Chapter 31: A town without sunlight (1)

Liu Weijun’s voice, hoarse and as if he was screaming with all his strength, echoed in the dark and empty room.

Slowly, I seemed to have become accustomed to his unpleasant voice. As he told his story, I immersed myself in it. Time flowed in this moment. Suddenly, it seemed as if I had followed Liu Weijun back to the town in 1957…

That night, Liu Er, who had been called out in a hurry, went with everyone to find Lin Jianguo. He left in such a hurry that he didn’t have time to look back. He only knew the shocking truth after he had left the house with everyone. His worried wife, who had followed him out of the house, naturally didn’t notice that there was another figure who had quietly left the house and was looking at his father’s back thoughtfully.

This figure is Liu Weijun. On that day, his parents had a big fight, and he was forced by his father to go back to his room. In fact, he was not asleep. As a son, he was more or less worried about his parents’ situation. Moreover, his father was unusually trying to avoid him. At that time, he was already 16 years old, almost 17 years old, and he was already sensible and had a sensitive personality. How could Liu Weijun not be curious?

In the middle of the night, he quietly got up and looked into his parents’ room. The light was on and he could hear them talking. He couldn’t help but be curious, so he crept to the corner of the room and listened to their conversation.

That night, it was also a night when Liu Weijun’s three views were subverted. He was born in the new China, and the education he received since childhood was that science is the productivity of everything. In short, looking at anything with a scientific perspective is absolute truth. In Liu Weijun’s heart, everything can be explained by science, and science is greater than heaven.

But what did his father say? The existence of ghosts, zombies, living dead, unexplained deaths, the mysterious Lin Jianguo, everything, all made Liu Weijun feel like he was listening to a fairy tale.

It was a cold late autumn, and Liu Weijun was only wearing a sweater and pants when he was eavesdropping. But his father’s words seemed to open a door to an unknown world for him. His heart was full of doubt, but inexplicably, it was burning hot, and he couldn’t even feel the cold weather. He just kept thinking about one question over and over again: Is it true? Is it fake?

Over the years, Liu Weijun had come to know his father well, and he felt that his father would never tell a lie. However, all of this was too incredible to believe.

Gradually, the parents fell silent and went to bed.

But Liu Weijun, who had overheard a shocking secret, returned to his room and couldn’t sleep. He even had an impulsive thought in his heart: should he also go and get closer to Lin Jianguo tomorrow? His father said he was a man with great abilities!

As he tossed and turned, Liu Weijun was the first to notice the commotion in the town late at night. He heard the sound of people walking, hurrying in the direction of his house. After just hearing such a terrifying story from his father, Liu Weijun was a little scared and subconsciously didn’t dare to investigate further. Instead, he pulled the quilt over his head.

Later, the group knocked on his door and Liu Weijun realized that they were cadres from the timber transportation office.

He was standing by the window of his room, watching quietly. After seeing his father’s unpleasant expression as he talked to one of them, he went back into the room, dressed quickly, and hurriedly left. He vaguely knew that his father was going to find Lin Jianguo, and at that moment, an idea that he could not suppress began to fill Liu Weijun’s heart, and the impulse made him unable to lie down in bed peacefully.

Never doubt the power of a young man to act on a matter. After his mother returned to the house, Liu Weijun hurriedly dressed and tiptoed out of the house.

It was already late at night, and the whole town was unusually quiet. The cold air of late autumn was constantly inhaled into the lungs as he ran, but this coldness did not make him back down, but instead kept stimulating him, making his heart more and more excited. Yes, Liu Weijun had only one thought at the time, and that was to participate in his father’s operation.

He ran ahead to the gate of the timber distribution center and waited for his father and his group to arrive.

“This is why I participated in this matter, and my brother was in a foreign land and had no idea,” said Liu Weijun, very calm when talking about the past. From his tone, you can’t feel the impulse he had when he hurriedly decided to participate after learning the truth.

“Uncle Wei Jun, do you regret it?” As the conversation went on, I also began to call Liu Wei Jun “Uncle Wei Jun.”

