Ning Hangyi: A game that must be fouled

Chapter 6 Spiritual Medium
"...Thinking about it now, I've actually been aware of something wrong from the very beginning. It's just that I didn't pay attention to it at the time, and it was impossible to think that this little 'wrong' would be the beginning of a series of horrible incidents later. .”

(Ji Ning's diary)
[-]st day (morning)

The mother was cooking lunch in the kitchen. When the doorbell rang, she was cutting pork with greasy hands. She could only shout to her son's room: "Jining, go and open the door!"

Ji Ning, who will be in the third year of high school next term, is enjoying the rare leisure in the summer vacation. He sighed impatiently, said "wait a minute" to the online video chat partner, then stood up, walked to the living room and opened the door.

A clear voice jumped in together with the little guy at the door. "Cousin Ji Ning!"

Ji Ning was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Doudou!"

"What, Doudou is here?" Mother wiped her hands with a veil and came out of the kitchen.When the little guy saw her, he called out, "Auntie!"

"Hey, Doudou." Ji Ning's mother smiled at her nephew, looking at the door, "Where's your mother, behind?"

Doudou walked towards the living room, untied a bag he was carrying, and put it on the sofa. "Mom didn't come, I came alone!"

"What?" Ji Ning's mother opened her mouth in surprise. "You came alone? No way?"

While talking, she walked to the door and looked outside, but she did not see Doudou's mother.She walked into the living room suspiciously and asked her 7-year-old nephew, "Doudou, what's going on?"

"Auntie, I'm dying of thirst, please pour me a glass of water." Doudou said, sticking out her tongue.

Only now did Ji Ning and his mother see that the little guy was flushed and sweating profusely, apparently he had walked directly from the station on this hot day.Mom hurried to get a cup to pour water, Ji Ning said "no need", took out a can of Coke from the refrigerator, and handed it to Doudou.Doudou lifted the lid of the Coke, drank it all in one gulp, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "It's so cool!"

Ji Ning's mother squatted in front of Doudou, and asked in a puzzled and anxious tone: "Doudo, tell aunt, why did you come alone? Could it be something happened at home?"

Doudou said disapprovingly: "No, my mother said that now that I am grown up, I can go to the city by car alone. She sent me to the car and went back."

Ji Ning's mother looked at him suspiciously. "Really? Even so, she should call me first, right?"

Ji Ning said: "Mom, you can call and ask Auntie now."

"Your aunt's house doesn't have a phone, so I can only call the village committee's communication room and ask them to call for help. It's really troublesome." Mom said with a frown.Pausing for a moment, he said to himself again, "But I have to call to find out." As he spoke, he walked to the landline in the living room and pressed a series of numbers.

Doudou held Ji Ning's hand, her eyes sparkled. "Cousin, are there any new games installed on your computer?"

Ji Ning scratched his cousin's nose with his finger. "I know you're thinking about this, let's go, come to my room."

"Okay!" Doudou slid off the sofa like a loach, clapped her hands and rushed to her cousin's room.

Ji Ning remembered that he was still making an online video with someone, so he walked to the computer first, said to the person in the video "Let's chat next time", then turned off the chat tool, and pointed to a few icons on the computer desktop. "These are newly installed games, you can see what you like to play."

"Great!" Doudou clicked on one of the games with the mouse and was immediately addicted to it.

Ji Ning sat aside and watched Doudou play, teaching him from time to time.After more than ten minutes, my mother walked to the door of the room, beckoned to him, and said in a low voice, "Jining, come here."

When the mother and son walked to the dining room, Ji Ning saw his mother frowning, and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter, have you found my aunt? Nothing really happened, right?"

"Your aunt came to answer the phone. I asked her, and she also said that she wanted to exercise Doudou's independence, so she asked him to come to us by bus alone. But..." Mom hesitated, "I always I feel a little bit wrong..."

"What's wrong?"

Mom glanced at Doudou in Ji Ning's room and lowered her voice. "It's not that you don't know about the situation at your aunt's house. Doudou has been dependent on his mother since he was a child, and your aunt regards him more than anything else. In the past, when you came to the city to play, your aunt would not stop holding him when you went shopping. Hold Doudou's hand, afraid that he will get lost, or some accident will happen - but this time, she let Doudou come alone, isn't it strange?"

What his mother said made Ji Ning feel that this matter was indeed somewhat unusual, and it also reminded him of his aunt's unfortunate experience.

My aunt lived in the village of my hometown, and married my uncle at the age of 23.Both of them have little money and rely on meager income to maintain a family, but this does not affect that they have more joy and happiness than anyone else.After the arrival of the son, this warm little nest is even more happy.But no one could have imagined that when Doudou was about to turn one year old, a strange thing happened—the little uncle "disappeared" inexplicably one day.My aunt searched the whole village and even the whole county, but found nothing.The little uncle evaporated like dew—this mysterious disappearance has remained a mystery until now.

After that—my aunt almost wanted to wander around the world, searching the whole world.But in the end, for the sake of her son—the only remaining meaning of her life—she compromised, and did not waste any more time and energy on that meaningless search.But everyone knows that in my aunt's life, every day, even every minute and every second, she is looking forward to a miracle—one day, her beloved husband will appear at the door and return to her—— But this hope, in exchange for a full six years of disappointment.

Thinking of this, Ji Ning felt his nose a little sore.He looked at his mother, and found that his mother was also looking sad, apparently also caught in the past just like him.Ji Ning took a deep breath. "Mom, what do you think is going on?"

Mom shook her head in a daze, and after a few seconds, she seemed to come out of that bitter memory. "I don't know, I just think it's kind of weird."

Ji Ning comforted his mother: "Maybe we are thinking too much. After all, Doudou is 7 years old now, and my aunt may really want to exercise him. I saw a TV program that let a 4-year-old child fly to another city alone Going to the parents—that's nothing in comparison."

"Maybe." Mom nodded slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'm going to add two dishes and make a few more delicious things. You let Doudou go to the bathroom to take a shower, and then take him upstairs to meet your grandma—she must be happy that Doudou is here. "

Ji Ning nodded and walked towards his room.

[-]nd day (noon)

After Doudou took a shower, Ji Ning took him upstairs.

Ji Ning's home is half-floor, with a total of 180 square meters upstairs and downstairs, which is considered a big house.Ji Ning lives downstairs, and the two bedrooms on the second floor are parents' room and grandma's room.Grandma is 70 years old. Two years ago, she suffered from mild hemiplegia. One leg of her lower body cannot move, and she almost always lies in bed.When you want to go out, you can only use crutches or a wheelchair.Ji Ning has a very good relationship with his grandmother. In his memory, his grandmother has always loved him since he was a child—of course, he also loves Doudou, a clever little grandson.

"Grandma, grandma!" Doudou yelled all the way and ran to grandma's bed, like a puppy having fun.

"Hey, isn't this Doudou? When did you come here?" Grandma smiled happily, and Ji Ning helped her get up straight from the bed.

"Just arrived." Doudou said, "I even took a shower!"

"Well, no wonder it smells so good." Grandma squeezed Doudou's chubby little arm, "Where's your mother? Why doesn't she come to see me?"

"My mother didn't come, I came alone!" Doudou said proudly.

"What, your mother didn't send you here?" Obviously, grandma's reaction was the same as her mother's.Ji Ning explained to her grandmother that my aunt wanted to exercise Doudou's independence.

"Your little aunt, you really feel relieved..." Grandma said dissatisfiedly, "Isn't she afraid that my little grandson will be abducted?"

"Grandma!" Doudou pouted. "I'm not a child anymore, I'm almost 8 years old!"

"Yes, yes, Doudou has grown up and is a little man!" Grandma laughed again, caressing Doudou's immature cheeks with her withered hands, and sighed, "It's a pity, grandma is old now, I can't take you out to play."

As she said that, the grandmother reached under the pillow and took out a small bag, took out a few hundred yuan from it, and handed it to the little grandson. "Here, Doudou, let your cousin Ji Ning take you to play in the afternoon."

If it was before, Doudou would have readily followed up, and then shouted "Thank you grandma!" But this time, like a sensible adult, he waved his hands and said, "No grandma, I have pocket money."

"Hey, my little grandson can say polite words." Grandma smiled and handed the money to Doudou, "Take it, why are you being polite to grandma? How much pocket money do you have?"

Doudou seemed to be underestimated, blushing and said: "I really have it! If you don't believe me, I'll show it to you!"

As she said that, Doudou took out a stack of money from a hidden pocket inside the trouser bag and waved it around. "Well, I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Ji Ning and grandma looked at the money in Doudou's hands in surprise. "Show it to my cousin." Ji Ning took the stack of money and counted it, and there were more than 1000 yuan.

The grandmother looked at the little grandson in astonishment. "Doudou, tell grandma, where did you get so much money?"

"My mother gave me pocket money." Doudou said proudly.

"Your mother... gave you so much pocket money?" Ji Ning opened his mouth wide.He knew that my aunt grew vegetables in her hometown and sold them to dealers in the city at a low price. Her monthly income was sometimes only two or three hundred yuan.From time to time, my mother always sends some money to support her—the more than 1000 yuan in Doudou's hand now is a huge sum of money for my aunt's family.

Grandma stared at Doudou, her expression gradually became serious, she murmured: "Your mother, she..." She didn't go any further.

Just then, my mother's voice came from downstairs. "Jining, Doudou, it's time to eat!"

Ji Ning put the money away for Doudou, and said, "Take it well, don't lose it." Then he said to his grandmother, "We're going down to eat, grandma, I'll bring it to you later."

"Well, good..." Grandma replied nah-na, with a dazed look on her face, seeming to be thinking.

After going downstairs, Ji Ning saw that his father had come back from get off work, and Doudou called uncle lively.The family sits at the dinner table.

During the meal, Ji Ning's mother kept adding vegetables to Doudou. It could be seen that Doudou hadn't eaten such a rich and delicious meal for a long time, and she devoured it hungrily.Ji Ning's mother was watching, her nose was a little sore again.At this time, she saw that the vest worn by Doudou had been rotten with several small holes, and the shorts had been washed and worn out long ago, and the original color could hardly be seen—suddenly her eyes turned red, and Helping Doudou with food, he said, "Auntie will buy some new clothes for you in the afternoon, and then I will ask my cousin to take you to the playground."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Doudou raised her head and muttered, her mouth full.

"Doudou, tell your aunt what else you want, and my aunt will buy it from you."

Doudou chewed the food and thought about it. "Auntie, I want to draw, please help me buy some drawing paper and paints."

"No problem." Ji Ning's mother took another big chopsticks with Doudou.

After dinner, Doudou went to Ji Ning's room to play computer games.Mom pulled Ji Ning to the kitchen and gave him 600 yuan: "You can take this money and take Doudou to play in the afternoon."

Ji Ning said in a low voice, "I was just about to tell you that just now grandma gave Doudou some money, but Doudou said he was rich, so she took more than 1000 yuan out of her trouser pocket."

"What, more than 1000?" Mom's eyes widened in surprise, "How could he have so much money?"

"It's my aunt who gave him pocket money."

"Impossible." My mother vetoed it flatly. "I know your aunt's financial situation very well. Let alone pocket money, her family may have a total of more than 1000 yuan. How can it be possible to give so much to the child?"

"My aunt won't get some windfall, right? Winning the lottery or something." Ji Ning guessed.

Mom shook her head again and again. "The small village where they live doesn't even have a lottery station. Why buy lottery tickets? Besides, your aunt is not someone who has spare money to buy lottery tickets."

"What's going on?" Ji Ning wondered.

Mom frowned. "Doudou's visit this time is indeed a bit strange."

At this time, Doudou shouted in the room: "Cousin, how do you play this game?"

"Go and play with Doudou." Mom said, "Let me think about it."

[-]rd day (afternoon)

In fact, Ji Ning has already asked someone out to play this afternoon. It is the female classmate in the high school class that he videotaped online before Doudou came - also the girlfriend he made without telling his parents.Now that the situation has changed, he can only call his girlfriend and tell him that he will go to the playground with his cousin in the afternoon, so he can't go on a date.Unexpectedly, his girlfriend actually said that he would go to the playground with them, and Ji Ning could only agree.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Ji Ning took his cousin out and walked a few streets. At the gate of a community, he saw his girlfriend Xiao Fan waiting there.

Xiao Fan was wearing a beautiful blue flower dress with a white background, and she looked youthful, beautiful and graceful.As soon as she walked over, Doudou pointed at her and said, "Big sister, I've seen you!"

"Oh?" Xiao Fan was a little surprised. "Yes, there?"

"In my cousin's computer, I saw your face and heard you talking!"

Xiao Fan giggled and said to Ji Ning, "Is this your cousin Doudou? How funny."

Ji Ning nodded, and said to his cousin, "Doudou, you should be called Sister Xiaofan."

"Sister Xiaofan." Doudou obediently called out, and then asked, "Are you dating my cousin?"

"Doudou!" Ji Ning blushed, "Don't talk nonsense."

Xiao Fan burst out laughing. "You little brat—Ji Ning, I don't think we need to pretend, we can't hide it from your clever cousin!"

Ji Ning sighed helplessly, knelt down and said, "Doudou, don't tell your uncle and aunt. I don't want them to meddle in my business, do you understand?"

Doudou nodded understandingly like a little adult. "Don't worry, cousin, this is our secret." His serious look made Xiao Fan burst into laughter again.

"Let's go, go to the playground!" Ji Ning and Xiao Fan held Doudou's hand together, and hailed a taxi across the street.

Ji Ning helped Doudou buy a playground pass worth more than 200 yuan, which allowed him to play all the items in the playground.Doudou had a great time playing, as if he had never been so happy.Ji Ning and Xiao Fan were infected by his happiness just by watching.By the time Doudou played each item next to each other, it was already 05:30.After leaving the playground, Xiao Fan suggested going to a nearby water bar for a cold drink.

The three of them ordered a glass of fruit juice each, and Xiao Fan ordered another banana split, which totaled 60 yuan. Just as Ji Ning was about to pay, Doudou took out a stack of money from his bag, took out a one-hundred-dollar bill and handed it to waiter. "Cousin, if you invite me to the playground, I'll treat you to a drink."

Ji Ning was about to say forget it, how can I get you to pay.Xiao Fan admired, "Doudou, I don't see that you are so rich and generous, like a man!"

"That is." Doudou said with her head held high.

Ji Ning couldn't say anything, he drank his drink in silence, thinking of the financial situation of his aunt's family, he felt a little uncomfortable.

He drank Doudou's glass of juice in one gulp, and his eyes were fixed on Xiaofan's banana boat. "Sister Xiaofan, is your... delicious?"

Seeing Doudou's eyes, Xiao Fan immediately understood, and he pushed the banana boat in front of Doudou. "Of course, try it."

Doudou scooped it into his mouth with a small spoon and took a sip. "Wow, it's delicious!"

"Then I'll buy you another copy." Ji Ning said.

"No need," Xiao Fan said, "one serving is enough, let me eat with Doudou. Doudou, you invited me to have a drink, and my sister will also invite you to the food street for barbecue and fried skewers later, why? Sample?"

"Okay, okay!" Doudou clapped her hands happily, "The city is good, there are so many delicious and interesting things, much better than our place!"

Xiao Fan smiled and asked, "Where are you guys?"

"Ore Village in Yi County." Doudou said.

Xiao Fan was stunned for a moment, then asked, "What's your name?"

"Doudou."

"That's a nickname, right? What about your big name?"

"Xu Rui—but everyone likes to call me by my nickname 'Doudou'."

Hearing this sentence, Xiao Fan was stunned suddenly, the smile on his face froze slowly, staring at Doudou blankly.

Doudou puts her head down and eats the banana split.Ji Ning noticed the change in his girlfriend's expression and asked, "Xiao Fan, what's wrong with you?"

"Hmm..." Xiao Fan turned his head and looked at Ji Ning, looking a little unnatural. "No... nothing."

Ji Ning frowned at her.

Doudou didn't notice anything wrong, he ate more than half of the banana split, and shoved it in front of Xiaofan with some embarrassment. "Sister Xiaofan, I'm sorry, I'm almost finished eating."

Xiao Fan's facial muscles tried hard to squeeze out a smile. "It's okay, you can eat."

"Then I really ate it." Doudou dragged the banana boat back and continued to eat.

Xiao Fan looked at his watch and said to Ji Ning: "By the way, I remembered that I have something to do tonight, let's go back."

Ji Ning looked at her. "Didn't you just say you were going to take Doudou to the food court? Why did something happen all of a sudden?"

"Yeah... just remembered." Xiao Fan said to Doudou in embarrassment, "Doudo, sister will treat you to a snack next time, okay?"

"Okay." Doudou finished eating the banana split and wiped his mouth with his hand.

The three of them left the cold drink shop, and Xiao Fan immediately hired a car.Sitting in the car, she hardly spoke much until she got out of the car first, then hurriedly said goodbye to Ji Ning and then left in a hurry.

What's wrong with her?Ji Ning looked at Xiao Fan's back, feeling confused.

[-]. Day [-] (evening)

After dinner, Ji Ning's mother gave Doudou a set of beautiful and complete painting utensils. Doudou seemed to like painting very much, and she was so happy that she wanted to create immediately.But his aunt urged him to take a shower, and then put Doudou into a new designer T-shirt, shorts and sneakers.After a new look, Doudou seems to be a different person, fashionable and handsome, not at all like a child from the country.

Everyone gathered in the living room, evaluating Doudou's new image.Grandma sat in the wheelchair and laughed from ear to ear: "My little grandson looks more foreign than those children in the city!"

Doudou himself was very happy, jumping and jumping in new clothes, and even combed a new hairstyle in front of the mirror with a comb, which made everyone laugh.

Doudou ran to Ji Ning's side. "Cousin, do you have a camera? Take a picture for me!"

Ji Ning teased him: "What are you doing? You still want to post it online to participate in the draft?"

Doudou scratched his head unconsciously. "I want to...show it to my mother when I get back."

