Chapter 31: The old village chief (6)

Thinking of this, Bangzi began to feel uneasy. He remembered that after getting out of the water, he couldn’t help but feel guilty, and turned around to take a look. Just then, he saw the old village chief shouting in the water, and saw the old village chief’s resentful eyes before he was finally overwhelmed by the waves.

That look… Bangzi shuddered involuntarily when he thought of it, and goose bumps rose all over his body.

But before Bangzi could think much more, the door to his room was pushed open with a bang, and then a voice shouted, “Bangzi, something’s happened. Hurry, let’s go and take a look.”

Bangzi was already in a state of terror from the memories, and this sudden startle shocked him. It was only after he had calmed down a little that he could not help but roar in anger, “Mom, what are you doing? Don’t you know that a sudden startle can scare people to death?”

In fact, Bangzi would not dare to speak to his mother like this in normal times, but for some reason, his temper had been running high for the past few days, and he had suddenly snapped.

After she finished, Bangzi regretted what she had said, but at this time, Bangzi’s mother was too lazy to argue with Bangzi, and hurriedly said, “Bangzi, the old sacrificial priest in the village is dead!”

“Dead? What are you talking about? He’s dead? Was it those people who killed him yesterday, who beat him to death?” Bangzi’s heart sank. In these extraordinary times, the death of a person is undoubtedly a heavy matter, not to mention the commotion yesterday!

Now the villagers are all very fragile, afraid of making more evil deeds. If they die like this, it can’t be helped…

In fact, during this period, many people in the village suddenly started doing good deeds quietly, such as taking the initiative to maintain the village’s public facilities, and helping the elderly do this and that… In the past, these were all things that the old village chief worried about.

What’s the use of regretting it afterwards? Bangzi suddenly remembered the old sacrificial priest’s words.

In response to Bangzi’s question, Bangzi’s mother said, “He wasn’t beaten to death by the villagers. He hanged himself in front of the door beam in his courtyard. Gee… Why did this person have to be so stubborn?

When Bangzi’s mother said this, her tone was a little relaxed. I guess her mood was the same as Bangzi’s. As long as he wasn’t beaten to death, it was fine.

Bangzi also let out a sigh of relief, saying, “Yes, I saw him last night and he looked a bit crazy.

“Well, let’s go and take a look. The people in the village are discussing giving him a proper burial. It’s not easy being an old man living alone.” Bangzi’s mother said with a particularly soft heart.

Not only Bangzi’s mother was soft-hearted, but everyone in the village was. These days, they had become exceptionally soft-hearted, sensitive, fragile and irritable. The old sacrificial priest’s madness had touched their sensitive nerves, and the old sacrificial priest’s death had touched their hearts.

The old sacrificial priest was buried smoothly because he left a letter, which was his last will and testament. The letter said that he had to go first because he only hoped to be buried in peace, so he had to go first.

The villagers all contributed money and effort to give him a grand funeral, fearing that there would be any kind of mistake. The old priest only wanted to be buried in peace, but the villagers went all out to give him a grand funeral, fearing that the funeral would not be grand.

In addition, the villagers who attended the funeral all cried like the old sacrificial priest’s own children. In particular, the few people who participated in the beating of the old sacrificial priest that night were on their knees in front of the grave, knocking their heads together with a loud noise that shook the ground.

This funeral seems so ridiculous to outsiders. Is it useful to do such things after death? But the people in the village don’t think so. In their view, it seems that only in this way can they vent the compassion in their hearts that has nowhere to vent.

The old priest died in this way. Throughout the story, he was perhaps the only wise man who saw a lot of things and saw through the despicable side of human nature. But he shouted that it was the vengeful ghost who came back to kill the whole village.

Obviously, the old priest may have understood some metaphysics, but he was not proficient in it, so he could not calculate what exactly it was that had returned, but I think he did not want to calculate it, and even less did he want to know if the one that had returned was really a vengeful ghost.

After the funeral, life in the village returned to normal. The shoes that had been found ten days earlier gradually stopped arousing the villagers’ curiosity.

More and more people began to talk about this matter, and it was no longer the “forbidden wound.”

Of course, no matter what people say, they will eventually end up laughing and saying that the shoes being washed up in the river is a coincidence. They will then say their goodbyes in a warm and polite manner. If you were to ask what the biggest change has been in this period of time, it would undoubtedly be that the entire village has become more warm-hearted.

At dinner time, Bangzi and Bangzi’s mother were eating. The meal was considered hearty. After all, in addition to two vegetable dishes and a fish head soup, there was also a bowl of braised fish.

During this period, Bangzi’s mother changed her previous frugal habits and always made the meals very hearty. The family depended on each other, and it was not easy for Bangzi’s mother to change her frugal habits.

Bangzi ate very well, eating a lot of fish and a lot of rice, and the table was full of fish bones he had spit out.

“Mom, your cooking has gotten a lot better lately.” Of course, after eating so well, there was no shortage of praise.

“How could it not be delicious? There’s meat every meal.” Bangzi’s mother said as she served him more food.

“Mom, how did you become so generous?”

“I just think that this person might leave at any time, so I should eat more.” Bangzi’s mother suddenly became very emotional.

“Mom…” Bangzi suddenly looked up and shouted. He didn’t want to think about these things.

“Hey… really, mom has a lot of feelings. If we had saved the old village chief at the time, we wouldn’t have been tortured so much,” said Bangzi’s mother, pausing for a moment, and then said, “Although the shoes were washed up by the river, I was always uneasy, but now I regret it…”

Bangzi was silent for a long time before he said, “Mom, I’m actually very guilty too. I don’t know why I did that. You think, there was a monster under the waves… I was scared. Everyone was rowing desperately, and I was afraid I wouldn’t make it! And… and… wasn’t someone not saved in the first place? I thought someone would always be saved. I was…”

“Forget it, son. Don’t explain. I was watching from the shore. I was thinking, don’t get delayed by anything, hurry back to the shore. I wasn’t thinking of you saving someone, I thought someone else would save them. But… hey…” Bangzi’s mother was silent. Isn’t everyone thinking the same thing in their hearts?

It’s like a bad thing, but it’s also related to one’s own life and death. When the first person dares to do it, there will always be someone who follows suit, and then everyone will do it.

This is like the Pandora’s Box in Western legends. Once a crack is opened, disaster and misfortune fly out and can never be closed again.

Night, peace.

With this in mind, Bangzi and Bangzi’s mother went to bed.

Li Yuan, who lived in the same village, also went to bed at this time. For some reason, Li Yuan had a lot on his mind that night, thinking about many things, all about the old village chief.

That night, Li Yuan had a dream.

Dreams are normal, but this dream…

In the dream, Li Yuan first dreamed of the old village chief’s life before his death. It was all in black and white, like a movie, unfolding before Li Yuan’s eyes. The dream seemed to last a long time, covering the old village chief’s entire life. The dream seemed to be very short, and the scenes passed by like lightning.

In this dream, Li Yuan saw the old village chief greeting him and helping his family through difficult times. Several times in the dream, Li Yuan’s eyes were moist. He was the first to refuse to save the old village chief. He felt uncomfortable and guilty. He wanted to go up and apologize to the old village chief.

But the dream was so strange. He was like a complete bystander, unable to do anything, not even go up and apologize.

Li Yuan was very anxious, very anxious, but the dream finally played like a movie, showing the last scene of the old village chief’s life. The river, the sunlight that day, and the group of people paddling in a boat to inspect the fishing grounds…

At that moment, the dream changed from black and white to color!