Centuries of Folk Secrets: Notes of the Bone Collector

Chapter 3 Layout Saves People
Exploring the bones

In the early morning of the second day, Scar Dragon came to the wing and called the door, saying that Mr. Leng had counted a good omen, and that today he could break the grave of Huang Shide's dead son.Yan Qiniang and I washed our faces, drank some porridge indiscriminately, and were taken to the grave of Huang Shide's dead son by the people of the Huang residence.

When we arrived, Huang Shide and Mr. Leng had already been waiting for a long time.After exchanging a few pleasantries, Huang Shide urged Yan Qiniang to break the grave and collect his bones. Instead of expressing condolences for the deceased son, Huang Shide felt an inexplicable sense of excitement.Mr. Leng who was standing at the side was silent, but there was a weird smile on the corner of his mouth.

Before breaking the grave and collecting the bones, Yan Qiniang and I lit eight scented candles in front of the grave of Huang Shide's deceased son, four of which were long candles for the ancients and four short candles for the bones, to show our respect.After all, breaking graves, digging coffins, collecting spirits, and moving bones will all be disrespectful to the deceased.

After the candles were burned out, Yan Qiniang waved her hand to signal the guards of the Huang Mansion to break the grave.The graves of ordinary people are made of mounds of earth, and the coffins below are buried very shallowly, and can be dug out with blunt objects such as hoes and picks.But this Huang Shide is a big family in Kanto, his son's tomb must be much more gorgeous than the tombs of ordinary people.Not only that, but the top of the grave was surrounded by a layer of "Huating Baogai" with blue bricks. Obviously, a lot of trouble was spent in the burial.

The so-called "Huating Baogai" refers to a way of building the top of the tomb. It needs to be built layer by layer with solid blue bricks. Its shape is semicircular, and it looks like a bunker from a distance.There are also some inscriptions and picture carvings carved on the top of the tomb, most of which are rich and noble lotus vines, which look very magnificent.This kind of "Huating Baogai" tomb is not uncommon in the Kanto region, and most of them are used by some officials and rich merchants' families. The implication of "Huating Baogai" is that the treasure energy extends the veins, which can make the family business prosperous.In addition, the green bricks are durable, not fragile, and can play a certain role in preventing theft.

The tomb of Huang Shide's deceased son was made of high-quality blue bricks, which are not as hard as ordinary bricks and stones, so they must be smashed with heavy hammers or the like.However, this is not a problem to the guards of the Huang Mansion. These people practice boxing and kicking kung fu every day, and they have plenty of strength. They worry that they have no place to use it on weekdays, and they can use it at this time.

If breaking graves is a laborious task, then digging coffins is a technical task.After the guardians of Huang's Mansion smashed the "Huating Treasure Cover" on the top of the grave, Yan Qiniang and I began to dig the coffin.Since the coffin picking requires not to touch the coffin of the dead, otherwise it will cause bad luck to the upper body, so the bone collector has to do it himself.If these rough and rough guards were allowed to pick up the coffin, it is estimated that the coffin would have been torn apart by the time it was hoisted out.

Ever since I was a child, I have picked up hundreds of coffins with Yan Qiniang, at least.But Yan Qiniang never let me touch the coffin, firstly, she was afraid that I would get dirty, and secondly, she was afraid that I would not hurt the coffin deeply.So I have always been a helper, handing tools to Yan Qiniang, dumping soil outside the grave, and other things, I am best at.

For the coffin of the dead, I have no feeling at all, and the word "numb" is the most appropriate word to describe it.It's no wonder, since I can remember, Yan Qiniang has led me around the graveyard, I have seen all kinds of coffins and dead bones.In fact, I am more afraid of the living than the dead.To use the simplest analogy, I am very afraid of getting along with living people, and I don’t even know how to get along with them; but if I am thrown into the graveyard, I will be more at ease.

