Light a sky lantern?
Isn't this a cruel punishment in ancient times?
It is said that after Dong Zhuo was killed by Wang Yun, Wang Yun lit a sky lantern.
The specific method is to strip off the prisoner's clothes, wrap him in linen, and then soak him in an oil tank. After nightfall, tie him head to foot to a tall wooden pole, and then light him from his feet.
From a distance, it looks like a lantern hanging on a high pole, so it is called a sky lantern.
Of course, this was an ancient method. In modern times, this kind of punishment has been further developed and its methods are even more cruel.
This method was pioneered by bandits in Sichuan and Hunan. The method is to drill a small hole in a person's brain while he is still alive, then pour lamp oil and light it, which can burn the person alive in extreme pain. .
Both of these methods are extremely cruel and inhumane, and both of them have anything to do with the portrait crying. Wu Tinghan would not want to light a sky lantern in front of Chen Guzi's portrait, would he?
I looked at Mr. Wang, hoping that he could give me some answers, but instead I saw Mr. Wang with a surprised expression on his face and asked Wu Tinghan, "Can you light a sky lantern?"
Wu Tinghan said that he had never ordered it before and didn’t know if it would work.
Mr. Wang said with some excitement on his face, "A dead horse is a living horse doctor. I will prepare whatever you need."
Wu Tinghan didn't even think about it and started talking about kerosene, yellow charms, cinnabar, green vegetables, duck feathers, porcelain bowls, hemp rope...
I don’t know if Mr. Wang can remember it. Anyway, by the time I heard the rest, I had forgotten many of the previous things, and in the end I could only remember this rough outline.
After Wu Tinghan finished speaking, Mr. Wang asked, how much does it cost?
Wu Tinghan said, the more, the better. After all, I am not sure that I can light it up in one go.
Mr. Wang nodded in agreement, and then asked me to go out together to prepare things. ----After all, he is a foreigner. He doesn't know where to find many things, so he needs me, a local, to be his guide.
After we left Chen Guzi's yard, we went straight to my house. He carried a cage on his back and asked me where I could find duck feathers.
I thought about which family in the village usually raised ducks, and then I took him directly to find them.
When I got to the door, I opened the door and was about to go in, but was stopped by Mr. Wang. He told me to knock on the door first.
I said, even if I knock, they won’t hear me. Why waste time?
Doesn’t he understand the principle of obeying authority in urgent matters?
But Mr. Wang pulled me away directly and knocked on the courtyard door.
I thought this was some kind of rule, so Mr. Wang would do this. Based on my guess, after he knocked on the door, he would definitely open the door and go in, only to find that he was standing quietly at the door waiting.
I asked, what are you doing? Doesn't this waste time?
Just as he was about to speak, the courtyard door creaked and someone opened it from the inside. It was the owner of the house, Chen Fusheng, who opened the door.
When I saw Chen Fusheng, I felt as if I had seen a ghost. I opened my mouth wide and didn't say a word for a long time. So much so that when Chen Fusheng asked me why I had time to go out for a walk, I didn't even respond. Mr. Wang answered for me.
Mr. Wang explained the purpose of his visit in a few words, and then spent more than 40 yuan to buy all the duck feathers he owned - Chen Fusheng originally planned to give them away for free, but Mr. Wang insisted on buying them no matter what. After much refusal, we finally reached an agreement with a cabbage price of forty yuan.
After leaving Chen Fusheng's house for a while, I came back to my senses and asked Mr. Wang, didn't you say that Wu Tinghan only told one lie? Why didn't Chen Fusheng kneel down in the room?
Mr. Wang looked at me with disdain, then pointed at the roof of a house and said to me, "What does that look like?"
I followed Mr. Wang's fingers and saw nothing else except the roof and the chimney.
Let me tell you, isn’t it just the roof and the chimney? Is there anything unusual?
He said the chimney was smoking.
After just a few words, I felt like I was struck by lightning. I looked around quickly and found that green smoke was rising from the roofs of every house.
In other words, they are all awake and cooking on the fire?
I have to say that Mr. Wang's observation skills are a bit too keen. I just went to prepare what Wu Tinghan told me, and didn't even look at the roofs of each house - of course, I might have looked at them accidentally, but I just didn't take it seriously.
But this time, Mr. Wang did not accept my compliment. Instead, he shook his head and said, It's not that I have keen observation, but that I knew they would wake up, so I kept looking at the chimney to see if there was smoke.
I frowned and asked him, how do you know they will wake up?
Mr. Wang rolled his eyes at me angrily and said, because I am also a human being and I also need to eat!
Let me tell you, what does this have to do with you knowing they will wake up?
Mr. Wang said, let me ask you, have you ever thought that if I hide in a coffin and sleep during the day, if someone attacks my fellow villagers, I won’t know until I’m done?
I've thought about this problem before, but I didn't know what he had in mind.
Mr. Wang said that the method is very simple, that is, others are delivering food to me these days. As long as the food is not interrupted, it means that nothing happened to the fellow villagers, and I don't think much about it.
