Chapter 23: Dividing the Gold and Locating the Acupuncture Point
The status and functions of shamans are constantly changing. When they are at a high level, they can become kings, historians, or dancers. When they are at a low level, they are just the lowest class, and there are also some who are swindlers.
"If one is not done well, let alone making a profit, it will be hard to save one's life." Tan Xiao was quite thankful. After all, with his mother's level, if it were in the past, she would have to be sent away. "Don't even mention announcing the will of God and conveying the feelings of the people. It will become conveying the feelings of the people and announcing the will of God."
He hung up directly and went to the underworld to pass on orders.
Kong Xuan thought for a long time but couldn't think of a rebuttal, so he said stubbornly: "My wizard will definitely work."
"Okay, okay, okay." Tan Xiao put his hands together and bowed, "Please bless me."
With a clang, the WeChat notification sounded.
Tan Xiao looked down.
[Wow, a Song Dynasty tomb and a Ming Dynasty tomb are piled together, and there are also good-quality Buddha statues? ] After listening to what Tan Xiao said, Mr. Ji sent another voice message, sounding quite interested. It must be a good thing.
[We generally do not excavate unless it is necessary, and we protect the site as it is. After the archaeological activities, we will backfill or relocate the entire site. If I think this tomb is valuable, we can dig it up and move it to a new location. During this process, can you perform a ceremony for them, or how do you think we should operate it? ]
Mu Fei also said: [Yes, that's OK. You write a simple statement of the situation, I'll file it, and then we can go through the process and solve some procedural issues.]
[Is this possible?] Tan Xiao didn't expect it to be so simple, but then he thought, it was probably because he just happened to know Mu Fei, Cheng Xueying and Bodhisattva Slave didn't know that such an organization already existed.
[Why not? Our 404 Office is responsible for this kind of thing. To ensure the stability of all ethnic groups and create a good urban living environment.] Mu Fei laughed.
Tan Xiao: [laughing and crying] [laughing and crying]
[By the way, brother, I applied for a subsidy for your previous actions, and the finance department has already settled the account, so don’t think it’s too little.] If Mu Fei hadn’t said it, Tan Xiao wouldn’t have even thought of this, he just thought of it as voluntary labor.
[Thank you, Sister Mu.] Tan Xiao learned from Teacher Ji and sent a fist-holding emoji, [Sorry to bother you and Teacher Ji.]
…
The Yueshan Park where Cheng Xueying and Pusa Nu were buried was originally a Feng Shui treasure land chosen by them. Later it became a scenic spot. As a tourist attraction, it has a history of hundreds of years and has been the private garden of local nobles in all dynasties.
However, as time passed, there is little left of the former ruins. However, due to its beautiful scenery, it has become a public garden for the people of the city to relax. It is open to the public free of charge and is visited by tourists all year round.
After the report was completed, a corner of Yueshan Park was cordoned off and excavation work began.
Many archaeological talents have gathered in Southern Chu for the rare Tomb of the King of Chu. After coordination by the 404 Office, several experts were dispatched to the site to lead the excavation, but the scale was far less than that of the Tomb of the King of Chu.
The grave digging in the park has naturally caused a lot of discussion among the citizens of Nanchu. The last major excavation in Nanchu was in the last century, and this year, two graves were dug at once.
"I wonder what kind of tomb this is? Didn't they also hold a press conference for the one they dug up during the subway construction? I wonder if it's the tomb of a queen or a prince?"
"If it's the prince's tomb, then this one must be the tomb of a general or minister. It's much smaller in scale."
"Hey, no matter what it is, it is a cultural relic of our Nan Chu."
With the help of the 404 Office, the tomb of Cheng Xueying and Wei Pusa Nu was excavated in the shortest possible time. After identification, it was decided to excavate the tomb on site and then relocate the entire tomb to another place for protection.
The scale is naturally much smaller than that of the Tomb of the King of Chu, and the excavation will not take as long.
Tan Xiao just used his spare time during this period to prepare for their wedding.
