Sludge to the Mountain Ghost

Do you want... I'll call him back? Lin Pai asked tentatively, and after getting an affirmative answer, he refused without hesitation, "I don't want it. "

"Lin Pai! He is your father after all!"

"So what, I don't remember what he looks like..."

"Ten years have passed, and you are still angry with your father? The New Year is coming, it would be great if we could spend the New Year together..."

"It's because ten years have passed, don't talk about going home, did he bring a word home? How did we get here in these ten years? He left just as he said, didn't he just plan to come back?"

The old man stood up from the other side of the dining table, walked up to Lin Pai and held his hand, "Your parents used to go out to make money, how could they raise you if they didn't work outside..."

"Working outside? What about the money? Where is the money?" Lin Pai withdrew his hand, walked to the sewing machine, picked up a piece of fabric on the table, and said, "Isn't this how I was raised? Just like them What do people who know how to live or not know how to raise them have anything to think about?"

"Lin Pai!"

"Grandma!" Almost as soon as Lin Pai yelled, he realized that he was too impulsive. He put down the piece of fabric, suppressed his emotions and said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry, I'll go out and blow some wind."

Lin Pai walked out of the house. Before opening the door, he turned his head and pointed weakly at the dining table, "Wait for me to wash the dishes on the table."

-

Xu Rui has never been so proud of his long-distance running results like he is now.

The pale light from the flashlight behind him chased after him. Fortunately, it was very dark at this time, and there were many winding paths in Heshan Town.

Xu Rui was circling around the path like a headless chicken, and he had already lost the light of the flashlight by now.

Xu Rui slowed down and looked around, even he himself couldn't tell where he ran.

"Run on both sides, find him!" The man's voice drifted indistinctly across the street, and after a while the chaotic footsteps seemed to get closer again, so Xu Rui had to instinctively continue in the opposite direction of the voice run.

Running, Xu Rui unknowingly ran out of the winding street and turned to a straight road.

The light of the flashlight pierced the night again, and it was definitely impossible to turn back, so Xu Rui had no choice but to bite the bullet and run forward. This road seemed to extend to no end.

There are rows of old houses on both sides of the road, some of which are still lit, but the gates are all closed, and occasionally there are a few dogs barking, Xu Rui's heart is broken, thinking about running forward, and suddenly he saw a house opened the door , the warm yellow light in the house penetrated into the bleak winter night, as if it was his only savior.

He ran towards that house recklessly, and couldn't stop when he saw a figure in front of the door. Xu Rui rushed to the house on that person, clutching his mouth tightly, and trying not to stop with his backhand. He closed the door soundlessly.

"Hmm..." Lin Pai thought he was being robbed, so he raised his hand to fight back and was blocked. When he raised his hand for the second time, he immediately recognized Xu Rui's eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Lin Pai was confused, his mouth was covered, and his words became slurred.

Xu Rui pointed to the outside of the house, and then made a gesture of silence to the person in his arms like a threat. Only then did he recognize that the person whose mouth was covered was Lin Pai. The look of astonishment flashed across his face. And let go of Lin Pai, lying on the side of the window and looking out vigilantly.

Lin Pai huddled next to him and looked out together. Those people had already run to the road, and the white light of the flashlight was shaking, adding a bit of gloom to the silent street.

Xu Rui pointed to the incandescent lamp on the ceiling, the switch was at Lin Pai's hand, he glanced at Xu Rui's movements, then shook his head and did not move.

Grandma Lin Pai was still angry. She had just moved a few bowls to the kitchen when she heard Lin Pai coming back after leaving the house, so she came out of the cubicle and said angrily, "Didn't you say... who are you?" !"

"Shh... my classmate..." Lin Pai lowered his voice and interrupted the old man's complaint.

She took a few steps forward, leaned against the dining table against the wall, stared blankly at Lin Pai's stern expression, then looked at the sudden extra person inexplicably, and finally walked beside them thoughtfully , the three of them looked out of the window furtively together.

Not long after, the group of people appeared in the field of vision. They were panting with their hips on their hips, and they were already half running and half walking.

"Boss, why is it so gloomy here..."

The man with the flashlight in the lead slapped him on the head, panting and handed the flashlight to him, "Hold it, you're exhausted... There's only one way, where else can he go? It must be ahead! Keep chasing!"

The person who spoke just now didn't dare to make a sound, took the flashlight silently, turned around in place, and the light of the flashlight also swept around, barely passing the window of Lin Pai's house.

