snake wife

Golden boys and jade girls stand in front of the gate, and seven-foot mourning flags hang high in the hall.

Yellow paper all over the sky falls into the mourning hall, and three long incense sticks attract souls.

Wearing hemp and filial piety, the heart is broken, and the poor child goes to Huangquan.

The sky was dimly lit up, and the light of dawn lifted the veil of the night, revealing a faint crimson.

A gust of wind blows, and the white paper lanterns hanging on the high hall sway with the wind.The yellow paper money in front of the door swirled and floated up, and then slowly landed on the coffin shed.

There are seven-character couplets written on both sides of the spirit shed, which are: the crane has been driven by the clouds, and the cuckoo's sound is still cold with the moonlight.

Hengbiao, mourning hall.

A mahogany coffin was placed in the coffin. The coffin boards were erected on one side of the coffin. The coffin was filled with paper-folded gold ingots, but the body of the deceased was not seen.

In the copper stove filled with glutinous rice, three sticks of unlit long incense sticks were inserted.On the back of Changxiang, there is a black and white portrait of a boy.

Why was the boy's portrait turned upside down on the altar?

Because before the death is really confirmed, the non-deceased people cannot erect their portraits, let alone engrave their names on the tablets.

This is a spirit shed built for the dying, a custom handed down in Baihua Village for thousands of years.

The boy on the portrait is named Shen Ci, nine years old, a very lively and smiling boy.

The boy with such a pleasant smile is not recognized by the villagers of Baihua Village, and they even treat him as a plague and avoid him.

There is no other reason, but because Shen Ci always likes to talk to the air, sometimes he would even run out in the middle of the night and put the steamed buns in his arms under an old locust tree.

Gradually, rumors spread in the village that Shen Ci was the reincarnation of the Raksha ghost, and that Qisha, the murderer, would never live to be ten years old.

Shen Ci's parents are honest people who abide by their duties. Regarding the gossip and gossip in the village, they can only swallow the anguish in their hearts silently.

Time flies, Shen Ci grows up day by day, and it is almost his tenth birthday.Although Shen Ci's behavior was weird, his body was very healthy, and he didn't have the signs of a dying person at all as described by the villagers.

The rumors are self-defeating, but they cannot be exchanged for an apology from the villagers.

Just when the villagers in Baihua Village thought that those rumors were a trick to deceive people, something really happened to Shen Ci like the rumors.

That day, Shen Ci went to the mountains to pick mushrooms with a bamboo basket on his back. When he came back in the evening, he suddenly developed a high fever.

Shen Ci's parents sent him to the health center in the village. After hanging two bottles of salt water, the body temperature not only did not drop, but rose higher and higher, even reaching 40 degrees in the early morning.

The high fever persisted, and Shen Ci fell into a semi-comatose state, making the sound of a snake spitting out a letter from his mouth from time to time.

This frightened Shen Ci's parents, who drove him overnight to the city's top three hospital.After a series of treatments, although Shen Ci's fever subsided, the temperature of his hands and feet was frighteningly cold.

The sudden drop in body temperature attracted the attention of doctors.

After Shen Ci did a complete set of examinations, the doctor found that a scale similar to snake scales had grown on his right ankle.It didn't take long for Shen Ci's legs to lose feeling, and the measured body temperature was getting lower and lower day by day, and it seemed that he was about to die.

The hospital could not find out the cause of Shen Ci, so Shen Ci could only be kept in the hospital for observation.

Shen's mother cried out about the injustice of God, why she took her son's life in such a hurry.Seeing his mother crying so hard, Shen Ci raised his pale little hand, wiped away the tears from the corner of his mother's eyes, and comforted him:

"Mom, don't cry, it won't be pretty anymore."

"My poor Cier."

Not only did Shen Ci's comfort not work, but it made Shen's mother even more grief-stricken.

"Mom, I want to go home. Can you take me home? My sister who lives here doesn't seem to like me very much. This sister wants to get into my body every night. Mom, I'm afraid."

Tong Yan Wuji, but shocked the adults into a cold sweat.

Father Shen thought the child was talking nonsense, and didn't take Shen Ci's words to heart.

Until the next day, Shen Ci was unconscious and pushed into the emergency room. He inquired from the nurse that the hospital bed where his son was sleeping had just died of a woman who committed suicide by taking poison some time ago.

Although Shen Ci was rescued, the doctor told Shen Ci's parents that they could prepare for Shen Ci's funeral.

The thinking of the old people is to return their souls to their hometown, and Shen Ci's parents are no exception.

After the hospital issued the critical illness notice for the third time, Shen's father accepted this fact, and returned to Baihua Village with his wife and children in great grief.

The villagers of Baihua Village heard the news that Shen Ci was about to die. Although they felt sorry for the child on the surface, they secretly publicized that the Shen family had been punished by heaven and that the rumor that Shen Ci was reincarnated as a Raksha ghost was true.

In order to take care of his son's funeral, Father Shen's hair turned gray overnight.Shen's mother was getting thinner day by day, and she shed tears every day, she looked like she was decades old.

After tonight is Shen Ci's tenth birthday, Shen's father took advantage of the hot weather and went to work in the field early in the morning with a hoe on his shoulder.Shen's mother went to the sixth sister-in-law's house next door, and wanted to spend money to buy a native chicken for Shen Ci's health.