As soon as the words came out, everyone was stunned. Ji Ning's father said: "Doudo, after you go back, does your mother still need to look at the photos? Can she just look at you?"

Doudou stood there blankly, in a trance. "Well... yes."

"This child, isn't he too happy? He's confused." Ji Ning's mother laughed.

At this time, Ji Ning suddenly heard a faint voice, like someone singing.He thought it was the voice on the TV at first, but found that the program broadcast on the TV had nothing to do with the singing, so he couldn't help asking: "Did you hear any sound?"

"I heard it too, it seemed like someone was singing something." Dad said.He picked up the remote and pressed the TV to mute.

The living room suddenly fell silent, and at this moment, everyone clearly heard this soft singing voice:
"Pull the big saw, pull the big saw, grandma's house, sing a big show. Pick up the daughter, invite the son-in-law, and the little grandson is going too... The cheapskate, drink cold water, break the tank, can't drink water, ask his wife to hang him, Give birth to a child with one leg..."

Everyone could hear clearly that it was a woman singing a nursery rhyme, her voice was as soft as snow, it sounded a bit bitter, and... there was a sense of familiarity.

Ji Ning's mother suddenly called out: "Oh, isn't this the voice of Huiyun (Doudo's mother)?"

Everyone heard this reminder, and it felt strange and inexplicable.

A few seconds later, Doudou suddenly remembered something, and shouted: "It's mom, mom called me!"

Before everyone could react, they saw Doudou rushing towards the bathroom. Ji Ning and his mother followed and found that Doudou took out a mobile phone from the bag of the shorts that had been changed, and the singing came from here.

After Doudou pressed the answer button, the singing stopped. He held the phone and shouted happily: "Mom, mom!"

Dad also came over and saw Doudou answering the phone, he was relieved: "It turns out that Huiyun recorded the nursery rhyme she sang and set it as a ringtone."

Doudou walked out while answering the phone: "Well, I know... I will listen to my uncle and aunt...Mom, my aunt bought new clothes for me, and my cousin took me to the playground in the afternoon..."

I don't know what I said to Doudou on the phone. After several minutes, Doudou suddenly said: "Mom, I will be good, don't cry."

All eyes are on the past.

Doudou listened intently for a few more minutes, not knowing what she was agreeing to. "Okay, mom, I promise you... Well, goodbye, you will call me every night from now on."

Hearing that Doudou seemed to be about to end the call, grandma suddenly called out: "Doudo, give me the phone, I want to talk to your mother."

"Oh, okay, mom, grandma said she..." Doudou stopped and put down the phone slowly. "Mom, she hung up the phone."

Grandma looked annoyed. "Is she deliberately not wanting to talk to me?"

Ji Ning's mother said: "Mom, how could it be? Huiyun must have hung up the phone when you said it."

"Then you call her now and say I'm looking for her."

"Mom, have you forgotten? Huiyun doesn't have a phone at home. She may have called from the public phone at the entrance of the village. I'm calling now, and it's not her who answered the phone."

Grandma turned her head away and stopped talking.

Ji Ning's mother suddenly remembered something. "Doudou, whose phone is yours?"

"Mine." Doudou said.

"Your? Did your mother buy it from you?"

Doudou nodded. "Well, my mother went to the county town to buy it for me last week."

Ji Ning's mother looked back at her husband in disbelief. "It's really weird. Huiyun doesn't have a phone at home, but she bought a mobile phone from Doudou—is it necessary? What does such a young child use a mobile phone for?"

Doudou said: "Mom said, if I have a mobile phone, she can call me when she misses me in the future."

Grandma's face gradually turned around, looking at Doudou.

Mother and father looked at each other and asked, "Doudo, haven't you been by your mother's side all the time? Why does she want to call you?"

"I'm not by her side now." Doudou said.

"But you are at our house. If your mother misses you, can't you just call our house? Why do you have to buy a mobile phone and call you? "

Doudou stopped talking.

After a moment of silence, Ji Ning's mother couldn't help asking: "Doudo, have you told us the truth? Why did your mother give you so much money and buy you a mobile phone?"

"I don't know..." Doudou said in a low voice.

At this time, the grandma who was on the side suddenly asked, "Doudou, what did your mother tell you on the phone just now?"

"She didn't say anything, she just told me to be obedient and not to be naughty, and she also said..."

"What else?" Everyone looked at him.

Doudou laughed. "My mother also said that she loves me very much."

"Did your mother cry just now?" Ji Ning's mother asked.

Doudou nodded.

"Why is she crying?"

"I don't know." Doudou lowered her head and remained silent.

Ji Ning's father said: "Maybe it's because Huiyun has never been separated from the child, and she can't get used to it for a while, and she misses the child. It's no big deal."

"Maybe." Mom nodded slowly.

"It's okay, let's watch TV." Dad picked up the remote control and was about to turn on the sound.

"Wait a minute." Grandma yelled, and she came to Doudou in a wheelchair and stared at him: "Doudo, grandma will ask you something again—the song on your phone just now was sung by your mother, right?" ?”

"Yeah." Doudou nodded, "My mother often sang it to me when I was sleeping."

"Why did she record it on her phone?"

"My mother said, in this way, even if she is not by my side in the future, I can still hear her voice."

Grandma didn't speak anymore, her face slowly turned away, thoughtful.

Ji Ning's mother walked to her side and asked softly, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Grandma's lips opened and closed, and she didn't speak for a long time. After a while, she made a sound: "Huiqing (Ji Ning's mother's name), please take me to the room, I want to sleep."

"Oh, good." Mom turned to Ji Ning's father and said, "Help me, Mom wants to go back to her room to rest."

Dad hurried over, and together with mom, grandma got off the wheelchair and carried her upstairs carefully.

After a while, my mother came downstairs to make arrangements: "Ji Ning, you can sleep with Doudou tonight."

"En." Ji Ning responded, and glanced at Doudou next to him, and found that his eyes were staring at the ground blankly, not sure if he was in a daze or thinking about something.

Ever since Doudou answered the phone call from Auntie, there was a weird atmosphere in the house.But—Ji Ning thought again—the whole day has been a little weird, what's going on?

At this time, he didn't know that what happened that day was just a precursor, and terrible things followed one after another.

[-]th day (morning)

Because Doudou came, Ji Ning's mother made the breakfast extra rich: milk, bread, peanut porridge, fried eggs and ham, and the table was full.Ji Ning sat at the dining table with his father and Doudou for breakfast, and Doudou ate almost everything.

It was inconvenient for grandma to go downstairs. Ji Ning's mother filled a bowl of porridge and was about to serve it to her when the phone rang in the living room.

Mom put down the bowl, walked over to pick up the phone, and said "yes", and after more than ten seconds, she exclaimed: "What!"

Ji Ning and his father looked over together.

Mom turned her body away, with her back to them, whispering something, and Ji Ning noticed that her mother's shoulders were twitching slightly.

A few minutes later, my mother slowly put down the phone, but she was still sitting there with her back to them, her hands hugging her shoulders, her body trembling.

Dad walked over and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Mother wiped her cheeks twice with her palm, obviously wiping away her tears. She glanced back at Doudou, swallowed her saliva, and took a deep breath.

Doudou was eating fried eggs with big mouthfuls, and didn't notice her aunt's side.But Ji Ning saw that her mother's face was pale and confused, and it was obvious that she was trying to control her emotions.

Intuition told Ji Ning that something must have happened.

After taking a few deep breaths again, my mother walked over with a sullen face.At this time, Doudou just finished eating, and his mother said to him: "Doudo, grandma hasn't had breakfast yet, you can send this bowl of porridge to grandma, and then have dinner with grandma, okay?"

"Okay." Doudou picked up the peanut porridge on the dining table and walked upstairs to grandma's room.

The mother said to the father and son, "Come in." He walked into Ji Ning's room.

Dad closed the door of the room. "What happened?"

My mother couldn't control it anymore, she sat on the bed covering her face and sobbed.Dad sat down and held her shoulders, and asked anxiously again: "What's the matter?"

After sobbing in a low voice for a while, mother raised her head, looked at Ji Ning and his son with red eyes, and suppressed her voice. "The call just now was from the village head of Mineral Village. He told me... Huiyun... the night before yesterday, she hanged herself!"

Ji Ning's head exploded with a buzzing sound, and his mind went blank in shock.Dad was obviously stunned too, he was speechless with his mouth open for a long time.

After my mother finished saying this, she couldn't help covering her face and weeping bitterly, but she just controlled herself so as not to cry too loudly.Dad stayed there for a long time, and suddenly remembered something: "The night before yesterday? Didn't Huiyun call Doudou?"

"The village chief said that the forensic doctor at the police station came to appraise it, and the time of death was the night before yesterday." Mom said with tears, "Maybe, after Huiyun finished calling Doudou that night, she just..."

At this time, Ji Ning recalled that after Doudou received a call from his aunt the night before, he said that his mother was crying, and that he loved him so much—oh my god, was that aunt saying goodbye to her son before committing suicide?
"Why did Huiyun commit suicide?" Dad asked suspiciously.

Mom shook her head sadly. "I don't know... The village chief didn't elaborate. He told me to go to the village immediately today. One is to deal with Huiyun's funeral, and there are other things I want to tell me."

"Then I'll go with you." Dad stood up, "I'm going to pack up now and leave right away."

"Wait a minute." His mother stopped him, and then looked at Ji Ning. "I remind you of one thing."

The father sat back, and the mother stared at the father and son and said, "Only the three of us know about this matter, otherwise people may die."

Ji Ning was stunned for a moment, but immediately understood.

Grandma suffers from heart disease, and the doctor told her that she should not be stimulated by anything, otherwise her life would be in danger; and for Doudou, the mother's suicide was too cruel for him at a young age—besides, if he If you know that your mother is dead, if you start crying, it is tantamount to telling your grandmother.

Dad also realized this problem, and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes... Don't let the old lady know about this now, or it will be even worse."

Ji Ning said worriedly: "But how long can we keep it a secret?"

"How long we can hide it..." Mom said sadly, "At least let us deal with your aunt's funeral."

Ji Ning thought about it. "Mom, Grandma might be suspicious if you go with Daddy. Or—I'll go with you, and Daddy stays at home."

Mom looked at Dad.After thinking for a moment, Dad nodded and said, "Okay, let Ji Ning go with you, but how do you tell his grandmother?"

"Let's say I went to a university in other places. Didn't I talk about which university I will study in the future when I was having dinner?" Ji Ning said.

"That's it." Dad said.

Mom wiped her tears with a tissue and took a deep breath. "After we leave the room for a while, don't let Doudou and his grandmother notice anything, and pretend to be okay. Mom has a lot of eyes, don't let her see any flaws."

Dad sighed: "It's mainly you, as long as you don't let the old lady see anything."

"I will endure it." Mom stood up from the bed, opened the door, and the three of them walked out.

Doudou was still eating with grandma in the upstairs room, and Ji Ning heard him telling grandma the story he read in the fairy tale book yesterday.Ji Ning adjusted his emotions in his heart.

Mom went to the bathroom to wash her face, then went to the room to put on a little makeup, completely erasing the traces of crying.Then, she went to grandma's room with Ji Ning, and told her mother the excuse Ji Ning had just thought up, saying that she might have to stay out of town for a day or two.Grandma didn't get suspicious, she just told them to pay attention to safety when going outside.

Doudou didn't want his aunt and cousin to leave, but after his uncle explained the reason to him, he agreed sensiblely that he would stay with grandma at home.

After explaining everything, the mother and son hurried out and went straight to the bus station.

Sixth day (afternoon)

After more than two hours' drive, Ji Ning and his mother arrived at Yixian County.I ate something casually in a small restaurant, and then took a minibus for more than 40 minutes before arriving at the ore village.It was already past four o'clock in the afternoon when the two arrived at the village committee office.

The village head poured two glasses of water for the mother and son, then sat down on a wicker chair opposite them, and sighed: "Oh, I didn't expect this to happen. You guys are so sad."

Mother didn't care to catch her breath, and asked eagerly with tears in her eyes, "Village Chief, do you know why my sister committed suicide? I mean, did she encounter anything before committing suicide?"

"Don't you know?" the village chief asked in surprise.

"what do you know?"

"The reason why Huiyun committed suicide."

Mom looked at the village head: "How would I know? If I knew she was going to commit suicide, I would have rushed over to stop her!"

"That's true." The village head nodded, then frowned. "That's weird. I asked Huiyun's neighbors and those people who often contacted her, and they all said they couldn't figure out what was going on, and they couldn't even guess the reason."

After a moment of silence, Ji Ning asked, "Village Chief, who was the first to find out that my aunt committed suicide?"

"Aunt Chen, who lives next to her, only found out this morning, and she was terrified."

"How did she know that Huiyun hanged herself at home?" Mom asked.

The village chief said: "The day before yesterday, before Huiyun died, he gave all the five old hens raised by the family to Aunt Chen. Aunt Chen was very grateful at first, but after two days, she felt something was wrong, because she hadn't seen them since then. Huiyun went out. So early this morning, she went to knock on the door, but she smelled a bad smell at the door..."

"Stink?" Ji Ning frowned.

The village head looked at him. "Isn't it? On such a hot day, the corpse has been covered in the house for two days, can it lose its smell?"

Some pictures appeared in Ji Ning's mind - the rotten corpse hanging on the beam, surrounded by mosquitoes and flies... He tried not to think that it was his aunt's face, but he still felt nauseated and almost vomited out.The mother next to her covered her face and sobbed again.

The village head stood up, took out a piece of paper from the desk drawer behind him, and handed it to Ji Ning's mother. "We found a note she left behind at Huiyun's house, which was addressed to you. I can't understand it. You can read it, maybe you know what she meant by these few words."

"Huiyun, she... left a suicide note?" Mother tremblingly took the piece of paper, and saw a few crooked lines on it, which were exactly her poor sister's handwriting.Feeling so emotional, my mother's tears poured out like a river on an embankment.Ji Ning leaned his head over and saw the contents of the note——

"Sister, I know something. I know where Doudou's father has gone. I know everything. Sister, I'm so scared. I've never been so scared, but I dare not tell anyone. Only Take this secret to the grave. Sister, I just hope not to be disturbed now, and that's enough.

--cloud"

In just a few lines, he called "Sister" three times.When Ji Ning's mother read it, it was as if her younger sister was shouting in her ear, which made her heartbroken and heartbroken.

"Can you understand what she means?" the village chief asked.

Mom shook her head sadly.

"You don't even understand?" The village chief showed a surprised expression. "This note is written by Huiyun to her sister, which is yours, but you don't know what she means? Are you her only sister?"

Mother replied: "Yes, Huiyun only has me as an older sister."

The village chief stared at Ji Ning's mother for a while, and sighed: "Since you can't understand it, why Huiyun committed suicide is really a mystery."

Her mother choked up and said, "Maybe... Huiyun didn't want to tell us anything at all. She just poured out the anxiety and fear buried in her heart before committing suicide..."

Ji Ning asked suspiciously: "Why does my aunt feel fearful?"

"I don't know..." Mom said wearily, "I'm in a mess right now."

Ji Ning pointed to the note. "Mom, show me." Mom handed it to him.

Ji Ning read the words on the note several times, the desperation and fear revealed between the lines made him feel a chill, and he couldn't help shivering.

This note reveals a lot of weird information, which is puzzling—what does my aunt know?What is she afraid of?What's even more strange is that since she has decided to "take this secret to the grave", why does she say that she does not want to be disturbed?A person is already dead, what else can be disturbed?
Ji Ning tried his best to think, and suddenly thought of another question.He turned his head and asked, "Mom, do you think there is something missing in this note?"

"What do you mean?" Mom looked at Ji Ning. "What's missing?"

"Don't you think it's strange? The suicide note left by my aunt doesn't mention Doudou at all."

Hearing this, the village chief also came over. "Yes, logically speaking, Doudou is Huiyun's lifeblood. Why didn't she tell you all about it? By the way, where is Doudou now? Does he know about this?"

"Doudou is at our house. We haven't told him about it yet, for fear that he won't be able to accept it..." Mom said.

The village chief nodded and said, "That's fine. Although logically speaking, this child should be allowed to see his mother for the last time, but...it doesn't matter if you don't watch it, such a small child will be frightened..."

Ji Ning's mother seemed to be reminded. "Village chief, where is my sister's body now?"

"Just stop at her house."

"I'm going to see her." Mom's tears flowed down again.

The village chief frowned. "I think...or forget it, you should hire a few people and bury her directly."

"What's wrong? Why can't I go see her?" Mom asked.

"It's not that you can't see it, it's just..." the village chief looked distressed, "Huiyun has been dead for two days. In a village like ours, there is no way to do any embalming measures. Now...the corpse has begun to rot and stink. I'm afraid you'll be scared and have nightmares at night."

"No, I want to see my sister one last time." Mom said with tears, "No matter what she becomes, she is still my real sister."

Seventh day (evening)

When approaching the door of his aunt's house, Ji Ning felt his stomach start to churn again.

I don't know if it's a psychological effect, but there are still several meters away, and the door is closed again, but he seems to have smelled a rotting corpse.

The village chief stopped in his tracks and said to Ji Ning's mother, "Do you really want to go in and see? After opening the door, no one may be able to bear the stench."

Ji Ning also persuaded: "Mom, let's forget it."

"Yes, don't look at it. I'll ask someone to prepare the coffin and put the corpse in it for burial." The village chief suggested again.

Ji Ning's mother also seemed to hesitate a bit.He pondered for a moment. "I'll just go in and have a look, and I'll be out right away."

Seeing that she was still insisting, the village chief waved his hands helplessly. "Go and see, the door is unlocked, just push it open."

Mom walked to the door.Ji Ning stepped forward. "Mom, let me go with you."

"Don't go, I'll just take a look by myself. You just wait for me here." Mom said.

Ji Ning could only watch his mother walk to the door of his aunt's house, tremblingly pushed the wooden door open, and walked in.

