In the mid-80s, various types of guns were rampant in rural areas, and my home was no exception. My father had a special liking for them because he used to be a soldier, and he was also the militia captain of our village for several years. At that time, the militia had real guns. In addition to shotguns, we also had a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle at home. The army had already begun to equip with the 81 rifles, and the eliminated Type 56 semi-automatic rifles were given to the militia for reserve use. My father loved guns, and his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle was said to have been eliminated from the Vietnam battlefield, fired, and wiped clean, placed under his bed in his room, along with two boxes of ammunition.

  If you ask me to go to the Grand Temple alone, I dare not. I am really afraid. Only a fool would boast that he is fearless of heaven and earth. Whoever says such words is either an idiot or a coward. Don't believe me? Even if it's Cha Wenbin, if you ask him to spend a night in the Grand Temple alone, I think he will also be scared.

  He had already gone ahead, the Kao family's house is a bit of a distance from mine, he rode his bicycle, I have to walk, from my house to the Da Miao Temple it's four miles, two of which are deserted small roads.

  I snuck into my dad's room, actually to steal a gun. This man loves guns for two reasons: one is that he has a penchant for violence in his bones, and the other is that with a gun in hand, his waist becomes stronger. These are words spoken by him himself. Our house also had a miner's lamp, which was a battery pack strapped to the waist with a leather belt, and the lamp head was tied to the forehead with a wide elastic band. The brightness was comparable to today's xenon headlights. I had prepared these two things before sneaking out of the door.

  When I reached the door, I thought about it and decided that still wouldn't work, so I started thinking about my dog at home again.

  My family has a dog, raised by my dad, said to be a hybrid of wolf dog and local dog. It's only two years old this year. Usually, it looks silly, and it's a good thing that wags its tail whenever someone comes. I named it "Dai Dai".

  I dragged it out of the doghouse, got some meat from the kitchen, coaxed it for a while, but that beast refused to go out. This guy made me so angry, you ate the meat but didn't want to come out, I wanted to hit it but was afraid of waking up my dad. My eyes rolled and I said to the stupid thing hiding in the doghouse: "Come out with me, Stupid, tonight I'll take you to find a bitch to play with, how about that?"

  Actually, Daidai resents me because a year ago, when it was just getting a little excited, it took a liking to a female dog in the village. At that time, I and Pangzi had just returned and saw a dog at the entrance of the village lying on top of another female dog wanting to do that thing. Pangzi joked that these days dogs are more dashing than us two. As soon as I heard it, I found a stone and hit it over there. This one hit, scared the dog that was about to do business, from then on, it became dispirited, whenever it saw a female dog, it would howl very miserably, I guess its psychology was hurt... actually, I didn't know it was our family's dog at that time...

  The silly thing poked its head in and out of the doghouse, thinking for a while. As soon as it stuck its head out, I grabbed it with a rope and pulled it out with all my might. The beast let out a loud "yelp" that nearly scared me to death. I dragged it out and ran for half a mile without stopping. When I looked back, the silly thing was hanging its ears and looking at me with a terrified expression, as if refusing to surrender.

  I crouched down and said to it: "I know you've got your eyes on the female dog at Cow Old Three's house in the village head. Look at your bearing, if you're a real dog man, accompany me for a walk tonight, and I'll get that bitch back for you as your wife, how about that?"

  That dog surprisingly seemed to understand what I said, after circling around in place twice it actually ran over and licked the palm of my hand. It's really a damn pervert! Normally even when I give it meat to eat it acts like it's seen a ghost and wants to hide, but this time it's actually trying to get cozy with me.

  I'm also quite powerful now, with a dog, money and guns. When I was about to leave, Zhen Wenbin stuffed two more talismans into my waist. This coward sometimes needs to be boosted, although I usually pretend to be stronger than others, but that night I really did...

  I actually walked in singing all the way, what was I singing? Teresa Teng's Sweet Honey...

  When I got under that giant water cypress, I couldn't sing anymore. I don't know who spread the rumor that this tree is very spiritual, and people often come here to burn incense and pray. Look at that, there are still three long incense sticks burning underneath the tree, almost burned to the bottom. And when I looked up again, there were some red and green cloth strips hanging from the tree. You say I was already scared, and just managed to muster up a bit of courage, and then this scene appears, isn't it intentional?!

  I've already cursed that incense burner a million times in my heart, and the song in my throat has changed to: "Amitabha Buddha bless me, Holy Mother Mary bless me, Tai Shang Lao Jun bless me..."

  The big temple, also known as the righteous village, is right in front of me, just a hundred meters away. The water in the river on one side is flowing "gurglingly", think about it, running to such a ghostly place alone in the middle of the night, I feel like I'm crazy myself, that quietness would even give a good person nerve disease.