At this time, Shen Ci was wrapped up like a silkworm chrysalis, lying on the kang shivering with cold.

The sun shone in through the glass window, Shen Ci got out from under the quilt, and stretched out his hand to touch the faint light.

His skin is as white and smooth as beautiful jade, and his clear eyes seem to cast aside all the distracting thoughts of the world, making people want to hide him.

Shen Ci felt strange about death, but he was not afraid of it.

He didn't want to see his mother crying, so he tried to think of a joke every day to make his mother smile again.

The warm sunlight caressed Shen Ci's fair little hands, and just a brief warmth would make him feel extremely happy.

Because as long as he can still feel the warmth, it means he is living in this world.

Dark clouds covered the sun, and the beam of light in Shen Ci's hand was fleeting.The sound of thunder was endless, and the torrential rain poured down, pattering and hitting the windows in front of the kang.

Shen Ci withdrew his hand in frustration, then slowly retracted into the bed, looking at the ceiling in a daze.

If he died, mom and dad would be very sad.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that what he was lying on was not a hot bed, but a cold coffin.

Shen Ci wrapped the quilt tightly, his teeth chattered and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

His consciousness gradually began to blur, and fatigue swept over his whole body.Just when he thought he would pass out, a faint fragrance wafted in from outside the door.

The rainwater hit the oil-paper umbrella, making a 'slapping' sound.With a 'squeak', the old wooden door slowly opened to both sides.

Shen Ci lay on the bed and turned his head, trying to see the people outside the door.But his vision was blurred, and he could only vaguely see a man in ancient costume standing outside the door holding an oil-paper umbrella.

The man was dressed in a blue brocade robe, with a moiré belt around his waist, long ink-like hair hanging down his sides, and his deep eyes looked at Shen Ci lying on the kang without blinking.

"who are you?"

The man didn't answer Shen Ci, but put away the oil-paper umbrella and walked to his side unhurriedly.

"Big brother, is it a fairy in the sky?"

The man looked indifferent, glanced at Shen Ci lightly, and said coldly:

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because big brother has long hair, he is as beautiful as a fairy in the sky. Big brother, am I dying, are you a fairy who came to pick me up?"

The man was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up, and he said with a faint smile:

"Afraid?"

Shen Ci shook his head and said:

"I'm not afraid, I just feel sorry for Mom and Dad. Brother, is there anything you can do to make Mom and Dad not be so sad?"

The man sat beside him, then slowly raised his arms, brushed his hair soaked in cold sweat with his fingertips, and said:

"Have."

"What way?" Shen Ci looked at the man excitedly and said.

"If you live well, they won't be sad."

The man withdrew his hand, then untied the jade pendant around his waist, and tied the rope that passed through the jade pendant around his neck.

Shen Ci looked at the jade pendant curiously, and suddenly found that the lines on the jade pendant were very similar to those of a python.

"what is this?"

"This jade pendant is the deity's personal belongings. It has the aura of the deity on it, which can be used to prolong your life."

Shen Ci's eyes widened and he didn't say a word for a while.

After a long time, Shen Ci tilted his head, looked at the man suspiciously and said:

"Why did Brother Immortal save me?"

The man raised his hand and rubbed his hair, smiled faintly and said:

"Because you are the destined person of this deity."

"What is a destined person?"

Shen Ci blinked, not quite understanding the meaning of these four words.

The man didn't mean to explain, but stood up and said:

"Although the jade pendant can prolong your life, without the maintenance of the contract, it is just an ordinary jade pendant.

You are willing to make a contract with me, as long as you pay a small price, you can continue to live in this world. "

A bolt of lightning fell across the sky, and Shen Ci looked at the man blankly and said:

"What's the price?"

"This deity will marry you when you are weak, and from then on, your people and your life will belong to this deity."

Shen Ci doesn't understand what it means to be weak and marry a wife, but now he has hope of living, and he doesn't want to give up this opportunity.

"Okay, I promise you."

Shen Ci had a sullen little face, like a little adult, and looked at the man very seriously.

The man's eyes trembled slightly, and then he quickly regained his composure.He grabbed Shen Ci's right ankle from under the quilt, and under Shen Ci's surprised gaze, he bit his index finger, dripping the blood from his fingertip on the snake scale growing from Shen Ci's right ankle.

"Brother Immortal, what are you doing?"

The man's right hand hung above the scales, and then he saw dark green light wrapping his ankles, and then his legs suddenly felt a tingling pain.He subconsciously wanted to dodge, but was surprised to find that his legs could move.

"Does it hurt?" The man looked at Shen Ci tenderly and asked.

"It hurts a little." Shen Ci nodded obediently.

"The deity is treating your leg disease, bear with it for a while, and it will be fine soon."

Cold sweat rolled down Shen Ci's forehead, and the scales on his ankles gradually faded, but did not disappear completely.

After about a minute, the light on Shen Ci's ankles dissipated.

"What's your name?" the man asked.

"Shen Ci, what's the name of Brother Immortal?" Shen Ci looked at the man curiously and asked.

"Jun Yao."

Jun Yao gently put down his ankle, then raised his hand, and a scroll appeared in front of them out of thin air.

The scroll slowly opened, and finally stopped at a blank position.

"On the [-]th day of the eighth month of the Ji Chou year, Lingqing Xianzun Junyao signed a contract with Shen Ci, a human being. From now on, fate will be connected, and they will live and die together, and live and die together."