Jingzhe The streets of Ghost Street are thin and long, like a faint green belt. It only takes eleven steps from south to north, but it can take an hour to walk from east to west.

At the west end of the street is the dilapidated Lanruo Temple. There is a large garden in the temple with various fruits and vegetables, as well as a bamboo forest and a lotus pond. Fish, shrimp, loaches and yellow snails are raised in the lotus pond. This way I can have food all year round. In the evening, I was sitting under the eaves of the main hall reading "Huainanzi". I saw Yan Chixia walking over with a bamboo basket on her arm. The corners of his trousers were rolled up high and his legs were covered with black mud. I saw him With such a look, he couldn't help but chuckle.

Kuchen Master Ku moved over from the dark corner and hit me on the head with his ruler.

I was hit very painfully, covering my head and glaring at him angrily. His solemn iron face had no expression at all, just like those Buddha statues in the main hall. I threw down the book and ran out, with Master Ku chasing after me. His joints were already rusty and his movements were as slow as a snail.

I ran to Yan Chixia and saw a few tender bamboo shoots just dug out of the ground lying in the basket.

"I want to eat meat." I looked up and said to him, "Can you use marbles to shoot the grass sparrows for me?"

"The grass sparrows want to eat in the autumn." "It's fat, now is the time for them to build nests and lay eggs. If they lay eggs, they won't be able to eat them next year," Yan Chixia replied.

"Just shoot one." I pulled his sleeve to show off. He shook his head firmly, handed the basket into my hand, took off his bamboo hat to wipe his sweat, and I looked at his face. He couldn't help but laugh again. His face was as smooth as an egg, with sparse and curly black hair, like unhoeed weeds in the field. It is said that his beard and hair used to be very thick, but I always secretly pulled a few strands off to play with when he wasn't paying attention, and over time it became like this.

"You must be the reincarnation of a starving ghost." He pressed my head with his big hand and said, "All the food in this garden belongs to you, are you afraid that someone will not be able to snatch it from you?"

I had to make a face at him, carry the basket and go out.

It has just rained in the garden, and there are insects chirping faintly in the moist soil. In a few months, there will be green grasshoppers jumping around, pick them up, string them together and put them away. Roasted on the fire, golden and oily. While I was thinking about it, I felt like there were bugs squeaking in my empty stomach, so I opened my legs and started running.

The streets in the evening were empty, and the golden afterglow shone on the bluestone road, stretching my lonely shadow very long.

I ran home and saw Xiaoqian sitting in a dark room combing her hair. There was no mirror in the room, so she always took off her hair and put it on her knees to comb her hair. Her hair was so long, it was like ink. The scroll can cover the entire room when unfolded.

I sat quietly aside, waiting for her to comb her hair, twist it into a crescent-shaped bun, and fix it with an ebony hairpin inlaid with red coral beads. Then she tied her hair She put it on and asked me to help her see if it was crooked. I don't understand why Xiaoqian is so serious. Even if she walks around with her head on her waist, everyone will still praise her beauty. However, I nodded obediently and said, "It's very beautiful."

Actually, I couldn't see anything clearly. My eyes can't see in the dark like a ghost.

Xiaoqian got my approval and carried the basket to the kitchen to light the fire for cooking. I sat aside and turned on the bellows and told her what I had seen during the day. I told her about Zen Master Ku hitting me with a ruler. Xiaoqian stretched out a hand and gently touched the place where it was knocked. Her hands were white and cool, like a piece of jade.

"You still have to read the book carefully." Xiaoqian said, "In the future, when you leave here and go to the outside world, you must have some skills to make a living."

She Her tone of voice was very gentle, like sweet and soft maltose, so the bump on my head no longer hurt.

According to Xiaoqian, Yan Chixia picked me up in Lanruo Temple. I was abandoned on the steps of the main hall, crying from hunger. Yan Chixia was so noisy that she couldn't do anything, so she pulled off a handful of tender saxifrage and put it into my mouth. I sucked the juice from the stems and stopped crying. .

