Yu'er's clothes seem to have been unchanged for a thousand years, still the same set. She also seems to never know what cold is, her two lotus root-like small arms exposed outside. As for my arrival, Yu'er was very happy, she pulled at my clothes and shouted "Gege" (older brother) nonstop.

  It was Yu'er's mother who was somewhat surprised by my arrival, she only glanced at me hastily in front of the door and then returned to the house again.

  A faint rustling sound arose in the courtyard, a soft and steady noise generated by the friction between cloth shoes and straw.

  I turned around and found that it was Cha Wenbin who had arrived, he was just staring at us from a distance with a smile, no, to be precise, he was staring at Yu'er with a smile.

  Yu'er seemed a bit shy about the stranger's visit, she hid behind me and from time to time poked her little face out to take a peek at Zhang Wenbin.

  "Are you Yu'er?" Cha Wenbin asked with his hands clasped behind his back and a smile on his face.

  Yu'er's courage was smaller than I imagined. She didn't answer, but I answered for her: "Yes, Uncle Wenbin, she is the Yu'er I told you about."

  At this time, Zha Wenbin was wearing a set of ordinary clothes, he didn't bring the Qixing sword that made me jealous all the time, nor did he carry that tattered and worn-out Qiankun bag, it was just an very ordinary appearance.

  Cha Wenbin walked over, he stretched out his hand to touch Rain's head, but Rain kept dodging him. Finally, his other slightly curved hand took something from behind and handed it to Rain, a paper-made doll that looked better than mine.

  "Take it and go play", Cha Wenbin stuffed the paper doll into Yu'er's small hand, taking this opportunity he finally touched Yu'er's little head, then smiled at me saying: "Xiao Yi, take her to that side to play". The side he was referring to was the east side of the ancestral hall.

  Yuer seems to like this gift very much. Once her mother gave me a boy doll, but later I couldn't find it no matter what. I took out the paper doll that Zha Wenbin gave me and paired it with Yuer's, and the two of them quickly entered into the game that every child plays: playing house.

  Cha Wenbin walked with his hands behind him in the ancestral hall, and soon his gaze stayed on the open door. He stood outside the door, neither entering nor moving, but quietly watching.

  A beautiful woman with a hint of sadness stood at the door, sizing up this stranger. It's been who knows how many years since anyone has come here. If it weren't for Rain wanting a playmate, how would...

  She sighed, originally she had planned to let the little boy who was playing with Yu'er leave, but unexpectedly he came again today. She knew that if this continued, the little boy would also be doomed.

  "Why don't you leave?" Cha Wenbin asked coldly, his smile for Yu'er completely gone.

  That woman wouldn't fail to understand what he was saying, only she didn't know that the person in front of her just needed to move his hand a little and she would lose her soul.

  "Wait for me." she said sorrowfully.

  Cha Wenbin was no longer the same as before. Although he still had a long way to go to fully understand the "Ru Yi Ce", his Taoist skills were now far more advanced than they used to be. With a flick of his finger, a talisman paper appeared at his fingertips, ready to fly onto the coffin in the house: "If you hadn't put away that doll, I'm afraid neither of you would have had the chance to stand here now. Since you know that humans and ghosts are on different paths, why must you hold on to this obsession?"

  "I..." The woman knew she was wrong, she didn't dare to argue anymore. She used that paper doll and gave it to me, allowing me to become Rain's playmate. However, things from the underworld are not suitable for people in the world of the living. As time passed, the yin energy invaded my body. Even if I didn't get sick, I'm afraid I would still encounter difficulties.

  "I'm just looking at Yuer, she's too pitiful. She wants to have playmates, every time she sees other children playing in this big yard, she can only hide behind the window and secretly watch. She's innocent, please, sir, show mercy." The woman had already knelt down after finishing speaking.

  Zha Wenbin was not an unreasonable person, although he was a Taoist and couldn't avoid dealing with these things. However, there was one thing that people who studied Taoism dreaded the most: ghosts from the underworld were not allowed to have any connection with people from the world of the living.

  Throughout history, countless people's ghostly love affairs have ended in tragedy, all because of one separation: yin and yang!

  Zha Wenbin sighed and said, "Tomorrow evening, I'll send you and your mother on your way. In the next life, find a good family." After speaking, Zha Wenbin turned around, preparing to take me away with him.

  The woman suddenly sobbed and said, "Please let me fend for myself. If he doesn't come, I won't leave. I've waited sixty years for him already. He promised to come and take me away."

  There are people who are infatuated, and naturally there are also ghosts who are infatuated. The existence of ghosts is due to a kind of obsession, and if they don't let go, they won't be reincarnated. They rely on the unrest in their hearts, resentment arises from the heart, and love is the same way.

