Marry a eunuch to catch demons

"Mr. Gong... I'm still used to calling him Mr. Gong. He is a Juren from the previous dynasty. It is said that he moved to Cangcheng because his family smoked opium and sold out all their properties."

"At that time, in the west of Cangcheng, there were only such a place to study in several villages. Mr. Gong didn't dislike it. He gave us lectures during the day and lived in the thatched hut of the village school at night."

Although more than 20 years have passed, Principal Ma still has deep nostalgia when recalling the old scenes.

Xie Zhen and Ye Ge sat on the sofa, as if they were listening to a dusty story.

"We are only in our teens. We were forced to study by our family. We were very unhappy. We listened to those jokes in class. It was like a bible. We always wanted to be lazy and playful. But Mr. Gong didn't mind. Seeing that we are not interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, people with experience in the world and vision find some other books of new knowledge and pass them on to us. They also lead us to have ambitions and not just stay in this village for the rest of our lives. "

Those books seem to have opened a new door for them, a door they have never seen before, but they are very longing for.

Gradually, the students in the village school changed from being unwilling to go to school at the beginning to being reluctant to leave. Every time they had to stay in the village school until dark before going home.

"More than 20 years ago, there were only small dirt roads between the villages in the west of the city, and it was pitch black at night, and you couldn't see anything. People often fell and bumped because they came home late, and there were rumors that there were bandits nearby, so the family members disagreed. We stay in the village school at night."

"Later, Mr. Gong came up with the idea to pick out a lamp every night, divide the remaining students into groups, and send them home one by one by himself."

When Principal Ma said this, he took his hands away from his face and looked up at Xie Zhen and Ye Ge: "You said, how could a person like Mr. Gong hurt the students."

Xie Zhen tapped the half stick in his hand, did not directly respond to Principal Ma's words, but continued to ask him: "What happened later? That Mr. Gong, why did he become like this?"

"Later..." Principal Ma sighed again, it was the passage he least wanted to remember: "Later, it was another night, and Mr. Gong sent us home as usual."

"That day, I was the first group to leave. Mr. Gong and I found out that the bandits had arrived not long after we left the village school."

Principal Ma clasped his hands tightly, uncovering the most painful scar: "Those bandits, counting the children who can go to the village school, most of the families are well-off, so they tied all the students to the big tree. On the banyan tree, and then wait for their family to send money to redeem him!"

"At that time, my husband and I were the only ones outside, and my husband told me to report to the police immediately. I wanted him to go with me, but he refused anyway, saying that he was afraid that the students would be afraid and wanted to go back..."

"I couldn't hold back my husband, so I wanted to report to the officials as soon as possible, thinking that as soon as the officers and soldiers arrived, I would definitely be able to save them!"

A teenage boy, tightly holding the bright lamp given to him by his husband, ran desperately on the rugged path in the countryside. He fell down many times, and the lamp in his hand had long been extinguished, but he still moved forward. run.

Hurry up, hurry up, his classmates, his teacher, are waiting for him!

Following Principal Ma's narration, Ye Ge couldn't help becoming nervous. Although he already had some bad guesses in his heart, he still couldn't help but have a little hope.

"You, have you run to the government?"

Principal Ma was silent for a long time before nodding his head: "I'm here... I went to the government and reported to the officials, and they quickly dispatched officers and soldiers."

Ye Ge breathed a sigh of relief, but he inadvertently looked at the headmaster, but was surprised to find that his eyes were full of resentment that could not be erased for many years.

"I took them and finally rushed back to the village school, but those officers and soldiers! Instead of saving people, they thought this was a great opportunity to suppress bandits and make meritorious deeds!"

"They set a fire—"

Ye Ge suddenly opened his eyes wide, and unconsciously clenched Xie Zhen's hand, his lips trembling slightly, he couldn't bear to ask anything.

On that night many years ago, officers and soldiers surrounded the small and crude village school, constantly carrying dry firewood and kerosene.

The boy was restrained by two strong officers and soldiers, his hands were tied, his mouth was tightly shut, and he was thrown into the wasteland beside him.

He could only watch helplessly, watching them light dry firewood, watch the village school ignite a big fire, and watch countless figures struggling in the fire.

The bandits, who had no hope of escape, went completely mad. They strangled all the students who were tied to the trees, and wanted to burn them to ashes together with them.

The banyan tree in the boy's eyes is so tall, its thick branches have already surpassed the low wall of the village school.

And his classmates, his good friends, were hoisted like that, with their faces hanging on the branches in pain.He could see their bodies and their voices, as if he was so close to them, yet so far away.

The fire burned all night, and at dawn, it seemed that everything had settled down.

But for the young man, every night in the future, he will have to spend in endless grief, suffering and despair.

