Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 511 I’m afraid you won’t come back.

"The filial son is going to the funeral, and the deceased is on his way!"

The next morning, before the sun rose, many elderly people had already come to the Hao family's door to see them off.

In fact, most people did not sleep. There was so much noise last night that everyone thought it was suicide, but it turned out to be homicide. The murderer was his brother. Not only did he kill his brother, he also killed his nephew, which also caused a lot of discussion among people.

To outsiders, it seemed like just a fight between brothers, but how did it turn out like this?
But if you talk about the older people in the village, they can probably understand it.

"This old man Hao is a bad person. He has no skills, can't read or write, can't carry anything, and can't lift anything. It's really not easy for an old man to raise a child by himself."

An old man in front of the door looked at the coffin being slowly lifted up and couldn't help but sigh.

"He's just a lazy bum. He can make money if he goes out to work." A young man said with disdain.

As a result, he was kicked by his father after he finished speaking.

Several elderly people nearby also laughed and did not try to explain those principles to the child, because some principles do not make sense at all.

Even if he were allowed to go out to work, not to mention how much money he could earn, who would take care of the children?

Therefore, he will deny what he can, and will never return what he can borrow.

I steal a chicken today and two duck eggs from your house tomorrow. After all, aren’t these things for the children to eat?

Even if I feel sorry for the whole village, I will do my best for this child.

Fortunately, the child was smart and willing to work hard, and the villagers were willing to provide assistance, so the child was able to get out of the mountain valley.

How could Mr. Hao not be proud of this child?
But people have lived like this for half of their lives, and it's difficult to expect them to change.

The amount of money lost playing cards is actually not that much. Most of the time, people just call their children to ask for money in front of the villagers.

The request for money was fake. It was mostly to show everyone that my son, Hao Laonuo, has left home but has not forgotten his father. This is the only thing he can show off.

But after a long time, if you show off every day, it is inevitable that you will attract some criticism.

Wasn't it that Hao Laonuo wanted to borrow some money to renovate his house, run a B&B to make some money, and save some money for his children to live on in the future, so he found his brother that day.

His brother didn't like him in the first place, and when he heard him showing off his son and asking to borrow money from him, he started complaining as soon as he had a drink.

As a result, they started fighting. One kept cursing the other the more he fought, and the other kept cursing the more he fought. Brothers became enemies. How can one not sigh?

"Everyone, the deceased is on his way, relatives should give way, and filial sons should kowtow!!"

Hao Zhaowen, holding a photo of his father, knelt down towards the villagers in front of the door as Xiao Ran shouted.

"I kowtow to thank my fellow villagers for their hard work in the funeral."

"I kowtow twice to thank my relatives and friends for their kindness. I am deeply grateful."

"I kowtow three times as a filial son to express my gratitude and thank you all for your presence."

Xiao Ran stood in front, reciting eight sentences of four words, and waited for the three kowtows to be completed. Then he casually threw out a handful of money for the guide. Everyone carried the coffin out of the gate and followed the village guide all the way into the mountains.

Going up from the village, there is an inconspicuous field at the foot of Mount Qingcheng, which is blocked by dense forests. Even if tourists pass by here, they will not notice this place.

Walking inside, there is a stone tablet with the name of Tai'an Town Cemetery written on it. On the stone next to it is a densely packed list of clan members. This piece of land is the village's private land, but looking around, there are no tombstones, only inconspicuous mounds of earth.

Although it is a private plot, burial is allowed.

But there are also rules and regulations. You can erect a monument but not leave a tomb, and you can erect a grave but not build a mound.

Because Hao Laonuo was a tragic figure, he could not be buried in the ancestral tomb. The village left him an inconspicuous piece of vacant land and had a grave dug early on.

The coffin was buried.

As the emcee, Xiao Ran still has to host the event.

"The deceased rests in peace. The green mountains are solemn and the green waters are full of emotion."

A lot of money was thrown out, rustling in the wind. It was at this moment that Xiao Ran suddenly felt something strange.

He couldn't tell what it was, but it made him feel uncomfortable all over.

Following the strange feeling, Xiao Ran noticed an inconspicuous ceremonial gate not far ahead.

When I walked over to take a look, I found that the ceremonial gate was very small. I didn't know when it was built. It was covered with moss, and there were two couplets written on both sides of the gate.

First couplet: The righteous bones are buried in the dust and return to the pure land

Second line: The village soul smells the fragrance and goes to the plum village
Looking at these two couplets, Xiao Ran's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Plum Manor! Could it be that Plum Manor is really here!!"

"Brother Xiao."

At this time, Hao Zhaowen came over and saw Xiao Ran staring at the dilapidated ceremonial gate in front of him in a trance, so he asked, "Brother Xiao, what are you looking at?"

"Where is behind this ceremonial gate?"

Xiao Ran pointed to the forest behind the ceremonial gate. Logically, since there was a ceremonial gate, there should be a path, but there was only weeds growing behind it, and there was no sign of a path at all.

"Nothing, just a barren forest."

