Chapter 18: Grandson and Grandfather

Meng Dawei was finally restrained by the crowd. Although the mummy was lying on the ground, people were not that scared. If it was going to rise, it would be no joke. Everyone here knew that the mummy was extremely powerful and could not be killed. To burn it, you had to use special fire with a talisman added. How could it rise?

So Meng Dawei was held down by more than ten pairs of hands. Meng Dawei was a filial son, famous throughout the village for his filial piety. Everyone understood and sympathized with his behavior, but it was absolutely not allowed.

The corpse was exposed to the sun for two hours. This was the rule. It had to be exposed for two full hours. At this time, Meng Dawei was surrounded by a group of people, trying to persuade him, but he still looked at the corpse from time to time and shed a few tears.

He had been impulsive, but the man who had been dragged out of the coffin was his own father.

There was nothing he could do to change the situation. Meng Dawei sighed, thinking that his father would never be reincarnated, and he felt a wave of sadness.

For two hours, under the scorching midday sun, all the men in the village had persevered. In addition to the sun, the event also required the presence of yang energy. No one dared to be careless. As they watched, the time was almost up.

Master Yuan, dressed in his Taoist robes and holding a bundle of dried mugwort, solemnly walked up to the pile of firewood, sprinkled the mugwort evenly around it, and then shouted, “Bring the corpse over.”

Hearing this, the people immediately dragged the corpse over and placed it in the pile of firewood. Yuan Taoist then recited a spell that no one knew what it was, and then shouted, “Light the fire.”

The torch met the dry firewood and immediately burned fiercely. Yuan Taoist looked at the raging fire and felt a faint sense of pride. He had finally dealt with a white murderer in his own hands, and he could also be proud of his career.

As for Meng Dawei, the moment he saw the fire, he ignored the crowd and rushed out of the crowd, knelt down in the direction of the fire, and then shouted, “Old man, you are not blessed and will not be able to receive your son’s worship in the future. Your son is here today, and he has finished bowing to you for his whole life.”

Seeing this scene, the people in the village were very sad. There is a saying here that if you are born as a pig or a dog in the next life, don’t become a vampire! Sure enough, this is a tragedy!

But soon, people were attracted by another strange scene, that is, the black smoke from the burning corpse was surprisingly very condensed and did not disperse at all.

Master Yuan explained to everyone, “This is a unique thing about burning the black and white villains. Don’t worry.”

The raging fire, the black smoke rising into the sky, Meng Dawei, who was kneeling in a frenzy, Gao Yan, who was crying in a low voice, Gao Bin, who was in a trance, the solemn Taoist priest Yuan, and the villagers, who all had an inexplicable reverence in their eyes…

This scene was frozen in time, and no matter how much time passed, it was engraved in people’s hearts.

More than ten years later, in 2012, on this land, the burning of corpses still happens from time to time, but the frequency has become much lower than before. After all, the implementation of cremation has slowly allowed the ancient tradition of burial to gradually be submerged in the dust of history, even in the countryside.

At this time, Gao Bin had become a small contractor and had established himself in the city. One time, his son was engrossed in watching TV. Gao Bin was curious and asked his son, “Kid, what are you watching?”

“It’s about zombies.” The boy said without turning his head.

Gao Bin suddenly remembered something, his face darkened, and he shouted, “You’re in your third year of high school, what are you still watching TV for? Go do your homework, zombies are no fun.”

“Dad, I’m learning scientific knowledge! Don’t be so superstitious, okay? There are no zombies at all. It was the ignorance of ancient people. They saw teeth and fingernails growing long and thought it was a corpse. In fact, it’s not like that. It’s because of muscle atrophy that the roots of the teeth and fingernails are exposed, causing this misunderstanding. You see, isn’t that what the TV is talking about?

Gao Bin thought for a while, and suddenly remembered the corpse. Were the sharp fingernails and teeth really due to muscle atrophy? Could muscles atrophy to the point where fingernails could grow to almost three inches long? And what about the teeth? Even if the muscles didn’t atrophy, could a human mouth contain fangs that were more than two inches long? And what about the atrophy of the fangs?

