The Forgotten Tomb in Our Alley

At the very beginning of our alley, there were several ancestral tombs. My family lived at the other end of the alley. Over time, people nearly forgot that it was a burial ground. It's said to have been there for nearly five centuries. Most people didn't even realize there were graves at the entrance, but it all changed one night.

It was a young child from the house closest to the tombs, around seven or eight years old at the time. He needed to use the restroom at night, and he asked his mother to bring him some toilet paper. His mother went inside the house, got the paper, and as she peered out the window, she saw three individuals standing there, dressed in ancient clothing, facing west. She was terrified, screaming and calling for help. When others arrived, there was nothing to be seen. They stayed by her side until dawn.

Once daylight broke, they discussed the matter, and the older generation remembered that there had been a few graves there. They recalled that they used to add new graves in their childhood. They decided to move the graves, a process known as "拔坟" (removing graves). I was in the fifth grade at the time, and when I returned from school, I saw that three sets of human remains had been unearthed. A large red cloth covered the excavation site to shield it from the sun, and nearby were four coffins.

Inside, they found something resembling tiles, inscribed with characters, and some ancient coins (copper coins from the past). Even now, whenever I return home, I avoid looking in that direction and hurry back inside my house.