Spirits and demons

In the afternoon in the mountains, the sunlight through the gaps between the branches and leaves, sprinkled on the ground covered with dead leaves, forming a piece of swaying light spots. The breeze is mixed with the smell of mud and moss, and it drifts in, gently taking away some of the summer heat. If you quietly listen carefully, there will be birds singing to the accompaniment of the gurgling stream.

On the back of Xiao Xuan, Ming Xuan is riding through the woods, as if enjoying the fun of "hide-and-seek". But the "fun" probably belonged only to the one being chased, while Mingdian and the others had a lot of fire in their bellies at the moment.

The story began in the morning.

Earlier in the day, MingDiu and XiaoKong arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain, found a place to rest, and asked for some water. When the children in the village saw the visitor, they first watched from afar, and when the bold ones came forward to spy, they confirmed that the danger was removed, and then they gathered around and pestered Ming to tell them a story.

At first, she refused, trying to find an excuse that would avoid trouble and not hurt the children: "Look, we've been traveling all night to get to the village. It's too torturous to ask me to tell a story when we can't even take a sip of water. Speaking of which, I haven't even eaten breakfast yet ......"

After hearing Ming Duan's words, the group immediately understood, and with a command from the child king, the children skillfully ran home and brought out the fruits, snacks and tea that they usually saved from their teeth to pay tribute to Ming Duan. So, in order to get anything from the children, stories are the hard currency.

Only when he had enough to eat and drink did he realize that he had been "short of breath", but it was too late, so he had to choose the most memorable part of his past experiences, and he didn't need to add to it. Maybe this can be a way to earn money for room and board in the future.

After telling one story, while the children were still immersed in the longing adventure and did not have time to ask for another one, Mingguang preemptively asked, "Tell us, what are the interesting stories about the village?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a child asked curiously and loudly, "What do you mean by 'interesting stories'?"

While thinking of words that the children could understand, Ming Diao explained, "It is something that you think is strange and amazing, but the adults are usually not interested in it."

The children responded with seeming understanding, and then they gave away their secrets for years, such as the colorful fish in the river to the west of the village, the sour and sweet fruits growing in the bushes to the south of the village, and the fact that children who did not return home after the sun went down would be captured by black bears.

Just as everyone was discussing who had the most interesting stories, a woman's voice came from afar.

"Hey, have you seen my child ah, can you help me to look for ah!"

These words, like together with cold water, doused the excitement of everyone on the scene. Some of the children looked at each other with a heartfelt smile, some shrugged their shoulders and sighed, and some directly returned a "I do not know, do not bother us", in short, just do not see the woman.

It smells like "anecdotes" here! Not wanting to let go of any opportunity to find out the secret, Meiji asked the children what this was all about. But the village seemed to have issued a gag order, and most of the children chose not to talk about it and left, leaving only a few rebellious children who were willing to share what they knew with Mingfen.

It turned out that the woman's child, after leaving home a few days ago, had never returned, and no one had seen any sign of him. When the child was lost, the mother was naturally very anxious, and the people of the village organized people to help search all over the mountains day and night. But everyone soon found that the woman did not participate in the search once, she only cried and begged others to help find every day. As time went on, everyone became impatient - even you, the mother, are not anxious, so what are we anxious about - and no one took the child's case to heart anymore.

"In case my parents ask, you can't say we said it."

After the children left these words, they all left too. It seems that the children were also forbidden by their parents to have any dealings with the woman. However, as an outsider, it was not untouchable to her, so she decided to go and talk to the woman, and if she could help the mother find her lost child, it would be a good thing.

The woman was still standing at the threshold of her house, trying to talk to the villagers who passed by, but no one paid any attention to her - not just ignoring her, but as if there was no one there at all. The woman didn't feel any resentment for being left out, and when she saw Mingdian approaching her, she asked, as usual, "Excuse me, can you do me a favor?"

The woman didn't seem to care that the visitor was a stranger, which made Ming Deng a bit concerned. However, on second thought, the mother was probably so eager to save her son that she did not care about the people outside the village, and she would send out a signal for help even if the spirits were passing by.