This time, he really smelled the disgusting stench, and even the village chief couldn't help turning around and fanning his nose with his hand.Ji Ning's heart tightened when he thought that his mother could still stay inside at this moment.

About half a minute later, Ji Ning's mother rushed out covering her mouth with a livid face, threw herself beside a big tree at the door, and vomited violently.Ji Ning hurried over to help his mother beat her back.The village chief stepped forward quickly and closed the door.

After vomiting for a while, Ji Ning's mother couldn't help crying again.People who lived around came out, knowing that this was Huiyun's sister, they all came over to say words of comfort.An aunt in her 40s also wiped her tears. Later, Ji Ning knew that she was Aunt Chen.

It took a long time for my mother to calm down slowly.The sky is getting darker, and night is coming.The village chief said anxiously: "Sister Huiyun, don't be sad, let's get down to business. If the sky gets darker, we won't be able to see the way up the mountain!"

Ji Ning's mother looked up, full of sadness. "Village chief, I didn't guard my sister for a whole day, so I buried her?"

The village chief patted his leg anxiously: "The situation is special, we can no longer follow the old rules. It is the hottest few days of the year, and the corpse has been placed for two days. If we wait until tomorrow morning, then the The smell... I'm afraid no one will dare to come and help out the funeral!"

Ji Ning said: "Mom, listen to the village chief, we can't delay any longer."

Mom nodded numbly.

Seeing that Ji Ning's mother agreed, the village chief hurriedly called for help from the people around him. He asked people to invite the funeral director in the village, and asked Aunt Chen to find someone to carry the coffin.Everyone gets busy.In less than an hour, a black coffin was carried to the door of my aunt's house, and all the people who helped with the burial came.

It was already past seven o'clock in the evening, and the sky was getting darker and darker.The village chief directed several men to carry the corpse inside the house.According to his instructions, the people present should stand on both sides and let the person carrying the corpse pass through the middle, which is regarded as seeing the dead off.

Ji Ning and his mother stood at the front, and Aunt Chen was beside them, whispering:

"When the corpse comes out in a while, you should bow your head in silence and don't make any noise. Even if you want to cry, you have to bear it at that moment, otherwise the deceased will not be able to go on the road with peace of mind."

Ji Ning and his mother nodded in agreement.At this time, Ji Ning heard the footsteps of several people moving closer and closer, and couldn't help feeling nervous.

The dozen or so people lined up on both sides were all quiet and solemn.

Suddenly, a cheerful song that was extremely incompatible with the atmosphere of the scene sounded, which shocked everyone.Ji Ning was startled—it's his cell phone ringtone!

Ji Ning frantically took out his cell phone from his trouser pocket, and quickly pressed the answer button in order to stop the ringing.

A little boy's voice came from the phone: "Cousin, have you been to the university? Why didn't you call?"

Ji Ning was stunned - it was Doudou calling!
This sudden situation shocked Ji Ning and his mother, and they didn't know what to do for a while.Doudou asked on the phone: "Cousin, why are you silent? What are you doing?"

Ji Ning asked in a daze: "Doudou, how do you know my mobile phone number?"

"It was my grandma who told me that she asked me to call you to see if you have arrived."

At this time, several people came out of the house carrying the body.His mother looked at Ji Ning anxiously, and Ji Ning was completely flustered. He held the phone numbly, and heard Doudou say on the phone: "Cousin, I drew several pictures today, and one is for my mother." , and two are for grandma and aunt..."

The corpse's feet appeared in Ji Ning's sight.In the gap between several corpse bearers, he saw the dead aunt's legs, waist and upper body slowly passing by his eyes.At this time, my aunt's son was chatting with me on the phone!This was a strange situation that Ji Ning had never experienced before. He stood there blankly, at a loss.

And at this moment, a strange and terrifying thing happened——

When the head of his aunt's corpse passed in front of Ji Ning, he was shocked to see that the pale face that was beginning to rot slowly turned to his side without anyone noticing, with a pair of wide-open eyes staring blankly. stared at him.

For a moment, Ji Ning felt cold all over his body and his hair stood on end. He yelled "Ah!", and was so frightened that he was out of his wits. His body shook violently due to fear, and the phone fell to the ground with a bang.

Everyone looked at him, and his mother asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Ji Ning turned his body to one side, his breathing was short, and his mind was buzzing.Mom asked again.Ji Ning looked at his mother in horror, and was about to speak when he suddenly remembered that the mobile phone that had fallen to the ground was still in communication mode, so he quickly picked it up and put it to his ear, and heard Doudou's voice. "Cousin, what's the matter with you?"

Ji Ning tried his best to calm down his beating heart, he swallowed his saliva. "It's nothing, Doudou, I'll call you later." Hang up the phone.

Mom looked at him anxiously: "What happened to you just now?"

Ji Ning looked around at the people around him, and found that everyone was staring at him in surprise. He couldn't tell everyone what he saw just now. In fact, even he himself couldn't be sure what was going on.He wondered in horror, could it be that the corpse's head drooped in this direction due to the shaking?But why are the eyes open?And he clearly felt that those eyes were staring at him - it was really terrible - the more Ji Ning thought about it, the more he panicked and felt the creeps.

The village chief came over and looked at the mother and son. "Are you all right?"

Ji Ning didn't want everyone to be infected with an atmosphere of fear, he shook his head and said, "It's okay."

The village head looked at him suspiciously, and said to Ji Ning's mother: "The body has been put into the coffin, let's go up the mountain. I'll find someone to look after the land."

Mom nodded.The village head shouted, "Lift up the coffin!" Four strong men lifted the coffin tied with hemp rope and set off for the mountain.A group of people followed behind and walked towards the dark forest.

Eighth third day (evening)

After the funeral was over, it was already past nine o'clock in the evening, and my mother wept her last tear on my aunt's grave.After everyone comforted her for a long time, she was willing to leave.

There are no hotels or restaurants in this small village. The village chief said that he has two vacant rooms in his house, where Jining and his son can live.Aunt Chen and several women who had a good relationship with her aunt were unwilling to leave, saying that they wanted to stay with Ji Ning's mother for a while.A group of people came to the village chief's house together.

The village chief's house is a two-story brick house built by himself, with a total of six rooms upstairs and downstairs.Everyone gathered in the living room, and the wife of the village chief was busy making tea and pouring water.

Ji Ning's mother had controlled her emotions at first, but when she saw the note left by her sister when she was holding a tissue in her bag, she burst into tears again.Everyone said words of relief, but she shook her head and said, "I just can't figure out what happened to my sister and why she committed suicide?"

Everyone was silent.

Ji Ning's mother looked at everyone with pleading eyes: "Everyone, you are all my sister's friends and neighbors before she was alive. Do you really not know why my sister committed suicide? Could it be that she didn't show any signs before?"

Everyone shook their heads blankly.After a while, Aunt Chen said sadly: "That day, Huiyun said that she would give me all the chickens raised at home. , who knows... oh..."

Ji Ning's mother took Aunt Chen's hand and said, "Aunt Chen, you're not to blame for this incident. I just want to find out the truth about my sister's suicide - so I can explain to Doudou and his grandmother in the future!"

Aunt Chen said in embarrassment: "His sister Huiyun, if something happens to someone in our small mountain village, the whole village will know the next day. But we really can't figure out why Huiyun committed suicide. ——She didn't let us notice at all before."

A woman in her 30s said, "Yes, to tell you the truth, we also want to know what's going on, but no one in the village knows, so we can't even guess."

Ji Ning's mother lowered her head in disappointment. "So, the truth of Huiyun's suicide will never be known..."

There was another awkward silence in the living room.

The 10-year-old daughter of the village chief had been sitting by the side listening to the conversation of the adults. Seeing that everyone was silent, she suddenly said in wonder:
"If you use that method, won't you be able to know the truth?"

Ji Ning was taken aback, and looked at the little girl in surprise.Mom also raised her head and asked her: "What method?"

"What do children know, don't interrupt here!" The village chief yelled at his daughter, and patted her on the shoulder, "Go outside and play!"

The little girl pouted and went out, squatting in front of a pile of sand by the door to play.

Ji Ning's mother asked: "Village chief, what does your daughter mean?"

"Hey, if you're a kid, you're serious." The village head said disapprovingly, "You must have read some fairy tales and are talking nonsense here."

Ji Ning's mother thought for a while, but said nothing.

Then, it seemed that no one in the room wanted to continue the subject, and moved on to other things.

Ji Ning sat near the door, staring at the little girl at the door, recalling what she said just now.

His intuition told him that the girl wasn't talking nonsense, she really knew something.

Ji Ning stayed in the house for a while, and saw the village chief go to another house.He said to his mother, "I'll go out to get some air." Mom nodded, and Ji Ning walked towards the door.

The little girl draws with a stick in front of the sand.Ji Ning looked around, then squatted beside her, and asked in a low voice: "Little sister, you just said, is there any way to know the truth?"

The little girl raised her head and stared at Ji Ning with big eyes: "Do you believe what I say?"

"I believe it." Ji Ning said with certainty.

The little girl glanced at the people in the room. "Actually, they also know this method. The adults told me about it, but now they don't want to admit that there is such a method."

Ji Ning was confused. "What do you mean?"

The little girl lowered her voice and said in a mysterious tone: "Do you know what a psychic is?"

Ji Ning froze for a moment, he wasn't sure if what he understood was the same as what the little girl said, he tried it out. "You mean, the kind that can communicate with the souls of dead people..."

"Yes, that's what it means. Psychics can make the soul of the dead temporarily attach to themselves or others." The little girl stared at him. "I heard from the adults that there used to be a few powerful psychics in our village. When someone wanted to get in touch with the dead, they would go to these psychics for help. Then, the psychic would tell them, for example, 'Your old man's money is hidden under the bed, under the third brick from the left,' sort of thing, of course helped them a lot."

Ji Ning was a little surprised, but also very interested: "Is it so powerful? Then why did you say that adults don't recognize this method now?"

"Maybe there are some 'fakes' out now. They don't have psychic skills at all, but they claim to be psychics. The purpose is just to cheat money. So gradually everyone doesn't believe it." The little girl looked a little Sorry, but soon opened his eyes again. "But I heard from my classmate's mother that the psychics we used to be here were real. She had personally experienced this kind of miraculous thing before."

Ji Ning thought about it. "I see. You mean, if you want to know the truth about my aunt's suicide, you can ask a psychic for help?"

Unexpectedly, the little girl shook her head. "Actually, that's what I said. If you really want to do this, it may not work."

"why?"

"As I said just now, many psychics nowadays are fake, and it's not easy to find a real one. And I heard from my classmate's mother that the most powerful psychic in our village is no longer here."

"Where is he then?"

"Probably dead."

Ji Ning let out an "oh", looking a little disappointed.

The little girl seemed to see what Ji Ning was thinking, approached him and said, "Brother, don't be discouraged, let me tell you something."

Ji Ning stared at her.

"The psychic medium you are looking for may no longer exist, but if you can find his descendants, you may be able to help you channel the psychic. Because—" she said very mysteriously, "the psychic medium's Physiques can sometimes be hereditary, you know what I mean - if there is a true psychic in a family, then his descendants may also have psychic abilities."

Ji Ning stared at this 10-year-old girl in astonishment, dumbfounded.Her tone of voice is obviously much more precocious than the average little girl, and——

"How do you know these things so clearly?" Ji Ning asked.

The little girl smiled: "I heard what my classmate's mother said. As I said just now, she has experienced this kind of thing herself before. So, it's not that I know it clearly, but she knows it clearly."

"You don't seem to be afraid of these things at all?"

"What's there to be afraid of, I think it's funny." She replied with a wink.

What a bold and special girl - Ji Ning thought to himself.

At this time, the little girl's mother came to the door and shouted: "Xiao Deng, you're still outside at this late hour! Come in, wash your face, brush your teeth, and go to bed."

The girl responded and ran towards the room on the right.Ji Ning also stood up and went back to the living room in the middle.

The women in the room were chatting with Ji Ning's mother about Doudou's future.

"Will Doudou live with you all the time?" an old lady asked.

"Of course, his parents are gone, who will he follow if he doesn't follow us?" Ji Ning's mother said, "I will help him transfer schools when I get back, and let him study in the city."

A skinny woman hesitated and said, "What if Doudou's father... comes back again someday?"

Ji Ning's mother sighed: "If I could come back, I would have been back a long time ago... But I also look forward to a miracle one day. If Doudou can have a father, it will be better than having no parents... …Let’s talk about that day.”

Aunt Chen said sadly: "Doudou has lost his father since he was a child, and he is dependent on his mother. If he knows that his mother is also dead, I don't know how sad he will be. Sigh, why is this child so miserable?"

All the women in the room sighed, and some even wiped away their tears.But this time, Ji Ning's mother became stronger instead. She said firmly: "Although Doudou has encountered so many unfortunate things, our family will be his family from now on, and my aunt will treat him like his own mother." Yes, it won't make him less loving!"

The women were a little moved.But at this time, Ji Ning noticed that a short-haired woman in her 30s sitting in the far right corner had a slightly different expression from everyone else. She opened her mouth, looking like she was hesitant to speak, but finally said nothing Come, but with a look of fear and anxiety on his face.

Ji Ning frowned, he didn't know why this woman had such a weird expression.

When it was close to eleven o'clock, the aunts and aunts in the room stood up and said goodbye.Ji Ning's mother said many words of thanks to them, and then sent them out together with Ji Ning and the village chief.The women repeatedly asked the mother and son to stay, but they stood outside the door and talked for a long time before leaving one after another.

When they left, Ji Ning paid special attention to the short-haired woman in her 30s, and found that she turned her head to look at her mother several times, and showed that anxious expression again, which was very special among a group of women.

This woman seems to know something special - Ji Ning guessed vaguely - but why did she hold back?

Nine fourth day (morning)

Ji Ning's mother and son stayed at the village chief's house for one night.When I woke up in the morning, the village head's virtuous wife had already prepared a big table of sumptuous meals.Mom felt bad about it.The village head explained that in rural areas, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.Although the mother and son were not used to eating so much big fish and meat early in the morning, the hospitality was hard to come by, and each of them ate a big bowl of rice.

After breakfast, my mother said that the matter was over and it was time to go back.The village chief and his wife have been sending the mother and son to the village committee.Mother thanked the village chief repeatedly, and then walked towards the main road at the entrance of the village with Ji Ning.

Before leaving the village chief's house, Ji Ning bid farewell to the village chief's youngest daughter, the girl named Xiaodeng.Xiao Deng blinked those big eyes, and Ji Ning felt as if she was reminding herself with her eyes - don't forget what I told you last night.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Ji Ning and his mother saw the main road at the entrance of the village.At this time, they found a person standing on the side of the road, as if waiting for someone.After getting closer, Ji Ning was startled when he saw who that person was.

It was the short-haired woman who hesitated to speak last night.

Mom also recognized her and said, "Sister, are you waiting for someone here? Thank you for your help yesterday."

The woman held her hands together, looking a little embarrassed.After a few seconds, she said, "Sister, I'm here to wait for you."

Ji Ning's mother was taken aback: "Wait for me? What's the matter?"

The short-haired woman hesitated for a while. "I guess... there are some things you might not know."

The expression on her mother's face gradually became serious, and she tentatively asked, "What's the matter?"

The woman bowed her head. "Originally, I wanted to tell you yesterday, but there were too many people last night, and it was a bit inappropriate. That's why I woke up early in the morning and waited here..."

Mom stared at her, realizing that what she was going to say next must be something important.

"Sister, come here." The short-haired woman pulled Ji Ning's mother aside and whispered something in her ear.Standing a few meters away from them, Ji Ning could not hear her voice at all, but saw the constant changes in her mother's expression, astonished and panicked.When the woman finished speaking, her face turned pale.

"Really, there is such a thing? Why didn't I know it before?" Ji Ning's mother asked the woman in a low voice with a look of panic.

"Few people knew about this matter. Huiyun said she only told me one person—she didn't want others to know."

"Then what should I do?" Mom looked a little scared.

The woman shook her head and said, "I don't know either. Anyway, you should pay attention—I can only remind you."

Only the last few sentences of their mysterious conversation were heard by Ji Ning.But at this time, the short-haired woman had already buried her head and walked back, leaving Ji Ning's mother standing there in a daze.

Ji Ning walked to his mother. "Mom, what did she tell you?"

Mom turned her head to the side, eyes flickering: "I didn't say anything."

"Why, are you keeping this matter from me?" Ji Ning asked in surprise.

Mom looked at Ji Ning: "I don't want to hide it from you, but what she told me made my mind a little messed up for a while. Let me think about it. I will tell you when it's appropriate. "

Ji Ning stared at his mother for a few seconds and said helplessly, "Okay."

The two walked to the side of the road, and a minibus came after a while.The mother and son sat up.After a few 10 minutes, I arrived at the station in the county seat.Buy a ticket and get on the bus.

Sitting on the bus, Ji Ning and his mother stared at the scenery outside the window in a daze.Just when Ji Ning was getting tired, his mother suddenly said: "Jining, when you get home, you must not let Doudou know that his mother is dead."

Ji Ning turned his head and looked at his mother: "Isn't this already agreed upon?"

"Well... I just remind you."

Ji Ning felt a little strange. "Mom, why did you just tell me not to let Doudou know? Grandma is the one who should hide it the most."

Mom said unnaturally: "Yes... of course your grandma can't let her know. But, remember, you especially can't let Doudou know."

Ji Ning thought about it. "Mom, have you ever thought that we can't hide it for a long time. When Doudou finds out that her mother hasn't contacted him for a long time, she will definitely ask about it. What will I do then?"

"I know." Mom looked worried. "However, we must hide these few days anyway."

"These few days?" Ji Ning became more and more curious. "why?"

Mom didn't speak.

After a pause for a few seconds, Ji Ning asked, "Mom, is what you said related to what the woman told you just now?"

