First Chapter 35: Ancestral Hall
We didn't go directly through the gate, but first slid to the wall. I could see clearly from a close distance that the outer wall was not painted with khaki paint, but many walls were covered with large patches of putty. I touched it with my hand, and the putty was not completely dry yet, so it must have been applied recently. As we all know, putty is not water-resistant. If it is applied and it rains for days, the putty will be washed away. This is very problematic. I thought to myself: "Could it be that someone has painted it recently? But there is no pattern in the places where the putty has been applied."
Qin Yiheng also felt strange, and pondered for a while, then took out a Swiss Army knife from his bag and scraped off the putty, revealing the dark wall. Then he turned around and said to me, there are blood stains here. My mouth opened wide when I heard it, and I looked up and took a quick look. Not to mention other places, there were more than a dozen scattered areas covered by putty on the wall in front of us. If this was really blood, how much would it be!
I asked Qin Yiheng, could it be human blood? If it was human blood, it would be too horrible. Fortunately, he told me that it was most likely cow blood. Many projects, road construction or building construction have the custom of killing cows for sacrifice. But there was so much blood, and many cows were killed, but he couldn't figure out the reason. Putting aside the question of whether to sacrifice alive, just splashing cow blood on the outer wall is a taboo. Blood has a strong evil spirit, isn't it equivalent to splashing it on the face of the ancestors who are being worshipped? We thought about it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. Qin Yiheng had to say, let's go in and take a look, maybe we can find the answer.
We slipped outside the gate and shone the flashlight inside. After entering the gate, there was a small courtyard, and after passing the courtyard was the front door of the ancestral hall. Qin Yiheng told me to try not to make any noise, and he walked in first. As soon as I stepped into the house, I felt like a thief, because in the houses I had been to before, no matter whether it was auspicious or not, I had always obtained the permission of the owner, so I was swaggering. This time I had to sneak around, and I was not used to it. Tiptoeing forward seemed light, but it was actually very physically demanding. Fortunately, the yard was not big, and Qin Yiheng and I quickly reached the door of the ancestral hall. He moved the door, and it was not locked. He frowned a little, turned off the flashlight, and immediately disappeared into the darkness. We had already entered the yard, and the moonlight before was mostly blocked by the eaves, so when I saw him turn off the flashlight, I did the same, and neither of us could see each other clearly.
After a while, my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I saw Qin Yiheng still standing in front of the door, as if thinking about something. I went over and asked him in a low voice, it should be normal for the door of the ancestral hall to be unlocked, after all, there is nothing valuable inside, and it is a remote place, so it is estimated that no one will come to steal.
Qin Yiheng whispered, "That's not the case. I feel like there's resentment in this ancestral hall, and it seems to be quite strong. I was startled when I opened the door just now."
When I heard what he said, my heart jumped into my throat and I quickly asked him what to do now.
Qin Yiheng whispered again: "Didn't I give you a stick? It's made of peach wood. If you go in and feel something wants to get on you, just poke yourself, poke hard, and everything will be fine once it breaks."
I nodded quickly, thinking: 'What he knows are all self-harming moves. But he said it so seriously that I couldn't help but clench my stick tightly.'
Qin Yiheng waited for a while, gestured to me, and then opened the door and went in. I followed him. After entering the ancestral hall, Qin Yiheng did not turn on the flashlight immediately, but held his breath and calmed down for a while before turning on the flashlight. I immediately turned on the flashlight and scanned around.
I shone the flashlight towards the corner first, thinking that if there was anything in the room, it would be hiding in the corner. Seeing that there was nothing in the corner, I felt relieved. Under the flashlight, I saw that the room was very small. It must be the outer hall of the ancestral hall, where people who worshiped their ancestors would change clothes and dust. I shone the flashlight forward, and I was almost scared to death. I saw a bloody man standing in front of me, looking at me without saying a word!
I couldn't help but scream, but before I could make a sound, Qin Yiheng covered my mouth. I thought he didn't see the man, so even though I couldn't make a sound, I kept gesturing with my hands to remind him.
Unexpectedly, he whispered to me, "Don't be nervous, that's not a person, it's a standing Buddha statue." I calmed down, signaled Qin Yiheng to let go, and squatted there to catch my breath. After I caught my breath, I plucked up the courage to shine the flashlight over.
