Volume 1 Chapter 74: South Mao and North Ma
"Brother Lu, Brother Lu!" The man shouted as he ran. The voice sounded familiar. It was the Lion Head. He ran up to me, panting heavily, and his whole body was drenched in sweat.
I looked around and said, "It's Brother Lionhead, why haven't you left yet?"
The fat man cried out "Ouch!" and came up to me, grabbing my arm and howling, "Brother Lu, I really didn't know that idiot was a Taoist priest! If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have brought him here even if I had the guts to do it! You must ask for mercy for me, we are old acquaintances and have cooperated for so many years. We can't let our relationship be ruined because of a big idiot!"
I quickly pried his greasy hands away from my arms and said, "The bosses seem very angry, but I can't say anything."
Lionhead had a sad face and sat down on the ground: "What should I do? From now on, I won't be able to come to your funeral home again. It's all because of that big idiot!"
Seeing him like this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was such a grown man, but he was still crying on the ground. I consoled him by saying, "It's not that serious. This is all the fault of the families of the deceased. You are just a middleman and you don't know the inside story. You can't be blamed."
The fat man cried, "Brother Lu, you've only been here for a short time, so you don't know. A few years ago, a colleague of mine accidentally brought a Taoist priest to our house, and both of them were beaten and thrown out with one leg broken. I'm lucky to be able to get out intact."
I was curious and asked him if he knew why our funeral home is so averse to Taoist priests coming to our house?
Lion Head shook his head and said, "Your funeral home has always had two rules. One is that you don't accept business during the day, and the other is that Taoist priests are not allowed to come to the door ."
I was a little speechless and said, "How great is that! You have violated two taboos at once."
Lion Head said in annoyance: "Well, isn't it because the customer offered a high price, exactly this amount?" He pointed out three fat, radish-like fingers.
I asked, "Thirty thousand?" That's really high.
The fat man shook his head and said, "Three hundred thousand!" I gasped. Damn, this is three hundred thousand, I have never even seen it before, no wonder this fat man knew that the funeral home had a rule that it would not accept business during the day, but still came to the door.
"Oh, it's all over this time!" The fat man slapped himself and grabbed my trouser leg and said, "Brother Lu, I, Lion Head, rely on your funeral home to make a living. If I lose this bowl of rice, I will really be dead!" As he said that, he howled with snot and tears.
I said I really had no choice as I had to go to the market to buy vegetables, so I couldn't keep you company.
The fat man got up from the ground and said he was familiar with this place and took me to a good and cheap place to buy vegetables. This fat man was very sticky. I shook him off several times but he didn't work, so I just let him be. With him leading the way, we really found a vegetable market nearby. Every time I picked out the vegetables, he would rush to pay, but I refused.
Later we went back to the funeral home. Along the way, the fat man kept trying to get close to me and asked me to say good things to him. When we arrived at the door of the funeral home, he didn't dare to take another step forward.
After I climbed over the wall and went in, I heard him yelling outside: "Brother Lu, your brother Lionhead's happiness depends on you!"
Happiness, you big head ghost! I was speechless, carrying the vegetables to the kitchen of the funeral home. This kitchen is usually not used by anyone. Most of the time, the people in the funeral home just eat instant noodles when they get up at night.
After cooking, they went to wake people up one by one. Yan Zi was the last one to come. She was still yawning when she sat at the table. It seemed that she was in a better mood after a nap. However, the second mother-in-law did not come.
"I haven't eaten braised pork in a long time." The muscular man picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. He chewed it for a few bites and raised his thumb. "Xiao Qi, your cooking skills are really good!"
"Well, it's so-so." Heimao had .
Yan Zi glanced at him and said, "You are so sloppy, but you still eat so voraciously!"
I couldn't help but laugh secretly. Fortunately, Yan Zi asked me to make more, so I bought a few more pieces of pork belly and made a full pot of it. Otherwise, it would not be enough to eat.
Boss Ma took a bite of meat and said, "How many years has it been since we sat together to eat?"
The muscular man calculated and said, "It's been about three or four years, right?"
Heimao said, "Four years." Pointing at the thin bamboo pole, "We haven't had a meal together since Laoliu came in."
