I quickly asked Lao Jiang to row faster and faster!
But Lao Jiang was cursing, saying that he was the one doing the work along the way. How could any apprentice treat his master like this?
"Stop yelling, look, Lei Zhen is here."
I pointed forward, and Lao Jiang’s eyes were immediately attracted.
But I saw a town on a small island in the distance. It was just that the town was too old and old, like an old house in the Qing Dynasty.
In the western Zhou Dynasty of the town, there is still a huge monster stone sculpture in the west, like a giant in the west guarding Lei Town.
"This stone statue is quite strange..." Lao Jiang said to himself.
Just then, a bolt of lightning struck down, and light raindrops hit my face. I knew a storm was coming soon.
I don’t know why, but after looking at the stone carvings on the West Tower, Lao Jiang’s face turned very bad.
He stopped talking to me and just rowed forward!
Even the cat in my arms had its hair on end and purred uneasily from time to time, as if there was an invisible enemy hiding in Thunder Town...
I stroked Dahu's head and comforted me softly. In front of me, there was a tall door frame archway with eight big characters clearly written on it: Lijialei Town, keep strangers away!
I raised my eyebrows at Lao Jiang proudly, which meant that I was not leading the wrong way.
Lao Jiang still ignored me, but crossed the stone archway with a stiff face, and a moss-covered pond appeared in front of him.
Our boat stopped at that pond.
"Haha, I, Li Jinglan, have finally returned home in glory! Butler Jiang, don't forget to bring the Peiping pastries you bought for your uncle."
As soon as I got off the boat, I shouted loudly, trying to lure the people out of Lei Town.
However, the Western Zhou Dynasty was quiet, and even the frogs that usually jumped around were no longer croaking...
Dahu looked even more alarmed and raised his ears, with their mouths pointing outwards, forming two wind-catching ears.
Lao Jiang looked around the Western Zhou Dynasty and made sure that no one was there, then he said with a serious expression: "Your hometown is not an ordinary evil sect."
"evil?"
Lao Jiang hummed and explained: "The archway we entered is carved into the shape of a coffin head. This is called attracting yin in Feng Shui. It is easy to bring the yin energy from the Zhang River along the water to the town, forming a yin house. "
"If I'm not wrong, then the stone carvings on the West Tower are also very particular. They will continue to squeeze the introduced Yin Qi, and finally it will rise to the sky. This is storing Yin and raising thunder! No wonder there will be thunder and rain in this place every three days. ”
"The people who made this plan are definitely not ordinary people. Now I am 100%25 sure that this is the hiding place of Wen Tao's descendants. Our trip was not in vain."
Old Jiang's face showed joy, and he walked towards the town with a big bag and a small bag in hand. As he walked, he shouted: "Folks, Master Jinglan is back!"
With that familiar and polite look, it was as if he was the one returning home in glory!
I hung the pocket watch I had prepared long ago in my coat pocket, pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of my nose, and followed him unhurriedly.
After a while, rows of small bungalows appeared in front of us. At this time, Lei Town was extremely quiet. Only the strings of bronze bells hanging under the eaves made a sound when we passed by.
The ringing of bells at night is clear and distant, reminding people of the soul-calming bells in ancient tombs.
When Lao Jiang passed a house, he took a few more glances at the bells under the eaves, and his pupils suddenly shrank.
I asked him what happened?
He pointed to a twisted text carved on the bell and said, "Do you still recognize what this is?"
"Mourning!!!"
I was very pleasantly surprised. Lao Jiang’s observation skills are really amazing. I have lived in Lei Town for more than ten years and have not noticed this detail. I only know that hanging wind chimes is a custom in my hometown.
As long as there are bells under the eaves, deceased relatives can hear the call at home no matter how far away they are.
Unexpectedly, there was actually a commemorative inscription engraved on it. It seemed that someone in Lei Town really understood this.
Lao Jiang took out his notebook and carefully traced the unintelligible text, then asked in a pretentious manner: "Master Jinglan, how far is it to go to your house?"
"It's right in front of you, Butler Jiang." I replied.
Logically speaking, townspeople have started to patrol the Ship Archway, and anyone with a stranger face will be kicked out.
But not only did we reach the shore, but we also walked such a long way without seeing a single patrolling town citizen.
Could it be that something really happened to Lei Zhen?
It was completely dark, so I took out a Western-style flashlight from my body and turned it on, then followed my memory and took Lao Jiang to my childhood home.
I don’t know how long we’ve been walking, but I suddenly felt like someone was following us behind us!
When we leave, he leaves.
When we stop, he stops.
Although the light rain was falling and the ringing of the bell was getting more and more urgent, Lao Jiang and I still heard the footsteps hidden in the rain.
Lao Jiang gave me a calm look, and then asked in a low voice, "Master Jinglan, why do you live in a place like this? Isn't it haunted?"
I comforted him to be brave.
Then he suddenly turned his head, pointed the flashlight at the corner of the street, and yelled: "Who is that person?"
My speed was so fast that the other party had no time to hide.
I saw an old woman with a stooped body and wrinkles on her face appearing under the flashlight.
The old woman was holding a white lantern in her hand, one eye was missing, and the other eye was looking at me sinisterly, which reminded me of the dragon king patrolling the river said by the fishing village boss.
The big tiger meowed, and the man laughed twice: "The old lady is not a ghost, haha."