No one knows who my biological parents are.

At that time, the business of the ghost street had declined. There had been no tourists for a long time. Xiaoqian said that it was probably because someone invented newer and more interesting toys, so the old ones were replaced by others. Forgot, she had seen this kind of thing a lot. Before becoming a ghost, Xiaoqian had a very rich life experience. She was married twice, gave birth to seven children, and raised them one by one. This is what she told me.

Later her children got sick and died one by one. In order to raise money to treat the children, Xiaoqian sold her teeth, eyes, breasts, and heart one by one. , liver, bone marrow, and the last thing sold was her soul. Her soul was sold to the ghost street and poured into the body of a female ghost. She had long black hair and white and cool skin. Those skins were treated with photosensitizers. Made of materials that will burn when exposed to sunlight.

After Yan Chixia carried me throughout the ghost streets, she finally decided to hand me over to Xiaoqian to raise.

I have seen a photo of Xiaoqian when she was alive. She hid it in a small cabinet in the corner of the dressing table. The woman in the photo had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a swarthy complexion. She looked much worse than she looks now. Far. Despite this, I saw Xiaoqian crying silently in front of that photo more than once. Her tears were light red, falling on the white skirt and spreading like some unopened peach petals.

Every ghost has many stories during his lifetime. Their bodies were burned to ashes and sprinkled into the soil, but those stories are still alive. During the day, when the entire ghost street falls asleep, those stories will turn into dreams, hovering under the dark eaves like some homeless swallows. At that time, I was the only one walking through the street. I saw them and heard their singing.

I am the only living person on the ghost street.

Xiaoqian said, I am destined not to belong here, and I will leave when I grow up.

The aroma spread in the dark room, and the bugs in my stomach screamed even louder.

I sat at the table and ate dinner alone, including roasted bacon with winter bamboo shoots, egg custard with shrimp paste, and shepherd's purse rice balls, steaming in my hands. Xiaoqian sat aside and watched silently. Ghosts do not eat, and the residents of the ghost street do not eat. The same goes for Yan Chixia and Master Ku. They rely on other ways to live. I buried my face in the bowl and devoured it, thinking to myself, I wonder if I will ever be able to eat such delicious dishes again after I leave here.

Great Summer

After night falls, the whole world becomes lively.

I went alone to the well in the backyard to collect water. The windlass creaked, and the sound was a little different from the past. I looked down and saw a female ghost with long hair in white clothes sitting in the bucket. .

I pulled her up. Her wet hair covered her face, and only one eye peeked out from the gap and looked at me.

"Brother Ning, aren't you going to watch the ghost parade tonight?"

"I want to fetch water for Xiaoqian to take a bath." I replied, "After washing, Let's go take a bath."

She touched my face and said, "You are such a good kid."

She had no legs, so she had to crawl away. I heard rustling sounds in the yard, green will-o'-the-wisps floating around like a group of restless fireflies, and the sweet smell of decaying flowers in the air.

I returned to the dark room and poured water into the cedar tub. Xiaoqian took off her clothes in front of me, and I saw her naked waist and back. There was a line of dark red barcodes on her back, like a small snake, and a white light was flowing on her body.

"Aren't you going to wash with me?" she asked.

I shook my head, but I didn’t know why I refused. Xiaoqian sighed, stretched out her hand and said, "Come on." I stopped shaking my head.

The two of us sat in the tub, and the smell of cedar wood was very good. Xiaoqian used her cold hands to rub my back and hummed a tune softly in her mouth. Her voice was very beautiful. It was said that every man who heard her singing would fall in love with her.

When I grow up, will I fall in love with Xiaoqian? As I thought, I looked down at my little hands. The skin on my hands was slightly wrinkled by the bath water, like a piece of damp kraft paper.

After taking a shower, Xiaoqian combed my hair, put me into a newly sewn blouse, and finally stuffed a large handful of rusty copper coins into the corners of my clothes.