I watched and listened to them talking. I found that among the five people, only the skinny sixth one seemed to have no interest in the braised pork, and only ate the vegetables in front of him. The other four people, Ma Lao Da, Heimao, Muscle Man and Yan Zi, almost all had a special liking for braised pork.
I said, "It turns out that everyone likes to eat braised pork. I will make it often in the future."
The meal was quite enjoyable, and all the food was eaten up. I saw Yan Zi's mood improve, and I couldn't help but feel happy. After the meal, I took the food that was left earlier to the dressing room, but the second mother-in-law waved her hand and didn't eat a single bite, and let me take it back.
When I got home in the evening, I told Qingzi the whole story at the dinner table, but this damn woman still looked indifferent. After listening to me, she just said "Oh" and didn't make any comments.
I said, "According to my analysis, Boss Ma, Muscle Man, Black Hair, and Swallow were probably in the same group. Then, I don't know what happened, and they all went into seclusion in this funeral home . Old Six came here four years ago, and as for the Second Grandma, she seems to be out of tune with everyone."
"By the way, what does this symbol mean?" I went to get a pen and paper and drew the pattern on the talisman according to my memory.
Qingzi had finished his meal, put down his bowl and chopsticks, took a look at what I had drawn, and said, "It's probably something from the Maoshan Sect, I can't remember clearly."
"Maoshan Sect?" I don't know much about the Zhengyi Sect, but the Maoshan Sect is well-known. There is a saying among the people that there is Mao in the south and Ma in the north.
Bei Ma refers to the Chu Ma Xian, which is very popular in the northern region. Zhang Huifang, who was pregnant with a snake fetus, is a Chu Ma disciple. The disciples of this school often use Chu Ma Xian to possess their bodies to ward off evil spirits and exorcise demons.
Nanmao refers to the Maoshan Sect. However, I first learned about Maoshan Taoist priests from some Hong Kong and Taiwan ghost movies, which I often sneaked into the video hall in the village to watch. According to legend, Maoshan magic is mysterious and unpredictable, and is best at using runes and spells to exorcise ghosts and demons, leaving countless legends among the people.
I just heard from Qingzi that the Maoshan Sect was actually derived from the Zhengyi Sect, and is known as one of the three major talisman sects together with the Tianshi and Qingwei Sect.
"So, that pretty boy is a disciple of Maoshan?" In my imagination, Maoshan disciples are like the ghost catchers in Hong Kong and Taiwan movies, wearing yellow Taoist robes, Taoist scarves on their heads, and holding peach wood swords. They really don't look like this pretty boy at all.
Qingzi ignored me and went to the study. I had no choice but to clean up the dishes while thinking about it.
The next morning, before I reached the door of the funeral home, I saw a fat guy from afar, sticking his head on the iron gate and looking inside. His posture was extremely obscene. It turned out to be the fat guy with Lion Head.
"What are you looking at?" I walked closer and called him.
The fat guy was so scared that he screamed "Ah" and almost fell down. When he turned around and saw that it was me, he patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
I saw him sweating profusely and his face was as white as a sheet of paper. I felt a little strange and asked, "What's wrong with you? Did you see a ghost?"
The fat man screamed in fear and rushed over to cover my mouth: "Brother Lu, please don't say anything nonsense!"
I asked what happened. The fat man's face fell instantly, and he said with a sad face: "This time it's really a big deal!"
After listening to him, I felt a jolt in my heart. This was a really big problem. It turned out that after I went home last night, the family begged Shizitou to take them to the funeral home, and they kowtowed and asked for more money. However, Shizitou knew that this matter could not be done, so he refused with determination.
Unexpectedly, when the two couples failed to ask the Lion Head for help, they drove a car themselves and transported the boy's body to the funeral home. They cried and shouted outside, insisting that the funeral home accept it. Of course, they were finally kicked out by Boss Ma and his men.
As a result, the next day, someone found a car parked on the side of the road. There was a big hole in the left door, as if it had been smashed open by something. When they went in, they found the couple dead inside. Their necks were bloody, as if they had been bitten by some wild beast. The car was full of blood and the smell was terrible.
