Chapter 38 Ghost Dance
My father was smoking a cigarette.
"Maybe my decision was wrong. I shouldn't have sent you to the crematorium."
"No, you are right."
My father covered his face and didn't say anything.
The third uncle came, sat down, and asked me to find an ancestral hall. I looked at my father, and I didn’t know where there was an ancestral hall.
"This one is easy to find. It was originally in the home of the landlord Shao Wenjie, and it's still preserved."
I think this is rare.
However, it is also troublesome whether my father can do this. The ancestral hall is private, and Shao Wenjie is not an ordinary person. He has a certain status and is very eccentric. I know this.
The bridge in this city is called Shaojia Bridge, Tonghe Bridge. The bridge is more than one thousand meters long. How much money does it cost to invest in it?
My father went there in the morning and came back in the evening, a little drunk. It was only then that I realized that my father had a special relationship with Shao Wenjie. Things were arranged smoothly and he could go at any time.
The next day, my father took us there. When we entered the Shao family compound, we could see that the third uncle was looking left and right, and his yin-yang eyes looked weird.
Shao Family Courtyard is very famous, and no one in this city doesn’t know about it.
When we went in, Shao Wenjie had already set the table for tea. We sat down to chat and Shao Wenjie asked the third uncle what he used the ancestral hall for.
"He learned the ghost dance steps and became close to the ghosts. That way, he would enter another world. Humans have their own paths, and ghosts have their own paths. It would be impossible to mix them up. That would separate the yin and yang energies, and people would become neither human nor ghost."
Shao Wenjie didn't say anything for a long time. It seemed that he was still a little reluctant. In fact, no one wanted outsiders to make trouble in their own ancestral hall.
However, Shao Wenjie still agreed.
We were taken to the ancestral hall in the backyard, an ancient temple building. It was not big, but very grand and had a great atmosphere that I had never seen before.
After crossing the high threshold, there is the altar, on which are placed nearly a hundred tablets. It made me feel nervous. Shao Wenjie knelt on the kneeling board, kowtowed, said something, and then turned around to look at the third uncle.
"Don't disturb our ancestors here."
"No, I know how to do it. I'm a wizard."
My father and I didn’t expect that after the third uncle finished talking about the wizard, Shao Wenjie stood there in a daze and suddenly asked, “What’s your last name and what’s your name?”
"Zhao, big tail Zhao, Zhao Qi, the pure yellow flag."
Shao Wenjie's expression was not right, and I felt something was wrong. Sure enough, Shao Wenjie suddenly picked up the stick outside the door, and the third uncle ran away. He also realized that something was wrong, and my father hugged Shao Wenjie.
The third uncle disappeared, Shao Wenjie's eyes were almost bleeding, and he was gasping for breath.
After pulling Shao Wenjie back into the house, it took him a long time to calm down.
"Wenjie, what's wrong?"
my father asked.
Shao Wenjie sighed.
"This Zhao Qi is from a wizard family. They have a thousand-year-old history of witchcraft, which is extremely terrifying. His grandfather used witchcraft to destroy our Zhao family's feng shui. That year, ten people died in just one year. Ten people!"
I was stunned. How could this happen? Are wizards really that scary?
"Why?"
"Alas, we have a treasure bowl at home. It's said that putting gold in it will produce gold, and putting silver in it will produce silver. In fact, there is no such thing in the world. This thing is only the size of two palms, you can hold it in your hands. It is an antique and a lucky item, but it is indeed worth a lot of money. The Zhao family wanted it, but they didn't get it, so they did this trick."
"And finally?"
"My grandfather buried the treasure bowl and it couldn't be found. Your grandfather was one of the ten people who died. No one could have imagined that ten healthy people would all die in an instant."
Shao Wenjie covered his face. From what he said, it seemed that this happened before liberation.
None of us expected something like this to happen. If this is the case, it seems like my life is over.
My father and I came out and asked him to go home while I went to find Master Yi.
When Master Yi heard this, he was also stunned and couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.
"Then I can't do anything about this matter. Are you going to go find Master Yun Zheng?"
I thought, it's over. Master Yi doesn't care anymore, and the wizard Third Uncle has run away. I don't know whether Master Yunzheng can do it or not. He never likes to do such things, so I never force him.
I went to Master Yunzheng's house because I found that I couldn't control myself and wanted to dance.
Master Yunzheng drinks at home. He likes drinking.
I told him what happened, but he didn't even look at me.
"I'll come to your house tomorrow evening."
I went home and into my room. I didn't know whether Master Yunzheng had any solution or not.
It was getting dark and I didn't turn on the lights. The moonlight from outside shone in, and shadows appeared on the wall, dancing like a ghost. I couldn't help but dance along with them, and I felt as if I was in another world.
After the ghost dance was over, I followed the shadow, and the shadow actually spoke.
"I am your past life, come with me!"
I couldn't control myself and followed him. It was another world, definitely not my world. It was real, a gray world, a world without color. Master Yi told me that after death, people exist in another form, that is, in another world. Every world is different. I believed Master Yi, and sure enough, I was in this world.