The first thing to do when picking up the coffin is to clean up the soil in the grave, otherwise the rope will not be able to get in at all, and even if it is in, it may not be able to be pulled out.However, it is very troublesome to clean up the grave, and it needs to be tentatively shoveled underground, and the coffin cannot be damaged.The age of burial of each coffin, the material of the coffin, the soil quality and humidity in the tomb are all different. It is inevitable that there will be rotten coffins. It was broken.Therefore, coffin picking is not only a handicraft job, but also a labor job, and it cannot be sloppy at all.If something goes wrong, let alone the dead in the coffin, even the living beside the grave will not let it go.

The burial depth of coffins of ordinary families is three to five meters, and the depth of burial of coffins of official families is mostly five to eight meters, depending on the Feng Shui, transportation, soil quality and environment of the cemetery.According to Huang Shide, Mr. Yin Yang was invited when his son was buried. The coffin was buried [-] feet and [-] feet deep, which means ten funerals and eight mends, and it takes the pulse of protecting the house and extending the wealth.But after many years, Yan Qiniang did not dare to believe it. It was not because she was afraid that Huang Shide would lie, but because the coffin was not stored according to the location when it was buried. Because of the influence of geology, environment, and transportation, many coffins buried deep in the ground will move up and down. .I remember one time, Yan Qiniang and I passed by a field cemetery and saw a coffin from the late Ming Dynasty protruding from the ground, and its front top was completely exposed.Some of the people living nearby said it was a coffin of evil spirits, and that the dead person inside had turned into a spirit, while others said it was the work of a god-damned tomb robber.In fact, this was caused by changes in soil quality. Since the place was a waterlogged depression with loose soil, the coffin was exposed after a long time.

The cemetery of Huang Shide's deceased son is located in a mountain forest, and the soil is relatively loose, but it is not an easy task to dig to a depth of five or six meters, especially if the coffin is not damaged during the excavation process.But this is not a problem for Yan Qiniang, because since ancient times, cats have cat ways, dogs have dog ways, and bone collectors also have their own unique secret method, which is to use "red oil as a guide, and scented wax to find their bones." .

Bone collectors have been in this business for hundreds of years since the Song Dynasty. They do dirty things and earn money from the dead. He figured out a set of bone-holding secret methods and passed them down from generation to generation.As the old saying goes, "Close the bones and hide the bones, and the bones hide the way", which refers to the mystery and mystery.Bone masters rely on their skills to make a living, eating, drinking, and sleeping all depend on the rewards from the owner. If the coffin is destroyed or the bones are smashed during the bone extraction process, it will be like stabbing a hornet's nest.So if you want to do the work quickly and beautifully, you cannot do without the secret bone-holding method handed down by your ancestors.

The so-called "use red oil as a guide, and scented wax to detect the traces of its bones" is one of the secret methods commonly used by bone collectors when digging graves.Since it is impossible to determine the exact location of the deceased's coffin, the bone collector is in a dilemma when digging the grave.If the speed of digging the grave is too fast, it is easy to damage the coffin; but if the grave is dug carefully, how many shovels will be needed to dig out the coffin.Generally, the victim of breaking the grave and digging the coffin will choose an auspicious time in advance. If it takes two days to grind slowly, it will definitely cause the victim to scold his mother.

I have followed Yan Qiniang to collect the bones of the dead of a rich family before, so I am very familiar with this method of "using red oil as a primer and scented wax to trace the bones".After seeing Yan Qiniang's signal, I inserted two long and one short three incense sticks in the center of the tomb in a triangle shape-this is what the old saying "three incense sticks respects the bone" means.These three sticks of Qinxiang are made of wood sticking tombs, mixed with scented wax, as thick as a little finger, about one foot long and half a foot short, and are special sacrifices for grave worship and bone sacrifice.If the deceased is a man, it needs to be placed in the middle of the tomb in a triangle with two long and one short, which means long and short incense, and the male sacrifices; The triangle, which means short and long incense, women's offerings.

After setting up the incense, I poured a layer of red oil on the three Qinxiang.This layer of red oil not only needs to soak the fragrance, but also flows into the grave along with the fragrance.During this process, the hands should not be shaken, the heart should not be flustered, and the red oil should be poured evenly on the Qinxiang. If it is directly dripped into the grave, it will not work.This red oil is boiled with bones, and it must be used with Qinxiang. As for why, I can't say, anyway, the ancestors of bone masters have used it for thousands of years.

