Holy Bone

Chapter 881 Why is it drowning again? It's already connected to three
Xicai Village is not big, with dozens of houses scattered at the foot of the mountain.

On the dirt road into the village, the donkey cart pulling the coffin slowly drove into Xicai Village, and the donkey cart finally arrived at Xicai Village before the sun set.

Jin An and the old Taoist looked at the paddy fields on both sides of the road. Due to the continuous high temperature and severe drought, the paddy fields dried up, the rice was slumped, and the growth was not good.

"It seems that this year's crop harvest will be greatly reduced."

The old Taoist expressed his worries: "Every time there is a severe drought or flood, the coming year will be a disaster year, and there will be famine."

Jin An looked solemn.

The old Taoist’s worry is not unreasonable. In this era, the production level is low and the storage conditions are limited. Therefore, when encountering such a wide-ranging severe drought and flood, the harvest of the whole country is not good, and there is almost a famine in the coming year.

The flood in Wuzhou Prefecture last year was different from this year's situation. The flood in Wuzhou Prefecture was only limited to a part of Wuzhou Prefecture, unlike this year's abnormal weather, which almost affected the southern granaries of Kangding.

"Fortunately, the weather started to become abnormal in June. It had no effect on the early rice harvest. The biggest impact was on the late rice. It is beyond the human power to interfere with this kind of thing. Next, it depends on the imperial court's dispatch of several major granary state capitals. "Jin An said with a frown.

As soon as the donkey cart entered the village, I saw several half-sized children running around the village with their buttocks naked. Even though it was about to fall into the night, these children were still too hot to wear clothes.

The villagers in Xicai Village seem to be familiar with the coffin. Except for a few children who followed curiously, the adults watched calmly as the donkey cart pulling the coffin turned into a small path and drove towards a few isolated houses in a corner. .

"The donkey of the old man seems to be very familiar with the road. You don't need the old man to drive it, and it can turn and change directions by itself." The old Taoist said in surprise.

When mentioning his donkey, the old cart driver said proudly: "This animal has been with me for a long time, and it has a spirit."

The old Taoist gave a thumbs up and praised: "I can see it."

It was rare to meet someone who spoke to his taste. The old man who drove the cart began to talk more, and kept praising his donkey for being smart, hardworking and sensible.

Jin An smiled and listened, without interrupting.

After a while, the donkey cart stopped in front of a large courtyard with green brick walls. It is very rare in rural areas that can afford green brick walls, because green bricks are a luxury in rural areas and are not for the rich and powerful. Sorry.

Presumably this is the home of Cai Xu, a mortician.

Sure enough, the old man got out of the donkey cart at this time and said that they had arrived at Master Cai's house.

Jin An and the old Taoist also got off the cart, first took a look at the mortician's house, and then turned to look at the masonry house opposite the mortician.

The mud-brick house looked like it had not been lived in for a long time. The fence and courtyard wall collapsed and no one repaired it, and the mud-brick house also looked crumbling.

In terms of feng shui, most people pay attention to the squareness of the house and the squareness of the fortune. If you are lucky, you can hide the fengshui, and you can stay away from disasters even if you are not lucky.But this family is good, the house is crooked and does not repair it, the house is slanted, the fortune is evil, and it is easy to attract snakes, insects, rats and ants to build nests and unclean things to live in. People living in this precarious house, not only cannot be hidden by Feng Shui, but also There is always a risk of collapse.

Feng Shui seems to be a bit mysterious, involving many theories of strange powers, ghosts and gods, but after careful consideration, it can also be associated with a lot of knowledge related to daily life.For example, if the house is crumbling, there must be termites building hollow beams, or rats and poisonous snakes who like to dig holes and damage the foundation, making the house unstable. People who live in such dilapidated houses, even if they don’t bump into dirty things, will sooner or later be buried alive. .

As long as there are popular houses with people living in them, they will pay special attention to the prevention and control of termite nests, rats and snakes' nests, and will not leave them alone like the family in front of them.

"Little brother, this house is crumbling and overgrown with weeds. It seems that no one has lived in it for a long time. It should be the house with the scarred eyes." The old Taoist whispered.

"En." Jin An nodded thoughtfully, thinking of other things.

At this time, the old man had already knocked on the high walled courtyard door of the body seammaker's house. Soon, a young child came from behind the courtyard wall, saying that he was coming. A child about ten years old opened the courtyard door and saw it immediately. When they arrived at the coffin on the donkey cart, it was not surprising to say that, Uncle Wang, you helped someone lead the way to find my grandfather to sew the corpse?

