I hid behind Lao Ge, looking at the doll brother who fell to the ground. His blue coat was separated by the fragments of clay sculpture, but there was black and red blood flowing out between the crisp pieces.


    "This..." I grabbed Lao Ge tightly, "How can the clay doll brother have blood?"


    Lao Ge touched my head and told me not to be afraid. He took out a small wooden stick from the suitcase. The stick was red and inserted it in the middle of the turtle shell. He held it in front of the hideous second uncle''s face, and the turtle shell actually moved. It was originally facing up with its back, but it suddenly turned over and faced up with its front.


    "Evil spirit!" Lao Ge''s voice sank, and then he took out a brush with cinnabar on it, took out a piece of yellow paper, wrote the name of the second uncle and his birth date on the yellow paper, and then burned the yellow paper with a match. In an instant, the second uncle fell backward steadily. I was shocked. Lao Ge did not stop, and put the burnt yellow paper into the turtle lid, and then walked to the second uncle and broke the second uncle''s hand and put it in his hand. The second uncle''s eyes were wide open, and Lao Ge covered them with his hands, and then lifted them up. The second uncle closed his eyes steadily, and seemed very peaceful.


    "People should rest in peace after death. This is a sin." Lao Ge shouted, and nodded with satisfaction when he saw that the second uncle was motionless.


    I shed tears in front of my second uncle''s body. I still have an impression of him. He passed away when I was five years old. Before he passed away, I held him tightly and refused to let go. He smiled and said he would bring me delicious food when he came back. But he left for two years. Every time I asked my grandfather where my second uncle went, he always told me not to ask so much. But why did my grandfather hide it? And Lao Ge knew that my second uncle had died, so why didn''t my grandfather know?


    I don''t understand, but I won''t ask. I have lived in a heavy-duty area since I was a child. Although I am young, I have learned the confidentiality and respect of people in heavy-duty areas. It is best not to ask what others don''t want to tell you, and you won''t get an answer if you ask.


    I followed Lao Ge to put my second uncle in the coffin, burned the photo, and buried it outside the wooden house with the coffin. I helped Lao Ge pack the suitcase. Looking at the bleeding baby brother not far from the suitcase, I was horrified: "Lao Ge, why is baby brother still bleeding?"


    Lao Ge stood in front of the table with his hands behind his back, listened to my question, turned around, and had a solemn look on his face: "Xiao Xi, are you willing to worship me as your master? Although I, Lao Ge, do business, it is not an ordinary business. I, Lao Ge, do business in the underworld."


    "The underworld?" Although I didn''t understand, my hair stood on end.


    Lao Ge nodded and slowly explained the reason. It turned out that he and his grandfather were brothers in the underworld when they were young. Later, when people were living in poverty, they joined the army and fought together. At that time, they were still boy scouts. It was during the civil war that they made meritorious service. However, his grandfather was left in the critical area. Lao Ge continued the story of the underworld: "Xiao Xi, to be honest, when I first heard you talk about the handwriting on the base of the baby brother and the numbers in the small coffin on the child''s neck, the time I calculated was exactly *, * was 1966, and the handwriting on the ground of the baby brother was March 1966. , the note in the small coffin indicated that the child died in November 1966, eight months old, stillborn. I calculated at the time that it might be because Old Chen* participated in the destruction of the four olds, and some family came to seek revenge. "


    I became nervous when I heard that. Isn''t it true? Who knows that Lao Ge smiled bitterly: "But today, it turns out that this baby brother is just a blood puppet. Xiaoxi, you are in big trouble. Your fate is weak... Now you will either be tortured to death by ghosts or go to the underworld. Otherwise, dirty things will come to your door, and you can''t deal with them."


    The underworld? This is not the first time I have heard this word. It was not from my grandfather, but the gray-robed old man''s words involving the underworld. ''The pearl is covered with dust, turned into the underworld, and fell into the ups and downs.'' Although I don''t know what it means, I believe in the old man''s words. I am actually related to the underworld today, and I am about to agree to Lao Ge.


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    But Lao Ge interrupted me: "Think about it, girl. If you don''t want to go to the underworld, just live your life like an ordinary person. Lao Ge will protect you at the cost of his life, but you have to forget Lao Chen''s death. But if you go to the underworld, Lao Ge can only teach you things, and you have to decipher your fate yourself."


