Chapter 13: The Drum of Funeral
Like other family members, Lin Yang got into one of the cars driven by his family. Tan Xiao got on the hearse carrying the coffin along with the Yinluo drum group, and Aunt Lin was also in front, holding the portrait.
The rear compartment was not closed tightly, and one could see the people inside, standing and swaying with the car.
Every few steps, Brother Ning would reach out and throw up a few pieces of yellow paper money.
Lin Yang's mother whispered, "You are in bad luck this year. Remember to stand farther away. When you go down the mountain, don't look back. OK?"
The old man's funeral was supposed to be a happy occasion, but the incident with the funeral home made them feel a little uneasy, so this time when they went up the mountain, they did not let the younger generations in the family go with them, and asked them to go home first.
Lin Yang nodded, and remembered that Tan Xiao said that more than half of their class would be unlucky this year, and he didn't know what to say.
The car drove all the way to the foot of the mountain in the suburbs. This was not a proper cemetery, but land rented from the village.
The village rents land to people who want to bury their dead, and they are also asked to do jobs like digging graves or carrying coffins. Some villagers even take on jobs like helping to visit graves and sweep tombs.
"My father reserved this land ten years ago. When he was digging the hole two days ago, he said he had found a big rock. I was just about to bargain with him for the price." Aunt Lin told everyone that they all made a living from this. Even Tan Xiao knew that usually when these villagers found rocks while digging graves, they would ask for a price ranging from two thousand to six thousand.
"As a result, he said that my father gave him one thousand yuan based on the price at that time when he bought the land, saying that it was before inflation. Now the price has indeed increased so much, and they only need to add another five hundred yuan, and I bargained it down to three hundred yuan."
Aunt Lin seemed a little proud when she talked about this.
In the portrait in her arms, the old man had a faint smile on his black and white face, and it seemed that he had a cheerful personality when he was alive.
As soon as the car stopped, Tan Xiao jumped down first with the soul-guiding banner prepared by the host. As a spiritual master, he was responsible for all the communication between yin and yang in this funeral.
After coming down, Tan Xiao helped Aunt Lin, who was holding the portrait, to jump down.
Workers hired from eight villages carried the coffin down together. As Brother Ning struck the drum, the Yinluo and drum band began to play, echoing throughout the wilderness.
All procedures were compressed, and the singer sang the funeral song with tears in his eyes: "May you live a long and prosperous life, bid farewell to your loved ones and return to the underworld. Sound the gong and drum to send off the dead soul, may you be safe on the road to the underworld——"
Then, one could hear that not only the singers of the Yinluo drum band, but anyone who could sing funeral songs, all tacitly sang the funeral song passages they knew on the road one by one.
Most of them are elderly people. The old custom in Southern Chu emphasizes "funeral drums to express feelings". Compared with giving gifts, sending a funeral song seems to be more affectionate in the hearts of the host.
But young people like Lin Yang can't sing at all, and even his parents don't know much.
Lin Yang could see his desk mate standing at the front holding the soul-guiding banner and he also started singing.
As a spiritual master, his singing is different from others. He sings the "Return to the Living Song", which is the song to call back the souls.
"Life is a hundred years old, but it is still unpredictable. The whole family is in mourning. I only wish I could be born sooner..."
The spiritual master's words of summoning the soul are very similar to Qu Yuan's "Calling the Soul". This is a custom that has been passed down and evolved for thousands of years. As early as that era, people sang and danced at funerals to commemorate the deceased.
The young man's voice was melodious, and as it spread far away, a faint harmony could be heard in the distance.
It was the voice of an old man with a strong voice, which could almost penetrate the sky. He was also singing a funeral song, and the lyrics were vague:
"I am a person far away, standing on a strange land and watching strangers. People are afraid of a lonely old general, and tigers are afraid of a broken forest. Thank you all for singing, let's sing together until dawn!"
Out of respect for the deceased, people from Nanchu would sing funeral songs when they come across a funeral even if they don't know the people involved. Only a few older people still follow this old custom now, but it is not uncommon, especially since the land was bought by the village and there are still many people who understand the old customs.
It sounded like a passerby was singing.
But Aunt Lin stumbled at this moment, looking deep into the forest, she said in a lost voice: "Dad?"
Her tears suddenly burst out. The voice was deep and powerful, just like the familiar singing of her father. However, she hadn't heard it for many years since the old man fell ill and retired from the class.
All the relatives in mourning were shocked when they heard Aunt Lin calling "Dad". Then they realized, yes, it's so similar, the voice sounds so much like the old man!
Aunt Lin burst into tears. "Dad planned everything when he was alive. He worried about this and that. He must have wanted to see if we had done it well!"
Brother Ning almost panicked at the drumbeat in his hand——
Those in the Yinluo drum troupe are more familiar with the old man’s singing than his relatives, and many of them were even taught by the old man himself.
No way? Brother Ning couldn't help but look at Tan Xiao. The young man was walking in front with the soul-calling banner. He seemed to be the only one in the audience who seemed a little confused because he had never heard the voice of Mr. Lin.
