"Donor, what city are you talking about?"
"Yu Dingcheng! A local taxi driver!" I shouted.
The monks gathered around the fire and looked at each other. Almost all of them shook their heads to express that they had never heard of the name and did not recognize it.
But there was one exception, the fat monk who just stood up and gave me a cigarette.
When the fat monk heard the three words "Yudingcheng", his eyes changed obviously. I happened to see this scene.
I also asked with the attitude of giving it a try, because Yu Dingcheng told me something personally.
At that time, there were five people in the search and rescue team that participated in the search and rescue of the Hai Rui for sightseeing swimming. Now, only two people are still alive. One is himself, and the other, according to him, went to Lingyin Temple to become a monk.
At this moment, a younger monk hurried in and shouted: "Don't sit still, the master is here! Work quickly!"
In less than three seconds, everyone was in their positions. They were well-trained and coordinated perfectly.
I saw people chanting sutras, burning paper, lighting candles, and knocking on wooden fish.
Accompanied by the clanging sound of wooden fish, the monks chanted in a low voice in unison:
"Om. Cultivating profit, cultivating profit. Maha, cultivating profit. Cultivating profit. Savoha."
"Namo Sanmanduo. Mother Tuo Nan. Om Du Lu Du Lu. Diwei Sa Po He."
When I heard this, I sighed that they were professional.
The pronunciation is standard and the enunciation is clear. These two Sanskrit sounds are "Pure Mouth Karma Mantra" and "Antidiji Mantra". If you guessed correctly, recite each three times. The next step is to recite the long Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra, which is specialized in saving the dead. .
Xia Shuishui came in and saw this scene. He immediately put his palms together and said to the group of monks: "Masters, thank you for your hard work. It's getting late. Masters, you can rest for a while if you are tired."
The monk who knocked on the wooden fish opened one eye, closed it immediately, and said calmly: "Female donor, this is what we should do. If it is not important, please don't disturb us during the chanting."
Xia Shuishui explained immediately.
After I got out, I couldn't hold it back and laughed.
Xia Shuishui punched me on the chest. She said with a dark face, "Why are you laughing? Isn't it funny that my grandfather is dead?"
"No, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to laugh at your grandpa."
"Hmph, I'm sorry you don't dare. If you dare to laugh at my grandpa, I will ask my uncle to arrest you and eat you for two days."
"Damn, I know your Xia family is powerful, but don't dare to abuse your power! You can't accuse a good person innocently! I am a law-abiding and good citizen!" I said.
Xia Shuishui rolled her eyes, as if to say, "Are you considered a good citizen?"
Looking at her under the light at night, I found that her skin was particularly good. She had no make-up, so it was safe to say that she was bare-faced. Her skin was so white and tender that it looked like she could squeeze out water. I thought to myself that this might be the image of a young lady who had been pampered and pampered for many years in a wealthy family in the past.
Just talking about skin, among the women I know, she is tied for first place with Doctor Fan. But not so much in terms of figure, Sai Xishi is first, and in terms of temperament, Ma Zhen is first. She is always like a white snow lotus, little Xuan is the fiercest and decisive one, while Tingting is the ugliest one.
I haven't seen Xia Shuishui's father for a few days. He looks a little haggard now. It's strange. I don't know if it's an illusion. I don't see sadness in his eyes, but instead see a sense of relief.
After chatting briefly for a while, I gave him my card number, and he promised to have someone transfer half of the money tomorrow, and the rest to me in batches within a week. As for my request to cash out half the price of the property, he agreed. I mentioned that I wanted to offer Mr. Xia some incense, and he asked Xia Shuishui to take me there.
These days, local policies require cremation, but for wealthy and powerful people, more people choose to be buried.
When I arrived at the mourning hall, I respectfully offered three sticks of incense and placed the incense in the incense burner in front of the coffin. I looked at the black and white photos on display. The old man in the photos looked kind, but I felt an inexplicable feeling in my heart. Fear.
"grandfather!"
Xia Shuishui suddenly knelt on the futon and started sobbing.
"Has the auspicious date for the burial been decided?"
"Well, it's settled."
I glanced at the nanmu coffin and said, "The old man has worked hard all his life and it's time for him to take a good rest. Remember to close the doors and windows these two days to prevent small animals like wild cats from running in."
"good."
"Will you encounter ghosts in bed during this period?"
Xia Shuishui shook her head with red eyes and said no.
I nodded, thinking that if someone dies and the light goes out, all this should be over.
The ground was cold, and I wanted to help Xia Shuishui up. At this moment, I suddenly heard a muffled sound coming from the coffin.
"What's going on? Did you hear that?"
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard another "bang" coming from the coffin.
This time I heard it more clearly. It seemed that Grandpa Xia Shuishui was lying inside, patting the coffin lid with his hand.
