Volume 2: The Road of Life and Death 8. New tasks
Luo Tianbao's face was full of indignation when he said this.
In this kind of matter, people involved are often confused, but we as bystanders can see it clearly. Luo Tianjin is the eldest son and grandson. He is handsome and talented. His paper-folding skills are the best in the whole family. With such an outstanding grandson, the rest of the people can only stand aside.
Luo Tianjin was seen standing next to his grandfather . After the two of them paid tribute to their deceased grandmother together, he accompanied the old man for dinner.
"What's so great about that? He's just a flatterer." After saying that, Luo Tianbao stood up and left the cafeteria.
Luo Tianjin is definitely not a villain who only knows how to flatter. Of course, I can understand Luo Tianbao's feelings. No one wants to be ignored by others, especially someone like Luo Tianbao who has no advantages. He must be more emotionally sensitive.
I originally wanted to go to his room to talk to him, but when I walked to the door, I found that the room was pitch black and Luo Tianbao was not in the house.
"Second brother, you think too much. Most of the older generation are biased, especially Luo Tianjin, who is particularly outstanding. The two are not comparable." I said.
"It's easy for you to say. This is a difficult situation for anyone. We're both grandsons of the same clan and do the same job. Why is he more likable?"
"Isn't that nonsense? The young man is handsome and capable. If you were the old man, who would you like?"
"That's what I said, but it's not a good thing for a grandfather to be too partial."
"It would be strange if a grandfather wasn't partial," I said.
"You're right. Old people always like to pick out a grandchild to spoil. We might be the same in the future."
After eating, we didn’t go back to the room immediately. Instead, we took a walk in the garden of Longhua Village, chatting about random things. There were a lot of people in the back garden in the evening, all of whom were taking a walk to digest their meals.
After walking for a while, we felt that there were too many people and too much chatter, which made us feel annoyed, so we took a detour to the wooded area on the back mountain. There are many graves here, so usually not many people come here, especially at night, it is very quiet.
Smoking is not allowed in Longhua Village, but it is allowed here, so we dug two small mud pits on the land to store cigarette ashes and butts to prevent open flames.
"When do you think people like us will be able to go out and work on our own?" Chu Sen said.
"Are you in a hurry to make money?"
"You can't rush into making money, otherwise something bad will happen. That's what I'm curious about."
"There's nothing to be curious about. It's definitely a long process from completing studies to working on your own. It's still early for us. Haven't you seen my second brother? He's still helping out."
"I'm really a little anxious. Actually, I'm not doing this for money. I just want to see if the skills I've learned are useful."
"How can it be useless? Just put your mind at ease. Wild thoughts will not help you learn any skills." Just as I said this, I suddenly felt a figure flash in the dark woods.
I immediately became alert because the forest area is connected to the outside world, and anyone can enter Longhua Village through the forest. Of course, there is a guard post in a narrow area between the forest and the back mountain entrance. It is not easy to enter the village, but it is indeed possible for strangers to enter the forest area.
So I put out my cigarette, stuck my head out from behind the tree to check what was going on, and I actually saw Luo Tianbao.
I saw Luo Tianbao standing in an open space in the woods, muttering something to himself, stretching his legs and bending down from time to time. His behavior was really strange.
At first I thought he was possessed by evil spirits, but after a while Luo Tianbao suddenly shouted, "Xiao Zhen, Chu Sen, what are you two doing sneaking around like that?"
Turns out he was a "normal person." I breathed a sigh of relief and walked out from behind the tree and said, "Second brother, what are you doing here?"
"I'm full and have nothing to do, so I come here to relax, just like you two."
"Brother, do you know about this big tomb built at home ? Can you tell us about it?"
"All you need to know is that this was built for an important figure. Only my eldest brother knows the details. The reason we're short of people is because most of the craftsmen are working on this large tomb. I estimate it's very large, very likely one of the largest tombs in recent years ."
"I really hope I can have a chance to go and see it." I said enviously.