"This kid..." The team member who had questioned Tan Xiao before hissed and didn't continue speaking.
The atmosphere at the scene was a little weird because of the unknown singing from the deep forest, especially for distant relatives, who all felt uneasy.
Lin Yang also had goose bumps all over his body. The dream itself had scared them enough.
Could it be that Brother Xiao really summoned the spirit of his second uncle? He wanted to see Tan Xiao, but Tan Xiao was walking ahead with his head down, not even turning his head.
“Ding ding!”
Brother Ning hit the drum twice, and the relatives who were talking stopped talking. He then shouted, "We have met a good singer. Brothers, please give us some effort!"
The whole group responded, and then the singer raised the pitch twice and sang again. Every time he sang a line, everyone joined in.
——They have seen all kinds of funerals, but they will never say anything strange is strange!
Not to mention anything else, there are elderly and weak people at the scene. What if they get frightened?
Looking at Tan Xiao who was walking in the front, the soul-calling flag was always held straight, and his steps were steady, following the gongs and drums and the last line of the song.
With someone taking the lead, the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became much more lively, and everyone started singing along, as if there was a master with a similar voice on the road.
The coffin was quickly carried to the grave, and Tan Xiao set up the soul-calling banner, "The dead soul cannot leave here, follow my banner and enter the coffin."
"Life is empty, death is empty, life and death are inseparable. Offer three cups of wine to seal the coffin, and make the dead soul drunk in a dream!" Tan Xiao offered three cups of wine to seal the coffin, put the offerings on it, and then sealed the coffin with a "funeral hoop".
The function of this mourning hoop is the same as that of the living coffin bundle of the male viper, it is used to seal the coffin.
Even though he was on stage temporarily, it was clear that Tan Xiao completed the whole process very smoothly, leaving no room for criticism. It makes people sigh, this is what it takes ten years of hard work to perform for just one minute on stage, right?
Next, the coffin was buried and covered with soil.
During this period, the host was busy distributing cigarettes to all the helpers and relatives. When it came to Tan Xiao, he paused, because he was still a minor!
"Little brother, take it home?" The host was probably Lin Yang's uncle, and he wanted Tan Xiao to take two packs of cigarettes home.
Tan Xiao smiled and waved his hand, "No need."
Then he walked aside. He didn't smoke and didn't like the smell of cigarettes.
Tan Xiao was looking at the graves in the mountains when a tall old man slowly walked up to him. It was unknown which relative of the Lin family he was. He had a cigarette in his hand and smelled of alcohol. His eyes met Tan Xiao's.
After a few seconds, the old man said, "You are quite brave."
Tan Xiao thought that he might have never seen a student dare to do this, so he said, "Family learning."
"Hahahaha, I know." The old man winked, "Why, you never smoke secretly before?"
"No, I don't like it very much." Tan Xiao shook his head.
"Haha, this stuff is powerful!" The old man squinted his eyes and took a big sip. He didn't know if it was from the bites of the vicious mosquitoes unique to Nanchu, or from bumps and scratches, but there were a few spots on his face. "Thank you for helping me."
"You're welcome." Tan Xiao said. Even if it was not a relative of his classmate but a stranger who needed help urgently, he would definitely help.
The old man looked at him twice. "The people at the funeral home said they checked every day and the air-conditioning temperature and the body were fine. But when they took it out, they found that the body was smelly. Isn't it stupid to tell such an obvious lie?"
Tan Xiao didn't know why he suddenly brought up this matter with him, and didn't know how to respond.
The old man smiled, and a smile appeared on his face. "That's because they didn't lie. There was an iron guy playing tricks on them!"
Tan Xiao was stunned.
What?
Someone patted my back shoulder.
"Brother Xiao, why are you standing here? My mom said she will drive you home after dinner." Lin Yang put his arm around Tan Xiao's shoulder and thanked him, "Thanks to you today."
"Okay, thank you." Tan Xiao answered subconsciously, still a little confused. He turned his head and looked at Lin Yang, then turned back. The old man had disappeared.
He was a little dazed for a moment, his eyes fell on the portrait held by Aunt Lin. The face of the deceased Mr. Lin was unrecognizable to him, but the smile was still there.
ah……
Tan Xiao suddenly understood.
But before he could be surprised that he seemed to have seen a ghost, he remembered the nonsensical words the old man had said.
Tan Xiao grabbed Lin Yang and said, "Do you think the temperature of the computer room where the servers are stored should be lower?"
"Of course, there are requirements for temperature and humidity, otherwise how can the heat be dissipated? Different servers have different temperatures." Lin Yang didn't know why he suddenly said this, but he still said, "Haven't you seen that some computer rooms are built in caves, and some are built in the Arctic, to save some air conditioning electricity bills. Speaking of air conditioning, Nanchu is really poisonous. It's still so hot in autumn-"
"Please tell your family that I have something urgent to do. I'll be leaving now." Tan Xiao said as he walked down the mountain. "Sorry!"
"Ah?" Lin Yang was stunned. "You don't want to eat? What's the emergency?"
Tan Xiao walked faster and faster, almost running, and without turning his head, he shouted: "No more eating! I haven't finished my paper yet!"