Mom frowned, and said a little irritably, "Ji Ning, don't ask, just do it anyway. As for the reason, I will tell you later."

Ji Ning looked out the window and stopped talking.

In fact, he was also very upset.

In addition to the auntie incident, there was another incident that bothered him.

Originally, his girlfriend Xiao Fan had to call or send text messages to him every night, but after going to the playground that day, she didn't contact him again for three consecutive days.

Ji Ning recalled what happened that day again——Xiao Fan seemed to have that weird reaction after asking Doudou some questions—what was going on?What will she have to do with Doudou?
Suddenly, Ji Ning had a strange thought - everything that happened in the past few days was related to Doudou.

So, could it be because of Doudou that my aunt died?

With these weird thoughts in mind, Ji Ning stared out of the window and gradually fell asleep.

[-]th day (evening)

At 03:30 in the afternoon, Ji Ning and her mother returned home.

Dad is not off work yet, only Doudou and grandma are at home.Hearing the voices of her cousin and aunt, Doudou happily ran out of the room and threw herself on Ji Ning.

"Cousin, you are back so soon! I thought it would be tomorrow." Doudou said happily.

"That's right, the campus of the university is like that, and I finished it in half a day." Ji Ning said.

Mom walked upstairs. "Jining, go upstairs and say hello to grandma, let her know we're back."

Ji Ning led Doudou to grandma's room together.Grandma was still lying on the bed, she didn't seem to be in a very good state of mind, but when she saw Ji Ning and his mother came back, she pulled herself up and sat up again, and asked them how the university was doing.Ji Ning and his mother improvised and made it up. Grandma didn't understand these things and didn't hear any flaws.

After six o'clock, Dad came back from get off work.The three of them understood, and deliberately talked about the university in front of grandma and Doudou, pretending that nothing happened.When eating, grandma sat in a wheelchair, and the family gathered around the dining table to have dinner.

Since my mother didn't go shopping today, dinner was a bit simple.But because of the pistachio, Doudou, the atmosphere seemed happy.Ji Ning and his mother spent the past two days in sadness and depression, and finally came into a good mood.The feigned happiness seemed to have become real.

Unexpectedly, this short-lived joy lasted less than 10 minutes, and was replaced by unexpected horror.

Doudou was eating, suddenly remembered something, and asked: "Cousin, I called you yesterday, why did you hang up before finishing your sentence? I also heard you yelling on the phone ,what's wrong?"

Ji Ning was taken aback for a moment, the horrible scene from yesterday reappeared in front of his eyes, and he couldn't help but twitched all over his body.At this time, he remembered that after hanging up the phone yesterday, he originally wanted to call back after his mood calmed down, and make up a reason to explain.As a result, when he came back from the funeral, he completely forgot about it!

Grandma heard Doudou say this, stopped eating, looked at Ji Ning and asked, "What's going on?"

Ji Ning's mind was running rapidly. "Oh, it's nothing... When Doudou called me yesterday, we happened to be crossing the road, and a taxi drove too fast, which surprised me."

"Didn't it hit you?" Grandma asked eagerly.

"No, if we bump into each other, we won't be able to come back today." Ji Ning said with a smile.

"You guys, be careful when crossing the road, don't be half-hearted. The phone is coming, can you pick it up later..." Grandma continued nagging, and Ji Ning nodded repeatedly to confuse the matter past.

Doudou put down her chopsticks, ran into the room and took out a stack of paper, and showed it to her cousin and aunt excitedly. "This is the picture I drew yesterday, do you see it well?"

Ji Ning's mother took a picture and looked at it. It was a big-headed doll painted with gouache paint, full of the childishness of children's paintings.She burst out laughing with a "puchi": "Is this a picture of me?"

Dad leaned over to take a look, nodded and said, "Well, don't mention it, it really looks a bit like your aunt."

Doudou said, "Auntie, I'm giving you this painting."

"Great, thank you Doudou." Ji Ning's mother smiled and touched Doudou's head.

"Isn't this a painting of me?" Ji Ning picked up a painting and smiled, "Am I so ugly? This nostril is bigger than that of an orangutan."

Doudou blushed and said, "You didn't sit in front of me, I drew it from my imagination."

Grandma smiled "hehe" and said, "Don't make things difficult for Doudou, I think he draws pretty well. I have collected the one he gave me."

Ji Ning's mother praised: "Doudou is very talented in painting, maybe he can become a painter in the future."

Doudou was praised, and his face was full of light. He held up a painting and showed it to everyone: "This is my mother, and it is a gift I plan to give to my mother when I go back."

The expressions of Ji Ning and his parents froze for a moment. The painting they saw was the most careful, delicate, and most similar among all the portraits - that was Doudou's mother, looking at everyone Show a smile—after all, this is the person Doudou knows and cares about the most, and the painting is full of love.But he didn't know that he would never see his mother again.Ji Ning's heart tightened suddenly, and the mother next to him was almost unable to support herself, she bit her lips tightly, trying her best not to let the tears fall.

Doudou saw everyone standing there in a daze, and asked in bewilderment, "Why don't you talk? Am I not good at drawing?"

"Well, the painting is really good!" Ji Ning's father said.He wanted to quickly change the topic, and reached for another stack of paintings in Doudou's hands. "Uncle, let's see what these paintings are about."

Doudou moved the stack of paintings behind her, dodging. "It's nothing... don't look at these." Then put away the paintings just now and cover them, and take them to the room.

Doudou's evasive attitude is a bit strange, but everyone's thoughts are not on the painting at this time.After Doudou comes out, continue to eat.

After a while, grandma suddenly said to herself: "I don't know how Huiyun is doing, she hasn't seen me for a long time."

Ji Ning's heart was hit hard.Parents were also stunned, for a while no one knew what to say.

At this time, Doudou said something shocking:

"Grandma, my mother is fine. She called me yesterday and said she would come to see you in a few days."

Ji Ning temporarily forgot to breathe - what, yesterday?

He and his mother looked at each other, and both of them showed unconcealable horror in their eyes.They fought desperately.

Grandma didn't seem to notice the shocked expressions of Ji Ning's family, she nodded and said, "Well, that's good."

After that, everyone didn't say much, and they buried their heads in eating.

All night, Ji Ning was in a trance, and his mother also seemed absent-minded, obviously thinking about the same problem.

What exactly is going on?

My aunt died three days ago, but Doudou said just now that he received a call from my aunt last night!
Is Doudou lying?But why would he do it? ——Ji Ning guessed uneasily in his heart, puzzled.

Ji Ning observed Doudou quietly and found that there was nothing unusual about him.I wanted to ask tentatively, but I didn't know how to speak, and my heart was blocked.

Day [-] (late night)

When going to bed at night, Ji Ning finally couldn't bear it anymore. "Doudou, when did your mother call you yesterday?"

Doudou, wearing a vest and underpants, lay on the bed and said, "It's night. I told my mother and told her to call me every day."

Ji Ning pretended to be calm. "She also called you two nights ago?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't she call tonight?"

Doudou said, "It's not time yet."

Ji Ning was taken aback: "It's not time yet?" He glanced at the electronic clock on the desk, it was 11 o'clock now.

Doudou also seemed a little puzzled. "I don't know why, my mother calls me a little late these days, and she calls after I go to bed."

"About what time?"

Doudou thought about it. "It seems to be twelve o'clock."

Ji Ning pondered for a few seconds, and an idea popped into his mind - maybe Doudou dreamed that his mother was calling him?But is it possible?Have the same dream every night?
At this time, Doudou began to ask his cousin about a certain computer game, Ji Ning explained to him absent-mindedly, then turned off the lights and went to sleep.

After a while, both fell asleep.

At some point, in a daze, a soft and familiar ballad appeared in Ji Ning's ear——

"Pull the big saw, pull the big saw, grandma's house, sing a big show. Pick up the daughter, invite the son-in-law, and the little grandson is going too... The cheapskate, drink cold water, break the tank, can't drink water, ask his wife to hang him, Give birth to a child with one leg..."

The ballad sang these lines repeatedly, and Ji Ning remembered that this was a nursery rhyme sung by my aunt, and it was the ringtone of Doudou's cell phone...

Suddenly, his nerves tightened—Doudou's phone rang?

"Hello." In the dark, Doudou answered the phone, "Mom."

Ji Ning, who was sleeping on the other side of the bed, held his breath nervously, feeling creepy. "Mom, why are you calling me so late...well, I'm asleep." Doudou said in a daze, "well, I'm very good today...Mom, my aunt and cousin Ji Ning came back today It's..."

For the next few minutes, Doudou didn't speak much, and seemed to be quietly listening to the person on the phone.

After a while, Doudou said in a low voice: "Okay, Mom, I see... Well, good night."

After Doudou hung up the phone.Ji Ning glanced at the electronic clock on the table - 12:9, it seems that the call really came on time at 12 o'clock!
Ji Ning was full of fear and consternation. He couldn't comprehend such unrealistic things, but he couldn't suppress his strong curiosity.He tried his best to swallow his fear, and asked tentatively, "Doudo, is it your mother calling you?"

"Yes." Doudou replied from the other side of the bed.

"What did she tell you?"

After a pause for a few seconds, Doudou said, "Cousin Ji Ning, I can't tell."

"why?"

"My mother said that what she called me at night and told me is a secret between me and her, and I can't tell anyone."

Ji Ning opened his mouth, speechless, only feeling chills in his body.

After a while, Doudou snored lightly from the other side of the bed.But Ji Ning couldn't fall asleep anyway.

After thinking about it in his heart for a while, he couldn't hold back any longer, and decided to discuss it with his parents right away—he couldn't face this horrible situation alone.

Ji Ning quietly rolled over and got out of bed without disturbing Doudou.He tiptoed out of the room, went upstairs in the dark, and came to his parents' bedroom.

Originally, he thought his parents were already asleep, and planned to wake them up softly, but when he was about to knock on the door, he heard the voices of his parents from inside, and the content immediately attracted him.

"...Tell me, if what that woman said is true, what should we do?" Mom's voice.

Ji Ning's heart suddenly lifted - they were talking about that incident this morning.

"How do I know? I have never encountered such a thing." Dad said helplessly.paused. "I don't think you should pay too much attention to it. The woman just reminded us that nothing will really happen."

"I thought so too, but you heard it at dinner today. Doudou said that his mother has been calling him for the past few nights! When I heard him say that, I immediately thought of it. Terrible!"

There was a moment of silence in the room. "Maybe Doudou is lying. He missed his mother, so he said that he received a call from her. Children are like this sometimes."

wrong!He really got the call!Ji Ning almost shouted at the door.He wanted to open the door and go in right away, and wanted to eavesdrop on his parents' conversation and find out what his mother didn't want to tell him.But after listening for a few more minutes, he found that his parents' voices were getting weaker and weaker. He couldn't hear any clues from the intermittent conversations, so he had to give up eavesdropping and choose to talk directly.

Ji Ning gently knocked on the door of the room.

"Who?" Dad asked from inside.

"Me." Ji Ning replied.

"Come in," Dad said.

Ji Ning pushed the door open and saw his parents leaning against the head of the bed in their pajamas.Mom asked, "Jining, it's so late, what's the matter?"

Ji Ning sat down on a chair. "It's so late, you haven't slept yet."

Mom and Dad looked at each other. "Jining, didn't you hear us talking just now?" Mom asked.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just wanted to come up and talk to you guys, and I happened to hear you guys talking. But I didn't hear a few words either."

"What do you want to tell us?" Mom asked.

Ji Ning thought about it. "During dinner today, Doudou said that he has received calls from his aunt for the past few days. But the fact is that my aunt died three days ago. I want to ask, what do you think of this matter?"

"Your father thinks that Doudou may not be telling the truth. Maybe he is because..."

Ji Ning made a gesture to interrupt his mother's speech.He stood up and walked to his parents' bedside. "No, he didn't lie."

"How do you know?" Dad asked.

Ji Ning took a breath, and said word by word: "Because just now, at 12 o'clock, Doudou's cell phone rang - he really received a call, and it was his mother!"

Mom covered her mouth and her eyes widened in horror.Dad also opened his mouth involuntarily. After a long time, he asked in disbelief: "Is this true?"

"Do I still have the heart to joke around at a time like this?"

"Did you really hear the voice? I mean, did you hear the voice of the person on the phone?" Dad asked.

"What do you mean by asking?" Mom looked at Dad. "Do you think Doudou is pretending to call? How is this possible? He has no reason to do so."

Ji Ning said: "First of all, I heard the ringtone of the phone call, that is to say-the call was not made by Doudou, but he received the call; secondly, although I slept on the other side of the bed, I couldn't hear it. The voice of the person on the phone, but I can feel that Doudou is really calling someone, not acting. Because his reaction and language are very natural, children over seven years old can't act in this kind of drama of."

Dad asked with some reluctance: "So, did you hear what Doudou was saying to the person on the phone?"

Ji Ning shook his head. "The phone call lasted about 6 or 7 minutes. Doudou only said a few words. The rest of the time, the other party was talking. And there was a period of time in between. Doudou hardly said a word, as if she was concentrating on listening to something. .”

Mom tucks in the blanket. "Did you ask Doudou... what did his mother say to him?"

"That's the problem." Ji Ning said, "I asked, but Doudou said that his mother wouldn't let him tell anyone about the phone call, saying it was a secret between them."

Mom and Dad looked at each other, both of them looking terrified. "What the hell is going on here? Why is Doudou unwilling to tell us the content of the call? There must be something wrong here." Mom said.

"This is not the only mystery. Doudou also told me that his mother called at a fixed time every night—it was 12 o'clock in the morning—I thought it might be meaningful." Ji Ning said.

"Ah..." Mom whispered in fear. "Doudou really..."

As soon as she said this, she suddenly realized that Ji Ning was by her side and stopped suddenly.

Ji Ning looked at his mother. "Mom, what do you want to say? How is Doudou?"

Mom pursed her lips tightly and buried her head in silence.

"I don't know why you keep some things from me, do you still think I'm a child?" Ji Ning sighed, "I thought I was grown up and could share some troubles with you. Maybe I was wrong gone."

After a while, Dad said: "Ji Ning is right, we should let him know about this."

The mother looked up at her son. "Ji Ning, I don't want to hide anything from you, but I'm afraid that after you know these things, you will have a strange feeling for Doudou... You know, Doudou is pitiful enough, I don't want you to treat him again Create a sense of distance or exclusion."

"You don't tell me anything, so I feel distance from Doudou." Ji Ning said, "Actually, isn't what happened to him strange enough? He was able to receive a call from his dead mother! I'm afraid I can only be with him when I find explanations and answers to these things -- and that's what we're going to do now."

Mom was silent for more than ten seconds. "Okay, I'll tell you what the woman told me—according to her, Doudou's mother told her about it herself."

Ji Ning is concentrating.

"This happened more than two years ago. At that time, in your aunt's village, an old father of a family suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage. He didn't say a word before he died. His children were concerned about the distribution of property and land. I went to invite a psychic, hoping to use him to communicate with the ghost of my old father. Psychic, do you know what it means, Ji Ning?"

"I know." Ji Ning pretended to answer calmly, but his heart shook violently.He remembered what the girl named Xiaodeng had said to him, and he didn't expect his mother to mention it at this moment.

"The psychic agreed to help the family with a psychic, but he made a request. He said that he only knew some psychic methods, but he couldn't let the soul of the dead attach to himself. He had to find someone with a psychic physique. Only people can come. He said that this kind of person is born with the ability to communicate with the dead, and only with the help of him can the psychic succeed."

When my mother said this, she stopped, as if she didn't want to say any more.But Ji Ning vaguely guessed it, he opened his mouth wide. "Could it be that the person with psychic physique that the psychic medium is looking for..."

"Yes, it's Doudou." Mom said reluctantly.

"And then? Did Doudou really help that family with a psychic?" Ji Ning asked eagerly.

Mom shook her head. "No. Although the family took a lot of money to find your aunt and wanted to 'borrow' Doudou to help. But your aunt didn't want Doudou to do such a thing, so she sternly refused. In the end, the family had no choice but to Returning with regret, the channeling failed in the end.”

Ji Ning pinched his chin with his hands, thinking. "Why did the psychic seek Doudou? Why does he think Doudou has a psychic physique?"

"I don't know about that. She (the short-haired woman) didn't tell me this. She just said that your aunt told her about it because she couldn't hold back, and she repeatedly told her not to You can't tell others—because your aunt doesn't want everyone to know that Doudou has this special 'ability'."

Ji Ning was a little anxious. "How can my aunt trust the psychic's words so easily? Maybe he is just talking nonsense. He said that Doudou has a psychic physique, so must Doudou have it? My aunt still doesn't know about her son..."

Having said that, he stopped abruptly, recalling what had happened so far, and suddenly understood a little.

"Could it be... Auntie herself knows that Doudou has this kind of 'ability'?" Ji Ning said with a look of astonishment.

"Originally, when the woman told me about this incident, I just felt a little surprised and surprised, and didn't really believe it. But when I got home, I heard Doudou say that he received a call from his mother yesterday, and Based on what you told us just now... I began to think that maybe Doudou really...has this special ability." Mom covered her mouth in fear.

A cold silence lasted for a moment.

"If Doudou really has this special physique, why haven't we known it for so many years?" Ji Ning said.

"There has never been such a thing as someone dying before. Besides, even if your aunt knew it, but she didn't tell us, how would we know about it?" Mom analyzed.

Ji Ning's jaw tightened.Suddenly, some words that the girl named Xiaodeng had said to him came to mind at this moment.He raised his head suddenly and asked, "I have a question...have you thought about it?"

Parents are looking at him. "what is the problem?"

"Supposing we have now verified that Doudou really has that special constitution, or ability—then, how did the psychic know about it?"

Mom and Dad looked at each other with astonished expressions, obviously they hadn't thought about this question before.

After a moment of silence, Ji Ning asked abruptly, "Has there ever been a psychic in our family?"

Mom seemed taken aback. "How can you ask such a question? Of course not! If there is, how can I not know?"

