[Folk Horror] Ten Days of Mourning

After getting up, you start to wash your hair, repeating the cleaning action mechanically.Although your mind knows that the brief contact last night will not leave any blood in your hair, you still spend a long time under the current.You know in your heart that this is not to wash away physical dirt, but to remove ominous omens.

At breakfast, my mother asked about the pillowcase in the washing machine. You just said that you had a nosebleed last night, and your friend lowered his head and bit a fried egg without saying a word.After breakfast, perhaps to improve your mood, you both decided to go for a stroll in the village.

With the miserable memories of yesterday, today you don't want to bring any containers at all.The thermos cup that you washed hundreds of times was upside down on the windowsill, silently foreshadowing something, you didn't look at it, and jumped out of the house holding your friend's hand.

Your hometown has not been developed much, and the scenery in the village is very good. In the villages in the south, the water flows tortuous, the vegetation is verdant, and occasionally there are small animals raised by the family.In the past, there were only wooden bridges in the village, but last year a stone bridge was built across the river, reflecting a curved figure in the water.

The sun is good today, and many old people gather to chat at the door of their homes, or set up a table in the yard to play cards and mahjong.There are also young and strong people who go to the fields to look around, and some children buy round cards from the grocery store and play on the ground, chasing each other, and running across the dirt road with laughter.

The friend saw it very freshly, holding your hand and asking endlessly, what is this for a while, what is that for a while.You think friends who look like this are fresher, so answer them patiently.Just talking and laughing like you didn't encounter any weird things.

You walk across the bridge, the river is covered with green aquatic plants, and the breeze brings the smell of vegetation.The friend pointed to the other side of the bridge and asked, "What is that little house?"

If you look over, there is a small white-walled red-tiled cottage on the other side of the bridge, with front and back doors. There is a pair of small yellow-tiled lions in front of the door, and a mottled incense burner is erected.

You recalled carefully: "Earth Temple? When my grandfather went to the funeral, the children and grandchildren would go around the village with the portrait in their hands. When they came to the bridge, they would go in one by one to kowtow and donate a coin. It should be us customs here."

You paused, then pointed to a certain building on the other side, and continued: "The courtyard over there is the village medical clinic, but there are usually two doctors, one of whom is not on duty, a barefoot doctor who comes only when he is free, and the other I work, but it is very busy, so I may not be able to meet a doctor usually, and there are many patients in the yard usually chatting together."

"Earth Temple?" My friend seemed more interested in this, "Go and see?"

"Okay, but it's quite small inside, and there's nothing interesting about it."

As you talked, you approached the Earth Temple, planning to go in and take a look.Suddenly, your friend stopped you and made a booing gesture: "Wait, someone is talking..."

You paused, and you heard someone talking in the Earth Temple: "It's not good to eavesdrop on others..."

"I heard they seem to be talking about Goddess Zhao..."

You and your friends quietly stopped at the door, listening carefully to the voices inside.

It was the voices of two women, both of whom sounded about forty.One of them said, "Are you still dreaming recently?"

Another said: "Oh, bye please rest assured."

"Your old man passed away last year, and this year is still dreaming?"

"Who says it's not? There is no disease or disaster. When you live to the old age, the funeral is also considered a happy funeral. It's just been like this for a year. I dreamed about it every now and then. Last night I dreamed that he was sitting on the stool in our house and didn't speak. , just staring at me. Recently, the village is also very evil, the day before yesterday, Goddess Zhao did not return those mochi..."

"It's strange. Does the old man have any unfinished wishes?"

"As children and grandchildren, why don't you help with your wishes, but the old man doesn't talk in his dream, just sits there..."

"Why don't you go and find Goddess Zhao? Ask her to recruit a spirit for you, and ask the old man clearly?"

"Sister Zhao hasn't done this business for many years..."

"Oh, you have to make the family feel at ease, and the old man has to go away with peace of mind. You can give more money for hard work. If you can't recruit the spirit, you can ask her to drive away the evil..."

The sound gradually died down, followed by footsteps, and they seemed to have left through the door on the other side.

"Recruiting spirits?" the friend asked.

"I don't know either... Literally, maybe it means to find something evil and talk to someone...?" You guessed, and your heart moved slightly.

