Merchant of the Underworld

It turned out that some time ago, Zhang Henshui had a stomachache one night, so he went to the toilet under the moonlight. While squatting in the pit, he vaguely heard someone crying.

However, the sound was intermittent. At first, Zhang Henshui thought it was wind and didn't take it seriously. After having diarrhea, I walked into the house. At this moment, I felt rustling footsteps behind me, as if someone was following me.

Zhang Huaiyin thought there was a thief at home. After walking a few steps, he suddenly turned his head and found that there was no one behind him. When he was about to enter the house, he suddenly noticed a shadow following his shadow out of the corner of his eye!

At this point, he couldn't help but swallowed his saliva, paused for a moment, and then said: "When I looked carefully again, the shadow flashed and disappeared. I thought I was dazzled at the time. As a result, from that day on , every night I dream of a person wearing a robe..."

Zhang Henshui said that he had never seen the face of the man in the robe, but he could always hear its cry.

After saying all this, he smacked his tongue and asked Li Mazi and me if it was the man in the robe who got him to jump into the river?

"Almost." I nodded and asked him to take us to the house to have a look.

Zhang Henshui looked at the yellow cloth bundle on my back, and immediately understood the identities of Li Mazi and I, and quickly got up from the ground to lead us.

When I walked to the entrance of the village, I saw a big man leaning against a tree to enjoy the shade with his eyes closed. He looked very comfortable.

Zhang Henshui's expression changed when he saw the man, and he hurried up and shook his arm, but the man was as unresponsive as a wooden pile.

"Oops!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Henshui slapped his thigh violently, then ran to the river, broke off a willow branch from the willow tree, and beat the big man hard.

After three blows, the big man opened his eyes suddenly, looked at Zhang Henshui with a confused face and shouted: "Why did you hit me?"

"I'm saving your life."

Seeing that he woke up, Zhang Henshui breathed a sigh of relief, and then he explained to us.

It turns out that there is a rule in this village that has been passed down from generation to generation: no one in the village can stay at the entrance of the village at noon and evening.

Many people did not believe in this evil in the past. Especially in the 1960s, the Red Guards from outside insisted on letting a few farmers rest under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village after finishing their work. As a result, these farmers fell into disgrace in the next few days. The sky was drowned one after another.

Later, some naughty children were playing under the big locust tree, but they disappeared while playing. Finally, the villagers found their wet shoes by the river...

Zhang Henshui stroked the willow branch in his hand when he said this, saying that this was also a method left down by his ancestors. If someone loses consciousness under the tree, just take the willow branch and slap it on the body three times to save the person.

This big man came to the village from somewhere else to help people build houses. After hearing this, his expression changed again and again. He thanked us and ran away quickly. After he left, I couldn't help but look at the big locust tree.

The willow tree itself is yin, but it can ward off evil spirits. Legend has it that the willow tree spirit was subdued by Guanyin Bodhisattva and then placed in a jade bottle for purification, so it has aura.

Regardless of whether the legends Zhang Henshui told were true or false, since he could wake up the big man with a willow branch, it meant that the big man had indeed hit an evil spirit under the locust tree.

At this glance, I really saw something. The locust tree was surrounded by a layer of black mist. The closer to the roots, the thicker the black mist was. Moreover, the branches of the locust tree were so leafy that it didn’t look like they were entrenched by dirty things. Above, it looks like a dead tree.

Corpse trees refer to trees that are formed after the corpses of humans or small animals have decomposed and are fused with plant seeds buried in the ground. This kind of tree has a strong yin energy, and it will most likely not grow very big!

In many places, after it rains, you will find that some trees have been struck by lightning, and the entire bark has been beaten black. Such trees that have been struck by lightning are corpse trees that are about to become spirits. They cannot escape. Heavenly calamity.

However, the dead tree is easy to deal with. All you need to do is dig out the tree. I asked Zhang Henshui doubtfully why he didn't dig out the tree?

"That's not okay!"