"How can you be sure?" Ji Ning said to his mother. "Maybe there was a psychic in our family several generations ago, but you didn't know it?"

Mom shook her head. "I've never heard your grandma, grandpa or grandma mention it. It's impossible."

Dad asked, "Ji Ning, why do you think so?"

Ji Ning pursed his lips. "When I was staying at the village chief's house, his youngest daughter told me that sometimes the physique of a psychic can be inherited. If a family once produced a real psychic, then his descendants may inherit it. To this psychic ability."

Dad shook his head and said, "How can a little girl's words be trusted? Besides, there is no scientific basis for such things as psychics."

"How to explain what happened to Doudou?" Ji Ning said.

"This... Let's observe for a few more days and don't jump to conclusions."

At this time, my mother's body trembled and her face turned pale. "Doudou...talks to a dead person on the phone every night...so, does he know that his mother is dead?"

These words sent a chill down Ji Ning's back.Mom seemed to be petrified by her own words.

Dad asked, "What do you want to say?"

Mom shivered. "I mean...if Huiyun's undead was really talking to her son, what would she say to Doudou?"

Dad still couldn't seem to believe this was happening, and he frowned. "It's just ridiculous that we're here to talk about what a dead person would say."

Mom was obsessed and had to pursue this issue. "Even if it is... Let's assume, what do you think she will say to Doudou?"

Dad shrugged. "Some greetings, words of concern, what else could it be?"

My mother said in panic: "If it's just these ordinary conversations, why did Doudou say——his mother wouldn't let him tell us the content of the call, and said it was a secret?"

"So what do you think they'll say?" Dad asked.

Ji Ning interrupted: "I'm afraid it's not what 'they' will say, but what 'it' will say to Doudou. I just told you that the 6 or 7 minutes between Doudou's phone calls are almost always in the Listen to his mother."

"Yeah, what will Huiyun say to Doudou..." Mom became more and more afraid. "And if Doudou knew that her mother was dead through these conversations, what would she do?"

Ji Ning heard that her mother's worry seemed to have some kind of source. "Mom, after all, what are you afraid of?"

The air conditioner in the room was turned off, but the mother trembled even more. She tucked her body tightly in the quilt, hesitated for a long time, and finally expressed the deepest fear hidden in her heart:

"The woman in the village told me that a person with a psychic physique can not only communicate with the undead...even, he can summon the undead to his side and make 'it' stay where he lives for a long time. The woman reminded me , if we really plan to let Doudou live with us all the time, we must have this kind of mental preparation... When Doudou learns that his mother is dead, he may do something unexpected by instinct come out……"

After hearing these words, Ji Ning and his father felt their backs go numb and their hairs stand on end.

"So, what can we do? We can't let Doudou leave our house, can we?" Dad said with an uncomfortable expression.

"Of course it's impossible! The child is too poor for us to even contemplate such a thought."

"I know." Dad said, "but what that woman reminded you is really scary, and it can easily create a psychological shadow on us."

"I hope I get through these few days...it will be better." Mom said.

"What do you mean?" Ji Ning asked.

"The woman said that in the seven days before the deceased died, it was easiest to contact the psychic... So she reminded me to pay special attention to these few days..."

Dad couldn't bear it when he heard this. "What is the intention of this woman? Did she tell you so many terrible things to make our family panic?"

"She just reminded me kindly. She also hesitated for a long time before deciding to tell me. In fact, hasn't the situation she reminded me happened now?"

Dad fell silent.After a while, he said slowly: "This incident is really too bizarre. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I would never believe that there are people in this world who can communicate with the undead."

Mom turned her face away. "I knew it a long time ago. I just didn't expect that after all these years, I still can't get rid of these things."

Ji Ning and her father looked at her in surprise. "You knew this before?"

Mom looked at them. "Have you forgotten? When I was a child, I also lived in the village of my hometown. At that time, I knew that there was a custom of psychic communication in the village. I was very afraid of such things since I was a child, so I tried every means to get out of there. ..."

"At that time, our family was poor, and only one of our two sisters was allowed to go to the town to study. I cried and clamored that I had to go, so your grandpa and grandma had no choice but to accept me. Since then, I went to primary school in the town, and I went to the county town to study middle school, and later went to other places to study university, and rarely went back to my hometown. It is because I have been avoiding that place..."

It was the first time for Ji Ning to hear his mother talk about these past events. "What about my aunt? Didn't she study?"

Mom nodded sadly. "She gave me the opportunity to study. But I know that she really wants to go to school, because every time I collect old textbooks, she collects them and studies by herself at home. However, your aunt has never You never complained about me..."

"Later, I graduated from university and found a job in the city. And your grandpa passed away, so my grandma came to live with us in the city, leaving my aunt alone in the countryside of my hometown. When I grew up, I remembered Stubborn and selfish, I always felt that I owed your aunt too much in this life, and I wanted to find a chance to make up for her, but I didn't expect...she actually..."

Having said that, my mother couldn't control her emotions and sobbed softly.

Dad persuaded: "Don't cry. If your eyes are swollen tomorrow, be careful and see."

Mom wiped her tears with the tissue that Ji Ning handed over. "The only thing I can do now is to raise Doudou as my own son. However, if he really has this special physique, I will be very scared and dare not contact him..." She became anxious. "I really don't know what to do."

Dad comforted: "You don't have to care too much about this, maybe the strange things that happened to Doudou won't last long. Let's not worry too much or be afraid, things won't be as bad as we imagined."

"I hope so." Mom let out a slow breath.She looks at her son. "Ji Ning, I told you everything. As you said, you are an adult and you should know how to deal with these things properly. No matter how special Doudou is, you have to remember that he is your favorite Dear brother."

Mom didn't say "cousin", but "brother", and Ji Ning heard the meaning.He nodded and said, "Mom, I understand."

Mom nodded slightly.

Dad looked at the clock and said to Ji Ning: "It's almost one o'clock in the morning, go back to sleep, don't think about these things anymore."

Ji Ning responded and left the parents' room.

Twelfth and fifth day (early morning)

Going down the dark indoor stairs, Ji Ning tried not to make a sound.

He quietly pushed open the bedroom door and groped his way to the bed.The eyes have adjusted to the darkness by this time.Before going to bed, Ji Ning naturally glanced at Doudou's sleeping side, trying to make sure he was fast asleep.

The movement of him getting sideways on the bed stopped.

On the other side of the bed, the blanket covered by Doudou was deflated, and no one was sleeping there.

Ji Ning didn't know if he didn't see clearly in the dark, he leaned forward and gently pressed his hands on the quilt.

The sense of touch clearly told him that Doudou was indeed not on the bed!
Ji Ning was stunned for two or three seconds, trying to figure out what was going on.

Where did Doudou go?
To the restroom?It was his first thought.

In fact, other than going to the bathroom, he couldn't think of any other possibility.

Sitting by the bed, Ji Ning hesitated for a moment, thinking that he should confirm it.

He walked lightly towards the bathroom.

When he came to the door of the bathroom, Ji Ning saw that the door was ajar, not closed, and there was light coming from inside.

He breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that Doudou was really going to the toilet.

Ji Ning yelled inside: "Doudou, are you inside?"

no respond.

He asked again: "Doudou, are you going to the bathroom?"

After waiting for a few seconds, no one answered.Ji Ning felt a little strange, and he slowly pushed open the bathroom door.

The smallest light inside was on, and the light was a bit dim, but one could see at a glance that there was no one in the bathroom.

Ji Ning's nerves tensed up - Doudou is not here, so where would he go?It's midnight now.

Just when Ji Ning was about to turn around and leave, he caught a glimpse of the vanity mirror on the left side out of the corner of his eye, and he froze for a moment.

what is this?
Ji Ning took a step back involuntarily, what he saw made his stomach tighten.

A round, red -- symbol?Or is it a spell?Just paint on the mirror!

When was this painted?Ji Ning thought in horror.He was sure he didn't have the damn thing in the shower because he looked in the mirror then.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that there was only one person in the family who had this kind of paint.

What is Doudou going to do?The fearful speculations in his mind sent chills down Ji Ning's spine.What does this red symbol mean?
When Ji Ning looked over again, he felt that the red symbol on the mirror seemed to have some kind of magical power.Although he was frightened, he was still drawn to it.His legs dragged his body involuntarily.When he realized this, he was already standing in front of the mirror.

Now, he can see clearly.

This is a complex pattern composed of circles and strange characters that cannot be understood. It seems to have some kind of frightening power. Ji Ning stared at this red symbol for a long time, and felt that his mind became a little uncontrollable.But at this moment, he heard a strange sound, and his scalp was clenched.

A continuous and regular voice, someone is chanting some unintelligible words.Ji Ning gradually realized that it was Doudou's voice!
What's going on - Ji Ning felt that he was about to faint from nervousness - where did the voice come from?Where is Doudou?
Ji Ning turned around in horror, looking around in the bathroom, unable to find the source of the sound.When his body turned back, he wanted to support the sink with one hand, but he accidentally pressed the switch of the faucet——with a "wow", a gust of cold water gushed out from the pipe, and the cold water splashed on his face. face and hands.

Surprised by the cold water, he suddenly became a little sober, turned his head suddenly, and stared at the bathtub hidden behind the curtain.

That's right, the sound came from behind here!

Ji Ning walked over quickly, and lifted off the plastic curtain that impeded the water - and saw Doudou curled up in the bathtub!

Ji Ning was about to call him, when Doudou suddenly found that his eyes were closed, and only his lips were opening and closing, chanting that strange incantation.He was startled—could it be that Doudou was sleepwalking?

Ji Ning hesitated, not knowing what to do for a while.He wanted to wake Doudou up, but he thought that he had read in a book that if he woke up a sleepwalking person, it might frighten him into a mental illness; but if he didn't wake up Doudou, , How long will he last in this terrifying state?

By the way, first carry him to the bed.

Ji Ning put his hands into the bathtub, hugged Doudou's body, carried him out, turned and walked back.When he passed by that mirror, he couldn't help but take another look, but he didn't expect this look to scare him to pieces.

Beside the red talisman, there was an extra human face——it was my aunt's pale and terrifying face, staring at me just like on the day of the funeral!

The blood in Ji Ning's body froze, and his hair stood on end.He wanted to scream, but found that the terrified scream was suppressed in his throat, making him unable to make a sound or move.After a few seconds, he frantically hugged Doudou and rushed to his room.

After putting Doudou on the bed, Ji Ning quickly turned on the light in the room.At this time, Doudou had stopped making that strange sound, and fell asleep again.Ji Ning breathed heavily, closed and locked the door, then got into the quilt, teeth chattering up and down.

This is really terrible, he feels like he is going to be scared crazy!

The light brought by the lights in the room made Ji Ning's terrified heart calm down a little after a few minutes.It occurred to him that the light in the bathroom had been left on, and the charm was still on the mirror—Mum would find out in the morning, and she would be terrified.However, he really didn't have the courage to go back to the bathroom to deal with these things... Let's wait until tomorrow morning to talk about everything.

That night, Ji Ning kept the lights on in the room, and spent a frightening night in the alternation of insomnia and nightmares.

Thirteen fifth day (morning)

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Ji Ning got up from the bed.He didn't forget what happened last night, and wanted to wipe off the ghosts on the bathroom mirror before everyone noticed.

He didn't want to frighten his mother, and he didn't want to add more fear to the family.

Walking out of the room, Ji Ning saw that her mother was already cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

It's still a bit late, he thought to himself, and at the same time his heart was shocked - did mother see the spell on the mirror?
Ji Ning walked over as if nothing had happened. "Mom, why did you wake up so early?"

While stirring the egg liquid, my mother sighed and said, "I can't fall asleep thinking about those things."

Ji Ning judged from her mother's attitude that she hadn't been to the bathroom yet—it didn't seem too late.

"Why did you get up so early?" Mom asked.

"I got up to go to the bathroom." Ji Ning said, and then got into the bathroom next to the kitchen.

After closing the door, he was about to find a rag to wipe off the strange thing on the mirror, when he looked up, he was stunned.

The mirror was clean, there was no red charm that I saw last night at all!
Ji Ning approached, widened his eyes and looked carefully, and found that there was really no trace on the mirror. For a moment, he felt a little dazed.

How is this going?Ji Ning stood there blankly—could it be, mother had already come in and wiped the damn thing away?

He turned his head and glanced unconsciously—no, it was impossible for his mother to handle it so calmly and quietly.It was out of character for her.

Or, did Doudou wipe it off?But Doudou is still sleeping on the bed now - Ji Ning thought again, maybe he got up quietly after falling asleep last night...

After a while, he even began to doubt whether the horrible experience last night was a nightmare, but he quickly denied it in his heart—the impression and touch were too clear.

After more than one minute, Ji Ning came out from the inside and walked to his mother's side. "Mom, have you been here in the morning?" He pointed to the bathroom.

Mom looked back. "no, what happened?"

"Hmm... nothing, I think the flush valve is a little loose."

"Really, let your father take a look at it later." Mom said indifferently.

Ji Ning returned to the room, looked at Doudou who was still sleeping, and really couldn't figure out what was going on.

Around 08:30, the whole family got up.After washing up, sit at the dining table and have breakfast.

Doudou behaved normally, as if she didn't know anything about last night.Ji Ning judged from everyone's attitude that only he knew about this matter.

He intends to keep the matter to himself and not speak out, even though it will make him feel depressed and uncomfortable.But Ji Ning knew that he had no choice—if he didn't want the whole family (especially his mother) to be involved in the whirlpool of fear, he could only bear it alone.

Until ten o'clock in the morning, a text message reminded him.

Ji Ning, are you at home?Why haven't you been online these days?
It was from Xiaofan!Ji Ning regained his spirit.After experiencing so many complicated and weird things in the past few days, he almost forgot to contact his girlfriend—the point is, he didn’t know why Xiao Fan didn’t contact him—now that he received her text message, he almost wanted to Fly out the door to meet her.

Can you come out now, I want to see you. (Ji Ning)

ok, where? (Xiao Fan)

That water bar right in front of your house, you know, we go there a lot. (Ji Ning)

OK, I'm coming out now. (Xiao Fan)

See you later. (Ji Ning)

After sending this text message, Ji Ning went to the living room and lied to his mother that he was going to the bookstore to buy some teaching materials.Mom agreed.

Before going out, Ji Ning greeted Doudou in the room. Doudou was playing games in front of the computer and waved to his cousin.

Impatiently, Ji Ning ran all the way to the agreed place with Xiao Fan, and it took less than 10 minutes.

Xiao Fan obviously wanted to see her boyfriend very much, and she was already waiting for a seat by the window in that water bar.

Ji Ning walked up to Xiao Fan and sat down panting, sweating profusely.Xiao Fan smiled lightly. "Did you run here?"

Ji Ning nodded briefly.The waitress came over and asked what they wanted to order.

"A cup of iced lemon tea. How about you?" Xiao Fan asked.

"same as you."

The waitress turned and left, and half a minute later brought the two drinks they had ordered.

Ji Ning stirred the half-drinked lemon tea with a straw, and a small whirlpool appeared in the cup, just like Ji Ning's current situation.So many things happened in just a few days, and he was still trapped in layers of mysteries, unable to extricate himself, Ji Ning didn't know how to speak for a while.However, Xiao Fan didn't speak, as if deliberately waiting for her boyfriend to speak first.

Ji Ning finally asked: "Xiao Fan, why haven't you contacted me these few days?"

Xiao Fan immediately said, "You haven't contacted me either."

Ji Ning was silent for a few seconds. "Something happened in our family."

"whats the matter?"

Ji Ning stared at Xiao Fan's face for half a minute, hesitating whether to tell her about this weird and terrifying thing.He really wanted to talk to someone, but he was afraid of frightening his girlfriend by speaking out, so he was very conflicted.

Xiao Fan felt that this matter might be a little unusual, so she tentatively asked: "What's the matter, is it a serious matter?"

"En." Ji Ning replied dully. "I'm not sure if I should tell you."

"Tell me if you trust me."

Ji Ning shook his head. "It's not a question of whether you believe it or not. It's just... this matter is too weird, and some parts may be beyond your—or ordinary people's—cognitive scope. I'm afraid it will scare you if I say it."

Xiao Fan twitched uncomfortably on the seat. "What's the matter, it's rendered so mysterious by you."

"It's not that I want to exaggerate on purpose." Ji Ning quickly explained. "It's really weird. I've never encountered such a terrible thing... So, I don't know if you can bear it."

"Go ahead." Xiao Fan looked at him. "You asked me out, you must have planned to tell me. And I'm mentally prepared now. I don't think I will be scared by what you said."

Ji Ning was silent for a long time. "Well, I'll tell you," he said finally.

In the next half an hour, Ji Ning narrated in detail all the things that happened in the past few days.He noticed that Xiao Fan's demeanor and expression were constantly changing with the strange things he narrated. The blood color on her face gradually faded like the ebbing sea water, and her eyes widened and almost got out of their eye sockets.He could feel how scared she was, but obviously, he couldn't stop, so he had to bite the bullet and finish everything that had happened so far.

At this moment, Xiao Fan's face was as pale as a sheet of white paper.She covered her mouth, too terrified to speak.

Ji Ning said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I really scared you, but you have to believe me, I never made any embellishments, it's just the way it is."

After opening his mouth for half a minute, Xiao Fan finally found his vocal cords. "This is really... terrible! I can't believe that this kind of thing really happens in reality, and it happened to me!"

"To be precise, it happened to me." Ji Ning said sadly, "If you feel scared just hearing about this, then when I go through these things, the degree of fear is dozens of times that of yours. .”

"One of the reasons why I feel scared is that this thing happened to you." Xiao Fan couldn't help holding her boyfriend's hand. "I know you must be terrified."

Ji Ning felt the warmth. He patted his girlfriend's hand, unable to believe that he could comfort others. "Much better now."

"But you still have to face it in the future!" Xiao Fan's voice trembled.

