we are just monsters

Chapter 1
"Speaking of ghost culture, it has a long history. It has been spread since ancient times. Even before writing appeared, it had been passed down by word of mouth. After the development of writing, literary records began to appear.

Like "Spring and Autumn", "Zuo Zhuan", "Chu Ci", "Mu Tianzi Biography" all appear.

Nuo of villagers in "The Analects of Confucius"; ghosts and gods in "Book of Rites"; "Huangdi Shuo" in the Warring States Period; "Strange News" in the Han Dynasty; "Ancient Mirror" and "Duyizhi" in the ancient times, "Taiping Guangji" in the Song Dynasty, "Chengzhai Miscellaneous Notes" and "Journey to the West" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. This culture has become very popular in the Qing Dynasty. The most representative "Liaozhai" Strange Tales is known to everyone. "

The old professor stood on the stage, he didn't speak slowly like ordinary old people, but he spoke very neatly.Listed from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qing Dynasty, he paused for a moment when he said this, and the screen of the projector behind him rotated and rotated again and again. At this time, the screen that stopped was Nie Xiaoqian's film and television characters.

There are more than 400 stories, large and small, in Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio, and Nie Xiaoqian is a representative one among them.

With Wang Zuxian's interpretation in film and television works, this image is also widely known, which can be seen from the performance of most people sitting below.

Gu Cheng was sitting in the second row below, leaning on the back of the chair and watching the projected image, the ballpoint pen in his hand flicked lightly, outlining the silhouette of a classically dressed woman.

The person sitting next to him glanced at this scene from the corner of his eye, and his eyes were a little more surprised. The movements were too random, but the lines drawn were not random at all.

The old professor on the stage picked up the thermos cup and took a sip. Looking at the quiet audience, he coughed lightly and said with a smile:
"When I was young, I was in the mountains. It was not as prosperous as it is now. When it was dark, I couldn't see my fingers. When I was reading a book with a candle, I sometimes thought that the mountain spirits and ghosts in those stories liked to sleep with men. Scholars, if a female monster really appeared outside my window, how should I reject her..."

Speaking of this, there was a burst of laughter from the audience. For a moment, the old professor smiled and pressed his hands down. After the silence, he turned back to the topic: "The culture of 'ghosts' has been going on for 5000 years. It can be said to have a long history. It is a very important part of our culture. In oracle bone inscriptions, ghost is a pictographic character, the bottom of which is human, and the top is like a terrible head, which is a monster that looks like a human but not human in people's imagination.

Some people would like to ask, since it can endure for thousands of years, does it really exist?

No, I think the reason why it has been able to exist for a long time is because it conforms to the mainstream of our culture and contains rich humanistic spirit. Looking at the strange stories listed above, a large part of the core is "ritual, Faith, loyalty and filial piety'.Like the White Snake, Hua Guzi, etc., after receiving the favor, they tried every means to repay the favor; including Zhong Kui who became a judge after his death, and Bao Qingtian who became the king of Hades after his death. , hope that good will be rewarded. "

He paused, pushed his glasses and looked at everyone, continued to smile and said, "If any of you have seen those things with your own eyes, you can stand up and tell us."

People in the audience looked at me and I looked at you, they all laughed, only Gu Cheng still kept his head down.

The professor put his hands on the table and waited for a while, no one stood up, nodded and said: "Under the current materialistic values, we should have a more comprehensive understanding of this culture.

If you think about it carefully, you will find that ghosts only exist in the mouths of our friends, relatives, classmates, and netizens, as well as in various places such as movies and novels.

The brain is a wonderful existence..."

The screen of the projector kept turning, and the old professor talked eloquently.

"...If you get to the bottom of it, you will find that no one has ever seen it. Ghosts are just fantasy, especially in today's electronic eyes. If they really exist, there should be many specimens in the Academy of Sciences..."

This is a classical culture learning and exchange meeting, which lasts for three days, and this is the last day. It may be that the theme of the previous two days was too dull, and it has become a lighter topic this afternoon.

The people in the audience are not students. In short, communication is the main thing, and learning is supplemented.

When the speech came to an end, Gu Cheng put away his pen and stretched his waist. A classical female image appeared on the paper, but the facial features were not drawn, and the face was empty.

The old professor was packing up the materials on the stage, and as the people around him stood up one after another, Gu Cheng also walked outside.

Passing by the table in front, there were a few people standing next to the old professor who was packing up the materials after the lecture, and they were chatting quietly together. matter.

Maybe it was because Gu Cheng looked a little young, the old professor turned his head and took another look. Gu Cheng noticed his gaze and smiled as a greeting.

The professor also nodded with a smile. Gu Cheng didn't stop, and went out to the corridor. The sun was already setting.

The venue is in the Zhangjia Ancient Garden, with a large area of ​​ancient buildings, and the upturned cornices are dyed orange red in the setting sun.

Gu Cheng stood at the railing and watched silently, with a calm expression, his eyes flicked from the surroundings one by one.

In his memory, Zhangjiayuan still looked like a long time ago, dilapidated, lifeless, with blue bricks and red tiles, porters and hawkers walking around outside the door, yelling and scissors, and some popsicle sellers pushing twenty-eight bars, Put a box tightly wrapped in a quilt in the back seat, and go away step by step in the hot summer.

I don't know how many times it has been repaired, but it still maintains the original style. The difference is the wide and flat road in the distance, the tall buildings, and the occasional sound of car horns.

After leaving Yicheng for so many years, the old friends are probably gone.

A few figures flashed across Gu Cheng's heart, and when he was about to turn around, his gaze suddenly froze.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, on the crimson roof tiles, a girl sat beside a cornice, holding a book in her hand and looking down, her legs dangling slightly on the edge of the roof, and her straight legs disappeared under the corner of the skirt Suddenly.

She twisted the corner of the page with her fingers and didn't turn it over. She seemed to have noticed something, and turned her head to look here.

"What are you looking at?"

A voice came from behind, Gu Cheng didn't turn his head, looked at the red clouds in the sky and said: "Today's weather is good."

The visitors met at this exchange meeting. The organizer arranged for the two to share a bed. They are also roommates and have a lot of research on ancient Chinese.

"The weather will probably be good tomorrow. Are you going back tonight?" Wang Shaofeng asked. They came from different places and only participated in this activity on behalf of their respective units.

"I booked a ticket for more than six o'clock." Gu Cheng said.

Wang Shaofeng nodded, and looked up following Gu Cheng's gaze. The corner of the eaves over there was empty, only the wind chimes under the eaves swayed slightly.

(End of this chapter)