Gao Bin was puzzled and naturally stared at the TV, which was talking about the reason why scratches sometimes appeared on the coffin boards was because of a certain disease, such as a person faking death or being buried alive.

Maybe there are white hairs and black hairs because of some kind of bacteria. Just like making moldy tofu, doesn’t tofu also grow white hairs?

As he watched the scientist above explain everything with such conviction, Gao Bin was somewhat speechless. What was the truth? Suddenly, he felt relieved. He was now living a happy life, and he didn’t need to deliberately pursue the truth. If the general trend in the world was to believe in science, then he would completely believe in science. As for the scenes that happened in the village, Gao Bin did not plan to tell his son. A superstitious child was looked down upon at school.

Yes, besides a stable life and healthy children, what else does one need? This is the most important thing, right? As for what happened in the past, those things with a strong tinge of superstition, let it go with the wind.

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The train was running on the track, and the sound of the clanging was making people drowsy. In a compartment with only two people, it looked like a grandfather and grandson, but they were facing each other in silence, not choosing to sleep comfortably. The atmosphere was even a bit depressing and sad.

“Grandpa, why did you bring me to Sichuan this time? Didn’t you say I was still young? If you don’t pass on some of your skills to me, are you not going to make it?” The one who spoke was a boy who looked to be 17 or 18 years old, with a somewhat immature face. If he were from Xiangxi, you could immediately tell from his stilted Mandarin that he had a strong Xiangxi accent.

“Life, death, sickness, and old age are all in the hands of heaven. There is nothing to hide from you about my illness. I am afraid that I will not live for many more years. If I don’t pass on my skills to you, who will I pass them on to? I have two requests for you now. The first is to learn the craft well, and the second is to practice your Mandarin well, so that you can live in a big city in the future.” The old man’s face was calm, and he really took life, death, sickness, and old age very lightly.

“Grandpa…” The boy’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. He thought that his grandfather was still trying to hide it, but he never expected that on the train, his grandfather would simply admit it to him.

After another long silence, the boy looked up and said, “Grandpa, I’ve thought about it. I don’t want to continue learning these skills. They’ve made you into this state. What do I need to learn them for? Now we rarely get any work, and even if we do, it’s in very remote rural areas where we can’t make much money. You want me to live in a big city? I’m not learning it. I’m definitely not learning it!”

With a loud bang, the old man became agitated. It was the sound of him slapping the table. He shouted excitedly, “Our family’s craft is about to be lost. I didn’t teach you to make a living, I wanted you to pass on the craft.”

“The things that are passed down must be good things! What’s the point of passing down useless things? I hate this craft, I won’t learn it!” The grandson said stubbornly.

Hearing this, the old man raised his hand high in the air, but looking at his grandson’s eyes, he finally softened and let go. He sighed, sat down, and at this moment, he looked even older and more haggard.

When the grandson saw that his grandfather had become like this, he also softened. After all, they were blood relatives, so who could bear to see each other sad? The grandson grabbed his grandfather’s hand and said, “Grandpa, I was thinking about your illness and saying angry things. Don’t be angry with me, okay? I want to learn your craft seriously.”

The old man sighed and said, “In the future, this craft may really be useless. Cremation is now popular. A fire burns away all worries and troubles, but it also burns away some of the inheritance of generations. Maybe this is good, eh…”

“Grandpa…” The boy took the old man’s hand with some concern.

But the old man suddenly smiled and patted the boy on the shoulder, saying, “Maybe, this craft will eventually be lost, but for now it is still useful, and I can’t control what happens to future generations. I can only promise that I will pass it on for the rest of my life. Do you know why I say it is still useful?”

“No.” The boy shook his head in confusion. How could he know? Even though he had taken him to Sichuan this time, he was still a bit confused. He thought that he had just taken on a business deal, and in the past, his grandfather had taught him some skills, but he had never taken him on a business trip. This was why he suspected that his grandfather was sick.

“Because we are going to Sichuan this time, we are doing something for the country,” the old man smiled proudly.

“Working for the country? Can a corpse-runner work for the country?” The boy’s eyes widened.