"What can I do? It's impossible not to go home, right?" Ji Ning sighed in frustration.

"Doudou... will he really receive a call from his mother at night?"

"It's true, I slept next to him."

"Is he just talking in his sleep?"

"No." Ji Ning said helplessly, "Unfortunately, no. I heard the ringtone of the incoming call."

Xiao Fan hugged his shoulders in fear. "Doudou...do you know that his mother is dead?"

"That's the key!" Ji Ning said hastily, as if he couldn't bear it for a long time, "I've been thinking about this question, and I feel that there is some logic in it that doesn't make sense."

"What do you mean?" Xiao Fan asked in confusion.

Ji Ning gestured with his hands in front of her. "Thinking about it this way, this matter is nothing more than two possibilities. First, Doudou doesn't know that his mother is dead. He thinks that the mother who calls him every night is still alive and well. But you Think about it, if that's the case, how could he 'psychic' with his mother?"

Xiao Fan opened his mouth, somewhat understanding.

"Spiritualization is a kind of thing. The psychic knows who is dead, so he thinks of communicating with the dead soul of the deceased. If Doudou didn't know that his mother was dead, how could he secretly carry out this kind of 'spirituality ritual' in the bathroom '?" Ji Ning stared at his girlfriend.

Xiao Fan thought about it. "You said, what Doudou did in the bathroom last night seemed to be sleepwalking. Maybe he was not conscious when he did these things, it was just a subconscious behavior."

"I thought about this possibility yesterday—whether Doudou did something instinctively and subconsciously because of her psychic physique. But I soon realized that this is impossible of."

Xiao Fan looked at Ji Ning, waiting for him to continue talking.

"Because you didn't see the pattern he drew on the mirror—it was very mysterious, like some kind of totem or religious symbol, and there were some complicated characters on it; in addition, the 'spell' that Doudou chanted was also very mysterious. Full of regularity." Ji Ning stared at Xiao Fan. "Do you know what I mean? He's not talking nonsense, but really knows some kind of psychic method! I don't think this kind of thing is innate, even if he has a psychic physique, You can't be born with that."

"You mean, someone taught him these things?"

"If this is the case, it involves the second possibility - Doudou already knew that his mother was dead, and he was consciously channeling her mother! Knowing that his mother committed suicide, will he pretend to be a normal person? He can't be so calm! Besides, there is no such need. "

"Based on what you're saying, neither of these two possibilities is possible?" Xiao Fan frowned unconsciously. "What's going to happen then?"

Ji Ning held his chin and thought for a few seconds. "I now have a bold guess."

"What is it?"

"I think Doudou did these things unconsciously, but it's not out of his instinct, but because he's under some kind of control!" Ji Ning said, staring into Xiaofan's eyes .

"What?" Xiao Fan was taken aback, "You mean, Doudou is possessed by something...?"

"Hush—" Ji Ning stretched his index finger to his mouth and looked around. "Keep your voice down. If others hear these words, they will think we are abnormal."

Xiao Fan lowered his voice. "Is that what you mean? Do you think he was caught by something?"

"It's just a guess." Ji Ning frowned. "I am not sure."

Xiao Fan looked very frightened, and tightly grasped the front of his shirt.

Ji Ning paused for a moment. "Frankly speaking, I think Doudou may be possessed by his own mother when this happens!"

Xiao Fan was terrified. "You think it's your aunt who wants to summon her soul back through her son? But how is this possible? If she still has nostalgia for this world, why would she commit suicide?"

"My aunt's death itself is a mystery. No one knows why she committed suicide, and there was no sign before. No one can understand her suicide note - it is full of mysteries."

Xiao Fan thought for a while. "However, there is still a problem. Even if it is true that your aunt's soul possessed Doudou and caused him to do these terrible things—how can you explain one thing? How does your aunt know these psychic methods? "

Ji Ning crossed his hands and raised his index finger. "I happen to think that if this is the case, then everything can be explained—have you ever thought about why Doudou has a psychic physique?"

"Ah..." Xiao Fan suddenly felt like being hit by an electric current. "You mean, in fact, your aunt...has the ability to psychic, so Doudou was inherited this kind of physique?"

"Yes!" Ji Ning said, "And I doubt at all that my aunt was once a psychic!"

Xiao Fan was too shocked to speak.Immediately, she thought of a question: "If this is the case, how could your mother, your family members, and your aunt's village people not know about it?"

"Although my mother and my aunt are sisters, they don't spend much time together. Because my mother went to study outside since she was a child, and she has been living in the city since then, so she doesn't care much about my aunt's life. To understanding."

"What about those people in the village? They don't know?"

"Remember what I told you just now? The woman in the village said that my aunt doesn't want others to know that Doudou has a psychic physique—that is, she also doesn't want others to know that she has this ability! Think Think about it, if she only had a few times of psychic communication, and all of them were carried out under the condition of concealing her identity. In addition, after Doudou was born, she did not want Doudou to be contaminated with these things, so she would not be able to do so at all. Did it. Of course not many people will know."

Xiao Fan felt that he was completely dumbfounded. Ji Ning's analysis sounded like he was telling a bizarre story.But she had to admit that these conjectures were not only reasonable, but also extremely possible.

"God, if everything is really as you said, it's like a movie plot." Xiao Fan sighed.

"This movie is being staged." Ji Ning stared out of the window. "I think I'm almost seeing the end of it, though."

From Ji Ning's tone, Xiao Fan heard that he seemed to have some kind of action, so he couldn't help asking: "What do you want to do, Ji Ning?"

"I have a plan, maybe I can solve all these mysteries." Ji Ning said, but he seemed not sure. "But it's just maybe..."

"What kind of plan?"

Ji Ning looked at Xiao Fan, feeling a little embarrassed. "I don't really want to say it now, I'll tell you the result later."

Xiao Fan said anxiously: "You have told me so much, why didn't you tell me the last thing? Are you deliberately trying to keep me from sleeping?"

"No, Xiao Fan." Ji Ning said in embarrassment, "I'm just not sure if I can succeed, and... I don't know what the result will be."

"These are not important, I just need to know what you want to do." Xiao Fan stared at him.

In desperation, Ji Ning had no choice but to express his thoughts: "Tonight, I plan to sleep on the same side as Doudou. If Doudou receives a call from his mother again, I will try to eavesdrop on their conversation." content."

Xiao Fan's eyes widened. "Why? Is there any point in what you're doing?"

"Of course it makes sense. I think Doudou (or his mother) is unwilling to reveal the content of their conversation. There must be something hidden in it. If I can find out, maybe I can know their purpose. More importantly Yes, maybe you can learn the truth about my aunt's suicide!"

Xiao Fan seemed a little anxious. "Why do you have to find out the truth about your aunt's suicide?"

Ji Ning looked at his girlfriend with a strange look. "Of course I want to know, our whole family wants to know. Otherwise, we won't feel at ease in the future."

"But have you ever thought about it? Since your aunt didn't explain the reason for her suicide in her suicide note, maybe she has some difficulties. Since she doesn't want you to know, you don't want to look for it!"

Looking at Xiao Fan's anxious face, Ji Ning suddenly had a strange idea - why Xiao Fan's attitude at this moment, as if she knew something?
Xiao Fan didn't notice what Ji Ning was thinking, she took her boyfriend's hand and said, "Ji Ning, promise me one thing, okay? Don't pursue the matter of your aunt's suicide - let the past be the past Bar."

Ji Ning suppressed the doubts in his heart, and asked tentatively: "Why do you want to discourage me from doing this?"

Xiao Fan blurted out:

"Because she wouldn't want you to know!"

After saying this, she froze, as if realizing that she had made a slip of the tongue.

Ji Ning stared at Xiao Fan dumbfounded.

At this moment, he was really surprised to the extreme.

Originally, he just wanted to tell his girlfriend about the weird things that were suppressed in his heart, but he didn't expect things to develop in an even weirder direction—Xiao Fan, who had nothing to do with this matter, now looks like he knows something. some inside information!
Suddenly, Ji Ning remembered that a few days ago in the afternoon, after Xiao Fan asked Doudou some questions, he also had some weird reactions.He finally couldn't help but ask:
"Xiao Fan, are you... hiding something from me?"

Xiao Fan looked at Ji Ning in embarrassment, then slowly lowered her head, speechless.

Without a doubt, I was right - Ji Ning was secretly surprised.

At this time, Xiao Fan stood up from the seat. "Jining, maybe I really know something, but I hope you can understand me. There is some important reason why I don't tell you. I definitely don't intend to hide anything from you. Really, believe me. "

After saying these words, she walked towards the door of the water bar without looking back.

She ran away again, just like that afternoon - Ji Ning looked at Xiao Fan's back - what the hell, everyone around him seems to be hiding a secret, what is going on?

He snapped the straw hard with his teeth.

Fourteenth and fifth day (afternoon)

Leaving this water bar, Ji Ning found that it was already noon, so he called his mother to tell his mother that he would not go home for dinner, and then ordered something casually at a Western-style fast food restaurant.

Afterwards, Ji Ning went to the bookstore and bought two collections of math exercises as an explanation when he returned home.

After finishing these things and returning home, it was almost two o'clock.Ji Ning knows that both parents have the habit of taking a nap.In order not to disturb them, he gently opened the door with the key, put on his slippers quietly, and walked quietly to his room.

Ji Ning saw at a glance that Doudou was lying on the desk with her back facing him, drawing intently.He hasn't noticed that his cousin has returned.

Ji Ning wanted to go over and call him, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He remembered the red charm drawn on the mirror.

He also remembered that when Doudou was having dinner that day, Doudou brought out a stack of paintings for everyone to see, but he kept a secret of the few paintings that he memorized below.

Could it be that he was practicing drawing that spell?This thought came to Ji Ning's mind.

He was going to make sure, and tiptoed to the desk.

As he was getting close to Doudou, he could see the content on the drawing paper immediately, Ji Ning stretched his neck unconsciously.

At this moment, Doudou suddenly turned her head and looked at her cousin as if she felt something suddenly.

Ji Ning was taken aback.And Doudou tore off the painting on the table, stuck it on her chest, and asked, "Cousin, when did you come back?"

"I just came back."

"Are you peeking at my painting?"

Ji Ning didn't expect Doudou to ask so directly, he was stunned for a moment, and said awkwardly: "No."

"Then why are you standing behind me quietly?"

"I...wanted to scare you and play tricks on you." Ji Ning forced a smile.

Doudou looked at his cousin suspiciously for a few seconds, then looked down at the painting on his chest. "Did you see the picture I drew, cousin?"

"No." Ji Ning simply asked. "But Doudou, why don't you let me see your paintings?"

"I showed you the other day."

"That's only part of it. Then my dad wanted to see another stack of paintings in your hand, but you didn't let him see it."

Doudou lowered his head. "Those...are badly drawn."

"Really? What is the painting?" Ji Ning stared into Doudou's eyes.

"It's nothing, it's just an ordinary painting." Doudou prevaricated, grabbed a few pieces of drawing paper on the table, pressed them to his chest, and ran away.

Ji Ning really wanted to snatch it from him, so he held back.

He stared at the palette on the table, looking at the red paint inside, and his heart tightened for a while.

Fifteen and sixth day (early morning)

Before going to bed at night, Ji Ning began to implement the plan he had thought up.

"Doudou, do you want to hear a story?" Ji Ning asked as if nothing had happened while taking off his clothes.

"Okay!" Doudou said excitedly, "What story?"

"What story do you want to hear?"

"Adventure! Can you tell, cousin?" Doudou asked expectantly.

Ji Ning pretended to think about it. "I can't think of any adventure stories, but I can tell very interesting fairy tales" - because these kinds of stories will make you fall asleep faster.

"Okay, as long as it's interesting." Doudou moved the pillow to sleep inside, making room for her cousin to come out.

This is exactly what I wanted - Ji Ning lay down next to Doudou naturally, and began to talk:

"The name of the story is 'The Mouse and the Princess'. Once upon a time there was a king who had a beautiful daughter. Many princes and ministers proposed to her, but the king refused to marry his daughter..."

Ji Ning deliberately slowed down his speech, and matched it with a flat tone and deep voice.Doudou listened with great interest at first, but gradually, his eyelids began to lose their hold.Ji Ning watched Doudou's eyes gradually close, and didn't stop telling the story until he heard him snoring slightly.

Ji Ning exhaled and pinched his arms twice at the same time - this story almost made him fall asleep!He glanced at the electronic clock on the table, it was 11:25.

Will Doudou's phone ring again in half an hour?Ji Ning's mood suddenly became contradictory. This feeling of fear and anticipation made him tremble all over.

Ji Ning's plan was this: if the phone rang for a while, he would pretend to be asleep while pricking up his ears to eavesdrop on their conversation.He estimated that at such a short distance, even if he couldn't fully hear what was being said on the phone, he could at least hear whose voice it was.

Lying on the bed nervously waiting for the phone to ring, Ji Ning felt that the time had passed extremely long.He had to contend with both fatigue and fear, which was much harder than expected.In just over ten minutes, it seemed to him that several hours had passed.

11:55.Ji Ning glanced at the electronic clock again.Soon, soon.

Suddenly, he thought of one thing.

Damn it!He scolded in his heart, why didn't I think of it before!
Doudou has fallen asleep, why don't I find his mobile phone and check the caller numbers from the previous nights?Maybe there will be something to discover!
Ji Ning sat up suddenly from the bed, his eyes adapted to the darkness and he looked around, his heart was pounding - there are still 5 minutes, is it too late?
No.There was no Doudou's mobile phone around, and he even looked in Doudou's trouser pocket, but still couldn't find it.Ji Ning anxiously thought, maybe it was too dark and put it somewhere out of sight, but he didn't dare to turn on the light for fear of waking Doudou.Time passed by second by second, and it was almost 12 o'clock, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

Wait, calm down, don't panic - Doudou knows his mother will call, so he won't put the phone far away from him, it should be by his side.

Ji Ning slowly leaned his body to Doudou's pillow and groped with his hands, hoping to find something, but he was still disappointed in exchange, so he had no choice but to lie down.

Strange, didn't Doudou keep his mobile phone by his side?impossible.Ji Ning thought suspiciously—this mobile phone is regarded as a treasure by Doudou, and he usually keeps it on his body all the time.Where would he put it when he went to bed at night?
At this moment, Doudou's cell phone rang, and the nursery rhyme came out from somewhere again, the sound was a little low, as if it was blocked by something.After a few seconds, Ji Ning suddenly understood.

He slowly turned his body in the direction of Doudou, then closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep.

After singing two nursery rhymes, Doudou woke up. He put his hand under the pillow and took out his mobile phone. "Hello, Mom."

Ji Ning held his breath and focused all his nerves on his ears.

"Beanie..."

The pores of Ji Ning's whole body tightened. Hearing this thin cry from the mobile phone, his body seemed to be frozen instantly.

Oh my god, it's really a woman's voice, and... it's my aunt's voice!

Ji Ning's scalp was numb, he forced himself to suppress his fear, but found that it was much more difficult than he imagined.He only realized now that some things can only be known how simple and unrealistic his previous thoughts are when he really faces them.Just like at this moment, he tried hard to listen to the voice on the phone, but found that he was so frightened that it was difficult to concentrate.In addition, Doudou pressed the phone tightly to the ear, blocking the transmission of sound.As a result, Ji Ning didn't hear a word of the rest except for the phrase "Doudou".

However, he noticed that Doudou answered the phone in the same way as last time—for a few minutes in the middle, he didn't say a word, just listening.What was said on the phone seemed even more mysterious.

After a few minutes, Doudou finally said: "Cousin Ji Ning? He's sleeping next to me."

What?Why did you ask me?Ji Ning was shocked.

Doudou looked back and saw his cousin with his eyes closed, turned his head to the phone and said softly: "Well, he fell asleep..."

Next, Doudou listened for more than ten seconds, and then said: "Okay, Mom, good night." Hang up the phone.

After a while, Doudou fell asleep again.

Ji Ning, who was sleeping next to Doudou, couldn't fall asleep. He didn't know why the "person" on the phone asked him, and he was also concerned about whether he fell asleep.He didn't think it was a meaningless conversation, but he really couldn't figure out what it meant, and his mind was in a mess.

After a few minutes, Ji Ning felt that Doudou beside him sat up from the bed.Then, he saw Doudou roll over her body, put on her slippers, and walk towards the door.The whole process was slow and mechanical, like sleepwalking.

My goodness——Ji Ning felt a chill from the soles of his feet—he won't be going to the toilet to do that terrible thing again, will he?

He couldn't help asking, "Doudo, where are you going?"

Doudou ignored it and went out without saying a word.This cold attitude made Ji Ning shudder.

Without a doubt, he knew what Doudou was going to do.Ji Ning's heart was beating wildly - what should I do?To stop him?But he was terrified of something like that happening again.But if left alone...

A few minutes later, Ji Ning plucked up his courage, got out of bed, and walked towards the bathroom.

This time, he turned on the lights in the dining room and hallway to embolden himself.Just as he was about to go to the bathroom, he saw that the door of the study next to him was ajar, and there was a gleam of light from inside.

Doudou is in the study?What the hell are you doing this time?Ji Ning walked over involuntarily.

Just when he arrived at the door of the study, Ji Ning heard the same voice as last night coming from inside, it was that weird spell again!The voice was composed of repeated words, like some kind of magical power, it sucked Ji Ning into it.

The desk lamp in the study was on, emitting a faint light.Doudou sat on the floor in the middle of the study, with her back to Ji Ning, and there seemed to be something in front of her.

Ji Ning walked over slowly, and when he got close to Doudou, he saw that in front of Doudou was a large piece of paper composed of four paintings.The pattern spelled out was the red symbol on the mirror last night!
The moment Ji Ning saw this symbol, he was inexplicably shocked by a mysterious force.He originally came to stop Doudou, but now he stood there blankly, unable to move.He wanted to shout, but no sound came out.Amidst helplessness and shock, a sense of fear grew rapidly in his body.

