Relief

"Is the painting good?" Liu Liu asked again, her eyes sparkling.

Feng Zhi often glanced at it, but was not interested in it at all.Xie Zhixu nodded: "It's... nice." It was hard to describe his mood for a while, this kind of portrait with his relatives and friends was a very impressive one in his memory, it was the gathering of hundreds of people from Xiejiazhuang The one left in front of the door was painted by Mr. Mai Ke, a famous artist in the dynasty, and was mounted by his father in the main hall.

Later, Xiejiazhuang was destroyed in a wildfire, and I don't know if there are still ashes left in that painting.

"That's right!" Liu Liu said happily, "I even gave an extra [-] yuan as a reward! After returning to Mount Qiong, I framed it and hung it in the snow house—oh, it's a pity that Brother Wu can't see it all the time. , but you can come to the top of the mountain as a guest, and we will entertain you well."

She was so satisfied that she rolled up the painting paper and put it in a painting tube, holding it in her arms.Seeing her innocent and happy appearance, Xie Zhixu suddenly felt resentment towards Feng Zhichang, no matter what the reason was, it seemed unforgivable to ruin the stable life in front of him.

The car entered the city and took them all the way to another destination.

The bustling city beside the road was noisy, Liu Liu put down the curtain of the car, and asked the two people in the car in confusion: "Aren't we going back to the inn?"

Xie Zhixu replied: "Don't go back yet, I'll take you to a place."

Just as he was talking, the car stopped, Liu Liu supported Feng Zhichang, and Xie Zhixu helped to move the wheelchair down.There is a secluded alley in front of me, but it is only three feet wide, and it is too narrow for one person to pass through. If the hands and feet are long enough, you can even push your feet against the stone walls on both sides and climb into the courtyard wall.

In the depths of the alley, there are intertwined green shades, and the air is cool.

Liu Liu pushed the wheelchair to avoid the vents of the alley, and asked, "What is this place?"

Xie Zhixu didn't reply, and the peddler selling honey fried fruit at the alley corner enthusiastically said: "Hey, you are foreigners, this is Zaozhong Alley, one of the three local strange stories! The famous ghost alley, every year There are quite a few people who love to talk about strange powers and gods, come to pilgrimage."

A ray of cool wind came out from the alley, wrapped in damp and cold moisture, fluttered on the corners of the three people's clothes, Liu Liu shivered imperceptibly: "Ghost, ghost alley?"

"Yes, you see, although this alley runs through two streets, the locals don't dare to take shortcuts. It is rumored that every night of the full moon, when the yin is heavy, the ghosts who linger in the alley will cry and cry. , to tell the grievances and resentments of death in vain. Pedestrians who accidentally pass by at this time are overwhelmed by this grievance, and they will reproduce the tragic scene of the year. When someone passes by the next day, the blood flowing from the deep alley has stained the whole street."

"True, true or false, has someone died in this alley?" Xie Zhixu was a little surprised when he heard Liu Liu's teeth chattering, he didn't expect this girl to be so timid.

The peddler's voice became weird: "To tell you the truth, there used to be some outsiders who didn't believe in this evil, and decided to take a shortcut through the alley. Hey, don't say anything else, just because the alley is so narrow, it is the easiest way to attract thieves. The City Defense Office has not banned and rectified it. What does this mean—even thieves and thieves dare not go into this alley! Sure enough, I have set up a stall here for so many years, and I have never seen outsiders who enter the alley and can come out here !"

Liu Liu still wanted to listen, but the peddler stopped there, wrapped his hands in oiled paper and signaled them: "Would you like some fruit? When you listen to the story, there is nothing in your mouth!"

Liu Liu: "..."

Xie Zhixu: "..."

The last time Xie Zhixu passed by Zaozhong Alley, it was Wu Li and Yue Guanshan who were eating fruit in front of the stall and listening to the chatter of the vendors.I don’t know how many out-of-towners’ pockets have been cheated by this set of marketing.

Just as he was about to take out the money, he saw a flash of white light, which fell precisely into the oiled paper handle of the hawker roll.

"Ouch!" The peddler poured out a piece of silver, and almost bit off his tongue, "This master is so arrogant! Are you going to take down my entire business! Then I can't find change." ah!"

