First Chapter 34 Where did Yuan Zhen go?
I was really confused by what Qin Yiheng said, so I quickly asked him where Yuan Zhen had gone. However, he took a deep puff of his cigarette and told me to get ready, as we must leave for that place as soon as possible.
Seeing that he didn't answer the question, I asked again. He shook his head and said that he had never been to that place and couldn't describe what it was like. He just told me to go to bed early and recharge my energy. I had no choice but to lie down on the bed.
Lying in bed, I began to think that the things I had experienced recently seemed to be getting weirder and weirder. Take Qin Yiheng for example. I always felt like he seemed to know something but refused to tell me.
Although I was very curious, he refused to speak. I couldn't get an answer even if I asked him further. I thought about it over and over again and finally got so overwhelmed that I simply went to sleep. But the next morning, just after daybreak, Qin Yiheng woke me up and told me to hurry up and prepare things.
This was not the first time that such a situation had happened. Although I was very sleepy, I was able to sit up with all my strength, washed my face briefly, and ate something. Finally, I was a little more awake, and followed Qin Yiheng out to prepare the necessary items. Unexpectedly, he first took me to an insurance company and bought a large life insurance policy for each of us. Seeing him make such a big fuss, I was a little panicked. Could it be that the place we were going to this time was extremely dangerous? Although the previous house was dangerous and caused us some trouble, we finally got through it safely. Although Qin Yiheng could not guarantee my safety 100%, at least he had no problem protecting himself.
Thinking of this, I became . I was so nervous before I even set off. Qin Yiheng's face showed nothing, but he seldom spoke on the way. I have been with him for so long, and I have some understanding of him. I feel that he is also very nervous now, but he doesn't show it.
After buying the insurance, we went to an outdoor goods store to buy a full set of hiking equipment, and then we split up. He went to prepare some essential items for the art, while I went to the supermarket to buy a lot of compressed dry food and canned food. Finally, we got together, filled two large backpacks, and took a taxi to the airport.
Qin Yiheng had booked a flight in advance, but the flight was scheduled for the evening. Since it was still early, I tried to ask him some questions, hoping to find out something he was hiding from me. But he just reminded me that I might as well conserve because the journey ahead would be difficult, so I had no choice but to keep quiet.
Qin Yiheng was right. After we got off the plane, we immediately boarded a train, and then took a small bus that traveled between cities and towns. It was two days later when we finally got off the bus.
Along the way, Qin Yiheng seldom spoke, and I was so bored that I could only play games on my phone. But I didn't expect the road to be even more abnormal after getting off the bus. Qin Yiheng said that he had originally planned to meet some passing tractors or something that could take us in, but he didn't expect it to be the busy farming season. We didn't meet any rides along the way, and finally walked for a long time before we reached a village.
This village is very remote, with only a few families, but the surrounding fields are not small, with endless crops as far as the eye can see. Qin Yiheng paid some money, and we temporarily settled down in a fellow villager's house. The family's surname is Ma, and the family is not prosperous, just an old couple and a son who is said to work in the city.
Normally, it is rare to see outsiders in a village like this, so Lao Ma was quite curious about the two of us and kept asking us questions.
Qin Yiheng could answer a few questions at first, but later he got tired of being asked and simply lay down and pretended to sleep. I really enjoyed chatting with Lao Ma, so I asked about the situation in the village.
Lao Ma said: "Although their village has good crops, it is relatively remote and the township is unwilling to build a road for the village because of its small population, so life is still quite tight. I said that at worst the village can raise funds to build the road itself, which can be regarded as a long-term investment once and for all."
But Lao Ma told me mysteriously, "They have thought of this method, and the villagers agree, but the road just can't be built. After saying this, he asked me in a sarcastic tone, "Do you know why the road can't be built?"
This question confused me. It was strange that an outsider like me could know this. Unexpectedly, before Lao Ma could say anything, Qin Yiheng interrupted and said, "Is it because you are near the gates of hell? Apart from growing crops, anyone who moves the soil will die."
Lao Ma looked shocked, and I was also stunned.
Qin Yiheng sat up and continued, "This so-called Ghost Gate, or the pass of the underworld, is said to be opened on Ghost Festival, letting the ghosts in the underworld out for a stroll, visiting relatives and friends, etc. However, there are different opinions on the specific location of the Ghost Gate. However, this is also normal, because the Ghost Gate is not actually a pass in the legend. To put it bluntly, it is a Yin cave in Feng Shui. What does Yin cave mean? It is because of the rotation of Feng Shui in the world. There must be good places and bad places. In short, it is a garbage station for evil spirits. There are too many such places. In fact, from the planning when the city was built in ancient times, these places have long been excluded. Therefore, even if there are similar places in the city, they are nothing compared to them. There are many such Yin caves all over the country. People living around them, although they have no intuitive feeling, will inevitably be affected by them. This is why many places reported have good potential, but few people have developed them, and the places that have been developed have never been popular."
Qin Yiheng spoke very quickly, but I could understand the general idea. What he meant was that there might be such a Yin cave next to this village. In this way, I didn't understand his intention of bringing me here.
Old Ma seemed to understand something and nodded quickly. However, he didn't say much. He just said it was getting late, so he would go prepare dinner for us and left the house.
As soon as Lao Ma left, I asked Qin Yiheng, "Did he bring me here to find the Yin Cave?"
