Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen.phantom
The storm that was raging in the north failed to shake the ancient Wanjia building in the middle of the forty miles of wilderness in time. Over the years, all the changes in the sky and the strife and disputes among the various departments of the Beiyang Army have been seen in the eyes of the Wanjia family. It is irrelevant here, at most it is recounted like a story in teahouses and restaurants, causing a burst of sighs and sighs, and then those events turn into light smoke that goes away and are gradually forgotten by people.
Tracing back to the source, the psychology of the Wan family was gradually formed after the fusion of two factors; in the long time ago, when the seven ancestors of the Wan family were alive, even though the captive court had already entered the Central Plains, they abandoned their official positions and returned to the wild, so they trained The sons and nephews of Mian Wan's family will never be captive ministers and will not be captives. They still regard the death of Ming Dynasty as Zhengshuo in their own selfishness. The land was divided by various factions in Beiyang, attacking the city and seizing land, seeking profit and power, which made the people cold-hearted, thinking that all government offices always accounted for 30% of the domineering and 70% of the account, and those Beiyang generals were stern and soft-hearted, and did not dare to go too far It oppresses the hard rock in the deserted lake, so when the north is full of mourning and people are struggling to survive, Wanjialou, which strives to protect itself, has become the only paradise.
Among the seven families of the Wan family, all the older ones still hold tightly to what old man Wan Jinbiao once said, no matter what faction or department in the officialdom they hang on to, we will not listen to it!As long as it doesn't find us to press for donations and taxes, to use knives and guns, we will not be troublesome, and we can't control the world's chatter, but on the ground of Wanjia, even if it is a small matter as small as the tip of a needle, we should touch our conscience, Make it clear, black and white!
In this way, the mentality of only seeking self-protection is unbreakable on the heads of the clansmen, which is three points tighter than the tight headband Sun Xingzhe wears!Even among the younger generation of the Wan family, very few people have seen foreign affairs. When they step out of this corner of the barren land, they always think that if the barren lake for forty miles does not see blood, it is considered a peaceful time for the Wan family. If we judge the Wan family building based on this Selfishness, that's not entirely true. There was a great famine in the north, and the Wan family let go of emergency relief; there were refugees in the north, and the Wan family also took in the hungry and sick people; The heroes of the rivers and lakes and the good people who were oppressed by the Beiyang government.The only thing is that the members of the Wan clan don't know it, they always have the feeling of being out of the world.
But this time, Baye Guan brought them an unprecedented problem.
The little Guy who had exited from Wanliangpu spread the meaning of Guan Baye, and discussions arose in the streets and alleys of Wanjialou, wherever crowds gathered.Yes, Baye Guan himself and the Liuhe gang he led once extended a helping hand at the critical moment of Wanjialou, with awe-inspiring arrogance.Then again, when Master Wan was alive, how could he be unkind to him in Guandong Mountain?
Master Guan Ba gave up his life to take care of foreign affairs, and he was following the Wan family's ancestral precepts. He didn't want to say it publicly, but he always complained that Guan Ba was too stupid and stupid in private.At least in Wanjialou, Guan Baye's name is not as famous as it is in the sky, nor is it so high that everyone looks up to it.The only thing that makes people look up here is not Guanba, but the towering roof of the ancestral hall, which is facing the sky and carrying the flowing clouds.
Talk is on people's lips.When the people of the tribe talk about doubts, they are used to walking into the teahouse, occupying a few square tables of the Eight Immortals, brewing a cup of thick catecha, holding a cigarette, holding their legs, each occupying one side and expressing their opinions. When he spoke smoothly, his eyebrows danced with joy, and when he started to talk awkwardly, he slapped the table and the bench and raised a big bar.Near the ancestral hall, just under the shadow of the high-rise building, there is a Shangjia teahouse with a narrow facade and a bulging stomach in the stone alley. .
On a square table near the west window, there were five or six people crowded together. Fearing that the westward sun would bask in their faces, a shaded reed shed was set up outside the window. Below, the mist of leaf smoke and water smoke floating out from the window flows through the shadow of the building, like a burst of dark flying sand.There are a few shadows of pigeons that look very fantastic, pacing on the shadow of the building, through the hustle and bustle of the house, you can still hear the sound of their wings brushing.
The second room always speaks as if he intends to oppose Baye Guan. In my opinion, a person like Master Baye is by no means someone who will easily drag us into the water. If he criticizes him like this, I, Wan Xiaoxier, will not be convinced. !A slender and fair young man wearing a melon skin hat said: Uncle Banya, if you speak a word of conscience, thousands of people in the salt market will be sent to the chopping block. If he doesn't come, why don't we just sit and watch? ?
It's hard to say these words, Big Die hooked his head, playing with the lid of the teacup blindly, kept wrapping his upper lip around his big teeth that could never be covered, and sucked his saliva in: "You, you are regarded as one of the best in the clan." As a junior, it's not your part to be the master of the house, so you need to worry about it?Gu Ye only conveyed his thoughts to others, even he didn’t make up his own mind, right and wrong, right and wrong, every room in the ancestral hall is easy to discuss, facing east and west, it’s up to everyone to decide, after all, you are young and ignorant, Didn't you offend the second wife by talking like this? !Don't you think so?Boss Shang?He turned to the fat man with a spotted top on the opposite side and said.
Hehe, the owner of the teahouse smiled, and with a sentence that didn't hurt or itch, he backed up Dabanya's words: This is a matter of the Wan family, and it's even more inconvenient for us people with foreign surnames to talk.
Guan Ba is Fu Tiansheng's life of wandering, with his big teeth holding the pipe of the cigarette and filling it in: it is specially designed to cause trouble.Regardless of what kind of person he is, let's just come back and say that Grandpa Zhen entrusted Aunt Hanying to him for life. At that time, he only wanted him to have permission. !At least it won't persuade Yanshi to call for soldiers, force them to fight in the dead woods, and cause so many accidents. He didn't nod when he was stubborn, and Aunt Hanying got sick from anger, and took the face of the Wan family. Butt stinking feces, actually want us to wipe, this point, I am confident that the judgment is correct.
Xiao Xi'er, I don't blame you for belittling the second room in front of me. The second room's Wan Shu hugged his knees and said: But you have to tell a reason? !I am not talking nonsense. I said that Guan Ba intends to use power to blackmail Wanjialou. With the force of the bandits, they are forcing us, and now Ye Ye's bones are still cold, and there are more than a dozen corpses lying under the two corridors of the ancestral hall. The accounts of the lives of those who died in the hands of the bandits have nothing to do with him?
Asking us to pull guns to help Yanshi and stand against Sun Chuanfang, this is absolutely reckless, the old fourth house's crooked eyes are famous for being afraid of getting into trouble, and he shrinks his head when he speaks, as if he is afraid that a brick will fly from the sky and hit him It's like: we have old ones and young ones, we can't compare with Guan Baye who is wandering alone, he is used to playing hard, and his head is no bigger than a bowl of scars, we can't offend the Beiyang army and drag him to Yanshi Go shoot it, and besides, who will see what the Southern Revolutionary Army looks like? !
