Chapter nine 2
"Master Mu, please have some tea and wait for a while. I'll be back soon." With that, Boss Tan stood up and walked out.
It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening when Boss Tan came back. He had been gone for more than two hours. It seemed that the elders of the Tan family must be very cautious about changing the funeral time. Boss Tan said to Mu Linfeng in an apologetic tone: "I'm sorry for being gone for so long. Master Mu, do you think it's okay to arrange the five elements? This is what my aunt wanted... She wanted to invite some monks and Taoists to chant sutras..."
Mu Linfeng knew that this matter made Boss Tan very embarrassed, and he didn't know what to say. This kind of thing was largely done for outsiders to see, that is, for face.
For the Tan brothers, whose assets exceed 100 million and who are very wealthy, if their father's funeral is not grand enough, they will be gossiped by the villagers, and outsiders do not know the inside story, and such things are difficult to explain to people, so being ranked fifth is the minimum that the elders of the Tan family can accept.
"Well, I'll do my best to resolve some of the conflicts."
Hearing Mu Linfeng say this, Boss Tan showed a look of gratitude and said excitedly: "Thank you, Master Mu. When I'm done with everything, I will definitely come to your house to thank you."
"Mr. Tan, it's too polite to say that. This is also my job. Since I have accepted this job, I must do it well from beginning to end."
"Master Mu, although this is the first time I deal with you, I can see that you are an honest person. I am determined to make you my friend." Boss Tan said sincerely.
"Okay, I'd love to be able to make friends with someone like Mr. Tan..."
Having said that, Mu Linfeng stood up and said to Boss Tan, "Let's go to the main hall to burn some incense for the old man and add some lamp oil." The reason why Mu Linfeng wanted to do this was because he had always had a vague feeling of uneasiness in his heart, as if something was going to happen tonight.
The two men came out of the west room and saw Xiaosan sitting on a stool outside the door. Seeing the two men come out, Xiaosan hurriedly stood up and followed them into the main room. Tan Laoer and his two uncles were guarding the body here. Seeing the two men come in, they hurriedly stood up.
Boss Tan said to his three brothers, "You all go and take a rest. I'll be guarding here."
Seeing that none of them wanted to leave, Mu Linfeng persuaded them, "It's better for everyone to take turns to rest. There are still several nights left. It's unbearable to waste time here like this."
After hearing what Mu Linfeng said, Tan Lao Er asked his two brothers to go to the next room to sleep for a while. Only Tan Lao Da, Mu Linfeng and Xiao San were left in the main room.
Mr. Tan's body was lying on the coffin on the west side of the main hall, with a piece of yellow paper covering his face. His ankles were tied with hemp ropes, and his feet were wrapped with white paper. Before the coffin was put into the coffin, the feet of the deceased could not be spread apart, in order to prevent the deceased's soul from running around. The hemp ropes and the white paper used to bind his feet were removed during the coffin, otherwise the deceased would not be able to walk in the underworld and would become a lame ghost.
At the head of Mr. Tan there is a small low table with offerings and an eternal lamp made of a small dish on it. The lamp burns fragrant oil. Because the dish is very shallow, fragrant oil needs to be added from time to time. The purpose of doing this is also to make the people who keep vigil carefully look after the corpse, perform filial piety meticulously, and not treat the dead lightly.
Boss Tan carefully added scented oil to the eternal lamp, muttering something softly. In addition to the eternal lamp in the main room, there were two candles beside it. Electric lights could not be turned on during the night watch, as too bright light would disturb the soul of the deceased. The dark room seemed a bit eerie. The temperature in the mountains dropped sharply in the middle of the night, making people feel a bit chilly.
Mu Linfeng noticed that Zhang Xiaosan always hid behind him. It seemed that Zhang Xiaosan was not used to guarding the corpse at night. A normal person would feel a little strange when being in such an environment for the first time. It was difficult for people to accept a person without signs of life. It seemed that they always felt that the corpse lying there would suddenly sit up.
At this time, a breeze blew in from the door, and the candlelight swayed in the breeze. The human figure cast on the wall also swayed, as if it were a ghost.