Then get out of the way and let a few people carry the coffin through the door.

Speaking of this, we have to raise the threshold of the corpse maker. The people in the mountain villages have the custom of deliberately raising the threshold, and the threshold of the corpse maker's house is particularly high, almost reaching the child's knee.

Jin An and the old Taoist took the initiative to help carry the coffin together. Uncle Wang and Wang Dagang thanked him again and again. Wang Dagang was the biological father of the child who drowned in the coffin.

The grandson of the mortician was not too curious about the Taoist status of Jin'an and the old Taoist priest. In the past, many family members of the deceased would bring Taoist priests and monks with them to perform rituals for the deceased along the way.

Today, the mortician in Xicai Village is quite lively. Just as they sat down and drank the herbal tea brought by the mortician's grandson to relieve the heat, there was another knock on the door of the courtyard.

The grandson of the mortician opened the door, and there was another business coming. This time, the crowd was a bit big, and there were several carriages alone.

Grandson of the mortician: "My grandfather has gone to the mountains to collect medicine. Whether your coffins can enter the door, whether my grandfather is willing to accept this business, will have to be decided by my grandfather after he comes back, and I will make the decision." No Lord."

The lead guard was unconvinced, and pointed to the coffin sitting in the lobby and the others and said, "You little brat, don't lie to us, why can they come in? My master heard that the corpse seamstress in Xicai Village is famous, That's why I came to Xicai village without hesitation. If you have business, you don't want my master to come in and have a drink of tea. Why do you even keep the dead at the door? Doesn’t Carpenter know what it means to say that the dead are the greatest?”

The grandson of the mortician seemed to be familiar with the scene before him, and he said calmly: "Uncle Wang lives in a nearby village and has helped people guide them a few times. people, so no."

The guard yelled: "Why can't I be a foreigner? Even morticians discriminate against locals and non-locals these days!"

The grandson of the mortician made a numb answer that seemed to have been repeated many times: "My grandfather had a few rules before he sewed up a corpse. Treacherous people...until they don't know what you are doing, they can't enter the door, and they can only decide whether to take your business or not when my grandpa arrives."

Listening to the words of the corpse seamer's grandson, Uncle Wang sitting in the lobby of the house muttered softly: "It seems that Master Cai has become more cautious since he was cheated half a year ago."

There was still noise outdoors when the door was blocked, but a middle-aged voice in the carriage shouted: "Zhao Huwei, today we have something to ask for a mortician, so let's follow the rules of a mortician, it doesn't hurt to wait a little longer .”

"I also need to ask Guard Zhao to help me see if the young master is all right."

The guard surnamed Zhao glared at the mortician's grandson, walked outside the carriage and cupped his hands: "Yes, master."

Then Guard Zhao walked to the rear of the convoy to a carriage covered with bamboo tarpaulins and pulling a black wooden coffin, and carefully inspected it.

It was almost dark outside, and the time to wait for Cai Xu, the mortician, was not long. He was an old man of seventy years old, and he was accompanied by a few big dogs to protect him when he went into the mountains to collect herbs.

The mortician inquired about the situation, and then asked the other party to open the coffin to examine the corpse.After examining the corpse, he nodded and agreed to accept the business and let the servants carry the coffin in.

"Why is it drowning again? There are already three people in a row..." The old Taoist whispered to Jin'an.

Just now when Zhao Huwei introduced the situation of the deceased to the mortician, several people sitting in the room also heard that the deceased in the coffin was the son of the master in the carriage. The strong wind overturned the painting boat, and several people fell into the river and drowned, but their bodies were never found.

This summer, due to abnormal weather, the river dried up, exposing the riverbed, and found the sunken ship and several bones that sank together with the sunken ship, and finally confirmed their identity through their belongings.

Because after a year of river washing, the bones were already mutilated, so the master Xu in the carriage brought his son's bones to the mortician to ask for more bones.

Just as the servants carried the coffin into the house, the old master Xu who was sitting in the carriage also got out of the carriage. He was a country gentleman with a thick waist, round arms, a big belly, and his neck could hardly be seen. The nouveau riche temperament of a squire.

"Master Cai, I have heard about your excellent craftsmanship for a long time, and I came here specially to hear about it. I have another merciless request today. I hope that Master Cai can understand the heart of every father's love for his son. Today, I would like to ask Master Cai to replace you." I don’t know if it’s okay to add another skin to my son’s bones? In terms of remuneration, Master Cai, don’t worry, my Xu family will definitely not be short of money.” The master Xu said while hiding from the big dogs around the mortician, looking like A bit afraid of dogs.

