Maybe it was because he was too eager to chase Li Jinlong, but Zhao Fei still hasn't breathed.
He still put his hands on his hips, hunched over his body, and puffed out "white smoke" in the cold wind.
"Boss, boss, I just heard Zhang Chao arguing with you about driving away corpses."
"Why, he still has this skill?"
When it comes to the "family that chases corpses", we have to start with the local custom of driving corpses:
Xiangxi was located in Jingzhou in ancient times.
With constant wars and frequent plagues, the people of Xiangxi were brave and brave, and many of them died in foreign lands.
In order to return the soul to its homeland after death, the art of exorcism was developed.
The person who casts the spell to raise the corpse is called "Laosi": the convention is that there are two people in green and red.
The old man in Qingyi placed cinnabar (the best cinnabar) on the deceased's forehead, chest, chest, left and right hands, and soles of the feet.
Each place is pressed with a magic rune, and then tied tightly with five-color cloth strips.
According to legend, these seven places are where the seven orifices come in and out.
It is sealed with cinnabar talismans to retain the seven souls of the deceased.
Some cinnabar is also stuffed into the ears, nose, and mouth of the deceased, and then sealed tightly with Chenzhou Talisman.
According to legend, the ears, nose, and mouth are where the three souls come in and out. This can keep their souls in the body of the deceased.
Finally, the neck of the deceased is covered with cinnabar, affixed with magic charms, and tied tightly with five-color cloth strips;
Then put a rice dumpling leaf hat and cover on the deceased.
After everything is done, the old man in red finishes reciting the incantation and shouts "Get up!" The corpse of the guest will then stand up and follow the "Lao Si" back to his hometown.
The person who removes the corpse is a mage wearing a Taoist robe, and the locals call it "the corpse removal craftsman".
No matter how many corpses there were, he would chase them all by himself.
No matter what the weather is, you must wear a pair of straw sandals, a green cloth gown, and a black belt around your waist;
He wears a green cloth hat on his head, holds a gong in his hand, and has a bag of talismans hidden in his waistband.
The "cadaver driver" is not behind the corpse, but leads the way in front of it;
Instead of lighting the lantern, he led the corpse forward while beating the small gong in his hand.
He shook a soul-catching bell in his hand to warn night walkers to avoid it, and to notify people with dogs to lock them up.
If there are more than two corpses, the corpse remover will string the corpses together with straw ropes, one every seven or eight feet away.
When walking in the dark night, the corpse wears a tall blanket hat on its head, and a few talismans are pressed on its forehead and hung down on its face.
Two or three days before arriving at the destination, inform the deceased's family in advance and prepare the clothes and coffin.
As soon as the "dead person" arrives, he will immediately dress the deceased person in his longevity clothes, hat and shoes and put them into the longevity wood.
This kind of burial process is entirely undertaken by the person who "removes the corpse", and no one else is allowed to intervene or watch, just like when the corpse is "lifted out of the coffin" and no one is allowed to peek.
Just because when strangers get close to the corpse, there will be the danger of "shocking the corpse" and "frauding the corpse", and the burial process must be done in the middle of the night.
After all arrangements are in place, that is to say, after the deceased has been buried, the bereaved family goes to claim it.
Like many mysterious customs, corpse driving also has its own rules:
Three rushes, three don’t rush.
Three types of eviction: Those who have been beheaded (their heads must be sewn together), those who have been hanged, and those who have died standing in a cage can be evicted.
Because they were all forced to die, they died unconvinced, missing their hometown and their relatives.
Their souls can be lured away with spells, and charms can be used to imbue their corpses, and then spells can be used to drive them to climb mountains and ridges, or even board boats and cross rivers to return to their hometowns.
Three types of don’t drive: Those who died of illness, those who voluntarily died by hanging in rivers, and those whose limbs were damaged by thunder and fire should not be driven away.
Among them, the souls of those who died of illness have been taken away by ghosts, and their souls cannot be called back from the gate of hell;
The souls of those who drowned themselves in the river were "replaced", and they may be in the process of handover. If new souls are summoned, the old souls cannot be replaced, which will affect the reincarnation of the old souls;
In addition, those who died due to lightning were all sinners, while those who were burned to death by fire often had incomplete skin and flesh, and could not be driven away either.
If these taboos are violated, extremely horrific things will happen.
The family of corpse exorcists gradually developed from these corpse exorcists.
Their way of practice is inseparable from all kinds of dead bodies.
While Hua Jiunan was telling Chen Daji and Zhao Fei about exorcising corpses, another strange thing was happening:
An energetic and well-dressed little old man walked into the village.
For some reason, more than a dozen local dogs that roamed freely in each household followed the old man one after another.
It looked like he wanted to bite him, but he was afraid of something and didn't dare to step forward.
The little old man didn't care about these local dogs and walked straight to the door of the Deaf Granny's courtyard with a smile.
"Is the master here? Old man, I'm back. I'm here to take Mina home."
Liu Meina, who was playing with Wang Qianyue in the courtyard, was stunned for a moment, then ran towards the gate with tears on her face.
"Grandpa, grandpa is here to pick me up!"
Although Xiao Qianyue is only eleven years old, she now has peak strength.
The crystal clear little face was full of solemnity.
He grabbed Liu Meina and stared at the courtyard door warily.
"Sister Mina, don't go there, it's... it's dangerous outside!"
"Grandma, come out quickly, we have a 'guest' at home!"
The deaf mother-in-law, who had already felt something coming to the door, walked out quickly with the support of Hu Feier.
The "fairy binding rope" that he had "refined" for decades was wrapped around his hand.
The old man frowned and spoke softly.
"Old Liu from the coffin shop?"
"Dead or alive, what on earth is this thing?"
At this moment, the Hu family fairy changed from her usual gentle and watery look, and her face that was about to burst was full of coldness.
"Grandma, please slow down, I'll open the door."
"No matter what it is, if it dares to scare you old man, Fei'er wants it to look good!"
The courtyard door opened, and a gust of cold wind rushed in.
Standing outside the door was indeed shopkeeper Liu from the coffin shop in the next village.
But the strange thing is that this man has obviously been dead for a long time, and the deaf mother-in-law asked someone to take care of his posthumous affairs.
When Xiao Mina saw her grandfather, whom she missed day and night, she could no longer control her emotions.
Breaking free from Wang Qianyue's hand, Ruyan pounced on her like she was throwing herself into the forest.
"Grandpa, Mina misses you so much!"
Shopkeeper Liu had a smile on his face and bent down to hold Liu Mina tightly in his arms.
"My dear granddaughter, the old man misses you too!"
"Grandpa has been away for so long. Are you angry at grandma here?"
The deaf mother-in-law sneered when she heard this.
"The child is very well-behaved and not annoying, but you scared me, old woman!"
"I'm just a visitor. Now that you're here, why don't you come in and sit down."
The old man signaled Hu Feier to give up his position with his eyes, and quietly scattered the ashes of the incense in his hand on the ground.
Shopkeeper Liu was still smiling, and walked into the yard with Liu Mina in his arms.
"It's time to come in and sit down."
"I'm sorry for taking care of the child for so long, sister, why should I thank you in person?"
Something unexpected happened:
Shopkeeper Liu stepped on the incense ashes, but nothing strange happened.
Even the "magic ax" and "magic knife" hung at the door of the side room did not react at all.
Seeing this, the deaf mother-in-law's face became more solemn;
Hu Feier has quietly protected Wang Qianyue behind her.
