Chapter 0 wedge 2
There were many people standing in the yard, each with a strange expression on their face. They were talking to each other in groups of three or five, obviously discussing the Zhu family's affairs. As the saying goes, good news doesn't go out, but bad news travels a thousand miles. How could the Zhu family hide such a strange thing from their neighbors? I'm afraid that within two days, the whole county will be buzzing with it.
The county town is a small place, everyone knows each other, no wonder Zhu Fugui is so anxious. This is also in line with the old saying, God is watching you, as long as you do bad things, you will get retribution sooner or later...
After getting off the car, Gao Hongjin led Mu Linfeng in front towards a dilapidated residential building. The people standing at the entrance of the corridor made way one after another, and under the curious gaze of everyone, the group walked into the dark corridor.
As there had been no one to manage it for a long time, the corridor was dirty and messy, and the walls had turned black and were covered with all kinds of messy advertisements, including those for locksmiths, sewer cleaners, and even aphrodisiacs. It was really varied.
It was his first time to do a "lump", so Mu Linfeng was inevitably a little uneasy, as if he was drawing water with fifteen buckets, and he felt a little nervous. After entering the dark corridor, Mu Linfeng suddenly calmed down. He secretly reminded himself in his heart that since he had taken over this job, he had to do it well and must not damage the reputation of the old Mu family.
When Mu Linfeng was a child, he often listened to his mother telling stories about "Geda". He was full of awe for this profession, especially when he saw a funeral and "Geda" calmly tidying up the corpse lying on the door panel. He felt that "Geda" was so mysterious, as if there was some incredible power in "Geda".
The old people in the village often say that people who make "lumps" don't learn it, they are born to do this job. At this moment, Mu Linfeng felt that he was born to be a "lump", because the blood of his ancestors flowed in his veins, and the "lump" gene was in his genes. It seemed that he was born to do this kind of work...
There were quite a few people standing on the stairs, most of them were relatives and friends of the Zhu family. Everyone had a different expression, but all of them contained a hint of panic. When they saw the invited "Geda", they all looked at Mu Linfeng with expectant eyes.
As soon as he climbed up to the third floor, Mu Linfeng smelled a strong smell of urine mixed with an unpleasant stench. This kind of smell is often found in the homes of long-term bedridden patients. From this alone, one can tell that this family does not take good care of their elderly.
Now he could no longer care about the unpleasant smell, and Mu Linfeng followed Gao Hongjin into the room. This was an old-fashioned apartment with a simple structure, a small activity room, two small bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, and the total area was only about 50 to 60 square meters.
After entering the door, there is a narrow activity room of only four or five square meters. There is a square table against the east wall, on which are placed offerings and a spirit tablet. It can be seen that the spirit tablet has just been rewritten, as the original one was obviously broken.
The spirit tablet used in funerals is usually made of white paper folded into a rectangular bag about 6-7 cm wide and more than 20 cm long, with the name of the deceased written on it. The white paper bag with the words written on it is propped up with two chopsticks, and then the chopsticks are inserted into a large steamed bun. This is the spirit tablet of the deceased, symbolizing the soul of the deceased, which is called "setting up the weight". During the funeral, the spirit tablet is placed in the grave and buried together, indicating that the soul of the deceased is buried together with the body.
Because the spirit tablet is made of white paper, it will definitely be torn if it falls to the ground.
After entering the room, Mu Linfeng first lit three incense sticks for the deceased's spirit tablet, then bowed three times. After doing all this, he stood in the middle of the room, and then pretended to look around. To be honest, Mu Linfeng is now a complete idiot, and he seems to be checking something, but in fact he is secretly thinking of a countermeasure.
Suddenly, Mu Linfeng felt himself shivering uncontrollably, and his heart suddenly felt cold. He saw the heads of the three incense sticks that he had just lit suddenly turned very red, and the smoke from the three incense sticks rose up, and the straight smoke columns reached the roof.
Several people standing around, Gao Hongjin, Zhu Fugui and several of his relatives also saw the sudden change. Everyone's face turned pale with fright, as if they had seen something terrible. Several people involuntarily moved back, fearing that a ghost would pounce on them.
Mu Linfeng didn't know what happened, but he was born brave and never knew what fear was. Mu Linfeng took a step forward, clasped his hands together and bowed, then muttered something, but he didn't even know what he said...
