In the pavilion, the couple walked around in circles and shouted loudly.
Even Ting Wu, who was eating grass in the distance, couldn't help but look here, while Yi Ning stood quietly in a corner, not daring to disturb him.
Half an hour later.
After the rooster had finished bleeding, the uncle stopped and handed the chicken to his mother-in-law: "Pluck the feathers from the chicken and roast it for the young master to eat."
The woman then ran to the corner of the pavilion and began to pull out the chicken feathers skillfully.
"Industry rules are that you must use a rooster to worship God, hehe."
Uncle Zhang smiled at Yi Ning, "After the Lord River God has received our respect, this chicken is ready to eat. If you don't mind it, you can just eat some."
Naturally, Yi Ning would not dislike it.
"good."
Then he asked what he was curious about, "Uncle, what was that just now?"
"You don't know? Oh, you are also a foreigner to me."
Uncle Zhang was surprised at first, and then he began to patiently explain to Yi Ning.
After a few words, Yi Ning also understood what they were doing.
It turned out that Uncle Zhang came from a nearby village, and every family in the village had been engaged in a certain trade for generations.
——Search for corpses.
Uncle Zhang is no exception. He has been learning to fish out corpses with his father since he was an adult. It has been more than 40 years now.
Corpse hunters are what outsiders call them.
The pay in this industry is pretty good. Two or three orders a month are enough for the family to eat and drink, which is pretty good compared to many families.
But what is equal to this is the extremely high degree of danger for the person who retrieves the corpse, and the disgusted eyes of others.
Uncle Zhang was a little surprised when he saw that Yi Ning's expression did not change: "Most people would avoid talking about our profession when they heard about it. Young master, you don't think it's bad luck?"
"Fulfilling the last wishes of the deceased's family and allowing the deceased to rest in peace is a good deed and a good deed. What is there to avoid?"
"It would be great if my son could think like this."
"Your Majesty, you don't want to work in this industry?" Yi Ning heard the implication of his uncle's words.
"I get angry when I say this. The ancestors of our village stipulated that people with Yin water fate must work in this industry, but my son would rather die than obey. He insists on being a policeman, and he doesn't know how to imitate others in collecting red envelopes. , He only relies on a little official food, and life is so hard. In my opinion, he will starve to death outside sooner or later."
Uncle Zhang started to complain when he talked about his children, but Yi Ning could tell that the old man missed his children very much.
At this time, Mrs. Hu came over with her plucked cock. When she heard what the two were talking about, she cursed at the man: "Isn't it good for our children to be honest? I want to learn from you, go to the river every day, and one day you will be flooded." Even if the ghost catches him, he won’t even know.”
Uncle Zhang retorted, but Aunt Hu was not willing to give in. The two argued for a long time, and finally the old man complained, "Give me some face, there are outsiders here," and Aunt Hu stopped arguing.
Every word the couple said was tit-for-tat, but every word was filled with deep love for their children.
Yi Ning just smiled, grilling chicken, frying the meat with grease, which complemented the sound of rain outside the pavilion.
"Da da da."
The rain didn't last long. After burning incense, the rain outside the pavilion gradually stopped.
Seeing the rain stop, Uncle Zhang and his wife packed up their corpse-recovering equipment and walked towards the river.
Yi Ning also followed. Firstly, he was curious about recovering corpses in ancient times, and secondly, he was just in case.
He knows that there are real ghosts in this world. If Yi Ning eats someone else's chicken, he has to protect the old man.
Uncle Zhang did not refuse, but reminded the young master not to be frightened when the time comes.
The job they took on this time was to salvage two drowning children.
The old man recited the ancestral formula: "Look for the confluence of small rivers, and the pond for weirs and ponds."
Walk all the way down the river.
Not long after walking, they came to a place where the rivers converged. The water flow here became more fierce due to the merger of the two rivers.
"The child's body was not found on the shore along the way, so it was probably washed here." Uncle Zhang stood on the shore, expressed his judgment, and directed his mother-in-law to prepare tools.
Yi Ning asked: "Where is the child's family?"
Uncle Zhang: "I can't come. After the drowned person is picked up, he can't see his relatives immediately, otherwise he will be reluctant to leave this world."
"Is there such a thing?" Yi Ning was surprised.
"You must abide by the words passed down from your ancestors, and be careful when sailing the ship that lasts forever."
The old man took off his cotton-padded clothes, revealing his dark skin. Even though he was old, his muscles were still clearly defined, which showed that he trained regularly.
With the help of his aunt, he put a hemp rope around his waist and held an iron hook. The top of the iron hook was wrapped in black dog skin.
After making some preparations and confirming that everything was correct, the man jumped into the river with a "pop". With a swing, he disappeared into the bottom of the river and disappeared.
Yi Ning didn't say anything. He had just entered meditation with the breathing method and felt it carefully. There was no filthy air nearby, and there was no water ghost.
Moreover, because the river water was clear and Yi Ning had good eyesight, through the river water, he could vaguely see an arm that was white from soaking.
"Moo." Ting Wu snorted and asked if he wanted to help. Its water properties were not very good.
Yi Ning patted its head and signaled to wait quietly.
This old man was indeed doing this for a living. He sank into the water for a long time before his head emerged again.
When Aunt Zhang saw him getting up, she dragged the hemp rope and pulled him to the shore: "Old Zhang, how are you doing?"
"I haven't found it yet. I'll look for it again." The old man responded.
"Uncle Zhang, why don't you go over there and have a look." Yi Ning pointed to a place in the river.
The old man glanced at where Yi Ning was pointing and asked curiously: "That is indeed my next destination. Does the young master also know the way of water flow?"
"My eyesight is better." Yi Ning replied.
The old man shook his head, thinking that the other party was joking. After standing on the shore to adjust his breathing, he plunged into the water again, making countless splashes.
This time it took longer than before.
Suddenly, Mrs. Zhang noticed that the hemp rope in her hand was shaking, and she immediately pulled hard.
Yi Ning also stepped forward to help. With their efforts, Uncle Zhang was pulled up, holding a child's body in his arms.
After he came ashore, he laid the body down and then began to sort out the skin residue on his body.
Because the corpse had been soaked in water for too long, it had turned white, the skin was loose, and there was an unpleasant corpse smell billowing out. However, as Yi Ning got closer, the smell disappeared without a trace.
Uncle Zhang also noticed that the odor disappeared, but did not find that it was Yi Ning who caused it. His expression was solemn: "There is still a baby under the water, but we can't save it."
"Why?" Yi Ning asked.
Aunt Hu also asked: "Have you encountered three taboos?"
"Yeah." The man wrung out the water marks on his clothes and looked at the water with an expression of distress and remorse.
"What are the three taboos?" Yi Ning was puzzled. He just checked the river water again to make sure that there were no evil spirits.
"There are three taboos in our business, which are three things we don't do."
The old man replied, "We will not fish out those who commit suicide, we will not fish out those whose bodies cannot be saved after three times of fishing, and we will not fish out those whose bodies are standing upright in the water."
He pointed to the water and continued to add: "That child is the third type."
