crossing yin and yang

It was a very large house, covering an area of ​​more than an acre. The towering courtyard walls were already mottled, but they still stood darkly at the end of the path, like a gloomy guard, firmly guarding the passage at the west entrance of the village. .In this neighborhood, not to mention other houses, there is not even a living thing that can breathe, which makes this old house look a bit scary.

Seeing this scene, Wei Yang couldn't help but stop in his tracks. This mansion has a familiar and nostalgic smell, but it is far from the impression in his memory. god.

Zhang Xiuqi also stopped, and turned to look at Wei Yang in doubt: "Yangyang?"

Awakened by this call, Wei Yang took a deep breath, and smiled from the corner of his mouth: "This is my ancestral house, let's go, I'll take you to see it."

The two walked side by side to the gate, and when they got closer, they realized that the house had been deserted for a long time. The big wooden door had long since been dilapidated, with cobwebs hanging densely under the eaves, and even the brass buckle on the door knocker The locks are all rusted.

With a slight sigh in his heart, Wei Yang took out a big brass key from his bag, inserted it into the lock and turned it left and right twice. With a click, the lock spring popped open, and he reached out and took off the lock. Pushing the door lightly with his hand, he lost the restraint, and the door made a creaking sound and slid inward.

Inside the gate, facing a spacious courtyard, there are wooden wing rooms on both sides of the courtyard.Different from those large courtyards in Shanxi or Beijing courtyards, although the building area of ​​this house is not small, the regulations are very simple. There are no screen walls and screen doors. Instead, it is more like an enlarged version of a small rural courtyard, only divided From the outside to the outside, a long verandah connects the two sides, and the simplicity brings out a bit of elegance.

Raising his hand and waving the spider silk hanging from his head, Wei Yang smiled and explained to Zhang Xiuqi: "This ancestral house was built when my parents and elders moved to Weijia Village. It has been passed down for three generations. It has been a long time ago. They all live here, but my uncle is really not interested in fortune-telling and divination, and he doesn't like this old house. After getting married, he moved to the east of the village to live. Later, when grandma fell ill, the house was vacant."

Although Wei Yang had a smile on his face, there was a sense of melancholy in his voice: "I have lived here since I was a child, and it is not too far from the school jointly run by the two villages, but no friends are willing to come to my house to play. It has frustrated me for a long time, it is obviously such a big and fun house, but now that I think about it, it is true that those children dare not come, this yard is probably too gloomy for adults."

This is also one of Wei Yang's strongest feelings after he came back. It was fun back then, but now it seems that it is just a pile of dark wood. The eaves and porch are all old-fashioned structures. The carved corridors have already turned black, and the hanging eaves have long lost their poetic and picturesque charm, but instead look a little like dead branches and vines.

But the antiquity of this house is still one of them, and what is more frightening is the name of grandma, the witch, right?He always thought that the sorceress was a swindler like Mr. Jin Dian, and the villagers were just fools who were deceived, but now that he thought about it, what the aunt said "it didn't work later" was probably the crux of the matter.But why did grandpa never mention it to him?

Wei Yang was meditating at the side, and Zhang Xiuqi also looked at the mansion carefully, looked at the gate and the main hall, then turned his eyes around the roof and veranda, and said: "The structure is very good, and the house looks auspicious."

There is only such a little celestial master who can judge a house based on feng shui rather than appearance. Wei Yang really laughed this time: "Don't say it, it was the generation of Grandpa Taizu who built this house and settled the ancestral grave. The golden point kung fu of the same line was also passed down from his old man, and now it seems that my ancestors may still have some real skills. Come on, brother Qi, I will show you the place where I lived when I was young."

After closing the door, the two walked towards the courtyard. The big room in front of the atrium is the lobby for welcoming guests, and the left and right sides are the kitchen, warehouse and other living areas. There is a corridor on the side of the lobby, which leads directly to the inner house behind.All the rooms are empty, except for a few old furniture, all valuable things have been removed, and I don't know whether they were sold or placed in the uncle's new house.There is a thick layer of dust on the ground, and walking over it will leave two rows of neat footprints.

While walking, Wei Yang introduced the former use of these rooms to Zhang Xiuqi: "The storeroom in the left wing used to be empty. I used to play hide-and-seek with my grandfather there when I was very young. There is also the study and the second bedroom. In my place, grandpa would hold a notebook and sit on the rocking chair to write and draw, and occasionally taught me to practice calligraphy..."

