I was immediately confused. If I wasn't standing here properly, when did she bury me?
Mr. Wang said, when you came back, did you encounter a coffin?
I said, yes, but so what? I'm not lying in a coffin.
Mr. Wang said, you didn’t lie in it, but the paper man standing behind the coffin holding the memorial tablet was you.
I was stunned for a moment, and then I realized that the name on that tablet was mine, which naturally meant that the coffin belonged to me. Even if I didn’t lie down in it myself, because it was completed in terms of form, it was naturally assumed that I was lying in it.
Wu Tinghan slapped the coffin into the mountain with one palm, wasn't it equivalent to burying me?
But what I didn’t understand was why after burying me, you couldn’t talk to me and you had to pretend to turn a blind eye?
Mr. Wang said, can’t you understand this? Would you talk to a person who you buried to death with your own hands?
But I wasn’t really buried, I was buried in form! When you, Mr. Wang, used a wooden man to replace my body and was buried alive, weren't you still able to talk to me?
Mr. Wang said, I am just your body, so I can naturally talk to your soul. She is your whole person, with no bullshit left. How about talking?
Well, there is actually such a difference here.
But that's not right. After Wu Tinghan drove the coffin into the mountain, she still talked to me when I couldn't walk along the way.
Mr. Wang said, if you talk nonsense to your house, it’s not like she doesn’t have a lot of people to deal with. Will she talk to you?
So I told him the situation from beginning to end. After hearing this, he immediately rolled his eyes at me angrily, and then snorted coldly, saying, was she talking to you? She is afraid that you will get lost, so she is calling for you!
I thought back to the situation at that time, and it seemed that this was really the case. But I was fine, I was just tired and wanted to take a rest, how could I get lost? Isn't it unnecessary for Wu Tinghan?
Mr. Wang said, you know nothing! If she doesn't call you, only God knows whether you can stand up when you sit down.
I was a little surprised and asked him hurriedly, "Say, is it so serious?"
I remember that I was just a little tired at the time. How could it be so serious as Mr. Wang said?
He said to me while taking something out of the cage, otherwise you think "paper man sends the spirit" is for nothing?
I didn't take Mr. Wang's words to heart. I thought it was just a paper man holding a memorial tablet. What's all the fuss about?
But it was this thought that almost scared me to death. Of course, this is all a story for later.
What I am concerned about now is, will Wu Tinghan and I have to do this in the future?
Although the woman spoke coldly, she still had a good heart, and I could learn a lot of ways of thinking about problems from her. If I could only pretend to turn a blind eye in the future, it would definitely be a lie to say I didn't feel sorry for him.
Is there no way to solve it?
Mr. Wang said, if there is no other way, why am I going to make a big fuss here?
I remembered that Wu Tinghan had just asked Mr. Wang to deal with me first, and this might be what he was talking about.
But what to deal with? I'm standing here perfectly fine, what else can I do? Even if you want to dig a grave and open a coffin, you have to go out to the courtyard. What can you do standing in the main room?
Mr. Wang said, do you know why she wanted to erase the name on that tablet and throw it away?
I thought about it and tentatively said, break the paper man you just talked about to send the spirit to the deceased?
Mr. Wang shook his head and said, if the paper man had made a good noise, he would not have called the paper man to deliver the soul. Her method was a painter's trick. She called it 'write off', which was a way to temporarily erase the identity information of the coffin owner.
Let me tell you, if my identity has been erased, doesn’t it mean that I am not buried?
Mr. Wang rolled his eyes at me angrily and said, according to your theory, if Wu Tinghan found a funeral hall and canceled the names of the tablets on the Eight Immortals table, would the person in the coffin come back to life?
Logically speaking, this seems to be the case. But it is simply impossible to achieve in reality. After all, people cannot be resurrected after death. This is God's final bottom line and no one can touch it.
Let me tell you, what is the use of writing it off?
Mr. Wang said that the painter's line of "write-offs" was originally used to move empty tombs.
I have heard of relocation of graves. After all, if future generations believe in Feng Shui and want to give their ancestors a feng shui treasured place, grave relocation will happen. But what's the point of moving an empty tomb? The tomb is already empty, is there still a need to move?
Mr. Wang said that under normal circumstances, relocation is not allowed. After all, the coffin is empty. Even if there is a feng shui treasure, relocation is of no use and will not benefit future generations. But what if roads and bridges are to be built and the old house blocks the route and has to be moved?
I was asked and had nothing to say, because I knew very well that intellectually speaking, it was just an empty tomb. If it was destroyed, it would be destroyed. It would not cause substantial harm, and there would be no need to waste human, material, or financial resources.
And in many cases it may be thankless. After all, we are dealing with an old house (grave), which is somewhat unlucky. But emotionally speaking, we really have to move.
After all, the unique filial piety of our nation is to let our ancestors rest in peace. Even if the coffin is empty or it is just a grave, they must be buried so that they can have a place to comfort their ancestors on Qingming Festival and New Year's Eve.
