Chapter nine 1
To be honest, after taking this job from the Tan family, Mu Linfeng had been feeling uneasy, because it was his first time officially working as a "Geda", and it was normal to have this kind of mentality, so Mu Linfeng didn't take it too seriously.
In most cases, the inexplicable uneasiness in a person's heart is likely a warning from the inner subconscious mind, which is what people often call the sixth sense. In fact, before a big danger comes, people will be alert, and their inner intuition will remind us to pay attention, but this warning is easily ignored.
Everyone can calm down and recall some major changes or sudden accidents you have experienced. Did you feel a moment of uneasiness in your heart beforehand, but you ignored it. In fact, intuition is a special ability given to everyone by God, but it has degenerated due to lack of use.
This time, Mu Linfeng almost caused a disaster because he ignored the warning in his heart. From the time he promised Boss Tan to hold a funeral for his father, everything went smoothly. The cemetery was chosen well, and the time when Mr. Tan died was also auspicious.
The time of death of an old man also implies different good and bad luck, and there are different ways to eliminate evil and disasters. Death before breakfast in the morning like Mr. Tan is considered the best time, which means leaving three meals for descendants, commonly known as "leaving three meals", so that descendants can have three meals a day. If he dies after breakfast, it indicates that his descendants will have the bad luck of running out of food. The most taboo in the local area is that the old man dies after dinner, because the deceased will take away three meals a day, indicating that the descendants are in danger of becoming beggars. In this case, you must ask a "Geda" to ward off evil, and many additional contents need to be added during the funeral process, and the cost of asking a "Geda" will naturally increase.
After the deceased is offered a "first meal", there are a lot of complicated matters to be done. First, a respected elder in the family is recommended to be the "general manager" to arrange the helpers. Funerals are different from other activities. The family members have to cry and accompany the spirit. All the tedious matters must be done by the villagers who help, which requires a general manager to command and deploy the personnel.
Whether the entire funeral can be completed smoothly, two people play a key role, one is the "Geda" who is responsible for etiquette, and the other is the general manager who is responsible for affairs. The Tan family has a high prestige in the local area, and it should be the largest funeral in the county, so this general manager is very important.
The old man once left a message to Boss Tan that the funeral should be conducted according to the customs of the village and try not to disturb outside friends. Therefore, Boss Tan did not make the news of his father's death public, otherwise he would be overwhelmed by the calls from business friends alone.
Now there are two things that need to be done at the same time. The first thing is to send the obituary. On the day of the death, someone should be arranged to announce the death to relatives and friends. The obituary is also called "rushing to tell", which means to rush to tell others. The obituary should state the birth and death years of the deceased and the time of the funeral.
After receiving the news of the death, the relatives must immediately set out on the road to go home, which is called "Running to the funeral". The "Book of Rites - Running to the funeral" stipulates: "Running to the funeral must travel a hundred miles a day, not at night. Only in the case of the death of parents, they should travel when they see the stars and leave when they see the stars."
Friends and colleagues other than relatives should go to the funeral to pay their respects, also known as condolences, after receiving the obituary.
In the lives of ordinary people, the most important thing to follow etiquette is funerals. If the etiquette is not properly grasped during the entire funeral process, it will cause great trouble and even cause conflicts within the family or between relatives. When disputes arise in local rural areas, the words people say most are "relatives, reason and morality", so there are two words here "relatives" that must be understood clearly.
If we break down the word "relatives" into two parts, "relatives" refers to blood relations within the clan, while "relatives" refers to blood relations outside the clan. Therefore, these two types of blood relations are sometimes distinguished by the terms "relatives" and "relatives".
Because it is a patriarchal clan society, the family is established by male relationships, so those who are related by blood to men are called relatives. Those who are related by blood to women are called relatives, such as the people from the grandmother's family, the wife's family, the son's and grandson's daughter-in-law's family, and the married daughter's husband's family, all of which are relatives.
The reason why these two types of blood relations are clearly distinguished here is that there are great differences between these two types of people during the funeral process. When an old person dies, the relatives receive the news and are called "rushing to the funeral" and have to accompany the spirit. The relatives, on the other hand, are "watching the funeral" and do not need to accompany the spirit after paying homage. During the funeral procession, the relatives only pay homage on the way and do not follow to the cemetery.