With a creak, another door was pushed open, and a cold musty smell came in. Wei Yang couldn't help shivering. Looking inside, he saw a long incense table next to the wall, carved wood The beam is tall, with half a silk ribbon hanging from it.

After a moment of silence, Wei Yang said: "This is my family's ancestral room, which is specially used for ancestor worship. There used to be many memorial tablets and bone boxes. Later, after grandpa passed away, the ancestral house was left unattended, so the memorial tablets were enshrined in it." In the temples in the county, this side is vacant. I remember when I was a child, the ancestral hall was only open to family members during festivals, and the doors were usually closed, with a gloomy look. What I fear most in the mansion is probably the Here it is..."

Yes, I was so afraid of the ancestral hall back then, why did I dream of being in the ancestral hall?After leaving this room, where did he go?

Looking at the threshold involuntarily, he suddenly found that there was a small chilong pattern imprinted on the corner of the wall beyond the high threshold. The statue of Ni is small, but complete with head and tail, with a furry lion's mane carved on its body, majestic and naive, and then there are Jiao, Xiezhi, Xingshi, Qingxi, Danghu and so on. The strange beasts are a bit like the fairy beasts placed on the vertical ridge, but there are several times more than those vertical beasts, and occasionally there will be some evil beasts with vicious names.

You must know that the vertical ridges on the eaves of the old society had a fixed position. The vertical beasts such as the dragon giving birth to nine sons and the immortal leading the way can only be used in temples and halls. They were engraved in the corner of the corridor, but although the patterns were shallow, they were vivid, and it didn't seem like they were done by chance.

When Wei Yang saw the last beast, Wei Yang raised his head suddenly, and a narrow courtyard came into view. It was the inner courtyard of the inner house, which was much smaller than the outer courtyard, but it was still covered with a thick layer of floor tiles. The bricks have been covered by dirt and become filthy. It shouldn't have been this color back then...

"Yangyang!"

A big warm hand clasped his wrist tightly, Wei Yang shuddered, and suddenly woke up. At some point, he had already taken steps involuntarily, wanting to walk towards the inner house, that direction Right opposite is grandma's embroidery room. Grandpa once told him not to break into the embroidery room and disturb grandma. Embroidery is a delicate job...

Is that room really an embroidery room?

His heart was beating so hard that Wei Yang couldn't help but hold Zhang Xiuqi's arm with his backhand: "Brother Qi, is this house really an auspicious house? If so, why are there so many beasts and beasts carved in the veranda, and why are there so many beasts? Why is there such a pattern of jade belts without screen walls, is it trying to attract wealth or something else?"

To attract Qi, to attract evil, or to attract a family fairy named Hu Gu...

Zhang Xiuqi didn't answer, this kind of question can't be answered without deduction, without asking the context, after all, his job is a celestial master, not Mr. Yin and Yang of Sanliao Village.Just blurting it out, Wei Yang immediately regained his composure, and laughed at himself: "Whatever, people have been gone for so long, it should be all right now, right?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward and pulled Zhang Xiuqi towards the inner house: "My inner house is smaller than the outer courtyard, and grandma stays in the inner house all day, sometimes sleeping in the main house, and sometimes working in the embroidery room, but she I have never been allowed to wear the things I made, and I have never seen my grandfather take them out. I just remember that she is a thin old lady with a serious expression, especially when facing me..."

The words were rambling, echoing in the empty small courtyard, bringing out a chill, Wei Yang didn't want to admit that his heartbeat was a little too fast, but he was indeed holding Zhang Xiuqi's hand tighter and tighter, like holding a life-saving floating boat. Like wood, he finally stopped in front of the elegant wooden door with hollow carvings, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

That room was the same as other rooms, covered with fine and dense dust, cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, and half of the broken web was pulled out. Right in front of the room was a wooden table, of no visible material, but wood Already old and decrepit, there is a gray mark caused by years of placing things in the corner not far away. There should have been a royal concubine couch with thick red silk cushions on it...

Wei Yang's heart skipped a beat. He had never been in grandma's embroidery room. At first it was because of fear, and later because of rebellious psychology. Under such circumstances, how could he know that there was a royal couch there?

The thin figure appeared in his mind again. Wei Yang closed his eyes and asked, "Brother Qi, do you think there is a problem here? Are there any evil spirits like house immortals..."

Zhang Xiuqi glanced at Wei Yang, and shook his head affirmatively: "No. It's very clean."

