I took out three sticks of incense from my bag, lit them and stuck them in the soil in front of the bones. Just now, my foot stepped in the air and slid the soil, so that her body was exposed from the mud. I couldn't move her body out of the well because there was literally no point in doing so. But I can show her the way. Even though it is a heinous crime, maybe I can make her walk more freely after twenty-eight years.
However, these three incense sticks are the three extremely ordinary peace incense sticks. They are just my tribute to this woman I have never met before, a stranger.
After I lit the incense, I squatted on one side and waited silently for the incense to burn out. Then I took out the bowl and pressed it several times in the mud at the bottom of the well. Soon the well water emerged from the indentation. I placed the bowl in front of the bones, took out seven grains of rice, and began to throw them into the water bowl to ask for rice.
I have never seen this female ghost since the coffin disappeared, so I have no way of judging her mood. But I believe that the female ghost must know that I went down to the bottom of the well to find out the truth. Not only did she not stop me from attacking me, but she allowed me to go down to the bottom of the well smoothly. I even suspected that my foot missed because of her deliberate actions. So when I found the bones, she must have been filled with emotion. However, life is life and death is death. As we practice in the mortal world and refine our minds in the world of mortals, although humans and ghosts are all sentient beings in the six realms, they ultimately have their own paths and cannot overstep them.
Through the rice grains floating on the water, I gently convey my message. Revenge after death accumulated murderous karma, so that he could not transcend. He was suppressed by the soul-falling chain for decades, and his resentment was difficult to overcome. Although the great revenge was avenged, his sinful karma was endlessly increased. Fate is neither fair nor unfair, and it seems that fate gives us few choices. The only choice we have is life and death. Maybe it's like what is said in Buddhism, one step forward is heaven, one step back is hell, and hesitation is exactly life.
I told her that I hope she can feel relieved, return to my army, and achieve success as soon as possible. There is no reason for her to continue to exist in the world today. Instead of being confused in hatred, it is better to take a step forward and give yourself a chance to choose again.
Perhaps the message I conveyed had an effect, but none of the seven grains of rice sank. This situation is simply too rare. So I took out the small wooden figure holding a shackle, placed it next to the water bowl and asked, "If you are willing to put it down and follow me, please sink three grains." After the words fell, three rice dropped instantly. I asked again, leaving immediately and never looking back. If you are willing, sink one more and float two more.
This is a process of letting her choose from me. If the choice of asking the first question is impulsive, then she can regret it the second time. If she gives me a positive answer twice in a row, it means that she has made up her mind and will not change her mind.
Sure enough, after one grain of rice sank again, two more grains slowly floated up. So I started to burn talismans and recite incantations, summon the souls and drop flags, and attached the ghost of the female ghost in red to the wooden figure holding a pillar. Then I dipped my fingers into the ashes of the burned talisman and drew the sealing spell on the wooden figure.
When I stood up, I realized that I had been squatting for too long, my feet were numb, and my brain was dizzy due to a brief lack of oxygen. I briefly wiped the scissors I found in the mud with the cloth on my canvas bag, and then put them in my bag. Although this pair of scissors is a murder weapon, it is not without merit. It is like the samurai sword used by Japanese devils to kill people, and both humans and ghosts are afraid of it. This pair of scissors has been purified and blessed, and may be used as a weapon for me in the future.
I asked the young man to pull me up. After gradually adapting to the coldness of the well, I suddenly reached the warm ground. The sudden change in temperature made me unable to adapt. I even sneezed. My body was wet and dirty, so I asked the young man to find me some of his clothes for me to wear temporarily. So after we returned to the young man's dormitory, we began to change into dry clothes. While I was changing my clothes, the young man stood beside me and hesitated to speak. I knew he had something to say, so I asked him, just say what you want without being secretive.
The young man then asked you, were you squatting at the bottom of the well for so long, burning talismans and reciting mantras, to give salvation to this female ghost? I'm right, isn't this the main reason why you asked me for help? The young man said again, now that this female ghost has been saved by you, what will happen to the ten or twenty ghosts left? If you have wasted so much time on one of them, wouldn't it take ten days and a half to do the rest?
I smiled and said there was no need to worry. Those people were killed by ghosts when they were born as humans, so they will be suppressed and enslaved by ghosts after death. Even if these people are not bad people, I must first save them. Just take care of the ghost who killed them. And when the biggest ghost is taken away by me, the rest will naturally leave quickly and obediently and will not stay. The young man still looked a little worried, so he asked me, how did you know? I looked into his eyes and answered him seriously, because he is handsome.
