Chapter 1053 The finishing touch (4000 words)
The fat man looked at the fluttering paper man above his head and felt that it was not a paper man. It was clearly a hanged ghost disguised as a paper man.
Suddenly, a hand reached out and touched the fat man's arm. He was caught off guard and almost jumped up in fright. He turned around and saw that it was Jiang Cheng.
Looking along Jiang Cheng’s line of sight, he saw a paper man hanging in mid-air, swaying slightly.
The paper figurine is shorter than most paper figurines, and its body is painted in festive bright red. I have heard of the saying "Fat Man" about Guys and Dolls, so this paper figurine should be a paper boy buried with him.
Because of the angle, the boy's face was hidden in the shadows and he couldn't see it. But as his eyes fell on the boy's feet, a few seconds later, the fat man's shoulders shook and his breathing suddenly became rapid.
The soles of the boy's paper feet were dirty, with grass and dirt on them.
A picture appeared uncontrollably in Fatty's mind. The paper boy with raised eyebrows and smiling face left the house in the dark night, lined up with other paper figures, and took strange steps. He walked to the Wu family mansion, carried away several large coffins in the mourning hall, and then placed the coffins by the Dushui River. Taking advantage of the darkness, he returned to the house and waited for them to come.
“Wait for them to come!!”
Thinking of this, Fatty’s pupils suddenly narrowed. These guys deliberately left a loophole waiting for their group to find!
As soon as this thought appeared, it quickly occupied Fatty's brain and couldn't get rid of it.
What’s even more frightening is that there is more than one problematic paper man in this room. Judging from the footprints, there must be at least a dozen, and... the fat man cast his eyes on the man leading the way, and he felt more and more weird that he was also weird. .
Everyone has one thing in mind. Not only must they be wary of the paper figures around them, but they must also always pay attention to the teammates around them. They may be replaced by ghosts if they are not careful.
“Oh, that’s not the case either.” The man leading the way shook his head in annoyance, “I really don’t know where this woman went. Forget it, let’s go back and do business.”
< br>Leaving the room where the paper figures were stored, Du Moyu couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief when he came into contact with the outside air again. He actually felt like he was coming back from the dead, being stared at by those paper figures who knew there was something wrong. It was just too hard.
"You're right. It seems that the woman hasn't come back here. Let's... go back first." Jia Jinliang wiped his forehead. There was sweat on his forehead. It wasn't like he was pretending. He was really scared.
Having not taken a few steps away from the paper maker's house, he was bumped into by several people. They were the old man he had met not long ago, and several villagers. The old man looked busy and rushed to greet him. , "Masters, you are here!"
"Is something wrong?" Lei Mingyu did not give the old man a good look.
"Yes, of course there is something." The old man said hurriedly: "The wife of the papermaker in the village has disappeared. We have searched the whole village but can't find it. No, I still want to go to the papermaker. Go check it out at home."
"No need to go, we just came out of the papermaker's house, and the woman is not there," Zhou Qing said quickly.
The old man frowned, "Not there? No way, where else could she go as a woman? There were our people watching by the river, but she didn't go to the river either."
"Village Chief, Please give it a try beforehand. Have you forgotten what the watchman told you?" a middle-aged man next to the old man urged.
Hearing the word "clockkeeper", everyone had different expressions, knowing that there was a new task.
As expected, the old man who was the village chief patted his forehead and showed an annoyed and apologetic expression, "I'm sorry, I forgot the most important thing. The person who checked in at the time told me , let all the masters go and send Shopkeeper Zhou on his last journey.”
"He's the papermaker. People in our village call him Shopkeeper Zhou." Worried that Jiang Cheng and the others wouldn't understand, the village chief explained, "Masters, don't ask me how to do it specifically, because I don't know either. The watchman will tell you when the time comes.”
After saying that, the village chief took out a small wooden box from his body like a magic trick. After opening it, there were some wooden sticks inside, which were flat and looked like ice cream sticks to the fat man.
"Come on, all the masters, draw the lots first. This matter is not difficult. I won't bother all the masters to go together." The village chief handed the wooden lot to him with a smile on his face, but he couldn't see the smile. nature.
Everyone had to draw. This time, without Fatty’s help, Jiang Cheng won the prize as expected.
Turn over the wooden stick. There is a section at the back that is red, as if it was painted with blood.
