My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 385: Dead Man’s Meal

Jiang Xinghuo followed the middle-aged man back home. Needless to say, the atmosphere was filled with a depressing feeling. Only the little girl happily ate two large bowls of rice.

After a meal.

Jiang Xinghuo, the middle-aged man, and several neighbors walked towards the east end of the village.

Moreover, when he went over, Jiang Xinghuo described the appearances of several other elderly people to everyone.

As expected, the villagers said that the several elderly people who were enjoying the cool under the big banyan tree at Shiqiao had been dead for many years.

Jiang Xinghuo took a deep breath, not understanding what was going on. Then he looked at the time again and saw that almost an hour had passed.

In other words, his consciousness projection can last for about an hour, after which he can only continue to explore the village from a text perspective.

But what can be observed from a textual perspective is very limited, so he can only place his hopes on the coming time.

See if he can discover the secret hidden in this village, otherwise when the time is up, he will have to wait another six hours.

soon.

Jiang Xinghuo and his group arrived at the third-to-last house at the east end of the village.

But the main room was empty, with only a black-and-white portrait hanging on the west wall, which was exactly the appearance of the old man.

Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly, thinking that this was really a weird thing. He didn't expect that the other party could hide from Tathagata Zang's prying eyes.

It was also because I was too careless and thought that Tathagatagarbha did not see the problem, so I did not take it too seriously.

Jiang Xinghuo's left hand inadvertently brushed across his brow, and his bloodshot eyes suddenly opened! !
The real scene inside the house was then reflected in the pupils!
In the huge hall, everything was arranged as before and it seemed that nothing had changed.

Only on the armchair leaning against the wall, in a moment of inattention, an old man in shroud appeared.

But the next moment, the old man disappeared without a trace, as if he had never appeared.

Jiang Xinghuo calmly closed his eyes and looked back at the villagers behind him. He found that their faces looked very ugly, as if they had seen something unbelievable.

"It's getting late, everyone should go back and get some rest."

The middle-aged man forced a smile and dragged Jiang Xinghuo towards his home. The others followed silently behind.

Go home.

The middle-aged man arranged Jiang Xinghuo to the next room and said in a very serious tone:
"Brother, no matter what you see or hear tonight, don't leave this room. I know you are not an ordinary person, but there are some weird things in this village that you can't handle."

After saying that, the middle-aged man left the room in a hurry, leaving Jiang Xinghuo alone here, as if he had something urgent to do.

Jiang Xinghuo lay on the bed and began to think about what happened tonight. He found that this village was weird from beginning to end.

Sudden.

A knock on the door interrupted Jiang Xinghuo's thoughts.

Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyebrows slightly and subconsciously wanted to go over and open the door, but the moment he touched the door handle, he remembered the words left by the middle-aged man.

At the same time, a familiar and old voice sounded outside the door.

"Young man, the old man has already prepared the wine and food, why don't you go over there?"

Hearing the voice, Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes, flicked his fingertips lightly, and extinguished the oil lamp on the table, and the room suddenly fell into darkness.

"Young man, come out quickly. I know you are behind the door. Come out and have a few drinks with me, an old man."

"This shabby house has been abandoned for more than ten years. It's totally uninhabitable. You should stay with me, an old man."

Listening to the chattering voices outside, Jiang Xinghuo sucked his teeth and thought to himself, this is really a horror movie for me.

Well, since someone has already set up the stage, I have to give them face. The male protagonist probably can't escape.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xinghuo no longer hesitated. He turned his wrist and an oil-sealed lamp appeared in his hand. He could vaguely see the oil-sealed ghost struggling in the fire core.

"Uncle, you're making a trip so late at night. I was just about to go over there. I've even prepared the oil lamp."

Jiang Xinghuo opened the door and spoke politely to the old man in front of him. At the same time, he noticed that the furnishings in the main room had also changed.

The main room, which was once tidy, has now become dilapidated, with rotten dust everywhere, as if it had been abandoned for more than ten years.

When the old man saw Jiang Xinghuo coming out of the house, he waved a large palm-leaf fan in one hand and grabbed Jiang Xinghuo's arm with the other, saying with a smile:

"Hurry up, hurry up, I steamed a sea bass, braised a fresh pig's head, and stewed a big fat chicken. We two have to have a few drinks tonight."

Jiang Xinghuo did not refuse and let the old man grab his arm and walk out of the main hall.