The house was filled with coldness and darkness, and the little light leaking in through the doors and windows was filled with flying dust.

Even Ming Cun, who had always been accustomed to sleeping in the open, resisted staying in this house, wanting to gather useful information and escape from here as soon as possible.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the woman skillfully explained the situation to Ming Diao.

His father died when he was very young, and his mother brought him up with great pains and hardships. He did not complain because his family was not as well off as others, but often sacrificed his playtime to pick from the mountains and fish in the rivers, trying every possible way to subsidize his family.

On the one hand, my mother was pleased with Xiaoya's understanding, and on the other hand, she was ashamed that Xiaoya had to be so understanding at such a young age. She often warned Yoshiya not to go up to the mountains alone, as it was dangerous to go up to the mountains with bears, but every time Yoshiya coped by saying, "Don't worry, it will be fine". Who knew that ......

The woman said to Mingdian in a calm and frightening tone: "I understand that it has been so many days, and Yoshiya is probably in a bad way. But he is a resourceful child, he will have a way when he encounters danger. So, no matter what the final result is, I hope to bring him back."

The woman's hollow eyes had probably shed all the tears she could shed in her life.

Leaving the house, Mingdian breathed a sigh of relief in some shame, then reorganized his spirit: "Well, let's go, to help the mother who lost her child!"

On the side, Khung asked, "Is this really that simple?"

"What's so hard about it? It's just a search for lost people, it's not like we haven't done this before."

At this moment, Akira was still confident, but soon after -

"Where is the promised 'understanding child'? Why is that kid getting happier and happier as he runs away?"

Khung had an "I knew it" look on his face and said, "I told you, it's not as simple as it looks."

"Don't force me to do it for real!"

With a hand that was trembling with excitement, Akira took out his mask and prepared to put it on.

"Quickly, my assistant, that's a prop that is only used when dealing with powerful aliens!" Khung tried to persuade him, but he was able to prevent him from committing such a humiliating act in a game of "hide and seek".

After such a tussle, he calmed down and began to look at his opponent squarely, not as a little kid with a runny nose who pestered adults for candy, but as the son of a mountain who treated the mountain as a playground and climbed over it like a smooth path.

After a series of battles of wits and deceit, Mingentian finally pushed Xiaoyao to a dead end - of course, this is only the result from Mingentian's own subjective point of view. The reality is that Yoshiya is tired of the "bait and switch" game.

Despite his young age and short stature, Yoshiya really acts like a young adult. Just see his arms crossed, like a crop duster who wants to compete with the neighboring village for water, but the pouting expression still reveals his true age: "I say this sister, why do you always want to chase me? By the way, are you like the rest of the village, did your mother ask you to come?"

"Yes. ......"

Before Akira could catch his breath, Sayaka continued, "Really, I've already sent the village people away, why would anyone come ...... to say, you are not even from our village, right?"

"That's right, I ......"

"You're an outsider, just eat and drink in the village, why do you need to find things for yourself? I'm tired of playing, just pretend you've never seen me and go where you need to go."

"You don't let people talk after all!" I don't care what other people do, but I'm going to take you back to see your mother. If you still want to leave home and live in the mountains or whatever, just talk to your mother and I won't care."

Mei Mei's seemingly reasonable proposal was rejected with a sneer: "I won't go back to see her. Just send a message for me, tell her that I am fine now, don't worry about me."

Perhaps it was because she heard the word "mother" that Yoshiya's tone of voice softened considerably. She felt that Sayaka was not a heartless and cold-blooded child, so she continued, "What kind of mother would be relieved to hear an outsider say that she had not heard from her own child?

"All the time 'mother' 'mother', you are very nagging ah!" Xiaoyi seems to be provoked, teeth clenched and clicked, squeezed out the words from his teeth, "Speaking of which, if I want to leave, you can't catch me at all, why do I have to be here, listening to you talk about some nonsense ah!"

"Wait a minute, don't move!"

"Who cares." Xiaoyi threw down these words and prepared to turn around and leave.

"No, I mean it's dangerous over there!"