He shook his head and told me, "We are here to visit an ancestral temple." I frowned when I heard that. After all this time, he still took me to see the house. Could it be that there is an ancestral temple for their family here, and he brought me here to worship the ancestors? I believe everyone knows what this ancestral temple means. It is a place to worship ancestors. In fact, it has similar functions to temples and Taoist temples, but one is to worship gods and the other is to worship one's own ancestors. Many famous families have such places. First, worshipping can bless the family's prosperity and well-being; second, it is also a symbol of a family. Although many families have the custom of worshipping their ancestors, few can afford to build ancestral temples.
So I asked Qin Yiheng, "What does this ancestral hall look like?" He still shook his head and told me, "If nothing unexpected happens, I will know tonight."
At dinner, Lao Ma prepared some farm dishes for us, which were quite delicious. After we were full, Qin Yiheng asked me to pack up and we set off as soon as possible. So I followed him and walked along the path outside the village with my backpack on my back. The moonlight that night was surprisingly bright and the visibility was very high, so I didn't need to use a flashlight. After walking for about 20 to 30 minutes, Qin Yiheng suddenly stopped, turned around and called me, pointing to a place not far away. After he pointed, I saw that the path ahead was split into two, and one of the paths meandered into a forest.
Qin Yiheng said that it was probably over there, and reminded me to be careful. After that, he gave me a wooden stick and told me to follow him. If I felt something was wrong with my body, I should prick my palm with the stick.
I was stunned when I heard this and quickly asked him if we had encountered something. Qin Yiheng curled his lips and asked me if I hadn't noticed that there were red ropes tied around Lao Ma's ankles. I recalled that I really hadn't noticed it.
Qin Yiheng went on to say that the two ropes were not simply red ropes. Usually, red ropes were used to ward off evil spirits and were relatively thin. Few people were willing to carry thick red ropes like those used in Chinese knots. The ropes on Lao Ma's feet were not only very thick, but also tied in such a strange position. If he was not mistaken, the red ropes were filled with the hair of children who died before the age of 18, and the red ropes were just wrapped around the outside. This kind of rope is called foot binding, which is a kind of magic. It is usually used to tie up livestock to prevent them from being taken away by greedy ghosts outside at night, but it is extremely rare to use it on people. It's not that their village can't build roads, but that people who are tied with foot bindings can never leave the village. If he guessed correctly , Lao Ma would probably be dead a long time ago.
After hearing what he said, I immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Not a living person? The implication is that Lao Ma is a dead person? But how can a dead person be so lifelike? I thought about it. It is true that many places have the custom of tying thick red ropes around the ankles of corpses before burying them, but that is to tie the legs together, the purpose is to prevent the corpse from resurrecting. So we often see zombies in movies and TV dramas with their legs together, jumping forward. In fact, most of the reason is not because the corpse is stiff, but because the legs have been trapped by the red rope and cannot move. But, then again, that was the era of burial. Now cremation has been implemented for a long time. Although many places in rural areas still maintain the custom of burial, after all, even if Lao Ma is a zombie, damn, he is not so vivid, right?
Qin Yiheng shook his head and said that this is different from zombies. Because China is so vast, the customs in different places are not the same, but most areas have the habit of keeping vigil, that is, people are not buried directly after death, but light the soul-keeping lamp and keep the body for three or seven days. In fact, this is simple to say. From a metaphysical point of view, it is to let the soul of the deceased not be in a hurry to disperse, so that they can take another look at their nostalgic family members, so as to avoid the occurrence of things that linger after death and trouble their families. The reason why people are sent to guard the corpse is also to avoid accidentally letting spiritual things touch the corpse and cause a real corpse. From a scientific point of view, this can actually verify whether the deceased is a fake death, so as to avoid the death of the deceased by hasty burial. This happens from time to time in many areas where there is no such custom. That is, after the death of this person, he was buried in a hurry, and the result was a fake death, and he was finally suffocated to death in the coffin. There are also some coincidences. People who hear the movement from the new grave think that it is a corpse resurrecting. In fact, it is also very likely that the deceased has woken up and kept hitting the coffin board. But Lao Ma was completely different from those people. To say that he was not a living person meant that the soul in his body was probably not his own. In short, he was possessed by something, and someone used magic to stabilize it in his body.
In such an environment, I listened to his long speech, even though his voice was very soft, but I still felt a little scared. If this is the case, if Lao Ma had put something in the food, we would have stayed here tonight.
Qin Yiheng was quite optimistic, saying that the food should be fine, because Lao Ma also ate with us at that time, and we should go to the ancestral hall as soon as possible. After that, he led the way and turned into the small road. Before, I had vaguely seen the roof of the building from the direction he pointed, and it felt like it should be a large building, but I didn't expect that after walking through the woods for more than ten minutes, I was still surprised when I actually walked in front of the house.
This house is really magnificent. Although it is not as big as a palace, it must be one of the best in the ancestral halls. This family must be a wealthy family, otherwise no one would have such a big heart to build such a thing.
Qin Yiheng did not take me forward immediately, but asked me to hide in the bushes nearby and wait and see. I took a thorough look at the house in the moonlight. The building was very high, but I could not be sure whether it was a multi-story building, because many single-story buildings would be built like this for the sake of style. The roof was all black tiles, but it could also be blue. After all, the distance was far and it was night, so the color would definitely be different.
These are similar to most ancestral halls. The only strange thing is that the color of the walls is not ordinary gray or white. Instead, it is very mottled, with some white and some yellow, which looks a bit out of place.
I was a little surprised and asked Qin Yiheng, usually, in order to show solemnity, most of these ancestral halls would paint the exterior walls in white or gray? Why is this house so strange?
Qin Yiheng was also very puzzled, but he couldn't explain why. He just took me to watch for a while. Seeing that there was no movement in the house, he asked me to follow him and sneak over.
