Merchant of the Underworld

"Dad, you really have a soul in heaven, and you have brought San'er back!" The woman said to the coffin, then turned her head and shouted to Li Mazi: "Why don't you kowtow to Dad quickly?"

Li Mazi wanted to argue, but was pushed to the ground by everyone. In desperation, he had no choice but to kowtow a few times.

The woman was burning paper in front of the coffin while crying.

From her words, I got a general idea.

The deceased was her father-in-law. Her husband died two years ago, leaving her only brother-in-law in the family. For some unknown reason, this brother-in-law has not been home for eight years - the man who was mistakenly identified as Li Mazi by the villagers.

It wasn't until the woman finished crying that everyone gradually let go.

Li Mazi patted the dust, stood up and said: "The dead are the most important, so it doesn't matter if I kowtow twice, but you really got the wrong person. This is my first time in your village, and I don't know this old man!"

When everyone heard this, they were all stunned and looked at Li Mazi again.

"Look, isn't it?" Li Mazi spread his hands and looked around and said, "Although my surname is Li, and this old man looks very similar to me, you really got the wrong person."

The woman came forward, looked at him carefully, suddenly her face changed, and she said guiltily: "I'm so sorry, I did admit the wrong person, but you look really similar to our third son." , as soon as I heard that you were returning to the village, I became dizzy with anxiety."

"It's okay, it's okay, just forgive me and accept the change." Li Mazi was very tolerant, but his two little eyes kept scanning her open snow-white chest.

"I'm so sorry." The woman's face darkened and she said coldly: "Since you are not from the village, please leave immediately. There is a funeral in the village and it is inconvenient to leave outsiders here."

"Isn't that inappropriate?" I suddenly answered: "This brother of mine has just paid homage to the old man with his descendants, so he shouldn't kick us out immediately, right? Also, since the old man has the same surname and the same clan as him, It’s rare to have such a resemblance, so it’s fate, so let’s let him stay in front of his soul for three days as a sign of filial piety.”

Li Mazi immediately became anxious and shouted loudly: "Brother, what are you..."

I glared at him, waved my hand and said, "This is your blessing."

Immediately, I turned to the woman and said, "This sister-in-law is so virtuous and filial, so she won't refuse our kind offer, right?"

The woman looked at me in surprise.

"The old man cares deeply about his son, and his soul has not dissipated for a while. If I let my brother guard the body for him, he can be reincarnated with peace of mind. Sister-in-law, we are just trying to keep peace of mind, and we will not take any reward from you." I explained. .

The woman's expression changed, she smiled slightly and said, "Thank you very much." After saying that, she turned around and entered the house.

Li Mazi pulled me aside and asked with a grimace: "Brother, what do you mean? Why do you want to keep me here as a filial son? Didn't I just lie to you to come out? No. Just treat me like this."

"There is something strange in this village, and there may be some evil spirit at work." I glanced around and lowered my voice.

"What?" Li Mazi shuddered and turned to look at the memorial shed with a bitter look on his face: "In this case, why don't you leave quickly? Why do you have to stay?"

"Have you looked carefully at the villagers?" I seemed not to have heard him and continued: "Everyone in the village is depressed and his eyes are red. Only the sister-in-law just now was in high spirits, and she was so anxious to drive us away. , they must be afraid of being discovered by us. There must be something wrong here!"

"Even if there is any problem, it's their business and it has nothing to do with us." Seeing my expression change, Li Mazi hurriedly changed his words: "Besides, we can also investigate secretly outside the village, why do we have to stay in the village?" inside. "

"What would you find if you didn't stay in the village? Just work hard these two days. Someone is coming." I reminded softly.

At this time, the woman came over, holding a set of white cloth mourning clothes in her hand.

"Two big brothers, you are really thoughtful. I thank you on behalf of my father-in-law."

"No need, this is fate." I said politely, while motioning to Li Mazi.

Li Mazi glanced at me with a bitter look on his face and put it on unwillingly.

"I'm really sorry that you have done me such a big favor. If you need anything, just ask. By the way, just call me nanny." The woman was uncharacteristically smiling.

"Okay, please take care of my sister-in-law." I nodded in response.

The woman led Li Mazi into the funeral shed. I pretended to ask where the toilet was, and then took the opportunity to sneak out.

The village is not that big, surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the houses are mostly made of wood, all of which are extremely low. There is a small stone hut among them. The house is very small, only one person tall. The door is tightly sealed by three large iron locks. I don't know what is inside?

Other than that, there's nothing special about it.

The people in the village were very strange. Their eyes were all red and bloodshot. They looked like they had not slept well for several days, and there was almost no communication with each other. There were obviously so many people, but the whole village was eerily quiet, and almost no noise could be heard.

Even the children who were supposed to be noisy and active were all silent, sitting quietly in a daze.

It’s so strange, there must be some secret that I don’t know about!

I walked around the village for a long time and was about to go back when I suddenly heard a dog barking.

The calls were chaotic and dense.

Following the sound, I rushed over and saw a group of local dogs gathering under the big tree at the end of the village. They all raised their necks and barked at the grass outside the village, as if there was something there.

Whoosh!

As soon as I showed up, the grass moved violently, and then a black shadow jumped out, disappeared into the woods.

The speed of the black shadow was so fast and so sudden that I didn't realize what it was for a while.

Suddenly, I felt as if a pair of eyes were staring at me. As soon as I turned around, I was suddenly startled.

The nanny was standing behind me, staring at me closely.

"You're hungry, let's have something to eat." She saw me turning my head and said with a smile.

"Oh, there is a labor insurance wife."

I turned around and walked away after her. At this time, there was another swishing sound in the woods outside the village.

I turned around to look in surprise.

"It's a wild boar." Sister-in-law explained: "There are mountains all around here, and there are many wild boars. They often come to the village and cause harm to the village."

…

After a quick meal, Li Mazi and I temporarily lived in the house of the deceased, Old Li Tou, under the arrangement of the nanny.

The furnishings in the house are very simple, with only a wooden bed and a half tree stump lying across the bedside, serving as a small table.

All the daily necessities he had during his lifetime must have been burned or put in a coffin. The house was empty, with nothing at all.

After a while, the nanny brought a quilt and said that there were no extra beds and quilts at home, so she asked us to make do with what we had.

Li Mazi's face looked ugly, but he didn't say anything.

Seeing the nanny walking out of the yard, Li Mazi immediately stepped forward and said, "Brother Zhang, I also noticed that something is wrong with this village!"