While talking, you walked into the Earth Temple.The inside of the small temple was a bit dark, the two who had just talked had already left, and only the wooden statue of Tudigong and the two of you were left here.The wooden statue has long been mottled and mottled, and the smiling face of the Land Lord can still see the original appearance, but the lacquer painting is peeling off, which is not very kind, and the rust on the merit box is also covered with red paint.A gesture of disrepair.

"Bye bye?" The friend suggested endlessly.

"I'll say bye myself, and you forget it," you said, not wanting your friend to share all the misfortune you caused, "you wait for me on the sidelines."

You walk up to the land statue, kneel on the futon, put your hands together, and close your eyes.

You think, I hope this matter can be settled safely and smoothly, and no one will have any accidents

You can hear the breathing of your friends beside you in the quiet earth temple.

You think, hope you can...be best friends forever, and that's enough.

When you open your eyes, the Landlord is still smiling. You stand up and say to your friend, "Okay, okay, let's go?"

"Why don't you let me pay my respects too," the friend joked, "I also have something I want to ask for."

"What wish do you have? Why don't you tell me, maybe I can help you realize it." You also joked.

The friend laughed and said, "Hmph...I won't tell you - shit! What's going on?!"

It's like this again, is it going to be like this again?In the blink of an eye, you think.After all, I have been happy so far today, why did something happen all of a sudden?

You turned around suddenly, only to see the face of the wooden statue of the Land Lord with kind eyebrows, kind eyes, and happy smile... No, to be more precise, deep red liquid was slowly oozing from its eyes, like blood and tears. It seems to be a little sticky, slowly flowing down, meandering traces of blood red.

"Don't be afraid!" You gritted your teeth, feeling full of resentment in your heart. How could you let such... let such annoying things affect your spirit, "I'll go up and have a look."

"Let me go with you! You were bitten by a snake when you took that spirit tablet last time. This time I'll be with you, so I can help you somewhat." The friend said urgently.

You didn't say no.

Together with you, your friend pushes the small incense burner, incense candles and offering plate on the altar to one side, and then you climb up on the altar and stand side by side, so that you can almost see the face of the statue of the land at the same level.

That woodcut face now looks very eerie and weird, with blood splattered on the stagnant smiling face, it is clearly a work of crude carving, and now it has a certain indescribable sense of reality... just like a real, dead person's face Face.

You held your breath, gently dipped a little bit of the red liquid with your finger, and smelled it.

It smells like blood.

You look at the statue of the land carefully, carefully looking for something wrong. You don't believe that this inanimate statue will shed blood and tears for no reason. Could it be that your wish is too much?You don't believe it, so you must find out why, for sure.

Finally, you noticed—the neck of this earth statue, at some point, there was a thin and narrow smooth cut, which circled the neck of the wood sculpture, making a beheading look.

You make a guess.

"...help," you say.

Your friend looks at you worriedly: "Why don't I come? I'm stronger."

"I'm fine," you shook your head, "...just help me."

Friends can't stand you, reach out to help.You hold the head of the land statue together and try to lift it up slowly.

The head and neck parted along the cut, and you felt a chill, as if you had literally cut off the neck of a living person or a corpse.

There is still some weight on that end, you two lifted it up carefully, holding it up, got off the altar together, and tilted the head of the statue over.

This wooden statue is hollow, with an oiled paper bag stuffed inside the head, and what is wrapped in the oiled paper is that it is oozing blood.You inspected the face of the wooden head again, and found that two small holes had been drilled in the eyeballs of the land, so there was blood oozing.

You were going to take out the oil-paper bag to find out, but your friend stopped you.

"I'll do it this time." After she finished speaking, without waiting for you to refuse, she resolutely stretched out her hand, reached into the head, and took out the bloody oiled paper bag in one go.

The friend's expression was quite stiff, but he still took out a tissue to wipe his hands, and smiled: "Oh, it's really nothing!"

You bit your lip and carefully opened the oiled paper without saying a word.

Inside were two... dead mice whose tails were closed, roughly as long as forearms. The sternum had been bitten off in the chest cavity, and the heart and several lungs were gone, leaving only the bloody empty chest cavity.

"This is..." The friend looked at another object in the oiled paper.

You recognized it at a glance: it was a snake slough.