The absence of portraits in every household already gave me a splitting headache. As a result, Wu Tinghan dropped a heavy bomb, which directly shut down my brain.
I sat down in the yard and stared blankly at the shrine in the center of the hall, my eyes involuntarily becoming distracted.
I don’t know how long it took, and I don’t know how my eyes slowly turned to my grandfather’s room. I just know that when I saw the two doors of my grandfather’s room, I suddenly became energetic and relaxed. Zi stood up from the ground and said to Wu Tinghan, no, you are wrong!
Wu Tinghan didn't speak, but tilted her head slightly, as if asking me, where did she go wrong?
Let me ask you, how is it possible that there are no figure paintings in our village? Aren’t the door gods posted on every door just figures?
Wu Tinghan smiled and said, you call them door gods, can they still be regarded as figure paintings? At most it can be regarded as a divine painting!
I refused to admit defeat and asked, what about the other portraits, such as 'There are fish every year' that every household would put on the wall during the Chinese New Year? It's just a painting of a big fat boy holding a big fish. Could it be that that big fat boy is considered a god?
Wu Tinghan shook his head and said, "Of course it's not a god, but the question is, in which house in your village have you seen it?"
I thought about it seriously, and then I discovered with great sadness that these portraits were all seen in the town, and indeed no household in the village had posted them.
Not only that, I have read in books before that throughout the dynasties, some farmers did not have a shrine in the main room of their home, but hung the portrait of the founding emperor in the center of the main room for worship; what's more, some would even The portrait of the founding general was also hung on the left side of the hall for worship.
These farmers had deep feelings for the founding emperor, so they would rather not believe in gods but still worship them. And this inheritance has also continued to some contemporary villages.
This is very common in our town. After all, people of their generation have feelings for their ancestors that others cannot understand. And they also believe that worshiping their ancestors can bring them a better life.
However, even though most of the elderly in our village have personally experienced those turbulent years, there are still no portraits of our ancestors in every household.
If this were the case for two families, or even a dozen families, it would be excusable, but if it were the case for every household in our village, it would really be unreasonable.
Although I still don't know why this is, it is indeed unreasonable. Even if you think about it carefully, it's a little weird.
And when I saw Wu Tinghan's delicate and calm face again, I could finally understand what Mr. Wang was feeling at this moment - a deep sense of frustration that could not help but spring up from the soles of his feet, and then quickly Spread throughout the body.
I have lived in the village for more than 20 years, and I have not discovered such an obvious thing; Mr. Wang has been in our village for several days, but he has not discovered this problem; but she, Wu Tinghan, can't come Within two days, we saw the problem. How could we not feel frustrated?
But setbacks are setbacks, and I still have to ask questions about things I don’t understand. At least, I have to know what to do next. After all, the Baili Corpse Monument has not yet been solved, and the nine corpses of the Eight Immortals carrying the coffin have not yet been solved. You can't just let it go just because of a little face, right?
So I asked Wu Tinghan, why is this happening?
Wu Tinghan shook his head and said, you have lived in this village for more than 20 years and you don't know. I have only been here for less than two days. Do you think I will know?
Being yelled at is normal and I'm used to it.
Mr. Wang continued, could it be just a coincidence? His grandfather's portrait was accidentally lost, and his village didn't have the tradition of hanging figure paintings?
Wu Tinghan did not refute, just sighed and said, I also hope it is a coincidence. Just Wang Minghua, do you really think this is a coincidence?
Mr. Wang said nothing, just leaned back in his chair and looked up at the sky.
Not to mention the thoughtful Mr. Wang, even I, Madah, felt that this could not be a coincidence. After all, my grandfather’s portrait didn’t have legs, so how could it be lost so easily? Most people would not throw away other people's portraits unless they no longer want to live.
After thinking for a while, Mr. Wang and I both put forward several hypotheses, but Wu Tinghan smacked them all down with just one sentence. So when Mr. Wang finally got up and went to Chen Guzi’s house to refill the incense, we hadn’t figured out the reason yet.
When Mr. Wang came back after refilling his incense, he asked Wu Tinghan what to do next, and Wu Tinghan replied that the question would be officially skipped when it gets dark.
Wu Tinghan then went back to his room and did not show up all afternoon. And I followed Mr. Wang, running back and forth between my house and Chen Guzi’s house. Of course, he also visited the homes of other fellow villagers during this period, saying it was just to chat with others, but in fact, Mr. Wang’s eyes kept wandering around their homes.
I knew he was looking for figure paintings.
But it's a pity that after walking around most of the village in one afternoon, I didn't see a single figure painting.
In the end, Mr. Wang really had no choice, so he went to the village chief's house and asked him directly, why don't you get figure paintings in your village?
The village chief said, why are you hanging there? It's spooky and ghostly. Aren't you afraid of scaring people to death if you see it at night?
The village chief’s answer really surprised Mr. Wang and me. This is the first time I have heard that figure paintings can scare people. I guess Mr. Wang is the same as me.
Mr. Wang tactfully asked about the portraits of his ancestors. As a result, the village chief frowned and thought for a long time, and finally called out to the back room helplessly.
After the woman came out, the village chief asked her where her father's portrait had gone.
The woman looked confused and said, "Why don't you put it away?"
