The aunt in the village is nearly a hundred years old. Although she is thin, she has white hair, a rosy complexion, and her hearing is intact. There are still a few big teeth standing firmly in her mouth. She eats two small bowls of rice. Not a problem. She usually sits under the big banyan tree at the head of the village, smiling and watching the children in the village jumping around. At noon, when the stable biological clock arrives, she starts to take a nap. At this time, any villager who passes under the tree will help her up. Come and send her back to take a nap. An hour later, she could be seen smiling again, holding a carved horse cane, coming to talk to someone. Looking at this situation, Bo Po will definitely become a perfect cross-century old man. The older generation in the village said that the reason why my uncle was so healthy and long-lived was inseparable from a magical experience she had when she was young.
It is said that July 14th of that year was the "Ghost Festival" in our countryside. According to local customs, a married woman should prepare paper clothes, ghost coins, animals, flowers and fruits as offerings on this day, and return to her natal family to worship her ancestors. However, the husband's family is generally inconvenient to participate in these activities at her natal family, because the husband's family has its own ancestors. To worship, the woman had to go out early alone and come back before the sun went down.
My aunt had already prepared beautiful paper clothes, shoes and socks and a lot of colorful underworld coins for her parents who passed away a few years ago. She was afraid that her parents would be cold in the underworld, so she specially asked the origami in the village to The craftsman specially built a tall gray paper heater, and brought one or two livestock and a basket of flowers and fruits, and went to the eldest brother's house early to worship the ancestors together. I think of the old days when my parents were still alive. Every time when my aunt came home, no matter how busy my parents were, they would put down their work and kill chickens and geese in the yard with their children. The mother was kind, moving the stool and chatting about household chores. Although the father was serious, he would always feel embarrassed because he cut up a fat goose in the kitchen and secretly ate the goose paws, and his grandson caught him doing it. How warm and happy it is! Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, I would become a child without a father and a mother. Without my parents, I would also lose the first and most precious hometown in my life! When my aunt thinks about this, she always feels sad for a while in front of her parents' graves.
By the time the ancestor worship was completed, it was already noon when we came out of the mountain. At the eldest brother's house, I hurriedly helped to prepare a table full of food. The whole family drank some sweet wine, asked each other about their current situation, and then dispersed. It was almost evening. My aunt was afraid of the dark, so she quickly grabbed a pair of bamboo baskets for packing offerings and walked along the grass path in the mountains to her husband's house.
At this time, people had finished worshiping their ancestors, and there were no people coming and going from the ancestor worshiping team in the mountains, making it look extremely deserted and quiet. Occasionally there are some ghost coins or offerings scattered on both sides of the mountain road. This is "road money" that people scatter casually for fear that the wild ghosts who have no one to worship will come to rob the offerings of their ancestors. My uncle walked carefully, fearing that one or two pieces of such coins would stick to the soles of her shoes and be followed home by wild ghosts. After turning a small mountain col, you can see the village. I wonder if the "Second Generation Ancestors" (a nickname for naughty children in the village) who are chasing after them to feed them have eaten... My aunt thought about it and turned around. Entering a mountain col with thick trees at the junction of two mountains. Although the sun has not yet set, such a gentle sunset can no longer shine into the gap between the two mountains that obscures the sky and is obscure and dangerous.
Just as the great-aunt was about to walk out of the col in a hurry, there was a sudden call from behind: "Wait for me..."
The great-aunt stopped for a moment. , subconsciously about to turn back, suddenly remembered a taboo in the countryside: "Walking in the mountains on July 14th, don't look back until you see the sun." Although this may be a superstitious statement, in this situation, it is better to believe the rumors from our ancestors. . The great-aunt was thinking about it and was about to continue on her way in panic when the voice behind her sounded again: "Little sister, wait a minute, I have something to do with you. I have been chasing you for a long time before I catch up.
Everyone had no choice but to expand the search area. The torch team went straight into the mountains along the road and walked through several mountains to look for people. The next morning, the torches had long been burned out and the sun was shining brightly. With their big bloodshot eyes open and their mouths dry, they were ready to ask a few big men to go back to collect some food and water and go up the mountain to continue searching for people. At this time, barking sounded, and several big men walking in the direction of the northwest mountain pass suddenly shouted: "Shoes! Here is a shoe!" As soon as the voice fell, another shout came: "Ah! There is a person here!" Everyone was extremely surprised. , rushing towards the mountain pass. Not far from the mountain pass, I saw my uncle curled up and lying in the lush grass. Her body was covered with some leafy twigs. Her clothes were stained with black and yellow mud. Black saliva slowly flowed out of her mouth, and she was naked. He only had one foot, and his whole body was covered in sticky sweat, and he was already unconscious. The husband's eyes were blood red, and without saying a word, he picked up his uncle and hurried down the mountain. Some of the people helped to pick up the uncle's shoes, some helped to straighten the uncle's head, and some opened the way ahead. The group climbed over the mountains and ridges in a hurry. We arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain. The barefoot doctor in the village did not dare to accept such a patient, so everyone had to borrow a bicycle and carry the uncle to the town health center.
After the health center tested the black saliva in the great-aunt’s mouth, they only said: “Clean the stomach immediately!” As soon as the doctor poured the liquid into the great-aunt’s belly, the great-aunt convulsed and vomited. It started out as thick black water, and then spit out a bunch of red and white bugs with a loud "wow" sound! Everyone was shocked. They covered their noses and took a closer look. The red ones were earthworms that kept touching and crawling, and the pink and white ones were maggots that were hugging and disturbing each other! There was a sudden stench in the ward, and several young nurses wearing masks walked out and vomited...
My aunt lay in the health center for a whole week before she managed to regain her energy. As for why the great-aunt vomited up a bunch of earthworms and maggots, the doctor’s explanation was that the great-aunt suffered from nocturnal wandering and mild delusion, and she might have eaten some imaginary food when she was ill...
After recuperating at home for more than a month, my uncle's complexion finally changed from yellowish white to the usual rosy color. My uncle always remembered the unkempt old woman and the white-haired old man who yelled and blocked the road that night... The two couples hired a village magician to pick a day to find the water stains under the dead tree in the small mountain col where the incident occurred. depression. After digging a few feet into the ground, they unearthed a rotten coffin soaked in water. They gently opened the lid and found that the body inside had long since rotted. There were some yellowed burlap pieces among the bones, and black growths on the skull. Bad luck... Under the guidance of the warlock, the couple found a geomantic treasure land, collected the old woman's bones and buried them again. They bought beautiful paper clothes, pants, shoes and socks, and then asked an origami craftsman in the village to build a gray paper heater. , placed many offerings, and worshiped devoutly...
Strangely enough, that night, my aunt dreamed of the old woman wearing beautiful clothes and shoes, standing in the distance. The mountain smiled kindly at her... And the serious white-haired old man standing not far away looked very much like the old father she missed day and night... When the uncle woke up, her eyes were full of tears, not knowing that it was a dream. Or it comes from the vision of another world...
After that incident, my uncle suffered very little illness. Even at such an advanced age today, she still has white hair and a rosy face... Some people say that maybe this is based on virtue. Complain about the evil virtues accumulated.
Decay