The Chinese say that death is like life, and all the rituals of the netherworld are basically based on the living world. Tan Xiao wants to prepare for the joint burial and marriage of the two ghosts, so he has to start with the marriage certificate, then the spirit sacrifice, and finally the closing of the coffin for the two.
Some of the burial objects will be exhibited in the museum of Chu Province, which is also agreed by Bodhisattva Nu and Cheng Xueying.
The betrothal gifts and dowry for the wedding were easy to deal with, just order some paper-made things. The 404 Office promised that these could be reimbursed, and Tan Xiao just had to keep the invoices.
While Tan Chunying was out playing mahjong, Tan Xiao set up an altar at home, called Bodhisattva Slave and Cheng Xueying over, and told them the 404 Office's handling procedure for this matter.
"Wow, the court... the government is so good," Cheng Xueying couldn't help wiping away tears. In the past few days, he and Bodhisattva Slave felt the changes in the world, so they didn't stay at home so much. They got to know the new world outside.
Just as he was feeling extremely moved, he turned around and saw Kong Xuan walking down from the altar.
He stared at the altar that Tan Xiao used to summon ghosts, carefully trying to determine whether Tan Xiao had used his food to offer sacrifices to ghosts. Tan Xiao's style of behavior was still difficult to change his bad habit of disrespecting God, so he had to be on guard!
Kong Xuan only showed up to take a look at the food, and although he didn't do anything else, Bodhisattva Nu and Cheng Xueying fell to the ground in fear. It seemed logical that there was a spirit in the wizard's house, mainly because they had seen Kong Xuan in No. 1 Middle School.
But at that time, Kong Xuan was wearing a school uniform, his divine light was restrained, and the two ghosts could not distinguish his body from the vitex. Now he was wearing brocade clothes, which could be called dazzling, and clearly showed his extraordinary identity.
Looking at the position of the god again, it is clearly the Peacock God, the son of Yuan Feng.
Bodhisattva Slave was shocked that Lingwu was so powerful. Others only worshipped gods to protect their homes, but he actually brought the Peacock God to the school to protect himself and to protect the school!
Thinking of the day when they passed by the Peacock God, the two ghosts were extremely scared. Fortunately, they had no intention of harming others and were very polite. The (unmarried) couple bowed together and said, "We are sorry for not recognizing the true God."
"No offense, no offense. We are not using offerings from the gods." Tan Xiao was most afraid of seeing them bowing to each other, not knowing that they were not talking about the same thing as him. He felt that the Peacock God was the same and did not trust him.
When Tan Xiao talked about the Peacock God, his tone was so casual and intimate that the Bodhisattva slave couldn't help but gasp.
Tan Xiao also handed the marriage certificate to Kong Que, which he had written for Pusa Nu and Cheng Xueying. In addition to the traditional marriage words, there was another sentence: [Life and death are different, and we will never meet. ]
This is the usual tomb-guarding text written on it, emphasizing that after they fulfilled their wishes, they must not interfere with the living. Tan Xiao had not done many serious things, but he had heard a lot, and knew that this kind of thing must be prevented, and it would be best to leave evidence.
The reason why he pushed it to Kong Que was because he hoped that he could act as a witness. Usually, such things would be written about the local land god, city god, etc. But Kong Que was present, so Tan Xiao naturally couldn't write anything else.
When Peacock saw that he gave it to him, he showed satisfaction on his face, not caring whether he could get involved in the matter or not.
He already took care of the exam matters, let alone the ghost marriage.
After taking a bite of grapes, Kong Xuan picked up the pen and wrote on the marriage certificate in one go, signing his signature.
Tan Xiao took it and looked at it. It was so colorful that he could barely recognize the word Kong in Kongque. The word behind it didn't look like anything, but he couldn't recognize it either. Either Kongque was written too carelessly, or it was Kongque's real name.
This monogram is equivalent to the ancient art signature, and some are also special symbols instead of signatures. Tan Xiao didn't bother to identify it clearly and put it away.
