the last priest

At this time, a cricket in my hand jumped to the ground, and I lowered my head to catch it. The cricket jumped to the side of my mother-in-law. They are different from the shoes we wear, they are small, pointy ones, about the size of my palm at that time, I thought it was strange, so I wanted to touch them, but when my hands touched the ones that seemed to be When there are tangible and qualitative shoes, they are empty, and nothing is pinched.

I looked up in disbelief, and my mother-in-law was no longer there. When I turned my head again, she appeared on the tomb bag, still holding her chin and looking at me.Although I am still young, I also know that grave bags are used to bury the dead, and I have an inexplicable feeling in my heart, could she be the "ghost" that adults often say!

But I wasn't afraid at all, I was still playing with my crickets, and after playing for a while I felt bored and wanted to go back.At this time, I found my long shadow on the ground. When I was a child, I was very naughty, and I liked to walk behind adults and step on their shadows. My mother always scolded me and said that shadows should not be stepped on. The more I want to do it.

So I started chasing my shadow, my mother-in-law looked at me who was playing like crazy, and started laughing again. At this time, I wanted to step on her shadow, but I don’t know where the courage came from, or I didn’t know at all Terrified, I ran to the grave bag.

But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find the shadow of this grandma, so I asked, "Where is your shadow?"

Grandma said softly: "Then I will take you to find my shadow, okay?"

"Good!" I nodded.

Then grandma got up and wanted to hold my hand. I felt that my right hand had been playing with crickets, and it must be very dirty. That would be very impolite, so I stretched out my left hand.

Grandma grabbed my left hand and squeezed it, and then I screamed "Ah!" Then I let go of my hand, and with a "ding", the copper coin fell to the ground. When I picked it up, my grandma was gone, but Cha Wenbin was already standing beside me at some point.

He picked me up and said, "Okay, it's late, let's go back."

"But that grandma, she said she was going to take me to find the shadow, why is it missing?" I muttered.

Cha Wenbin pointed to the grave bag and said: "She has already gone back, and we are going back too." Then he carried me home, and under the nervous eyes of my mother, I slept soundly and soundly.

The next day, Abba went to call many people, saying that he wanted to dig up the old grave.That tomb has been standing there for many years. My grandfather’s father, that is, my great-grandfather’s generation, had already existed here. Some people have gotten used to its existence, but because it is my family’s To build a bridge, no one wants to have a big grave on the head of their own bridge, and everyone understands it.

On the day of digging the grave, I was locked up at home by the adults and was not allowed to go. Later I heard that they dug up an old coffin under the old grave. Inside the coffin was a rotten white bone. They were responsible for picking the bones. Some people said that it should be an old lady with bound feet, because her toe bones have been completely deformed. There is also a very mythical saying that there is a brand of a copper coin on the palm of the bone, which is called Burnt black.

Later, those bones and coffins were transported outside and burned to the ground. Bamboo was planted on the original old grave according to Cha Wenbin's order. Now there is a small bamboo forest, and the bridge passes through the bamboo forest. , don't have a taste.

The next day, Zha Wenbin asked me to get the copper coin back, and then hung it on my neck with a red string. At that time, children from families with conditions would hang a jade pendant, but I was different, and I hung the copper coin. .Later, some children saw that it was new, so they followed my example and hung copper coins when they went back.

When the bridge was built, I was already in the summer vacation of the kindergarten. In that summer vacation, I was taken to Zha Wenbin's house. I don't know if it was arranged by my father or by Zha Wenbin, so I was taken away by him.

Zha Wenbin’s house is not far from his grandmother’s house. There are many children in that village. His house is very big and there are many people. One of them is a big man who often throws me on his neck and lets me ride a horse. I remember his name is "Uncle Dashan".There is also an uncle who always plays tricks on me. When I am angry, he will give me snacks or toys like a trick. I saw him at my grandmother’s house very early. Collect "rags".Another uncle, I call him Uncle Table, he rarely smiles, but he will take me out to play, every morning he will practice in the yard, I admire him very much, sometimes he has a red stripe on his chest Dragon, but sometimes can't see it.