You are all people who are afraid of your children and don’t move forward. Wan Xiaoxi’er’s throat is big: it’s fine if you don’t move forward because you are afraid of your children. The last thing you should do is to spoil Guan Baye with some fallacies. It’s true that he spent half his life in the rivers and lakes, throwing a gun at his head , he came to ask Wanjialou to help Yanshi with his wounds, did he ever have any selfish intentions? !According to you, he used the bandits to hold Wanjialou hostage. Since he has such intentions, why didn't he go straight to Wanjialou?Instead, sent those gangs of guns away, and stayed here alone? !
In the noisy air around, the atmosphere on this table was condensed in silence. It was obvious that Wan Xiaoxier's words had angered the others. Legs walked away to greet other tea guests.
I said, Xiao Xi'er, when Wan Waiyan'er got angry, his eyes became even more crooked: You want to hug Ba Ye's thick legs all you want, but you can hug him anyway, and no one is stopping you, right? !People have different aspirations, and they have different aspirations. Fortunately, you are not the leader of the gun team, and you are not the leader of the clan. You can't force others to go to Yanshi to die!Who are you hurting? !
This is all prevarication, I really don't understand it, Wan Xiaoxi'er said: I forced all of you fearful ghosts to go into battle, each of you with your ass upside down and shot, I'm really afraid of losing the person surnamed Wan!Let me say this first, if the meeting of the ancestral hall fails, I will go to Yanshi by myself, don't let the world see that Wanjialou is full of soft goods with their backs in the sky!
You have to be measured when you speak, Wan Shu's eyes turned red and he said: "Xiao Xi'er, I should hold your ears and tell you that you are disrespectful when you talk like this."You said what happened to him in Guanba, but do you know why he stayed in Wanjialou?
My uncle, I was asking you just now? !
Wan Shu sneered twice, with a look of disdain on his face: If you asked me calmly, I should have told you a long time ago, Guan Ba's behavior, don't say that the second room can't stand it, I can't bear it, I Dare to say that anyone surnamed Wan should feel humiliated. He had an affair with Wan Xiaoniang, the widow of the Wan Liang family. Didn't we put our surname Wan under his feet to rub and trample at will?We don't care how humble her background was, since she came to Wanjialou with Wanliang, she is from the Wanjia, and you, Xiao Xi'er, can't deny that she is your widowed aunt? !Guan Ba concubine, your widowed aunt, you hugged his thick legs instead, you still have the face to criticize others here, this kind of thing can only be done by you, Xiao Xizi, because you are too young, maybe you don’t know how to be ashamed ? !
Listening to these words, Wan Xiaoxi'er stared blankly and was speechless, as if she had been knocked out with a club.The bright world in his eyes suddenly turned blue and black, only Wan Shu's gloomy and tense face was expanding and spinning in front of him, making people feel dizzy.
Before this, he had never heard anyone say that Guan Ba Ye was half wrong, and he couldn't believe it was true, even though some gossip-inducing women in the neighborhood of Wanjialou often talked behind their backs about the widowed aunt Wan Xiaoniang, saying that she was in Yanshi. The story of selling laughter for a living, saying that she was the kind of person who would never endure the lonely and widowed days. He always felt that there was a little-known sad past locked between the widow's gloomy brows. She was by no means ordinary. The whore, the ignorant and foolish women in Wanjialou can't understand the desolation behind her
This is all a lie.He said dejectedly.
Well, Wan Wayan'er shook his flat head: I said Wan Shu, what you said is really outrageous, even I can't believe it.You know our family rules: if a widow swears not to marry in the ancestral hall, if she commits adultery again, it will be a death sentence. You are not joking if you say this without evidence!
Okay, okay, my Wan Shu's words are not to be listened to, you just stand in the streets and alleys and listen to them, Wan Shu's face is always gloomy and cold: Who doesn't know that when Guan Ba was imprisoned in North Xuzhou, he had a relationship with Wan Xiaoniang? End to end!Maybe Mr. Ye's murder case has something to do with the surname Guan!
I understand, Wan Xiaoxier pushed the bench away and said: There must be someone maliciously slandering here. Firstly, they spread rumors to tarnish Guan Baye’s name and fall to Guan Baye, so you don’t have to pull guns to help Yanshi. !But Guan Ba Ye is only a wounded person now, it is easy to plant him, and it is easy to plant him, but he does not have the courage to use such despicable means. Master Gu believes this, Master Zhen and Aunt Hanying are still alive in Shahekou!
After Wan Xiaoxi finished speaking, she threw two tea coins on the table, walked through the noisy crowd and smoke, opened the bamboo curtain and walked out.After sitting in the house for a long time, he felt a little sulky. When he walked into the sunlight, he felt that the mid-afternoon sun was shining brightly in his eyes. He stopped and collected himself before turning around and walking towards the main street. In the past, the alleys paved with stone slabs were deep and narrow, with high brick walls on both sides. As Wan Xiaoxier walked, she lowered her head and pondered; All kinds of rumors about Guan Baye, the more I think about it, the more I feel that there is a phantom standing in the dark corner of Wanjia Building, which is invisible to ordinary people. It is as huge as the shadow of a high-rise building outlined by the sun. Pushing toward people, almost overwhelming people!
I, Wan Xiaoxier, a junior in the long house, is nothing in Wanjia Building. I don’t even have the qualifications to speak in the ancestral hall, but I can speak fair words in the neighborhood. I'm as insignificant as a goose's feather, knowing that someone is trying to trap Ba Ye, what can I do?
Wan Xiaoxi'er's pace slowed down.
If no one comes forward to distinguish right from wrong and allow people to frame up, his Wan Xiaoniang and Guan Baye can't help being polluted by people's words even if they are just a piece of white cloth.The customs of the Wan family are barbaric. In the early years, there were cases where people accused of adultery and the widow of the Wan family were dragged out, stripped naked, wrapped in a thin quilt, and carried away. Walk around the streets at Banmen, then cut off the man's head and put it between the woman's legs, nailed her hands and feet, and parked the door in front of the earth temple in the west, and let people watch the fate of the adulterer, but no one paid attention to her Moaning, no one gave her food and water, let her die like that, let the dogs drag her, and the birds ate her body until the flesh and blood melted away and turned into a bony skeleton.
Wan Xiaoxi'er recalled the situation many years ago, and couldn't help shivering all over her body.Then, more rumors that he had heard when he was young floated in his mind, and those rumors were turned into some pictures with colors so intense that they were almost bleak. The female corpse floating with the water on the door panel, the sound of gongs beating to clear the way in the midst of yelling and spitting, shouting the names of adulterers and prostitutes, aroused layers of rolling heads.
Maybe they didn't dare to blatantly frame the upright Guan Baye, they could deal with a weak girl like Wan Xiaoniang, Guan Baye who was trapped in the Wanjialou for healing, even if he had three heads and six arms, he might not be able to save her!
There are no pedestrians in the narrow alley in the afternoon, the sun is coming from behind, and it slantly shines on the two high walls. The staggered rows of ancient bricks are pressing against the ancient bricks. The gray tone is full of mold, as if they are squeezing towards the middle, pressing against the old bricks. A thin figure of himself, in the silence, stepped on the horizontal stone slab, and there were magical footsteps, echoing.
Suddenly he thought of the brother and sister Zhenye who were far away at the mouth of the Shahe River, and a ray of hope flashed in front of his eyes; although Zhenye was weak by nature, he was always a sensible person. In Wanjialou, he was one of the only elders, Leaving a sentence has its weight; Aunt Hanying is even more straightforward, as long as she shows up and shows her face, no one will dare to accuse Wan Xiaoniang and accuse her of unnecessary crimes.
