Ancient Ghost Stories: Prison Escape

[Red Hall]

The puppet made a "kick-tap-tap" sound on the floor, and Jin Liang secretly hid behind the door and watched.

The puppet player is an old man, with white hair and a childlike face, and a red mole between his eyebrows - this is the Hong Kong Coliseum, and the old man is Hongchen Weng, the eighth generation descendant of the puppet family.

"Come, come and play here." Hongchenweng suddenly turned around and waved to Jin Liang. Jin Liang was stunned for a moment and wanted to run away, but behind him, a soft hand suddenly grabbed him, and a joking laughter rang in his ears. It was Hong Ling.

The seventeen-year-old Hong Kong actress is bright and proud, and her laughter is rarely heard in the Hong Kong Coliseum. "Little thief, what are you doing?" Hong Ling grabbed Jin Liang's collar and wouldn't let go.

"Ling'er, don't bully him." Hongchenweng stepped forward and looked at his granddaughter lovingly.

Jin Liang struggled desperately, which made Hong Ling angry. She pushed Jin Liang down and shouted: "The son of a thief deserves to die!" As soon as he said these words, Hong Chen Weng's face changed. . There was a moment of silence in the room, and Hongchenweng said slowly: "Ling'er, don't talk nonsense."

"It turns out that his father broke the vase given by Yuci, and he deserves death!" Hong Ling's voice became more and more shrill.

In the forty-sixth year of Kangxi's reign, when the Old Summer Palace was built, Jin Liang's father committed a crime while working and managed to escape. He temporarily took refuge in the home of his old friend Hongchenweng, but all this was overheard by Hongling. arrive.

At this time, Jin Liang was lying on the ground, still looking at a loss. Hongchenweng helped Jin Liang up and gently dusted off the dust on his robe. Jin Liang tilted his head slightly and cast his absent-minded eyes out the window, as if listening to music in the distance. Since he fell down the stone steps at the age of three, Jin Liang has become a dementia child - this is what his father said.

Hongchenweng handed the puppet to Jin Liang: "Go and play, it's a very interesting thing."

Jin Liang hugged the puppet and ran out as hard as he could. In the corridor, he accidentally tripped and fell, and the puppet was thrown far away. It made a "kick-tap-tap" sound, as if it suddenly came to life. Just as Jin Liang got up, he suddenly let out a low cry, and his arms also stood up. Looking at the serious expression on his face, she laughed so hard that her branches trembled. Skin bumps, squirming like little bugs.

Jin Liang saw that the puppet under the lamp had clearly changed into the face of Hongling, and the smile was exactly the same as that of Hongling.

Everything happened in an instant - from then on, this nightmare accompanied Jin Liang, until ten days later at night, officers and soldiers suddenly appeared in the Coliseum.

[Escape] This was not a problem for me, because my new home is in the town, and people come and go, so I am not afraid of encountering dirty things.

Jin Liang and his father were taken away. The servants of the Hong Kong Coliseum privately lamented: Someone must have tipped off this, which alerted the government. Fortunately, otherwise, if the whereabouts of the criminal were found out in the future, the whole Red House would be implicated.

Jin Liang and his father were put on death row. It was dark and damp there, and the nights were darker and heavier than elsewhere. The prisoners' strange screams penetrated their eardrums, squeezing them from the inside out. But Jin Liang felt very good, because he could play with the puppet patiently without the bullying from Hong Ling.

He picked up a stone and polished the puppet's face hard. It was Hong Ling. The face was covered with scratches, like miserable wounds.

"This puppet...has an evil spirit..." the father said weakly.

"It's called Xiaohong." Jin Liang said numbly.

The moon floated on the edge of the clouds, and a ray of blue-gray moonlight passed through the iron window and fell on my father's forehead. The corners of my father's eyes were twitching, which was a sign of dying. In fact, my father was one of the best craftsmen in his hometown and made puppets. But my father could no longer hold the handle of the knife.

