Records of Strange People and Strange Events in the Old Mansion

Chapter 21 Shen

Zhu Badger rushed to the window, and through the window lattice, he saw the woman standing under the persimmon tree at the door of the squinty-eyed woman's house, leisurely watching the squinty-mouthed woman doing what she did.

The flat-mouthed woman held a charm in one hand and a wooden sword in the other. While mumbling something, she ran back and forth around the screen wall.

Zhu Badger admired the flat-mouthed woman for coming back to her senses so quickly. How could an old woman of her age be able to withstand the fright and fall just now? If it's not done right, several ribs will be broken by the door sill bars.

With your head in the right place, what can you do if you invite a woman with a flat mouth to come over during the Winter Solstice? Could it be that it's aimed at me? Hum, I want to see what you want to do? Zhu Badger pressed his face against the window lattice and stared at the woman.

The woman was still dressed in black, and she still wore the same pair of dazzling red high-heeled leather boots, but she didn't wear the black scarf. She watched the flat-mouthed woman's actions intently, not Zhu Hu and the squinty-eyed woman.

Zhu Hu had already returned to his home from the gate. At this time, he and Xieyanpo were kneeling at the door of their home to "do the Winter Solstice" to worship their ancestors.

There is indeed a custom of "doing the winter solstice" in Lvbubuo Village, because "the winter solstice is as big as the new year".

On the day of the winter solstice, every household will cook a table of delicious dishes to offer sacrifices to their deceased ancestors. After the sacrifice is completed, the "Picture of Eliminating Cold" is hung in the hall of the home.

Regardless of whether the family is rich or poor, every household in the village has a "Cold Relief Picture". Of course, the quality of the drawings varies greatly.

The "Picture of Eliminating Cold" from Zhu Badger's family has been passed down for several generations. It depicts an old man with white beard and hair, taking a nap peacefully in front of a willow tree. The nine words inscribed on the picture are "The weeping willows in front of the garden cherish the spring breeze", which is the meaning of hanging this picture, which is to wait for the arrival of spring. Ever since Zhu Badger became sensible, Ma Yasha asked Zhu Badger to count the words on the picture every day from the day he hung up the chart. The characters on the picture are traditional Chinese characters, and each character has exactly nine strokes. When Zhu Badger finishes counting the nine characters on the picture in one stroke a day, it will be exactly ninety-nine and eighty-one days. The cold weather is over and spring is coming.

Because Zhu Hu was away all year round, Cross Eyed Po was too lazy to "do the Winter Solstice" alone. Now that Zhu Hu is back, it is more or less reasonable to make up for the winter solstice, but inviting the flat-mouthed woman to come over and do it is a bit too much.

"Are you still doing it?" Chouyu came to the window.

Returning to the old house and walking into his own room, Ma Yasha became an ugly jade.

"How is Dan'er?" Zhu Badger asked Chouyu, her face still pressed against the window lattice, still staring at the woman.

"What else can I do if I go home and change my clothes?" Chouyu put her face against the window lattice and watched the flat-mouthed woman recite the mantra.

"The sun rises a little red in the east. Holding gold in his right hand and riding a white bull, he drinks up the water flowing in the east. It is forbidden to flow in Hongmen. The boy from the snow mountain has arrived, the boy from the snow mountain has arrived..." The flat-mouthed woman muttered something, and the spell in her hand Attach it to the center of the screen wall.

With a "pop" sound, a brick on the window lattice fell. I don’t know if it’s because of the age, but the faces of three women were pressed against it at the same time, and the window lattice couldn’t bear the weight. The method of the flat-mouthed woman was still effective. After the spell was pasted on the screen wall, it shook the main room of the old house.

The main house of the old house is Zhu Badger's house. Zhu Badger promised Grandma Taizu that he would take good care of the old house, and he had just promised Lady Guanyin to take good care of the old house. Now that the eyebrow brick on the window lattice has fallen off, the flat-mouthed woman is proud, and the woman wearing red high-heeled leather boots is even prouder. A pair of cold red phoenix eyes look at Zhu Badger's house with disdain, as if knowing that Zhu Badger is lying on the window lattice, that The intense provocation in his eyes made Zhu Badger angry.

Zhu Badger picked up the eyebrow brick that fell to the ground, carefully put it back to its original place, and called the eight thin dogs to prepare to rush out of the house.

Chouyu had sharp eyes and quick hands. She grabbed Zhu Badger's arms tightly and said softly: "A little impatience will ruin a big plan. If you go out now, you might lose more than just your eyebrows."

"A small impatience will ruin a big plan. How long do you want me to endure?" Zhu Badger broke away from Chouyu's hands.