Why don't I prepare my animals and take a trip to the mouth of the Shahe River? !He murmured in his heart: Although it is a wasteland and a valley, the journey is a bit tortuous. If it is straightened, it is only eighteen miles from here to the mouth of the Shahe River. If you start in the evening, you will arrive at five o'clock tomorrow morning. Walking at night in late spring, you will be exposed. It's cold, and the spirit is growing
He finally walked out of the narrow alley, without noticing that there was a sneaky figure behind him, stalking him.He walked out of the narrow alley, took a deep breath, and put his thoughts away for the time being. Now, he felt that the only thing he had to do was to turn back home to prepare the livestock, and immediately went to Shahekou to see Master Zhen.
But in the Shangjia teahouse, those speakers who talked about short stories didn't pay attention to who was more or less in the crowd?The smoke and the hot mist from the teacup curled between the beams. They talked about Yeye's bizarre death, about the dozen or so people in the gun team who were shot and killed by the people in Yangjiao Town, and about who spread the news. The adulterous relationship between Guan Baye and Wan Xiaoniang is like a gust of wind, and once the wave surges, it is difficult to stop it.
Aiding Yan City is none of our business?He Guan Ba only came to Wanjialou under this name, and he went all out to kill Judge Zhu, what was his intention in taking those bandits?Don't you want to go to the underworld and take advantage of the situation to grab a gun? !
No matter how he helped Wanjialou in the past, our surname Wan didn't treat him badly. Aunt Hanying's character and appearance are not worthy of him. !He took the Wan family's face away and turned his head to coquettish with the Wan family's widow. He was humiliating people intentionally!
Master Gu should be the master for us, ask him Baye Guan what should we do with these ten lives?Since those bandits belonged to Guan Ba, he should shoulder the responsibility.There was a voice that roared higher than the previous ones, it was Wan Zhenquan from the second housekeeper: Go to the porch of the ancestral hall and listen to the mourning of a group of sufferers!What kind of salt market do we still support? !We should find the dead in the Guanbawei clan to pay for their lives first!
Don't shout, don't shout, Da Banya stretched his neck, pointed to the square outside the low stone wall and said: Isn't that Gu Ye coming?
The noise of the noise subsided, several people came out from the teahouse through the curtain, and saw Young Master Gu on horseback, with a few escorts, hastily turning from the main street to the square.
Ever since he led the Wanjialou gun team to eat in Hanhongxi, Young Master himself has rarely shown his face. The second room alone blamed him for not letting Xiao Xie'er easily, and a dozen lives were lost. There, the sufferers were all wailing, asking Master Gu to be the master for them, but someone from the gun team told him that a large number of refugees had flooded into the wilderness to the south of Wanjialou.
It seemed that they came back from the wilderness. The horses galloped past. There were strands of sweat stains on the horse hair, and the horseshoes and belly were all stained with dust and sand, showing a distressed look.Gu Ye rode his horse to the square field and saw the crowd gathered in front of the Shangjia teahouse on the other side of the low stone wall, he shook the rein and urged the horse to approach the low stone wall, and the partition wall said: "Hurry up and get the guns, first put the gate on the door." Come on, there are too many refugees coming from the north of Yanshi City, and it is impossible to tell the wise from the foolish in the chaotic area, and they cannot be allowed to enter the polder.Another team went to the countryside, went to the fields to protect the green crops, and had people confiscate their scattered guns and guns. Since they were on the land of Wanjia, they could not cause trouble.
Gu Ye, you are only busy with foreign affairs, what about the dead people lying in the ancestral hall?Wan Zhenquan rested his hands on the low wall and said: Although those evil gods in Yangjiao Town have left, their leader Guan Ba is still in Wanjialou, at least there must be an explanation.
It is important to take care of the refugees first, Little Guy said: If they are allowed to trample on the farmland, it is impossible to harvest the autumn grain again.These refugees are only the first group, if they don't take away the scattered guns in their hands, they will gather more and more in the future, and when they are hungry, they can really shoot.We will talk about other things later.
I said, Master Gu, don’t rush away, Wan Zhenquan shouted: Guan Ba wants us to gather guns and leave Wanjialou to help Yanshi. Besides, now is the time!
Holding the reins of the horse, Young Master Gu said hesitantly: Yes, but we have to wait for Lord Zhen to come back from Shahekou, otherwise, I really can't bear the burden of arbitrariness.
That's nothing, Da Banya stretched out his thin neck and interjected: "What to do, what to do, everything is discussed by the clan, and the burden is shared by everyone, there is no shortage of a master."Master Zhen is not here, and Lao Qifang has others.I thought that this matter could not be delayed any longer, the door of the ancestral hall had to be opened tomorrow morning, and the family clans had to discuss the matter, if it was later, everyone would have to wait!
Yes, many voices echoed: This matter cannot be delayed any longer!We have to give Guan Ba an explanation, and he has to give us an explanation.
Little Guy showed a reluctant look, nodded slowly and said: In this case, even if Master Zhen has something to say in the future, it is not my fault, I can't go against everyone's wishes.Now rush to settle the refugees at night, tomorrow morning, just ring the bell and open the gate of the ancestral hall!
After speaking, he took the reins and turned the horse's head around. When he turned his back to the crowd, there was a vicious smile on both sides of his mouth.Yes, all this is exactly as he has arranged in advance.
He wanted to shovel off Guan Ba in such a calm manner, at least so that he could not take revenge on himself.He looked up at the sky in the west, the sun was sinking obliquely, and it was already dusk.
The evening sky falls on the wilderness where the wild smoke is everywhere at the mouth of Shahe River, and the wild smoke melts into the clouds at the top of the sky. The scene is quite desolate.The sun sets behind the lying clouds in the western sky, which hang like ribbons in the distance above the wide and open Salt Canal River. The sunset through the clouds presents a hazy and gloomy lavender soft light, which spreads heavily. Sticking to this slanting concave field, it seems that there are countless fine mist particles in the light, frozen in the windless atmosphere.
The Shahe River is flowing silently, without waves or waves, and the extremely pale and almost colorless sky always covers the flowing water on the river surface, casting the shadows of some slowly changing clouds in the river.
There are countless refugees resting on the white sandy beach beside the Shahe River, and the scattered figures have been drawn into the vastness in the distance; a cow is barking by a fire, and a group of dogs are chasing on the wet sand. Babies' cries sounded.Smoke pillars stretched to the sky one by one, and formed a cloud-like roof on the high places. The flames jumping up from the picnic holes flickered here and there, each reflecting a small space, illuminating some faces, some situations, Some downcast eyebrows.
Beside a fire, among a few boxes tied with ropes, a few bamboo baskets full of sundries carried on shoulder poles, a few luggage rolls and some scattered small bundles, more than a dozen people lay crookedly leaning against each other. A man, a wrinkled-faced old man hunched like a shrimp, squatted on his own bare heels, quietly smoking leaf cigarettes; His pupils squeezed and pressed against him, making his originally thin and curled body more like a vague phantom.