As soon as the words of Ming Duan fell, a large black bear sprang out of the bushes, several times larger than the giant dog Xiaokong, and opened its bloody mouth, revealing bayonet-like teeth, which were still stained with the blood of some unlucky prey. But that prey, apparently, could not satisfy the black bear's appetite, so it regarded Xiaoyi as the next prey to fill its never-ending belly.

Yayoi, who had been so arrogant just a moment before, froze in place like a chicken in an ice cave as if the black bear in front of her was more to be feared than the crazy girl Mingtain and the dog behind her, who was just bigger - after all, the one who had been scaring people in the stories she had grown up hearing.

It was already too late, both for Akira to start the jutsu and for Khung to come to the rescue, and the difference was "desperation" compared to the speed of the seemingly bulky bear.

Xiao Ya's entire head was completely wrapped in the black bear's mouth, and the light disappeared little by little, turning from a piece to a line, then to a residual phantom, and finally todeep darkness.

The black bear's upper jaw and lower jaw closed. However, the next scene that occurred, everyone present were stunned. The black bear slid forward some distance due to the inertia of its lunge, but its huge body passed through Yoshiya's tiny body. Sayaka was unharmed, while the black bear only took a large bite of air.

"While we're at it, little air on!"

Ming Diao did not bother about what had happened but gave a direct order to Xiaokong. After receiving the order, Khung rushed decisively towards the black bear and scared it away with a little trick.

After the originators of the ruckus had retired, the stage became silent, with only the wind and the trees still compiling the music, reminding the actors that the show was not over. After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and asked, "Did you become a ghost, Sayaka?"

The so-called ghost refers to the ability to ghost the body after the death of a living creature, due to some strong emotion, and the soul still remains in the human world, maintaining the appearance of the living.

Yoshiya's time seemed to be stuck in the moment when the black bear lunged at him, and only after a long time did he slow down and slowly opened his mouth, saying in a hollow tone, "I don't know exactly what I have become, but I know that I am not the same as before, so I guess that is what the lord said, 'dead'. "

The one who killed Yoshiya was the same black bear that attacked him earlier. Ghosts have a "predestined" fear of their own death, which is why the sudden appearance of the black bear left Yoshiya at a loss.

"It's my fault, I didn't listen to my mother, I always thought the adults were making up stories to scare me." After getting used to talking again, Yoshiya continued, "I deserve to be in this state. But I suddenly realized, how can I face my mother? What would she do if she knew I was dead? Thinking about this, I decided that I would never meet with her."

At that moment, Khung returned to Akira's side. As a reward, he gently stroked the back of his neck, then looked at Koenya and quietly waited for his next words.

"As long as my mother has not seen me like this, and as long as someone has seen me and brought the news that I am 'alive' back to the village, then to my mother, I am still alive."

Can this bond between mother and son, which transcends life and death, be easily severed? For Akira, does she have the awareness to cut it off?

Although the view might not be the same, the only thing that was needed at this time was "company". After confirming that Sayaka did not reject the idea, he slowly said, "To be honest, I don't really understand your feelings, because I grew up without parents, so there is no such thing as 'loss'."

Khung was a bit surprised because this was the first time that MingDi said these things to an outsider. Yoshiya, on the other hand, cast a disdainful look at him, as if to say, "Are you comparing yourself to me?

Mingdian ignored the audience's reaction and continued, "But I also have people who are very important to me and irreplaceable, so I understand the feeling of worrying about the important people."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Sayaka felt impatient, but he didn't understand what he was impatient with, whether it was with Akira's words or his own incompetence.

"No matter what your future plans are, Yoshiya, but before that, go back to the village and meet with your mother." I understand that it is difficult for you to pretend that nothing has happened and continue to live with your mother when you do not like the identity of 'ghost' yet. Then find a reason that will reassure her before you are ready to go and say goodbye to your mom properly, and then spend lots and lots of time thinking about your life."

At night, Khung drove Akira and Sayaka back to the village. The lights were still on in Yoshiya's house as if to show the way home to the lost wanderer. Yoshiya pushed open the door of his house and saw his mother sitting frozen