Strange Tale

Si Ren and Lin Sanqing immediately calmed down and looked towards the direction Qilin was looking at together: at the entrance of the market, an old woman with white hair was leaning on a cane, carrying a basket and carrying a bench, and she was moving towards Si Ren step by step. where they stand.Si Ren thought he had misread, and rubbed his eyes vigorously.The old woman also came closer—yes, that was his own mother.Si Ren's tears fell down his cheeks.

Si Ren left home eight years ago. Her mother's figure is tall and straight, and her temples are like ink. Although there are some fine lines around the corners of her eyes and lips, it is hard to believe that she is already the mother of three adults no matter from a distance or up close.Now looking at the hunchbacked figure with a few strands of silver flying away in the wind, Si Ren can't imagine how his mother, who was spoiled and spoiled since he was a child, has survived the past few years.Apart from supporting the husband and teaching the children to manage the family finances, embroidery is probably the only skill that the mother can do and can use to make ends meet.

Mrs. Si walked to the place shopkeeper Wang pointed out just now, took out a doily from the basket and arranged it carefully like the embroidery work, then sat on the small bench she brought with her.Shopkeeper Wang is right: from her movements, it is not difficult to see that she is unwell and her eyesight is not good.

"Ma'am, how much is a pair of shoe insoles embroidered with blooming flowers?" Si Ren barely controlled his emotions and squatted in front of the stall, pretending to ask casually.

Mrs. Si smiled and hung a lock of white hair floating on her forehead behind her ears, "I don't want paper money. Middle-earth copper money, two renminbi."

"It's so cheap..." Si Ren lowered his head and gently stroked the exquisitely embroidered insole on the material, speechless.The picky father once praised the embroidered screen made by the mother as "embroidered into the spring garden, attracting the oriole to the wicker".

Wet marks appeared on the insole.Mrs. Si couldn't see what happened to the "guest" in front of her, but felt that the atmosphere was a little strange, so she stretched out her hand towards the figure, "What's wrong with you, sir?"

"Auntie, how do you do your job with bad eyesight?" Lin Sanqing who was standing behind Si Ren couldn't help asking.

Mrs. Si raised her head, her eyes were clearly out of focus, and she cast her eyes in the direction of the sound, "Oh, my eyes. It's not always like this. After a good night's sleep, you can usually get clear for a while when you wake up in the morning, but your eyesight will get worse and worse in the afternoon. , I can’t see at all at night. It’s not last night. I don’t know why. I had a nightmare all night and didn’t sleep well. I woke up and got used to it for a long time. It's really boring at home, just... huh?! This is..."

"Mother!" Si Ren could no longer restrain himself from dropping the insole and grabbed his mother.

Madam Si withdrew her hand as if being burned, "You...you are..."

Si Ren leaned forward, knelt on one knee and grabbed Mrs. Si again, "Mother! It's me! I'm Xiao Ren... Xiao Ren!"

Mrs. Si's eyes widened, her eyes turned pale, "What are you talking about?! Who are you?! Don't talk nonsense! Everyone in my family is dead! Xiao Ren is also dead! He's already dead! you……"

Mrs. Si struggled while shouting and still wanted to withdraw her hand, but the more she struggled, the tighter she grasped.In the end, Si Ren firmly grasped his mother's old and thin wrist and pulled her hand to his face, "Mother! It's really me! Please touch me, I'm really Xiao Ren...I'm not dead...I've been Alive...what happened at home, what happened to all of this...I...I don't know why I don't remember anything..."

Si Ren was crying as he spoke, some could not make a sound.

Mrs. Si's body was shrunk into a ball, and her hand was firmly held down. She half pushed and half touched it, but her hand stopped suddenly.

"Ah—ah—help! Help! Devil! You devil!"

After an incomparably shrill cry came from her thin and withered body, Mrs. Si got so much strength, she stood up and pushed Si Ren down, turned around and ran away.But her eyes couldn't see clearly, she didn't run a few steps and tripped over the booth next to her, and she fell headlong into a pile of fruits and vegetables.

It took a lot of effort to hold down Mrs. Si, and often explained to the crowd who heard the movement and came to watch for a long time. Lin Sanqing repeatedly guaranteed that Si Renhe was not a bad person in the name of the Lin family, so they managed to bring Mrs. Si closer. Brought to shopkeeper Wang's grocery store.

"He...has he left? Is he really not here?" Mrs. Si looked around tremblingly, and pointed to the opposite side, "Who is that figure?"

Si Ren passed his mother's fingers and looked at her distorted face due to extreme fright, without saying a word in a daze.

Shopkeeper Wang at the side hurriedly comforted him softly, "He's really not here, we've already found someone to tie him up and lock him up first. That's a new guy from my shop. Don't be afraid, tell me what's going on? Are you Did you say that the rest of the family is gone? Why did you get so frightened when that person said he was Xiaoba just now?"

He often stood by the side and didn't dare to move, and Qilin couldn't make a sound while pulling the ring.

Lin Sanqing took the tea brought by the boy and put it in Mrs. Si's hands, "Drink a cup of tea first to calm down the shock, and speak slowly if you have anything to say. Is your son still alive?"

Mrs. Si took a sip of tea and put it down carefully.

"That... just now is that person. You can't lock him up. He has great powers, be careful to summon monsters to eat you all."