The red fire shining in the wilderness danced on his mole-bearing eyebrows, and the red fire on the cigarette butt reflected the peach-pit-like wrinkles on his slack face from time to time.He bit the mouth of the cigarette pipe with his teeth-lost mouth, and puffed out the cigarette, making a special, special noise. The saliva flowed from the corner of his unventilated mouth and dripped down the mouth of the pipe, making him I had to stop from time to time to wipe the saliva with the hem of my jacket.When he twisted his shoulders like that, he felt the soreness from being crushed by the shoulder pole on his numb shoulder blades.
Is it old in the end, he sighed and said: the bones are hard!Can't survive the misfortune, can't stand the weather!
Papa Jin, are you sixty years old?The one who spoke was a young farmer with his trousers rolled up and a bamboo hat on his back. He had a thick calf full of tendons. When he spoke, there was a sense of clumsiness: I am so lucky that you can still carry such a heavy burden and walk neatly. way of the day.
What did you say?Oh, you said I was sixty?The old man's ears are a little hard: If my eldest son hadn't died young, he would be nearly sixty this year, and I am seventy-nine this year.It's seventy-nine.He said repeatedly.
Every mention of his own age gave him a sense of emptiness; seventy-nine, yes, seventy-nine, he had indeed lived the years indicated by the number, but the What are they?
He squatted motionless on his own heels, smoking a cigarette, and the surging twilight around him seemed to swallow him up, and the past years seemed to be like this tone, this appearance, black torrent He is not afraid of facing these things, he just feels a little resentment, not because he hates his days of poverty and hunger, but because he hates the wind and waves that should not exist outside of poverty and hunger He has cursed this demonic fate that is forced on people's heads
He is not a person who lives in a daze and lives day by day. When others ask about their age, he has to pinch his fingers and calculate several times.He will never forget the days he has lived, he can memorize the years and months represented by the heavenly stems and earthly branches, and he will not forget that every year, add that year to his years, seventy-nine, seventy Nine, I never thought that I would live in a trance for seventy-nine years.He was blowing a cigarette, without raising his eyes, he could still see the heavy smoke drifting past his eyebrows, countless dark and flickering days, drifting away like smoke!
Like smoke, he was too lazy to recall the many days that belonged to him. He always felt that it was like a wooden board with peach charms engraved on it. It's spring plowing, summer work, autumn harvest and winter storage. Some clearer memories are not what he wants to remember, such as the position of the Tai Sui in a certain year?How many cattle plow the fields?How many dragons control the water?Was there a drought in a certain year?Was there a flood in a certain year?Was there a plague of locusts in a certain year?And so on, he just recited it intuitively according to the passage of time with the mind of a farmer's rigid habit.
Although it is so monotonous and rigid in the distant days like smoke, he is always satisfied with engraving this life into that pattern. Although he is a bit chaotic, he is also slightly drunk.Pick up a handful of memorable things from the chaos, like a smear of red, setting off the strokes of the peach talisman, when I married my wife and came in, I was only seventeen years old, and my father pledged two acres of land to open the field Happy event, before and after the bride enters the door, I feel like I am living in a thick fog. I feel that joy is the kind of haze that cannot be said on the mouth and itches in the heart. I look at the new house under the light, from the bed curtain to the wardrobe cage. It looks so majestic, so dazzling, in my eyes, my steps seem to float up, like stepping on soft clouds; I close the door secretly, touch this and that alone, the silk quilt and the new satin robe are so soft and smooth. heartbeat.Sitting, lying down, or wandering around the room, the strong fresh paint fragrance will always lead people to tomorrow's dream.
From the happy day, for the first time, I have had a complete dream of my life, a daughter-in-law, two acres of sandy land, a fat and strong cow, a group of children as dark as mud eggs, he should have these, this dream is When Yingluo, who was brought by her and opened her phoenix crown, looked at her by candlelight in the middle of the night, he used his eyes to express that dream.She felt happy soon after she entered the door. He was as happy as lighting a piece of crops and watching it unearthed. When the first boy was born, it was the middle of winter with auspicious snow. He rode a donkey and walked seven miles in the wind and snow. I went to the schoolhouse in the neighboring village and asked the old school teacher for a scientific name. The old school teacher put up the tortoise-shell reading glasses, spread out the red paper, and the pen drew people's eyes and refused to fall. The rippling snowflakes sang and said: Ruixue is the master of a good year, um, the child should be called Jin Ruixue.
Ruixue, Ruixue, what a Ruixue!Rushing back with the red paper post written by the old school teacher in my arms, it was like carrying a furnace of charcoal fire in my arms. I didn't get a fever all over my body, and I forgot that my cotton-padded clothes were all soaked in snow water.In the second year of Ruixue's life, life went smoothly like a boat with sails. Two bumper harvests a year enriched the family's warehouses. Isn't it enough to buy a field? Buying a cow should be more than enough? !Unexpectedly, the tax was increased that year, and the remaining amount was only enough to buy a lean cow.
If it is said that there are only a few truly memorable things in life, it is even more sad to have these things.Now curled up on this concave field, my gossamer-like trance thoughts floated up with the smoke, and some hard-burned memory scars in my heart seemed to burst open again, sending out bursts of dull pain.
Just a few days ago, the entire village was set on fire by the Jiang Fang army. Red lights were seen two or three miles away, and fire locusts were flying on people's heads. The dreams of many young people, like themselves back then, turned into a cloud of smoke.
Curse Bingxian, the curse is in vain; the days are turning like a millstone, and the years I have experienced have zero years, and I don't know how many times I have passed!Bingxuan took Ruixue's life, famine buried his old wife, exorbitant donations forced people to pawn the land and sell the land, and the bandit took the cow away. Up to now, it seems that it doesn't matter whether he escapes or not.
But the eyes are full of young people who have experienced catastrophe for the first time, and women who nurse their children, why do they still have to suffer this kind of suffering? !Did heaven doze off?Close your eyes and don't look at this vicious and resentful world
Have a bowl of thin soup, Papa Jin.The young farmer said: I ordered a few acres of wheat, and the grains were still full of pulp, so I asked the Jiang Fangjun to throw them down!Our village is close to the Dadukou in the west of Yanshi. The Jiang Fangjun forced the Jiang Fang Army to cut down the large fields of autumn crops. They were afraid that the autumn crops would grow up and be easily killed. In the whole village, all the men who couldn't escape in the village were all arrested. They built long ladders day and night, and built rafts, planning to jump on the high piles and seize Fanjiadu!
The old man listened silently.
I can't eat anything.He said: My heart is full.
Dad, I am worried about how I will live in the future?The haggard wife of the farmer said: "Both children are sick. Needless to say, look at them, even if they are hungry, her throat is a little choked."
People, the old man is gloomy: one has to suffer in life.Someone asked me: Dad, at your age, do you still carry the burden to escape the war?I told him: I am not willing to crawl into the coffin obediently in this troubled world!I'm going to keep my eyes wide open, look at the sky and open my eyes again, and take these magic stars from the ground!
People who fled to the mouth of the Shahe River would not starve to death.A calm man's voice said in the dark: This is the property of Master Zhen's family in the seventh house of Wanjialou. I heard that Master Zhen is on the farm. Relief.
Hey, the farmer's wife recited the Buddha's voice in a grateful voice and said: It is better to get a sip for hunger than a fight for fullness, and to get a sip of food from someone in distress, he can live a life!