After walking out of the yard where the main hall was located, Jiang Xinghuo found that the village was different from before. There were fewer houses with lights on, and the whole village was pitch black.

Jiang Xinghuo followed behind the old man, and the horizontal eyes between his eyebrows opened again.

In the field of vision, the stone road on the ground was covered with a thick layer of paper ash, and every step would leave a footprint.

Jiang Xinghuo closed his eyes quietly, as if he didn't notice anything, and still followed the old man to his home.

"It's getting dark now. You must be hungry. Come and have a meal. How about my cooking?"

The old man smiled and opened the door and walked into the house.

Jiang Xinghuo also followed him in. It was completely different from when he came here not long ago. The room was brightly lit and the portrait on the wall had disappeared.

An eight-immortals table was placed in the middle of the room. There was a large plate full of greasy pork head, a plump steamed sea bass, and a pot of steaming braised chicken. There were two pots of hot rice wine and fruits on the side. In the corner there was a bowl of mashed garlic and a pot of freshly cooked white steamed buns. The entire eight-immortals table was filled to the brim.

"Come and eat some food..."

The old man sat opposite Jiang Xinghuo, constantly urging him to eat his food and even poured him a glass of rice wine.

The yard outside was dark.

The main room was brightly lit, and the aroma of food mixed with the aroma of wine went straight into Jiang Xinghuo's nose.

Jiang Xinghuo also accepted all the dishes and shoveled them into his mouth. However, the moment they entered his mouth, he used the Five Ghosts Technique to move them into the magic space.

It was the same when he was eating at the middle-aged man's house. He didn't dare to put the food into his stomach at all.

"Come, try this fat chicken again..."

The old man tore off a chicken leg with chopsticks and put it into the large bowl in front of Jiang Xinghuo.

I don’t know how long this fat chicken has been stewed. The skin is crispy and the meat is tender. Jiang Xinghuo’s mouth is full of oil while eating it.

Jiang Xinghuo was gnawing on the chicken leg in his hand while looking at the dishes and drinks on the table.

Pig head, sea bass, steamed buns, fruits, fat chicken, fine wine...

These things look ordinary and there is nothing special about them.

But if you take a walk in the mountains in the countryside during the holidays, you will find that there are similar things placed in front of the graves.

It's nothing more than replacing the pig head with ordinary pork.

So this seemingly sumptuous meal is actually a meal for the dead, not something that should be eaten by the living! !

Jiang Xinghuo threw away the bone in his hand, raised his head to drink a glass of wine, and opened his eyes again.

The dishes on the Eight Immortals Table all took on new appearances in the vision of this horizontal eye. The fat chicken in the casserole was half-cooked, and blood foam kept bubbling up from the bottom of the boiling golden chicken soup.

The steamed sea bass also underwent a major transformation, and it was obvious that it was made up of two dead fish.

"The tail of a green fish, the head of a white fish, not seen in the world of the living, but swimming in the underworld..."

Jiang Xinghuo remembered a folk custom that when offering sacrifices to the deceased, the fish was usually not a whole fish, but a fish made from the head of a white fish and the tail of a green fish.

It is said that this fish can travel through the underworld and is the favorite food of the dead.

There was also a pot of bloody pig's head, which was covered with ashes from burning paper money. The steamed buns, melons and fruits were also covered with traces of burnt black from smoke and fire.

This further confirmed Jiang Xinghuo's guess that the food the old man gave him was all used to sacrifice to the dead.

"fragrant!"

The old man picked up a piece of bloody pig head, wrapped it in a thick layer of paper ash in a garlic paste dish, and put it in his mouth and chewed it with satisfaction.

Jiang Xinghuo closed his eyes and continued to eat the dishes, pretending nothing happened.

After eating and drinking, Jiang Xinghuo helped the old man put away the dishes and chopsticks, then brewed a pot of strong tea. The two sat at the eight-immortals table to drink tea and chat.

"Old man, do you recognize this thing?"

Jiang Xinghuo pretended to reach into his pocket and took out a fragment of the Ear of Listening from the storage space.

"What's this……?"

The old man looked at the rock ears in Jiang Xinghuo's hand with drunken eyes, shook his head, and said vaguely:

"No, I've lived for so many years, but I've never seen anything like this."

Seeing that he didn't know the person, Jiang Xinghuo didn't take it too seriously and just put the thing in his pocket.

