Tomb Keeper

Chapter 25: A Dark Shoe (2)
Poet Feng was shocked, how could you do that? Didn't Zhou's mother tell you that you have to choose a date, offer incense wax paper money, and burn this shoe.You throw it around, no wonder Meizi is looking for you.

My head is a mess.From an outsider's point of view, this has grown to borders on absurdity, but I think anyone who is as deeply involved in the cemetery as I am is awed by these strange things.I timidly asked Poet Feng, what should I do if the shoes have been thrown away?He said, you have to buy a shoe like this and burn incense again.The shroud shop in Xihe Town sells these things.I said buy a shoe, will others sell it?He said then you can buy a pair.

However, before buying the shoe, I still want to ask Ye Zi first, wouldn't it be easier if I could get the shoe back.So, after lunch, while Ye Zi went upstairs to take a nap, I went upstairs to ask about this matter.Unexpectedly, Ye Zi was very angry after hearing my words, she said, how could you do that?What do you mean by throwing your shoes at my door, harming me?I haven't seen that shoe before, but I often have nightmares, so it's your good deed!How could you have thought that I put the shoes in your house? I, Ye Zi, never do anything harmful.I wrote the note telling you to leave here, so I did it for your own good, because after seeing that shoe appearing in your house, I think you are quite a vicious person. If you stay in the cemetery, you may walk on it. Plum that way.

Things are clear.What I have to do now is to go to Xihe Town to buy shoes.Because since I can't leave the cemetery, I can only do my best to save the day.

The shroud shop in Xihe Town is located in a dark alley, if it weren't for the conspicuous wreaths placed at the door, it would be really hard to find.I said to the old woman in the store, buy a pair of shoes, ask for women's.The old woman hurriedly said, yes, yes.And the shroud, what grade do you want?I said, just shoes.The old woman was taken aback for a moment, as if it was inconvenient to ask me more questions, so she said that there are three grades of shoes for women's feet, and the cheapest one is 14 yuan a pair.I said, so expensive?She said that it is not expensive, it is a lifetime, how can it be said that it is expensive to wear a pair of shoes at the end?I said, not much to say, just buy a pair of 14 yuan.

I put on my shoes and turned around to leave, but at this moment, I heard the old woman say to the old man in the house, today is really evil, just now when Village Chief Luo came, he only bought shoes but not clothes, I really don’t know how they gave The dead wear it.

I was taken aback, turned around and asked, where is the Village Chief Luo you mentioned?The old woman said, besides Xitu Village, where is there a second Village Chief Luo?What, you know him?I said, yes, who died in Mr. Luo's family?The old woman said, we only do business and don't ask other people's business.However, Village Chief Luo also bought a pair of women's shoes.

How is this going?There is no one else in Village Chief Luo's house except the newly married wife. Could it be that the woman died suddenly?I thought of her faint voice when she opened the courtyard door to guide me, and thought of the scene where a Taoist priest sprayed rice on her body to drive away ghosts, and I suddenly felt an ominous feeling in my heart.I decided to turn to the village chief's house on the way back to the cemetery.Originally, since I arrived in the town, I was planning to go to Zihua's, because she called me twice at the cemetery in the middle of the night, and she denied it when she talked about it, so I had to figure it out patiently. reason.However, seeing that the sun is already in the west, I don’t have time to see purple flowers today, so I have to go to the village chief’s house first.I didn't do this out of simple curiosity, but because I felt for no reason that I had something to do with the village head's family.

It was nearly dusk when we arrived at the village chief's house.Looking from a distance, the gate of his courtyard is quiet and elegant, and there is no sign of a funeral.The gate of the courtyard was ajar. I opened it and went in. I called Village Chief Luo in the courtyard, but no one answered.I walked into the main room, still no one.There is a passage on the side of the main room, which connects many rooms. I heard movement in one of the rooms, so I walked over and saw a woman kneeling on the ground wiping the red-painted floor.It seems that this room is the village head's bedroom. An old-fashioned carved bed is placed in the room. This kind of bed has four thick bedposts and a bed lintel across it. This structure makes this bed look like a Small separate room.

It was the village chief's young wife who was mopping the floor. When she saw me, she got up from the floor.She said, are you looking for the village chief?He went to Xihe Town.She was still holding a rag in her hand when she spoke, and there were beads of sweat on her forehead.She was wearing a little sleeveless blouse, and I noticed for the first time that she had very high breasts.

The village chief was not around, and the woman was healthy and alive, so I didn't know what to say for a while.I faltered, I went to the village chief, and nothing happened.I was passing by here, and I stopped by to have a look.

The woman took me to the main room to sit down, and after making tea for me, she said, it's a hot day, please drink some water.But don't stay here for too long, or I will be beaten when the village chief meets you when he comes back.

beaten?I was taken aback, the woman said, he wouldn't let me have any contact with men.Sometimes I talked to a man from Murakami outside, and he would beat me when I came back.

The woman's expression suddenly darkened, she lowered her head and almost cried.

I said unfairly, if this is the case, why did you marry him.Besides, you are younger than his son, why should he?
The woman was already sobbing, she said, my family is in the mountains, so poor.My elder brother is over 30 years old and has no money to marry a wife. I married here to help my elder brother start a family with a bride price.Because sister Meizi from our village worked in your cemetery before, she knows that the people here are rich.

My heart skipped a beat, do you know Meizi?
She said, why don't you know me from a village? My name is Lianzi, and sister Meizi is six years older than me.The villagers said, Meizi and I are summer flowers and the other is winter flowers.But I'm not as lucky as Meizi, and I'm going to suffer a lot if I marry here.The village chief wanted to have another son, but he couldn’t, so he tortured me every night, and even his son couldn’t bear it at home, so he moved to live in the factory and never went home again.