Jin Liang continued to torture the puppet. He threw Xiao Hong up. Xiao Hong slid through an arc in the air and fell to the corner, her twisting body seemed to be dancing. The father slowly crawled over, held the puppet down, glared at Jin Liang and said, "You must escape and take revenge." The father's eyes were bloodshot, which made Jin Liang's hair stand on end.

That night, the father opened the puppet's belly.

Every puppet like this has a little mechanism in its belly.

The father tore off a strand of Jin Liang's hair and stuffed it into the doll's stomach. Then, the father bit his tongue and committed suicide. Father's blood spattered in the doll's eye sockets, and the doll's eyes blinked, so Ani still fell asleep every night, chewing half of his heart every night, and said the same words to me: "My heart is bitter, bitter." "Blink, looking at Jin Liang with confused interest. The puppet's smile suddenly turned into a terrifying leer. Jin Liang collapsed to the ground, trembling all night.

Since then, my father’s body has been curled up in the corner of the cell, and it has always been there, unnoticed. The jailer occasionally came to deliver meals, threw the steamed buns in, and immediately escaped.

The air in the prison was cold and damp, and the strong musty smell filled the air, as if it could be grasped in the palm of one's hand, but Jin Liang was completely unaware. At night, he began to dig holes. He could always see his father's eyes in the darkness, and his father whispered in his ear: Run away. Get out.

Every night, when darkness covered the prison and only darkness remained in his field of vision, Jin Liang began to dig holes. The angles he chooses are very secretive, and his tools are his hands. During the day, Jin Liang moved his father's body over and blocked the entrance of the cave. Then he sat aside, holding Xiaohong in his hands, and stared at his father's back. My father's curled up body was like me falling to the ground

I woke up when I saw such a terrifying scene! Only then did he realize that he was lying on a bare hillside. The night was still so dark, but the color was thicker, almost black, and only the stars shone with a faint cold light. A feeling of powerlessness invaded the whole body, accompanied by the biting cold. It was a weakness that had never been felt before, but the heart was still so surprisingly calm. Maybe it was because of the music, maybe because the other left hand felt as heavy as hanging. While weighing the weight, the blood from the wound on the wrist has solidified and formed a thick scab, covering the deep tooth marks and looking more like a black bracelet. There is a pool of blood on the ground under the left wrist, and some of it has solidified. It became a darker color, some still scarlet, and the puddle was sticky. What hit my nose was a fishy smell. The fishy smell made me want to gag. This was the first time I had such a strange feeling about blood after Wu got another life. The picture fainted, and Jie wanted to spit out the symbol in disgust, but he Can't read. He felt Xiaohong squirming slightly in his hand, and her baby-like nails scratched his palm.

On the fourth night, at midnight, when the moon pointed its swollen face at the iron window, Jin Liang's eyes suddenly widened.

He heard a faint breath coming from beside him.

He looked around, dust floating above his head, swirling in the darkness, and the hissing trembling made him feel uneasy. Maybe it was the wind, he thought, sighed, and continued digging.

Then there was the sound of nails scratching against the wall again, like a thorn slowly scratching across the pupils.

Jin Liang shrugged his shoulders, his hair stood on end and he was dripping with cold sweat. He lay in the narrow tunnel, feeling suffocated. The father's face reappeared in the darkness, and a numb smile appeared in the dark blue eye sockets of the Styx. The father gently wriggled the corners of his mouth and whispered: Escape, child - escape, escape, go.

Jin Liang’s scalp felt numb. At the same time, he saw the puppet.

Xiao Hong is also looking at Jin Liang, and the sound of breathing is coming from it. It is on the side of Jin Liang's shoulder, leaning, with one hand on the wall of the pit, and the other hand gently touching Jin Liang. Good arm. Tentacles of fear wrapped around Jin Liang's throat, squeezing from the inside out. But there was nothing he could do, he just stared at Xiaohong blankly.

The puppet arched its heavy shoulders and its two eyeballs flickered. At that moment, Jin Liang seemed to hear Hong Ling's joking laughter again. The puppet turned around, stared at Jin Liang, and crawled backwards into the pit. It grew sharp nails and dug very fast, clack, clack, clack.

That night, they worked together and finally escaped.