The sky had already darkened, and the embers of fire in the ruined cooking cave were even more bright red. There was no flaming charcoal, but only a space around Zhang Xu was reflected, and the fleeing people cuddled closer to each other.Someone was carrying a wooden bucket to fetch water from the river, and the river was already shaking with sparse star shadows. Occasionally, the cry of a child burst out from groups of people, and was immediately patted down by the mother with a warm and quiet sleeping song. It turned into a nightmare-like groaning and convulsions. People who went to Wanjia Farm have not yet returned. Some people curled up by the fire and slept in exhaustion. .
Some people also talked about the recent offensives between the Lijiang Defense Army and Yanshi. They said that the Jiangfang Army's cavalry had occupied the entrance of Yangqiao twice and destroyed the brick fort at the north end of the bridge. The leader of the defense regiment was killed. The gun team in the city also lost a lot of people. When Tang Liupao, the iron fan, led a large group of single-handed men to surround them, the two sides saw each other overnight, and only some empty saddle horses with loose rein in the horse team returned.At Xiaodukou, the Jiang defense army failed in both attacks, and they still couldn't rush into the dangerous valley roads. At Fanjiadu, Yanshi guarded by insufficient men and guns, the danger was everywhere, and it might be difficult to defend for a long time.
I don't know who mentioned Guan Baye, which caused a burst of enigmatic guesses and smoke-like sighs.
God bless him, an old woman patted the ground, and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Baye Guan is superhuman, can you keep Yanshi?"Poor Yanshi broke down, not to mention the casualties on the dam, how many people in Beidi would the Jiangfang army kill in vain in order to vent their grievances?
God blesses as much as man blesses.Old man Jin moved his body: If young and strong, able to wield knives, forks and sticks, all follow the example of Guan Baye, and risk their lives to fight Beiyang, I don't believe that Jiang Fangjun can be fierce and brutal ? !Even Sun Chuanfang couldn't sleep well in his opium shop!
Dad was right!The young farmer gritted his teeth and said: I really wish I could smash those turtle grandchildren with a pole!
As long as everyone has this heart, it's fine, and there's no need to act rashly.Another voice said: Just wait, I dare say that within a few days, there will be people in various villages in the northern region beating gongs to gather people and pulling guns to help.As the saying goes: A chopstick is easy to break, but a pair of chopsticks is hard to break. This is the truth.
Who needs to say anything, but there are several horse lanterns in the distance at the top of the slope.
It has been dark for a while, who else in Wanjia Farm is carrying a lamp to the wild lake?said the peasant's wife, raising her hand to her eyebrows, squinting her eyes.
Maybe Zhuang Ding came out to patrol?Old man Jin said.He had already emptied his pot of cigarettes, and he was puffing earnestly: I am old and my eyesight is blurred, I can only vaguely see the bright lights, but I can't tell how many there are.
The lantern of the horse squirmed forward, getting closer and closer.
It was Master Zhen from Wanjialou who came all the way to give food, and Wanjia's sister-in-law was also in the car.The people who came back from the farm ran across the riverbank and shouted all the way: "In addition to the grain, there is also a whole truckload of baked dry noodles!"
We came here as a refugee, but Master Zhen was really tired. The other said: He dropped the car down to the wild lake in the middle of the day, and he has been busy for a long time!
When the hungry, tired and sad crowd heard the news, they immediately became agitated. Many people shouted for joy and waved the sticks that were not extinguished to welcome Master Zhen and the grain cart behind him. The sparks scattered from the sticks Blossoms in the night symbolize their dancing hope.
But something even more abrupt happened when the brothers and sisters of Grandpa Zhen entered the crowd of thousands of refugees on the river beach, because at a distance of at most miles from the south bank of the Yanhe River not far to the south, a bullet made a red arc in the night sky. , Immediately afterwards, people could clearly hear the dense gunfire, and those with a little experience could tell that it was a large-scale gun battle, because there were not hundreds of guns, and that kind of momentum could not be created. Fortunately, the gunshots were fired on the south bank of the river, blocked by a full river, so that everyone did not panic.
