The dark shadow by the bedside

When I saw the fingerprint on my wrist, I was definitely scared at first, but after calming down for a while, I felt relieved because I realized that the fingerprint wasn't painful, just a little cold, and scratching it made it go away.

At that time, I didn't think about anything else, I just rubbed my wrist and went to untie the cow rope, getting ready to take the cow home.

My cow was an old one that I had raised for five or six years. She was very human-friendly and usually very gentle, never making a fuss. But this time, I don't know what happened, when she saw me walking towards her, she suddenly jumped up from the ground and started kicking and struggling desperately to get out of the rope, as if she had seen something particularly terrifying.

This situation made me puzzled and I didn't know what was wrong with the cow.

I picked up a stick from the ground and waved it while scolding the cow, 'You old thing, I'm your owner, I'm not going to chop or kill you, why are you so scared? Behave yourself, or you'll be sorry!

As I was speaking, I raised the stick in my hand, intending to hit the cow. To my surprise, the old yellow cow, who was usually immune to sticks and whips, trembled all over like she had been electrocuted when she saw the thin branch in my hand. Then she gasped for breath and pulled back with all her might. Finally, with a loud "crack," she broke the iron buckle on her nose and the rope came loose.

After breaking free, the old yellow cow shook her head and let out a strange "moo" before sprinting towards the village like her tail was on fire. It was a strange sight that left me puzzled. However, I was not too worried because I knew that the old cow knew her way home, and she would eventually return.

So, I just untied the rope and chased after her. Strangely enough, when the cow saw me chasing her, she ran even faster, as if she had seen a ghost, and didn't let me get close to her.

I had no choice but to chase her all the way home, and then my father caught her and put her in the cowshed to calm her down. However, whenever I entered the cowshed afterwards, the old yellow cow would tremble all over again, as if she had seen a ghost, which was very strange.

I was confused by the whole thing and felt like the cow must have eaten something wrong. My father thought that maybe I had punished the cow too harshly, so he was a little afraid of me. He didn't say much and just asked me to go inside to eat.

At that time, there was no electricity in our small village, and we ate our meals by candlelight.

My mother had served me my meal, and as I sat down to eat, I remembered the purple bruises on my wrist. I raised my wrist and examined the irregular marks under the candlelight. They appeared to be fingerprint-shaped but also looked like they were caused by something constricting my wrist. I wondered how I could have gotten them since I didn't recall playing rough during the day.

Perhaps I had inadvertently caused them while tying a rope for our morning glories. But the rope had been loose, so it didn't make sense for it to leave such an intense bruise. While I was pondering, my mother noticed me holding my wrist up and scrutinizing it under the candlelight.

"What are you looking at? Do you have a treasure on your wrist?" she asked.

"It's not a treasure. I have some bruises on my wrist. Can't you see them?" I held out my wrist to show her, hoping for some comfort. But my mother's expression turned quizzical, and she asked, "Are you alright? Your wrist looks fine. There are no bruises."

Her words surprised me, and I quickly pointed to the bruises and said, "But they're right here. Can't you see them?"

Just as I was feeling down, my mother was tidying up the dishes and said to me, "By the way, I heard that Xiao Tu from the west end drowned. Ah, disasters never come singly." After sighing, she cautioned me, "Yihen, you must never go bathing in the mountain dam again. Be careful in everything, you know? If it's too hot, just wash with well water at home. Do you hear me?"

With my mother's words, I suddenly remembered a foolish thing and couldn't help feeling sad. Then I said to my mother in a muffled voice, "Don't worry, I won't go bathing in the mountain dam again." After speaking, I washed up quickly and went to bed.

At that time, there were not many entertainment activities in the countryside, and after it got dark, there was nothing to do but go to bed early. So, I also fell asleep very early.

Perhaps because I was tired from working during the day, after lying down for a while, I felt someone grabbing my wrist and pulling me. I was sleeping soundly, so I didn't care and pulled my hand back, muttering, "Don't pull, I'm tired and want to sleep."

As a result, at this moment, a thin and sharp voice sounded by the bed, saying, "Yihen brother, wake up, let's go roast sweet potatoes, okay?"

"Uh, is it Xiao Hutu?" At this point, I recognized that it was Xiao Hutu's voice, and rubbed my eyes, sat up, and looked at her, saying, "Why did you come to my house so late at night?"

Because the room was dark and I couldn't see clearly, I could only vaguely see a small black shadow standing by the bed, and I wasn't sure if it was Xiao Hutu or not.

"Yihen brother, I want to eat roasted sweet potatoes," the small black shadow by the bed said again.

Feeling a bit helpless and wanting to sleep, but not wanting to reject Little Huto, I reached out and touched her head, saying, "Little Huto, it's too late now. How about we sleep first and go roast sweet potatoes when it's light out?"

As soon as I spoke, my hand touched Little Huto's hair and I realized that it was wet and icy cold. A shiver ran through my body and I broke out in a cold sweat. It was then that I remembered that Little Huto was already dead.

This situation made my heart skip a beat and my spine break out in a cold sweat. My teeth chattered uncontrollably. After taking a few deep breaths, I finally mustered up the courage to ask Little Huto in a trembling voice, "Little Huto, you...you're supposed to be dead. What's going on?"

"Hehehe, Brother Yihen, let's go quickly! Come on, let's go roast sweet potatoes-"

At this point, the Little Huto by my bedside seemed completely oblivious to what I was saying. She just kept talking to herself and then suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me under the bed. She then dragged me out and led me outside.