After hearing Wu Tinghan's words, I looked at the shrine again and found that there was indeed no portrait of my grandfather there.
In our village, after the death of an ancestor, the portrait must be hung under the shrine for seven or forty-nine days to receive incense from future generations. After the number of seven or seven, the portrait will be placed on the incense stand on the shrine, which means to protect the family home. After another year, the portrait can be placed in another place.
My grandfather has not even passed the seventh grade. Logically speaking, his portrait should be hung under the shrine, and it must be on the left side under the shrine.
Let me tell you, maybe Mr. Wang put it somewhere else.
At this time, Mr. Wang happened to enter the courtyard. After hearing what I said, he asked me, did I put the things somewhere else?
Let me tell you, did you put my grandfather’s portrait in your room?
Mr. Wang said, I have nothing to do with your grandfather’s posthumous photos. I thought you put it somewhere else.
After saying this, Mr. Wang obviously realized something, so he hurriedly took a few steps, pushed open the door of my room, looked around, then turned back to look at me and said, you really didn't touch your grandpa. His portrait?
I shook my head and said, I haven’t seen my grandfather since his first funeral. I thought you were afraid of violating some taboo, so you hid it deliberately.
Mr. Wang said angrily, "Fart, I always thought you didn't know the rules of your village, so I put it away specially." In addition, this is not a big deal in the first place, so I never asked you.
Let me tell you, I thought it was because my grandfather had been 'transformed', so there couldn't be a portrait.
Mr. Wang shook his head, then looked at Wu Tinghan and said, is there such a great teaching among the painters?
Wu Tinghan also shook her head, saying that she had never heard of it either.
Since Mr. Wang has not touched my grandfather’s portrait, where has my grandfather’s portrait gone?
When I was doing the dojo, I clearly saw my grandfather's portrait on the table of the Eight Immortals. How could it suddenly disappear after saying that it was not there? Can it still grow legs and run on its own?
When I thought of the portrait photo frame, I used the two photo frame corners to walk to the edge of the Eight Immortals table, then jumped down, and then staggered out of the main room... This horrifying scene made me shudder involuntarily.
Mr. Wang thought for a while and said, maybe the village chief thought that no one would worship your house, so he put it away.
I think this is very possible, but Wu Tinghan said to Mr. Wang, do you really think so?
I saw Mr. Wang was stunned for a moment when he was asked, and then he said very uncertainly that it was indeed a little impossible to support the ancestors in another house, but apart from this possibility, I really can't think of any other reasons.
Wu Tinghan ignored Mr. Wang, but looked at me coldly and asked, "You visited so many houses at noon yesterday, didn't you find anything?"
I was stunned when I heard this. Yesterday, I was only looking to see if the villagers were kneeling in the house. How could I have the time to observe other places?
No, if Wu Tinghan asked this, wouldn't it mean that she discovered something?
I asked Wu Tinghan, but she didn't answer me. Instead, she looked at Mr. Wang and asked, "Didn't you notice something unusual too?"
This time, Mr. Wang, like me, shook his head and said, except that it was unusual for them to kneel on the ground, I didn't think there was anything wrong with the rest.
Wu Tinghan snorted and said, if I can confirm that the village chief you mentioned did not touch the portrait of his grandfather, would you still think it is okay?
As soon as Wu Tinghan finished speaking, I saw Mr. Wang's brows frowning instantly, as if he had heard something extremely terrifying.
He kept this posture and meditated. After a while, he suddenly raised his head, as if he had realized something, and said to Wu Tinghan with excitement, "Do you mean that someone left a portrait of his grandfather, and... Is Chen Guzi’s portrait transferred?
I was confused when I heard this, and I saw Wu Tinghan also looked helpless.
She asked, why do you associate these two portraits together?
Mr. Wang said very excitedly that if Chen Guzi wanted to build the Baili Corpse Monument, his soul would definitely be gone. Those people who broke into the house and dripped ghosts would never dare to possess Chen Guzi's portrait even if they had no brains. Then, Isn't it self-destruction?
What he said is the same as what Wu Tinghan just explained to me. It seems that Mr. Wang is also aware of this problem, but he has not had time to communicate with Wu Tinghan.
Mr. Wang continued, but the fact that the photo of the deceased was indeed blown up with sky lanterns last night means that there is a sinister person possessing it. Isn’t this contradictory? I have been thinking about this issue since yesterday, but I have never figured it out. Now I finally figured it out!
I'll go, wonderful!
This was my first feeling after listening to Mr. Wang’s explanation, and then I felt like I was enlightened.
In this way, it can completely explain why my grandfather's portrait disappeared, and why Chen Guzi's portrait was possessed by a sinister person.
What a clever design, why didn’t I think of it?
The most important thing is that the clues were clearly placed in front of me, and Wu Tinghan gave me such clear hints, but I couldn't connect them at all.
If it hadn't been for Mr. Wang's unraveling, I would never have been able to figure out the connection between the two even if I spent my whole life thinking about it.
Just when I thought with great joy that Mr. Wang had solved the case, Wu Tinghan extinguished all my love with one sentence.
She said, if the two portraits were exchanged, why would the portrait of his grandfather shed tears? Why do the fellow villagers kneel down and make a monument to the mountain behind?
Yes, my grandfather doesn't know how to build a corpse monument. If the portrait is changed, logically speaking, the portrait will not shed tears, let alone harm the villagers.
But if my grandfather’s portrait hadn’t been swapped with Chen Guzi’s, why would anyone dare to possess it?
