surname teacher

Chapter 155

"...Dongshan Shadow Puppetry, traditional shadow puppetry performed by the singers using ropes to manipulate shadows... What's wrong with you?"

The moment Qin Gentiana's voice fell, Jin Suoyang seemed to have a flash of light falling from the dark night sky, not only the shadow in the mouth of the woman who had fainted just now, the rope and the red moon The two keywords are all connected together, and some doubts that have always been in his heart are solved at once.

So at that moment, he hurriedly lowered his head and took a look at their feet, and saw that because of the bursts of sunlight above his head, the shadows of himself, Gentiana and the local dogs in the alley were all projected on the wall, and there were even various lifelike shadows. The dynamic presentation of Jin Suoyang, which is actually similar to the shadow puppet theater, also made Jin Suoyang's face look a little bit wrong for a moment.

Dongshan shadow puppetry, as the name suggests, is a folk art form that uses paper or animal skin to make silhouettes of characters to perform various dramas.

According to legend, this kind of folk performance originated in the Western Han Dynasty. After Mrs. Li, the favorite concubine of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, died of illness, he often asked the palace people to cast shadows on the wall in this way to pay homage to Mrs. Li. After that, shadow play flourished in the Tang Dynasty and continued to the present day. In the late Qing Dynasty, until the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was often seen in temple fairs in Tianjin, Beijing, Tangshan and other places.

As for the method of making leather shadows by folk master craftsmen, most of them are made of donkey skin or cowhide, which is easy to color and has strong toughness.

After peeling off the raw hide of the animal, scalding it with a whole pot of hot oil, and then drawing the eyes, nose and mouth with dye, the character's mouth is opened and closed by the rope and bamboo pole behind the stage, and then The performer who drilled quietly hiding behind the curtain sang a verse, and the effect is naturally vivid.

And because the local people love to listen to operas, especially traditional folk operas such as Shibuidong and Daxixiang, so Dongshan shadow puppet troupes have successively come to the local area since the 50s and [-]s. Started to have a show.

However, after so many years, the Sichuan Opera Troupe usually performs for the villagers around, except on special days during the Chinese New Year. They are basically the well-known regular repertoires such as Yu Lei Shentu, White Lady, Monkey King, Wu Song, Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng. Judging from the simple and inconspicuous external environment of the troupe, it is really hard to believe that there is something tricky hidden in this small shadow puppet show of the Sichuan Opera Troupe.

But obviously, combined with the shadow and rope that Gentiana Qin himself mentioned unintentionally just now, and the strange-sounding hint from the bewitched "Sister-in-Law Zhang", all the things that happened in the past few days must have something to do with the hidden head. The rooster man still has another relationship and hidden secrets.

At first, Qin Gentian, who hadn't reacted yet, saw the white-haired young man's eyes keep falling on the shadows in front of them strangely. He tilted his head for a moment and showed a thoughtful expression, and then he raised his eyebrows suddenly. Show some subtle expressions.

"Don't you think that the shadow and the rope that the woman mentioned just now refer to this?"

"..."

"Shadow was controlled by a rope, and she said that she was a woman who was killed by the rooster man... Are you suspecting that this has something to do with your mother's feud with the rooster man?"

"……Um."

Although I took the initiative to ask him this question at this moment, Qin Gentian probably knew the answer from the look in Jin Suoyang's face that was already looking at him with a strange expression before he answered.

And for a while, I don't know whether it's a coincidence or something. In the past, when the Chen family was the most outstanding young grandson, he was accepted by me because of his extraordinarily calm and orderly way of thinking and dealing with problems. Jin Suoyang, whom my grandfather valued and liked very much, was not too emotionally affected by the incident just now.

Only eyes looked to the side calmly, thinking about how to talk to Qin Gentian about the incident back then, and after casually taking out the golden tiger prestige that he always carried with him, he narrated to him,

"My mother once told me that she was trapped when she encountered a mountain protection slope in Dongshan... She was beholden to an old gentleman surnamed Shen who was in the same company. The old gentleman helped her escape the danger all the way. Being here made her, who escaped by chance, feel regret for the rest of her life, always feeling sorry for the victims who stayed here."

"..."

"Plus, her personality has always been more emotional, and it can even be said that she is a bit cowardly...Emotionally, she is easily influenced by others, so when I was very young, she couldn't bear it because of her poor health and various aspects. The psychological factor passed away, but before she passed away, she mentioned a lot to the dead Mr. Shen. As for the other six people, I don't know much about it. Therefore, I am actually not very sure about this saying that I was trapped Is the woman who lives here one of the seven people who were sung by the rooster in the rooster song?"

"..."

It was the first time he heard him take the initiative to mention things about himself. On the one hand, Qin Geng, with a calm face, silently remembered the things he said at the moment, and on the other hand, he followed his thoughts and thought about the so-called The entanglement between man and chicken because of a bloody case and their offspring's enmity.

Seven people, seven...seven?

But now, recalling what they saw in the poorly managed Sichuan Opera Troupe, Qin Gentian suddenly paused a bit strangely after thinking about it, and then looked at Jin Suoyang at the side and suddenly said,

"Hello, Jin Suoyang."

"?"

"When we were standing at the door of the Sichuan Opera Troupe, did you notice that besides the notice of closure of business for rectification, there was also a half torn-off thing on the small blackboard hanging at the door?"

"..."

"It seems to be half of their troupe's weekly schedule? It has the names of some local plays written on it, but some of them are torn and I can't see clearly. When you were watching to see if there was anyone, I just stood there. I looked down at the blackboard a few times, that’s why I got a little impression, and I just said that to you when I just remembered it, if I’m not mistaken, performing seven plays seven days a week is exactly... seven again, right?”