Xie Zhixu silently put his dislocated jaw back, and Feng Zhi was always as stable as an old man, with the bright golden light of a rich man shining all over his body, when he raised his chin, Liu Liu received a signal: "Finish your story."

While shoveling honey and frying fruits for them, the peddler continued to speak with emotion: "Those outsiders, if they didn't come out from here, guess what? Hey, they left early from the other side hehehehehehehehehehe hey-hey."

Feng Zhichang: "......"

The old man who spent money flicked his sleeves, and then flicked again, as if trying to restrain himself from killing the peddler on the spot in broad daylight.

Xie Zhixuan said: "What kind of stories are these made up, to coax children? Why is Zaozhong Alley called this, and what happened in the past, you just need to tell what you know."

The peddler got the benefit, he was very talkative, and told about the mysterious past of Zaozhong Alley.The general content is the same as what Xie Zhixu heard last time, because there was a massacre in the alley, and the murderer is still at large, living here is very strange, and the entire alley was emptied soon.

"Speaking of which, today is the anniversary of the family's death. When you walk in, the jujube tree that grows out of the courtyard wall is the house that died tragically. It was originally sealed by the government, but later it may be a fur child who was explored by the neighbors. When it is uncovered, the door is open, and it can no longer be closed tightly, and it will always make non-stop bang bang bang bang when there is wind, which is weird."

"How could the fruit seller be wiped out?" Liu Liu asked.

The peddler replied: "I don't know that, and I didn't check it out back then. From the street to the end of the street, you can ask no less than ten kinds of stories, but they are all rumors made up by idle storytellers. Since I want to hear the truth, I won’t show these nonsense, hehe.”

Xie Zhixu took the oil-paper hand tray, which was filled with preserved fruits of different colors.

He motioned to Feng Zhichang: "Go in and have a look?"

Liu Liu trembled, and Feng Zhichang patted the back of her hand holding the push handle of the wheelchair.

The courtyard walls on both sides of the alley are more than ten feet high, the sunlight does not come in all the year round, and the surrounding area is not popular at all. Stepping over the boundary separating it from the downtown area seems to enter a forest full of dangers.

Twenty steps away, the dense canopy of jujube trees blocked the way, and the trunk climbed the courtyard wall and bent down, like a twisted and hideous soul.

"Would you like some food?" Xie Zhixu handed the preserved fruit to Feng Zhichang.

Feng Zhi often raised his eyes and looked at him quietly.

"There's nothing in your mouth, how can you listen to the story?" Xie Zhixu smiled.Feng Zhichang picks out one perfunctorily.

Liu Liu asked curiously, "Could it be that Fifth Brother actually knows a story that even the locals don't know?"

The walls that have not been cleaned are covered with vines and moss, and the moisture has infected mottled and dilapidated traces. The old door that has not been knocked for a long time hides half of its face under the jujube tree, peeking at every pedestrian who dares to stop.

Birds fell into the yard.

Xie Zhixu said: "I don't know, but it's not difficult to guess. Liu Liu, let me ask you, what kind of person is likely to bring about a fatal disaster?"

"Hmm... People who have too many enemies?"

Xie Zhixu shook his head: "You only know one thing, not the other. Some people will be missed even if they don't provoke enemies, just because they are innocent and pregnant with crimes. Before the Miemen case happened 12 years ago, living The Chen family here is the only one in the city that sells honey-fried fruits. Chen Ji fruit shop has been passed down for a hundred years, and its craftsmanship and reputation are extremely prosperous. People in the city only look for his family when buying preserved fruits. Such a family that has been responsible for generations is unlikely to provoke As for the hatred of destroying the family."

"Ah!" Liuliu was stunned, "Could it be that someone is following his family's secret recipe for making preserved fruit?"

Xie Zhi humbly said, if you and the second senior brother really attended the night show where Kong resigned in Chunzun that day, you would not fail to understand what I mean.In Liang Ting's play, the friend who was expelled from his family because he heard Mr. Liang's vulgar voice.In the backyard of Qiu's house, my uncle and the second lady mentioned Chen Guo'er who was killed for fear of leaking the secret.

Before he could open his mouth, a human voice suddenly came from behind the fallen branches of jujube trees.

"is it here?"

Liuliu was standing very close to the jujube tree, she was so frightened that she jumped three feet, screaming, but Xie Zhixu held her back.

The voice said again: "All the things are brought, let's go in."