However, the most terrifying thing he did not see.

Outside the door behind him, there was a black figure standing at this moment.

In the strange and inexplicable atmosphere, there was an uncoordinated sound suddenly—the glass windows of the study were rattled by the wind outside, and the wind picked up.

A gust of cool wind blew on Ji Ning's face, which made him feel much more awake.This gust of wind rushed into the room from the gap between the two windows, and it just happened to blow away the pattern made of four pieces of paper on the ground, as if it also blew away some things that should not have appeared in this world.

At this moment, Doudou stopped reciting the weird incantation, shook her body twice, and fell to the ground.Ji Ning knew that his cousin was out of control at this time.He picked up the four pieces of paper that formed the red symbol on the ground, quickly crumpled them up, threw them into the trash can, then picked up Doudou and walked towards the bedroom.

Another incident like this, Ji Ning thought wearily - but anyway, this evening's thriller is over.

As he thought this way, his spirit gradually relaxed, but he was wrong.He turned off all the lights.This is a mistake.

Carrying Doudou back to the room, Ji Ning had just put Doudou on the bed, and was about to move him a little, when suddenly in the dark, he saw a person lying on the spot where Doudou was sleeping. .

To be precise, it was a black figure.The figure's face was facing Ji Ning.

Ji Ning's brain suddenly exploded, his hair stood on end, and the whole world swirled and revolved before his eyes.He stumbled back to the wall, finally couldn't help crying out, and at the same time pressed the light switch.

With a bang, the dome light came on.

The black shadow on the bed disappeared instantly, like a hallucination.But Ji Ning knew in his heart that this was not as simple as an illusion.

Doudou woke up amidst the glare of the light and the screams of his cousin.He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at his terrified cousin standing by the wall, as if he didn't know anything. "Cousin, what's the matter with you?"

Ji Ning swallowed and took a few deep breaths. "It's nothing, I had a nightmare."

"But, why are you standing by the wall..."

"Stop talking, Doudou." - You have to let me breathe - Ji Ning thought.He walked over to help his cousin cover the quilt. "Go to sleep."

Doudou stopped talking and fell asleep on the other side.

Ten minutes later, Ji Ning came out of the room with the quilt in his arms.

This night, he could only spend the night on the sofa in the living room.He might never dare to sleep on the bed in the bedroom again.

Today is the sixth day after my aunt died.

Will anything happen on the seventh day?
I can't stand it any longer.Ji Ning thought weakly.

sixteenth day

In the morning, my mother came down from upstairs and saw her son sleeping on the sofa in the living room, wondering what was going on.

After a while, Ji Ning woke up and sat up from the sofa.Mom came over from the kitchen and asked, "Jining, why did you sleep in the living room?"

Ji Ning didn't want her mother to know those terrible things. "Doudou is a little restless when she sleeps. She keeps kicking me, so I come to sleep in the living room."

Mom sighed helplessly. "I've wronged you, son. I've thought about this too. I can't let you and Doudou sleep together all the time. However, if we go to buy a new bed at this time, it implies that Doudou will live here for a long time. .Your grandma will definitely be suspicious, so..."

"I know, Mom." Ji Ning said, "It's okay, I'll just sleep on the sofa for a while, it's actually quite comfortable."

Mom glanced at the room where Doudou slept, and lowered her voice. "Did Doudou have any abnormal behavior in the past two nights?"

Ji Ning's heart skipped a beat.In order not to make his mother suspicious, he pretended to say flatly, "It's nothing."

"Will Doudou still receive calls from his mother at night?"

This Ji Ning can't lie, because Doudou will tell. "Um...yes," he said reluctantly.

Mom looked terrified. "My God, this strange thing... how long will it last?"

Ji Ning's heart seemed to be hit hard.Yes, how many more nights of this terror do I have to live through?I'm going to go crazy if this goes on.

Seeing her son in a trance, the mother asked worriedly, "Jining, are you okay?"

"Well...it's okay." Ji Ning nags, and a sentence comes out of his mouth involuntarily——

"It will be over tomorrow."

"What?" Mom asked in surprise, "How do you know?"

"I don't know either." Ji Ning said in amazement—he really didn't know—the words seemed to come out of his subconscious. "I just... feel that way."

Mom looked at Ji Ning for a long time. "I hope so." He went back to the kitchen.

Ji Ning sat on the sofa blankly, trying to understand why he said such a sentence at that moment just now.Was it really a subconscious thought, or an indescribable hunch?It seems that since last night, he has been feeling this way - what will happen on the seventh day, that is, tomorrow.Possibly, badly... But whatever the case, any subtle hint of an end to the status quo would bring a glimmer of hope to a man who was tormented by fear every night.

This morning, grandma sat in a wheelchair and had breakfast with everyone.Doudou is still so... normal - just for the day.He was obviously ignorant of the fact that he was briefly possessed every night.

"Cousin, why do you want to sleep in the living room?" Doudou peeled the shell of the boiled egg.

Both grandma and father looked at Ji Ning.Ji Ning lightly tapped Doudou's forehead with his finger, pretending to be relaxed. "It's not because of you."

"What's wrong with me?" Doudou asked puzzled.

"Your little feet are kicking on my face. I have to avoid it."

Doudou's face turned red. "My foot didn't hit your face!"

"Really? You were asleep, how would you know?"

Originally, Ji Ning just wanted to tease him.Unexpectedly, Doudou stopped to peel the eggs, thought about it seriously, and then said:
"I seem to... know what happened after I fell asleep."

Ji Ning's heart hangs suddenly.

Grandma smiled and said, "Doudou, what can you do after you fall asleep? Are you talking about dreaming?"

"Hmm... I can't remember, it seems... I really did something, someone told me to do it..." Doudou thought hard, and finally scratched her head. "Oh, I can't remember."

"Then don't think about it. It's just a dream." Ji Ning said to him, and then quickly changed the subject. "Doudou, is the PSP game console I gave you fun?"

Doudou immediately excitedly talked about the handheld game console.

Ji Ning knew that something would really happen - he was sure of that.This feeling only intensifies as the day progresses towards tomorrow.In fact, the whole day he passed in a state of restlessness and restlessness, hardly able to settle down to do anything.This situation continued until the evening, and became more obvious.

Ji Ning stared at the TV, but didn't see anything.Like suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, he kept guessing what would happen tonight, or in the early hours of tomorrow.Especially - when he thought that he would not sleep with Doudou tonight, and he would not know what Doudou would do, he felt that this thought was not without reason.However, Ji Ning really didn't have the courage to face those horrible things anymore. His already fragile nerves couldn't bear the torture again, so he had to choose to escape.

Doudou was playing a game console in the room, grandma was cleaning her dentures in the kitchen, and Ji Ning hardly said a word—there was no other sound in the living room except the boring dialogues of TV series characters.Mom seemed to be unable to bear this dull atmosphere, and deliberately wanted to find something to do.She took out half a watermelon from the refrigerator and squeezed the watermelon juice with a juicer.

A few minutes later, my mother shouted in the kitchen: "Doudo, Jining, come and drink watermelon juice."

Ji Ning responded, but didn't stand up immediately.He's not in the mood for a drink right now.Doudou ran out of the room quickly - he likes to drink iced juice the most.

After a while, Doudou finished his own glass, brought over a glass of watermelon juice, and handed it to Ji Ning: "Cousin, the juice just squeezed by my aunt is delicious."

Ji Ning forced a smile and took the juice. "thanks."

After drinking this glass of iced juice, Ji Ning felt a little more relaxed.He went to the bathroom to take a shower, and when he returned to the living room, the TV was turned off, and the family members also went back to their rooms, probably because Ji Ning was going to sleep on the sofa.

The tense mood of the day made Ji Ning feel very tired.He wrapped himself in a cool quilt and soon fell asleep.

Regardless of whether something is really going to happen, tonight, he doesn't want to care about it.

About an hour passed.In the dead of night, with a "snap", the lights in the living room were turned off.

A figure stood by the wall, watching the sleeping Ji Ning.

Seventeenth and seventh day (early morning)

Dazed and fluttering, Ji Ning was in a dark forest.

Everything seemed unreal and ethereal.There is no sound when walking, and there is no real feeling when touching.

where is thisJi Ning looked around at the dark woods around him—a very familiar feeling.He clearly felt that this was a scene he had experienced.

Oh, by the way, this is the mountain forest where my aunt was buried.How did I get here?It was strange that he wasn't scared at all.

At this time, Ji Ning saw a person walking towards him slowly in the shadowy woods, getting closer and closer.He gradually saw her face - hey, isn't this my aunt?She should be sleeping in this land, how could she appear in front of her?

Ji Ning wanted to go over to ask his aunt what was going on, but felt that this was really absurd—I actually saw a dead person and wanted to talk to her—almost at the same time he thought of this, he understood Came here and found a reason to explain this absurd scene.

It's a dream.An unrealistic dream.When he realized this, his aunt got closer and closer to him.

He saw her face.Pale, lifeless, with a piece of carrion slowly falling off his cheek.

Ji Ning's breathing became short of breath.It's not fun, it's not a fantasy or romantic dream, it's a nightmare.

I have to wake up quickly, before she leans all the way in.In fact, when he was thinking this way, his aunt—or rather, the carrion corpse was already approaching.And at this time, Ji Ning thought - what method should I use to wake myself up from a nightmare?
He tried to open his eyes, but it seemed that he could only control himself in the dream.He wanted to shout loudly, but found that the scream was suppressed in his throat and he couldn't make any sound.All he could think of was to run backwards desperately, but his feet seemed to be filled with lead, and he couldn't move at all.Ji Ning started to panic, he was horrified to find that in this nightmare, everything he did was meaningless.He can't control and get rid of this scary dream!

Those waxy, rotten hands slowly lifted up, twisting around like vines, as if they wanted to hold Ji Ning tightly.Immediately, the face with the carrion hanging on it was also close...Jining was so frightened that he closed his eyes tightly and his whole body went stiff.At this time, a familiar voice came from his ear, it was the mantra that Doudou chanted that he heard two nights ago——Ji Ning was horrified to the extreme. You can also hear this horrible sound in your dreams!

This fright made Ji Ning sober.He had never been so lucid in a dream—he knew clearly that he was dreaming, but he just couldn't wake up!He could even think of his real situation at the moment—lying on the sofa in the living room, his eyes closed, his face full of pain, and trembling.The only thing he didn't understand was, since they were already so awake, why couldn't they open their eyes and wake up?
A snake-like cold hand slid across Ji Ning's neck, and his back felt the pain of being scratched by nails. He even felt the hands gradually sinking into his body - in the dream, this body The rotting corpse seemed to merge with him.He didn't know what it meant, but he knew that this was very abnormal, this was no ordinary nightmare.

Anyway, I'm going to give it a shot.he thought in horror.

Ji Ning glanced back, and behind him was a deep cliff.He was terrified, even in his dream, of falling into this dark abyss--the abyss that seemed to lead straight to hell.But——I can't just indulge in this horrible dream, I have to... regain self-control.

Fight!Ji Ning gritted his teeth and jumped down the cliff——

With a "boom", Ji Ning was awakened by the pain. He opened his eyes and found that he had rolled down from the sofa - but immediately, he wondered if he had fallen from one nightmare to another.

In front of his eyes, on the floor of the living room, was painted a huge red charm with a diameter of one meter, which was several times larger than what he saw two nights ago.Four candles are lit in the upper, lower, left, and right directions of the charm.In the dancing candlelight, Doudou was sitting right in front of her, with her eyes closed, reciting spells, and the changing light and dark tones on her face seemed strange and inexplicable.

Ji Ning really wanted to get up from the ground and stop all this again, but found that his body was weak and it was difficult to move.Gradually, his consciousness became blurred, and something seemed to be getting away from him gradually...

When Ji Ning lost consciousness, Doudou stopped chanting, swayed twice, and fell to one side.

A few seconds later, Ji Ning's parents pushed open the door with a "bang" and walked out quickly - the sound of Ji Ning falling from the sofa woke them up just now.

When they walked to the stairs, they saw an astonishing scene in the living room from above——Ji Ning and Doudou fell to the ground, unconscious, and there were huge red charms and burning candles on the ground——Ji Ning's parents were shocked I was stunned, completely unable to understand what was going on.After an exclamation, the mother rushed to her son, shook his body, and shouted loudly: "Jining, Jining! What happened?"

In the violent shaking, Ji Ning woke up.He opened his eyes slightly, saw the person in front of him, his lips trembled a few times, and he said: "Sister..."

Mom was stunned suddenly. "Jining, what do you call me?"

"Sister..." Ji Ning's tone sounded different from usual, like a different person. "Sister, is it really you?"

Mom turned her head and looked at dad who was also in a daze with his mouth wide open. The expressions on their faces were as if they had swallowed a live mouse.

At this moment, Ji Ning, who was supported by his mother to sit up, suddenly sobbed, and screamed to the front, "Mom, you... let me go!"

Ji Ning's parents were taken aback. They followed the gaze of "son" and widened their eyes.

At some point, grandma stood on the stairs with a cane.

At this moment, her lips moved, her body trembled, she looked at "Ji Ning" sadly and said:
"Huiyun, do you...don't want to see me that much?"

Ji Ning's mother glanced at her son and then at her mother, trying to understand everything in front of her.But her numb brain couldn't move at this moment, she could only stare at them with wide eyes in horror.

Granny leaned on crutches with difficulty, and walked tremblingly in front of "Ji Ning", turning a blind eye to the people next to her.And "Ji Ning" buried his head deeply, and didn't dare to look directly at the person in front of him.Until grandma said: "Huiyun, I called you back because I wanted you to tell me why you...why committed suicide?"

"Mom... I have my reasons. I said in the suicide note to my sister that I just want to take this secret to the grave, and I just hope not to be disturbed. Mom, please don't press me, okay?" ?" "Ji Ning" begged bitterly.

"What are your difficulties, why can't you tell me? Do you... treat me like a mother?" Grandma's voice trembled with excitement. "Huiyun, have you always blamed me for favoring your sister since she was a child? I let her go out to study, and then I came to live with her in the city, leaving you alone in the countryside and making your orphans and widows suffer. You have always been Hating me, right?"

"No..." "Ji Ning" covered his face and began to cry. "not like this."

Hearing this, Ji Ning's mother trembled all over, and she walked over to look at grandma. "Mom, what the hell is... what's going on!"

"Hui Qing, don't you understand? Now, Hui Yun's undead is attached to Ji Ning." Grandma said in a deep voice.

Mom covered her mouth in fear. "Why...is this happening?"

"I have kept this from you for many years. Now, it's time to tell you." Grandma stared at her eldest daughter. "I am a psychic."

Mom stared at grandma in disbelief.Ji Ning's father was also completely dumbfounded, standing aside with his mouth open, motionless like a stone sculpture.

"I know, you have been afraid of such supernatural things since you were a child. I agree with you to go out to study, just to keep you away from these things." Grandma slowly turned her head to look at "Jining". "Huiyun is by my side, she knows it. But I told her not to tell you, and told everyone around me to keep it from you. So, you never knew."

Grandma took a deep breath. "Later, you worked and settled in the city. I came to live next to you. Huiyun never understood, thinking that I wanted to live a better life in the city. But in fact, neither of you two sisters knew the real reason .I haven't told anyone about it."

Grandma shifted her eyes to "Ji Ning". "Huiyun, in front of your sister, let me tell you, the reason why I chose to come to the city to live next to your sister is because I found out that I have a grandson who inherited the psychic physique."

Ji Ning's mother was incoherent in horror, shaking her head violently. "No, it won't... What you said is..."

"That's right, it's Ji Ning." Grandma's tone sounded like some kind of sentence. "When he was a few years old, I discovered that this child has this ability. I know that he inherited my psychic physique (alternatively)."

"At that time, especially in my hometown. A real psychic is a profession that is respected and admired by everyone. I thought at the time, if I can train Ji Ning to be an heir, it may not be a good thing..."

When grandma said this, she lowered her head with an extremely sad expression. "But later, I found out that I was wrong. The times are developing and improving, but they are also gradually becoming chaotic and false. Many scammers pretending to be psychics have tarnished and blasphemed this profession. As a result, many people—especially the cities The people here no longer believe in such things as psychics. The psychic who was admired in the past has now become synonymous with charlatans and even charlatans. After realizing this, I certainly cannot let my grandson Go this way again..."

Grandma looked at "Ji Ning" and said: "Huiyun, you understand now, I didn't look down on you at the beginning and didn't want to live with you, but because of... such a reason."

"Ji Ning" sat on the ground sobbing and wiping away tears.

The mother stared at the man in front of her—her son, but his movements and voice were very much like her poor sister—her mind was more confused than ever before, and she felt that she was going to pass out.Suddenly, she remembered something. "Mom, how do you know... Huiyun is dead?"

Grandma let out a dry wry smile. "Huiqing, you want to hide it from me, it's for my own good, I know that. But how can you hide it? I'm a psychic! Before Huiyun died, I felt some omens. After that, I felt through my spiritual power that my little daughter is no longer in this world. In addition, I tried a little later-your attitude exposed everything. I suppressed my sadness and pretended to be kept in the dark by you. "

"Why do you do this..." Halfway through the sentence, Ji Ning's mother looked at Doudou and understood.

"I think the same as you." Grandma's expression was very painful. "I can't bear to let Doudou know about such a cruel thing as his mother's suicide, so I cooperated with you in order to hide it from him. Especially, I heard Doudou say on the phone that night that he wanted his mother to call every night. To him. In order to make Doudou feel at ease, I used my mobile phone to call at night, pretending to be Huiyun's voice——you always said that Huiyun's voice is very similar to mine..."

Ji Ning's father was holding Doudou in his arms at the moment, extremely astonished. "Mom, those calls were actually made by you to Doudou!"