    I was puzzled, and Lao Ge didn''t force me. He squatted down, opened the suitcase and took out an incense burner from it. There was half a piece of residual incense on the incense burner. When it was lit, the smell of the residual incense was actually bloody. Lao Ge put the incense burner in front of the baby brother, and saw that the blood from the baby brother dried up quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye. I covered my mouth, and the half of the residual incense increased, quickly became thicker, and then extinguished in a flash.


    "Puff!" Lao Ge suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, then shook and put away the incense burner, "Damn it, what on earth did Old Chen cause? We shouldn''t stay here for long. The matter of this baby brother must be resolved. It''s not that simple."


    Lao Ge took me out, then quickly walked to the car and drove away. It was already six o''clock in the morning when I got home. I had a simple breakfast and was so sleepy that I walked into the house after dinner. Unexpectedly, Lao Ge called me: "Come to my room."


    I was startled. I have been here for more than 20 days, and I have never entered Lao Ge''s room once, including last night when I woke up in shock. Lao Ge also blocked the door and didn''t mean to let me in. I immediately became more energetic: "Okay."


    But when I first entered Lao Ge''s room, the shock I felt will never be forgotten in my life. Wood, all wood, exuding a strange fragrance, black and red, no lights in the room, only red candles, and four tall candlesticks in the room, in the four corners of the room.


    Lao Ge pulled me in and asked me, "Have you made up your mind?"


    In fact, I had already made up my mind. Instead of living a life of fear, I might as well learn about the affairs of the underworld. But I really don''t understand the underworld: "Lao Ge, what is the underworld?"


    "From catching ghosts and killing ghosts, extending lives and breaking souls, to funerals and ghost marriages, and seeking wealth and directions, they are all called the affairs of the underworld. This is what I, Lao Ge, do." Lao Ge looked solemn. "Just now, I used the soul-chasing incense to cast a spell to injure the mastermind who controlled the baby brother, but I was counterattacked, so I had to tell you."


    I clenched my fists: "I choose the underworld."


    Lao Ge nodded and asked me to kneel down in front of the candles in the four corners. It was a great ceremony of three bows and nine knocks. Then the candles suddenly went out. I stood up: "Lao Ge?"


    In the dark Lao Ge said in a low voice: "Now start walking to your right, touch the first candlestick, circle clockwise, until you return to the first candlestick and touch it again, tell me what you touched."


    I did as Lao Ge said. The room was dark, and without the candles, I couldn''t see my hand in front of me. I walked to the right and soon touched a candlestick. It was very high, two heads taller than me, so I only touched one pillar, and then touched the other three clockwise. When I turned back to the fourth one, I felt something sticky and round on my hand. I subconsciously retracted my hand, but at the same moment it lit up. A round head was hanging on the candlestick in front of me. The sticky thing was blood. I retreated in panic, and a female ghost with disheveled hair floated in front of me.


    "Ah!" I panted loudly, turned around and walked away, and a long tongue came into view, floating in the air. The ghost without a tongue in front of me was grabbing the tongue with his teeth and claws. Suddenly, I touched something soft behind me, and a pair of big hands touched my shoulders.


    "Ah!" I couldn''t help but scream, and my hands and feet began to kick and beat.


    "It''s me, Lao Ge." Lao Ge''s voice drilled into my ears. I steadied myself and slowly opened my eyes. I saw Lao Ge standing in front of me, and there were still the four candlesticks around, and it was still the house made entirely of wood. There were no ghosts.


    But I didn''t feel relieved. I was sweating coldly, knowing that Lao Ge asked me to do that, and it must not be an illusion: "I... did I see it just now? Is it true?"


    Lao Ge didn''t answer my question, but asked me what I saw. I said it carefully, fearing that I would miss something. Lao Ge laughed and knelt down in front of the candlestick: "From today on, Chen Xi will change his name to Ge Chenxi and enter the underworld."


    After speaking, the sparks on the candlesticks burned into tongues of fire, and the candles in the four corners quickly shrank, and finally became a pool of candle tears. The strange thing is that without the candlelight, I can clearly see the things in the house.


    Lao Ge looked at me, looking at me seriously: "From now on, whenever I get a job, you will follow me. Tonight there is a rich businessman who wants to have a child. You come with me. I know you are full of doubts, but rest first. I will tell you in detail tonight."


    I nodded, went back to the room obediently, lay on the bed and hung the carving knife in my pocket back around my neck, but I tossed and turned thinking about what was going to happen tonight.