How many times he regretted and imagined, if he hadn't left early at that time, would he have died with everyone?If he hadn't reported to the officials at that time, would they have survived?Or, just, if he hadn't let go then, at least Mr. Gong wouldn't have died—

For more than 20 years, he studied, he left his hometown, and he came back again. He became the principal of this Cangcheng school, guarding the campus, guarding the dead tree, and guarding batch after batch of students.

It seems that only in this way can he get a moment of peace from the pain.

until one day--

"That was my third year as the principal. Because of some things, I was delayed going home, so I stayed in school."

Principal Ma's mood seemed to ease a little. He picked up the steaming cup and took a sip of tea.

"Then you met them." Xie Zhen asked following his words.

"Yes," Principal Ma nodded, put down his teacup and said, "I met Mr. Gong, and he was still walking around the campus with that lamp..."

"But he doesn't seem to know me anymore, he just confused me as a student who left late, and kept urging me to go home quickly and not stay."

"And the people hanging on the tree, they are all my classmates back then... I can feel that they don't have any malicious intentions at all, they just want to coax and scare away the students who left late .”

"Besides, it's been so many years, and nothing has happened. At most, some students are occasionally scared by them, but they come to school as usual the next day. Mr. Gong will never kill them!"

Principal Ma was still explaining bitterly, this time Xie Zhen did not refute, but nodded: "I really didn't find any evil spirit from that tree."

Principal Ma was taken aback when he heard the words, and then visibly relaxed a little, and kept nodding: "That's good, that's good..."

But Xie Zhen's next sentence made him nervous again: "But this matter may not have nothing to do with them."

"Thank you, sir, what do you mean?"

Xie Zhen raised his head again, frowned and said after thinking, "Not all ghosts can harm people, but some people's minds are more poisonous than ghosts."

Mr. Gong and the student who died in vain are indeed harmless, but they are very likely to be used by others.

"Principal Ma, do many people know about the banyan tree and the ghosts in the school?"

"If we only talk about rumors, some people still know about it." Principal Ma also heard the meaning of Xie Zhen's words, and began to put away his emotions and think carefully: "After all, there will always be some naughty children every once in a while. Will stay at school and run into him."

"Of course, I have been paying attention to these things over the years. Once I find out that there are rumors, I will suppress them as soon as possible, so not too many people actually know about them."

Xie Zhen nodded after hearing this. Since the matter exists, someone must know about it.But from this point of view, it is really difficult to determine who the person who did the tricks is.

"Liu Hang is dead, and the whereabouts of the other students are still unknown." Xie Zhen looked at Principal Ma firmly, and made a request: "The matter can no longer be dragged on. Pigeon and I will stay at school tonight."

Principal Ma hesitated for a moment, but finally he couldn't bear the sense of responsibility to those students: "Yes, as long as you don't hurt Teacher Gong and them."

Ye Ge obviously couldn't bear it, and gently pulled Xie Zhen's hand, Xie Zhen shook him back, signaling him to rest assured.

"I try my best."

"I can rest assured that I can get Mr. Xie to do my best." Principal Ma looked at Xie Zhen with a wry smile, and then lowered his tone, as if pleading: "Also... I want to stay tonight, is that okay?" ?”

"Principal Ma can't trust me, Mr. Xie?" Xie Zhen looked sideways, and Principal Ma shook his head hurriedly, explaining anxiously: "No, no, Mr. Xie, don't misunderstand."

"I just... want to do my part to bring those students back."

"I know that I don't know much about spells, but they are my students after all, and I really can't just sit idly by. At that time, you don't have to worry about whether I live or die, just hope that if they can help you .”

Xie Zhen looked at him for a while, and finally nodded: "Okay, Principal Ma is willing to go, and I will not stop him."

The matter was settled in this way, and since it was still early, Xie Zhen temporarily left the school with Ye Ge, and did not enter the campus again until dusk fell.

As the sun sets in the west, a mass of bright red colors the surrounding clouds, not as dazzling as in the daytime, but softly sprinkled on the dry branches of the big banyan tree.

Xie Zhen and Ye Ge stood side by side under the tree, raised their heads and looked at the intertwined branches, it was hard to imagine what kind of past they had experienced.

Night is finally coming.

作者有话要说：写着写着，突然停电，幸亏今晚没有恐怖的明天，大概有恐怖的吧？不清楚能不能写到那里，提前预警一下吧感谢在2020-02-1401:47:37~2020-02-1501:14:05期间为我投出霸王票或灌溉营养液的小天使哦~

Thanks to the little angels of the irrigation nutrient solution: 5 bottles of Mrs. Pu'er; 1 bottle of Pei Zhen Tangrui;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!