Chouyu replied: "You can win every battle only if you know yourself and your enemy. You must first find out what that woman wants to do? Where does she come from? What is her relationship with Zhu Hu? What tricks does the flat-mouthed woman want to play?"

"Yes, yes, those who come are not good, and those who are good will not come. We must defeat them." Lu Huan agreed. Zhu Badger frowned, looked at Lu Huan, and asked Chou Yu: "What did you say to her?"

"Everyone has a responsibility to protect the old house, and she plays a very important role." Chouyu smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, I will definitely help you protect the old house." Lu Huan smiled.

The laughter of Chouyu and Lu Huan instantly melted away Zhu Badger's anger. Yes, a small amount of impatience will mess up a big plan. I can't affect the whole old house just because a brick fell from the window lattice.

The window lattice in the outer room of Zhu Badger's house is made of blue bricks. To be precise, it is a brick carving, with openwork patterns in the shape of flowers and birds. Zhu Badger doesn't know the specific structure yet, but he only knows that it is very precious.

"Eat and sleep." Zhu Badger returned to the kitchen and first fed the eight thin dogs wild boar and chicken. After eating a few sweet potatoes that were hot on the stove, he licked his lips and plunged into his room.

Lying on the bed, Zhu Badger quickly fell into a deep sleep. It was a dreamless sleep. It was already midnight when he woke up. He quickly got up and took a basket of corn and rushed to the big camphor tree.

The eight pig badgers didn't wait for the red badger to greet them. They heard the red badger's footsteps and came out of the tree hole to play with the eight thin dogs.

Zhu Badger put the bamboo basket full of corn to the tree hole and went to check the demolition notice. She wanted to take a closer look, hoping to find some clues from it.

"Eh? Where's that piece of paper?" Zhu Badger circled around the big camphor tree and couldn't see the demolition notice. He was wondering who tore it off or was it blown by the strong wind? Ordinary villagers can't tear it up and don't dare to tear it up, after all, the paper looks like a charm. There shouldn't have been a strong wind since last night, and it probably wasn't there when I was asleep, otherwise the snow wouldn't be so smooth.

"Could it be that the person who posted it tore it off himself?" Thinking of this, Zhu Badger called the eight pig badgers back to the tree hole, and he led the eight thin dogs back to the old house.

Back at the old house, Zhu Badger did not enter his house immediately, but let the eight thin dogs go back to the house first. He hid beside the bluestone door frame at the gate and stared intently at the big camphor tree.

Sure enough, after a while, a black shadow flew under the big camphor tree. After circling the big camphor tree, it turned its back to the old house and stayed under the big camphor tree for a while. Then it flew away from the big camphor tree and disappeared halfway up the mountainside of Xisan.

Halfway up the Western Mountain? That should be the pig-butcher's home.

Is that black shadow a pig killer? Impossible. He is short, fat, and stupid as a stupid pig. How can he fly like a bird?

Trapped mouth woman? Shen Shen Dao has great skills, but it can be said that it is impossible to master such light kung fu, otherwise he would not be willing to be restricted by Zhu Badger.

Could it be the pig-butcher's wife? The Pig-Butcher's wife, Huang Liangcai, was born in the old house. Her father, Weasel, was considered a figure, and her younger sister, Huang Qiukui, had been unusual since she was a child. She went out to work more than ten years ago and never came back. Some people say that she worked as a mistress for a big boss, while others say that she worked as a nanny for a rich man who was over seventy years old. The rich man gave her a large inheritance before he passed away...

Looking at the pre-dawn hillside of the Western Mountain, Zhu Badger frowned. If the black figure just now was Pig-Butcher's wife Daylily, then everything that happened after the demolition notice was posted was not as simple as she thought.

Zhu Badger hid by the bluestone door frame of the old house and waited until there was no movement on the west side of the mountain. Then he slowly walked out of the old house. When he approached the big camphor tree, he first looked at the footprints on the ground to see if they were male or female.

What makes Zhu Badger unbelievable is that there are no footprints on the ground, but the black shadow has obviously circled around the big camphor tree. How could there be no footprints? Without leaving a single footprint in such thick snow, could that black shadow really be a bird?
A gust of cold wind blew by, and Zhu Badger calmed down and thought, now is the ugly time, according to Mr. Zhu's words, it is the ugly time's turn to cause trouble, and sure enough, something happened.

Chou hour is the darkest moment before dawn, and the zodiac sign belongs to the Ox. After the demolition notice was posted, the twelve zodiac animals had troubles one after another, and the one behind the ox was the monkey. Then something will happen at Shenshi next hour. I want to see what happens at Shenshi today?

(End of this chapter)