"What?" Wei Yang couldn't help being startled. Little Heavenly Master is definitely not a liar. If he said no, he must have not felt anything. But where did his dream come from? With so many details on it, how could it fail on this?

As if to appease Wei Yang, Zhang Xiuqi added: "Immortals and animals follow people, the house is empty, and there will be no house immortals."

These words are like a roller coaster, Wei Yang's heart sank: "That is to say, even if there was a family fairy in the house before, you can't see it now? The family fairy doesn't guard the empty house, but just walks with others?"

Seeing the little celestial master nodding, Wei Yang showed a wry smile. It seems that it is impossible to find this clue, unless he can call grandma's soul back to ask for clarification.As for the note left by grandpa, I'm afraid that "Hu Gu" can't be found anywhere. If I can find the remaining half of the paper, maybe there is still some hope...

Sighing lightly, Wei Yang didn't say anything else, and continued to take the little celestial master around the house, half of them to show him his hometown, and the other half meant to look for the relics, even if they moved, things couldn't be completely destroyed. After moving, there will always be some residue left.

After rummaging around in the old house for a long time, they didn't find any useful clues in the end. Instead, they got dust all over their heads and faces.Patting the spider web on his head, Wei Yang shook his head: "It seems that today is not possible. It is too much effort to find it like this. I should ask uncle to see where he got all the things in the ancestral house? About my parents and that "Hu Gu", no matter what you ask, it's better than looking around like a headless chicken. Brother Qi, what do you think?"

This question is not so much a question, but a self-answer. Looking at the straightforward gaze of the other party, Wei Yang couldn't help chuckling: "I know, it doesn't matter, let's take our time."

Having made up his mind, Wei Yang took the little celestial master to the door without wasting any time.A gust of wind blew through the half-covered door of the embroidery room, and there was a light rattling sound, like the sound of wind, and also like the laughter of some kind of animal. Zhang Xiuqi suddenly stopped and turned his head.

"What's wrong?" Wei Yang couldn't help but stop, looking into the courtyard with a slightly nervous expression.

However, after a while, the little celestial master withdrew his gaze again and turned his head: "I saw it wrong."

His voice didn't fluctuate, and he didn't know what he misread. Wei Yang didn't care: "It's an old house, there must always be something."

This time the two of them didn't stop, they walked straight out of the gate, but on the empty floor behind them, a few small paw prints suddenly appeared, as if something had rushed past.

After such a day, it was almost dusk when I returned to my uncle’s house. The uncle didn’t seem to go out today, and he was holding a small bench to guard the door to smoke at the moment. When he saw Wei Yang coming back, he immediately stood up: “Xiaoyang, you, you You're back, where did you go today?"

"Turning around in the mountains, I went to visit grandpa's grave, and went to the ancestral house to have a look." Wei Yang said with a smile without hiding anything.

The uncle's old face suddenly collapsed, and he hesitated for a long time before continuing: "Then, did you see Uncle and the others?"

Wei Yang frowned: "No, grandma probably hasn't been buried in the ancestral grave yet, and I didn't meet them on the way."

The uncle seemed relieved immediately: "It's fine if there's nothing... Ah, no, I mean it's fine if there's nothing wrong. You two haven't eaten yet, right? Hurry up and eat in the house!"

The old man sat at the door all day, probably worried about this. Wei Yang felt helpless and bitter in his heart. In the end, he didn't say anything, but just followed him into the yard. Unexpectedly, he was startled when he entered the door. He saw the turtle The old man was lying on the ground in the courtyard, his head bored on the ground, not only how he slipped out of the room, but also squatting on its back was a little hen with its toes high, who didn't know that it took the turtle shell as a What.

Seeing Wei Yang's return, the master immediately regained his energy, and stood up in a jerk. It was okay not to move, but the little hen on its back fluttered its wings unhappily, like a tortoise. It was at this time that I felt an uninvited guest on my back, and my neck twisted slowly, ah!

"Wait, master!" Seeing that the situation was wrong, Wei Yang ran over quickly, rescued the little hen who didn't know the heights of the world, and patted the turtle's head with a wry smile, "How did you slip out? Isn't the basin comfortable enough?"

In order to keep the master from making a fuss, he specially asked his aunt to get a wooden basin for washing clothes and put it in the house. Let alone stepping on it, it should be no problem to stand on the basin and play with it. He even moved a brick to use as a hill. Climbing high and looking far away, but now it seems that it is purely winking for the blind.