Even so, the frail Master Zhen turned pale, and at the same time ordered the Zhuang Ding who rode the cattle to go to various places along the river to find out the news, to see what happened to the south bank of the river?While fighting hard, he stood on the shaft of the car and shouted to the refugees: I am Wan Shizhen from Room 7 of Wanjialou, and this is my sick sister Hanying.This time, it is said that Baye Guan of Guandong Shanguan, who moved Yanshi to raise his gun against Beiyang, is a close friend of mine.如今江防軍壓境，撲不下鹽市，反侵擾各地鄉莊，累得諸位鄉親友好拋家撇產投到敝莊來，無論諸位跟在下見過面沒見過面，不是村鄰也都是地鄰，人說：急難不分家，我不能讓諸位在沙河口受委屈，田莊上倉裏有糧，我開倉。地裏有莊稼，我分堆。要飽齊飽，要餓齊挨。萬家樓因我那長房主事的兄弟世業，遭人暗算剛倒下頭，族事一時亂著乏人理，沒能及時拉槍援鹽市，我相信，早晚我們就會拉槍
珍爺一時情急，當眾說出業爺的死訊，手扶著車轅的萬菡英就像突然受到雷擊一樣的呆怔住了，但她並沒暈倒，祗覺得有些心慌眼黑，喉間漾漾的作噁心。她嚥回了一口血痰。她是慧黠的人，立即就想到珍爺為什麼把業爺的死訊瞞過她？她不能再把自己的病體當成他的累贅。
不錯，保爺業爺兄弟跟自己情逾骨肉，一個溫厚儒雅，一個正直善良，都不該遭這樣的下場，業爺這樣慘遭橫死，令人想來倍覺痛傷；但適才她聽過曠野上許多逃難婦人的哭訴，那些死在江防軍刀尖上的她們的親人，哪一個不樸拙？ !哪一個不善良？ !正由於鹽市這場動亂的風暴，才使她覺得有一道巨浪打在她身上，她甘心承受這些，因為這世界曾是關東山獨立肩承過的，她活著一天，她願意為他盡力分擔。
當珍爺說完話，自覺失言望著她時，她裝著沒留心聽他說什麼，伸出手去撫摸著一個靠在她身邊的農婦懷中嬰兒的臉頰，她笑著背轉臉對著珍爺，使汗帕點去眼角的熱淚。
煩請諸位暫行坐地，我好著人按口數分糧分餅。珍爺說：南邊槍響，不知起什麼變故？聽槍音，像在早先北地鹽船常時寄泊的琵琶灣附近，離腳下還遠。假如江防軍擾河北，我勸諸位明早退進敝莊去，結合人槍，力求自保，總能擋他一陣。
珍爺請放心，咱們決意不再逃了。
咱們祗要有棍棒，寧願死拚！
跟珍爺回，騎牲口的莊丁一路奔來報說：槍戰是在琵琶灣，那兒昨夜來了大批運鹽船，江防軍不知怎樣得著消息，從三河岸那一線抽調小鬍子那旅裏的一營人，撲過來截鹽，船上押鹽的漢子集起近百條槍，疊起鹽包來跟他們接上了火。他們怕挺不住，失了鹽，業已差人過河來向咱們求援來了。
What about people? !珍爺說。
人是步行，等歇怕就要到了。莊丁說：一共來了三個人，其中一個渡河時帶了槍傷。
珍爺撚著他隨身佩戴的那支三膛匣槍的黑絲線編結的槍穗兒，侷促的望著妹妹；自打生出娘胎，他從沒真正的弄過槍打過火，他常年佩槍，祗是萬家樓年輕長輩們多年來的習慣，防身的意義還不及裝飾的意義重。他滿心明白處在這種辰光，一個有血性的漢子應該怎樣？ !但他總覺自己在這方面是個一無所長的人除了挺身上去挨槍，他不知怎樣號令？怎樣守？怎樣攻？他甚至不會使用匣槍。這並不能表示他如何懦弱，因他祗是這種樣的人槍一響就分不清東西南北的書生。
你覺得我怎樣？菡英？
你不能退縮。萬菡英望著他，她完全明白他的徬徨，她眼是濕的，眼光裏有著無限深的愛意，她不能不對他這樣說：在萬家樓，您是長輩裏最年長的人；在沙河口，您是莊主，無論如何，你非出頭作主不可！
那，也祗有這一條路了！珍爺咬著牙，緊擰著槍穗兒說：菡英，你病成這樣，我這做哥哥的，沒能好生為你延醫療疾，反而累你為我我說菡英，這回我拉槍護這撥鹽逕去鹽市，若是不幸碰上槍，不必為我料理後事，若是活著進鹽市，我要找著關東山，跟他死在一起，算是跟他相交一場，殊途同歸了！
文弱的珍爺說出這種慷慨的話來，不但萬菡英撲向他，忍不住一腔悲酸，泣不成聲，凡是周圍聽著的，也都撲簌簌的流滾出如雨的熱淚。但珍爺祗是默默的挺身站立著，反手輕撫著妹妹的柔髮，連一句安慰的言語也說不出來。
他那樣挺身站立著，忽然覺得久久以來困抑著他的那種壓力，那份痛苦，已經從他的兩肩上卸脫了，祗因為他決意去做明明該做而遲遲不做的事情，一剎前，他仍是驚於槍聲的弱者，如今他卻成了勇士。
他站立著，在他遠祖所傳的屬於他的基業上，他內心變得澄明、冷靜、坦然無憂，遙遠的星光和眼前的燈火照著他，他的影子正像穆然聳立的宗祠的高樓一樣，他豁然領悟到豪士關東山為何能赴湯蹈火坦若平陽？為何敢以一肩獨承天下之憂？祗要有義膽仁懷，任誰都踏得進那個世界。
珍爺，鹽船上差來求援的人來了。
有人舉起馬燈，燈光照在那三個渾身濕淋淋的漢子的身上，中間那人大張兩臂擔在兩邊兩個漢子的肩上，人矮下去一大截，軟軟的兩腿在白沙的平灘上一路拖著，他的傷在右肩窩下方，子彈也許是射穿了肺葉，血不從傷口淌，反而從嘴裏倒溢出來，血水帶著黏性的泡沫，全黏在衣領上。
先幫他們把受傷的抬上牛車，送回莊裏去罷。珍爺說。又轉朝那兩個人說：鹽市被圍不止一天了，運鹽船為何還冒險朝下放？總局難道不怕開罪防軍？還如數朝下撥鹽？
咱們是包運的，老爺。一個說：不能因鹽市開火，咱們就封了船，空碗底兒朝天，總局祗要撥鹽，咱們就敢運，鹽是湖西萬民少不得的，缺鹽如缺糧，咱們沒想到防軍硬來截它。您聽這槍聲響得多急，咱們人槍少，又窩集在灣窪子裏展不開，夠危急的。
我們馬上拉槍過去，萬菡英扶在珍爺的肩上，緩緩的喘息著：你們先騎莊上的牲口去報信罷。
珍爺一行人起更時分回莊，立即就把田莊上的人槍集齊了，難民群裏，也有人在各處響鑼聚眾，喊起年輕力壯的，帶著槍銃刀矛，跟沙河口的莊丁彙在一道兒，拉去琵琶灣赴援。
二更天，這一支新拉起的槍銃隊在珍爺的率領下到達鹽河北岸，甚且連珍爺也沒有夢想過，他竟會在一個更次裏拉起這麼多的人來？ !黑裏他也弄不清有多少人？多少槍枝跟著他走？祗覺得人喊馬嘶，遍野都是人。
到達鹽河岸後，他們引葵杆為火把，照亮了數里長的河面，鑼聲、鼓聲、螺角的鳴聲，憤怒的呼喊聲，完全掩蓋了河南岸的槍聲運鹽船朝東起行，那一營江防軍也朝東撤退了，這支槍銃隊也越過沙河，順著鹽河北岸朝鹽市捲過來。
第二天下午他們到達鹽市北岸時，一共有了七千多人，因為一路曠野的難民聞到人聲和鼓角，隨手抓起一宗棍棒，就都跟著回頭了。他們不能算是槍隊銃隊，他們祗是一群噴著怒火的不願再逃難的難民。
這些人像滾雪球般的滾在一起，沿著運鹽河北岸的高堆，西自大渡口，東到小渡口，紮下了十里連營。他們還在像春草怒茁般的不斷長大
他們替後背薄弱的鹽市把牢了後門。
也就在珍爺初拉槍的初更天，騎著一匹瞎了右眼的小毛驢兒趕夜路的萬小喜兒卻在半路上遇到了鬼。
十九歲的萬小喜兒在當半樁小廝時，就在萬梁管事的鹽槽兒裏幫忙打雜，萬梁看待他像看待兒子，它跟萬梁也極投緣。鹽槽兒裏常有零星散腿兒靠車過夜，那些北地來的侉漢們愛談鬼怪就像他們愛吃大蔥一樣，丟兩張厚草席在疊得高高的鹽包上，在黑忽忽昏濛濛的壁洞燈下面，幾個人靠牆半躺著，吸著發霉的大粉包煙卷兒，或是各揣一隻裝白酒的錫壺在懷裏焐著，就津津有味的談起鬼來了。
自己當初夾在裏面聽鬼話的興頭，遠不及吃零食的興頭高；那些侉漢談到興高采烈時，往往一反平素吝嗇的習慣，顯得份外豪氣，他們會直著喉嚨喊說：小喜兒，央你買盤熏燒，捆蹄，一包五香蠶豆，外帶一碟鹽水豆兒！秋天他們也叫買過大螃蟹，冬天他們愛吃噴香的兔肉。就那麼聽著聽著的，聽鬼話也把人聽上了癮。
好些年裏，他曾聽臉孔不同的鹽梟們講過無數無數的鬼話，有些是輕佻的，有些是怪異的，有些是極端恐怖的，他即使不去專心記憶那些故事，可是，當他自己處身在某種真實情境中時，有一些合乎那種情景的鬼故事，就會自然而然的回到他的腦海裏來，並且活化成某種鮮活的形象。現在，他是騎著一匹瞎了一隻眼的毛驢趕夜路，那麼，他想起來的，也正是一些趕夜路遇鬼的傳說了。
他備妥牲口離開萬家樓時正是太陽甩西的時刻，那時他一心祗想到去沙河口見了叔祖珍爺，怎樣跟他稟事，也怎樣吐吐他鬱在心裏很久的委屈；萬梁叔死後，經珍爺保舉，業爺擢拔他在鹽槽兒裏當管事，繼了萬梁叔的位置，若論一把算盤一稈秤，萬家樓還沒有比他更純熟的人，他是在槽兒裏多年磨練出來的。
若論輩份年紀，萬家叔輩可真是太多太多，從拖白鬍子的老頭到三歲娃兒都有。長房主事時，從不論這些，輩份高低祗在禮上比，不在事上論，誰有能耐幹什麼，誰就幹什麼，而老二房裏多的是酸葡萄，不論對長房，對晚輩，都是明諷暗咒，尤獨在業爺死後，除了小牯爺一個老長輩，老二房的那些爪牙們更擺出一股得勢忘形的嘴臉，令人難以忍受。
這回造謠中傷關八爺，明眼人就該看得出，全是老二旁那支房族裏的陰謀，自己一時猜不透它的真正用意？若是說給明事理通人情的叔祖珍爺聽，他也許能洞燭老二房那些奸人的腑肺
開初他雖沒想到鬼，但等日頭沉落下去，四野昏暗時，他趕著毛驢兒越過五叉路，翻過紅草坡時，眼看著昏煙四合的坡脊上綿延的墳頂兒，心裏就有些起毛了。萬家樓東南角，是四十里荒湖蕩兒中頂荒涼的地方，萬家一族不知有多少代的墳塋，全都叢葬在紅草坡朝南的地段上，這些萬姓的鬼魂都還不太可怖，因為傳說裏的家鬼雖會顯魂作祟，終不會害到本家子孫頭上；怕就怕在再過去一段地，卻埋葬著一干當初跟隨土匪總瓢把子鐵頭李士坤攻撲萬家樓時凶死的土匪們，那些傳說中犯金凶過鐵器，斷頭缺腿拖胳膊的傢伙，閻羅王拒收，地藏王不管，長年飄蕩的冤鬼遊魂，那才真是又噁心人又怕煞人呢！
萬小喜兒，我說你這個夯貨，萬小喜兒一面大聲的呼著趕驢哨兒，得兒，得兒，嘟嘟，得兒嘟，想用他自己的聲音替自己聊壯膽子，一面卻暗自責罵自己道：你早不走，晚不走，為何偏趕著黃昏日落時起腳，正在三更半夜鬼出墳的時刻經過那個倒楣的惡鬼窩來？ !
