Chapter 27: The town of the midnight revelry

With a flashlight in hand, I carried Mr. Liu on my back, followed by a dozen or so elderly people, walking in and out of the timber yard.

I don’t know where the thin clouds covered the dim moonlight, making the night even darker… I felt inexplicably sad. What could such a group of old people do? But would such a group of old people in the town dare to fight back?

In the wind, an old man walking in front of me was staggering. If his descendants were also one of the black-robed men, how would he feel?

I feel like a sentimental woman… but this is also the real Chen Chengyi. I dare not claim to be a compassionate person, but I really dare not live in this world numbly. I would rather be the one who is often teary-eyed, risking his life for something that seems inexplicable to outsiders, always in a mess, making people unable to understand and even anxious.

I even thought of Lao Hui. Once, at his grave, Xiaobei told me about his past, about how this seemingly sloppy child was also a crybaby, and how even an abandoned child could make him cry. He never hid his emotions, and Xiaobei said to me at the end, “Not crying doesn’t necessarily make you a true hero. On the contrary, I think the true hero is sentimental, right? If he didn’t have a sensitive and sincere heart, how could he feel the suffering of the world and die for it? Lao Hui must have felt it deeply.”

“The children got on the boat and stopped moving?” The past cannot be retrieved. On such a cold night, I stopped my thoughts and desperately looked for a topic to talk about. I didn’t want this sad and silent atmosphere to envelop the group of old people. I didn’t even have to guess, I knew they must have failed many times. Every failure was probably a heavy blow. I was afraid their hearts would grow cold.

“I haven’t seen any children come out of that cabin. I don’t know why, but there must be something inside.” Mr. Liu replied to me, his voice still weak, but I still didn’t feel any sense of decadence or a desire to give up.

I nodded and continued walking in silence until I had walked out of the timber distribution office and onto the streets of the town. I said, “I didn’t come here to save people, and I certainly didn’t come here to solve mysteries and make a name for myself. I came here for some clues about my ancestors… But after seeing everything tonight, I think saving people can take a more important place in my heart. I mean, even if I don’t have a purpose in itself, I’m willing to save people. I don’t know how much power I have, but I’m just willing to do it. Mr. Liu, there are still people like you in the town. I am very moved. I didn’t expect this. I just hope… I hope you don’t give up.

After hearing this, all the old people looked at me in surprise and with emotion, but no one spoke. Even the old man Liu on my back was very quiet.

After a long time, he said, “Young man, are you a true Taoist, a Taoist priest?”

“Yes, I have a heritage. I am really a righteous Taoist.” I had walked so far with my back to the people, and I was a little hot. The breath I exhaled in the cold night formed white mist, but I felt a sense of pride flowing from my chest.

“That’s right, it’s true that you were a Taoist! There was once a Taoist in our town who had no talent. He followed a mysterious man to a place of evil and never returned! On ordinary days, I couldn’t tell the difference between him and ordinary people. He had the same little thoughts and the same little problems, but when it came to the crunch, he was so heroic… I was surprised. How could a little person know the difference between right and wrong? He told me that he had the Taoist family heritage and knew what the bottom line should be in the hearts of Taoists. He said that he was walking the right path, and that only the righteous could have the Tao. So what is the righteous? He already had a taste of it in his heart, hehe…” Grandpa Liu suddenly told me about such a person. In a few words, a vivid image was sketched in front of my eyes.

I suddenly thought of someone and couldn’t help but say, “Are you talking about… the second master Liu in town?”

“You know Liu Er?” Mr. Liu was obviously surprised.

“Well, I heard a story before coming here. I actually came here to look for Liu Er’s youngest son, Liu Weijun… Before, I thought you were him! But your name is Liu Jiwang, right?” I had already had this question in my heart, and at this time, I just said it.

“What story did you hear? Do you know more? You are looking for Wei Jun? In terms of generation, I should be Wei Jun’s second cousin. You thought I was the leader, but in fact… it was Wei Jun who led our group of people. It’s just that his situation is very bad, so he couldn’t come tonight.” Mr. Liu first asked a series of questions, but soon answered my questions. I didn’t expect that he was actually a relative of Liu Wei Jun.