Mr. Wang said that in order to save resources and save trouble, the painters appeared one after another. Temporarily erase the identity of the coffin owner from the previous empty coffin, prepare a coffin in another place, and re-write the identity information of the coffin owner with the tablet, which is equivalent to completing the tomb relocation.
After listening to Mr. Wang’s explanation, I subconsciously gave Mr. Wang a thumbs up and said, you craftsmen’s brain circuits are really extraordinary. You have to be able to think of this method and have to accept it.
After he finished boasting, I watched him rummaging through the cage, and then continued, So are you planning to make another tablet to transfer me from that coffin to here?
Mr. Wang shook his head, and then finally found what he was looking for in the cage, but it was wrapped in black cloth. Judging from the shape, it didn't look like a spiritual tablet.
He said, there is no need to make it freshly, just use the pre-made ones.
I was still thinking about when he made a spiritual tablet for me, when I saw him lift off the black cloth, and then I saw a black and white photo of myself appearing in his hands.
This is the photo that my grandfather placed in Chen Guzi’s mourning hall!
Let me tell you, just use this? No need to make tablets?
He said, isn't this more effective than the tablets?
I thought about it, and I just needed to reveal the identity of the owner of the coffin. There seemed to be no difference between the deceased photo and the spiritual status. And if you really want to say it, the photo of the deceased seems to be more useful than the memorial tablet. After all, the names are repeated, but the photo can definitely only be of the person himself.
After Mr. Wang finished speaking, he tapped the coffin with his chin and told me to lie down in it.
I climbed into the coffin and lay down as instructed. I couldn't explain why, but not only didn't I feel scared, I actually felt a little excited for no reason. This feeling is so wonderful that I can't find a suitable adjective to describe this emotion for a while.
Mr. Wang directly put a piece of local paper money on my face, and then told me that after I seal the coffin, you will knock on the board, the louder the better, remember?
When Mr. Wang closed the lid of the coffin, darkness quickly swallowed me up. I don't know if it was because I knew Mr. Wang was standing outside, so I felt very at ease. I didn't panic at all. Instead, I waited until there was no movement outside and then knocked on the coffin board as instructed.
I was hard and loud. Because the coffin was closed, the sound was louder inside, which was a bit unbearable for the ears.
After knocking, I waited for Mr. Wang to open the coffin and fish for the person.
But after I waited for a while, it was still quiet outside, and it didn't look like someone was about to open the coffin.
What does this mean?
I lay down, knocked, and did everything you asked me to do. Why don’t you get me out of here quickly? ---- Doubts are doubts. I still don't feel any nervousness at all. This calmness makes me feel a little baffled.
After a while, there was still no movement outside, so I knocked on the coffin board again, and tried my best to make the knocking sound louder than before. But it doesn't make any sense.
So I tried kicking again, which made the sound louder, but the result was the same. It was quiet outside, as if everything was dead.
Just when I started to panic and hit the coffin board with my hands and feet, Mr. Wang's voice came from outside. He said, "If you hear it, please don't knock it." My ears will be numb from your knocking.
As soon as I finished speaking, my eyes lit up. The lid of the coffin was opened, and a strong earthy smell immediately penetrated my nose.
I climbed out of the coffin and Mr. Wang put the lid back on. I saw that the lid was covered with lumps of wet mud.
Mr. Wang didn't hear me knocking on the board before. Is it because he went out to have sex?
Mr. Wang waved his hand with mud and said, this way it looks like it has been buried in the ground.
Well, you craftsmen are all detail-oriented, and I’m convinced!
I asked Mr. Wang, tell me, so now I can talk to Wu Tinghan?
Mr. Wang said, you escaped death and crawled out of the earth, why can't you speak?
When I heard this, I didn't know why I didn't feel as happy as I imagined. Instead, I felt a little disappointed. Is it possible that I still have a hobby of sleeping in coffins?
After taking a look at the coffin and thinking of the scene where I was sleeping on the coffin, I quickly got rid of this horrible thought, then walked out of the main room, ready to call Wu Tinghan back.
As soon as I stepped out of the main room, Mr. Wang called me to stop and said, if she knows you are fine, go up the mountain.
Going up the mountain?
Mr. Wang said that she wanted to take advantage of the sun to see the Nine Corpses Statue.
I nodded, knowing that Wu Tinghan came here to solve this problem, so I didn't ask any more questions.
As for how she could find my grandfather's grave without anyone to guide her, I believe it would be easy with her ability.
When I mentioned ability, I suddenly froze, because I thought of a very serious question, so I turned around and asked Mr. Wang, from the beginning to now, Wu Tinghan has handled the whole process without any problem, so what? Why did she still tell me that she had been tricked?
After finishing speaking, before Mr. Wang could reply, I asked him again, "Wu Tinghan will go up the mountain alone, will nothing happen?"