"Go and play." She said, "Remember, don't be greedy and spoil your stomach."

I walked out of the door, and countless lights lit up the street, turning the summer night into a feast. The starry sky was eclipsed. Those ghosts, foxes and monsters came out of the dilapidated houses, walked out from the cracks in the walls, cupboards, double eaves and well railings, holding hands and walking side by side, wandering in groups, gathering the little things. And the long streets are packed with people. I squeezed in among them and looked around. Various aromas wafted from the shops and stalls on both sides of the street, like butterflies of all sizes flapping their noses. When the ghosts selling goods saw me, they all waved and shouted.

"Brother Ning, come over here! The sweet-scented osmanthus cake just came out of the pan, it's so hot!"

"Roasted chestnuts with sugar, roasted chestnuts with sugar, fragrant and sweet sugar Fried chestnuts!"

"Fried cakes! Fragrant fried cakes!"

"Human meat buns, two for a penny!"

"Ning! Come and see the Sugar Blossom Man, it’s delicious and fun!”

Actually, there is no human flesh in the human meat buns, it’s just a gimmick to attract tourists.

I let my stomach go and ate for a while, but finally I couldn't hold it anymore, so I had to sit on the roadside to rest for a while. A white paper lantern as tall as a person was lit on a high platform across the street. There were ghosts and ghosts performing various acrobatics on it. However, they were nothing more than swallowing knives, spitting fire, and beautiful women turning into skeletons. I was not very interested in these. The real beauty is yet to come.

A yellow-skinned old ghost pushed a cart of masks in front of me and said: "Brother Ning, pick a mask. There are bull heads and horse faces, black and white impermanence, Shura, Yaksha, Rakshasa, and To ward off evil spirits and thunder. "

I chose a red-haired and blue-eyed Rakshasa mask. The yellow-skinned old man took my copper coins and thanked him profusely, bending his body like a bow.

I put the mask on my face, swayed my belly and continued to walk forward. Suddenly the music burst out loud, and the street was filled with ghosts and ghosts who stopped together. I looked back and saw the parade approaching in the distance. , the leader is twenty one-inch tall green toads, holding gongs, cymbals, snare drums, huqins and bamboo shengs in their hands, followed by twenty black centipede spirits, all holding various colored lanterns in their hands as they walk and dance. , followed by twenty snake demons in yellow clothes, scattering flowers cut from colored paper into the air one by one, and it is difficult to see clearly from behind. In the center of the team are two one-eyed warriors in white, both of which have three floors. So high, they were carrying a small soft sedan, and Xiaoqian's singing rolled out from it, like stars in the sky, falling one by one and hitting my head.

Fireworks of various colors lit up in the night sky, crimson, green, purple, and gold. I looked up and felt that my body became lighter and floated towards the sky.

The ghosts, foxes, fairies and monsters on the entire ghost street followed the parade, singing and dancing, slowly marching from west to east. At the east end of the street, there was a very old laurel tree with a trunk. It takes three people to hug each other. There are many crows in the tree, and each one can speak human language. They called the old tree ghost and said that it was in charge of the entire ghost street. Whoever wins its favor will prosper and whoever disobeys its orders will be unlucky.

However, I know that this team cannot reach the old ghost tonight.

When we reached the middle of the street, the ground shook. The bluestone pavement cracked in all directions, and many huge white bones crawled out from the ground below. Each one was as thick as a pillar of Lanruo Temple. , they slowly gathered together and turned into a skeleton, shining with porcelain white light in the moonlit night. The black soil gushes out from under its feet like spring water, climbs up to the skeleton, and turns into flesh and blood. Finally, it turns into the shape of a black yaksha, with dark skin and an incredibly large horn. When it stands up At that time, the horn almost pierced the dark night sky.

In comparison, the two white-robed warriors were no bigger than its calves.

Black Yaksha turns its huge head and looks around. This is a routine program at every carnival night. It wants to grab a living person from the tourists and take it away. At night without tourists, it can only go back to sleep underground in despair, waiting for the next opportunity.