After seeing this, the village chief nodded to Jiang Cheng, "That's it. Masters with red signs on the back of the wooden sign please follow me. The remaining masters should go back and rest. Thank you for your hard work last night. ”
In addition to Jiang Cheng, there were four other people who won the red lottery: A Biao, Zhou Qing, Zhang Junyu, and Du Moyu.
"Why...still have me?" Abiao's voice was hoarse, which sounded uncomfortable. He clenched the wooden stick tightly, and the ferocity he displayed in an instant was chilling.
Lei Mingyu seemed to be watching a joke, with his arms folded in front of his chest, squinting and mocking: "Maybe you escaped the fate of your life last night, and I will make up for it today. . ”
A Biao looked at him quickly, and the two people’s eyes met, neither letting the other go, and the air became anxious.
In the end, Jia Jinliang jumped out to smooth things over. Chen Hao also pulled Lei Mingyu and said something with a smile, and the latter's expression eased a little.
Zhou Qing and Zhang Junyu gathered next to Yu Chengmu. After saying a few words, they were interrupted by the village chief, "Masters." The village chief said, "Let's hit the road now."
The word "go on the road" instinctively made everyone repulse, "Let's go now, why are you in such a hurry?" Zhang Junyu frowned, he still had many things to ask Yu Chengmu, and it took time.
But the village chief said that it was the watchman who gave the instructions, and everyone had nothing to say, so the two teams separated, and those who were not drawn went back, while Jiangcheng Zhang Junyu followed the village chief. .
What surprised Jiang Cheng and the others was that after walking for only a few minutes, the village chief stopped, pointed to a courtyard with an open door and said: "Masters, take a rest here first. There are 4 rooms in it. The room is enough for you to live in. Once you get in, don’t leave. The watchman will come to you later and tell you what to do.”
After finishing speaking, the village chief did not wait for Jiang Cheng and others to ask questions. The group of people walked away quickly, their backs hurried.
"Ha, this old guy runs really fast!" Zhou Qing stared at the back and said angrily.
Everyone bravely walked into the yard. The yard was not big or small. There were a few simple houses on the east and west sides, separated by a wall in the middle. There were various clothes hanging on the wall. It was very interesting. The breath of life.
Zhang Junyu took a look and pointed to a room on the east side, "Zhou Qing and I will be here."
"What?" Du Moyu asked in a low voice: "Here Although it doesn’t look abnormal for the time being, it’s safer for us to live together. I’m afraid of the night watch. He only comes at night."
Due to Lei Mingyu, Abiao also dislikes Du Moyu now, "Didn't you hear what the village chief said? Living in four rooms together will only bring danger.”
A Biao's Mandarin was indeed not standard. The cold tone coupled with the poor Mandarin not only did not make Jiang Cheng feel scary, but made him want to laugh, but he held it back.
In the end, as expected, Abiao chose to live in the east side with Zhang Jun, Yu Zhouqing, and Jiang Cheng and Du Moyu had no choice but to live in the west side room.
The nominal 4 groups of people each chose 4 rooms and lived separately.
The facilities in the room were very simple. Jiang Cheng found a clean chair and sat down. What was rare was that he found a dark pot and opened the lid. There was cooked gruel inside.
The porridge is still warm.
After drinking the porridge, Jiang Cheng looked much better and had the energy to think about the situation he would face next.
Currently, it seems that everything that happens in this village is related to the so-called Lady of the River, the eldest lady of the Wu family mansion. She was sacrificed to the river god 10 years ago. 10 years later, The village is plagued by misfortune, and the dead are rumored to have been married by the Queen of the River.
These people all disappeared unknowingly at night. When they were found again, they were floating in the river.
But the village chief said that the eldest daughter of the Wu family volunteered.
Jiang Cheng also talked to Fatty about this. Fatty insisted that the village chief was not telling the truth. They must have tied up the person and threw him into the river, but Jiang Cheng felt that the matter was not that simple. .
It can be seen from the house that the Wu family is one of the largest families in the village. Even if the village really needs to choose a woman to sacrifice to the river god, the eldest daughter of the Wu family should not be chosen.
The information currently available is limited, and Jiang Cheng can only make two vague guesses for the time being.
First, the most direct guess is, as the fat man said, the village chief did not tell the truth. The eldest daughter of the Wu family was forced. The whole thing was a conspiracy against the Wu family. As for the wealth, Motive, or something else, still needs to be investigated.