The breeze blew the yellow paper covering the old man's face up and down, revealing his pale face from time to time. Most people would feel a little scared when seeing this scene.
Mu Linfeng hurried over and stretched out his hand to hold down the yellow paper to prevent it from lifting up. He could feel the cold body under his palm, but there was no fear in Mu Linfeng's heart. In his mind, a dead person was no different from the table, chair, and bench next to him. They were just lifeless objects. If you look at everything in the world with an open mind, there will be nothing to fear...
Seeing the fear in Xiao San's eyes, Mu Linfeng said to him softly: "Go find Master Gao and get some sleep."
Xiao San held the bag containing Ah Huang in both hands and shook her head silently. This kid was really good. Whenever he came out, he would follow Mu Linfeng silently and do what he was supposed to do seriously.
Seeing that Xiao San didn't want to leave, Mu Linfeng didn't say much, because if Xiao San followed him in the future, she would have to pass this hurdle. How could she be a "knot" if she was afraid of seeing a corpse.
Three people sat on a small wooden stool next to the corpse. Boss Tan and Mu Linfeng chatted in low voices. More than two hours passed unknowingly. Just when Mu Linfeng felt a little tired, a few dogs barked suddenly from the neighbor's house behind the house, and then the dogs of the neighbors on both sides also started barking.
Boss Tan and Mu Linfeng looked at each other at the same time. The sudden barking of a dog in the dead of night must have meant an animal had entered the village.
When keeping vigil, the most feared thing is to encounter such unexpected disturbances, especially during the period before the body is buried. It is most taboo to have animals approach, especially cats and other animals. Once an animal jumps over the body, the animal's yang energy will rush into the body, and if this happens, the body will resurrect and become a zombie.
Boss Tan listened with his ear tilted, then slowly stood up. It seemed that he wanted to go out to the yard to check.
Mu Linfeng still sat on the small bench without moving, but his eyes followed Boss Tan's body. Boss Tan was sitting at the head of the old man's body. After Boss Tan stood up, Mu Linfeng looked up at him inadvertently.
Just as Boss Tan was about to turn around and leave, Mu Linfeng suddenly heard a slight creaking sound from the roof. He looked up and saw a bright light falling from the roof...
Without any time to think, Mu Linfeng instinctively acted quickly and grabbed the object that fell from the roof. It turned out to be a copper chisel that was more than a foot long. The direction in which the copper chisel fell was right at the chest of Mr. Tan's body...
Although Mu Linfeng acted quickly, because he was sitting next to the old man and was very low, the tip of the brazing rod still pierced the chest of the corpse. If Mu Linfeng had not reacted quickly, this copper brazing rod weighing more than a pound would have definitely pierced through the corpse.
The moment Mu Linfeng grabbed the copper rod, he suddenly felt that it was very hot. His heart suddenly lifted up, and then he understood the purpose of someone taking this copper rod down... Mr. Tan was born in the Year of the Metal, and the metal element is prosperous. Someone inserted this hot copper rod into the corpse for only one purpose, which was to cause the corpse to transform...
Mu Linfeng's palm was burned so hard by the copper chisel that he couldn't help but scream "Ah" and quickly threw the copper chisel to the ground. The tip of the chisel pierced the tiles on the floor with a "pop" sound, and then it was firmly inserted there, and the upper part was still shaking.
All this happened in the blink of an eye. Boss Tan looked at Mu Linfeng with wide eyes and asked in astonishment: "Master Mu! What happened?"
"Hurry, there's someone on the roof..."
Before Mu Linfeng finished speaking, he saw the corpse lying on the door suddenly sit up, with its upper body standing straight, its two arms mechanically opened, and then suddenly closed into its arms... What Mu Linfeng was worried about finally happened. The corpse was pierced by the hot copper rod and turned into a corpse...
There are many reasons for corpse transformation. One of them is caused by the impact of one of the five elements. However, this kind of corpse transformation is rare because the five elements that impact the corpse must exactly match the five elements of the corpse itself.
The five elements that make up the human body are originally balanced with each other. Only a very small number of people will have a certain element of qi that is particularly strong. If they are impacted by this kind of five elements, it is like adding fuel to the fire, causing the body to change into a corpse...