Then the two continued chatting. Jiang Xinghuo asked indirectly about the situation in the Half-Ghost Village, but the old man's answer was flawless without revealing any flaws.

Chatting and chatting.

Jiang Xinghuo found that his body began to become illusory, which was a sign that the projection of his consciousness was about to be shattered.

Risui's projection in the secular world can only last about two hours. Now the time is up and it is time for him to leave here.

But at this moment, Jiang Xinghuo found that his body, which was about to collapse, suddenly solidified again for some reason.

"Ok?"

Jiang Xinghuo was a little puzzled and didn't understand why this happened. Before he could figure it out, he heard the sad sound of suona outside.

The main room, which had been brightly lit, suddenly fell into darkness.

Jiang Xinghuo stood up from the armchair with a swish.

He raised his eyes and looked around, and found that the room had returned to its original appearance, with the old man's portrait hanging on the wall behind him.

What is this?

Have Chinese folk customs directly turned into Inception?
Jiang Xinghuo opened his eyes wide, but there was still no change in the room.

But when I looked at the chair, the old man's figure flashed by again.

"It's really a weird place..."

Jiang Xinghuo narrowed his eyes slightly, turned around and left the room, following the source of the suona sound and walked towards the village entrance.

He wanted to see what these people were trying to do.

Jiang Xinghuo used his magical skills to come to the entrance of the village, where he saw more than 20 villagers gathered, led by the middle-aged man named Zhang Dalong.

Zhang Dalong was dressed in mourning and holding a suona in his hand. The people behind him were also dressed in mourning and carried a filial piety banner on their shoulders.

The last few people were carrying a black coffin.

"Awake!"

Zhang Dalong shouted loudly.

The sad and piercing sound of suona also rang out.

A group of people carried the coffin and walked straight into the mountain, as if they were really attending someone's funeral.

Jiang Xinghuo pondered it for a moment and decided to follow to see what was going on, perhaps it would help answer his doubts.

Think of this.

Jiang Xinghuo performed an invisibility trick and his figure immediately disappeared into the air, then followed silently.

Although this invisibility technique is only an ordinary one, it is simple and quick to use. Unless someone is much more powerful than him, it is difficult to find his trace.

The only drawback is that when performing invisibility, you cannot use other spells, otherwise the invisibility will become ineffective immediately.

In the quiet and desolate mountains, a group of people dressed in mourning clothes were walking on the mountain path carrying spirit banners and coffins. It was a bit creepy no matter how you looked at it.

This is only the case in the mountains. If it were outside, who knows what would be attracted.

If it happened in the real world, it would be on the hot search list the next day and would be all the rage on the Internet within two days.

Jiang Xinghuo followed these people while thinking randomly, and in a blink of an eye they had circled two hills.

At this moment, the scene he saw was very different from before.

On both sides of the long and narrow mountain road, there were yellow earth tombs everywhere. The tombs were scattered evenly on both sides of the mountain road like stars in the sky.

The size of the tombs and the shape of the tombstones appear to be almost identical, except for the words engraved on the tombstones, some of which can still be distinguished with the naked eye.

But most of the tombstones have been eroded by wind and rain for a long time, and the words are now completely illegible.

Jiang Xinghuo turned his eyes horizontally between his brows and swept across the mottled tombstones. He saw that the yin energy was connecting and gathering with each other, almost condensing into substance.

In addition, the tombstones were also filled with sacrificial items, half-cooked pig heads, half-cooked fat chickens, half-cooked sacrificial fish, some air-dried fruits, pears and peaches, and steamed buns painted with red dots...

Jiang Xinghuo thought that the villagers would stop there, but he didn't expect them to continue walking up the mountain.

There were more and more graves on both sides of the mountain path. He roughly counted them and found that there were no less than two hundred graves.

At this time, the tombs on both sides of the mountain path and the scene of the gathering of yin energy gradually changed.

An ancient stone bridge seemed to have descended from another time and space, spanning the dark mountain stream.

On the other side of the stone bridge was a deserted village and a sturdy banyan tree stood at the bridgehead.

At the same time, the sound of the suona became more and more passionate and piercing, as if countless wronged souls and evil ghosts were howling there.

In the village on the other side of the stone bridge, the sound of suona instruments suddenly rang out.

Jiang Xinghuo looked into the distance and could vaguely see a red team jumping out of the village.

(End of this chapter)