The second thing to do after the death of an elderly person is to erect flags and set up a mourning hall at home, preparing to receive relatives and friends who come to mourn and pay their respects.
The purpose of raising flags is to let outsiders know who the deceased is. The Book of Rites says: "Ming means to make the deceased known. The deceased cannot be identified, so flags are used to identify him."
However, nowadays, instead of raising flags, the content is written on a piece of white paper one meter square, pasted on a wooden board, and erected at the entrance of the alley outside the gate. The content of the inscription is also particular. The "Book of Rites: Notes on Mourning Clothes" states: "The inscription is written again, from the emperor to the scholars, the words are the same. Men write their names, women write their surnames and brothers, if the surname is unknown, then write their clan names."
In the courtyard in front of the main hall, a mourning shed is erected, in which an incense table and a spirit tablet are set up to replace the deceased's spirit tablet, symbolizing the deceased's soul, for relatives and friends to come and pay homage. Relatives also accompany the deceased in this mourning shed. However, male and female relatives are separated when accompanying the deceased, with female relatives accompanying the deceased in the main hall and male relatives in the mourning shed in the courtyard.
The above matters were arranged by the general manager, and now there was a very important matter that Mu Linfeng had to do personally, which was the third step in the tomb selection process, "asking for soil". The rough land had been found this morning, and the acupuncture points had been selected. The next step was to break the soil and dig the hole, which was also a tedious etiquette process that had to be supervised by Mu Linfeng himself.
"Inviting the soil" must be done in the morning. It is already ten o'clock, so we have to do it as soon as possible. The most troublesome part of this process is to prepare the offerings, which require two teas, two wines, two rices and three animals. The three animals refer to pigs, cows and sheep. The heads of these three animals are used as sacrifices. Fortunately, there is a butcher in the village, and he quickly prepared the three animals.
The eldest brother, Tan, dealt with the external affairs at home, while the second brother followed Mu Linfeng to the cemetery selected by the village to ask for soil. There were also five or six strong young men , who carried offerings and brought farm tools for digging, including shovels, hoes, iron teeth and other tools.
After arriving at the place where Mu Linfeng had pressed the acupoint in the morning, they set up the altar facing southwest, placed all the offerings in place, then lit a bunch of incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner, and the earth-inviting ceremony officially began.
First, burn the paper money you brought as money to the god of land. After Mu Linfeng performed the ritual of worship, he began to chant loudly: "The vitality of heaven and earth, connecting to the southern mountains and the four seas in the north. The position of this place is in harmony with the sky above and the nine palaces below. The yang and yin are harmonious, the soil is thick and the water is deep. It is as valuable as a thousand chariots and as rich as ten thousand gold. Its movements and movements accumulate energy and give birth to all things..."
After reading the scriptures, Mu Linfeng guided Tan Laoer to kneel down in the four directions and ask the land god to accept the old man's body and soul.
"Human beings are the primordial Yang Qi of heaven and earth. The body carries the Qi, and the Qi fills the body. One body and one Qi, that is, one Yin and one Yang. After death, the soul rises, and the spirit descends, circulating in the earth..."
After the worship, Mu Linfeng directed a young man to use a hoe to dig a "circle" around the hole. Tan Laoer followed beside him, holding a gourd filled with rice, and spreading the rice while digging. The circled land belonged to the person buried, which was the final place for a person to settle down, and was also called the "forbidden land."
However, when the hoe dug up the ground , Mu Linfeng was shocked. He hurriedly asked the young man to stop. He reached out and grabbed a handful of the newly dug soil. He saw that the excavated soil was actually black in color. So he asked the people around him: "Is the soil here all this color?"
The young man shook his head and said, "It's all yellow soil here. I've never seen this kind of black soil before."
The people who participated in the land request felt incredible and gathered around. Among the more than ten people, except for Mu Linfeng, Gao Hongjin and Xiao San, they were all from the village. Everyone talked about it. No one had ever seen black soil around the village. This piece of land was surrounded by vegetable fields. They often turned the land here and found black soil...
Mu Linfeng felt that something was strange. Suddenly, he smelled a faint scent of ink. He bent down and grabbed a handful of the black soil that he had just dug up. He rubbed it in his palm. A black mark was immediately left on his palm. It was obvious that ink had seeped into the soil.