While running wildly in the dark wilderness, Jin Liang realized that his father had awakened Xiao Hong with his own blood. His father was watching over him secretly.

But the strange thing is, in Jin Liang's dazed consciousness, why did the puppet's face overlap with that of the actress?

[Dancing under the Moon]

The mist turned into drizzle and formed a net over the Coliseum. There were occasional "crackling" sounds in the darkness.

Jin Liang crouched deep in the shadow of the tree, hunched his shoulders, and there was a dream in his eyes. Suddenly, his beautiful face began to slowly rot, blood slowly seeped out, and his eyes slowly bulged out. , the skin began to dry and crack, pieces fell off, and the limbs seemed to have been dismembered, slowly separated, and bursts of heart-rending laughter came from the mouth. I watched this happen with my eyes wide open. A general uneasy look. The puppet in his palm also smelled the scent of the Red Hall and became restless. Jin Liang held Xiao Hong tightly, feeling a sharp pain in his palm.

Jin Liang took a deep breath and crossed the high threshold. The strange thing is that there is no light or sound in the Coliseum, and there is silence all around. Jin Liang slowly walked through the corridor. The smell of copper rust floated in the air. The pillars beside him were tilted. The upper half was hidden in the darkness, and the lower half was shrouded in the cold water light.

When Jin Liang turned the corner of the corridor, he suddenly heard a "kick-tap-tap" sound.

Someone was dancing in the drizzle. A flash of bluish-white light shines on the man's feet. The beautiful gold soft-soled shoes are very beautiful and full of vitality. A feeling of fear and joy enveloped Jin Liang. He kept shivering and walked tremblingly to the man.

"Little thief, you are back." Hong Ling smiled in a low voice, as if she was not surprised at all.

"Why?" Jin Liang muttered to himself, as if he had just woken up from a dream. "Why did you snitch? Why did your father die?"

"I didn't snitch." Hong Ling said dully, "I like you."

"You... like me?" Jin Liang almost collapsed. He remembered her scolding and her teasing smile. She slapped him for no reason, poured scalding water on him, kicked and bit him, and all because "I like you"?

"I can only like you like this. Because grandpa won't let me do this." Hong Ling sobbed. She wanted to cry, but she had no tears. This is something Jin Liang has always been strange about. Hong Ling has never shed tears.

The little red in Jin Liang's hand suddenly broke away and jumped down. Xiaohong crawled toward a room, her movements slow and dragging, as if a dead body had just come out of the tomb. But as the target got closer and closer, Xiaohong suddenly increased her speed and disappeared behind the door in the blink of an eye like a frightened crab.

Jin Liang chased after him and followed the puppet into the door.

The dim light reflected by the rain spread over half of the room, and shone on the chair in the middle of the room. Jin Liang stared blankly while Hongchenweng leaned back in his chair.

Jin Liang took a few steps back weakly. This was an ominous place. There is a rotten hemp noose above the chair, and the other end is tied to the iron hook on the ceiling. There are several puppets strung on the noose - all half-made by Hongchenweng. You will know why I made it for her. And then my mother comforted me and told me not to be afraid. Then I went to the kitchen and cooked me a delicious meal. Children are like this, and big things will be over as soon as they are said to be in the past. But from then on, I no longer wanted to stay at home alone. This problem didn't change until I moved to a new place after I entered elementary school. Proud. In the hanging darkness, the puppet's face is looming, staring with melancholy and lifeless eyes.

Suddenly, the puppets began to swing, moving without wind, making a "click-click" collision sound.

A scream almost came out of his mouth, but Jin Liang couldn't utter it, and could only squeeze out a series of low whines from his throat. He hesitated for a moment and finally approached Hongchenweng. Hong Ling followed, walking briskly, and her gold soft-soled shoes made no sound.

Hongchenweng in the chair grinned with a stupid smile. A yellowed arm drooped outside the back of the chair. The wrinkles on his face were squeezed together, and a dark blue gaze like the Styx emerged from his slightly closed eyes. He is already dead.

The moon suddenly flashed out of nowhere, cold and dim, casting a stain on the window.

