After Mr. Wang finished speaking, the courtyard immediately fell into silence.
Although there was not a trace of night breeze blowing, I still felt cold all over my body, as if the soaked clothes had just been taken out of the ice water.
I know what Mr. Wang means by "hiding it from the sky". He explained it to me when my grandfather placed my coffin in the Chen Guzi mourning hall.
But I have no idea what 'crossing the sea' means. There is also the 'immortality' he talks about. This kind of ethereal thing, in my opinion, is a word that only appears in mythological novels, and it is impossible to encounter it in real life.
I forced myself to calm down, then pulled out a smile that was not really a smile, and said to Mr. Wang, you asked me not to read the novel, but why did you talk about the things in the novel instead?
Mr. Wang glanced at me sideways and said, "Like you, I don't believe in the existence of immortality in this world, but some people do, and some people have been pursuing this goal since seventy-one years ago."
Seventy-one years ago, wasn’t that 1950? Were there people pursuing immortality at that time?
No, why does Mr. Wang remember it so clearly? Although he is old, he doesn't look like an old man in his seventies, right?
Mr. Wang said that the reason why I remember it so clearly is because August 28, 1950, was the day when the craftsmen circle gathered every five years, and it was also the day when the Luo court appeared in everyone’s sight for the first time!
That's it. No wonder Mr. Wang remembers it so clearly.
But, what’s the point of getting together in these five years?
Mr. Wang said, Haha, remember I told you before that Zhang Hazi is the best person in the craftsman circle in recent years?
I nodded and said, I remember, what's wrong?
Mr. Wang asked me, have you never thought that we are the only ones who know that he is the best?
After thinking about it for a while, I understood the ins and outs of it. Is it through this five-year gathering?
Mr. Wang nodded and said that in the past five years, the purpose of gathering together is to select the most skilled craftsman from all the craftsmen and make him the leader of the entire craftsman circle. Zhang Hazi became the leader six years ago, in 2015.
I nodded when I heard this, and then asked Mr. Wang, you just said that some people began to pursue immortality seventy-one years ago, and it was also the day when Luo Chaoting made his debut. Could it be that the person you mentioned who pursued immortality was... Is it Luo Chaoting?
Mr. Wang shook his head. It must not be him. At that time, he was not qualified to know such a secret. Moreover, we craftsmen only learned later that at the five-year gathering in 1950, a Feng Shui bureau emerged that made everyone crazy about it.
After he finished speaking, Mr. Wang looked at me with burning eyes. I didn't understand what he meant at first, but soon I knew that he was asking me if I knew what kind of Feng Shui bureau it was.
I thought about it for a moment, and then an idea suddenly occurred to me, and I blurted out, "Nine lions worshiping elephants!"
Mr. Wang nodded and said, yes, the Nine Lions Worshiping the Elephant came out from that gathering. Of course, not many people knew about it at the beginning. Only people like my master’s generation had the opportunity to have a little bit of contact with it. Then, after tracing back to the source, they found out that it came from the craftsmen’s gathering in 1950.
I asked, what does this Nine Lions Worshiping Elephant have to do with immortality?
Mr. Wang said, I don’t know much. I only heard from my master that at that time, craftsmen all over the country were going crazy looking for places to worship the nine lions and elephants. It felt like everything in the circle was in chaos. It was not until 1955, the next five-year gathering, that the situation improved.
I asked, what happened that year?
Mr. Wang said that Luo Chaoting surpassed all craftsmen and became the leader of that generation.
When I heard this, I was a little fascinated. After five years of debut, I became the leader. This strength is too strong, right?
Mr. Wang said that not only was he powerful, but after he became the leader, he reportedly made a series of big moves that quickly put the craftsman circle on track. Not only that, it is said that he figured out the true purpose of the place where nine lions worship elephants, and even created a craftsmanship of his own!
Hearing this, I blurted out without even thinking about it: hiding the truth from the truth!
Mr. Wang nodded and said that it was just hiding something from the truth.
But after he finished speaking, he shook his head again and continued, but he knew that there were very few people with this craftsmanship. My master also heard it from others accidentally, and it was never spread throughout his life. It was only when he was dying that he Mention this to our four senior brothers.
Mr. Wang seemed to have returned to the scene before his master's death, with some sadness on his face, and then he told us that at that time he only told us eight words: Nine lions worship the elephant, concealing the truth from the sky.
Let me tell you, maybe this concealing the truth is not a craftsmanship, but also a Feng Shui treasure?
Mr. Wang shook his head decisively and said, it is impossible.
I asked, why are you so sure?
He said, because my senior brother, Wang Mingxuan, told several of our junior brothers that concealing the truth is a kind of craftsmanship, and it was invented by the Luo court. But this is just the opinion of my senior brother Di's family. Whether Luo Chaoting created his own craftsmanship or not is impossible to verify.