I was indeed frightened, but Xia Shuishui didn't seem too scared. She said, "Xiang Yunfeng, don't be afraid. It's okay. This should be the sound made by the toad in the coffin."
"What did you say?"
"Toad?"
Xia Shuishui nodded: "I was also frightened by this sound the night before. My dad told me that he put a toad in the coffin. If the toad wants to run out, it will make this sound when it hits the coffin board."
"Why?"
"I don't know, my dad told me not to care."
"Are you sure it was a toad that hit the coffin? Have you opened it and looked at it?"
"No, I'm too timid to open it and look."
I frowned and asked, "What if it's a toad? It's been three or four days and it's still alive and kicking inside? It's strange, I haven't heard any cries."
I walked over and took a look, and found something unusual. The coffin nails had been sealed on this expensive nanmu coffin, and it couldn't be pushed open at all.
Normally, coffin nails are put on the day before the burial. Usually there are seven square-head nails, which are called descendant nails.
But in front of me, there were far more than seven nails on the lid of Mr. Xia's coffin. I counted a total of sixteen nails!
I don't understand why there is a toad in the coffin? Why should the coffin be sealed in advance? Why so many coffin nails?
There may be many secrets in the Xia family, but Xia Shuishui didn't know anything about it. This was all arranged by her father. I came here just to ask for money. Since my purpose was achieved, I didn't want to ask more questions, and I didn't dare to ask more questions.
After I came out, I found the fat monk alone, and I directly stated my intention.
At first, he said that I must have recognized the wrong person. He said that he really didn’t know Yu Dingcheng.
But when I said the words "silver bottle", his attitude immediately changed 180 degrees.
"What did you say?"
"How could he have that bottle! How could that bottle fall into his hands!"
I said I didn’t know. I bought that bottle with money. Isn’t this asking you about your origin?
As if he had thought of something, the monk suddenly yelled angrily: "You surnamed Yu! You son of a bitch! You have forgotten the agreements we made back then! You were blinded by money! For money, you even killed the captain." You dare to dig your grave! After you die, you will definitely go to Abi Hell to be punished!"
After cursing in one breath, the fat monk held a string of rosary beads in his hand. He stared at me and said: "Amitabha, it has been more than ten years. Donor, you should never, never should! You should not touch that thing. ! That thing will bring misfortune and disaster to people! Anyone who touches it will not end well in the end! I can survive until now because I converted to Buddhism early, otherwise, I will end up like everyone else!"
I understood what he meant. He meant that the silver bottle belonged to ancient Manichaeism, and those who touched it would have a bad end. But I am not afraid of such things. Not only did I touch it, I also opened it. Now I don’t Also alive and well.
I frowned and said: "Master, Yu Dingcheng told me these things. That's not what I want to know. I just want to ask, did you only find this one thing on the cruise ship fourteen years ago, or were there other things? s things?"
He raised his head and recalled: "There are still corpses. There are dozens of corpses in the fish warehouse. Many corpses were burned beyond recognition."
"The bottle was found by our captain in the arms of a corpse. Later we reported the situation and the Marine Police came over first. The captain asked us not to tell the police about the bottle."
He closed his eyes, turned his rosary and said: "A few years later, during this period, one person in our search and rescue team accidentally drowned, another person accidentally jumped from a building, and the team leader also died in an accident in a car accident. Yu Dingcheng and I both thought it was It was caused by touching the bottle, so I made a deal with him and buried the thing in front of the captain's grave, and swore never to mention this secret to anyone. Later, I became a monk. The year before last, he also Come to Hangzhou to see me once."
After hearing this, I suddenly realized, no wonder, when Yu Dingcheng gave me the bottle, he had a very complicated expression on his face! I asked him where it came from, but he refused to tell me. It turned out that it was dug out of a grave and sold to me!
"Donor, listen to my advice from the monk. I didn't believe it at first, but when you see people around you dying one after another, you will realize that you have taken things you shouldn't have taken."
"That thing may not belong to our world, let alone you and me. It should rest at the bottom of the lake and never be found. For fourteen years, starting from that tourist cruise, at least forty people have died because of it. Death, that is a completely ominous thing."
After hearing this, I clasped my hands and said, "Thank you, Master, for your guidance today. I will keep it in mind."
In fact, I was thinking in my mind: "Just go away, what happened to me? I have the protection of the Northern Patriarch behind me, and I have no taboos."
Seemingly understanding what I was thinking, the monk sighed and said, "Money is something external to the body. It cannot be brought with you during life or taken away with you after death. People should look at the world today with a Zen mind and be self-sufficient without asking for anything. Carefree and carefree, carefree and far away from all worldly troubles.”
After saying that, he spat on his hand, then touched my forehead and said, "Amitabha, may I protect you."