I see, this method is really very Mr. Wang! But any craftsman with a thin skin may not be able to come up with such a method. After all, when I was at home, I cooked all by myself and never thought of asking others to deliver food.
But having said that, this method is indeed the most trouble-free for Mr. Wang. He can provide three meals a day without leaving the coffin, and he can also use this method to determine whether the villagers outside the coffin are safe or not.
Mr. Wang said, but I am careless. This is why I haven’t noticed anything unusual among the villagers these days.
Indeed, Mr. Wang had been very careful, but he still did not expect that the incident with the villagers did not last long. It only lasted about an hour or two, and it did not delay his meal at all.
Mr. Wang said, no wonder I feel like my meal schedule has been pushed back day by day in the past few days. I thought it was because of the busy farming schedule, but I didn’t expect that it turned out to be something else.
Let me tell you, I don’t blame you, it’s those guys who are too cunning.
Mr. Wang shook his head and said, if you are not as good as others, you are not as good as others, and you have nothing to hide. Besides, this is not necessarily the trick of those craftsmen, it is probably the Baili Corpse Monument on Chen Guzi's body.
I asked, why are you talking?
The way they knelt there did indeed look like the Baili Corpse Monument, but wasn't the Baili Corpse Monument cut off by my grandfather?
If that's the case, then they should kneel down halfway up the mountain and kowtow to my grandfather's grave!
Mr. Wang said, you just saw it, which way did they kneel down?
I said, with your back to the window...
Before I finished speaking, I suddenly understood why.
Their backs are to the window, aren't they facing the mountain behind?
As for my grandfather's grave, although it goes up the mountain from the end of the village, because of the high terrain, isn't it located in the middle of the back mountain? !
Well, it turned out to be the fault of the Baili Corpse Monument.
As they talked, they went to the next house, and Mr. Wang bought vegetables from the field.
Originally, the fellow villager planned to give it as a gift, but Mr. Wang refused and insisted on buying it.
As for the reason, Mr. Wang said that he spent the money on himself. If someone else sends the drops, I'm afraid that when the sky lantern drops are lit, others will be affected by the cause and effect. I can't do this kind of thing that harms others and is not beneficial to myself.
I then asked him hurriedly, what exactly is lighting a sky lantern? It sounds very unusual.
Mr. Wang said, don't ask me, I have only heard about this kind of advanced craftsmanship, and I don't know the specific operation.
After hearing what Mr. Wang said, I became even more curious about this sky lantern. So the pace of searching for materials with Mr. Wang couldn't help but be a little faster.
By the time we prepared everything and headed to Chen Guzi's yard, it was already an hour later, and the fellow villagers had also gone out to work in the fields.
When walking towards the bridge, I turned around and saw fellow villagers walking by on the main road not far away, talking and laughing as they walked, which made me feel very uncomfortable.
I asked Mr. Wang if I should guard here. If they cross the center line of the bridge, wouldn't they die?
Mr. Wang said, don't worry, there are people who will help us keep watch, and the fellow villagers will not get into trouble for the time being.
I asked hurriedly, do you still have help?
He shook his head and said, "Hey, helper, if there is helper, I will hide in the coffin every day?" ----It's the craftsmen who hide in the dark, they help us stay safe until we get up.
Let me tell you, do they have a blemish on their head?
The Baili Corpse Monument was already broken. If it hadn't been for them, what might have happened to the villagers? Since we want to kill the fellow villagers, but now we don’t let them die, isn’t it because we have a problem with our heads?
Mr. Wang said, I don’t know if they have a bag on their head, but you must have a bag on your head. The reason why they won't let the villagers walk across the bridge is because if one of them dies, it will definitely alarm me. Why don't they just alert others?
I suddenly realized it and had to give Mr. Wang a thumbs up.
I say, but now that we all know it, will they still help us keep it?
Mr. Wang said, do you think it is already known that something is blacker, or is it unknown that something is blacker?
I'd say it's definitely the latter.
He said, isn’t that necessary? Now that no one is dead, we can't figure out what the other party's tricks are, but once someone is killed, even if I can't tell, can't she, Senior Wu, tell what the other party's tricks are?
Understand, those people have kept their methods hidden so far, waiting for a one-shot kill at the last critical moment. If it is exposed in advance, not only Mr. Wang and Wu Tinghan will know about it, but other craftsmen may also know about it. By then, that guy will really have no advantage at all.
Therefore, in order to ensure that their methods will not be discovered, they will try their best to ensure the apparent calm in the village.
Just wait until the tears on the portrait of Chen Guzi overflow, forming a real hundred-mile corpse monument, and then wait for my grandfather to cut off the beard, making the worship of the nine corpses a step further, and then all of them will jump out to compete for the last share of great luck.
Let me tell you, wouldn't it be dangerous for Wu Tinghan to stop the well water from overflowing?
Mr. Wang and I looked at each other and hurried to Chen Guzi's house. As soon as he opened the door, we smelled a strong smell of blood. Then we saw Wu Tinghan holding the judge's pen and pressing it with the sharp tip. On my neck, he asked me coldly, who are you?