I was in a panic just now and didn't look carefully. Now I shone the light over it and it turned out to be a standing Buddha statue, as tall as a person. However, the Buddha statue was covered with blood. At first glance, it really looked like a bloody person. Although I was a little scared, I couldn't help but be curious and took a closer look. The blood on the Buddha statue had not dried yet, and I could clearly smell the blood when I got closer. I shone the flashlight over it and found that the Buddha's eyes were covered with two leaves and taped with paper. This made me even more curious. Qin Yiheng happened to be checking the Buddha statue closely, so I asked him what was going on.
He leaned in and smelled it, and said, "This is definitely blood, but I'm not sure what kind of blood it is. But judging from the method, it should be black dog blood, and these two leaves are willow leaves."
After Qin Yiheng finished speaking, I became even more puzzled. Why would he splash black dog blood on the Buddha statue?
Qin Yiheng said, everyone must know that this black dog blood can ward off evil spirits, but it also depends on how it is used. Blood is a thing of evil spirits, and black dog blood is simply a thing of urgent evil spirits. Using it to ward off evil spirits is actually equivalent to using urgent evil spirits to fight yin, which means fighting violence with violence. And this Buddha statue was splashed with black dog blood, obviously to attack the spirituality of the Buddha statue and make it lose its function of guarding the house. Covering the eyes is easier to understand. Eyes have a very special cultural position in both world culture and Chinese culture. There is an idiom that says that the finishing touch is the finishing touch. Nowadays, when painters paint the appearance of many artworks or folk products, the last item is mostly eyes. Even the younger brothers who join the club have to be painted by the elder brother himself. This is actually to take the finishing touch to live. Therefore, it is said that people can see ghosts if they cover their eyes with willow leaves that grow against the light all year round. Here, covering the Buddha statue has the same purpose as splashing black dog blood.
Having said this, he paused for a moment, and then continued, saying that this would destroy the order of the house, and that this person wanted to bring in something dirty.
After hearing what Qin Yiheng said, I immediately shuddered. Someone wants to bring in filthy things? But how can this make sense? This is the ancestral temple. Although I haven't seen the spirit tablets yet, at least it is dedicated to the ancestors of this family! Although ancestors are not gods, they can indeed play a role in protecting the house and blessing the descendants. I have heard before that some people have ancestral tablets in their homes, which can actually make noises to scare away thieves. Although I don't know whether this is true or not, it at least shows from the side that the appearance of ancestors is not a lie.
Thinking of this, I looked at the Buddha statue again, and suddenly I seemed to understand something. Could it be that this person had destroyed the ancestral tablets inside in order to bring dirty things in?
While I was thinking, Qin Yiheng had already walked behind the Buddha statue to check the inner room. I also tiptoed over and asked him, "Can you feel the dirt in this room?"
He shook his head, indicating that when he opened the door just now, there was indeed an obvious resentment rushing in, but it disappeared strangely at this moment. Now it seems that he can only take one step at a time and at least go into the inner room first.
After saying that, he pushed the door of the inner room and peeked through the crack, but it was pitch black inside. After hesitating for a moment, he pushed the door a little open and went in.
When I saw him go in, I had to do the same, so I turned sideways and tried to learn how to get in. Usually, our postures are similar when we pass through a narrow space like this, but it depends on personal habits. Some people are used to sticking their heads in first, while others are used to putting their legs in first. I belong to the former, but I didn't expect that as soon as I put my head in, before I could move my legs, I was tripped by something, and I immediately lost my balance and fell into the inner room, knocking the door open.
It hurt me so much when I fell. Qin Yiheng quickly pulled me up from the ground. Now I don't have to sneak around anymore. I made such a big noise when I hit the door. There's no point in hiding. I simply stood up and immediately shone the flashlight behind me to see what was tripping me. I found that it was a very high threshold. Qin Yiheng's movements when he got in were very smooth. I didn't even notice that there was such a high threshold. You must know this threshold. It is usually seen in ancient buildings or antique buildings. Whether from the perspective of metaphysics or ancient etiquette, this threshold actually has a great effect. According to legend, there are special regulations for the height of the threshold. It is said that it can block the entry of wronged ghosts and prevent flow of negative energy into the house. There are even more outrageous sayings that the threshold is just higher than the height of the zombie's vertical jump, so it can also trip up the zombie. The ancient saying that ladies of noble families should not step through the second door actually has this meaning. In ancient times, women’s feet were a very private part that could not be shown to others. Therefore, even if a woman stood inside the door and looked outside, the threshold would just cover her feet.