Hao Zhaowen said this with certainty, because when he was a child he helped other families herd sheep and had been to the back. His impression was that there was only a wasteland with weeds and nothing else behind it.

"Nothing?"

Xiao Ran looked at Hao Zhaowen in surprise.

"Well... it's not like there's nothing." Hao Zhaowen scratched his head and said, "When I was a kid, I remember a group of people came to the village, saying they were an expedition team, and they set up a tent behind this forest. After two nights, they went crazy, and one of them was even scared to death." "Later, people found out that these people were tomb robbers, and they were not ordinary people. It is said that the leader was a great scholar."

The so-called Great Master is the name given to people who are able to find tombs and divine burial sites in the southern tomb-robbing school.

Generally speaking, such people are knowledgeable people with unique skills and who know everything about astronomy and geography.

It was definitely because of the unusual shape of the mountains here and the ceremonial gate standing there that he felt there must be a large tomb behind it.

"In fact, some people from the village went up the mountain to look for it later, but found nothing. As for this ceremonial gate, no one knows why it was built here."

After hearing what Hao Zhaowen said, Xiao Ran nodded; "I see, let's go, we should go back."

Because it was a funeral, there was no banquet, just a table of food and a meal for the chefs who helped.

After Xiao Ran ate a little, he stood up and said goodbye.

"Brother Xiao."

Hao Zhaowen chased after him and bowed deeply to Xiao Ran. He didn't have anything to show off, so he pointed ahead and said, "Brother Xiao, I don't know what on earth you are doing here, but I saw you were very interested in the Yimen area yesterday. Go up to the back of the village, there is an inconspicuous farmer's house, that's my third uncle's house. He is a real old man here, he has never left the village in his life. If you have any questions, just ask him, he will definitely know the answer."

"Okay, I've written it down."

Xiao Ran nodded upon hearing this, and then patted Hao Zhaowen on the shoulder: "The dead are gone, we must look forward to everything, take care."

"you too."

After saying goodbye to Hao Zhaowen, Xiao Ran walked towards the back of the village according to the route he told him.

After passing through the village, we saw a farmer's house.

"Wang Wang Wang..."

Before I walked over, I heard a dog howling from behind the gate, and a local dog was guarding the door with its teeth bared.

Xiao Ran didn't care and walked straight over.

When I reached the door, the dog stopped barking. Instead, it tucked its tail between its legs and curled up in a corner, shivering. If it hadn't had a chain around its neck, it would have probably run away by now.

"anyone there?"

Xiao Ran shouted at the door.

"Buzz!"

The door of the room was pushed open, and a skinny face poked out from inside, tilting his head to look Xiao Ran up and down: "What are you doing? This is not a B&B."

"Uncle, I'm a friend of Hao Zhaowen. I want to ask you something."

"Zhao Wen's friend?"

"Correct."

The old man nodded and walked out of the house. He glanced at the dog curled up beside him and looked at Xiao Ran meaningfully: "It's really rare that Zhao Wen has a friend like you."

As he spoke, he opened the door and motioned Xiao Ran to come in and talk.

He took Xiao Ran into the house and pointed to the chair next to him, asking Xiao Ran to sit down.

"Has Zhao Wen's father's affairs been dealt with?"

"Yes, the funeral just took place and I was the master of ceremonies."

"You're the master of ceremonies?" The old man looked at Xiao Ran with some surprise.

"Yes, it just so happens that the old man in charge of the emcee is not here, so I'll just make do with it." Xiao Ran said.

"Is that so? What do you want from me?"

After understanding what Xiao Ran said, the wariness on the old man's face eased.

"It's like this, I came here to find a place called Plum Blossom Manor..."

Xiao Ran did not hide anything and told the purpose of his visit and the ceremonial gate he saw in the back mountain today.

From beginning to end, the old man didn't say a word. He just took out a cigarette and held it in his hand, pinching the cigarette butt between his fingers, as if he was thinking about something.

After Xiao Ran finished speaking, he said, "You have found the right person. If you ask someone else, it will be in vain."

As he said this, he put the cigarette in his mouth, took out a match and lit the cigarette.

He took a puff and then said, "There is indeed a Plum Blossom Manor in this place, but this Plum Blossom Manor is not a manor, but a charity manor. It is just behind the cemetery you visited today, but... it is gone now."

Xiao Ran was not surprised by this answer, but rather felt relieved.

The charity cemetery only existed in the early days of the country's liberation, but with the promotion of funeral homes, this kind of place was gradually replaced.

At this moment, the old man suddenly looked up and stared at Xiao Ran: "Are you afraid of ghosts?"

"what??"

This sudden question without any context made Xiao Ran stunned. He didn't understand why the old man suddenly asked this question.

He shook his head.

Seeing this, the old man grinned and exhaled a puff of green smoke from his mouth: "In fact, Plum Blossom Manor has always been there, but that place cannot be seen during the day. It only appears at night. If you have the courage, wait for two more days and go up the mountain the day after tomorrow night. I guarantee that you can find Plum Blossom Manor, but..."

He paused here and looked at Xiao Ran for a while: "I'm just afraid that you... won't be able to come back."

(End of this chapter)