Therefore, Mr. Wang said that this craftsmanship was left behind by the Luo court sixty-six years ago. In fact, it is just a guess. It is still unknown whether it is specific or even whether this craftsmanship exists.
But Mr. Wang shook his head again and said, before I also suspected that this craftsmanship might not exist, but now looking at your grandfather’s skills, I am sure that this craftsmanship must exist, and it was perfectly displayed by your grandfather. .
I digested what he said for a while, and then asked Mr. Wang, is it because you saw nine of them holding my tablet in their hands halfway up the mountain? Isn't this unreasonable? If a person dies once, it's enough to conceal the truth. If he dies 22 times... how can anyone die 22 times?
Mr. Wang said, this is the genius of your grandfather. Let me give you an example. Now there is a wanted criminal who has undergone plastic surgery. How about you go and confirm his true identity?
I thought about it and said that it can be done through fingerprints, voiceprints, etc. There are many methods.
Mr. Wang said, what if these things were deliberately rectified by him?
Let me tell you, there’s also DNA. It’s impossible to change this, right?
Mr. Wang said, yes, no matter how well a person hides, there will always be a way to find out his true identity. But what if all the information about this person is blank from the beginning? Are you going to find out his true identity?
When I heard this, I was stunned for a moment, and at the same time I roughly understood why my grandfather wanted me to die 22 times.
Mr. Wang said, although your grandfather has hidden it from you, but you will continue to live in the future, God only needs to compare it with the information you left before, and he will immediately know that you are Chen Siqing, and you will still know when the time comes. kill you. But if all the information about you during your lifetime is erased, do you think there is anything God can do for you?
I was completely shocked by Mr. Wang's explanation. Even though I had expected it, I was still shocked as if struck by lightning.
Mr. Wang continued to talk, and your grandfather only completed the 'hiding the sky' before, and only when he reached the mountain did he complete the 'crossing the sea'.
I was already shocked and speechless. I could only stare at Mr. Wang blankly, waiting for him to continue.
But Mr. Wang paused, and asked me instead, do you know why if there is water dripping in several grave pits, it is considered to have completed the "crossing the sea"?
I shook my head subconsciously. My mind was already blank and I had no thoughts of my own.
Mr. Wang pointed to the grave in the yard and said, "Did you forget to measure the body?"
I shook my head again to show that I hadn't forgotten.
Mr. Wang said that if a washbasin in a grave pit contains dripping water, it can be regarded as a large lake or a sea. Then tell me, among the nine grave pits, which one has less water dripping than the washbasin? Calculated in this way, even if the basin is only a large lake, are the nine grave pits at least the sea?
I could still react to such a simple logic, so I nodded crazily.
Mr. Wang saw this and continued to talk, but if you just let your memorial tablet float on the water, it can only be regarded as 'entering the sea', not 'crossing the sea', so your grandfather used a trick to make a fool of himself. , let the reflection of people on the shore come in!
In this way, the tablet has entered the sea, but actually landed on the shore, which is equivalent to the tablet coming out of the sea, and naturally it has crossed the sea. In this way, not only can he die eighteen times using only nine pits, but he can also truly 'cross the sea' at the same time! I may not be able to learn this scheming and wisdom in another ten years.
Mr. Wang was impressed by my grandfather's methods, let alone me, a clueless novice. At this time, apart from being stunned involuntarily, I really couldn't express a more appropriate expression.
When Mr. Wang saw me like this, he sighed to himself, and then continued to talk, so let me tell you, your grandfather's methods are really clever, from dying early at the beginning, to asking an immortal to take the throne, and then to replacing you Hiding the truth from the sky, and then measuring the corpse in Yize...
Every step he takes is not aimless. Each step is to pave the way for the next step, and then they are linked together to achieve true perfection. Even if you put this kind of situation in front of me and let me copy it, I may not be able to copy it!
I don’t know how I feel now, and I’m not excited at all because my grandfather created an immortal situation for me. Instead, I feel that he used the rest of his life to exchange for my immortality that may not exist. not worth!
It’s really not worth it!
Even if I were immortal and had endless life, I lost my grandfather and missed the opportunity for him to enjoy family life. To me, these endless lives are not a gift, but a boundless gift. Endless suffering.
Just when I was feeling infinitely melancholy, Wu Tinghan, who was standing between Mr. Wang and me, suddenly sat down. She supported the threshold of the hall with both hands, straightened her legs and relaxed, looked at Mr. Wang and said coldly, "Bright Moon" Shift west, your analysis is completely wrong.
Then she turned to look at me, her face softened slightly, but her words were still cold. She said, your grandfather Jiazi planned it, but he was deceived from the beginning.