It slowly turned its head towards me. I took off the mask on my face and threw it aside. Then it stared at me, its red eyes like hot coals.

Xiaoqian leaned half out of the soft sedan and screamed: "Brother Ning, run! Run!"

The night wind blew up her skirt. The horns bloomed layer by layer like deep purple petals, and her face seemed to be carved out of jade, with orange-red lights flowing on it.

I turned around and ran away, followed by the heavy footsteps of Black Yaksha. Every step shook the whole street, and tiles fell from the eaves of the roadside, as if Ripe fruit. I ran as fast as the wind, my bare feet slapped against the bluestone pavement, and the huge footsteps limped in hot pursuit. A few years ago, I secretly dug out a bowl-sized bone from the ground and hid it under the bed. It was probably the bone from its heel. It couldn't catch up with me after that.

The ghosts and ghosts on the street all made way for me, shouting in unison: "Run, Brother Ning, run!" I saw the looks on their faces flying, like various fireworks in the night. bloom inside. My heart pounded against my chest, the heartbeat of the only living person on this bustling ghost street.

I ran towards Lanruo Temple. As long as I could find Yan Chixia before Black Yaksha caught me, I would be safe. This is the rule of the game and part of the program. Every carnival night, he would sit on the steps of the hall fully dressed and wait for me. I would run and scream: "Help! Hero, save me!" He stood up from the ground with a roar and jumped over the heights. The wall fell onto the ghost street. He held a Taoist talisman with a yellow background and red characters in his left hand. He pulled out the demon-slaying sword from the bag on his back with his right hand. He shouted into the bright night sky: "You are so bold, you evildoer, how dare you harm innocent people. Look!" I, Yan Chixia, will do justice for heaven today!”

But tonight he forgot to wear a hat, so he exposed his egg-like smooth face to the street lights, and the curly hair on it was no longer there. There were only a few left, which was totally out of proportion to the seriousness and righteousness on his face, so I screamed and laughed. Finally, I choked with laughter and fell down on the cold stone road.

This scene became the most profound memory of the whole summer.

Cold Dew

There is a thin layer of clouds in the sky, blocking the light of the full moon. I squatted by the lotus pond of Lanruo Temple, and I could only see the dark lotuses all over the pond. Shadows rise and fall in the wind.

The night is as cool as water, and the autumn insects in the grass keep singing.

The eggplants and beans in the vegetable garden were already ripe and exuded a refreshing fragrance. I couldn't resist the temptation conveyed by the smell, and I wanted to take advantage of the night to steal some and take them back. Yan Chixia was right. , maybe I am really the reincarnation of a starving ghost.

However, I waited for a long time and never heard Yan Chixia’s thunderous snoring. On the contrary, there was a series of footsteps passing through the grass. The owner of those footsteps arrived where Yan Chixia lives. In front of the small house door, he gently opened the door and went in. After a while, the sound of a man and a woman talking came from the dark room. The man was Yan Chixia and the woman was Xiaoqian.

Xiaoqian said: "What did you ask me to do?"

Yan Chixia said: "We are not discussing that matter yet."

Xiaoqian Said: "I can't leave with you now."

Yan Chixia said: "Why not, didn't we agree?"

Xiaoqian said: "Wait a few more days "Brother Ning is still young."

"Brother Ning, it's Brother Ning again!" Yan Chixia's voice became angry, "I think you are really obsessed with ghosts!" "

Xiaoqian said pitifully: "I have raised Brother Ning for all these years, so I can't just leave."

Yan Chixia said bitterly: "You. He always said that Brother Ning was still young and always asked me to wait. How many years have you kept me waiting? "

"I can't remember clearly," Xiaoqian replied in a low voice.

“Don’t you sew new clothes for him every year? How can you not remember clearly?” Yan Chixia sneered, “I remember clearly that the fruits in this vegetable garden ripen once a year. I have been taking care of him for fifteen years, fifteen years! Has his appearance changed since he was seven years old? You still treat him as a living person!"