"I have never used the mobile phone you bought for me. I didn't expect it to be useful in this matter... When I pretended to be Huiyun and called Doudou, I suddenly thought-I am old and my legs and feet are not good enough. It's convenient, but I might be able to hypnotize Doudou on the phone and use him to perform psychic spells on Ji Ning, I just need to do some preparations beforehand - I do this because I really want to figure out Huiyun Why did you go to a dead end..."

While saying these words, grandma's breathing gradually became difficult. "Originally, I didn't intend to wake you up, I just wanted to use Doudou to quietly lure Ji Ning somewhere for psychic... Unfortunately, due to some accidental factors, the first two times failed - tonight is the last chance , I can't miss it anymore. I put a sleeping pill in the glass of juice that Doudou brought to Ning..."

When grandma said this, she dropped her crutches and threw herself on "Ji Ning", crying. "Huiyun, mom called you back, are you still unwilling to tell me? Forget it, let's go to that world and talk slowly..."

"Ji Ning" hugged grandma in confusion. "Mom, why...why do you say that?"

"I'm old, and psychic things take a lot of energy and physical strength... This is... my last psychic... But it doesn't matter, Huiyun, Mom is sorry, I can only accompany you on the road to make up for it You..." Grandma's voice became weaker and weaker, and her body gradually slid down.

"Mom!" Ji Ning's parents knelt down and supported grandma with several hands. "Ji Ning" cried even more heartbreakingly.Finally, "he" said with grief:

"Mom, don't...I don't want you to accompany me! Well...I'll tell you. The reason why I committed suicide was because I had a terrible disease! Doudou's father also chose to leave us because of this disease. Yes. Because this disease is terminally ill and can be contagious! I don't want to involve Doudou, but I don't know if he has already been infected. I can't even face Doudou! That's why..."

"Is that so, it's not because of me..." Grandma closed her eyes. "Yaonu, let's... let's go together... No matter what, Mom will accompany you..."

After saying this, grandma's head drooped completely and she fell into Ji Ning's arms.At the same time, Ji Ning's body twitched, something invisible was pulled out of his body, and he fell down on the living room floor with his grandmother in his arms.

eighteen months later

(Ji Ning's diary)
"...The whole thing is like this. The reason why it is recorded now is because until today, some things finally came to a conclusion. This matter is finally coming to an end.

Thinking about it now, I actually realized something was wrong from the very beginning.It's just that it didn't attract much attention at the time, and it was impossible to imagine that this little 'something wrong' would be the beginning of the series of horrible incidents that followed.In fact, there are too many things that are beyond my expectation——

I never thought that my grandma would be the "most powerful psychic who left long ago" in Xiaodeng's mouth (the daughter of the village head); I also couldn't have imagined that my grandma would secretly use Doudou's paint Come to draw those spells, teach Doudou the spell, and use the phone to hypnotize Doudou, and let him cast spells on me; and the most surprising thing to me is that I am the one who has inherited the psychic physique.

This is really ironic—I suspected that Doudou had a psychic physique before, and even my aunt herself, but I never thought that I, who have the same blood as them, would also have this possibility—unfortunately, that happened to be the case .

Of course, now I understand everything.Why can I see my aunt's ghost in the mirror, on the bed, or in some other places-I just thought, why didn't I realize it at the time?Maybe I was really scared stupid.

The reason for my aunt's suicide - I feel very sad.In the ignorant and backward village in my hometown, if someone admits that he or she has AIDS, it seems to mean announcing to everyone that he (she) is a disorderly person, and will be spurned and criticized by everyone. despise.As everyone knows, in the way of AIDS transmission, sharing syringes is a big category.

Back then, Doudou's father secretly sold blood in order to supplement the family income.This is how he contracted the AIDS virus.When he realized that he was terminally ill, he chose to leave silently and go to a certain place to meet death.And a few years later, after my aunt learned that she was also infected with the virus, she chose the same path as her uncle—as if this was the only solution.

I heard about these things from Xiao Fan later.Things in the world are so coincidental, some seemingly unrelated people or things are inextricably linked.In fact, I should have thought of something through her father's occupation a long time ago—Xiao Fan's father is a doctor in the hospital's AIDS department, and was recently promoted to director.From the medical records of the hospital, he found that a man in the ore village was diagnosed with AIDS a few years ago, but left without any treatment.From this, he thought that maybe he should find the man's family and test whether they were infected, so as to prevent the spread and spread of AIDS.

There is no doubt that that man is Doudou's father.But Xiao Fan's father went to the ore village to find his aunt, told her these things, and asked her to go to the hospital for a free examination.

For Doudou, my aunt secretly went to the hospital for an examination without telling everyone, and the result was sad and cruel—she was really an HIV carrier.It's just that there are no symptoms for the time being (the incubation period of AIDS is sometimes as long as several years).My aunt couldn't accept this fact. She was afraid that she would infect her son who lived with him day and night. She was also afraid of seeing how she looked after getting sick, and she didn't know what people in the village would think of her when they knew about it.Therefore, she begged Xiao Fan's father not to tell this matter.Xiao Fan's father agreed to her, but he didn't expect that after a few days, my aunt would bring this secret to her grave.

Xiao Fan told me that her father mentioned this incident at home, and mentioned that there is a 7-year-old boy in the miserable family surnamed Xu in Miner Village. Although the possibility of infection is low, he must accept HIV testing.That afternoon, when Xiao Fan heard Doudou's name, he somewhat guessed it.After returning home, she got confirmation from her father.But Xiaofan's father repeatedly told him that this matter should not be told to anyone and that the patient's privacy must be respected.So a few days ago, Xiaofan heard me say on the phone that we already knew that my aunt committed suicide because she had some kind of terminal illness, and she didn't tell me all this.Because she realized—when his father came to us and asked Doudou to be tested for HIV, we would still know.

Regarding Doudou, I have to say that he is much stronger than we imagined.It has been 20 days since he learned the bad news that his mother had passed away.Doudou's mood and diet have basically returned to normal.It's just that he is not as lively as before, and has become taciturn.We know that the pain in his heart can only be soothed slowly with time and love.

Grandma's grave is buried next to my aunt.Our whole family felt that this might be Grandma’s wish—when Grandma was alive, she always missed the mountain forest in her hometown, and now she can live there forever.And her youngest daughter kept her company.

Now, looking back at myself, there's one thing I don't understand - if I have a psychic quality, why didn't I (and my family) realize it for all these years?And how grandma saw it is even more of a mystery.Perhaps—I suppose—I can only see the ghosts of my own relatives.Forget it, I don't plan to get into this kind of thing, and I won't tell anyone (including Xiaofan)——I'm still the original me.

Tomorrow, we will go to the graves of grandma and aunt, and we have some news to tell them who are buried underground.It's 11:30pm and I have to rest.I think this must be the longest diary I have written in my life. "

end
Ji Ning's family, together with Doudou, stood in front of the graves of grandma and aunt.White chrysanthemums and calla lilies are placed on the two tombstones respectively.

"It's agreed, no one is allowed to cry today." Mom said.

Ji Ning and Doudou nodded together.Dad said to Mom. "Let's talk about it."

Mom squatted down and called softly: "Mom, Huiyun, we are here to tell you a piece of good news - Doudou's last test result came out, he is healthy and has no virus. Huiyun, you can Don't worry. We will raise Doudou as our own son..." His voice was choked up.

"It's done." Dad reminded from the side.

Mom stood up slowly, covering her red nose.

"Doudou, it's your turn." Dad patted Doudou on the shoulder.

Doudou is holding two paintings in his hands, which are "family portraits" that he did not want to be seen by others and failed many times before he finally succeeded.He spread the paintings in front of the two graves and pressed them down with two stones.

"Mom, grandma, look, we are all here. You will not be alone..." He didn't cry, tears were all over his face.

Standing silently on the top of the mountain for a long time, they descended along the rugged path.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, a gust of wind blew from behind and hit the back of Ji Ning's neck. He glanced back inadvertently——

His expression froze, and his footsteps stopped.

Mom turned around and asked, "Ji Ning, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ji Ning stared deeply at the distant hill. "Just the wind in the face."

(End of "Psychic Medium")

There is not a single pause or mistake in Lake's storytelling, and he delivers this chilling story methodically, with an unexpected and evocative ending.The whole process went so smoothly that it made people doubt what he said before.

"This story called "The Spiritual Medium" was really improvised by you just now?" Beidou was the first to ask, obviously not quite convinced.

"As I said, it's not completely improvised. I thought out the general framework of the story, only some specific plots in the middle and the final ending were improvised." Lake replied.

"Even so, it's quite remarkable." Ryoma said, "Chris is right, you are indeed not an ordinary person."

Lake frowned, he wasn't sure if what Ryoma said was a compliment or aimed at him.

Ryoma saw Lake's distress, and quickly explained: "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything else, I really think this story is very good."

"Then, let's start scoring." Arakishu said.

Same scoring process.In the end, Lake's story got a score of 9.0, becoming the highest score so far.But he did not show joy.It seems that as long as he can play the game smoothly without fouling, it is his greatest wish.

Nan Tian recorded Lake's score.

Lake's storytelling was relatively slow, and it was almost eleven o'clock now.As the next storyteller, Dark Fire seemed a bit stressed.He went to the cabinet to get some food and water, and said that he would not come down during the day and would concentrate on preparing his story in the room.After finishing their "work" tonight, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.It seemed that nothing special happened this night, so it was going to be passed in a dull manner.

Nan Tian was lying on the bed, thinking about a problem—from all the signs so far, the story told by Lake was not fouled from any angle—it was neither the same as the three stories he told before, nor was it similar to the previous three stories. Anything that happens now crashes.

In this way, Lake really figured out a way to avoid fouling?Could it be that the people behind can only escape in this way?
Of course, there is a second possibility.

The organizer obviously won't make himself foul.

As soon as this idea came into being, Nan Tian shook his head slightly and rejected it—Lake is now the fourth storyteller, if he is the only one who didn't foul and everyone else did, it would be too much Suspicious.It's not in the style of that dodgy sponsor.

But——Nan Tian thought again—it is still too early to judge whether the storyteller will foul or not.Maybe the more this game progresses, the more cautious everyone will be... The development of the situation is unpredictable, and we can only take one step at a time.

Thinking about it, Nan Tian felt sleepy.He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

This converted abandoned prison was apparently built in an inaccessible place.Every night, is the silence of death.Although each room is relatively soundproof, this extraordinary silence still manages to carry some sound into their ears.

Nan Tian didn't hear this sound at first, he was sleeping soundly.Later, the voice became louder, and he was dragged out of his sleep.

Someone is walking, or...running.Nan Tian discerned carefully, and heard that the voice came from the hall downstairs.

Nan Tian sat up from the bed vigilantly.He pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while—yes, it was the sound of human footsteps, fast and slow.If the sound were in a gym, it would be the normal sound of jogging; but on this particular occasion, it seemed very eerie.

A series of questions quickly popped up in Nan Tian's mind - who is it?Who would walk or run downstairs in the middle of the night?What happened?

Nan Tian cautiously got off the bed and slowly approached the door.He pressed his ear against the door, and the voice became clearer—someone was really running in circles downstairs, or running in place.

Nan Tian couldn't figure out what was going on.He thought it was a bit ridiculous—in the current situation, who would have the pleasure of exercising?Even if it is, you shouldn't come out to run in the middle of the night.Thinking about it this way, he felt a little unusual, and a sense of fear arose spontaneously.

Nan Tian really wanted to push the door open immediately to see what was going on.But he was afraid that this was a trap, that his rashness would bring unexpected danger.

Just when he was hesitating, the sound of running stopped abruptly.Nan Tian's heart trembled.

For the next few minutes he heard nothing more.

Nan Tian went back to bed, thinking about this unusual incident.He had mixed feelings—annoyed that he didn't open the door to see what happened, and comforted himself that maybe staying in the room was the right choice.

In the end, he thought it was always right to be cautious.After all, there were still 12 people in this place, and he was obviously not the only one who heard the voice. When he asked everyone tomorrow morning, he might know what was going on.

The next morning, Nan Tian got up very early.Thinking of the strange things last night, he lost all sleepiness, and glanced at the time, it was only less than 7 o'clock.But he couldn't hold back anymore, he opened the door and walked out.

On the second floor, he saw that there were already several people downstairs in the hall—these people got up earlier than him.This made Nan Tian immediately think that the reason they got up early might be to talk about what happened last night.

Sure enough, as soon as Nan Tian went downstairs, Sha Jia quickly walked over to him and asked, "Nan Tian, ​​did you hear that strange footsteps last night?"

Nan Tian nodded, Sajia let out a low cry, then turned around and said to the others: "Nan Tian heard it too!"

Nan Tian walked over and asked, "Did you all hear that?"

Lake nodded first. "Yes." Then Xu Wen, Sajia and Gott also said that they heard footsteps at night.

Nan Tian noticed that there were Xiahoushen and Araki who were standing here, and the two of them did not make a statement. He asked, "Mr. Xiahou, Mr. Araki, did you hear that?"

Xia Houshen said: "I didn't hear any strange noises at night, but I heard some of them discussing early in the morning, so I came down from upstairs."

Nan Tian looked at Araki Zhou: "What about you? Teacher Araki?"

Araki Zhou looked away and said arrogantly: "Of course I heard such an obvious voice." He paused, "But I don't think there's anything to make a fuss about. Maybe it's just that someone can't sleep at night and just walks around. Anyway Everyone has not arrived yet, and when the rest of the people wake up, it will naturally become clear."

"To be honest, Mr. Araki, I don't think so." Gott said, "The strange sound was because of the strange sound last night—it was a burst of footsteps that were fast and slow, and suddenly there was no sound at all. There was no more sound. If someone came out to move around, then this person should always go back to the room after walking for a while, why did he stop suddenly? I felt at the time that the person seemed to stop at the same place, Then I didn’t move again—it’s really weird to the extreme.”

"That may be an illusion, or a false impression." Araki said, "Young man, don't trust your feelings too much."

Nan Tian asked: "Did none of you go out to see what's going on?"

Sajia said, "I'm a little scared, and I dare not go out to see it."

Goth even said bluntly: "No matter whether I hear any noise or not, I will never open the door at night. Living in such a ghostly place and encountering such weird events, if I don't learn how to protect myself, That would be so unwise."

Xu Wen and Lake lowered their heads and did not speak, and it was obvious that they were also for the same reason.

At this time, another person came down from upstairs——Chris.Obviously he also heard the footsteps last night.He asked directly, "What do you think the footsteps are about?"

Nan Tian spread his hands. "I don't know, what do you think?"

Chris looked at the few people in front of him, and said in a mysterious tone: "I think there is a reason for everything that happened here. No matter who walked below last night, there must be some special reason— — will never be a senseless act."

Maybe because he felt that Chris's opinion was different from his own, Arakaki said sarcastically: "It sounds like you don't dare to open the door to see, you can only make some guesses."

Chris said calmly, "I don't have to open the door to see. There must be no one outside."

Chris spoke surprisingly, and several people stared at him with wide eyes.Nan Tian asked: "What do you mean by that? If there is no one outside, where did the footsteps we heard come from?"

Chris smiled lightly and explained: "I mean—if I'm not mistaken—the person who made this sound must have let us hear it on purpose for some reason. That being the case, Of course he (she) will not be easily discovered by us, and he (she) will not admit that the person who walked out last night is him (her)—doesn’t that mean there is no one?”

"Do you think that the person who made this sound is most likely the 'organizer'?" Nan Tian asked.

Chris smiled and didn't answer.

"Anyway, let's wait and see." Araki Zhou said coldly, "I'll soon be able to verify whether what you said is right, little genius."

Now, eight people have gathered in the hall - Nan Tian, ​​Araki Zhou, Xia Houshen, Lake, Goth, Sajia, Xu Wen and Chris.Except for Xia Houshen who didn't hear the voice, the other seven people heard it.

After eight o'clock, several people came down from upstairs one after another, namely Beluga, Qianqiu and Ryoma.When I asked them, they all said they didn't hear the voice.

The last one to come down was Beidou, and it seemed that he was the most drowsy.When Sajia asked him, he scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "I definitely can't hear it, let alone the sound of footsteps, as long as I fall asleep, I won't be woken up by thunder."

Now everyone is basically gathered, and as Chris guessed, no one admitted to walking around last night.

"How could such a thing happen?" Xu Wen said inexplicably, "If everyone hasn't come out and walked around, then who made the footsteps last night?"

"As I said at the beginning, it doesn't make sense to ask like this," Chris said. "It's like in a mystery novel, the big detective asks 'Who killed the Duchess?' Will someone raise their hand and answer 'It was me' ?”

"You mean one of us is lying?" Lake said.

Chris shrugged his shoulders, making it obvious.

"Don't forget, there is still one person missing." Arakaki said, "The dark fire is still in the room."

"He said yesterday that he would concentrate on thinking about the story in the room, and would not come down during the day." Qianqiu said.

"Don't ask him, it's pointless." Chris said, "Besides, even if it was him, he wouldn't admit it."

That being said, everyone was a little frustrated.Xu Wen said in confusion, "Why did this person do this? What is his purpose?"

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay—indeed, it was always disturbing that this question was not clear.

"Maybe, we'll find out soon." Chris said in a low voice, as if looking forward to it.

At night, everyone gathered in the hall on time and sat in their seats.By [-]:[-], Dark Fire hadn't come down from upstairs.

White Dick said, "What's the matter with Darkfire? Does he have a watch? Shall we call him?"

"I'll go..." As soon as Beidou made his statement, he suddenly seemed to think of something and hesitated.

At this moment, Xia Houshen saw the door of the dark fire room opened, and said, "No need."

Dark Huo hurried down from upstairs and sat in his seat, looking a little excited.He told the crowd: "A wonderful story... thanks to this special environment. I spent a day today thinking of a story that I am most satisfied with myself so far!"

"That's really great." Qianqiu looked at Dark Fire expectantly, looking very interested.

Dark Fire stopped talking and went straight to the topic:
"The name of the story is 'The New Tenant.'"

(End of this chapter)