Others want to know the name of the god because they want to use the name of the god to scare ghosts. Now that the Peacock God himself is in his home, there is no need for him to care about such things.
"You two should get up quickly and just bow down. I have already placed an order with the funeral shop owner on WeChat. Take a look and see if you need any other offerings. I will bring them down to you later."
The one who brings it must be burned. Everything sent to the netherworld must be burned.
According to Pusa Nu, their two families had been extinct for who knows how long, and of course no one had burned anything specifically for them for a long time.
Fortunately, they have their own burial objects, and sometimes kind people will donate to the ghosts. For example, the 404 Office will also represent the government and hold regular grand sacrifices to the world.
When Tan Xiao mentioned this, Bodhisattva Nu pinched Cheng Xueying, as if she was embarrassed to say it.
Cheng Xueying immediately clasped her fists and said, "Classmate! It's like this. Can you bring us a few sets of underwear?"
Tan Xiao groaned. No wonder the Bodhisattva slave felt embarrassed.
The five sets of three funeral clothes do not include underwear, and this tradition is still followed in modern times.
"Well, this is fine." Tan Xiao wrote it down. After all, it was a custom-made paper dress. If they wanted real clothes, Tan Xiao would be embarrassed. If Tan Chunying found out, she would misunderstand.
Tan Xiao was also thinking about making some of both ancient and modern styles for them.
Just talking about this, Tan Xiao couldn't help but ask Kong Que: "Master, I also customized some clothes for you." He looked at Kong Que's clothes and said it very implicitly.
After these several appearances, Tan Xiao, who was good at observing details, found that the peacock seemed to have never changed his clothes. Doesn't this make him look inconsiderate? He was indeed negligent in not burning some daily necessities for the god.
Kong Xuan was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and became furious.
——He didn’t change the style of his clothes because he was afraid that Tan Xiao wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Did Ling Wu think that he couldn’t afford to wear clothes?
Kong Xuan said angrily: "Okay, bring it here, I want to change one every day!"
If Tan Xiao fails to recognize him, he will be in trouble.
Tan Xiao didn't quite understand why he was suddenly excited, but Peacock liked the gorgeous look, so he might be happy: "Okay, sure."
Tan Xiao lowered his head and took notes.
"Also, there's more." Bodhisattva Nu looked for a long time, afraid that Tan Xiao was about to finish, and suddenly hesitated.
Tan Xiaoxin said that the underwear had already been ordered, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. "If you have anything else, just tell me directly. It's okay. Do you want something big? As long as the price is not too high, it's fine. If it's something private that you are embarrassed to say, you can write it down on paper."
"That's not the case. It's just that I've been observing this world for the past few days and have become interested in something. Is it appropriate to ask the government to pay for it?"
"Why is it inappropriate? You donated several cultural relics. I can use my pocket money to buy them for you. The 404 Office just gave me a subsidy." Although Tan Xiao's family is not wealthy, they have never lacked money. At least buying some underworld supplies is not a problem. The exchange rate between the two sides is here. If he is willing to give something personally, it will be considered as a congratulations.
"Thank you, classmate!" Bodhisattva Slave finally said, "I want to play with Guka. I hope you can make some stickers for me. You can print patterns on bright paper and add glue. It's up to you."
Tan Xiao: “……?”
When I heard Tan Xiao talking at the front, I almost thought I had heard it wrong, and wondered what kind of cultural relic is "Gu Ka"?
It took me three seconds to realize what was going on. Oh my god, you’re playing with stickers, right?
Well, think about what was written on the land purchase certificate of Bodhisattva Slave. She was less than 20 years old when she died. She was also a little girl. Yes, she really keeps up with the times.
Tan Xiao tried not to be too confused and said, "Uh, this, um, I do have some stickers and peripherals at home, I'll print them for you... No, but where are you talking? Do I have to prepare a full set for you? What is that called, a brick?"