Later, Huang Shide and I asked for the name and birth date of his dead son, and wrote it on the yellow paper prepared in advance with a brush, and then put the yellow paper on the bottom of the short incense. "Tie" is regarded as a ceremony of worship to the deceased.Under normal circumstances, this "Bone Exploring Post" will eventually be reduced to ashes. If it doesn't burn, it means that the bone-extraction is more or less auspicious.

When we were almost ready, Yan Qiniang and I knelt down on both knees, with our hands in the shape of lotus flowers, and kowtowed four times to the grave of Huang Shide's dead son—one kowtow to respect the ancients, the second kowtow to worship ghosts, the third kowtow to restrain spirits, Four knocks are bone bumps.The Bone Collector never kneels down to his ancestors, nor to his master, but only to kneel down to the deceased.Taking the number of pairs to kneel and worship is a sign of goodwill. As the saying goes, "Walk by the river often, how can you not get your shoes wet?" Bone masters deal with dead people all day long. Therefore, no matter whether the deceased was poor or rich in life, he should not be neglected.

"Mingming Dao, the spiritual wind exists, the bone-holding man, and ask the dead bone god, first to explore impermanence, and second to explore yin and yang. Unleash, burn incense!" Yan Qiniang stood up and muttered in a low voice.

Before Yan Qiniang finished reading, I picked up the fire book and lit the three incense sticks on the grave, in order to find out the location of the coffin of Huang Shide's deceased son.If the short incense among the three incense sticks burst suddenly when digging the grave, it means that the distance to the coffin of the deceased is less than half a foot, and you need to dig carefully; The tomb is an empty tomb, commonly known as "jumping tomb".

Huang Shide and his nursing home on the side had never seen such a thing as bone grabbing, so they couldn't help watching with wide-eyed eyes, whispering and pointing one by one, seeing both the excitement and the novelty.Only Mr. Leng was resting with his eyes closed, occasionally lowering his head to take a sip of tea and stroking his beard without glancing at him.

grave-breaking
Digging graves is an extremely boring thing, but it is the one thing Yan Qiniang and I have done the most in our lives.Since the center of the tomb has a scent, Yan Qiniang and I can only excavate from one side of the tomb.Huang Shide sent several people to assist us, and erected a wooden frame on the top of the grave.Bamboo baskets are tied to the ropes of the wooden frame, which is not only convenient for pouring soil from the inside of the tomb, but also passing things for eating and drinking.

It is the thin dog who is responsible for guarding the Qinxiang in front of the grave and reporting to us when it bursts.Although this guy has become a lot more honest since Yan Qiniang put a dagger in his throat, I still think this guy is unreliable, and he might do something bad in this matter.Yan Qiniang didn't take the thin dog seriously, she said that this person is bullying and afraid of hard, greedy for merit and afraid of death, he is born with a slavish look, even if he doesn't have the guts to use this to fool everyone - if something big happens, Huang Shide will pick him up The skin is not good.

Since ancient times, there are only two kinds of people who dare to pick up the graves of dead people.One is tomb robbers, most of whom come and go in the middle of the night.This kind of person has no taboos, and when he sees the grave, he will dig a hole into it, regardless of whether it will damage the coffin and the bones of the dead, anyway, it is just for money.If they get the funeral utensils, they will naturally get rich overnight; otherwise, they have to rely on luck, after all, there are not a few short-lived ghosts who are thrown into the grave by the dead.The other type is the Bone Collector, most of them are active during the day, and there are many etiquettes. They can only earn rewards from the living, and they cannot touch the burials of the dead.In Yan Qiniang's words, this is the way of the Bone Collector, you can't lean on it, you must strictly abide by it.

It was noon, and Yan Qiniang and I had a simple meal in the grave.We have already dug five or six meters, but we haven't heard the news of Qinxiang bursting for a long time.What's even more troublesome is that the grave soil is getting harder and harder, which makes it more difficult for Yan Qiniang and I to dig down.Under normal circumstances, the soil in the depths of the grave will become softer and softer, but the grave soil in front of us is just the opposite. We even dug out some large pieces of mud and stone, which is really strange.