The two were simply irreconcilable contradictions, which caused the three of us sitting on the edge of the steps to fall into silence.
A gust of wind blew up two bamboo leaves that had fallen in the yard. Then, blown by the wind, they stuck together tightly and then fell to the ground again.
This was originally the most ordinary scene, but when it fell into my eyes, it was like a thunderbolt, instantly splitting my blocked thoughts. Things that I couldn't figure out before were all solved like a flood that broke the embankment, and they were out of control.
I was extremely excited to say that I might know who the old carpenter was hiding in the dark.
Mr. Wang and Wu Tinghan both turned their heads and looked at me, with deep suspicion and distrust on their faces.
I knew it was difficult for them to accept it at the moment, but I still asked Mr. Wang with great excitement, do you still remember the dojo man who gave Chen Guzi a dojo?
Mr. Wang nodded and said, is it the one that sends Chen Guzi’s wife and children to town?
I nodded and said, it’s him. If I guessed correctly, he shouldn't have come back, right?
Mr. Wang said, if I come back, what will happen to me? There is also a chance that you will not be blackmailed by that paper man.
When Mr. Wang said this, not only did I not complain, but I became even more sure of my guess. I said, it’s only right that he didn’t come back, which means I guessed correctly, he is the old carpenter hiding in the dark!
Mr. Wang asked, why?
Let me tell you, didn't she say before that if the portrait of the deceased was transferred, why would the portrait still shed tears, and would it cause a corpse monument hundreds of miles away?
At this point, I pointed to the two bamboo leaves in the yard and said that it was actually very simple. It was not that the two portraits were swapped, but that the two portraits were overlapped. Moreover, Chen Guzi's portrait is on top, and my grandfather's portrait is on the bottom.
I continue to say that in this way, Chen Guzi's portrait can continue to shed tears, and the Yin people dare to possess the portrait of my grandfather under Chen Guzi's portrait, thus causing Wu Tinghan to suffer the backlash of his craftsmanship, and he can also die. Blow out the sky lanterns again.
When I finished saying this, I saw Mr. Wang's face change. I believe that even if I don't continue to explain now, he should be able to figure out what is going on with his IQ.
Sure enough, Mr. Wang continued to say that the Taoist master who made the portrait of Chen Guzi was the only one who could do anything to the portrait?
I nodded and said, yes, this can also explain why on the way to find Zhang Hazi, I kept encountering the dojo gentleman who was obstructing me.
After saying this, I felt relieved, a complete line was finally connected. And most importantly, we found the true identity of the guy hiding behind the scenes!
I thought that my analysis was impeccable and that I had the support of Mr. Wang, so this was probably the truth of the matter.
But Wu Tinghan shook his head firmly and said, I don't know if that Mr. Dojo is the mastermind behind this, but I know you are definitely wrong, and the response is completely wrong.
Hearing this, I, who was originally full of confidence, was instantly confused. I hurriedly asked, how could such a perfect chain of evidence be wrong?
Wu Tinghan said, if you discovered the abnormalities in the homes of other villagers in your village, you would not think so.
Well, that’s come full circle, and the question comes back again. I thought what Mr. Wang just said was the abnormality in the villagers' homes that Wu Tinghan said, but I didn't expect that she was talking about something else.
Deeply frustrated, I didn't bother to think about it anymore, so I asked Wu Tinghan, what was wrong with the folks' homes?
Wu Tinghan still looked as cold as ice and calm. After hearing my question, he just said lightly, wouldn't you know after watching it again?
When I heard this, my head was buzzing, and I was afraid that I would see the scene I saw at noon yesterday again.
But Mr. Wang didn't say anything, took me by the collar and walked outside.
He first knocked on the door of the neighbor next door. Fortunately, what I was worried about did not happen. The neighbors were all resting at home, waiting for the weather to cool down before going to the ground. It seemed that lighting the sky lanterns did have an effect, and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
When Mr. Wang pretended to beg for water from them, he led me around the main room of his house. After drinking water and thanking me for a few times, he walked towards the next house.
After visiting several stores in accordance with the law, I found that Mr. Wang's face became more and more ugly, so that in the end his face turned completely dark, as if it was about to rain heavily in summer.
I asked Mr. Wang what we wanted to see. Mr. Wang ignored me and just looked down at each house. After we visited more than ten houses, Mr. Wang finally stopped rushing to the door. Instead, he stayed there for a long time before turning around and walking towards my house.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, Wu Tinghan asked Mr. Wang, now do you know what went wrong?
Mr. Wang nodded and sat on the chair with a frustrated look on his face, his expression full of fatigue. I know that his current state is called frustration.
But I still haven't figured out what riddle the two of them are playing. Even if my analysis is wrong, you can at least tell me where I went wrong and let me understand! Also, Mr. Wang just went out for a walk and found something unusual?
When I raised this question, Mr. Wang said tiredly, "College students, haven't you noticed that there is not a single family in your village that has the portraits of your ancestors?"
No... no portrait? !
How is this possible? This is obviously a tradition here. How could there be no one to support the portraits of our ancestors?
But I carefully thought about the houses I just visited. Not only on the shrines, but also in the rooms on both sides, there were indeed no portraits!
What exactly is going on? Is it possible that no one has died in our village this year?
No, I remember someone died last year, so his portrait should be placed on the incense table of the shrine! Even if no one dies within a year, at least they can find the portraits of their ancestors in their rooms.
However, no.
Before I could wake up from this shock and confusion, Wu Tinghan dropped another bomb. She said, not only are there no portraits, but your village doesn’t even have any portraits!