埋怨是沒有用的，天黑得怕人，月亮不知在哪兒？ !幾粒隔著高霧的疏星光眨眼，也昏昏濛濛的照不亮什麼。倒霉的星，說它照不亮什麼，它偏就照得出一座座荒墳的影廓，總之，自己越怕看見荒墳野塚狐仙屋，它愈把那些玩意送到人眼上來，眼珠朝東轉，東邊也是墳，眼珠朝西轉，西邊也是墓，一股逼人的鬼氣，全都化成冷露寒風，浸著你，吹著你，使那森森冷冷的感覺一直鑽進人骨縫裏去，不但毛髮朝上豎，連骨頭也都有些酥軟了。
回頭罷，萬小喜兒
鞭著毛驢兒夾奔兒跑，不一會就望得見萬家樓裏的燈火了！明兒大清早再從原路過，去沙河口見叔祖也不算晚呀！何必打著牙顫硬充人熊？硬著頭皮去鬥鬼窩裏的那幫惡鬼來？ !
許許多多這樣的聲音，在萬小喜兒的心裏翻滾著，一陣風劈面兜過來，他真想拎轉韁繩，打著毛驢兒朝回跑了，但那陣風也把他從渾噩中吹得清醒些。
在一剎清醒之中，他想起自己衷心敬仰的關八爺和善待自己的小嬸兒，他們正被可怕的謠言捆縛著，那謠言比傳說裏的鬼魂更可怕得多。老二房的那些可惡的小爪兒們，像萬樹、萬振全那幫人，滿腦子歹毒的邪主意，即算他關八爺再有聲威，再有能為罷，好漢怕癩漢，癩漢怕邪皮，他一個療傷的人，隨時都可能遭人下暗手整掉性命
他就唸唸有詞的用自語慫恿自己說：萬小喜兒，你可不是當年在鹽槽兒裏打雜的小廝了，聽鬼話兩腿不敢懸在黑裏，怕小鬼伸出冰涼的鬼爪兒掐你小腿肚兒，走黑巷總縮著脖子，怕大鬼伸著頭朝你後頸上吹氣，你如今業已十九歲了，放著正事不辦，怕走黑路就回頭，那算得什麼？ !
這麼一路走，一路自言自語的慫恿著，寬慰著，倒也又走下一截不短的路來。不過這種寬慰過久了，藥性散了，又慢慢的不靈光了，嘴裏儘管唸唸有詞像唸咒語一般，心裏卻想的是各種恐怖的、怪異的鬼故事，耳朵裏卻儘聽著梟鳥的嚎哭，紅狐的啾鳴，以及風吹草動的聲音心神一恍惚，人又昏昏沉沉的陷進恐怖中去了。
傳說說的什麼來？有一個高顎骨，厚嘴唇，臉上有幾粒稀麻子的鹽梟講過人走到亂塚堆裏，野鬼迷住人的故事，說野鬼迷人，總先繞著那人打一圈兒輕煙似的鬼旋風，然後扯過兩處風頭打一個死疙瘩，那人就像被裝在鼠籠裏的老鼠，不到雞鳴五更天，是走不出那個迷陣的了。
另一個看起來從不會亂扯謊的老頭兒，硬說他曾有三次被鬼迷過，他講起被鬼迷的情形，用一種像被扼住脖子樣的恐怖的啞聲，說他就覺一陣鬼風，像鞭抽的陀螺繞著他那麼一轉，他就陷身在上不見星辰，下不見草木的黑霧裏，人到哪兒，霧到哪兒，休說伸手不見五指，就是鼻子撞在墓碑上，也看不見墓碑的影子。
在另一些傳說裏，趕夜路遇鬼，卻不以旋風迷人，有些鬼靈總不肯現出全身，有時單見一截兒穿白袍的脊背，在迷煙般的月光裏或隱或現的飄漾著，有時單見一雙小小的花鞋在空裏劃動。另一些鬼愛在路上攔人，你走他也走，你停他也停，你若找他聒話，他一樣跟你聊天，你怎麼看他都像生人一樣，不過事後你再一回味，他講的都是鬼事，你再仔細一看，他旁的地方都像人，祗不過少了一個下巴頦兒罷了
即算你當時沒叫嚇死，回家也有你病的，俗說：看見大鬼害場病，看見小鬼沒有命！那可真是假不了的，但凡看見鬼的人，不是走霉運，就是火焰低，要不然，鬼也怕人頭上那股剛陽之氣的。
腦袋這玩意也真邪？ !久遠時日聽人講說過的那些故事，那些傳言，甚至連自己平素也記不起的，今夜晚都像擺古董攤兒似的列出來了！萬小喜兒也曾一再告訴自己，不要在滿心發毛的時刻窮想這些，那不聽話的腦袋可偏要助紂為虐，招來許多鬼形鬼像亂嚇人。
並不是萬小喜兒愛起疑心，總覺胯下那匹小毛驢兒有些不太對勁，毛驢這種牲口最惹鬼，據說牠們全是陰陽眼，能見著人眼看不見的鬼魂，但凡騎驢走黑路，不用你問周近有鬼沒鬼，祗消瞧瞧你胯下的毛驢的動靜，心裏就該有數了。
小毛驢兒不太對勁可不是？ !休看牠瞎了一隻眼，牠那隻好眼靈活得很；牠要是沒看見什麼邪物，怎會豎起兩耳，不時驚得打蹶兒？ !兩條前腿躑躅著，像有條索兒在前頭絆著牠一樣。
翻過紅草坡，路更荒得簡直不像是路了。
那樣遼闊的荒天凹野裏，疏星朦朧，夜霧漫橫著，長葉叢叢的蒿草擦著驢肚腹，沙沙的響著，即使偶然有一兩陣風來，也吹不散在草窩中凝彌著的陰濕淫霉的氣味，彷彿那一層群鬼聚居的荒角落兒，至少有千年沒見過太陽。
前面該是當年鐵頭李士坤的那夥土匪叢葬的地方了，萬小喜兒揉揉眼，看見幾團碧綠碧綠的鬼火，像長了翅膀似的在遠處的荒墳間啣逐著，磷屑似的光粉拖曳得長長的，像一窩撒野的老鼠；有幾團鬼火亮灼灼的，大得像幾盞鼓肚子燈籠，原在路邊草溝裏竊竊的聚議著什麼，一見到毛驢兒踏過，就一窩蜂的搶上來，咬著驢蹄兒打滾，活像一群討債的主子追討多年不償的欠債一樣！