I sympathize with Lianzi's situation.She said that Meizi's life is better than hers, but the plastic bag I'm carrying now contains the dark shoes that are going to be burned for Meizi.It seems that Lianzi didn't know about Meizi's death.So, I tentatively asked, how is Meizi doing now?
Lianzi said that she heard from her family that Meizi later went to work in the city.It's just that since then, Meizi has lost contact with her family.The family members went to the city to look for her, but Meizi's work unit said that she had left her job long ago.Speaking of this, Lianzi sighed, alas, this Meizi is too cruel, no matter where she goes, she should contact her family.

I asked again, the leaves in our place also come from the mountains, do you know them?Lianzi shook her head and said she didn't know her, and then asked me, oh, I heard that you and her are getting married soon, right?I said that's not the case.She looked at me suspiciously, then said in a low voice.You have to be careful, the son of the village chief said, if you get married, he will use dynamite to blow up your new house.

I was deeply shocked.During this period of calm, I thought Brother Luo had given up on Ye Zi, but now it seems that Ye Zi and I have to take precautions against him in the future.

At this time, someone called the village chief at the gate of the courtyard. Lianzi was startled, and immediately ran to the courtyard and replied loudly that he hadn't returned home yet.

Back in the main room, Lianzi said in a panic, it's getting dark, you should go, I won't be able to tell if he bumps into me when he comes back.He has been nice to me these days, because it will be my 19th birthday in two days, and he said that he went to town today to buy me presents.

I suddenly felt scalp tingling.Gift, what gift, is that pair of dark shoes?The behavior of the village chief made me feel more terrifying than what happened on the graveyard.When I got up to leave, I thoughtlessly said to Lianzi, you have to be careful these few days.

Lianzi gave a casual "hmm", obviously not understanding the weight of my words.So I said again, do you know the phone number of our cemetery?If you are in a hurry, just call me and I will help you.

I went out of the courtyard gate and walked towards the cemetery in the growing night.The bag I was carrying contained the dark shoes I bought for Meizi, but I no longer felt afraid, what I had was strength, and I wanted to make my way through the fog around the cemetery.I don't regret coming here alone for an unannounced visit at all. What I'm doing now is much more exciting than the mediocre interviews and scripted reports when I was in the newspaper office.Men should live like warriors, these are the words I wrote in my diary a long time ago.

That night, I saw Meizi in a daze. She was sitting on the stairs to the attic, wearing the pair of green cloth shoes I bought on her feet.I was about to get closer to see her face clearly, when a soft hand suddenly came from behind and rested on my shoulder.I turned around and saw that it was Lianzi. She raised one foot and asked, are these shoes good-looking?I looked down and saw that Lianzi was also wearing dark shoes on her feet.I was taken aback, knowing something had happened to Lianzi, so I grabbed her arm and asked, did the village chief hurt you?She didn't answer, she broke free from my hand and ran away.I chased after him and entered a room, where there was a large carved bed, and Lianzi, who was wearing dark shoes, was lying upright on the bed.I woke up from my dream with a yell, and at the same time I heard the phone ringing from downstairs.In the deep night, the ringing of the phone was frightening.I patted my forehead hard, allowing myself to quickly return to reality from the dream.No, something happened to Lianzi. I asked her to call me for help when she was in distress.

When I went downstairs, the phone had stopped ringing, and Ye Zi had already answered the phone before me.She said to me who came downstairs that maybe Zihua was playing tricks again. I just picked up the phone and said "Hello", and the phone was disconnected.I said excitedly, it wasn't Zihua, it was Lianzi who called, something might have happened to her!what to do?I must rush to the village chief's house immediately to have a look.

Leaf looked at me in bewilderment.I quickly told her what happened during the day, and then said, I'm going to check it out, and if I don't come back in two hours, you call the police.

Ye Zi said, going out in the middle of the night is dangerous.Well, I'll go with you.

I was overjoyed by Ye Zi's heroic cooperation.We walked out of the courtyard gate and hurried towards the village chief's house along the road that looked gray in the dark night.

The gate of the village chief's courtyard was closed, and dogs were already barking inside.After thinking for a while, I jumped onto the wall.Ye Zi said in the darkness at the base of the wall, be careful, that dog is very fierce.

I climbed on the top of the wall, and the dog had already jumped down the wall and barked at me, preventing me from jumping into the yard.There was no light or movement in the house, and things were pretty bad.The scene in my dream flashed before my eyes, Lianzi was lying upright on the bed wearing dark shoes, it was possible.Lianzi will be 19 years old in a few days, and the village head may only be infatuated with the girl, he wants to keep Lianzi forever, so he wants to stop her life.This kind of madness in a man's genes is not without precedent in the world.I climbed on the wall and thought nervously, recalling in my mind the method of subduing vicious dogs I learned when I was a special soldier.However, maybe I was too nervous, and my brain suddenly felt a little out of order.

At this time, a light in a window came on, and soon a figure came out, and I recognized that it was the village chief.He didn't dare to come into the courtyard, but stood on the edge of the steps and looked around.After a while, a woman's voice came from the room saying, is there anyone outside?
My nerves suddenly relaxed, the lotus seeds are not dead yet.Her 19th birthday is still a few days away, and the village chief may not want to do it tonight.

I jumped off the wall, shaking my body, Ye Zi had already reached out to support me.At this moment, the warmth of her arms and the pleasant smell of her hair made me a little fascinated.Since entering the cemetery, Ye Zi came out with me as an ally for the first time to perform a mission, which made me very satisfied.The male protagonists in detective movies often have a beautiful girl as an assistant. Such a brave man is braver because he has admirers.

(End of this chapter)