The uncle also came in at this time: "I don't know how this turtle ran downstairs. I was afraid of being caught, so I didn't dare to open the door for a day."

"Excuse me, uncle, I'll put it back first, and I'll come down to eat right away." Wei Yang smiled wryly, picked up the master and walked upstairs.

For some reason, the tortoise seemed very unhappy today. It kept scratching Wei Yang's clothes, almost scratching a hole in his clothes. After walking half of the steps, Wei Yang couldn't hold this guy anymore. , Throwing it on the ground directly: "What's the matter with you all the time? Are you too excited to go home?"

The tortoise master ignored him, twisted his buttocks, and crawled to the edge of the stairs, then retracted his head and limbs into the shell, and slid down the stairs.Its plastron was big enough to deal with these few concrete steps without any problem at all. It swished to the bottom of the building just like riding a scooter, and because of the too much momentum, it even fell on all fours with a thud.

The little magic stick was stunned, and was about to rush downstairs to rescue him, but the tortoise had poked its neck out, and with some force on its four legs, it turned over again with a groan, and it seemed to be flying without waiting for Wei Yang to catch up. Rush towards the courtyard.

Wei Yang: "..."

After raising the master for so many years, why didn't he know that this guy has such a special skill of going downstairs!With a dry laugh, he stopped struggling and went upstairs to wash his face, put his backpack away, and then went downstairs.At this time, Zhang Xiuqi had already finished washing his hands, and was being let by his uncle at the dining table. Although he was growling with hunger, he was not looking for the food on the table, but looking for his own trace.

When he saw someone, his gaze relaxed. Zhang Xiuqi picked up the chopsticks, turned his eyes back to the table, and started to eat seriously.It is obviously impolite to move chopsticks before people are fully seated, but why would Wei Yang care about this? He smiled and sat next to Zhang Xiuqi, and picked up the bowl and chopsticks.

"By the way, uncle, when I went to the ancestral grave today, I just remembered that my parents' ashes are still being offered in the city cemetery. It's not a good idea to always put them there. Otherwise, I will invite their ashes back and bury them." In our ancestral grave?"

A seemingly inadvertent sentence, the uncle's face that had just calmed down suddenly became tense again, his eyes looked away in a panic, his lips trembled for a long time before he said: "Your grandfather said back then that people who die violently cannot enter the ancestral grave. It’s very popular, so it’s good for them to offer…”

Wei Yang frowned: "What age is this, and you still pay attention to this? Uncle, my father is your only younger brother, and he can't even return his bones. Isn't it too pitiful?"

There is something in his words, it is not only his parents who are not allowed to come back, even he himself was banned, they are blood relatives among blood relatives, how can such a relationship be separated?

The uncle's face was even more ugly, he was almost entangled to a certain extent, but after a long time, he finally shook his head: "That's what your grandparents meant, I, I can't help it..."

"Wouldn't people in the village poke our family's spine? It's not good to hear about this kind of thing." Wei Yang didn't seem to give up, and added to the balance.

But after saying this, the uncle's expression became much firmer: "There is no need to mention this matter, it has been decided long ago!"

Wei Yang couldn't help but thump in his heart. It seems that not being able to return to the village is the key, otherwise even if he can't move back to the ancestral grave, he can still put it in the village tomb, but there is obviously a reason why his parents' ashes can't even enter the village tomb. Go, and it's the kind of thing that if you force it in, you will be poked in the spine instead.

After pondering for a while, Wei Yang changed the subject: "Forget it, I'm going to visit Wangcun next door tomorrow, and bring Brother Qi to collect folk songs. I wonder if you are familiar with the situation in the neighboring village?"

Uncle's expression didn't improve when he heard this, but quickly said: "What's so interesting about Wang Village? It's been very evil in recent years, why don't you go to the county for a stroll, and you will stay here for a few days?"

These words already brought out a sense of urgency, Wei Yang took a deep look at the uncle, and twitched the corner of his mouth: "It won't stop for too long, don't worry, uncle."

What's in the county, Wei Yang knows very well, but what's in Wangcun, his uncle probably knows it well.Back then, my parents stayed in Wang Village for a while. Although I didn't know where the so-called car accident happened, my grandfather never let me go to the neighboring village since I was a child. It was only a few steps away.

What happened in Wangcun?Wei Yang didn't speak, just smiled at the little celestial master who stopped his chopsticks at some point, and began to eat slowly.

In the courtyard, Master Turtle lay down on the open space again, his head drooping in boredom, as if he was taking a nap.