"That's impossible. A tomb this size contains many valuable fraternity quilts, which need to be kept strictly confidential. We can't even suppress the news quickly enough, so how could we allow unrelated people to go and see the excitement?"
"Alas, what a pity."
"You two should study hard first. You will have plenty of opportunities to learn these things in the future."
We chatted until around ten o'clock in the evening, and then we went back to rest. The next morning, I was half asleep when I received a call from Luo Tianbao. He said in a panic, "Are you up yet? If you are, can you come to my room?"
I figured he was in trouble, so I didn't dare delay. I quickly got up, washed up, and went to his room. I saw Luo Tianbao sitting in a chair with an anxious look on his face. I said, "Second brother, what happened?"
"Well, look." After saying that, he pulled back the quilt.
I saw a lake green tulle skirt neatly placed on the left side of the bed, and there was a large wet stain on the other side of the bed.
"Did you wet the bed?" I asked after a moment's pause.
"What nonsense are you talking about? I didn't wet the bed, I was sweating."
"Isn't it night sweats? That's too serious."
"It's definitely not night sweats. I don't feel sick. I just woke up feeling like I was pulled out of the water, soaking wet from the inside out. And I don't know how this costume ended up on my bed."
"Is this a costume?"
I was about to lift the skirt to take a closer look when Luo Tianbao said, "Don't move. This is clothing for paper dolls. It has a strong Yin energy and it's unlucky if you touch it."
"Then why did you take it?" I asked puzzled.
"If I want to know why, I can just deal with it directly. Why would I need to come to you?"
"Brother, even you don't know what happened, so I don't understand either. Why don't we ask..."
"Don't ask others, I just don't believe it."
"Second brother, this is not something you can do out of anger. You have to be sure before you do it," I said.
"Of course I understand, but I have some idea about this matter. It should be related to the temple I worship."
"What's strange in the temple?"
"How could a coffin be allowed in if there wasn't something strange ? I think something went wrong during the worship."
"Can something go wrong when worshipping God?"
"Of course, some gods cannot be worshipped. Once you do, the result is almost the same as inviting ghosts. I am always careless and have always been cautious in doing things. I didn't expect that I would still be tricked." After saying this, Luo Tianbao pointed to the costumes.
"Do you know where this costume came from?"
"It's most likely related to that statue." At this point, Luo Tianbao sat up straight and said, "Brother, can you help me?"
Of course I knew what he was going to do, so I asked, "Second brother, it's no problem for me to help. We brothers should support each other, but should I tell my uncle about this?"
"No, I can handle the troubles I've caused myself, but I need your help." Luo Tianbao sighed and said, "Brother, it's too difficult to make a name for yourself in Longhua Village these days. If we really want to make a career, we have to be independent. Do you understand?"
"I understand, second brother. What do you think we should do about this matter? Lao Chu and I will support you to the end." The reason why I agreed to this was also out of selfishness. Having the opportunity to work alone will definitely improve my "business capabilities" in all aspects.
Then I found Chu Sen and told him exactly what Luo Tianbao had said. Chu Sen was of course happy and agreed without a second thought, and even wanted to pack up and leave right away.
After the three of us hit it off, Luo Tianbao used the excuse of going out to catch crickets to take Chu Sen and me out of Longhua Village, and drove towards Sichuan in Chu Sen's Audi SUV.
Not to mention the bumpy ride, three days later we finally arrived at the village where Luo Tianbao got the coffin board. This time we arrived during the day, and saw that the entire village was overgrown with weeds and no one was living there. It turned out to be a deserted village that had been abandoned for many years.
Luo Tianbao's expression changed immediately. He gasped and said, "This village is haunted . When I arrived that night, the whole village was brightly lit. I even saw smoke coming out of some chimneys."
"Maybe we've come to the wrong place?"
"Impossible, look to the north, the temple is at the foot of the mountain." Sure enough, there was a temple made of blue bricks standing in a wasteland in the north.