“What is there to regret in a person’s life? You are a Taoist, don’t you understand predestination? And if you regret something that has already happened, you can only regret the mood you were in at the time, and you can’t change the situation itself. So why regret it? Besides, this kind of protection is something I am willing to do. Isn’t it good that the son is doing what the father couldn’t do? Liu Weijun still used his unique slow tone to tell me about his attitude. There were no lofty words, just a calm persistence.

I was very curious about what he was guarding. But the story had only just begun, and I had to be patient and listen on.

Liu Weijun was crouching in the timber yard. It was only twenty minutes later that the group, including his father, arrived at the timber yard.

At that time, there were streetlights outside the door of the timber distribution office. For some reason, they had not been turned off since that night. Standing at the door, leaning against the wall, Liu Weijun could see from a distance that his father’s group looked unusually heavy-hearted, but one person was so different. His face was very calm, and the only thing that was unforgettable was his eyes, which revealed a very complex look.

At that time, the young Liu Weijun could only read one flavor, which was called vicissitudes of life. Yes, it was vicissitudes of life, as if he had experienced many vicissitudes of life.

“Later, I realized that the look in his eyes was actually a kind of sadness, and also a kind of heavy burden of guilt. In fact, at that time, Uncle Lin already knew the fate that our town was about to face. Because he knew, he was not afraid, and he was calm… He knew long ago what he could choose.” Uncle Wei Jun said this to me.

But I didn’t understand. I looked up at his face, and asked in confusion, “What could he have chosen?”

Uncle Wei Jun didn’t answer me directly, but after a moment of contemplation, he said, “A murky pond can grow white lotus flowers. Therefore, even in the most evil environment, there must be someone who will awaken. Otherwise, how could humans have progressed from the chaos of the beginning to today? Do you understand? Uncle Lin’s choice at that time could only be to resist and fight.”

Actually, I don’t quite understand what was going on behind the scenes, but I understand this kind of feeling.

I felt that Uncle Wei Jun in front of me was not like someone who had come out of that era and had not read many books. His words were wise and full of meaning… He seemed to have sensed my thoughts and said, “These years, I have been very lonely. I am so lonely that I only read books. Many of the principles in the books, combined with myself, always have many ideas, but I don’t know if they are right or wrong. However, the general direction of my heart is always adhered to, because it is different from the ideas. I think it must be right.”

These are just some extraneous remarks outside the story. Uncle Wei and I were both silent for a long time, and then the story continued.

When Liu Weijun saw Liu Er and his entourage, they also saw Liu Weijun. The first person to notice Liu Weijun was Lin Jianguo, who looked very calm, so calm that he was even a little absent-minded.

“Your Wei Jun is here,” Lin Jianguo said to Liu Er, and then Liu Er and the others saw Liu Wei Jun waiting at the timber transfer station.

Then, there was a chaotic recollection… Master Liu was furious, and everyone opposed such a half-grown boy being involved in something involving secrets for no reason.

But everything calmed down because of Lin Jianguo’s words. He said, “It’s all fate. Well, since you already know, just come along.”

Lin Jianguo did not give any reason for saying this, but because of his special status, the words he spoke always had a special kind of authority. His words silenced everyone, including the furious Liu Er.

“That day, I saw my father’s eyes red. I knew he was worried about me, but in front of so many people, he couldn’t show it too obviously, so he just got angry. I still feel the skin on my legs burning when I think about it now, because that night he kicked me hard. But he often said that he was a Taoist, so he naturally accepted Uncle Lin’s words, that it was all fate… Perhaps at that moment, his eyes were red because he realized that as a father, he was powerless against his son, and that was why he was so distressed. He didn’t want to think that this was my fate, and he didn’t think that it was a good thing. When Uncle Wei Jun talked about this, a faint smile appeared on his face. In fact, whether it was anger or red eyes, it all came from the warmth of his father.

Perhaps, this is the warmth that no one can forget even when they reach the age of 100.

However, what happened next was not a good thing… but Liu Weijun had already become involved.

The town’s strange change began the next day. After that day, the sun never appeared in the town again.