C16 Obliquely Descending Coffin
"Sister-in-law, Brother Qiulin's face hasn't recovered yet. Why did you call him over?" I asked as we walked.
"No, he was much better last night. He said that his aunty came up the mountain today and he insisted on coming to help her. But tell me, what happened to his face? Isn't it quite rosy?" As Sister-in-Law Qiulin spoke to me, she turned her head to look back. Then, she said that it was nothing, but I felt that it was strange. Indeed, Big Brother Qiulin's complexion was still green.
"Don't talk!" Grandfather was also behind me. I wanted to ask more, but I didn't dare to say anything more.
Grandmother's new grave was not far from the village. Normally, they would only walk for a few minutes, but today, it was raining heavily. I was worried that Uncle Shen and the rest of them would not be able to make it this far.
However, on the way here, he discovered that there were people who had deliberately dug their way here. It wasn't too difficult to walk on this path.
As I walked, I wondered if there was a red coffin blocking the way when I left last night. Why couldn't anyone else leave? If he said that walking at night had ghosts and walls, then what would he encounter during the day? The key point was that if his grandma went up the mountain today, she would still have to leave the village. If she couldn't leave the village, then it would be a joke.
My grandfather coughed all the way behind me, and I was a little worried about him. I held the portrait in my hand, but I couldn't turn around to help him, so I was a little depressed.
"Rest!" Just as they were about to leave the village, Ninth Uncle shouted, Uncle Shen and the others quickly used their poles to support themselves, then loosened their shoulders and rested. Their heads were covered in water, but it was unknown whether it was sweat or rain, and the suona was still blowing. Grandfather was currently holding a brush, walking in front, didn't you say that the filial son was the leader? What was he doing with his head forward?
He was still coughing, and I looked at Third Aunt. Her face was under the bamboo hat, and I couldn't make out her expression, but from the way she acted, I could tell that she wanted to go and help Grandfather. However, she shook her body a little, but in the end, she didn't move.
"Contract Ghost Immortal …" "Send the spirit to the mountain. The gods and immortals will all make it convenient for the ancestors to bury themselves in the ground …" I think that his brush was painted red with vermilion sand, because even under such heavy rain, he still wasn't able to wash away his handwriting. When we finished writing, Grandfather spat out another mouthful of blood, and the Third Aunt quickly rushed forward. At this time, Big Brother came out of nowhere, bent down, and carried Grandfather on his back, and left.
Grandpa had long since arranged this? "Pa …" He probably wasn't ready yet, so the lift pole pushed him until his waist bent. The rest of the people also quickly grabbed the support pole, and at this time, they definitely could not let the coffin fall to the ground. Fortunately, Uncle Shen was in his prime, and had good stamina, so he managed to slowly straighten his waist.
"Get up, let's go …" However, Third Aunt took a few talismans and stuck them on the place that Grandfather drew. I reckon that since the rain was heavy, even if I didn't see clearly what the talismans looked like, it would have been washed away by the rain. What use would it have?
When I got closer, I noticed that my grandfather had just drawn the word "open." I remember that my grandfather had said that this character was a ghost? "Who cares? If the third matron gives way, then that means we can walk. I've stepped on that word, and it sounds weird. But just by taking that step, it's as if I've left the village …
This was actually just a feeling. Looking at the surrounding scenery, it didn't seem any different from before. It was just that, why did he have such a feeling? I looked at Sister Qiulin beside me. She wasn't abnormal at all. Could it be that I was the only one who felt it?
This made sense. There must be something blocking this path. Otherwise, Grandpa would not have vomited blood just now. It was too strange …
There is water in front of us. According to my grandfather, this is a good Feng Shui place, of course it's Ninth Uncle. He took the compass and looked everywhere, then told Uncle Shen and the rest to carefully adjust their direction, but he didn't let them leave the coffin. I saw that Uncle Shen's legs were trembling …
Third Aunt looked at her watch and muttered a few words with Ninth Uncle. They seemed to argue a bit, but Ninth Uncle then turned his head and shouted: "Spill the chicken blood, place the charcoal, invite the wine, and lean down the coffin!"