Xiao Qian was silent for a while. Started to sob softly.

Yan Chixia sighed and said, "Stop lying to yourself. He is just a plaything like us. Is it worth taking you so seriously?"

Xiaoqian Still crying, the more she cried, the sadder her voice became.

Yan Chixia sighed again and said: "If I had known better, I shouldn't have picked him up."

While crying, Xiaoqian whispered: "Leave the ghost street, Where can we go?"

So Yan Chixia stopped talking.

Listening to Xiaoqian’s cry, I suddenly felt very sad, so I sneaked out through the hole in the garden wall.

At this time, the thin clouds dispersed, and the cool moonlight shone on the bluestone streets, condensing into sparkling dewdrops. I stepped on them with my bare feet and felt chilled all over. There are still some small shops open on the streets, and the ghosts and ghosts greet me warmly when they see me, selling freshly baked mung bean cakes and sweet-scented osmanthus cakes. But I don’t want to go there and eat their pastries. Who am I? I’m the same as them, or even worse. them.

Every ghost was once a human being, with a real soul living in a fake body. But I am fake from the inside out. I have been fake from the day I was born into this world. Every ghost has a story about his life, but I don't. Every ghost has parents and family members, and has love and memory for them, but I don't have one either.

Xiaoqian once said that the ghost street will decline because someone invented a newer and more interesting toy. I am such a toy, made with more sophisticated technology, it can be fake and real. I It can cry, laugh, eat, poop and pee, fall, feel pain, bleed, hear its own heartbeat, and slowly grow up from the appearance of a baby, but stops when it reaches the age of seven. I will never grow up to be an adult.

The residents of the ghost street are the tourists’ playthings, but I became Xiaoqian’s plaything.

When falsehood is true, truth is also false.

I walked slowly towards the east end of the street, until I walked under the osmanthus tree named Laogui. The fragrance of osmanthus permeated the night fog, sweet and cool. I suddenly wanted to climb into a tree so no one could find me. The old ghost hung down its branches so that I could climb up on them.

I sat among the lush branches and leaves, feeling a little calmer. Those dark crows were falling around, their glass eyes shining red in the dark night. One of them said: "Brother Ning. "Son, what are you doing here if you don't go to Lanruo Temple to steal food on such a fine night?"

I know it knows the truth. All the big and small things on the ghost street are controlled by the old ghost. Those crows? Those are its eyes and ears.

I said: "How can I know whether I am a living person?"

"You can chop off your head." The crow replied, "It belongs to a living person." If you cut off the head, you will die, but the ghost will not die."

"But what if you die after cutting off the head?" I said.

The crows laughed loudly, and two more crows flew down, holding two ancient bronze mirrors in their mouths. They stood in front of me and behind me respectively, leaking through the gaps in the leaves. In the moonlight, I finally saw the image in the mirror clearly, a small face, black hair, and a thin neck. I lifted my hair and saw a dark red barcode printed on the back of my neck, like a thin snake.

I remembered that Xiaoqian had the same mark on her back, and that on a hot summer night, she used her cold hands to rub my back. As I thought about it, tears suddenly fell down.

Winter Solstice

This winter is dry and cold, but there are always rumbles of thunder coming from a distance. Xiaoqian said that it was a thunder disaster that occurs once in a thousand years.

Thunder calamity falls from the sky, specifically burning the ghosts, foxes and monsters in this world. Those who can avoid it can live for another thousand years, while those who cannot avoid it will be burned to pieces.

I know in my heart that there is no thunder disaster in this world. Xiaoqian has been acting as a ghost for too long and has become a little confused. She held me with her cold hands and her face was as pale as paper. She said she wanted to avoid lightning disaster. You have to find a living person with good virtues and blessings to guard the side. Thunder God throws a rat-proof weapon, so it is difficult to throw thunder and fire easily.