Mu Linfeng's first feeling was that someone was behind this. In front of so many people, Mu Linfeng did not say anything. Instead, he pulled Tan Laoer aside, stretched out his hand in front of him, and whispered, "Look, what is this?"
"Ah, it's ink! Why is this happening?" Tan Lao Er asked in surprise, seeming a little unconvinced.
This situation is likely that someone is taking revenge on the Tan family. The Tan brothers have such a big business that they will inevitably offend a few people. Mu Linfeng pondered for a moment and asked softly, "Do you brothers have any enemies outside?"
Tan Lao Er shook his head and said ambiguously: "Probably not . Although my eldest brother has had some unpleasant experiences outside these years, he wouldn't let anyone do such a thing..."
At this point, Tan Lao Er paused for a moment, then asked in confusion: "Master Mu, what is the purpose of someone doing this?"
"This morning I said that there are three auspicious things about a tomb. The second auspicious thing is five earths and four preparations. The five earths refer to the five colors of the earth, which also represent the five elements. The five elements are in the earth. When gold condenses, it turns white. When wood condenses, it turns green. When fire condenses, it turns yellow. All of them are auspicious. Only black is ominous. In the Five Elements, yellow is the color of earth, so pure colors are also auspicious. Now someone has deliberately dyed the earth here black. The purpose of doing this is very simple, which is to turn this precious land into an ominous land and prevent people from building tombs here..."
At this time, Mu Linfeng had not yet realized that someone was doing this to him, and only thought that it was targeting the Tan brothers.
"Master Mu, what do you think we should do?" Before Mu Linfeng finished speaking, Tan Lao Er asked anxiously. It was obvious that he was still worried that this matter would spread and be detrimental to the reputation of their brothers.
Mu Linfeng calmed himself down and nervously thought about the unexpected situation. This area was marked out just a few hours ago. This person was obviously familiar with their actions. In addition, the person who knew how to destroy this land must be very proficient in tomb-viewing skills and very clear about the five soils and four preparations of auspicious tombs, otherwise he would not have come up with such a vicious plan.
Thinking of this, Mu Linfeng suddenly remembered the person that Boss Tan had asked him to build a tomb in the southwest of the village. This person should be the biggest suspect, but Boss Tan said that he didn't know this person... Who is behind this?
Seeing that Mu Linfeng didn't say anything, Tan Lao Er hurriedly asked again: "Master Mu, what do you think we should do? Everyone is waiting for your words."
It was then that Mu Linfeng noticed that more than a dozen people were looking at them, so he and Tan Laoer returned to the designated area. Mu Linfeng stood in the middle and looked around. They had already offered sacrifices here, and it would be very unlucky if they changed places.
Now I can't explain the reason to everyone, I have to think of a solution. To be honest, this kind of thing has not been recorded in the "Tomb-Looking Notes" left by the ancestors. Mu Linfeng knows that he can only rely on himself to find a solution.
Mu Linfeng's eyes swept across the hills behind him, and an idea suddenly came to his mind. He said to Tan Laoer, "Don't you two brothers want to build a luxurious tomb for the old man? God intends to fulfill your wish."
Tan Lao Er immediately revealed a look of surprise: "Master Mu, please let me know."
Mu Linfeng didn't say much. He called a man with a shovel over and said to him, "Please dig where I'm standing and see how deep you can dig out the loess."
"Okay." The man agreed and immediately started digging the soil with a shovel. After digging about thirty centimeters, there was clean yellow soil underneath.
Mu Linfeng grabbed a handful of fresh loess and took a look. He saw that the soil was fine, moist but not shiny. Facing the sunlight, it sparkled with a crystal luster. It looked like stone but not stone, like cutting fat and jade. It was definitely top-grade soil. This was indeed a good place to make a longevity grave.
Mu Linfeng hurriedly called two more people over and asked them to dig the soil outwards in a cross shape with the excavated area as the center point to see how big the area stained by ink was.
The results came out very quickly. An area with a diameter of about ten meters was stained with ink, which happened to be the range circled by several people in the morning. It was obvious that someone had deliberately destroyed this place.
Mu Linfeng said to Tan Laoer, "There is a way to solve this problem. Send an excavator to dig out all the stained soil, then use a car to transport it outside the mountain and dump it, and build a large tomb here. Whoever did this must have never thought that it could help us."