Xiaohong crawled around the chair, seemingly taking a walk. Only its shadow can be seen in the moonlight, flickering and appearing, occasionally reflecting a faint light of water. Jin Liang rubbed his eyes and followed Xiao Hong's back. Xiaohong seemed to be looking back at him. Xiaohong's smile was wet.

[桃木心]

Hong Ling hummed a ballad, slowly turned around and stared at Jin Liang.

"The Red Hall is just a prison." Hong Ling said coldly, "Everyone here lives like a puppet, and they are all controlled by Hongchenweng."

Jin Liang said hoarsely: "But he...but he is your grandfather."

"Making puppets is my family heritage." Hongling sighed and suddenly changed the topic. "Nine generations of the Hong family have been famous craftsmen. According to local legend, if a member of the Hong family puts a mahogany heart into the belly of a doll, the doll will dance in the moonlight; if a man and woman in love see the smiling doll, they will be happy for the rest of their lives. We all need to be together."

Hong Ling paused and observed Jin Liang's reaction. Jin Liang stood indifferently, his thoughts in confusion.

Hongling continued: "Actually, when you and your son just escaped to the Hong Kong Hall, Hongchenweng wanted to tell the truth, but I managed to stop him."

Hongling looked at Jin Liang, said word by word, "Because I like you, I tried every means to force you away. But you are too stupid, you just hate me. You are all stupid, and you believe in Hongchenweng, so you pay The price has been paid."

Jin Liang was stunned. He always thought the informer was a popular actress. He thought the girl hated him so much that she appeared in every nightmare he had. Only now do I realize that a girl’s admiration can also be like this, expressing the softest feelings in a cruel way. He seemed to understand, but also seemed more confused.

Jin Liang remembered what Hong Ling said just now: the Hong Kong Hall is a prison. So, what was the purpose of him and his father escaping from the Old Summer Palace to the Coliseum, and then from prison back to the Coliseum?

"Little thief, why don't you say anything?" Hong Ling stared at Jin Liang.

"I'm thinking about this prison." Jin Liang muttered.

"It's okay now, I'm free." Hong Ling spun around half a circle, her green dress swaying.

"How did Grandpa Hong die?" Jin Liang asked in a trembling voice.

Hong Ling ignored him, squatted next to the chair, grabbed Xiao Hong, and polished its face with a piece of sandpaper.

The puppet's forehead is covered with scratches, which were scratched by Jin Liang with stones in prison. Jin Liang took a few steps back uneasily. He saw a shadow on the corner of Xiao Hong's mouth, as if he had pressed the switch of the computer long before he could hold back the feeling of vomiting. There is a beep sound and the screen goes dark again. ?Miscellaneous?

Jin Liang stood on tiptoes and walked towards the door as sneakily as a monkey. He wanted to run away again.

Hong Ling raised her face and stared at him. After a long time, Hongling asked hoarsely: "Where do you want to go?" There was a hint of flattery in her eyes.

"I...I'm going back to my hometown." Jin Liang whispered.

Hong Ling put the puppet on the ground. Xiaohong drooped her head feebly.

Hongling pointed at Xiaohong and said, "Look, this is a puppet made by Hongchenweng in my image, but I don't like it."

She Walking to the chair, he suddenly leaned over and picked up Hongchenweng. Jin Liang was stunned until Hong Ling approached him and put Hong Chenweng next to him, and then he let out a low cry.

Hongling pulled Hongchenweng's collar apart and asked Jin Liang to take a closer look. Jin Liang screamed again. He saw a wooden neck - Hongchenweng was a big puppet!

"The real Grandpa Red died last year." Hong Ling said indifferently, "Grandpa Red put all his efforts into making a puppet in his own image and gave it a mahogany heart.

"

Hong Ling cast her gaze out the window, to distant and unknown corners. "On the night of June 13th, at midnight, this puppet actually came to life. Yes, with mahogany heart, it will be like this. It slowly walked towards Grandpa Red's bed, like a big bird. When it approached Grandpa Red, it suddenly sped up and slid in front of Grandpa in the blink of an eye. It stretched out its sharp claws, and the wood grain on its palms looked like an eye. It suddenly covered Grandpa's face. I happened to be out dancing at that time and saw everything from the porch. I saw its eyes under the moonlight, round glass balls, dark and bright. "

Jin Liang's throat trembled with a "squeak". He stared at Hong Ling, unable to control his breathing.