He calculated in his mind whether his pocket money was enough, or should he ask 404 to reimburse him?
It's only been a few days, so how could Bodhisattva Slave know too much? After hearing what he said, he hurriedly said, "No, no need to be so extravagant. I'll just buy land certificates or something, or plan my coffin."
Tan Xiao: "...No, no, it's not luxurious. Even if you want to use the hemp spirit seat, it's not luxurious."
What kind of dynasty are the artifacts that Miss Bodhisattva wants to covet? Isn't this much more luxurious? !
…
The reburial ceremony was easy to handle, as Tan Xiao had helped with Lin Yang's second uncle's funeral last time. But when it came to ghost marriage, Tan Xiao lacked some knowledge.
Fortunately, Tan Xiao has a mother who is also well-informed in theory. He went to Tan Chunying and asked, "Mom, what if we do the reburial and ghost marriage at the same time?"
Tan Chunying was playing Landlord on her phone while eating the offerings. She said absentmindedly, "It depends on the host's request. If we don't want to make it a big event, we can just add a procedure during the spiritual sacrifice. But we have to be away from the sun at both ends of the day, because they say they are afraid of the dead coming back to life."
Tan Xiao: "..."
There is no need to worry about the corpse faking its existence, Tan Xiao made a note of it.
"Why are you asking this?" Tan Chunying asked casually. The rituals in their family are now just performances, and what Tan Xiao asked is a practical question.
Tan Xiao, who was taking extra classes on the spot, thought for a long time. When he saw the direction of the study, he suddenly thought of A Jin, and said with inspiration: "I want to write a supernatural novel."
"Hahahaha! Let me see when you're done. You're worthy of being my child. I also wrote in junior high school." Tan Chunying laughed and didn't object to Tan Xiao having multiple hobbies. "Your mom's submission was rejected that year. The editor said that what I wrote was too narrative. There's nothing I can do. I'm just a documentary."
"...Then I'll be careful not to write too much detail." Tan Xiao also laughed twice.
After the emergency make-up class, on the day of the reburial, Tan Xiao rushed to the reburial site early in the evening. The workers had already gone off work, but the site was brightly lit. Waiting for him were the two students of Professor Mo whom he had met at the Tomb of the King of Chu.
——The two of them were sent here to move bricks. Because they knew the inside story, they were also responsible for helping Tan Xiao.
But it was only when we met that I realized that I was here to help Tan Xiao.
"It's you again, Tan Xiao. You and our archaeology major are inseparable!" Student A sighed.
"You know about tombs from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but do you also know about tombs from the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty?" Student B was still a little shocked by the amount of knowledge that high school students have now. He asked tentatively, "Here is an artifact. What do you think it is used for?"
He showed Tan Xiao a photo of a container that was thick at the top and thin at the bottom.
Tan Xiao was able to recognize the Phoenix Drum because it was a representative utensil of the Chu witches. If he was shown a bottle now, how would he know what it was?
But Tan Xiao didn't know that the owner of this thing, Bodhisattva Slave, was right next to him waiting to be married.
Tan Xiao had sent her many things in batches, and had seen her make her own coffin. He used tweezers to hold a sticker with an antique style and pasted it on the land purchase certificate, then scraped it skillfully.
Tan Xiao has tried his best not to see her...
Bodhisattva Nu heard the two students' words clearly, and while sticking the stickers on them, he said casually, "A vessel for holding wine, I like to drink."
Unexpectedly, Bodhisattva Slave was also a drunkard, so Tan Xiao followed suit and said, "He's the one who holds the wine."
The two students made a kneeling gesture with their fingers. "I don't know whether to say that today's high school students are amazing, or that wizards have a very broad range of knowledge."
Tan Xiao couldn't help but smile, "Thank you, senior. Let's get to work."
The two of them didn't know that Tan Xiao had listened to the prompts on the spot and said respectfully:
"Tan classmate, what do you think we should do?"
"Also, why do they need to be buried together..."