Saying this, the faces of the two of them understood something at the same time. After all, there are too many coincidences about Qi in this troupe so far.

And since their minds are active, once the two of them have the same guess in their hearts, they must immediately verify the shadow puppet performance in the troupe before more bad things happen.

Thinking about it this way, the white-haired young man with a vaguely complex and thoughtful expression was not in a hurry to follow their original plan to find someone from the hometown where the Sichuan Opera Troupe was said to be performing a birthday celebration today.

Instead, he directly pulled Qin Gentian, who was obviously interested in this increasingly strange thing, and turned back with himself behind the seemingly empty Sichuan Opera Troupe.

And after turning back, I found that the yellowed lock at the door was still the same as when they first came, and there was no one outside the cobweb-strewn troupe under the beam. At the door, there was only the small blackboard with half of the program schedule and the listing and rectification notice that they ignored at first.

Jin Suoyang, who was walking with Qin Gentiana, only paused for a moment, then frowned and stepped forward to pick up the program schedule that was blurred by glue on the blackboard, and many places were completely unclear. .

[New Year's special program: Rooster Shadow Puppet show on time at [-] o'clock every night. 】

[×[-]: "The Strong Man Returns Home"]

[Zhou× to Zhou×: "Three ×××"]

[Weekly ×, Saturday: "Couple ××"]

[Sunday: "Old Xiangong"]

* (× symbol represents the blurred part of the original form)

Attached below:

【Dongshan County Sichuan Opera Troupe has been closed for some internal reasons since the 14th. For private performances, please contact the accountant and head of the troupe. Please inform your neighbors. I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year and a safe Year of the Rooster. 】

【——Dongshan County Sichuan Opera Troupe stayed on Renzi Day in the Xinchou month of Xinyou Year】

The time of the final signing seems to be barely the same as when he came to Dongshan before, but there is obviously a word missing in the program list, and it is a bit embarrassing for the special situation of not giving any accurate information at all. .

Seeing this, it was impossible to immediately find clues from this half-damaged program list. Jin Suoyang had no choice but to first record the vague contents on this strange little blackboard in his mind.

After they came out of the alley of the Sichuan Opera Troupe with Gentiana Qin, before the two of them had time to take a few steps forward, the lady from the former tobacco shop's A Niang suddenly came over.

And the girl with long braids was a little surprised to see a lame young man beside Qin Geng from a distance. After hearing that this was his friend who will be walking with him later, this girl with a good personality didn't say anything. , only after panting and looking at Qin Gentiana who had just left her house, she whispered helplessly and apologetically in Dong dialect,

[I'm sorry, I, I was too anxious just now... I just happened to have one more thing about the Sichuan Opera Troupe, no, I didn't have time to tell you and your friends. 】

【Um?It's okay, what else do you need? 】

[...It's about the shadow puppet show performed by the Sichuan Opera Troupe... It seems... It seems that I heard from my father that there should be eight performances before, but because there are only seven days in a week, the eighth performance cannot be evened out, so later Their troupe temporarily canceled the last show and changed it to one show a day, a total of seven shows, from the night when they were young, to the New Year’s Eve just right... I heard that this program was started by their troupe for more than 20 years It’s arranged like this, and basically hasn’t changed in so many years...]

[...Eight out? 】

[Well... I don't know what kind of play is mainly sung, I can't help it because I don't know Chinese characters at all... But I heard from people around me, because their troupe often... has insufficient funds all the year round, and they don't use it every time There are only seven old-fashioned skin shadows that the troupe sewed with rabbit skins... However, the faces of those skin shadows are not only real but also evil, and some of them are missing arms and broken legs. It's festive and lively, but it's weird and scary... So after so many years of intermittent performances, the effect is actually not very good...]

【…】

[Then... because of this incident, before the Chinese New Year, the head of the troupe and several important actors had some conflicts and quarrels with the one you were looking for...that Shi Shuisheng...that Sichuan Opera troupe The head of the troupe seems to want to cancel the fixed program of Dongshan Shadow Puppetry because of financial problems, and change it to other new programs that attract more tourists, but Shi Shuisheng seems to disagree... Later, when he went crazy at the entrance of the troupe, he cried and made a fuss Yes, the head of the group got angry, threw a few shadow puppets in public, and then punched Shi Shuisheng with two fists...]

[...they moved hands? 】

【...Well, those fists were really hard. Shi Shuisheng fell to the ground for a while and didn't get up. The leader also said that he and those shadow puppets who are neither human nor ghost will be given to him tomorrow. Throwing it out, but the next day there was no movement in the troupe again. Except for performances, the troupe leader and other actors rarely appeared in front of people. ...]

【…】

[But, but they used to do it privately because of the troupe's shadow puppets. Many people saw it at the time, and everyone around here can testify... And what I want to tell you quietly is a few days ago The strange things I saw with my own eyes at night... A few nights ago, when I walked past the wall of the back room, I seemed to hear the shadow puppets in the troupe crying, singing songs and crying, and the content of their singing was...]

Miss A Niang tried her best to keep her voice down, and her frightened voice inadvertently matched the seemingly messy and disorderly clues just now with some previous things.

At that moment, they looked at each other with different expressions, and Jin and Qin, who had conveyed some content in Dong language from Gentiana Qin to Jin Suoyang, didn't say much, and then they frowned and looked at the strange and nervous expression girl, and listened to her frowning and softly translating her native Dong dialect to the broken Chinese dialect with a strange tone but also in line with the situation at the time,

……

【Rooster man, want to kill a chicken】

【Seven chickens locked in a cage】

【There is only one chicken left outside the cage】

【Now also in the cage】

【Chop off the head, peel off the skin】

[The dead baby cries]

【No matter where you go】

[The rooster will catch you, catch—hold—you——]

The author has something to say:

①

That playlist is the clue.