The other people in the room looked at each other, really not understanding what she was talking about.No way, Lin Sanqing continued to ask, "Can you explain it more clearly?"

Mrs. Si didn't speak.After a while, her hands tightly clutching the skirts of her clothes had turned blue-white.

"Xiao Ren was a fool when he was born. My master and I really couldn't figure it out: the eldest and the second are all smart and smart. How did I get to the third? I have been in good health from the tenth month of pregnancy to the final delivery. No illness, why did you give birth to such a child?

"But the child was born by me, no matter what it is, it is a sweetheart. But the master doesn't like Xiaoren, and the two elder brothers also hate him. And although everyone dare not say it, I know: except for Xiaozhu, everyone is from the family. The servants also looked down on him from the bottom of their hearts.

"Xiao Ren grew up slowly in that environment. At first, I thought he would be like that in his life. Thinking about it carefully, it seems that there is nothing wrong with being carefree. I just worry that someone will bully him in the future. But...it turns out that my worries were unnecessary.

"When he was 14 years old, one day he sneaked out to play by himself, and he was not stupid when he came back. At first, my master and I were very happy, but soon we found that he had no memory of the past at all, as if A completely different person. Ask him what experiences he had when he was a child. He always thinks about it seriously for a while, and then says that it is probably because he was stupid and can't remember.

"I didn't think much about it. I just thought that my son is not stupid, and it would be good if he could live like a normal person. But my master didn't think so. He insisted that Xiao Ren was possessed by something and stayed in that body It’s not his son, so I can’t persuade you. After a few years, Xiao Ren’s appearance has changed. I remember you have seen him when he was young and when he grew up. It’s really a lot different Right? If you don't watch him grow up and change day by day, it's really unbelievable to say that it's the same person.

"Then one day, my master and I went to worship on the mountain. On the way home, we met a monk who told us that both of us and a few servants were in bad luck, and that there was a goblin in our house. So the master became more sure of his guess, and not only returned When I got home, I locked up Xiaoren, and even retrieved the mage to practice magic at home. For seven days and seven nights, only people gave me water and rice through a small hole in the window. How can I cry? No matter how much I begged, it was useless. In the end, I was really afraid of losing my son, and I forced myself to die, so the master let Xiao Ren be released.

"As soon as Xiaoren came out, he ran directly to Dushuo Mountain. We searched the whole mountain but couldn't find him. He returned home a month later, and he refused to say that he went there that month. Where did he go. After that, he didn't talk to his father or brother anymore.

"Then... less than a year later, it was the night of the accident. A huge monster suddenly appeared at my house...and ate all the family members..."

At this point, Mrs. Si paused. Judging from the tone of her voice, her heart should be full of sadness and fear at the moment, but there was no expression on her pale face, and there were no tears in her empty eyes.

Everyone else's eyes widened. They looked at Mrs. Si and then at Si Ren. They felt as if they were listening to some unbelievable story. They couldn't believe it.

Without waiting for anyone to ask any questions, Mrs. Si continued: "That monster can talk. I heard the conversation between it and Xiaoren. It said that Xiaoren found him, and Xiaoren resented his father, brother and family. People summoned it here.

"I didn't want to live anymore. I was going to follow my husband and son, so I picked up a sword and stabbed the monster. I stabbed it, and it grabbed me. Finally, I passed out. I thought I was going to die, but Unexpectedly, after waking up, I found that I was actually saved by someone. Not only did I not die, but I was not injured at all."

After another pause, Si Ren moved his mouth toward Lin Sanqing without making a sound.

"Who saved you?" Lin Sanqing asked.

"I don't know. When I woke up, I was in the woods on Mount Dushuo. When I got home from the mountain, I saw that the yard had been sealed off. The people from the public security station said that I could go home and live when the case was almost settled. After the lockdown was lifted, I also went back to live for a while. But every night was a nightmare of my master and son being bitten to pieces, and I couldn’t sleep at all. So in the end I donated the house and land, hoping to accumulate some virtue and some blessings Report, so that my master and son will not suffer any hardships in the underworld, so that I can be reunited with my family after I die."

"You said before that someone will take care of you. Is it the person who saved you?" This time it was Shopkeeper Wang who asked.

Mrs. Si shook her head, "I don't know. Anyway, at the end of the month, someone puts some money and food in my current home, but I have never seen who sent it. No, today is already thirty , When I go back, I think I can see the package sent by someone. I have also stayed at home and waited to see who it is, but it is very strange. Every time I waited and waited, I was so sleepy that I fell asleep in the end. .”

Si Ren stood up silently and went out. Shopkeeper Wang told Mrs. Si to let her sit down for a while, and then everyone else went out too.

"Madam Si said..." Lin Sanqing just opened his mouth.

"Impossible!" Si Yanli interrupted him immediately, "There must be something strange, what she said never happened!"

"But……"

"You don't need to ask, let my mother go back later, I will secretly follow her to the place where she lives now. As long as I can find the person who gave her something, I will be able to find out the truth of the matter."

After speaking, Si Ren raised his foot and walked towards the entrance of the market where Mrs. Si came in, ignoring anyone.

But...why what mother said was exactly the same as the nightmare I had after I was poisoned by Mixiang that day in the general's mansion...Thanks to not letting Long Jiu follow, now I must not let other people know about it...