Xu Rui turned sideways and hid behind the wall, and along the way pushed Lin Pai under the window, and Lin Pai also carefully pushed the old man down.

"Damn, this kid is too good at running!" The man who followed at the end complained and followed.

After a burst of sparse and tired footsteps, the group of people gradually ran away. Xu Rui let out a long sigh of relief, closed the window slit tightly, and began to cough on his knees.

"What's going on?" The old man looked at them with worried eyes, "Lin Pai, is he really your classmate? Who are those people outside?"

"Yes, he is..." Lin Pai nodded to his grandma, and reached out to pat Xu Rui's back, "The group of people outside... are fine, by the way, didn't I say that I can wash the dishes? You go back quickly Rest, I will tell you something."

The old man looked suspiciously at the two young men, who were much taller than her, and stood there refusing to move, obviously not believing what Lin Pai said.

"Go to bed first, grandma, it's fine!" Lin Pai pushed his grandma back to the room, and comforted her a few more words.

"Is he really your classmate? Did he threaten you? You must be careful..." The old man asked mysteriously, lying next to Lin Pai's ear.

"Don't worry, grandma, we really know each other." Lin Pai helped her close the door, then went to the front hall and moved the remaining dishes to the kitchen, signaling Xu Rui to follow him.

The faucet was turned on, and the water hit the porcelain bowls and chopsticks. The sound of rushing water and the banging of bowls and chopsticks merged together, flowing in the almost frozen air.

"What happened to you? Are you injured?" Lin Pai asked him in a very soft voice while washing the dishes.

"I'm fine." Xu Rui stretched out his hand to test the temperature of the water. It was so cold that he shrank back reflexively. He took the rag and bowl from Lin Pai's hand and continued to wash, "He Hui is missing."

"He Hui?" Lin Pai repeated.

"my mother."

"When did you disappear?"

"Last week on New Year's Day holiday, she picked up her suitcase and said she had signed up for a tour group, but she couldn't be contacted afterwards."

"The group of people were looking for her just now?"

"It should be..." Xu Rui couldn't find where to put the washed dishes for a while, and Lin Pai picked them up. He continued, "I was going to the police station today... Anyway, when I went back, I saw them at my door. They had knives in their hands, and I ran away without any conflict, and I couldn't think of anything else except that He Hui owed money..."

A few bowls were washed quickly, Lin Pai put the last bowl in the cupboard, turned off the tap, "Take a leave tomorrow morning, I will accompany you to the police station to report the crime."

"No, if He Hui really owes money, she'll just go in."

"Xu Rui, are you stupid?" Lin Pai raised his voice unconsciously, but quickly lowered it again, "It's a crime to fail to pay the debt, let alone she ran away, what should you do? Are you hiding everywhere? !"

Xu Rui sighed, and finally nodded in compromise.

He followed Lin Pai out of the kitchen compartment. Only then did he have the energy to take a look at Lin Pai's home, but it didn't take long. The place could almost be described as "a house with bare walls". He thought that there were only Lin Pai and His grandma also has a point in her heart.

"You can't go back there tonight. Or...squeeze a room with me first?" Lin Pai pointed to his room hesitantly, and explained, "There is also a room upstairs, but no one has lived in it for many years. not very convenient."

Xu Rui nodded, he has no time to think about some trivial issues now, "I'll just make a floor shop."

Lin Pai turned off the light in the front hall, and took Xu Rui to his room.

Before entering the room, he glanced at the old man's room next to him. The light seemed to have been turned off, so he didn't bother any more.

That night, Lin Pai tossed and turned, and fell asleep drowsily after midnight.

Xu Rui was lying on the floor and didn't move much, but he didn't close his eyes almost all night. Too many unknowns were like unknown algae growing wantonly in the ocean, filling the road ahead layer by layer, making him bored. Almost suffocated.

30. Chapter 30

"Are you sure they came after your mother, that is, He Hui?"

"Well..." Xu Rui nodded, "When I was at the door, they asked me "Do you know He Hui?"... Can this be considered that they are here for He Hui? "

"Don't worry, we will record the situation truthfully."

The policeman sitting opposite lowered his head and wrote this sentence on the paper. The policeman next to him scanned the transcript just now and said, "We will immediately open a case for investigation on the disappearance of your mother He Hui. You said that six people blocked your door last night, there are still a few issues that need to be clarified."

Xu Rui nodded, moved his eyes away from the recorded paper, and turned to the face of the policeman who spoke, perhaps