Part 2 Chapter 33 Found the Wardrobe
There are several bedrooms, all of similar size, and we can't tell which is the master bedroom and which are the guest bedrooms, so we can only go in randomly.
There are two types of beds in the bedroom. One is an antique canopy bed, which has a cover on the top and a tent to cover the bed. The other type should have been made by workers. It is a bit similar to Japanese tatami, but much taller, and the space under the bed can be used as storage space.
The bedding on the bed was still there, but that was not surprising, because Qin Yiheng said that when moving, bedding was generally not taken away. One reason was that they did not want to "be carried" for good luck; the other was that they did not want the bed to be dirty after the house became empty.
In metaphysics, quilts are very good at blocking negative energy, which is why even if someone is suffering from sleep paralysis, no filth can get into the quilt to oppress the person. In other words, many people feel safe hiding in the quilt at night, which makes sense not only in psychology but also in metaphysics. It is said that many people who have been possessed by a ghost can get rid of the filth by covering their heads and feet with a quilt and then pouring water on it. Although this method is not a panacea, it does have some effect.
The bunk bed was so heavy that Qin Yiheng and I had to work very hard to move it. However, to our disappointment, there was nothing under the bed except dust. Qin Yiheng was unwilling to give up and even lifted the quilt, but still couldn't find it.
The two of them worked for two hours. I was exhausted and only after eating some vegetarian food that the man left behind did I feel a little better.
Qin Yiheng was very energetic. While I was eating, he continued to look around by himself . Unexpectedly, he didn't look for long before he called me over.
I followed his voice and saw him standing beside the bed built by the worker. He had already lifted up the quilt.
When I looked down, I couldn't help but exclaimed "Huh?" because it was very strange that there were two paintings pasted on the bed board under the mattress.
I recognize this painting, it's Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, in short, two door gods. The custom of posting door gods is common all over the country, and it is often seen on weekdays. But I was surprised, this thing is usually posted on the door, why did the old man post it here?
Thinking of this, I felt a chill all over my body. The more I looked at the bed board, the weirder it seemed to me. I thought, "This bed board can be opened. Is it a door? Is there a tunnel under the bed board?"
I wanted to discuss this with Qin Yiheng, but he didn't want to pay attention to me. He squinted his eyes for a long time, then walked forward and lifted the bed board.
He did this without saying hello to me, which scared me so much that I quickly took a step back. After I opened the bed board, there was nothing unusual, so I moved closer to see what was inside.
As soon as I looked over, I was stunned. I guess Qin Yiheng was also very surprised. I saw that the corners of his mouth twitched. Because under the bed, there was a wardrobe lying horizontally. This wardrobe was not an ordinary wardrobe, but the kind we had seen in the ancestral hall.
The bed was built very high, and the ground was probably dug down, so the wardrobe was well hidden. There was no binding on the wardrobe, and I didn't know whether it was opened by the old man early in the morning or it was just like that.
Maybe it was because of nervousness, but Qin Yiheng took a deep breath and then walked forward to touch the closet. He did not dare to open it rashly, but stood back and said: "From the outside, there seems to be nothing evil or dirty in the closet. But one thing is that this is very likely the core of the whole trap. It is normal that people can't feel the Yin Qi because someone has tampered with it. If you are fooled after opening it, don't worry about me, run first, don't hold me back."
Qin Yiheng's words were very serious, like his last words, and his expression was also very serious, so I didn't know what to say, so I could only nod at him. When he saw me nodding, he nodded back twice, turned around, told me to step back, and then leaned over and opened the closet door.
When he opened a door, Qin Yiheng paused for a moment, I don't know if it was out of caution or because he saw something, then he opened another door and didn't move again. The air suddenly became heavy. I didn't dare to move, run, or go forward, I could only wait. After waiting for a cigarette, I saw Qin Yiheng stretched out his hand to signal me to come over.
I quickly stepped forward to take a look and was also stunned.
The first thing I looked at was the door of the wardrobe. What surprised me was that there was no painting on the inside of the door of this wardrobe like the one in Qin Yiheng's house. It looked like someone had scraped the door hard with a spatula, removing the original painting on it.
