Strange Road

The vibrating sound of the mobile phone was particularly harsh in the rental house in the early morning. You stretched out your hand from the messy quilt and fumbled to answer the phone. On the other end of the phone is a distant relative who has not been in touch for a long time. His voice is noisy and distant, but the news he brings is like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing all your sleepiness. "... Your grandma, Bixian... Is gone. It happened last night. The funeral is very simple. If you... Come back and see her." The phone was hung up, leaving only the faint hum of the city outside the window in the room. Grandma is dead. Your mind goes blank, and what comes to mind is her wrinkled face that always has a kind smile, and what she said in an unquestionable tone as she stroked your head countless times: "Remember, grandson, no matter what happens, never go back to Shilitun again in your life." Not going? This was my grandmother's last wish. But for more than ten years, if it weren't for her, your life, which has been coveted by evil spirits, would have been long gone. The kindness is overwhelming, and the last wish is nothing. You sighed and sat up from the bed. It was just dawn outside the window, so you simply packed a backpack and stuffed a few changes of clothes and dry food into it. Before closing the zipper, your hand paused for a moment, and you took out from under the pillow a piece of dark jade pendant wrapped with a red string and already warmed by rubbing - this was the only amulet left to you by your grandmother. You tightened your backpack and embarked on the road home, the road your grandmother ordered you never to take.