Second, the village chief told the truth. The eldest daughter of the Wu family volunteered to sacrifice. But if this is really the case, then the things here will be complicated. Jiang Cheng has no clue for the time being.
Tired from thinking, Jiang Cheng lay down on the table to rest for a while. Unexpectedly, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, it was almost dark outside.
He patted his face to wake himself up, and took out his mobile phone to send a message to the fat man. He tried several times, but the message failed to be sent.
Thinking for a moment, he dialed Fatty’s number again, but he couldn’t get through either.
This place seems to be blocked.
An ominous premonition came to mind.
Just as Jiang Cheng was thinking about what news the watchman would bring at night, a sneaky "rustling" sound came over and approached the door. Jiang Cheng immediately became vigilant.
Then there was a very light knock on the door.
“Who?” Jiang Cheng asked.
"It's me." The outside answered: "Du Moyu." Although the voice was small, it was very clear and didn't sound like there was anything wrong.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have something to discuss with you.” Du Moyu said wisely: “Don’t worry, I’m a human being, and it’s not completely dark yet. , if it were a ghost, he wouldn’t come here now.”
"That's not necessarily true. Ghosts think so too." Jiang Cheng frowned.
After a long period of pulling and pulling, Jiang Cheng finally confirmed the identity of the other party, but he did not open the door for Du Moyu and instead asked him to jump in through the back window.
After coming in, Du Moyu was shivering from the cold and his body was shaking. Seeing Jiang Cheng pouring a cup of hot tea, Du Moyu immediately reached out to take it, "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."
“Suck it——” Jiang Cheng picked it up, smashed it, and then put it back.
Du Moyu: "..."
"Why did you come to me if you weren't staying in your room?" Jiang Cheng asked rudely.
"I found that Zhou Qing and Zhang Junyu also left the room and went to A Biao's place." Du Moyu said cautiously: "I was worried that they had a conspiracy and wanted to inform you, but there was no signal on the phone, so I had to come here. "
"How did you see them?" Jiang Cheng said in a confused tone.
"It was just getting dark and I was worried something might happen, so I kept paying attention to what was going on outside. I looked out through the crack in the door and happened to see Zhou Qing and Zhang Junyu opening the door, and then sneaking to A Biao's room."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but sigh, and looked at the nominal ally in front of him with caring eyes, "That was deliberately made for you to see. Think about it, if you were them, what would you do in this situation? Is the door open? ”
"If you want to leave, you should go through the window. The doors on the east and west sides are facing each other. You can see clearly from the hollow part of the wall in the middle. But if you go in and out through the window at the back of the house, you can't see it from the other side at all. That's why I asked you to go through the window."
Du Moyu took a deep breath, "That's right..." His face changed slightly after a while, "It seems they have become suspicious. He suspected that our two groups were cooperating behind their backs."
"I was suspicious before, but now I am sure." Jiang Cheng poured another cup of tea and handed it to Du Moyu, "And it seems that they are too. Realizing that we already know that they are two teams, one in the dark and the other in the dark."
"They are tacitly understanding each other now," Jiang Cheng added, taking a sip of tea.
"This...this is my negligence." Du Moyu looked at Jiang Cheng, "Mr. Jiang, but I think it is a good thing for us that the communication is broken. That old guy Yu Chengmu knows too much. He did something to kill Pang Xiaofeng last time, but this time, he had no chance to help the remaining three people."
"Indeed." Jiang Cheng nodded.
“I suspect tonight’s mission is related to those paper figures, otherwise what happened during the day would be too strange. We followed the footprints all the way to the door of the paper maker’s house, and then were inexplicably brought in to look for the person. "Du Moyu With a thoughtful expression, "I even suspect that those paper figures lured us to the door on purpose."
Jiang Cheng fumbled with the teacup with his hand, "I feel the same way, and the missing woman...has not been found yet. ”
"This is the main reason why I came here. Mr. Jiang, you should also be able to see that this mission is closely related to folk taboos, especially funerals and other backwoods. Regarding what we may encounter tonight, Paperman, do you know much? ?" After a pause, Du Moyu continued: "Paper making is also one of the most unusual professions, and there are some very strange taboos in it."
"The first one is that you can't give anything. The paper man clicked his eyes." He suddenly lowered his voice. (End of chapter)