Looking at this hair, I instantly lost my appetite.

My mother's face changed, but she didn't say anything. She just took the noodles and poured them outside the chicken coop, telling me to go to sleep and not think about anything, and to wake up early tomorrow morning to catch the train to the county town.

She also lit incense on the stove and the door god behind the door panel.

I didn't ask again, I just lay down.

I kept wondering in my heart, who exactly died?

I haven't done anything guilty myself, so why is my mother so afraid of this matter?

I spent the whole day on the bus and walked twenty miles. I was already exhausted. Although I had something on my mind, I quickly fell asleep.

In a daze, I felt the oil lamp in the house was lit.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

A person was sitting under the oil lamp, with their back facing me, bowing their head, I don't know what they were doing.

I glanced from the kang.

My father, my mother, and my younger brother Xiaoyong were all sleeping. Who could it be?

I turned my body and looked again, but the person in front of the table was gone.

I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. I suspected that my mother had forgotten to extinguish the lamp just now, so I got off the kang.

I leaned closer to the oil lamp and blew it out with a "whoosh".

In the instant the lamp went out —

I saw a face.

"Hehehehe..."

Whether it was crying or laughing, the voice, though faint, was sharp and piercing.

Before I could see clearly, the face had already disappeared in an instant.

In the darkness, my heart was filled with uneasiness. I suspected that I had mistaken it for an illusion. I hurriedly picked up a match and lit the lamp.

With anxiety in my heart, my hand trembled.

Two consecutive matches were struck but failed to ignite. I grew more anxious, and at the same time, I lit three matches together.

Swoosh! The flames suddenly ignited, and I reached out to light the lamp.

——Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew over, extinguishing the matches.

The air was cold and fishy.

Something blew out the matches.