I didn't expect that I would be woken up by a slap from Master Yun Zheng. I screamed in pain and my face was swollen.
Master Yunzheng looked at me for a long time, pulled me up, and sat me on the sofa. Seeing my father's anxious look, I knew something had happened.
"Xiao Ke, you live in your own world. Don't listen to what others say about another world. They are just hinting at you and guiding you to another world. That is not your world. You cannot survive there."
I didn't understand what Master Yunzheng meant.
"Xiao Ke, you have to listen to Master Yun Zheng."
My father was anxious.
"I don't know. I really don't know anything."
"Then I'll tell you the truth. I'll tell you, you're an extremely yin person, but you don't have to deal with so many things. Don't be hinted at or guided by others, and you'll be fine. That ghost dance step is the ghost dance step in your heart."
"But the shadow on the wall is real."
"No, that's just your psychology. You have to remember that nothing like that ever happened. You keep thinking about it every day. Anyone will feel the same way after a while. Anyone like you will also see the shadow."
"It's real, that shadow, right there, really, on the wall."
"That's right, then I'll tell you something, do you believe it?"
Master Yunzheng seemed to be getting angry.
I looked at Master Yunzheng, not knowing what he wanted to tell me.
Master Yunzheng seemed to be hesitating. I didn't say anything and waited.
Master Yunzheng stood up, walked to the window, lit a cigarette, and looked outside. He suddenly turned his head and stared at me, which made me feel creepy. What on earth was he trying to say?
"Liu Xiaojing."
Master Yunzheng mentioned Liu Xiaojing, and then looked at me, staring at me intently. What is Liu Xiaojing related to me? I don't know, I really don't know at all.
I still didn't say anything. At this time, I was already unsure of what to do. Master Yunzheng's eyes were scary. He spoke for a long time.
"Leave the crematorium!"
This makes me sweat. What does it mean?
"Master, I won't leave. I like this place."
Master Yunzheng sighed and shook his head. I have never seen the master sigh before.
"Master, what happened to Liu Xiaojing?"
Master Yunzheng seemed a little uneasy, pacing back and forth, and finally stopped and spoke.
"Liu Xiaojing has been dead for four years."
I jumped up, then sat down, and stood up again. I was almost killed by this sentence. It was only then that I realized that words can kill people, no matter when they are spoken.
Liu Xiaojing was dead? Four years ago? Are you kidding? The Liu Xiaojing Master Yunzheng was referring to probably wasn't the Liu Xiaojing who worked as a makeup artist at the crematorium.
Thinking this way, I feel that it ’s nothing.
Master Yunzheng glanced at me and said.
"Liu Xiaojing, the makeup artist, is the Liu Xiaojing you see now."
I laughed after hearing this. The master was trying to scare me and test my endurance. This was simply a joke. Even Master Yunzheng could joke around. I laughed, and Master Yunzheng glared at me.
"I'm not kidding you, come with me."
I think this is a joke. It's impossible and doesn't exist. Master Yunzheng is not very good at joking.
I followed Master Yunzheng. I wanted to see how Master Yunzheng would play this joke.
Master Yunzheng went up the north mountain, where there was a cemetery. I followed him up the mountain. There were many graves there, both new and old. I didn't really like going to places like this.
Master Yunzheng walked to a grave, stopped and said.
"This is Liu Xiaojing's grave."
There is no tombstone on the grave. Master Yunzheng’s joke was really not very good.
"Master, how can you prove it?"
My master came up and kicked me, which stunned me. Master Yunzheng seemed to kick me awake, and I felt that this was no joke.
I wanted to pee, and it happens when I get nervous, so I ran behind a tree and tried to pee, but I couldn't.
Master Yunzheng said after I came back.
"Remember, Liu Xiaojing, stay away from her. Her master, Zheng Qing, is not a very good person either."
"How did Liu Xiaojing die?"
"He was hanged in the morgue. The cause of death is still a mystery. We don't know."
I shuddered. I went home. My father, reading a book, noticed I looked unwell and asked me what had happened. I didn't tell him. To this day, I still don't believe it. A living person standing right in front of you, and you say he's dead? How could that be possible? I don't believe it, and no one else would.
Whenever I go to work, I feel very nervous because I am afraid of seeing Liu Xiaojing.
After finishing my work, I went back to the office to change clothes. I wanted to leave here as soon as possible. The dead flowers were blooming so beautifully that it made me feel terrified.
I pushed the door open and Liu Xiaojing was standing there smiling at me. I was startled and stood there motionless.
"Xiao Zuo, let's go to the movies!"
I stood there in silence. I should have been facing a living person, but at this moment my feet seemed to be nailed to the ground. Liu Xiaojing reached out to pull me, but I dodged.
I thought, maybe I should go to the movies with her, because I need to know the truth. Liu Xiaojing is dead, but she is still alive, just like what is written in a poem: some people are dead, but he is still alive, some people are alive, but he is already dead...
When I read this poem, I felt something strange.
I still agreed. I really wanted to know whether Liu Xiaojing was dead or alive. I couldn't explain it, and Master Yun Zheng didn't give me a convincing explanation, so I had to find out for myself.