Because of this, my planned departure has been delayed for a long time. My luggage has actually been packed secretly, including a few stolen potatoes and a few old clothes. My body will never grow up again. , so these clothes are enough for me to wear for a long time, and I didn’t take the copper coins Xiaoqian stuffed me. The outside world may not use these.

I want to leave the ghost street and go somewhere else to have a look.

I want to know how real living people live.

However, I still didn’t make it.

It snowed on the morning of the winter solstice. The snowflakes were small and white, like fine sawdust. They melted when they fell to the ground, and a thin layer did not accumulate until noon.

I was walking alone on the deserted street, feeling very bored. At this time in previous years, I would go to Lanruo Temple to find Yan Chixia. We would break open the thin ice on the lotus pond and make simple homemade dishes. The fishing rod reaches under the ice to catch fish. Catfish in winter is rich in fat, and when cooked with garlic, it tastes delicious.

I haven’t seen Yan Chixia for a long time. I wonder if his hair and beard have grown out.

Thunder is still rumbling, far and near, leaving a buzzing vibration in the ears. I walked all the way to the old ghost, climbed up among its branches and sat down. The snowflakes fell rustlingly, but they couldn't fall on me. The surroundings were warm and quiet. I curled up into a ball, like a bird. Fell asleep like that.

In the dream, I saw that the ghost street turned into a long and thin snake, with the old ghost as its head, Lanruo Temple as its tail, and the glittering bluestone pavement as its scales. , each scale has a small grimace painted on it, which is very delicate and beautiful.

However, the snake kept rolling and twisting, as if it was suffering a lot of pain. When I looked carefully, it turned out that a group of termites and spiders were gnawing at its tail, making a gnawing sound. With a sound like leaves, they used their sharp teeth and claws to tear off the scales on its body piece by piece, exposing the flesh and blood underneath. The green snake struggled silently, and finally disappeared into the mouths of the insects inch by inch. When its body was gradually eaten, it let out a sad scream and turned its lonely head towards me.

I saw it had Xiaoqian’s face.

When I woke up, the cold wind was blowing the leaves of the trees, and the surroundings were too quiet. The noisy crows had gone, and only one old and ugly one was left. He squatted on my chest and took a nap, his mouth hanging down like a long beard.

I felt panicked and uncomfortable, so I tried my best to shake it awake. It opened its two broken glass eyes and said in a hoarse voice: "Brother Ning, why are you still here?"

I said: "Where should I go?"

"Anywhere is fine." It said, "The ghost street is going to end, and we are all going to end."

I poked my head out from the leaves and saw a large group of crows circling over Lanruo Temple under the blue-gray sky, cawing non-stop. This was a sight I had never seen before. I jumped down from the tree, spread my legs and ran, running through the long and narrow streets and through the dark doors and windows. Many ghosts were awakened by the crows, but they did not dare to go out and could only hide in the doors and windows. There were cries from behind the cracks, like a swarm of crickets under a house in winter.

The dilapidated walls of Lanruo Temple have been knocked down. Many huge steel spiders are crawling on the main hall, tearing off the dark red glazed tiles and carved wooden beams piece by piece and throwing them into the snow. They have flat Their bodies, with blue eyes and sharp mouths, looked very ugly, and a loud rumbling sound came from their bodies, like thunder. The crows flapped their wings and flew up and down, grabbing the bricks on the ground and throwing them at the spiders. However, such a weak force was not enough to stop them. The bricks hit the steel shell, making sporadic hollow echoes.

The vegetable garden was trampled to pieces, exposing the black mud and some pale roots under the snow.

I saw one of Zen Master Ku’s arms sticking out from the rubble, the joints rusty.

I ran in the garden, calling Yan Chixia’s name. He heard my voice and slowly walked out of the hut, still wearing the costume of catching ghosts and subduing demons, and wearing the A bamboo hat and a sword in his hand. I wanted to call him for help and ask him to fight away these spiders, but the words were stuck in my mouth and I couldn't spit them out. They were like a piece of bitter and astringent candy. Yan Chixia looked at me with a pair of sad eyes and came over to hold me back. My hand, his hand is as cold as Xiaoqian's.