There was a dry creaking sound of the rotating shaft, the wooden door was pushed open, and two figures faintly entered the courtyard one after the other through the gaps in the leaves.

Strange, isn't this place deserted since someone died?Why is there still someone coming?Xie Zhixu frowned, could it be that the peddler said he came to explore other places to find something new?

But the voice that spoke sounded quite familiar.

Not long after the two entered, there was no sound.Liu Liu felt that the alley was creepy, and she didn't want to stay for long, so she urged them to leave.Xie Zhixu hesitated for a while, and suddenly a flute music was played in the courtyard, which was melodious and low-pitched, sad and heavy.

I remembered!Xie Zhixu was surprised - it was the musician named Chen Rong next to Liang Ting.

The flying birds startled by the sound of the flute landed on the tile roof, and the shadows of the trees whirled in response. It was a lament for the dead.

Someone is paying homage to the deceased Chen Ji Guopu family?

As the wheelchair moved beside him, Xie Zhixu turned his head and saw Liu Liu pushing Feng Zhichang towards the gate.Liu Liu also looked puzzled, as if Feng Zhichang wanted to enter the courtyard.

When encountering the threshold steps, Liuliu skillfully turned the wheelchair upside down, and the rear wheel touched the edge of the stone steps. She went up smoothly without much hindrance, and raised her hand to push the door.

Xie Zhixu couldn't stop him in time, so he hurriedly chased after him.

The music in the courtyard stopped abruptly, and the smell of burning yellow paper incense gradually filled the courtyard.

Against the wall, next to the warehouse, under the root of the jujube tree, there is a pile of tattered and scattered cloth bags of goods, weeds reach to the waist, there are black marks of long-term burning on the bricks and stones in front of the grass, and three sticks of incense sticks are inserted in the cracks of the stones. The ashes of new paper money are scattered into the grass to blend in with the old marks.

Liang Ting sat cross-legged in front of the incense sticks, resting her chin and tilting her head. Hearing something, she turned to look towards the door. She hadn't recovered from a long illness, her face was as white as paper, and her expression was still haughty, with only a raised chin.Even at the moment when he had suffered, Xie Zhixu had no doubt that neither the second senior brother nor the real poisoner could wipe out Liang Tingtian's fearless arrogance.

Chen Rong stood in front of him, holding a flute in one hand and pressing a sword in the other. It turned out that he also knew martial arts.

Seeing the visitors, Chen Rong was vigilant, obviously remembering an unpleasant encounter with them.Liang Ting stretched out his hand, pointed directly at Feng Zhichang, and exaggeratedly shouted: "Wheelchair!"

As soon as Liang Ting spoke, Xie Zhixu understood what a damaged throat was.His original voice was also different from ordinary people, but it was as clear and delicate as a little lady, with a natural theatrical tone.However, the sound of "wheelchair" sounded like sand in the throat, hoarse and piercing.

Chen Rong stared at the three of them closely, inserted the flute into his waist, and patted Liang Ting's head with his backhand as if reassuring: "It's okay."

Liang Ting spread his hands, and said in a hoarse voice, "you're fine if you say you're fine. I think it's Tang Haifeng who is more suspicious. Anyway, the streets are arresting people now. Three times, someone from the street can take him down."

These words seem to be addressed to Chen Rong, but they are actually addressed to Feng Zhichang, who is suspicious of being disabled in a wheelchair.Xie Zhixu laughed dryly, and said, "I'm sorry to disturb you two, we're just out-of-towners joining in the fun. I heard that Zaozhong Alley is a famous ghost alley in Suzhou City. I was curious, so I left right away."

Liang Ting stared at Xie Zhixu, his eyes moved down to his waist where the dagger and long sword were pinned, and suddenly said: "I remember you! It was the antidote you provided that saved me."

"..."

Chen Rong couldn't help but look at Xie Zhixu a few more times.

"I remembered Zhang Miaoshou as soon as I mentioned it that day. He was dressed in a broad robe and wide sleeves, like a scholar, but he wore a long sword on his waist like a knight-errant. I said it must be you. Before You want to be my guard in the mansion, what is your background?"

Ah... Xie Zhixu was choked by the words, and it was difficult to recall the teacher's teaching - those who don't want to answer other's questions can use their own questions to counter themselves.