As soon as he finished speaking, the closed doors of every house opened, and stiff figures stood at the door holding white lanterns, looking at us with cocky heads.
This scene was so weird that Lao Jiang secretly tugged on my sleeve and told me to quickly identify my uncle and uncle.
However, my fear is ten times a hundred times greater than that of Lao Jiang.
Because I don’t know anyone here!
Even if more than ten years have passed and everyone has changed a lot, there won’t be any familiar faces, right?
I tried hard to find my childhood playmates Erdan and Gou Sanzi among young people, and even went to the patrol team Li Fugui and Li Kaishan brothers who held a torch to catch me, but it was all in vain.
Lei Town is still the same Lei Town, but everyone I know is gone...
Each of them was holding a paper lantern and looking at me stiffly, making me wonder if I had seen a ghost.
I rubbed my eyes, and the old woman behind me said with a smile: "Did you two go to the wrong place?"
Once I heard this, I was even more sure that there was something wrong.
How can the people in Lei Town be so polite? Those who dare to break in will either be tied up or thrown into the river.
Thinking of this, I rolled my eyes and hugged the old woman quickly: "Mother Zhang, I am Li Jinglan! I didn't expect that after more than ten years of studying abroad, you are so old that I can't even recognize you."
"Jing, Jinglan." The old woman stammered.
I quickly signaled to Lao Jiang: "Steward Jiang, what are you still doing? Hurry up and get some snacks."
"This is my personal butler, whose surname is Jiang. This is just my pet, named Dahu."
I greeted the villagers enthusiastically, and started to talk to them about their family feud in a very familiar way: "Oh, I used to be just that much. If I hadn't been taken care of by all the uncles and uncles, how would I have been lucky enough to study in the UK?"
I gestured to my height of one meter while opening the pastry box and asked Lei Zhen how he was doing now.
The townspeople gave me wary looks, and I quickly pointed to a house on the left: "So that's where I live, little fat. If others don't remember me, you can't forget it, right?"
After that, I ran to the place where the fat neighbor used to live to take a look.
Sure enough, Xiaopang disappeared too, and a strange man lived in his house now.
The man was about my age, tall and thin, not fat at all, but I deliberately held his hand and talked about the bad things we had done together in detail: "The old hen raised by Uncle Fugui's family was stolen by you It was stewed and eaten, and I helped you carry it, forgot? "
"I also took you to peek at Ahua taking a bath, do you remember?"
The man realized it later, pointed at my face, and suddenly realized: "Jinglan, it's really you."
"Nonsense, I am now an overseas student who drank foreign ink. By the way, is your father's lung disease better? I have Western medicine in my suitcase, Butler Jiang!"
I glanced at Lao Jiang. After Lao Jiang gave the man a box of cakes, he looked for something else inside, rummaged through it for a while and said with a grimace, "Master, I seem to have been left on the train."
"Tell me, how many times have you done this?"
I was so angry that I pointed at Lao Jiang and criticized him, and occasionally said a few foreign words, which made the people in Lei Town stunned.
But Xiaopang told me that it was okay, his father had already recovered.
"It's already so late. Jinglan, you must be tired from taking the train. Let's talk about old times tomorrow, right?" The old woman suddenly stepped forward and stopped my ramblings.
I also had this intention, but after looking at my original home, I felt confused: "It's a pity that after I left, no one took care of the house. It seems that I can only live in a public house next to the ancestral hall."
The old woman was holding a lantern and planned to take us there.
I smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, I know where it is. It's not like I've lost my mind after going out. I'm familiar with every plant and tree in Lei Town."
Even so, the old lady still sent us to our destination!
The ancestral hall is right in the center of Lei Town, and it is also a forbidden area in Lei Town! We are inaccessible. We live in a small wooden house more than 100 meters away from the ancestral hall, which is the so-called public house.
I introduced to Lao Jiang: "If outsiders come to the town, they will be placed here, but this happens only once or twice a year."
The blind old woman just smiled eerily the whole time.
After sending us into the house, he did not forget to warn us: "Remember, two guests, do not go out after twelve o'clock in the evening!"
Lao Jiang and I looked at each other and asked deliberately: "Why?"
The old woman stared at me strangely and showed her white teeth: "The Dragon Prince has been patrolling the Zhanghe River these days, looking for sons-in-law everywhere. I am surprised that the young master is so fresh and has drank foreign ink. If he is... If you choose it, you will die young..."
Lao Jiang said: "Then this bad old man like me should be fine, right?"
The old woman glanced at him coldly: "Maybe, the Dragon Palace is also short of a foreign housekeeper."
We pretended to be frightened, immediately bolted the door and closed the window.
Seeing the old woman's shadow flickering away, I dared to exchange information with Lao Jiang: "Master, something is wrong in Lei Town! I don't know anyone here. I just tried several people and they all had problems, especially the neighbors. Xiaopang, he is definitely not a chubby, because Xiaopang never peeked at Ahua taking a bath with me. Ahua is actually an old sow. "
Lao Jiang chuckled and said that I was really bad, but also really smart.
I continued: "And that old woman, she obviously has to enter the ancestral hall when she turns ten, so why is she wandering around the town?"
Lao Jiang pondered for a moment and said: "In that case, let's continue to act. If the enemy can't move, I won't move. Let's see what tricks they can do!"
