The group of people walked for more than an hour before finally arriving in front of a ravine with cliffs on both sides. At this time, the sky had completely darkened, and through the moonlight, the outline of the mountain could be vaguely seen, with trees on the cliffs.
The twisted trees are like demons with teeth and claws, as if they are about to pounce down at any time, which makes people shudder.
Suddenly, a gust of cool wind blew out from the ravine, and the surrounding trees rustled. An inexplicable sense of fear suddenly arose in my heart. I hurriedly walked to Master, stretched out my little hand and squeezed him tightly.
He grabbed the master's lapel.
Second Master Qi pointed his hand into the dark ravine and said to the master: "It's right here! After entering, walk half a mile further and you'll reach the place where the old locust tree was struck by lightning!
Now Quan Wuye is leading a group of young people to pile firewood inside, and after we go in, we should be able to start the cremation."
The master raised his head and inspected the surrounding terrain, frowned and said: "This valley is low-lying, with towering cliffs on both sides, and runs north-south. I am afraid that the sun can only be seen at noon during the day.
A place where yin energy gathers! No wonder it raises such a difficult ghost."
As soon as Master mentioned ghosts, several black shadows suddenly appeared in the ravine and walked towards us. Such an unexpected situation made my heart beat wildly.
Unexpectedly, Second Master Qi stepped forward and shouted at the black figures: "Lao Wu! Is the firewood stack ready?"
"It's piled up! What a coincidence, you guys arrived just after they were piled up."
It turns out that the black shadows are people!
It's true that these people came out of this dark valley in the middle of winter without even carrying an oil lamp or a torch. Those who didn't know better thought they had seen a ghost!
Second Master Qi turned to his master and said, "Taoist Master Mo, the firewood pile has been piled up, let's go in!"
The master nodded.
Because the roads in the ravine were quite rugged and ox carts could not pass, the coffin had to be carried away by people. The six young men became nervous in vain, and several of them had trembling calves.
It would be better to carry the coffin during the day, but now the sky has darkened, and we are carrying another ghost coffin that may be deceived at any time, not to mention it is in such a dark and gloomy ravine, who can do it?
This kind of work makes me feel a little scared.
In order to ease their nervousness, Mr. Qi lit a pine torch and pretended to be relaxed and said: "Everyone, hurry up. Later you just carry the coffin and put it on the firewood pile. It's simple."
Very good!"
After a while, an older young man stamped his feet and said, "Let's go! Send Master Qi on his way quickly, so we can go back for dinner!"
Six people braced themselves to hold on to the three horizontal beams tied to the coffin body, and they all shouted "Get up!" and lifted the coffin up.
Second Master Qi held a torch, took out a lawnmower from his waist, and led the way, and the group of people walked into the ravine.
Along the way, my hands never let go of Master's lapel, and I felt extremely nervous. Although I had often followed Master to help others perform rituals in the ashram before, this was the first time I encountered such evil things, let alone me.
I have been afraid of the dark since I was a child.
I felt that my palms were sweating all the time, soaking Master's robes. As long as there was the slightest movement in the grass next to me, even if it was just the chirping of an insect, I would tremble with fear.
Master seemed to notice my nervousness and gently stroked my head with his hand from time to time. I think he must be very regretful now and should not have brought me here.
The ravine was overgrown with thorns and weeds. Although Quan Wuye and others had cut a path before when they came to pile firewood, it was not easy to walk now after carrying a huge coffin, so the group moved very slowly.
Suddenly, there was a "dong dong dong" sound, which sounded like someone tapping the wooden board with their hands.
The young man on the left who was carrying the coffin at the front turned his head and said, "Who the fuck is knocking on the coffin for nothing? I was shocked!"
"I didn't knock!"
"not me."
"I do not have either"
…
All the young men denied it.
At this moment, another "dong dong dong" knocking sound came out, this time the sound was louder, and the insects in the surrounding ground seemed to be frightened, and the continuous chirping of insects suddenly stopped.
end.
Bai Xiaowu trembled and stammered: "No... it can't be... it's me... my uncle... he's... getting up again..."
When the young men carrying the coffin heard what he said, their faces suddenly turned pale.
Fake corpse!? When I thought of these two words, I immediately felt a chill running down my spine, my heart was beating wildly, and the hairs on my body stood up.
"Dong...dong...dong..." The knocking sound became heavier and heavier, making people feel as if the coffin might be knocked open at any time. Master had warned everyone before that the coffin must not fall to the ground along the way, no matter what.
They all have to be carried, otherwise once the coffin is exposed to the earth, Ma Laoqi's body may turn into a zombie in advance, and it will be difficult to subdue him. Therefore, the young men carrying the coffin were already frightened.