Mr. has always made quite a lot of research achievements on this path. Thanks to the five years of hard work of his five brothers and sisters, whenever he adopts a disciple, Mr. has to go through "Why is my body different from others?" "Why don't parents want disabled children?" "Why can't I practice martial arts like others?" "Why can't my husband cure my disability?".Such day-to-day questions can probably be answered with one sentence - "Have you finished the homework assigned yesterday?"

"Wanderer of the rivers and lakes, act bravely when seeing righteousness," Xie Zhixu said sincerely, "Mr. Liang is not easy to recover from illness, why come here to worship...worship...uh."

Liang Ting chuckled: "Haven't you heard the scene of Kong resigning from office?" He clasped his left hand into the palm of his right hand like a fan with a teak frame, and said, "Wu Na's good friend, Guozi Chen, suffered a terrible disaster." For what reason, the moon is dark and the wind is high and the night of murder is high, and the scandal of Zhijiao is deep." The singing is really ugly, thinking that a generation of rap celebrities might be ruined by this disease, Xie Zhixu couldn't bear to hear it.

Liang Ting herself didn't notice it at all, she closed her eyes and tapped on the "fan" for a while, feeling quite intoxicated. "The one hundred and ninth new play, let me listen to you first."

He doesn't seem to feel that there is anything unpleasant about him. The more others cover him, the more he wants to jump out.

Liang Ting raised a hand, which was grabbed by Chen Rong and pulled up.Chen Rong bent down, wiped away the fly ash on his clothes, fended off Xie Zhixu and the others, and protected Liang Ting out of the courtyard.

When she was about to leave, Liu Liu suddenly called Chen Rong by name.

Chen Rong stopped and turned around to see a little girl, a little surprised: "What?"

Liu Liu didn't speak, just stared at him.Feng Zhichang's wheelchair was facing the door, but Xie Zhixu knew that he must be observing Chen Rong through Liu Liu's eyes.

After a moment of silence, Liu Liu spoke, and there was a shadow of Feng Zhichang hidden between the lines—"The eldest son of the Chen family in Hangzhou, so he came to Suzhou to work as a servant for the young master of the Liang family."

Liang Ting, who had already walked out of the door, also turned his head, but Chen Rong covered his sight, cast a contemptuous glance at the three people in the courtyard, and left Zaozhong with his arms around Liang Ting's shoulders.

The look in the eyes at the end was also a bit incomprehensible, probably Chen Rong didn't understand why the people he met by chance should meddle in his family's business.

Good question.Xie Zhi humbly said, I was also very puzzled, why the second senior brother insisted on joining in the fun when people came in to burn incense sticks.

The incense sticks have not been burned out yet, and the lingering smoke curls and sinks into the grass.The paper ashes scattered in a flash.

Liu Liuruo said thoughtfully: "The crime of Huaibi mentioned by the fifth brother is that Chen Jiguo was favored by Mr. Liang, and he knew the secrets of the Liang family, and was silenced? Then this disaster was not caused by Liang Ting, because Liang Ting didn't feel guilty for causing the death of an innocent friend for her own sake..."

Liu Liu also gradually faded away.

How could there be no guilt.Liang Ting's guilt has long been turned into burn marks on the stone slabs in front of the roots of the jujube tree that cannot be washed away by the rain, and dots of ashes that cannot be blown away by the wind in the weeds.

Those who are alive will always suffer more than those who have returned.

Walking through Zaozhong Alley, today's spring outing has come to an end.Xie Zhixu was about to suggest going back to the inn for dinner, when he suddenly heard Liu Liu speak in a flat tone: "What kind of person deserves to die, you only know one or two, but you don't know the third."

Xie Zhixu was taken aback, realizing that it was Feng Zhi who was always talking.

Feng Zhichang's eyes fell on the jujube tree, his eyebrows were tangled, maybe he was choked by the incense sticks, his fingers touched his throat unconsciously, and coughed.

"The third type of person, he does not have any enmity with others, nor has he committed the crime of conceived, but he often causes other innocent people to die because of him. This kind of person is born to be annoying, and people would like to pluck him out of their eyeballs." Even the most stupid person should have realized that there is no place for him in this world when he meets such a fate. Others are reluctant to let his hands be stained with blood, and he himself should have no face to live on, because even if he lives in this world, there is no place for him. It's like being born and dying."

"To exist is his sin."