Seeing that everyone had no objections, Second Master Qi took a puff of dry smoke and said: "Then the matter is settled! Just follow what Taoist Mo said, and hurry up before midnight tonight to get the body of Lao Qi
Cremated! Isn’t the country now advocating cremation? Even after Premier Zhou’s death, cremation was carried out. By doing this, we are responding to the country’s call!” Mr. Qi finally found a high-sounding excuse, and everyone nodded.
Agree.
It was already four o'clock in the afternoon, which is between eleven and one o'clock in the evening. Time was very tight, not to mention that the village had never carried out cremation before and had little experience. Mr. Qi took the young people in the village to
They all gathered together, and after some arrangements, everyone began to get busy.
Master said that cremation cannot be carried out in crowded places, because even if fire is used, it can only burn the body of Ma Laoqi, but it cannot completely get rid of the ghost that possesses Ma Laoqi, and the ghost is forced out of Ma Laoqi.
After Qi's body, there is no place to go, and he is filled with resentment. He is afraid that it will harm others. If it is attached to other people, it will be a big trouble! Therefore, it is best to choose a place that is inaccessible and has a strong negative energy.
Cremation is carried out in a certain place, so that after the ghosts are forced out, they can stay there peacefully and will not easily disturb the people.
But at this moment, where should I go to find such a place? Second Master Qi was in trouble for a moment. Master thought for a while, raised his head and said, "I thought of a place that might be suitable."
!”
"Where did Taoist Master Mo think of it?" Second Master Qi asked quickly.
The master raised his hand and pointed to the wooden coffin in the house: "That's where Ma Laoqi found this locust tree struck by lightning!"
When Second Master Qi heard this, he was stunned and did not react for a while.
The master explained: "That place is in the back ravine. There are usually few people there, and the ghost originally lived there. Now that we send it back, we can calm its resentment to a certain extent."
Second Master Qi nodded thoughtfully at first, but then he immediately shook his head and said, "No! No! Not that place!"
The master said in confusion: "Why not? In my opinion, that place is perfect!"
"But this evil thing was brought back by Lao Qi from this ravine. Who dares to go there now! If we go there, I'm afraid no one will be able to carry the coffin!" Second Master Qi said with concern.
.
"That place doesn't eat people, so what are you afraid of? Otherwise, you just need to arrange for people to pile up firewood piles in the ravine that can place the coffin, and then carry the coffin and put it on the firewood pile.
They can withdraw first, and I will take care of the rest. Of course, it is best if Ma Laoqi's relatives are present."
Second Master Qi took a few puffs of dry tobacco and pondered for a long time. He probably couldn't think of a better way. Then he raised his head and said, "This is the only way we can do it now. Then there is Taoist Master Lao Mo. I
Let’s make arrangements now!”
When Mr. Qi was about to walk out, the master stopped him again and reminded him: "Wait a minute! The coffin will be carried later by the same people who helped open the coffin!" This coffin carrying is more delicate than the coffin opening, so
You also have to match the eight characters.
Bai Xiaowu, who had been standing in front of the threshold of the hall, started to tremble with fright when he heard that he would have to carry the coffin later. When Mr. Qi passed by him, he stopped, glanced at him sideways, and cursed: "You're so stupid
Little bastard! Can you be more like a man? Your uncle loved you when you were a child. This is your filial piety! Not only will you have to carry the coffin later, but you also heard what Director Mo said just now, during the cremation in the evening
There must be relatives of Lao Qi present, so you are the most suitable person!" After saying that, he ignored Bai Xiaowu's face turning pale and strode out of the house.
The whole village, old and young, gathered on the field ridge not far from the old house and looked over. Mr. Qi shouted a few times at the top of his voice, and soon several young people came over.
When everyone was gathered, Mr. Qi began to decorate.
As soon as they heard that they were going to help Ma Laoqi carry the coffin, several young people immediately got into a rage.
"What? Carry...carry the coffin! Second...Second Master, I...how can I do this..."
"Second Master, isn't the job of carrying the coffin always done by Fifth Master? Why are we involved!"
"Yes! We can't take away Master Wu's job!"
Only Bai Xiaowu didn't speak, but he stood aside and shivered.
Second Master Qi raised his hands and pressed them down, signaling everyone to be quiet, but who else could listen at this moment? They completely ignored Second Master Qi and continued to make noise.
"Shut up!" Mr. Qi got angry and shouted loudly.
Everyone immediately fell silent, and no one dared to speak anymore. After all, he was the village chief, and his prestige was still there.
Second Master Qi cleared his throat and said unhurriedly: "It's five yuan per person to carry the coffin!"
As the saying goes, money can make all the difference. As soon as they heard that there were five yuan, the eyes of several young people immediately lit up.
"Second Master, do you really mean what you say?"