Hong Ling also stared at Jin Liang and continued Said: "The next morning, the real Grandpa Red never appeared again. Except for me, everyone in the Coliseum knows the truth. ”

Jin Liang finally couldn’t hold on anymore and fell to the ground. He couldn’t believe that the manager of the Hong Kong Coliseum was actually a big puppet.

[Who knew]

The drizzle has stopped, and the moon crawled out from the heavy clouds, casting a stain on the corridor of the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Hong Ling continued to dance beautifully in the cold night. Jin Liang's gold soft-soled shoes are full of vitality. Jin Liang still can't escape from the chaotic thoughts. Maybe it was a mistake to escape. The Red Hall is still a prison, and he should go with his father.

Jin Liang. Walking through the corridor and wandering around the courtyard, the moon hung low on the roof, full of ominous cyan light. The Red Hall was completely silent, except for the dancing green and white figures of the Red Ling, everything was dull, like a real puppet.

Jin Liang fell asleep leaning on the Taihu stone. In his dream, he felt someone approaching slowly, tiptoeing, and the sound of tiny footsteps was like a burst of rain, kicking and blowing in the darker corner. Slowly pushing the courtyard door open, a dull hand stretched out with an eye in the palm, and then the hand suddenly covered his face...

Jin Liang woke up suddenly, and for the first moment , he forgot where he was, until he saw Hong Ling's figure, he remembered that this was the Red Hall.

Hong Ling seemed to be sleepwalking, her back was stiff, and she seemed to be swinging her arms deliberately. It's also strange that there is always a moment of pause at the same angle, just like the hands of a clock are suddenly pressed while moving.

Jin Liang slid down from the pillar to sit on the cold stone floor. Lying at his feet. Jin Liang's eyes moved to the doll, and he wondered if there was a small mechanism in Xiao Hong's belly, which was made of peach wood and had the shape of a heart. This thought made Jin Liang shudder.

"Little thief, what are you thinking about? " Hong Ling walked up to her at some point and was leaning over to stare at Jin Liang. In the moonlight, her leaning figure looked like a beautiful totem.

"Why don't you like Xiao Hong? Jin Liang asked, holding up the puppet.

Hongling's expression changed slightly. For a long time, she murmured to herself: "This is just a semi-finished product." "

"What do you mean? "

"Just like the puppets hanging in that small house, they come to the world one after another, but they never really belong here. I don’t want to see puppets like me looking at me with dead eyes. Seeing it is like seeing yourself in the Coliseum. "

"How can they survive? "Jin Liang blurted out.

Hong Ling's hair suddenly stood up and danced against the wind, making a crackling friction sound.

Hong Ling hissed: "Everyone Everyone wants to live. This is their mission in coming to the Coliseum. Hongchenweng replaced the real Grandpa Hong in order to fulfill his promise to the puppet. "

Hong Ling's expression gradually calmed down. She sighed slightly, glanced at Jin Liang, and said, "It's getting late, I should rest." Just as she was about to take a step, she turned around and whispered, "Don't walk around the Coliseum at night." If you hear a clicking sound, don't come out to see it. Remember? "

Jin Liang nodded numbly. Hong Ling smiled and walked through the corridor towards her house.

Jin Liang hesitated for a moment and followed silently. He leaned outside the window, holding his breath and watching Hong Ling quietly.

The moonlight passed through the flower-edge window sash, casting a bluish-white halo in the middle of the room. Hong Ling sat on the chair in the middle and slowly took off her gold soft-soled cloth shoes.

Hong Ling hummed a ballad in a low voice. Her voice was beautiful, but very strange, with a metallic trembling at the end. When Hong Ling lifted up her skirt, Jin Liang saw her ankles. The wood texture was very delicate, and a faint peach wood fragrance spread out.