The "Grave Notes" left by Mu Ji's ancestors had recorded the occurrence of such things. Such situations were mostly caused by human factors, and only people who were proficient in the principles of yin and yang could create such corpse transformations. The situations encountered by the ancestors of the Mu family were all caused by someone's conspiracy, so Mu Linfeng suddenly realized that he was also being plotted against.
At this time Mu Linfeng still had some suspicion that he had been ambushed by someone. He thought to himself that it seemed unlikely because he had just come out of retirement and had never had any grudges with anyone. How could someone ambushed him?
At this time, the corpse has stood up straight, and because the feet of the corpse are tied up with hemp ropes, it can only jump forward straight. Because zombies only appear before the body is buried, the possibility of zombies appearing after being sealed in the coffin is very small. At this time, the feet of the corpse are tied up, so it can jump straight forward. The scene of zombies jumping in the movie is real.
Mu Linfeng was not panicked by the unexpected situation, because he knew that the transformed zombies would only move forward in a straight line, and as long as he was not hugged by the zombies' arms, he would be fine. However, if he was hugged by a zombie, he would be dead for sure. The solution at this time was to throw a pillow or a broom into the zombie's arms, let the zombie hug tightly, and then use a dung shovel or a dung broom to push it down, and the transformation would be broken.
At this time, there were only Mu Linfeng, Xiao San and Boss Tan in the main room. After seeing the corpse suddenly stand up, Xiao San was the most frightened. He quickly dodged to the wall, hugged the bag to his chest with both hands, and his body trembled...Because Mu Linfeng was here, Xiao San was afraid but he could still hold on.
When Boss Tan saw his father's body, he did not feel scared because it was his own relative. He hurriedly called out to his father: "Dad, what happened to you? Dad..."
However, zombies cannot hear any response. Zombies are what people often call the walking dead, and they have no thinking consciousness.
Mu Linfeng quickly scanned the house and suddenly saw a large broom standing behind the door. He rushed over, grabbed the broom, turned around and stuffed the broom into the old man's arms.
The old man's arms were like wooden sticks, and he held the broom stiffly without moving.
Mu Linfeng quickly turned around and said to Xiao San: "Quick, give me the mulberry stick."
Because it was his first time to be a "lump", Mu Linfeng brought a lot of things with him. Last night, he considered all the unexpected situations mentioned in the "Tomb-Looking Notes" and brought all the things he needed. He didn't expect to actually use them.
Xiao San quickly took out a mulberry stick from the outer layer of the bag and handed it to Mu Linfeng. It was a 10-centimeter-long, round stick made of mulberry roots. This mulberry stick had been passed down in the hands of the Mu family for many generations, and it had been rubbed smooth and bright. The mulberry stick was a magic weapon specifically for breaking zombies.
After getting the mulberry wood stick, Mu Linfeng quickly stepped forward and hit the old man's chest with the mulberry wood stick. The old man's two arms suddenly dropped down, and the big broom fell to the ground.
Mu Linfeng knew that the corpse had been transformed, so he quickly put one arm around the back of the zombie to prevent it from falling. At the same time, he called Boss Tan to help lift the old man's body and put it back on the spirit bed.
Mu Linfeng first covered the old man's face with yellow paper, and then heaved a sigh of relief. Only then did he feel his back was wet. Although he didn't feel scared just now, he was still nervous and sweating. Thinking back to the thrilling scene, he still felt a lingering fear. Thinking about it carefully, he was still a little scared.
After placing the old man's body, Boss Tan turned around and tried to run outside. Mu Linfeng knew he wanted to check the situation on the roof, so he stopped him, "No need to check. The people up there must have run far away."
It was three o'clock in the morning, a time when people were sleeping, so the commotion just now did not wake anyone up.
Mu Linfeng wiped the sweat from his forehead, then said to Boss Tan and Xiao San: "This matter ends here, don't make it public, just the three of us know about it."
Boss Tan looked at Mu Linfeng excitedly. He was so moved that he didn't know what to say. He kept saying thank you: "Master Mu, thank you... thank you... thank you so much..."
If something like this happened at home, it would be very bad for the reputation of the brothers once it got out, so Boss Tan was particularly grateful for Mu Linfeng's words just now.