, but did not dare to abandon the coffin and run away.
However, the heavy knocking sound was like the howl of evil spirits from hell, impacting everyone's sensitive and fragile nerves. Bai Xiaowu, the timidest one, finally couldn't bear it anymore. He shouted "Oh my god!"
, his feet softened, and his body slumped down. The coffin immediately lost its balance and tilted to the side.
Soon after saying that, the master suddenly jumped forward, supported Bai Xiaowu with one hand, and supported the leaning coffin body with the other hand. Then he took out three more paper charms and put them on
When we reached the coffin lid, these paper charms were really effective, and the knocking stopped immediately.
Second Master Qi turned around, looked at his master and asked tremblingly: "Taoist Master Mo, Lao Qi..."
"Don't worry! I've used three evil-suppressing talismans to temporarily suppress him. Ma Laoqi won't be able to fake the corpse so soon. Let's all go faster! Lift the coffin steadily!" said the master, standing next to Bai Xiaowu.
I patted him lightly on the back a few times to signal him not to be afraid.
There was no movement in the coffin, and everyone calmed down a little. Because they were worried that Ma Laoqi would fake the corpse at any time, the young men didn't care that their legs were still shaking, and they all quickly quickened their pace. Several people were carrying the coffin, which weighed several hundred kilograms.
, actually started running in small steps on the rugged mountain road.
Not long after, the group came to a relatively flat open space. In the center of the open space, there was a pile of firewood about half a meter high. The thorns and weeds within a dozen feet around the firewood pile had been cut.
The reason for the bare bones must be to prevent wildfires caused by the cremation of the coffin.
"Quick! Put the coffin up!" Second Master Qi shouted loudly.
The young men carried the coffin and went straight to the firewood pile. It was not easy to place the coffin weighing several hundred kilograms on the firewood pile that was half a meter high. However, the six young men didn't know where they got the strength, and they yelled together.
With a cry of "Get up!" with almost no pause in the middle, the coffin was placed securely on the pile of firewood.
After the coffin was placed, the six people immediately collapsed on the ground, looking exhausted.
At this moment, a gust of wind blew down the ravine and blew off a paper charm attached to the coffin. It happened to fall at the feet of Mr. Qi. Mr. Qi picked up the paper charm and looked at it.
The master asked tremblingly: "Taoist Master Mo, what should we do...?"
The master glanced at the paper talisman in Master Qi's hand, then looked around, and said: "The yin energy here is too strong. Anyone who doesn't care should go back first!"
When the young men heard this, they immediately stood up and walked back without saying a word.
But the master shouted again: "Wait a minute! Bai Xiaowu, you have to stay! Ma Laoqi can't die without his relatives, otherwise he will be resentful and his ghost will linger. He has no children, and since you are his only nephew, this matter
I can only leave it to you to do it for me."
When Bai Xiaowu heard this, his whole body trembled immediately, while the other young men looked at him with gloating eyes.
The master stepped forward and patted Bai Xiaowu's shoulder gently, comforting: "Don't worry, I'm here!" He turned to Second Master Qi and said: "Second Master Qi, please go back too, and help me put this together."
Take it back first, kid." Master said, pointing at me.
When I heard this, I immediately said: "Master, I...I won't leave, I want to stay with you..." Although I said this, I was actually so scared that I wanted to leave here as soon as possible, but I didn't want to let Master
I am handling this ceremony by myself, and even though I can't really help, I feel unsettled without being by Master's side.
Master glared at me and shouted in a non-negotiable tone: "Stop being so nagging! You go back with Mr. Qi first!"
Seeing that Master seemed angry, I didn't dare to say anything more.
Second Master Qi lit a pine torch and handed it to Master. He whispered a few words in Master's ear, and then led me and a few young men back. Only Master and Bai Xiaowu were left standing there.
Beside the coffin.
I was reluctant to leave, turning back three times every step of the way until I could no longer see Master's figure.
A large group of people gathered outside Shangouzi. When they saw a few of us walking out of Shangouzi, they immediately gathered around to ask questions, but I couldn't listen at all. At this moment, I was worried to death, and I didn't know what Master could do.
He couldn't deal with the ghost that was attached to Ma Laoqi's body.
Time passed by, and soon everyone became quiet. Everyone pricked up their ears and listened carefully to the movement in the ravine. You could vaguely hear the voice of Master chanting. The ritual seemed to be going on step by step.
is proceeding smoothly.
Suddenly, a dazzling bolt of lightning pierced the sky, followed by a thunderous explosion that startled everyone.