Hong Ling suddenly turned her face, and they looked at each other through a window. Jin Liang made a strange "bleating" sound from his throat. For a long time, he squeezed out half a sentence through his teeth: "You are... you are..."

Hong Ling staggered over, Her footsteps clicked, like the clash of huge teeth in the dark night, dull and mysterious, echoing in the house.

"Of course I am a puppet too. I am a little puppet made by Hongchenweng." Hongling showed a stupid smile, "I have a mahogany heart on my chest." She walked to the window and stretched out her hand Holding Jin Liang's head, "Can you hear my heartbeat?"

The aroma of peach wood became stronger and stronger, and Jin Liang felt suffocated. He wanted to get rid of Hongling, but Hongling held him tightly and never let go.

"This is why I don't like Xiao Hong," Hong Ling whispered. "Because it looks too much like me, and because of you, and I'm afraid that it will come to life and that it will like you."

"I don't understand."

"Little fool, puppet Having a mahogany heart is the greatest sorrow, it will be very painful, especially on a moonlit night, the cold and sharp moonlight pierces the mahogany heart, and you can't see its blood, but you can hear it. So we must stop. Dance, but-"

"Why?"

"But I do. From the first day you entered the Coliseum, I knew that this kind of life was finally here. I want to dance in the moonlight to the rhythm of heartache. The most beautiful dance comes from the most painful love. You don’t understand.”

Jin Liang looked at Hong Ling absentmindedly. When Hong Ling smiled, she also showed her teeth. Her teeth were bright and clean, with tiny tips shining brightly. Jin Liang didn't know who made Hongling - Grandpa Hong or the later Hongchenweng. But it doesn't really matter.

Hong Ling tightened her grip on Jin Liang's neck and pulled him closer to her. Hong Ling's eyes rolled in their sockets. From such a distance, Jin Liang finally saw clearly that it was indeed a round glass ball. His face was frozen in the center of the glass ball.

"But you always have to escape." Hong Ling said quietly. "I know too, because I am a puppet." Her voice choked up, but she couldn't shed tears. "Now I want you to do something."

"What?"

"Take out my heart."

Jin Liang struggled desperately But the puppet was so powerful that he felt suffocated. "No!" he shouted.

"It must be like this." Hong Ling looked at Jin Liang, "Because it has cracked, and I don't want to die in pain, so please promise me."

" I don't - I can't do this."

Jin Liang suddenly opened his mouth and bit the back of Hong Ling's hand hard. His teeth hit the wood and bounced hard. Hong Ling immediately let go of his hand and Jin Liang ran away. When he was running away, he stepped on Xiao Hong next to him. He heard a cracking sound, and then the surroundings became quiet.

[Return of the Soul]

Later, Jin Liang would still remember the feeling of his teeth biting the back of Hong Ling's hand. How can the puppet Hong Ling feel pain? No. She let go out of desperation.

The fire in the Coliseum is also desperate. Every ray of the dancing flames is full of cracks, wounds carved by the wind.

Jin Liang has never been able to figure out who started the fire. "Director, what happened today was absolutely necessary, and I had no choice but to believe that I am not the murderer. The murderer must be someone else." Maybe it was a servant hiding in the red hall, or another puppet that came to life. In any case, it won't be a popular actress. Jin Liang said to himself.

Sometimes Jin Liang would think of another little puppet, Xiao Hong, who was trampled to pieces by him. The memory of Xiao Hong fills the mind, and Hong Ling rarely appears. He did this intentionally to free himself.

?, Fishing for ghost fish? One night, Jin Liang finally started to make a puppet. If someone asked him about his life experience, he would tell them: I am the tenth generation descendant of the Hong Kong Coliseum.

"So, who is the ninth generation descendant of the Red Hall?"

"It's the Hongling."

Jin Liang held up the puppet and said to himself Talk to yourself. The puppet under the lamp still looks the same as before, even the smile is the same.

He named the puppet: Return of the Soul.

He used sandpaper to smooth the puppet's face into a perfect arc. At this time, he heard a sound coming from outside the window, click, click, and in a daze, he heard that it was the sound of wooden feet without shoes stepping on the floor.

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