After mumbling for a while, Mu Linfeng came up with an idea in his mind. He thought that no matter what, he should punish the couple who abused the elderly. If the deceased elderly person really had any complaints, they must be dissatisfied with the couple.
Thinking of this, Mu Linfeng turned around abruptly and said to Zhu Fugui in a serious tone, "The old man just appeared in spirit. He told me that he was sick and weak when he was alive, and there were many difficulties on the way to the underworld. It was difficult to reach another world, so he didn't want to leave here..."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Fugui was so frightened that he knelt down and begged with tears and snot: "Master Mu, please tell my father to rest in peace. I will burn more paper money for him..."
Seeing Zhu Fugui's ugly face, Mu Linfeng secretly laughed in his heart, but his face was still serious. He said slowly: "If I had known this would happen, I would have regretted it. You should have been nicer to the old man. It's too late to cram at the last minute..."
"Master Mu... please... please send my father's soul away..." Zhu Fugui begged while kowtowing.
Gao Hongjin hurriedly approached Mu Linfeng and said in a low voice, "Linfeng, don't give a shit about the monk, but help Fugui get through this first."
Zhu Fugui's cousin also came over and said timidly, "Yes, Master Mu, please think of a way to help with the 'official business' first. We will definitely give the old man more money in the future so that he can live comfortably over there..."
Mu Linfeng pretended to be in deep thought. After thinking for a while, he said to the others, "Okay, I'll try my best. If I can get the old man's soul out of this house, the rest will be easy. If not, you'll have to ask for help from someone else."
"Okay... okay, thank you Master Mu for your help." Several people agreed.
"But if we want to ask the old man's soul to leave, we must get the cooperation of the Zhu family..." Mu Linfeng said pretentiously.
Mu Linfeng knew that they would agree to anything he said at this time. There was a local custom that if the funeral of an old man in a family was not done well, the whole family would soon be unlucky. This was also the reason why "lumps" were so popular, so many people who knew nothing about shit also followed suit and became "lumps".
Zhu Fugui's cousin hurriedly called the relatives in the bedroom and outside the door to come in, and specially called Zhu Fugui's wife and son to the front. The other younger generations followed behind. The originally narrow room was packed with people. Everyone wanted to see how Mu Linfeng, the "expert", was going to "perform".
Seeing this, Mu Linfeng immediately pretended to be mysterious and said to Gao Hongjin and Zhu Fugui's cousin: "Only the two of you and the Zhu couple can stay here. Everyone else must stay away, otherwise it will disturb the old man's soul. If any unexpected situation occurs again, it will be difficult to deal with it..."
Before Mu Linfeng finished speaking, the others retreated one after another, fearing that there might be no way out. The room suddenly became eerie, as if there really were some ghosts wandering around.
Mu Linfeng said to Zhu Fugui's cousin, "Arrange someone to buy a large black-clawed rooster as quickly as possible. Remember to buy the kind with long crooked bones behind the claws. After buying it, let Zhu Fugui's son hold it and stand outside the door. Once this is done, we can start."
"Got it, I'll get someone to do it right away." After saying that, Zhu Fugui's cousin turned around and went out to arrange for someone to buy a black-clawed rooster.
The rooster with a long shank behind its claws that Mu Linfeng mentioned refers to free-range chickens that are raised in the wild. Because these chickens need to dig for food in the land, they have a very long and sharp shank behind their claws. If they are raised in a pen or cage, they don't have this bone, so this feature is also an important basis for judging whether a chicken is free-range or caged.
Then Mu Linfeng said to Gao Hongjin, "Go find a bowl of large-grained salt right away, preferably one with uneven grains. The sooner the better."
"No problem. There's a store downstairs that specializes in selling pickled vegetables. I'll go get a bowl." Gao Hongjin said as he was about to go out the door . "Wait a minute." Mu Linfeng hurriedly stopped him again, "We need to find a few larger hairy clam skins."
"No problem." Gao Hongjin didn't even ask what it was for. He just agreed and ran out.
Seeing Mu Linfeng making arrangements in an orderly manner, Zhu Fugui and his wife were so frightened that their faces turned pale and their bodies trembled constantly. It was obvious that they were both guilty and nervous.
The people outside the door could only hear the sounds in the house, but could not see what was happening inside. The less they could see, the more curious they felt. This was how people were. After Mu Linfeng's deliberate creation, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense and eerie...
