The Eighteen Mile Mountain Road could not scare Xu Yishan.
When he was a child, he was used to walking on mountain roads and night roads while studying. Later, when he was working in the Water Conservancy Bureau, he also had a lot of experience of sleeping in the mountains because he inspected the waters and rivers of the whole county.
Children who grow up in the countryside have been influenced by ghosts, gods and monsters since childhood. Country kids seem to be more afraid of ghosts than city kids.
In Xu Yishan's heart, he is not afraid of such unfounded things as ghosts and gods, but in awe.
There is an essential difference between fear and awe.
When I first entered junior high school, I had to live on campus. After all, home and school are too far apart. In rural junior high schools, students living on campus eat together in the cafeteria. At the beginning of the school year, every household will send their children to school together with food.
The school cafeteria is only responsible for making rice into meals for students, not dishes.
For one thing, rural families cannot afford to eat food at school. Secondly, rural middle schools are not so capable of taking care of the children's meals for each meal.
Therefore, bringing pickles to school from home has become an essential procedure.
Usually, a can of pickles can be eaten for three days. Three days later, either my parents brought pickles, or my students went home to get them.
Xu Barefoot asked his son to come back every three days to get pickles. He didn't have time, and he didn't want to spoil his son.
It has become a habit for Xu Yishan to go home every Wednesday after evening self-study to get pickles.
Once, after he finished his evening self-study, he hurried home alone. It was a night with a bright moon, a cool breeze, and the sound of frogs and insects. Xu Yishan hummed a ditty all the way, still thinking about an algebra problem in his mind.
Suddenly, he heard a faint cry. But when he stood still and listened carefully, he couldn't hear anything.
After all, children are timid, and in an instant, all kinds of ghost stories surfaced in his mind.
Over the wilderness, there are no traces of people. Only the mountain wind passed through the pine forest, making the dull sound of pines.
Xu Yishan bit the bullet and continued on his way. When turning around a small mountain mouth, his heart almost jumped out of his mouth.
On the side of the road, a pitch-black coffin landed on the dragon pole. In front of the coffin, two sticks of white wax were lit.
If you ask people who have lived in the country what they were most afraid of when they were young, most of them will say with one voice¡ªfear of coffins.
The coffin heralds the dead. There are ghosts among the dead.
In the country, it is difficult to find a person who is not afraid of coffins. What's more, the coffin in front of him obviously contained a dead person.
At that moment, he was almost out of his wits, and his legs almost went limp.
At this time, a person suddenly stood up beside the coffin. He looked at Xu Yishan who was alone, and waved his hand to signal him to go over.
Xu Yishan could still move his feet, he couldn't help crying, and asked boldly, "Are you a human or a ghost?"
The man said, "Of course I am a human being. How could I be a ghost? You see, I have shadows."
By the moonlight, Xu Yishan really saw a long shadow behind that person.
Ghosts have no shadow. This is common sense. Xu Yishan became more courageous and asked him, "Why are you here alone?"
The man didn't speak, but just urged him to leave quickly.
Back home, mother found that his whole body was soaked, and asked him, but he couldn't say a word, his eyes were straight, and he stared blankly at the door god on the door.
The mother was frightened, remembering that there was a funeral in the next village today. Moreover, the deceased was a woman who died violently. Because she owed the mountain, she could not be buried, and she had to wait three days before she could be buried.
The coffins that go out can only be parked on the side of the road, and can only be buried in the ground when the time is right.
"What did you encounter?" Mother asked tremblingly.
Xu Yishan's teeth chattered as if he was suffering from the cold, "I saw a coffin by the roadside, and I saw a person."
"Did you see someone?" Mother exclaimed in shock. Because she knew that because the deceased was young, he died violently. In the past few days, rumors have been everywhere that the ghost of this dead woman is looking for a substitute.
It was hard for Niang to imagine that there would be someone beside the coffin, her face turned pale with fright. He quickly hugged his son tightly in his arms, and comforted him: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid.