Zhang Henshui's eyes widened after hearing this, and his head shook like a rattle. He said that as long as you don't get close to this tree, it won't harm anyone, and in bad years, people in other places will not be able to eat, but game will continue to appear under the big locust tree.

Therefore, the villagers have worshiped this locust tree as the tree god for generations, and they respect and fear it!

After listening to it, I got a general idea. This is like inviting the Fox Fairy. I know that offending the Fox Fairy will be punished, but many places still invite the Fox Fairy.

This is the choice of the villagers themselves, and it is also the cultural inheritance of a region. I have no reason to say anything more and let Zhang Henshui continue to lead the way.

Soon we arrived at Zhang Henshui's home. His wife heard that Li Mazi and I were here to help, and entertained us warmly.

Zhang Henshui had a three-year-old daughter who was sitting on the threshold playing with a rag doll. Perhaps Li Mazi thought of little Nianchu, so he sat on the edge and started playing with the little girl.

I'm not as optimistic as Li Mazi, because I felt panicked as soon as I entered the house, but there was no negative energy in the house at noon. I took the compass and turned it around a few times but couldn't figure out the reason. It seemed that I could only wait until Observe again at night.

We stayed at home in the afternoon. Li Mazi had a great time playing with the little girl, so I simply found a cool room to rest.

In the evening, Zhang Henshui's wife prepared a table of food for us to eat. I got up and washed my face. When I turned around, I found that Li Mazi was already sitting there and eating unceremoniously, but there was no sign of Zhang Henshui.

"Sister-in-law, isn't Brother Zhang at home?" I asked casually.

Zhang Henshui's wife waved her hand and said: "Brothers, you eat first. Lao Zhang went out to pick watermelons for you. Eat more watermelons in summer to cool down and relieve the heat..."

But as she talked, she started to mutter to herself: "This Lao Zhang is becoming more and more unreliable in his work. He won't be able to come back after picking a watermelon for a long time."

After hearing this, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. Zhang Henshui would be thrown into the river by that thing even when he went out at noon, let alone in the evening. What's more, judging from his wife's wishes, he has been out for most of the day.

Thinking of this, I picked up Li Mazi who was eating nonsense and rushed outside. Li Mazi was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was doing. As he ran, he asked me what I should tell his wife if Zhang Henshui had already left Hexi.

"Fuck you, uncle, you're just driving to the west!"

I scolded him angrily, but I became even more anxious and ran directly towards the place where Zhang Henshui jumped into the river during the day.

Whether it's the man in robes in Zhang Henshui's dream or the old locust tree at the entrance of the village, the method of killing people is inseparable from this small river, so if he is really in danger now, he must be by the river!

When I came to the river, I found that the river was very calm and there was no splash.

Li Mazi gasped and asked if we were too late or were we worrying too much?

I didn't say anything and searched desperately by the river. Finally, I saw a puddle of water stains and Zhang Henshui's clothes next to a mound.

These clothes were torn out of shape, as if he had experienced a violent fight before falling into the water. When Li Mazi saw this, he didn't talk nonsense, took off his clothes and jumped out.

I couldn't help but feel happy, thinking that this was the only good thing about Li Mazi. He had a short mouth and short hands when eating others. He could do things quickly after eating other people's food!

Then I sat cross-legged and recited the "Tao Te Ching" silently. As the sky turned dark and the water became colder, who knew what dirt might be inside? Chanting sutras can shock them to some extent and buy time for Li Mazi.

After nearly five minutes, there was still no movement from the river, and I was not in the mood to chant sutras. I stood up in a hurry and shouted in the direction where Li Mazi jumped: "Mazi, how are you? If it doesn't work, just come up!"

I shouted several times but got no response, and I suddenly became nervous, fearing that Li Mazi would drown here, but I was really not good at swimming, so I could only stomp on the shore.

After a few more minutes, I looked at the calm water, and my eyes turned red. Subconsciously, I felt that Li Mazi was finished!