3
In less than a minute, Gao Hongjin came back with a bowl full of large-grain salt. Mu Linfeng reached out to take it. He saw that the large grains were the size of peanuts and the small ones were the size of soybeans, just the right size.
This kind of large-grained salt is the raw salt dried in the seaside salt field. It has not undergone any processing and is all square grains with sharp edges and corners. To be honest, Mu Linfeng just wanted to use this thing to discipline Zhu Fugui and his wife.
Mu Linfeng was seen holding a large bowl in his left hand, grabbing a handful of salt with his right hand, and then sprinkling it evenly in front of the altar. He did this several times in a row, and when he felt it was about right, he handed the bowl to Gao Hongjin.
Zhu Fugui's wife is almost fifty years old, with big curly hair and dyed yellow hair, and she looks very sexy. Today, she even put on light makeup for the funeral of the old man, which is a big taboo. Although Mu Linfeng is not good at face reading, he can tell at a glance that Zhu Fugui is a man who is afraid of his wife, otherwise he would not let his wife dress like this. He gets very angry when he sees such a man.
Mu Linfeng stepped on the Gang Bu Dou. This standing step is said to have been created by Xia Yu, so it is also called Yu Bu. Gang refers to Tian Gang, and Dou refers to Beidou. The shape formed by pinching the fingers in a certain way is called "jue", and the process is called "pinching jue". Pinching jue can communicate with the truth and control evil. Just looking at Mu Linfeng's posture, it is indeed intimidating.
Facing Zhu Fugui and his wife, Mu Linfeng said slowly: "You two should kneel on the salt grains now, and then silently recite in your mind how you treated the elderly, and tell them seriously, and then ask the elderly to forgive you. Whether the subsequent 'official business' can proceed depends on whether the elderly are willing to forgive you..."
Upon hearing this, the couple hurried over and knelt down on the salt grains. Both of them couldn't help grinning. It was obvious that the salt grains under their knees hurt them. This move was quite mean.
Seeing the expressions of the two, Mu Linfeng was secretly happy, thinking that they would suffer enough in a while. He waved to Gao Hongjin and said softly, "Let's go to the inner room and don't disturb them to apologize to the old man."
Gao Hongjin accompanied Mu Linfeng into another room, where there was a set of old leather sofas, a desk and a coffee table. It seemed to be the place where the family received guests. There were several helpers in the room. When they saw the two people coming in, they all stood up and gave them seats.
After sitting down, Gao Hongjin asked Mu Linfeng: "Lin Feng, when can we start? I'll ask the people downstairs to prepare the car to the crematorium in advance."
"Once the black-clawed rooster is bought, have the car downstairs ready." Mu Linfeng answered easily.
In fact, Mu Linfeng was really relaxed at this time. He was not worried about whether the "official business" could proceed smoothly, because he had prepared a way for himself. It was his credit to complete the funeral smoothly. If there were any accidents, he would shirk responsibility and say that Zhu Fugui and his wife did not repent deeply enough to the old man, and the old man's soul refused to leave home, so they should seek help from others.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, Fugui's cousin came back and said to Mu Linfeng in a sweat, "Master Mu, the black-clawed rooster has been bought and the child is standing outside the door holding it."
Mu Linfeng stood up: "Okay, I'd like to trouble Big Brother and Master Gao to assist me and lend me a hand. Let's start the blood sacrifice now."
When they heard the word "blood sacrifice", everyone in the room was stunned for a moment, and fear appeared on their faces. It was the first time for everyone to hear about blood sacrifice, and they all stood up to watch the strange event.
The three people returned to the activity room where the memorial tablet was placed, only to see Zhu Fugui and his wife sweating profusely, with painful expressions on their faces, and their bodies trembling slightly. It was obvious that they were enduring great pain.
Mu Linfeng asked Gao Hongjin to prepare a large, clean white bowl, pour half a bowl of white wine into the bowl, and then place it in front of Zhu Fugui and his wife.
Mu Linfeng lit three more incense sticks in front of the old man's spirit tablet, then turned to the people in the room and said, "If you want the 'official business' to proceed smoothly, you must perform a blood sacrifice. This is to keep your blood connection with the old man, and the old man must be supported by your blood so that he can have a smooth journey to the underworld and have the strength to go to another world. This is also a way for you to express your repentance to the old man."