I remember hearing Qin Yiheng say that this threshold cannot be stepped on because it has been blocking the Yin energy for many years. It is said that people who step on it will have bad luck and their fortunes will be blocked. Thinking of this, I recalled that I should have just tripped and didn't step on it, so my fortune would not be reduced. So, I turned around and wanted to continue following Qin Yiheng. At this time, he had walked to the other side of the room, and the flashlight was sweeping there. I also shone the flashlight over there and found that this room was surprisingly large, about the size of a tiered classroom in college that could accommodate hundreds of people. I hurried over, but saw that he had stopped and frowned at the thing that the flashlight was shining on.
What he photographed turned out to be a spirit tablet. Seeing the spirit tablet, this room must be a ancestral hall for worship.
I raised the flashlight and scanned it, and I was immediately surprised to see that two-thirds of the house was filled with densely packed spirit tablets, one next to the other, all placed on the same stone base. This family is really a big family. Damn, there are so many dead people to worship? I borrowed the flashlight to look at a few tablets. The names of the deceased were written on the tablets, and when they died. From the spirit tablets, I saw that all these people had the surname Wan, and the names were all very literary. I guess they were named according to the family tree, and then placed according to seniority. I scanned it a few times, but I didn't have much interest. I turned around and saw Qin Yiheng still standing there motionless, so I patted him, and he came back to his senses.
Seeing that there was a lot of sweat on his forehead, I was shocked and asked him quickly if he felt the dirt.
Qin Yiheng shook his head, then scanned the densely packed tablets with the flashlight and asked me, "Don't you notice that there's something wrong with these tablets?"
My heartbeat quickened immediately, and I thought, "If you see something is wrong, just say it directly, your tone is so freaking scary!" But I couldn't get angry in this situation, so I turned around and continued to scan. I saw that the spirit tablets were placed neatly one by one, but there were no offerings. I thought to myself, "Is it strange that no one is offering sacrifices to these ancestors?"
Before I could finish my words, Qin Yiheng told me the answer: the people on these spirit tablets all died on the same day.
Died in one day? At first I didn't react to what he said, thinking that people must die in one day, I've never heard of a person dying for several days, then I suddenly understood what he meant, and quickly took the flashlight to shine on several tablets in a row. I was unwilling to give up, so I randomly took a few tablets that were farther away, and now the cold sweat on my head had already flowed to my eyes.
Qin Yiheng was right. Although I didn't quite understand what year and day the old calendar indicated, at least I could read. Even though these people lived in different eras and dynasties, they all died on the same day! This was really unbelievable. Was it the tradition of this family to die on that day? But this was totally unreasonable. Unless it was suicide, natural disasters, man-made disasters, diseases, aging, who the hell could calculate so accurately that they all died on the same day?
I wanted to ask Qin Yiheng, but he had already started to check the tablets one by one with a flashlight. He first looked at the first few rows, then went straight to the last row to check a few, and finally stopped in front of a tablet. I knew something was wrong, so I hurried over and followed his gaze. I was shocked! This tablet was no different from the others, but the name engraved on it was Wan Jinrong! This name is not unfamiliar to me. He is the deceased famous architect, and I still have a chess piece from his family. Now I understand why Qin Yiheng has been staring at this tablet, because there is a big doubt. First of all, we don’t know what this old man’s family does specifically. Judging from the scale of this ancestral hall, it must be a large and wealthy family. Although the ancestral hall is built in the place where the family first rose, this village is too remote, and the surroundings are also very strange. The old horse was also tied up by someone. All of this seems very unreasonable. And most importantly, Wan Jinrong has not been dead for a long time, so his spirit tablet must have been set up here recently. Could it be that the person who brought the dirty things here was the one who set up the spirit tablet for Wan Jinrong? There are too many puzzles.