可憐那匹毛驢兒吃不住嚇唬，四蹄打軟走不動，竟夾著尾巴，嘩嘩啦啦的撒出一泡騷溺來。
得兒，得兒，嘟嘟，得兒萬小喜兒嚇得渾身豎汗毛，慌亂無主的催著驢，祗管順起趕驢棍直搗驢屁股，任你怎麼搗，那匹毛驢沒撒完溺，就是不肯起腳，而那幾團鬼火正在抱著驢蹄子不放；萬小喜兒心想：糟！Oops!這回明明白白是遇上了鬼，可不再是腦子裏浮游著的幻念了。他一急，手底下更加發力，搗得毛驢兒唔昂唔昂的哀叫起來，叫聲驚飛了一陣宿鳥，萬小喜兒看不見那些鳥雀，祗聽見一些驚鳴和刷刷拍翅的聲音。
我的老天，你得保祐保祐我萬小喜兒，萬小喜兒誠惶誠恐禱告說：我不是暗室虧心那種人，從來沒謀算過誰，更沒開罪過鬼神，我這是十萬火急的趕去沙河辦正事，你不能讓這些惡鬼不分青紅皂白的纏著我，平白的耽誤了我的行程！
許是因緣湊巧，正當萬小喜兒禱告完時，身後刮起一陣風，把原抱緊驢蹄子不放的鬼火吹開，像被鞭抽似的滾進荒路一邊的草叢裏去了，而胯下的毛臚不用催打，竟又自箇兒撥動蹄子朝前走著了。
這陣風使惶懼中的萬小喜兒精神一振，果真以為冥冥中真有神佛祐護著他，使他安心不少；儘管不遠處的樹林裏有夜貓子怪聲嚎叫著，夜遊的惡鳥哇哇的噪過人的頭頂，綠瑩瑩的鬼火仍在荒塚間追逐著，他卻不像方才那般駭怕了。
而這種情形持續得並不太久，剛穿過那片可怕的墳場，咄咄的怪事又來了。
這怪事發生在毛驢走動時的蹄聲上。
萬小喜兒無意中發現，毛驢踩著路，得得的蹄聲總是一前一後交疊著的雙音，就像是身後不遠的地方還跟著另一匹牲口一樣。前面得、得，後面跟著得、得，前面的蹄聲響得快，後面的蹄聲也跟著響得快；前面的蹄聲慢下來，後面的蹄聲也跟著慢下來了。
既然發現這種怪事，萬小喜兒就換來換去側轉過臉，留神細聽，沒錯！聽上一百遍也絲毫沒錯，身後不遠的地方，硬像有一匹牲口在走動著，這種怪事，不由又引起他的疑惑來？ !半夜三更，在這條蒿草半人深的荒路上，除了自己一個人和一匹毛驢之外，哪還會有人跟自己同樣的騎驢趕黑路呢？ !自己出門時急急匆匆的忘了帶盞馬燈，難道後面的人也是那麼巧，趕黑路不帶燈籠？ !
也許是驢蹄子敲打出來的回音罷？
no no!怎麼聽也不像是回音，依照平素的經驗推斷，在這樣空曠的荒野地上，不算太響的蹄聲傳不遠，不可能有什麼回音撞回自己的耳朵，就是放開喉嚨大聲喊叫罷，聲浪傳至遠方去，也得相隔半晌，回音方能從遠遠的天腳的林木中波撞回來，而且回音總是擴大的，奇幻的，曖昧難分的，決不至聽得這麼清晰，身後的蹄聲決不是什麼回音。
既然不是回音，那又會是什麼呢？萬小喜兒心裏略一遲疑，脊梁骨又酥酥的發了麻了，不用說，鬼！那一定是鬼！
自己弄不懂，鬼為何要死死的跟著自己？ !真要遇上鬼的話，自己倒情願在面前遇上，那就好像一把鋼刀架在人脖子上，跑也跑不了，避又避不脫，乾脆橫著心，兩眼一閉任由它宰割去，那樣反而痛快些；這好？再怕人也沒有比鬼在腦後緊緊跟著你更怕人的了！
幼時聽故事，聽到惡鬼追人，伸出冰塊似的鬼爪兒拎起人的後衣領，噓呀噓的朝人後腦窩下面的頸毛上吹氣，吹一口，使人遍身發麻，吹兩口，使人心裏發冷，三口氣吹下來，人就叫他吹得昏昏糊糊，像掉在冰窖裏一樣就會嚇得自己把後衣領高高翻起，死死的護住後頸子，害怕真有那麼一種惡鬼，在自己身後噓氣，即使人還坐在煙霧沉沉的屋子裏，身邊還晃著許多張闊笑著的人臉，自己也會不停的哆嗦著，膽子縮得比壁洞裏菜油燈的燈焰還小幾分。
現在不再是故事，那個鬼正在身後追躡著自己，得，得，得，得，分明是另一匹牲口的蹄聲，清清楚楚的響著。萬小喜兒屢想回過頭去，瞧瞧究竟，但總提不起這種勇氣。那麼，祗有打著毛驢，讓牠快跑罷，但總是沒有用的，那蹄聲仍然陰魂不散似的刮著人的兩耳。
眼前的夜霧更濃了
夜霧把荒野緊緊的包裹著，神秘的墨黑塗去了僅有的一點兒星光，萬小喜兒眼裏見不著路影，領不穩韁繩，祗能任由那匹毛驢兒自家摸著黑路走，恍惚覺得驢身顛躓了幾下，荒草的長葉拂著自己的腰和手背，敢情是毛驢離了路，走下草溝來了？
等到聽見驢蹄絆著什麼，骨碌骨碌響，這才又想到毛驢定是踩到荒田裏來了？ !三弄兩不弄的，方向也迷失了，空自睜大兩眼，也分不清東在哪兒？西在哪見？ !得得，得得，倒楣的蹄聲仍然在身後響著，響得人心撲撲跳，彷彿要從人嘴裏迸出來。
我的老皇天，你千萬領領我罷，看樣子，我