The mortician stroked the big dogs he raised, and said with a kind smile, "The skin bag is not difficult. I don't know if Mr. Xu wants fish skin, pig skin, cow skin, horse skin, donkey skin, or sticks people with paper." Skin bag, linen skin bag, bamboo strip skin bag?”

Master Xu was surprised: "Ah? Are there so many ways? My Xu family is not short of money, so I must use the most expensive and best."

The mortician smiled and nodded: "Then use cowhide. The cowhide is tough, not easy to break, and it doesn't need additional stitching and cutting. It can be as real as human skin. However, it will take some time to prepare the cowhide. Xicai Village is small, and you need to find People go to the county town to find a butcher to buy."

Master Xu's face showed embarrassment.

The mortician observed his words and expressions and asked why?

Master Xu: "Recently, I just happened to worship the ancestors. I plan to move my son into the ancestral land on the day of the ancestor worship, so that he can rest in peace as soon as possible. It is the last wish of us parents. I don't know if Master Cai can make it within ten days. Sewn up the body?"

This time it was the mortician who showed embarrassment: "I'm afraid it's a bit difficult. After buying the cowhide, I have to trace the portrait of the young master. I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it within ten days."

"In this case, let's use horse skin instead. There are ready-made horse skins in the village. And the meaning of horses is also very good. A thousand gold horse is rare, and life is very expensive."

Master Xu prepared for a moment and agreed to replace human skin with horse skin.

At this time, Uncle Wang pulled Wang Dagang out and said: "Master Cai, Mr. Xu is in a hurry, and my Dagang is also in a hurry. We will arrive first, and I beg Master Cai to help my Dagang first."

The mortician: "Don't worry, Mr. Wang, there will be no delay on both sides. I will help you sew the corpse first."

Uncle Wang heaved a sigh of relief when he got the promise from the mortician, and then pulled his nephew Wang Dagang to bend over to thank him.

The mortician did not bring the big dogs into the house, but drove them away and let them go out to look for food by themselves.

Outsiders didn't pay much attention to these big dogs that went out to look for food, only Jin An and the old Taoist took a few more glances, and the old Taoist gave Jin An a wink.

Jin An nodded for Unchecked.

At this time, the mortician crossed the high threshold and led a few people into the lobby of the house. Perhaps even the mortician regarded Jin'an and the old Taoist priest in Taoist robes as Taoist priests invited by the king, and came up to simply open the door. After greeting them, they didn't ask the details of the two of them.

The mortician didn't ask, and the two didn't answer. Uncle Wang was so focused on sewing the corpse for his nephew and grandson, he didn't take the initiative to explain that Jin'an and the old Taoist were hitchhikers on the way.

At first, the mortician asked a few people to rest in a few rooms prepared for guests, so they didn't need to stay up late to accompany him to sew the corpse, but none of them felt sleepy, so they insisted on staying with him to sew the corpse. A few people stayed.

"If you can't stand the next scene, you can go back to the wing with my grandson to rest."

Even the master Xu and some of the guards who accompanied him were curious to stay, wanting to see how the mortician sewed up the corpse.

The decay of the corpse accelerated in summer, and as soon as the coffin was opened, there was a smell of decay from the corpse. Master Xu, including the servants and guards who accompanied him, couldn't help covering their noses and ran far away to vomit. Only the mortician inspected the corpse as if nothing happened.

The corpse rots quickly in this weather. Even though the coffin has been treated with lime powder for embalming, it is still difficult to prevent the corpse from rotting quickly in the hot summer.

"It's not a big problem. I used dried straw and sackcloth to make up the head. Mr. Wang has been here a few times, so he should know the process. Did you bring a portrait of the child? I used it to describe the child's facial features." After the mortician said, Uncle Wang even said yes and yes, saying that he had already put it in the coffin.

This portrait is after the death of the child, the parents asked an artist to paint the portrait according to their memory.

After looking at the portrait, the mortician nodded, and then he looked around, his eyes leaped over the servants and guards who were still vomiting, and fixed on Jin An and the old Taoist with normal expressions, he waved and said, "The Taoist priest doesn't mind helping you?" Let’s help carry the dead down to the bamboo bed at the side.”

The mortician started to work. He moved out a bamboo bed, suspended it on the long bench, and sprinkled a circle of lime powder around it to prevent moisture and reptiles.

Jin An pressed the old Taoist priest's shoulder, he got up and walked to the coffin: "Okay, old Taoist, you are weak, let me do it."

(End of this chapter)