The village chief said, "Don't talk nonsense. When did I accept it?"
The woman said, "Don't ask me, I haven't moved it anyway."
The village chief said, forget it, it’s not a big deal.
In a village that attaches great importance to filial piety, the two of them brushed off the matter so lightly, which really shocked Mr. Wang and I again.
After bidding farewell to the village chief, in order not to attract attention, we ran to ask several other households, and the answers we got were surprisingly consistent - not hanging figure paintings because hanging them is unlucky and will scare people. ; The portrait could not be found because they all thought it had been taken away by the other party.
This result was beyond Mr. Wang and I's expectations. When we told Wu Tinghan the results of the afternoon's investigation, a trace of confusion appeared on her face.
I thought she would have a unique perspective, but I didn't expect that after she frowned and pondered for a moment, she just said, your village is getting more and more evil.
Before dark, Wu Tinghan took me to Chen Guzi's house and filled every 'oil lamp' with oil. After confirming that there was nothing abnormal about the sky lanterns, he walked towards the ancestral hall. .
Logically speaking, the hemp rope soaked in kerosene should have been burned after being set on fire. But I don’t know why, it just burned out the kerosene on its body and then extinguished it. It didn’t even hurt the body at all and was still as strong as ever.
I also asked Wu Tinghan why this happened. Her answer was simple, just two words: secret.
Mr. Wang went door to door looking for the Eight Immortals to carry the coffin, but in the end only six were willing to come.
Mr. Wang asked Wu Tinghan if he wanted to call others. After all, he was afraid that the journey would be long and the coffin would not be able to be carried to its destination.
But Wu Tinghan shook his head and said that the coffin was empty and six people were enough. No matter how bad it is, why don't we have you and him?
This him refers to me.
Let me tell you, although the coffin is empty, it cannot hold the weight of the coffin itself.
Before Wu Tinghan could refute, the six people who came patted their chests and said that the six of them were enough, absolutely no problem.
I didn't understand at first why these six people were so active all of a sudden. It wasn't until I discovered that they had been peeking at Wu Tinghan that I suddenly realized that they were trying to show off as a hero in front of Wu Tinghan.
Oh, if you want to act like a hero now, you will feel better when you can't carry it up the mountain later!
The grave digging was presided over by Mr. Wang. I thought he would start the ceremony like on TV, and then choose the time and direction before starting the digging. But I didn't expect that he would just take out four copper coins from his arms and let them hold them. Then he waved his hand and asked them to dig directly.
These six people are already very experienced, and they know without Mr. Wang's explanation that they cannot speak with copper coins in their mouths.
Chen Guzi's coffin was not buried deep, and soon he heard the sound of a hoe hitting the coffin board. This time, Mr. Wang and I both had a hand in putting the hemp rope as thick as the baby's arm onto the coffin.
Just when the six people were about to use their strength to lift the coffin, Wu Tinghan, who had been standing silently, spoke up. She said that no matter what was under the coffin, they would pretend that they didn't see it and carry the coffin directly. Just go out, remember?
The six of them could not speak, but they all nodded vigorously.
After they agreed on the rhythm, they squatted down, then stood up at the same time, and lifted the coffin abruptly.
Because of Wu Tinghan's special explanation, I was very curious about the situation under the coffin. As soon as the coffin was carried away, I immediately stretched my neck and looked into the pit. Then, I saw a wooden man with a dull face and a smile, who looked like Chen Guzi, lying inside.
Not only that, this wooden man was wearing Chen Guzi’s clothes and shoes. When I looked over, his eyes seemed to glance at me sideways!
Its eyes are not weird, but when it looks at you, it gives people a chilling feeling.
Mr. Wang had already prepared a bench aside. After the six people placed the coffin on the bench, they turned around and looked into the grave. The result was naturally the same as mine. I was so frightened that I froze in place and couldn't recover for a long time.
I think if they hadn't had copper coins in their mouths, someone would have been frightened and screamed.
Mr. Wang said, don’t be stupid and start filling the soil.
After Mr. Wang drank like this, the six people came back to their senses, and then they filled up the soil and flew up regardless of it. This was not Wu Tinghan's fault, but that they were really afraid.
After all the soil was filled, the six people carried the soil from the back of the ancestral hall and filled it in with a tacit understanding. It seems that Mr. Wang directed the extra soil from the last digging to be dumped behind the ancestral hall.
Fortunately, the village chief gave the key to Mr. Wang. Otherwise, Mr. Wang would probably be beaten to death by the village chief for his behavior. Piling dirt behind the ancestral hall is not equivalent to dumping the remains of the ancestors. Is the road blocked? This is a rhythm that wants to curse them with no descendants! Can I not fight with you, Mr. Wang?
After the six people leveled the ground, Mr. Wang ran over and asked Wu Tinghan where the new tomb was. So that they have an idea.
Wu listened to Han and walked directly to the end of the village. Don't worry, it's not far.
Without asking any further questions, Mr. Wang turned around and asked them to pick up the coffin. Then he carried two benches and led the way in the evening, leading the group of people toward the end of the village.
I originally thought that the location of the new tomb was somewhere at the end of the village, but I didn’t expect that when the procession passed by our door, Wu Tinghan actually stopped the procession and asked them to carry the coffin directly into my yard!