Second Master Qi glared at the young man who spoke: "How often have I been sloppy when I spoke! Of course it's true!" As he said that, he shouted to the crowd standing on the field ridge: "Lao Liu! Is Lao Liu here?"
?”
After a while, an energetic middle-aged man wearing a green army hat squeezed out of the crowd.
"What are you doing? Second brother!"
"Come up here!"
"Why did you ask me to come up? I...my waist hurts. I can't lift...the coffin. Oops!" The middle-aged man said, and he actually covered half of his waist and started to ejaculate.
"Sister-in-law Six, look at how much you're torturing Brother Six!" Someone in the crowd joked, making everyone laugh.
The middle-aged man suddenly became anxious and quickly turned his head and explained: "It wasn't my wife who did it, it was my cow that did it yesterday when we were plowing..."
His explanation made everyone laugh even louder.
Second Master Qi and Master also laughed, but I didn't understand what was so funny about it.
"Lao Liu, I didn't ask you to come here to carry the coffin! I asked you to get money!" Second Master Qi said.
"Take money? What money!" When it comes to taking money, people always appear very alert, and the middle-aged man is no exception. He even subconsciously covered his left breast pocket, as if he was afraid of the money in his pocket.
It seemed like he had flown away.
"You are the accountant! Now the village has to pay expenses. If not you, who will get the money?"
"Second brother, you told me earlier!" The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on his face, and he trotted towards the old house as fast as flying.
"Didn't you say your back hurts? Why are you fine now?"
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, and then he immediately covered his waist and said "Ouch".
Second Master Qi was too lazy to talk to him anymore. He stretched out his hand and said, "Take out thirty yuan, oh, no! Twenty-five yuan!"
"Second brother, why do you need so much money? Is it to pay Taoist Master Mo's salary?" The middle-aged man looked at the master while digging into his coat pocket.
"The money from Daoist Priest Mo will be settled tomorrow. It is to pay the wages of the coffin-bearers! Five yuan per person. Xiao Wu is Lao Qi's nephew, so there is no need!"
"What! Five yuan per person!? Why... why do you give so much!" The middle-aged man's eyes widened and he couldn't believe it. At that time, five yuan was not a small amount, it was already worth a lot of money in the village.
This is a family’s monthly income.
"If you don't give me five yuan, who will carry it! This is a ghost coffin!"
The middle-aged man reluctantly took out a wad of money from his left breast pocket, counted out five five-yuan bills, and handed them to Mr. Qi.
"Remember to keep the account." Mr. Qi said as he distributed the five tickets to the five young people.
The five young men happily took the money and put it in their pockets.
Seeing that everyone had received the money, Mr. Qi smiled slightly and said: "Okay, now that everyone has received the money, we have to follow the arrangements. If anyone backs out again, he will be suspected of embezzling the village's collective property!"
Several young people looked at each other. They didn't expect Second Master Qi to have such a skill, but as the saying goes, "The mouth is short when eating people, and the hands are short when taking people." Now that the money has fallen into their pockets, they can't say anything more.
I just had to bite the bullet.
Second Master Qi quickly got another ox cart. Logically speaking, the coffin should be carried, but this was a ghost coffin after all, and the six young people had no experience, so something might go wrong on the way.
The master thought that it would be safer to use an ox cart to pull it. When it reached a place where the ox cart could not go, he would let a few of them carry it.
Unconsciously, the sun has set, and there is only a trace of sunset left on the horizon. Second Master Qi proposed to have a meal before setting off. However, considering that starting from here to go to the ravine in the back mountain, it would take at least one person to hurry up and go slowly.
After many hours, the master was worried that there was not enough time, so he suggested that each person bring a few rice balls to fill their stomachs on the way and then eat when they got back. In the countryside, it is not uncommon to eat after nine or ten o'clock in the evening.
So Master Qi led the way. Master, who was wearing a gray Taoist robe and carrying a yellow cloth bag filled with paper money and rice, led me closely behind. Six young disciples, General Ma Laoqi,
The coffin was carried onto the bullock cart, and then according to the master's instructions, each stretched out a hand to support the coffin and followed.
The villagers in the village also wanted to see the excitement, but they all knew that Ma Laoqi's coffin was evil and did not dare to get too close, so they all followed from a distance, many of them holding hoes, shovels, poles, etc.
, a large group of people set off towards the back mountain ravine.
Along the way, the master muttered words and occasionally threw some rice grains and paper money into the air. According to the master, these were "travel money" to make way for the imps along the way so that the souls of the deceased would not be disturbed. But for
For Ma Laoqi, who was lying in a ghost coffin, this actually made no sense. It was just a formality, because there was a ghost with strong evil spirits attached to the ghost coffin. The little ghosts along the way were afraid that they would not be able to escape, so they would not dare to come.