The two men became much more polite and a little curious. They just kept working, but didn't know why they wanted to put the bones from the two tombs together.
However, Tan Xiao did not explain. He was already simulating the following operations in his mind. Seeing that the time was almost up, he said, "Please get ready."
These two are indeed archaeologists. At Tan Xiao's command, they moved the coffin carefully and effortlessly. Their muscles bulged, and it was obvious that they worked a lot. However, as soon as the coffin was moved out of the temporary storage room next to it, the two were stunned.
I saw that on the red golden nanmu coffin, which was intact when it was unearthed, there was suddenly a group of ancient-style stickers, and various small objects of flowers and plants decorated the coffin.
"What's going on?" the two said in horror.
Who, who destroyed the cultural relics!!
It was clearly intact when it was unearthed, and it was kept here and guarded day and night, so how could it be covered with these things?
Tan Xiao also felt a little dazed. Those stickers were all customized by Tan Xiao, and he knew them best. Many of them were flowers and plants cut out from the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual. He also went to Teacher Ji to discuss what kind of customized stickers might be more popular with Bodhisattva slaves.
The problem is, he burned the things for the Bodhisattva slaves, and now they appeared in the middle of the night!
I guess it’s just like the urban legend that some people receive money in the middle of the night and it turns into paper money the next day. After all, this is an auspicious time for ghost marriages, and maybe the Bodhisattva slave also wants the coffin to look good.
"Don't talk." What else could Tan Xiao do? He couldn't scare people in the middle of the night. Although these two knew something, he was afraid of making them lose their courage in the middle of the night. Of course, he turned around and said seriously, "These are all necessary things."
Student A was confused. Tan Xiao's appearance was really intimidating, and they already regarded the boy as an authority in this area. Could it be that this coffin was somewhat fierce and some repressive patterns were posted?
It's really mysterious.
"Okay, okay." Student A quickly shut up. It is better to keep silent about things you don't understand, so as to avoid being embarrassed like last time. He just continued to do his hard labor honestly.
Student B, who has younger brothers and sisters at home, couldn't help but look at the coffin a few more times but didn't dare to say it out loud: Why do I feel that this shape looks so familiar?
Tan Xiao felt guilty about his own trickery, so he jumped down to divide the gold and locate the burial site, using a compass to locate the antenna first.
After drawing the ink line, straighten the red rope in the same direction as the coffin, and then use two sections of red rope with five copper coins strung on them to align with the ink line. This line is the ground line.
Then a red thread was threaded through a needle and hung on the skeleton, and two people were directed to move the coffin so that the three lines of heaven, earth and man overlapped. This determined the specific position.
"Seal the coffin." Tan Xiao gave an order and performed a spiritual sacrifice nearby, summoning the newly promoted wedding god Peacock to burn all the sacrificial documents, including the marriage certificate.
As expected, the Peacock God appeared and picked up the paper ashes.
He heard the rhythm of Tan Xiao's tapping and the melody playing on his phone, but he was not very satisfied: "This is too old-fashioned. Since it's a wedding, you should change to something festive."
Tan Xiao: "Hmm?"
Kong Xuan pointed and said, "The song your mother played on her phone today was very festive."
Tan Xiao thought about it, then couldn't hold it in: "You mean the background sound of her playing games?"
Kong Xuan hummed, "No?"
"I can indeed..." Tan Xiao looked at Peacock, seeming to be hesitant to speak.
He was about to politely refuse, but Bodhisattva Nu and Cheng Xueying said piously: "It is a great honor to have His Majesty the Peacock as the witness. Classmate Lingwu, thank you for your help." How could they object to such a small request from the Peacock God?
Tan Xiao: "..."
How can I put it? The dead are the greatest. Today is also a day of great joy for the dead.
The two students working nearby saw that Tan Xiao didn't know what he was mumbling, and the beat of the drums he was beating changed. The corresponding melody played on the phone next to him was definitely familiar. That is to say, the stickers are fine, but your soundtrack...
"Fight the Landlord?!"