  Cha Wenbin's back was facing the woman, he saw that it was the little girl called Yu'er who was playing with me and said: "Don't you want to let this poor child walk upright in this world?"

  Under the moonlight, a boy and a girl are playing house on the ground. The boy's shadow is stretched out long, while behind the girl there is only the snow-white earth illuminated by the moonlight.

  Zha Wenbin stood up and hugged me, then handed the paper doll in my hand to Yu'er together. He patted her little head and said: "Tomorrow, you will have more friends to play with. Little Yi, let's go."

  Cha Wenbin hesitated for a moment as he stepped out of the ancestral hall and asked, "Who is he?"

  "He's called Chen Fang, a servant in our household." The woman's voice still carried a hint of choking.

  On the second day, when I woke up, Cha Wenbin had already gone out with Dad. The paper man I hid on my bedside was nowhere to be found. Mom touched my forehead, and I was still running a low fever, seemingly worse than before.

  Dad brought Cha Wenbin to a dilapidated house at the village entrance. The house was really shabby, made of earth and stone tiles on top, which usually meant it rained inside when it rained outside. An old man lived in this house, rarely going out, and I had only seen him a few times. In our eyes as children, he seemed like a madman. He was very dirty, with many lice on his body, and even if he occasionally came out to buy something and we kids encountered him, we would avoid him, afraid that the legendary lice on his body would jump onto us.

  My father told me that this old man is already 85 years old, a five-guarantee household in the village, with no children, and all the land at home has been rented out. He relies on some rent and national relief funds to make a living. It is said that he is one of the few elderly people in the village who have seen the world. When my father was young, he would still come to find his grandfather to chat.

  It is said that this old man was taken away by the Nationalist Party to be a soldier when he was young, and later became a beggar. After liberation, he relied on begging for food along the way and returned to his village, where he lived in that house all the time.

  During the Cultural Revolution, he was accused of two major crimes: being a remnant of the Nationalist Party and seducing the daughter of a big landlord. In short, in that era, these two charges almost cost him his life. Later, after the movement ended, he rarely went out, and even when he did, he wouldn't speak to anyone. The villagers would only send someone to check on him during holidays.

  The small courtyard was indeed somewhat dilapidated and desolate; if it weren't for Dad accompanying him, he would have thought this was a long-abandoned mansion.

  Pushing open the creaky door, a musty smell wafted out, and Cha Wenbin scrunched up his face, wanting to grope for the light switch. But Dad said, "Don't bother looking, this house has hardly ever seen the light of day." As he spoke, he lit up his flashlight, which barely allowed them to make out the layout of the room.

  The ground was full of pits and depressions, one after another. The beams on the roof were covered with spider webs. The main room was empty, without any decorations, only a broken old armchair, but also covered with a thick layer of dust.

  On the innermost wall of the main room, an old-fashioned frame was hung with a pair of sketches drawn in pencil, one man and one woman, which were obviously portraits.

  In the past when photography was still a luxury, portraits were mostly drawn by people who knew how to sketch with pencils. After parents passed away, they would be hung in the main room of their own home, which is also a kind of respect for the deceased.

  This family is really down on their luck, as Cha Wenbin didn't see any incense burner, only two small broken bowls were placed on the ground, and there were even some remaining wax marks on the bowls, which were covered with spider webs, it seemed that no one had come to burn incense for a long time.

  At this time, a violent coughing sound came from inside the house. Father said in a low voice: "That should be the person you are looking for."

  Zha Wenbin pushed open the door, and inside was even worse than he had imagined. A plank of wood placed on two long benches served as a bed, and in the already blackened quilt, a person was curled up, still coughing and trembling. This person was Chen Fang!

  Cha Wenbin looked around and found that the house originally had electric lights. He easily found the switch controlled by a thin rope, "click" sounded, and the light turned on.

  "Ugggh..." The old man on the bed seemed to be making a terrified sound in his throat.

  They hastily went over to take a look and found that the old man's quilt was covered in bloodstains everywhere, with fresh blood still oozing from the corner of his mouth.

  Although he was already in his twilight years, Zhang Wenbin could still recognize the old man's youthful demeanor. He grasped the old man's trembling hands, felt his pulse, and after a while shook his head at my father saying: "It's too late."

  The old man on the bed struggled to get up, and Zha Wenbin helped him up with a cane and asked, "Are you Chen Fang?"

  The old man nodded with some difficulty.

  "Do you still remember that there is someone waiting for you in the ancestral hall at the entrance of the village."

  The old man's eyes suddenly widened, a line of turbid tears streaked across his aged wrinkles.

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