After changing my clothes, I rinsed my hair with a ladle of water next to the bucket and cleaned out all the sand in my hair. Looking at the sky, it was getting closer to evening. It would not be long before the group of educated youths would be returning from work one after another. But the scene has not been cleaned up yet. There are sand and gravel everywhere around the well, and there is a skeleton wearing red clothes at the bottom of the well. So I simply refused to leave. Since I couldn't dispose of this woman's body, I would pretend to dispose of it through the hands of others.
So the young man and I worked together to put the manhole cover back on. After more people came back, I took the iron cup in which the young man ate, and while shouting in the yard, I banged the iron cup hard with a spoon. The sound of this knocking was very harsh and loud. Soon, almost everyone in the educated youth dormitory was attracted to me.
Seeing more and more people coming around, I threw the iron cup and spoon to the ground and said loudly, comrades! Did Chairman Mao say that we must unite with all proletarian people and overthrow all existing feudal bureaucracies?
This trick really worked. These young people are no match for me, a magician. As soon as I finished speaking, there was a loud response from the crowd: Yes! I asked loudly again, if a person from the feudal landlord class persecutes a proletarian person, should he be ruthlessly knocked down? The crowd once again shouted "Yes!" The voice was much louder than before.
I pointed to the nine words written on the wall, "Fight the local tyrants, fight the evil gentry, and divide the land." I said, "This place was the landlord's mansion before liberation. These words represent our fight to the end against the feudal landlord class." Determination! It is a glorious victory for our proletariat! There were loud cheers and applause from the crowd.
I suddenly lowered my voice and said, but comrades, do you know? In this house, right under our feet, a brutal persecution of the proletariat by the feudal class once took place! The injustice has not been settled yet! After I finished speaking, I pointed to the many silts and rocks on the ground and said, I dug these things out from this sealed well, and there was a murder case hidden under this well!
Everyone was in an uproar, so I pointed to the two male educated youths and said, "You two, please work with me to lift the manhole cover." After opening it, everyone gathered around and looked down the well, and they all saw the white bones. The timid female educated youths screamed one after another, and the male educated youths also talked about it. I saw that everyone's emotions had been ignited by me, so I said loudly, this skeleton is the person who was killed by the feudal class! It took decades until today to see the light of day again. You say, we are the successors of the proletariat. Should we seek justice for the proletarian people?
Should! Should! Should!
The voices kept coming and going, and I knew that my incitement had been completely effective, so I continued, let's save her body from the abyss! Give her the proper burial she deserves! United as one, we vow to fight against the feudal class! Fight to the end! After I finished speaking, I rolled up my sleeves and raised my fists.
Fight to the end! Fight to the end! Fight to the end!
Under my instigation, everyone responded to my slogan and raised their fists in the air. Several male educated youths rushed to the well and began to discuss how to go down the well to "rescue" the skeleton. However, I secretly left the educated youth dormitory amidst the constant shouts of "fight to the end" from everyone, and rushed back to Aunt Xu's house before it got dark.
A few days later, the young man visited me again. In addition to coming to express his gratitude, he also brought me a change of clothes. When I asked him what everyone did after I left that day, the young man gave me a thumbs up and said, Brother, you are really awesome. You said that that day, and the bones were brought out that night. Everyone even nailed a wooden box, put the bones in it, and took them to the back mountain for burial. There are dozens of educated youths in our production team, and they all missed work for a long time because of this. We sang to her on the mountain and held a moment of silence for her.
I felt a little funny in my heart, but I still held my nerve. So I asked him, what I said that day were correct, right? After all, strictly speaking, I am also a member of the "feudal class" that I claim to resolutely overthrow. The young man said, what you said is great. If I didn't know what happened, I would have almost been incited by you. I didn’t tell anyone about this incident after that. Not only did you save the ghost, but you also let everyone bury her properly. You really did a good thing.
I smiled and remained silent. Actually, I don’t know if it was a good thing or not. I only knew that I did something I wanted to do.
As the hot weather passes, it starts to get cooler again. I live like this as always. During this period, I received a letter from Master and learned that Master had temporarily returned to his home and was still living there. But he told me that the martial law situation in the city had become serious again recently, and no one knew why. He told me not to go to the city if I had nothing to do, and to stay in the countryside.
I am an obedient person, especially Master’s words. But one day in autumn, I returned to Aunt Xu's house after going out for a walk. As soon as I entered the yard, I saw Uncle Zhou sitting on the threshold, silent and anxious. Aunt Xu sat next to Meng Dongxue, reaching out to hold Meng Dongxue's shoulders. Meng Dongxue's back looked like her shoulders were twitching, as if she was crying.
I was stunned for a moment, what happened? Why is everyone like this?