When Zha Wenbin took me back, the first thing he did was to kowtow to a memorial tablet in his house, and then let me kneel down to the gods hanging on the wall, one god and the one in the General Temple The old man is very similar, and I couldn't pronounce his name at that time.

His son is older than me. It is said that he is studying in the provincial capital, and he rarely comes back even during summer vacation. It is said that Uncle Wen Bin refused to let him come back. Once he came back secretly, and Wen Bin lost his temper again. Uncle was driven away.

When I first went there, Uncle Wen Bin was very happy. When people came to the house, they asked him who this little doll was, and he would tell people that it was his apprentice.

But I never called him master, and I never gave him the master-student gift. I don’t know why every time someone asks me to call him master, I feel embarrassed and embarrassed. As a child I was introverted and related.

At that time, Zha Wenbin often told me something about Taoist priests. I couldn’t listen to it at all. I always thought that I could play with them in the afternoon or go fishing. In short, my interest was not in his paintings at all. Above the crooked text.Maybe I really didn't have a relationship with Taoism, or I didn't have a relationship with him. By the time I realized that he wanted to pass on what he had learned all his life to me, it was already too late.

In short, I was very happy during that summer vacation. When I went back, Cha Wenbin took off the copper coin hanging on my chest. Since then, I have had an extra birthmark on my body, a prototype black one. The birthmark is small, but the location is indeed where the copper coin used to be.

When Zha Wenbin sent me home, he said to my father: "Maybe I was too impatient. The child is still young. Let's try again in a few years."

In the following years, I rarely saw Zha Wenbin again. Some trivial matters in the village required someone to do them. Zha Wenbin was often not at home, and no one knew where he had gone.

In the winter of the second year, my father hunted a muntjac on the mountain, and called some friends over to eat wild game.After eating, they were going to play mahjong. It rained suddenly that night, but the people who were playing mahjong in the house didn't notice it. When they found that the rain was a bit heavy, it was already late.

At that time, the umbrellas at home were not enough for so many people to borrow, so they discussed to play a few more laps and wait for the rain to subside before leaving.

Mahjong was played until nearly twelve o'clock, when the rain began to stop, and these friends of Abba had to leave and go home.At that time, all the aluminum flashlights with batteries were used in the countryside. The yellow light did not shine very far.

After they left, Dad was about to go to bed, and the door hadn't been closed for a while before someone knocked on the door.

"Boom, boom, boom" was an urgent knock on the door, accompanied by a cry for help that almost collapsed. Dad quickly put on his clothes, and even I was awakened. When the door opened, the three friends who were playing mahjong just now When they came back, one of them was still holding a wet woman in her hand. One of the umbrellas in the woman's hand was opened, while the other was not opened.

"What's going on, this is?" Dad asked.

"We don't know. Before we crossed the bridge, we found Lao Li's wife lying on the bridge, cold all over."

This woman is the wife of a friend of Abba's. That night she saw that her man hadn't come back yet, and it was raining again, so she wanted to send an umbrella over, but she fell down on the bridge at some point until they went down. Only then did I find out.

My mother changed her into dry clothes. No matter how she screamed or pinched, the woman didn't respond, as if she had passed out.My dad knows that Cha Wenbin once said that if it’s raining, it’s better not to cross this bridge. It’s not that he didn’t want to go to add the stone lion. At first, he had no conditions, but then he forgot about it, anyway. Nothing happened, but he didn't expect it to happen today, so he asked, "Has anyone died in the neighborhood in the past two days?"

A friend of my father said: "I heard that an old lady died in Yantou Village this morning. She died after drinking pesticide."

At that time, Dad was shocked and knew that it was likely to be bumped into, but he couldn't say it. If he said this, it would be over. The mouths in the countryside are so fast. Whoever dares to come to our house in the future, he is also anxious. There is no way, and the person is rushed to the hospital.

At that time, I was locked in the room by the adults and was not allowed to come out, but I was always curious, so I climbed up to the writing desk. Through the window, I vaguely saw that woman's body with a mass of dark things wrapped around her feet.

Later, when I was sleeping, I told my grandma. At that time, my dad also went to the hospital. We were the only two of us left at home. My grandma was so scared that she didn’t dare to turn on the lights, so she just hugged me in her arms. Li sat on the head of the bed all night.