We stood side by side, watching the majestic hall disappear little by little, collapse, and turn into a pile of tiles, bricks, mud and wood.

They demolished the entire Lanruo Temple, the walls, the main hall, the vegetable garden, the lotus pond, the bamboo forest, and Yan Chixia's hut, leaving only a muddy ruin, and then they continued to move towards the ghost street. , dug up the bluestone pavement, and bulldozed the dilapidated houses on both sides of the road. The ghosts in the houses were driven out, howling miserably as they ran, and the skin on their bodies slowly burned under the dim skylight. But there was no flame, just pieces turning black and falling off, emitting a pungent burnt smell.

I fell down on the snow, retching from the smell, vomiting and crying loudly.

It turns out that this is the fate of Ghost Street.

The ghosts, burned beyond recognition, were crying, running, and struggling, leaving various footprints in the snow, like crooked handwriting. I suddenly thought of Xiaoqian and started running again.

Xiaoqian is still sitting in the dark room, combing her hair and singing. Her singing rises and falls in the rumbling thunder, so quiet, so transparent, like a dream under the moonlight, her body exudes The fragrance of various flowers and plants lingered layer after layer, and her hair was like a flame, swaying in the air. I stood there crying and listening to her until the whole house shook.

There were various sounds on the roof, the sound of steel, collisions, footsteps, and Yan Chixia’s shouts. The tiles fell down, leaking a large amount of skylight, and there were silver snowflakes in the light. Flying around. I pushed Xiaoqian into a dark corner and ran out the door alone. I saw Yan Chixia standing on the roof with a sword, the cold wind blowing his clothes like tearing a gray flag.

He jumped on the back of a spider and stabbed its eyes with his sword. The spider struggled for a while and threw him off. Then it stretched out two sharp claws to grab his body and brought it to its mouth. Yan Chixia's body fell out of its mouth piece by piece, like eating a small piece of pickles, tapping the tiles on the house, and his bare head rolled down the sloping roof. , fell at my feet like a ripe egg.

I picked up his head and he stared at me for a while. There were no tears in his eyes, only anger and resentment. Then he closed his eyes hard, as if he couldn't bear to see all this anymore.

The spider chewed Yan Chixia’s body into a pile of scraps, then jumped off the roof and crawled towards me with a rumbling sound, its eyes shining with blue light. Xiaoqian rushed up from behind, wrapped her cold hands around my waist and dragged her back. I used a little strength to push her back into the house, then I picked up Yan Chixia's sword and rushed towards the spider.

The cold light of steel flashed, and my head rolled down to the bluestone pavement with a grunt, blood splattered everywhere.

The whole world is tilted, the sky is tilted, the streets are tilted, and the snowflakes are floating. I tried my best to turn my eyes away and saw the spider chewing my body. A thick dark red foam came out of its mouth and fell on the snow. It chewed and then suddenly stopped moving. , the blue light in his eyes went out.

As if receiving some silent signal, the other spiders behind it also stopped one by one, falling into a deathly silence.

The wind stopped and the snowflakes fell silently on them.

I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t make a sound because my head and body were separated and I couldn’t breathe, so I grinned and let the somewhat twisted smile stay on my face.

Those spiders also regard me as a living person and my body as flesh and blood. They cannot harm a living person. If they do, they will destroy themselves. This is also the rule of the game, no matter it is a ghost. Even spiders, neither can be violated.

I just didn’t expect these guys to be so stupid and easier to deceive than ghosts.

My eyes gradually blurred, as if a layer of veil fell from the blue-gray sky, covering my head underneath. I thought about what those crows said. It turns out that if you cut off the head, you will really die.

I grew up on this street, ran on this street, and now I am finally going to die on this street, dying like a living person.

A pair of white and cool hands reached over and touched my face.

The cold wind blew, blowing some light red snowflakes onto my face. I knew that they were not snow, but Xiaoqian's tears.