Aunt Lin heard vaguely: "Where is your classmate? What did he say about the roll?"
"Yeah, he's so powerful, why is he still rolling his eyes?!" Lin Yang cried sadly.
…
There is no signal at all on this mountain.
The hike up the mountain took half an hour, and the walk down was much quicker.
As soon as he got a signal, Tan Xiao called Mu Fei, but the other party didn't answer. He waited until the call was connected before he hurriedly asked, "Sister Mu, where are you?"
"Here we are at the power bureau again," Mu Fei cursed, "You're almost blind. Ask them to help find out if there's any abnormality in electricity usage. The instrument spirit just became a spirit and isn't very powerful. It can't stand the heat. It's so hot in Nanchu, so it must be hiding somewhere to steal electricity."
"At the funeral home!" Tan Xiao shouted.
"Huh?" Mu Fei screamed, "It's possible! I've almost dug into every cave in Nanchu! But this dead machine spirit must be more accustomed to air conditioning! But how did you know?" She didn't forget to ask while she had time.
"The body of an elderly person from my classmate's family was kept in a funeral home after he passed away. I saw it doing something naughty in there, either damaging the equipment or squeezing the person out of the single room. Anyway, the body was completely rotten! Hiding in a place like this, even if something is revealed, people would immediately think of it as a supernatural accident." Tan Xiao said simply without explaining the ghost he had seen. He thought Mu Fei would understand.
"I just came down from the mountain. Go to the funeral home quickly and don't let it run away."
"Sure, sure. I'll ask my colleague to go right away!" Mu Fei called him again, "Can you come and lend a hand? I beg you, brother. I've been up all night and am almost fainting from exhaustion. We can't let this guy get away."
"Uh, sure." Tan Xiao agreed after only thinking about it. This was not the first time he helped, so the first time was new and the second time was familiar.
Mu Fei quickly thanked him and rushed to the funeral home.
Tan Xiao would pass by his house on the way to the funeral home, so he asked the driver to wait, quickly picked up his stuff, and then rushed to the funeral home. When he arrived at the door of the funeral home, Mu Fei also arrived by speeding.
The new moon had already risen.
"My colleague hasn't arrived yet. Let's go in and wait for him first." Mu Fei was so anxious that she grabbed Tan Xiao and ran inside, and went straight to the office of the person in charge.
Mu Fei had already made the call on the way. The funeral home is also a subordinate unit of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Mu Fei contacted them through official channels first so that he could ask for their cooperation when he arrived at the scene.
The person in charge that Tan Xiao had met during the day came to greet Mu Fei, "Hello, Director Mu."
"You can just call me Mu Fei." Mu Fei took out a document, "I need your cooperation here..."
After dealing with the funeral home director, we soon saw them taking action.
All non-related work and on-duty personnel left work, and the floor plan of the funeral home was also brought to Mu Fei, along with various keys.
Mu Fei weighed the key in her hand and said, "Let's go and wait for him in the hall."
She took Tan Xiao out of the administrative building and walked to the Lotus Hall, which is one of the ceremony halls of Nanchu Funeral Home and is used for memorial services.
Because the area was cleared in a hurry, there were still two rows of wreaths, and in the middle of the black and white mourning couplets was a tablet and portrait of an unknown family. The coffin was placed in the middle, and the speakers were still playing funeral music, echoing in the empty room. From this side, there was a road leading directly to the morgue.
It was also dark outside the hall.
Tan Xiao stood at the door and felt a gust of wind blowing across his back, chilling him to the bone.
Even if there is a draft, it should come straight in front of you.
Tan Xiao turned around with a strange feeling and looked behind the curtain vigilantly.
“Squeak.”
At this moment, the lights in the memorial hall flickered several times.
The slowly flowing funeral music seemed to be out of tune and the sound became distorted.
The curtain was blown high by the wind from nowhere.
Tan Xiao's face changed drastically, and his hands unconsciously formed a "shackle", "Is it this?"
"Don't be impulsive!" Mu Fei was shocked when she saw his gesture. She had seen this move before, and even the male viper couldn't handle it. "Hey, don't move, it's not it!"
"?" As he spoke, Tan Xiao had already seen a gray-white wandering soul slowly walking out from behind the curtain. It was a thin middle-aged man, with his feet slightly off the ground. His eyes were sunken and dark blue, with more black than white, and there were bloodstains at the corners of his mouth.
It’s indeed not that weapon, but what the hell, it’s not much better!
Tan Xiao was about to make another hand gesture, but was stopped by Mu Fei again: "Don't get excited, classmate, this is my colleague!"
"Your colleague?" Tan Xiao paused. Mu Fei said that she was going to work on the mission with another senior colleague from the unit. When she looked for Tan Xiao two days ago, that colleague was still waiting for her in the car. Was this the same colleague?
Tan Xiao was speechless and surprised for a moment, "A ghost can also take the civil service exam in your unit?"
"We don't hire ghosts," Mu Fei introduced. "These are the people who passed away and were rehired by our unit."
Tan Xiao: “…………?!”