Mr. Ge once said that Liu Weijun was not easy to approach, but I thought that I had such an opportunity. It seems that finding Liu Weijun and finding the real clue is a possibility. Thinking about this, I felt a little more relaxed for the first time tonight. While carrying Mr. Liu on my back, I said, “There are many things that I can’t explain now. Can you take me to see Liu Weijun first? I will definitely tell you about these things.”

“That’s no problem, but it’s not convenient to move around at night. The talent in this town has just sent his relatives, and I’m afraid it will be another emotional night. Come see me tomorrow during the day, and I’ll take you to see Wei Jun.” While talking, Mr. Liu suddenly seemed to have reacted, and asked again, “Where do you live? How could this town easily let an outsider stay overnight?”

As expected, the old man from the town immediately found the key point. I only then realized that I had stayed at that place, but I didn’t even know who the old man was. I didn’t even know his last name, so I could only smile wryly and then roughly tell the old man where I lived.

After listening to this, Mr. Liu was silent for a while, and then said, “Well, it doesn’t matter. After all, I saw you fight today, and it was amazing! Unlike Mr. Liu Er, who is a Taoist with no skills… I’m not afraid of what Wang Laoren will do to you, and you have companions. Come see me tomorrow! I’ll be here.”

While we were talking, we had already walked a long way. The dozen or so old men reminded me from time to time which way to go. After walking around in circles for 78,000 meters, we finally arrived at an alley. That’s what Grandpa Liu was talking about. It was an old apartment building.

I took a deep look at this building, determined to remember it, because this is where I will be tomorrow, and I also let go of Mr. Liu.

“Except for the guards, more than ten of us live in this building now, because we are the only ones left in the town who won’t give in. We live together so that we can help each other. Come tomorrow,” Mr. Liu said to me seriously, with an inexplicable look of expectation in his eyes.

I nodded solemnly. At that moment, the wind blew away the dark clouds that had covered the moon. I saw that under the moonlight, Mr. Liu actually revealed a smile of relief.

The two old men took me back to where I lived. They were very quiet and didn’t want to talk about many things, but the brief conversation also let me know that the owner of the place where I lived was surnamed Wang.

“His name is Wang Xiangjun. Once, his son and daughter were both selected and sent to that evil place.” This is what one of the old men said to me. His words were very brief, but they revealed a lot of content.

This reminded me that before I left, I had been to the old man’s room. In addition to the strange skull, there were also several photos in the room… Now I am sure that the photos must really be his wife and children!

I didn’t see his wife, but I was inexplicably angry. Why could he still be called a numb person in the town when his children had been sent away and their lives were unknown?

Thinking about this, we had already reached the gate of the courtyard. The two old men seemed to have some reservations, so they said goodbye to me and left in a hurry. Looking at their backs, I suddenly remembered a sentence that Mr. Liu had said to me before he left. What was it? Today, the townspeople are a little excited about the wedding?

With a lot of doubts, I pushed open the gate of the courtyard. As soon as there was a sound, I saw Ruoxue and Chengxin running out of the house.

“Chengyi!” Chengxin was a little excited, called out my name, rushed over, grabbed me, and then looked at me strangely, wondering why I was wearing such a strange cloak.

Ru Yue also came over, with a look of ‘surviving a disaster’ on her face, and grabbed me at the same time.

Looking at them, I was full of things to say, but at this moment, I suddenly heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from the town, which was particularly piercing in the middle of the night.

Chengxin and Ruyue looked at each other, obviously not understanding what was going on in the middle of the night. It was like a celebration, but before they could say anything, they heard faint shouts of people screaming in the distance. At the same time, someone in the town lit a string of firecrackers, which crackled and popped in the night.

I sighed helplessly, but Cheng Xin Ge looked at me and said, “What’s going on? Is it the kind of doomsday that’s shown in movies, where the people in the town have turned into zombies? Or did I remember the date wrong, and it’s actually the Spring Festival?”

Upon hearing Chengxin’s words, Yueyue laughed out loud, but I said helplessly, “I’m afraid I know what emotional instability is!”