Ninth Uncle took out a knife and directly cut off the head of the chicken, throwing it into the grave. Afterwards, the blood coming out from the chicken's neck was spilled all over the grave, Second Mother ran out of nowhere, hugged a large plastic bag, neatly spread the charcoal inside the grave, and then started burning paper money inside.
When the paper money was completely burnt, Uncle Shen and the others began to descend the coffin, but this time the coffin had some plan, if the weather was good, they could directly unload the coffin and push it in, but since it was raining today, the coffin could not be touched by water, so they had to diagonally descend the coffin, which was to enter the grave at the end, and slowly place it there, while dismantling the soul flag covering the coffin, which required them to be extremely strong in the waist, or else they would have to land halfway down the coffin.
I overheard this when Ninth Uncle was chatting with my grandfather in the past, but I didn't expect to see it with my own eyes today! But I noticed that something was wrong with Uncle Shen. His legs were trembling, his face was pale, and I could tell that he was in pain. I could tell that he was about to die. He sent Grandfather back?
I didn't get the chance to ask, I just watched the funeral procession, but luckily, big brother came, and there were no accidents. Normally, when I went down in the morning, I would only come back in the afternoon to seal the coffin, but Ninth Uncle directly announced that the coffin would be sealed today, so I knelt in the mud and watched them use a spade to place Grandma's grave, Ninth Uncle threw the white silk from the portrait in my arms into the grave, while Big Brother gave me an umbrella, I started burning paper, this is called burning my head, the filial son has to burn, it's just that it's too difficult to burn paper in the mud.
I looked at Third Aunt and she also frowned, but fortunately, the ceremony ended in an intermittent fashion so everyone started to go back. Going back now was something to be careful of, as they had to go back the way they came from and not go any other way, or else the immortals would blame this descendant for not being sensible and bringing bad luck along with them.
However, Third Grandma, Ninth Uncle, and a few other Daoists had not returned. It was said that they still had to go through the ceremony. On the other side of the Old Ancestor, Little Sister and the others also sent him up the mountain. However, the Old Ancestor's grave was just behind the ancestral hall, so there was no need to leave the village.
The youngest brother of our generation, at the age of five, a child who did not understand a thing, ran to the coffin to play with a stone while the Old Ancestor was lifting the coffin, and then immediately fell down. One of the Daoists said that it was due to a murderous aura, so he quickly went through the emergency treatment, and now that his breathing had cleared up, he still hadn't woken up.
I went to the bed and saw that a Taoist was still giving treatment to my brother. He was bleeding from the tip of the needle, and all of the blood that came out from my brother's fingertips was black. This situation is a bit strange. After a while, blood finally flowed out from his fingertips. Only then did the Daoist Priest stand up and say that he was ready.
Wu Liu's eyeballs rolled around, then he sat up, teasing him for a while. The Third Aunt also came back, and she looked at her little brother, then she took me with her when she had nothing to do. Just now, looking at Third Mother's expression, he didn't want me to leave, but I had to go see Grandfather.
When he arrived at his third grandma's house, grandpa could breathe, but he was unconscious. The third grandma could only sigh. According to her, would grandpa be able to pass this stage? Could it be that there would be another one at the end of the funeral?
I quickly went to boil some soup. I saw a lot of them when I was young, so I knew this one too. I hope grandpa is fine!
I thought that aside from my grandfather's matter, there would be no other matters. I didn't expect that the village would explode early in the morning, saying that it was a mountain flood. It has been many years since such a thing happened, why is there a mountain flood today?
I quickly ran out to check. As expected, the water in the slightly flat area of the village was very deep. Fortunately, the Third Mother's house was quite high, so it was fine. However, the others were upset.
"Third aunt, this isn't good. The two coffins that went up the mountain yesterday were at the entrance to the village …" Big brother stepped on the water and shouted all the way!