At this point, Mu Linfeng said to Zhu Fugui's cousin, "Use the skin of a hairy clam to scratch their foreheads and let their blood drip into the wine bowl."
Upon hearing the order, Zhu Fugui's cousin took the clam skin handed to him by Gao Hongjin, walked up to Zhu Fugui, and scratched his forehead heavily with the clam skin. Immediately a line of blood flowed down his cheek. Zhu Fugui hurriedly bent down to let the blood drip into the wine bowl in front of him.
Hairy clams are a kind of shellfish that grow on the beach. What makes them different from other shells is that their shells are covered with a layer of short brown hairs, and there is a row of fine teeth like saw teeth on the edge of their shells, so they can easily cut the skin.
Then Zhu Fugui's wife's forehead was also cut, and blood also dripped into the wine bowl.
After the blood dripped into the wine bowl, Zhu Fugui raised his hand to wipe the blood off his face, but Mu Linfeng stopped him hastily: "Don't wipe it off. The blood on your face must be left until after you finish your 'official business'. You will have to have a 'body cutting funeral' later, so there must be blood on your face."
When they heard that there would be a "body dismemberment funeral", Zhu Fugui and his wife were both shocked. They couldn't guess what kind of pain they would have to endure, but they had no choice but to endure it anyway.
The funniest thing was Zhu Fugui's wife. The blood from her forehead flowed down both sides of her nose, as if it was tears of blood flowing from her eyes. At first glance, she looked like an evil ghost, which looked both scary and funny.
Looking at the two people's mischievous appearance, Mu Linfeng laughed secretly and admired his own prank. He thought that if people outside saw the appearance of these two people, they would be shocked. This couple had brought shame to themselves.
In fact, this kind of dismemberment funeral was not something Mu Linfeng imagined. In ancient my country, there was this custom in many areas. The relatives of the deceased mutilated their own bodies to sacrifice to the deceased, not only to express mourning, but also to mean "sacrifice".
This funeral custom is not only in ancient my country, but also in all parts of the world. In some ethnic groups in countries such as Japan, the United States, and Australia, the children of the deceased cut their foreheads with shells when attending funerals. Some also cut their wrists, thighs, chests, etc., making themselves bloody to express their mourning for the deceased. This form of self-mutilation can also relieve the inner sadness of the living and reduce the fear of the dead.
After the white wine in the big bowl turned bright red, Mu Linfeng bent down and picked up the bowl, muttered something, then sprinkled the bloody wine around the square table, and finally dripped the remaining little bloody wine in the bowl onto the steamed bun on the spirit tablet.
After doing all this, Mu Linfeng said to Zhu Fugui's cousin: "Okay, we can go to the funeral home now. Hurry up and call a few people to help the couple downstairs."
After saying that, Mu Linfeng picked up the spirit tablet from the square table and handed it to Zhu Fugui. At this time, several friends came out from another room to help, and one of them lifted the couple up from the ground.
The couple had been kneeling for more than half an hour. Their legs were numb and they certainly couldn't stand up, let alone go downstairs, so Mu Linfeng asked someone to support them.
After Zhu Fugui and his wife were helped up, Mu Linfeng noticed that blood was seeping out of their trousers at the knees. The salt on the floor seemed to have melted a little. The two must have suffered a lot, and this could be considered a punishment for them.
Zhu Fugui and his wife were helped out with blood on their faces. People outside were shocked when they saw it and started to back away, as if they had seen a terrifying ghost.
Strangely enough, this time the Zhu family was able to get downstairs safely, get on the van and rush to the crematorium outside the city. Perhaps it was a coincidence that Mu Linfeng's strange tricks just happened to resolve the possible soul transformation.
In fact, Mu Linfeng's moves were not random and without basis, because he had heard similar stories from his mother before.
The strange thing that happened to the Zhu family is called "sorrow of the soul" in the jargon of "Geda", which is a kind of soul change. Using the blood of the descendants of the deceased for "blood sacrifice" is the only way to deal with the sorrow of the soul. During the funeral procession, a large rooster with black claws follows to prevent soul change from happening later.
Everyone believed that it was Mu Linfeng's "magic" that worked, but in fact he had done it by accident. Unexpectedly, this incident made Mu Linfeng famous throughout the county, and his fate was changed because of it...
