What does this sentence mean? I am not very clear about it. I only know that since the old man collapsed here, there has really been no more anomalous events. And Duan Lang's family found some villagers, who effortlessly lifted the old man's body again, preparing for burial once more.
After the matter of the old man, the Duanjia village once again returned to harmony and tranquility. Who would dwell on the words in the old almanac by the old man?
The people in the mountain had their minds on their fields. The incident involving the old man was at most just something to chat about over tea and meals, to increase the topic of conversation.
However, they could never have imagined that a disaster would actually silently descend.
About five days later, there was a sudden torrential rain in the area around Duanjia Village. It was an unusual downpour, as large as if it had been poured out of a basin. Within a few days, there were mountain torrents and mudslides in the mountains. The people of Duanjia Village hadn't even realized what was happening when the entire village had been engulfed by the mountain torrents.
This story took place at the border of Xiang and Qian in 1995. It wasn't just flooding here, but also in the adjacent area along the Xiang-Qian line, where countless people were affected. This included a prefecture-level city with nearly a million residents, which was submerged in water for a full two weeks.
Since the flooding, Duanjia Village didn't reemerge until several years later.
At this point in the story, I must talk about my identity. In fact, everything about Duanjia Village had long been forgotten. After all, the village was deep in the mountains, and very few people knew about it. If the village had not reappeared from the water several years later, no one would have known about this village, let alone what had happened there.
But why do I know all of this so well?
Because I come from that village that was submerged by the flood, Duanjia Village.
In fact, in this story, the old man who faked his death is my grandfather, and Duan Lang and Mu Ju are my parents. My name is Duan Mu, and I am the grandson of the old man who faked his death in this story.
Perhaps at this point, many people will find it unbelievable. However, after hearing what happened after my grandfather's death, it may become even more unbelievable.
In fact, along with the flooding of Duanjia Village, many other strange and terrifying events were also submerged by the flood. If I don't say it, perhaps no one else in the world except for my second uncle will ever know.
When the villagers of Duanjia Village realized that disaster was approaching, the village had already become a dead end, heading towards ruin. The road leading out of the village had been cut off by the flood, and the surrounding mountains had already seen mountain torrents, leaving no way in or out, with no response from the heavens or the earth.
Ultimately, many people chose to venture into the deep forests or into the floodwaters, but they all ended up as lifeless bodies, and not a single person survived.
Of course, except for me. How did I manage to survive?
This brings us to my family's story. Why didn't my parents leave after my grandfather's death? First, they only half-believed my grandfather's words, and second, my father was very filial. How could he leave when my grandfather's body had just been buried for the second time?
Actually, even without the words circled on the old calendar by my grandfather, my parents had intended to leave for a while. The body's transformation was an ominous sign, and my parents were very superstitious; they believed it.
Originally, my father intended to leave after my grandfather's forty-ninth day. It's just that no one could have anticipated that the disaster would come so quickly. My grandfather's forty-ninth day hadn't arrived yet when the flood struck.
It started raining on the fifth day, and by the seventh day, the road leading out of the village had already been cut off by the flood. Fortunately, my father was decisive. Perhaps he remembered the words circled on the old calendar by my grandfather. Seeing the increasingly heavy rain and sensing an impending disaster, he decisively took me and my mother away from Duanjia Village.
If he hadn't acted this way, I wouldn't have made it out of Duanjia Village alive.
But, it seems that just as man proposes, so God disposes. When my parents left the village, the road was only just submerged by the flood. My father bound a few planks of wood together, nailed them into a raft, and we were able to just about make it work.
However, we could never have imagined that the real disaster in Duanjia Village was not just the flood.
On that day, my mother pulled me by the hand, and I was nearly unable to open my eyes due to the rain. On the mountain road, we stumbled and fell numerous times, and nearly slipped into the ditch, almost being swept away by the flood.
After enduring a great deal of hardship, we arrived at the section of road that had been submerged by the flood. However, when we looked up at that section of road, we were suddenly drenched in sweat.
What had happened on that section of road?
Before it was submerged by the flood, that section of road was originally a small mountain ditch, about twenty meters wide. After being submerged, the flood, twenty meters wide, boiled and churned inside the small mountain ditch. However, what frightened us the most was not the flood boiling inside the small mountain ditch.
It was the bodies floating on top of the flood.
Yes, bodies. And not just one, but nearly twenty, and these bodies were not from Duanjia Village at all. We had no idea where they had come from. These bodies rolled with the flood in the small mountain ditch, blocking the road out of the village.
Seeing this scene, the three of us were all frightened. The appearance of these corpses made our family feel a moment of despair, but it also strengthened our father's determination.
The expression on our father's face became somewhat complicated: "I understand now. The old man has been a good person all his life, why would he create trouble without reason. It turns out that this disaster is truly meant to wipe out the Duan family. The floods block the roads, the dead seal off the village, and Duan Village is beyond saving."
After our father finished speaking, it was as if he had made a major decision. He looked very determined, clenching his teeth, and resolutely motioning for my mother and me to jump down into the small gully filled with corpses. I don't remember this particular memory very clearly, because as soon as we jumped into the flood, I immediately swallowed several mouthfuls of water, nearly fainting several times in the rushing water.
However, the real danger was not just the flood, but those corpses.
After we jumped into the flood, I could vaguely see that the bodies floating in the flood were moving? One of the bodies suddenly reached out a hand and grabbed my ankle.
I was startled, and water rushed into my mouth. At that moment, two warm hands suddenly reached out, and my parents pulled me with all their strength, and the hand grabbing my ankle suddenly let go.
I was laid on a plank, while my parents, each pushing on one side of the plank, took me to the other side. In a daze, I saw my parents struggling in the flood, their heads repeatedly emerging and submerging in the water.
Around them, the bodies floating in the water became increasingly eerie. These bodies looked no different from the dead, but their behavior was truly terrifying.
I saw one of the bodies lying on my father's back, unmoving, but no matter how my father struggled, he could not get rid of the body. Several bodies were even standing upright in the water, their hands tightly gripping my mother's feet, pulling her into the depths of the water.
My consciousness was getting fuzzy, and I saw my parents pushing the plank toward the other side, while they were slowly being submerged by the flood.
And that was the last time I saw my parents, as they eventually disappeared into the group of corpses.