,good luck. Unjust ghosts, stay away from my son. "
Xu Yishan didn't know if he was frightened or for some other reason. That night he started to have a high fever, and Xu Barefoot took medicine, but it still didn't get better.
After having a high fever for two consecutive days, my mother finally couldn't sit still. So, in the sky above Xu's Village that night, there was the voice of his mother calling for his soul.
Strange to say, his high fever subsided miraculously after his mother recruited his soul for two nights.
Later, after a long time, Mother asked about the events of that night, and confirmed that no one from the host's family stayed at the coffin. I didn't hear anyone say that someone was guarding the coffin that night.
Whether the person Xu Yishan saw was a human or a ghost became an unsolved case after all.
However, after that experience. He suddenly became much more courageous. Seeing coffins or dead people in the future, Xu Yishan no longer had the slightest fear in his heart.
Xu Yishan wanted to leave the Shiyue Mountain Forest, but Deng Xiaofang did not stop him, but Deng Jingan came out to persuade him to stay.
"Brother Xu, if you don't dislike my place, you can rest here tonight." Deng Jing'an looked at him with a smile and said, "It's not that I can't send you down the mountain. However, your leaving at this time shows my way of hospitality." It's so insincere."
Xu Yishan thought about it, it's fine to go back by himself. There is no need to walk more than ten miles on the mountain road. So he laughed and said: "Then I will disturb Miss Jing'an."
Overnight in October Mountain Forest. Deng Jing'an arranged for him to rest in an extremely cozy room.
He fell asleep quickly, leaning against the moonlight and listening to the mountain breeze.
When he woke up the next day, he went out and saw a girl reading a book with her back to him. He coughed lightly, and the girl turned around, but it wasn't Deng Jing'an.
The girl smiled slightly and said, "Sir, you're awake. You go to wash up first, and then have breakfast. After breakfast, I'll take you down the mountain."
Xu Yishan's mind didn't turn around for a moment, remembering the details of last night, he asked suspiciously: "Ma'am, is Miss Jing'an here?"
The girl smiled sweetly and said, "My master and Sister Deng have gone down the mountain early in the morning. She ordered me to take my husband down the mountain."
Xu Yishan groaned, feeling like a dream. Fortunately, the girl said that Deng Jing'an and Deng Xiaofang had already gone down the mountain, otherwise, he really thought it was a dream.
The breakfast is simple but exquisite.
As soon as Xu Yishan put down the bowl, the girl came over and handed him an envelope and said, "This is what Sister Deng asked me to give to sir."
Xu Yishan took it hesitantly, he didn't know what kind of tricks Deng Xiaofang was playing, and asked someone to hand him an envelope, what was his intention?
Opening the envelope, a thin piece of paper floated down inside.
A line of words was written on the paper, "Get ready to take office!"
Going to work? Xu Yishan was dumbfounded. What does Deng Xiaofang's words to herself mean? Who will take office? What job are you going to do?
The girl handed Xu Yishan a helmet, and said with a smile: "Sir, please put on the helmet, I will take you down the mountain now."
Xu Yishan said in astonishment: "Motorcycle?"
"No, locomotive." The girl smiled faintly, "Don't you know? My master is a locomotive enthusiast. We go up and down the mountain with locomotives."
Going out, I saw a beautiful locomotive parked at the door.
Xu Yishan estimated based on his only knowledge, the price of this locomotive is by no means lower than the expensive cars running on the street.
The girl got into the car first, and motioned for Xu Yishan to sit behind her.
Xu Yishan was confused, the seat of the motorcycle was obviously not for two people. unless he
Seeing his hesitation, the girl smiled and said, "Sir, come up, just hug my waist."
Xu Yishan blushed and his heart beat suddenly. If he wanted to ride in the car, he had to put his arms around the girl's waist from behind. Otherwise, he couldn't sit still at all.
"Come up." The girl was still urging him.
Xu Yishan remembered what Deng Xiaofang said last night that there was only eighteen miles to go down the mountain, so he handed the helmet to the girl and said, "Thank you, I'll walk down the mountain."