife from my pocket and held it tightly in my hand, looking around. There was nothing wrong in the car. The only thing that made me uncomfortable was that the seat was a little wet, and the driver didn''t say a word: "I''m going to J District in T City."
The driver was indifferent to my repetition.
Suddenly! The car started shaking wildly. I quickly grabbed the front seat, but the driver looked back at me with a strange look on his pale face. He bared his teeth and spit out a mouthful of water. Then I heard a muffled sound. The whole car was sinking. The whole car fell into the water!
"Ah!" I was so scared that my throat tightened. I quickly knocked on the window with a carving knife, but I saw the driver''s hand reaching out to me. Suddenly the glass broke and water gurgled in. I relied on my small body to swim out of the window. In a few strokes, I swam out of the range of the sinking car. I looked back and could only see half of my body dimly. His hands were stretched out towards me, sinking and floating.
When I swam to the shore, my physical strength was overdrawn. I dared not delay and continued to walk with heavy steps, but the footsteps following behind came again, and they were getting louder and louder. I shivered and slowly turned back. I saw a winding river behind me, and then a barren forest.
"Huh..." I heaved a sigh of relief, thinking it was an illusion and continued walking, but my foot suddenly stopped and I tripped. I looked again and realized that the thing that tripped me was actually a clay doll. It was wearing a blue coat, with the same curve at the corners of its mouth that never changed. It stared at me blankly. The horrifying appearance of the clay figure in Jiang''s hand appeared in my mind again. I was so scared that my eyes turned black and I lost consciousness.