"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to move the excavator and dump truck into the mountains right away." As he spoke, Tan Laoer took out his cell phone and started making a call.
After Tan Lao Er made the call, Mu Linfeng said to him, "From now on, until the funeral is over, someone must be arranged to guard here 24 hours a day. Don't make any more mistakes."
Tan Lao Er also felt the seriousness of the situation and nodded vigorously: "I understand. I will arrange a few people to guard here all the time."
However, what Mu Linfeng didn't expect was that while everything was fine at the cemetery, something big happened at home...
After the grave was dug, it was already afternoon, and the next step was to "build the grave", but it was too late to do so today. Because building the grave also requires choosing a time, and then you can ask the mason to build the grave with the best blue bricks. Then the family burned paper money, put it in the "soul-calling bag", and then put it in the grave, which is called "paper road ash".
Mu Linfeng told Tan Laoer to arrange for someone to cover the dug tomb with a huge rain cloth to prevent the tomb from getting wet at night. Because the water inside the tomb is damp and the water outside is rainy, which is a haunted house. Therefore, the dug tomb cannot see any water vapor. Once the tomb is dug, the most feared thing is rain. If rainwater flows into the auspicious tomb, it will be destroyed.
After finishing these things at the cemetery, it was already evening when Mu Linfeng and Xiao San returned to the Tan family. The mourning shed in the courtyard had been set up long ago, and candles were lit in the shed to make it easier for the dead to enjoy the offerings.
Gao Hongjin had already disappeared long ago. This guy was very slippery. Whenever there was hard work to do, he would hide aside and would only show up when there was nothing to do.
Boss Tan had already heard about the incident at the cemetery. After Mu Linfeng finished his dinner, he quietly called him to the small house next door and asked him about what had happened.
Mu Linfeng briefly explained the matter, and then said to Boss Tan: "Boss Tan, I suspect this matter is related to the young man who came to you half a year ago, because people who don't understand tomb physiognomy will not come up with such a method to destroy the cemetery, and the ink may not have been poured in this morning..."
"Master Mu, do you mean that this matter was premeditated?" Boss Tan asked in surprise.
Mu Linfeng nodded gently without saying anything, because there were some things he couldn't say more about. This person's behavior was no different from digging up someone's ancestral grave, which was an act that the common people hated. If there was no deep hatred, he would never do such a thing.
Boss Tan pondered for a moment, then continued, "I will immediately arrange to track down that person and find out who is against me."
Seeing that Boss Tan could still control his emotions in this situation, Mu Linfeng secretly admired him. He was indeed a man who had experienced many ups and downs. In order not to distract him too much, Mu Linfeng changed the subject: "Boss Tan, have you discussed how to prioritize the old man's 'business'?"
"Oh, I was going to tell you about this, too. Several elders in the family have discussed it, and my father is over 80 years old, so it's a happy funeral, and we're going to arrange a seven-day mourning period. What do you think?"
Mu Linfeng counted on his fingers and found that if the seventh day was arranged, the funeral would be held in six days. That day happened to conflict with Mr. Tan's horoscope, so Mu Linfeng was stunned for a moment. And because of what happened in the cemetery today, he suddenly felt vaguely that Mr. Tan's funeral seemed not to be so smooth.
Boss Tan saw that Mu Linfeng didn't say anything, so he asked softly: "Master Mu, is there any problem?"
"Mr. Tan, please don't be offended if I say too much."
Boss Tan waved his hands hastily and said, "I invited Master Mu here because I trust you. Just tell me what you want to say."
"If it is arranged on the seventh day, the time of the seventh day happens to conflict with the old man's horoscope..." Mu Linfeng stopped here and did not continue.
"Oh!" Boss Tan was slightly stunned, then asked, "What ranking do you think is best, Master Mu?"
Mu Linfeng counted on his fingers, then looked at Boss Tan and said, "The third is the most suitable time."
"This..." Boss Tan bowed his head and pondered for a moment, then said to Mu Linfeng, "I can't make the decision on this matter. I need to discuss it with my aunt and a few elders. They have to make the decision."
What Boss Tan said was the truth. No matter how high your official position is or how much money you have, you must listen to the family elders when it comes to your parents' funeral. This must not be messed up, otherwise it will be considered treason.
Mu Linfeng nodded: "Well, we should listen to the elders. They have to make the decision on this matter."