Mu Linfeng waved his hand gently: "I said this is my job, no one wants to see this happen..."
As he spoke, Mu Linfeng bent down and pulled out the copper chisel that was still stuck in the ground. This chisel was obviously specially made and polished very brightly. Mu Linfeng looked at it carefully and found some mysterious symbols engraved on both sides of the chisel, which seemed to be oracle bone script. Mu Linfeng guessed that it might be something like a talisman.
Mu Linfeng handed the chisel to Boss Tan and said softly, "It seems that the other party came prepared. The purpose is very clear, that is, to make the old man's body turn into a corpse."
Boss Tan took the brass chisel, frowned as he looked at this unusual object, and said angrily, "Who would do such a cruel thing? Not only did they cause a scene at the cemetery, but they even came to my house!"
Mu Linfeng raised his finger and pointed at the roof, and said softly: "The other party must have left traces on it. I will go up and check it out after dawn. I should find something. If by chance, maybe I can track down something."
"Oh! Master Mu knows tracking skills?" Boss Tan asked in surprise.
Mu Linfeng smiled slightly: "I know a little bit. I learned it from an old squad leader in the army."
Boss Tan fiddled with the chisel in his hand and said worriedly, "Thank goodness Master Mu is here, otherwise it would be troublesome. What do you think we should do next?"
"Mr. Tan, please forgive me for being blunt, but the old man's funeral must be rescheduled to the third day. From the current situation, it seems that someone wants to disrupt the old man's 'official business', so the funeral should be completed as soon as possible, otherwise there will be more trouble, because this person is hiding in the dark, and we will be unable to defend ourselves..."
Boss Tan nodded and said, "Okay, I will convince the elders, and Master Mu will take care of the rest."
After daybreak, Mu Linfeng went around to the back of the old house of the Tan family and soon found the traces left by the man last night. There was an old locust tree more than two meters away from the old house, and the man came from the roof of the old locust tree.
From the footprints left by the tree, Mu Linfeng could tell at a glance that the man was thin, about thirty years old, and very agile and good at climbing.
Mu Linfeng asked Xiaosan to call Mr. Tan here, and then told him the situation he had analyzed and judged, and finally asked: "Does the situation of this person I mentioned match the person who visited Mr. Tan half a year ago?"
Boss Tan stared at Mu Linfeng with eyes wide open, a look of amazement on his face: "It's amazing, that person looks very similar to what Master Mu said, I wonder how you could tell that?"
Mu Linfeng smiled gently, pointed with a branch at a clear footprint one meter away from the locust tree and said, "It is very easy to infer the body shape and height from the footprints. You can tell at a glance. The most difficult thing may be age. You have to judge it by the force line of the sole of the foot..."
As Mu Linfeng spoke, he drew a few lines on the footprints with a branch, and then explained: "For people around 20 years old, the force line of the sole of the foot is on the line of the thumb, and for people around 30 years old, it is on the line of the index finger, and so on... You see, the force line of this footprint is on the line of the index finger, so I infer that this person is in his thirties."
At this point, Mu Linfeng pointed to a mark on the tree trunk with a branch and said, "The first climbing mark on the tree trunk is one and a half meters above the ground, and there are no footprints under the tree, which means that the person climbed up the tree while running. This is enough to prove that this person is agile and good at climbing..."
As Boss Tan listened to Mu Linfeng's explanation, he nodded repeatedly and kept praising, "Very insightful, too insightful. I never thought that Master Mu is also a master of reasoning..."
Mu Linfeng waved his hand and said softly, "It's just a trivial matter. How is the funeral time discussed between Mr. Tan and the elders?"
"Everyone agreed. The elders all know that my brother and I treat our father very well. In fact, filial piety does not necessarily manifest in 'official affairs.' They all said that I should make the decision on this matter."
"Well, I think we can do both the small and large burials at noon today. What do you think?"
"Everything is up to Master Mu. We'll do whatever you think is best." Boss Tan answered readily.
"Then let's go back and prepare now."
As they talked, the three of them walked back together, seizing the time to prepare for two very important steps in the funeral process.
