My master is invincible

Chapter 304 Nine Coffins (27)

I looked at the old hero suspiciously, and asked, "You always knew me?"

He smiled and said, "I heard your name mentioned last year, and it was my request that you come to Quyang."

Hearing this, I became even more puzzled. Last year, I only joined the coffin bearer. Let alone fame, I am afraid that few people even know my name. How could the old hero far away in Quyang know my name?
I was about to speak, but the old hero gave up and said, "I want to ask you a question, I wonder if you can answer it seriously?"

I nodded and said, "You ask."

"What is a coffin bearer, and how does one qualify as a coffin bearer?" The old hero coughed a few times, his breath weaker.

I stepped forward to support him, thought for a while, and said, "Your old question is too extensive. Xiao Jiu can only talk about my understanding of the coffin bearer. The coffin bearer is the worker who collects the corpse. In the eyes of many people, we carry The profession of a coffin bearer is very humble and is not understood by the world. In my opinion, we coffin bearers are very sacred. It is a great act of kindness to send people to the earth for peace. As for a qualified coffin bearer, one should be proficient in the five arts and funeral customs From the funeral customs of all parts of the country to the funeral customs of various ethnic groups, I dare not say that they are all-inclusive. At least we must know how to respect the customs of various places and cherish the customs left by our ancestors. No matter how developed the society is, the funeral customs of the country cannot be changed. Faith is the spiritual pillar, even if the whole society is advocating innovation, only this funeral custom cannot be innovative, you must follow the gourd, be proficient in the five arts, and be conservative, that is a qualified coffin bearer!"

Hearing what I said, the old hero showed a kind smile on his face, nodded, and asked, "Do you think you are a qualified coffin bearer?"

I shook my head and said, "No!" This is not because I am humble, but to be honest. As far as the coffin bearer is concerned, he needs to know a lot of things. More importantly, the coffin bearer himself needs a kind of luck. This kind of luck can suppress the resentment of the dead. Only in this way can every funeral be carried out peacefully, and every coffin can be carried up and down the mountain for burial safely.

And I don't have this kind of luck, and I'm not proficient in the five arts. At most, I can be regarded as a coffin bearer who has just entered the profession.

After listening, the old hero nodded in satisfaction, waved to the old lady beside me, and whispered a few words in her ear, which I couldn't hear clearly.However, I heard the first sentence of the old hero, he said: "Xiao Jiu, this child is indeed..." The voice behind it was too small, and I couldn't hear it clearly.

The old hero said about seven or eight sentences, and then signaled the wife to stand aside. It is worth mentioning that after the old lady stood beside me, she would look at me from time to time, with a hint of kindness in her eyes.

"Xiao Jiu, do it well!" After the old hero said such a sentence to me, he stopped at me, meaning to let me go away.

I bent over the old hero and retreated to Master Jiang, and the nine sons of the Lu family immediately surrounded the old hero's bed tightly.

Originally, I wanted to ask Mr. Jiang what was going on, but when I saw that his face was a little strange, I didn't ask, and stood beside him, silently looking at the nine sons of the Lu family in front of me.

The atmosphere in the room was very depressing. After about 10 minutes, the nine sons of the Lu family knelt down on the ground and began to cry. I knew that the old hero had passed away.

After crying for about 3 minutes, the old lady walked up to me and said, "Xiaojiu, my master said before he was alive that you can pack it up. He can't trust others." We in Hengyang call it wearing a shroud.)
When it comes to wrapping, Quyang's customs are a bit different from ours. Quyang is very particular about shrouds. No matter what season the deceased dies in, shrouds are always made of cotton. Leather goods are taboo, and sweaters are not allowed.

It is said that if the deceased wears a fur coat, sweater, leather shoes or leather-soled shoes after death, he will be reincarnated as an animal in his next life.

Buttons cannot be placed on the shroud, because buttons are called buttons, which is a homonym for twisting, which is not conducive to the development and fortune of children.

Of course, Quyang is very big, and this is just a custom. In some places, there is a custom of wrapping up the body before death. This is done because the corpse is stiff and difficult to wear after death. Putting on the shroud in time and then dying, is "walking naked" and regards future generations as unfilial. (Note: Funeral customs are different in different places. For the convenience of reading, local technical terms will be used for customs in each place, such as wearing a shroud in Quyang, which is called wrapping. This narrative method will be used in the following articles. Please don’t Substituting the funeral customs of her hometown into this article, Xiao Jiu once again emphasized that China is a big country with many ethnic groups, and it is called "Ten Li Different".)
A little too far, let's get down to business.

Hearing what the old lady said, I didn't answer her directly, but turned my head and glanced at Master Jiang, throwing a puzzled look at him.

Master Jiang nodded, but did not speak.

When I came to my senses, I agreed to the old lady's request and began to dress up the old hero.I first asked Lu's elder son to find a pair of shoes worn by the old hero before his death. He was not very friendly to me, so he asked me why I was looking for shoes?

I told him that there is a custom of calling souls here in Quyang.

He seemed to have some understanding of Quyang's customs, so he said good-bye and left.

After a while, he found a pair of straw sandals, saying that the old hero loved to wear straw sandals when he was alive. I didn't ask any more questions, so I called the others out, leaving the eldest son Lu behind.

After those people left, only Lu's family and I were left in the room. I took a look in the room and saw a wooden ladder on the left, about the same length as the height of the house.

I was overjoyed, I was really worried about not having a ladder, I didn't expect the old hero's room to have a ladder.So, I asked Lu's eldest son to make three bows to the ladder, burned some yellow paper, and then asked him to climb up the wooden ladder with the left shoe of the old hero (the deceased was a woman, and took the second shoe).

The elder Lu's son was fatter, and it took a lot of effort to climb the wooden ladder. It took seven or eight minutes to climb to the top of the wooden ladder.

"What do we do next?" The eldest son of Lu asked me standing on the wooden ladder.

"Take a few shots on the roof, and then shout 'Father, come back and put on your shoes'." I said to him.

He nodded in agreement, and followed my instructions, took the straw sandals and patted the roof a few times, and shouted three more times, 'Father, come back and put on your shoes'.

These three claim to call the soul, but also to determine whether the deceased passed away, if not completely dead, there will be abnormal phenomena in the room.

While he was yelling this, I looked at the old hero, and saw the old hero lying peacefully on the bed, without any abnormal reaction. Judging from the situation, he should have passed away.

I feel a little lost in my heart. To be honest, I very much hope that these three sounds can call back the soul of the old hero, but this is just a hope, and the reality is very cruel.

"Come down!" I yelled to the elder Lu's son, and came to the old hero's bed, first bowed to him three times, then rolled the old hero's eyelids, and checked his breath.

(End of this chapter)