  I'm so scared, I really am. I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up one by one, and my scalp is itching so much that I want to scratch it with my hands. There's a buzzing sound in my head, wave after wave. My legs aren't shaking, at least not in the past two years since I've been following Cha Wenbin and seen all sorts of weird things, even when I was alone. And I've already seen some dirty stuff with my own eyes. But back then, I didn't know what fear was. But tonight, I'm really scared. A kind of invisible pressure is coming at me from all sides, crawling up my throat from the bottom of my heart.

  Scientifically, fear is a negative self-protective reaction under stress, which I think at least means that the human subconscious thinks it has encountered danger. And my courage is considered big, so I think this danger has exceeded my tolerance.

  "Go or not go?" This voice in my mind kept repeating, I struggled a lot.

  I took a drag on the cigarette, and my thoughts gradually began to calm down. When I wasn't thinking about anything, that feeling of fear started to creep in again, but this time my mind was clear.

  "Go!" I shouted to myself, I had no choice, because I couldn't go back and deceive Cha Wenbin by saying I'd been there, just because he trusted me.

  I was willing to go, but Dazi stayed in place. When I pulled it along, it kept spinning around in circles, making "woo woo" sounds with its mouth, which sounded quite pitiful.

  I squatted down and touched his numb head, saying: "What's wrong? Are you afraid? It's really a coward raising a cowardly dog. I finally prepared to go, but you let me down again. That flower affair is not negotiable."

  That dog licked my face and turned around to leave, fortunately I held the rope tightly, otherwise it would have really run away. This time, I was also angry, and I pulled it back and scolded: "You say this dog, standing up is not shorter than other dogs, eating more than the pigs at home, but no guts! Seeing a bitch doesn't dare to get on, now calling you to accompany me to boost my courage doesn't dare, what's the use of raising such a cowardly thing? Really embarrassing for Laozi!" I said while getting angry, and finally untied the rope from the dog's neck: "Get out, go back and continue to lie in the den, a lifetime of no guts, a useless dog!"

  Let it go, I pinched the gun in my hand, "whoosh" and loaded the bullet, I thought that even if my head was cut off, it would be just a big scar, no more than that. If you provoke me, tomorrow I'll carry two buckets of gasoline and set fire to your broken temple.

  I lifted my foot and kicked the base of the cypress tree with all my might. The incense sticks and several dishes of food were instantly sent rolling to one side. I shouted at the big tree, "Beg you, ask you, every day burning incense to feed you is useless! You're supposed to help the common people resolve their difficulties and keep them safe! But you can't even protect yourself from being chopped down as firewood someday! I'm not changing my name or surname, I'm Xia Yi. If you have the ability, then leave me in this broken temple tonight!"

  "With a 'bang', I pulled the trigger, and after this shot, my heart's fear was swept away, and a man's courage emerged. Just as I was about to take big strides forward, there was a 'whoosh' sound, something flew over my head, followed by a strange cry, and that chill in my heart rose again."

  "Woof woof!" At this time, my silly dog suddenly rushed out from somewhere and ran towards the big tree, scratching and barking. The posture was as if it was going to fight to the death. Looking at this scene, I wasn't stupid either. The problem must be with this tree. My headlamp swept along the direction where Silly was barking, and a pair of golden eyes were staring right at me!

  What the heck? That's an owl, a cat-headed owl. I reckon it was this thing that pounced on me just now. Old folks always say that seeing an owl at night is inauspicious. Experienced hunters will definitely pack up and head home if they encounter one at night, including my dad. It's a tacit understanding. Owls are considered inauspicious!

  In many sayings, owls and crows are both associated with death. They often appear in old tombs, and some people believe that they are related to the many rats and snakes found in these places. However, they are actually symbols of evil!

  Many people ask me if ghosts really exist. Little brother, have you ever seen one?

  Every time I answer like this: Do you believe it? If you believe, then those things are real. If you don't believe, they're not there. I say I've seen them, and you ask what ghosts look like? I'm not good at describing, but I can tell you that when your mind senses danger is about to arrive, it's likely to really come. The famous Murphy's Law of Psychology, Article 4: If you worry about a situation happening, then it's more likely to happen! My understanding is that people really do have a sixth sense!

  I raised my gun, and the bird was only a dozen or so meters away from me. It just stood there motionless, staring at me. I had confidence in shooting it down with one shot. After aiming for a while, I still gave up. I picked up a stone from the ground and threw it hard, and the bird flew away with a "whoosh". Stupidly, it kept rushing forward, and I chased after it.

  The dog ran not far before turning a corner and disappearing from sight, I only saw its tail flash by as it vanished into the wall. Chasing after it, I found that it was a small hole, and on the other side of the hole was the charitable estate known as "Dah Miao".