I was very disappointed because, for us, the most important clues to this wardrobe were on the painting on the door, and now we could only look inside the wardrobe.
When I was standing aside just now, I also tried to guess what was in the closet. I even prepared for the worst, thinking: "Maybe there will be some kind of mechanism when I pull the door open."
But when I looked at it, I found that the closet was filled with soil. It was filled very full. I was afraid that if there was more soil, the closet door would not be able to close tightly.
The soil seemed to have been sifted, the soil was very fine, and the color was yellowish. I don’t know if the soil itself had something to say: “Or there is something buried in it.”
Qin Yiheng also stared at it for a long time, and finally came to his senses, scooped up some soil with his hands, looked at it carefully, and then smelled it.
I asked him if the soil was dirty. He pouted at me, then bit his middle finger and stuck it directly into the soil. The soil was very fine, so it was not difficult to insert it.
However, the more I looked at it, the more I felt that this matter was not simple. Biting the middle finger is a way to dissipate the yang energy. Usually, self-harm methods are only used when there is no other choice. I couldn't help but feel a little worried.
I took a look at Qin Yiheng's expression and it didn't look like there was any danger, so I could only comfort myself and watch patiently.
Qin Yiheng moved very quickly. After pulling out his finger, he actually licked the blood-stained dirt on his fingertips. After thinking for a moment, he told me that this dirt is called "two liang" in alchemy. This "liang" is the commonly used measurement unit in my country.
The reason why it is called "two liang" is also for a reason. Usually, after a year, the family members go to sweep the grave on the first anniversary of the death. The broken soil swept from the grave is called "one liang". When they go to sweep the grave again the next year, the soil swept each time is called five cents.
This "qian" was also a unit of weight in the old days. Ten qian was equal to one liang, so to collect two liang, one had to sweep the tombs for three years.
Although the weight of the broken soil is certainly more than two taels, people in the industry usually still call it this way, and there is a reason for this. Because this "two taels" does not simply refer to weight, but to its function. Two taels, two twos, is four. These grave soils are used to bury the four main positions outside the house. It is said that the government cannot touch the house where "two taels" are buried. In short, the people in the house will not be sued in the future.
Not only that, if given the chance, families who are already involved in lawsuits will do everything they can to collect the "two taels" and bury them. It is said that this can also help turn a bad lawsuit into a good one.
It is worth mentioning that if there are flowering plants growing on the grave, the soil will be useless, especially if they are red-flowered. If you take the soil and bury it as "two liang", there will be a bloody disaster in your family soon .
In ancient times, unless there was an irreconcilable hatred, ordinary hatred would just kill a living person to vent anger, and people would not easily touch the soil on someone's grave. Firstly, it was really immoral; secondly, it was actually not very auspicious. Therefore, usually no one would be willing to touch it except for their own family. However, I heard that some tomb robbers would get some before starting work, probably for the psychological comfort of not being caught by the officials.
Qin Yiheng sighed and said that few people have heard of the "two taels" now, because the cremation policy has been implemented for many years, there are fewer graves, and sweeping the graves seems simple, but few people are willing to insist. Moreover, nowadays there are no large houses and courtyards like in the old days, even if there is a "two taels", no one knows where to bury it, so this kind of thing can only be left as a historical relic and gradually abandoned.
After saying that, he took out a wet towel, wiped his bitten middle finger, and continued to tell me that the "two taels" was grave soil after all, which would have negative energy, and he didn't know if there was any mystery under the soil, so to be safe, he could only bite his finger to test it out.
After listening to the explanation, I was still confused for a while. Although Qin Yiheng had guessed the origin of the soil, what was it used for? According to what he said, it is not difficult to collect this thing, but it is not easy to say it is simple. Where are there any graves now? Even if there are, shouldn’t these graves belong to the old man’s own relatives? There is so much soil in this closet. Not to mention leveling the graves, at least a lot of it must have been dug up. Or, the old man has many relatives who died, and he collected a little from each grave? The old man is not young anymore, so this is possible.
What is even more puzzling is that aren't these things collected to be buried to avoid lawsuits? How did the old man pile them up in the closet?