If it was just some large pieces of mudstone, it could barely be dealt with, but we actually dug up a stone slab.This stone slab is about one meter wide and endlessly long. It will make a dull sound when knocked on it, obviously it has a certain thickness.I thought this stone slab was in the way, so I wanted to bypass it and continue digging.Yan Qiniang stopped me, then sighed and said: "This is the baffle of the burial coffin, there is no need to go around."

At this moment, the thin dog poked his head in from the top of the grave, and shouted loudly with a broken gong: "It's cracked! That incense stick is cracked!"

Upon hearing this, I simply dropped the shovel in my hand, squatted in the grave and sulked.It turned out that when the coffin was buried, a baffle was installed to prevent water and theft, but Huang Shide didn't tell Yan Qiniang and me.If we knew this, why would we need to burn incense to test the coffin? Just dig it out. Anyway, with this thick stone slab as a partition, no amount of digging would damage the coffin.

"This old fox, it seems that he intends to test our skills on purpose!" Yan Qiniang patted my head, glanced at the top of the grave, and then grabbed the rope and climbed up.

When I saw Yan Qiniang crawling out of the grave, I felt a little anxious.Huang Shide, an old man, is obviously playing tricks, if Yan Qiniang really goes to reason with him, he will definitely not get him any favors.But I was in the grave, and I couldn't see the situation outside the grave at all, so I turned around in a circle in a hurry.

Ever since Gu Xiong was killed by a traitor, Yan Qiniang has gone through ups and downs along the way, and has tasted the warmth and coldness of the world, and she has long been indifferent to the ways of the world.So she didn't take Huang Shide's move to heart at all, and didn't even mention it.She just asked Huang Shide to send some more people to smash the baffle on the coffin, otherwise, with the strength of our orphans and widows, we may not be able to knock the thick stone slab when it gets dark.

Huang Shide had handled the funeral of his dead son all by himself, so he knew in his heart that Yan Qiniang would not be able to break the baffle of the coffin, so he didn't say much, but ordered Scar Dragon to send someone to help.Scar Dragon's status in the Huang Mansion is extremely special, so he refused to go to the grave himself, so he picked a few strong nurses to help out with tools.

Going down to the grave is definitely not a good job, because there is a lot of filth under the grave, and those who are dying will inevitably cause trouble to the upper body, so the guards of the Huang Mansion hid aside to watch the fun.The guards who were ordered to be buried by Scar Dragon were very reluctant, muttering and complaining.Even so, they had to carry tools to the grave one by one.After all, they usually ate meals from the Huang Mansion and received rewards from the Huang Mansion. Now is the time for the Huang Mansion to employ people, not to mention a grave, even if it is a sea of ​​fire, they have to bite the bullet and jump down.

After these burly men came down, the originally narrow grave was very crowded.Some of these nursing homes held shovels, some held heavy hammers, and one man simply carried a big iron knife on his back.Due to the narrow space in the pit, the old man couldn't pull out the big iron knife from behind after working for a long time.In desperation, I had no choice but to ask these guardians to quickly dig up the grave soil, at least to clean up the grave soil on the coffin baffle, otherwise even if the coffin baffle was smashed, the coffin would not be lifted.

These nursing homes knew that what I said was true, so they worked very hard, thinking of finishing the work as soon as possible, so that they could get out of this place where the dead were buried earlier.They even felt that I was in the way, so they simply drove me to the corner of the grave and asked me to pour the soil outside the grave. They didn't even pay attention to me when they smashed the coffin baffle.Regarding this, I dare not speak out, but I just hope that these tyrannical bosses will be able to grasp their sense of propriety when they attack. If they really smash the coffin of Huang Shide's deceased son, they will definitely be unable to eat and walk around.

Due to the huge dust in the grave, the guards kept smashing the stone slabs with sledgehammers. I had to cover my mouth and hide aside, even my eyes were tightly closed, for fear of being hurt by flying small stones.Still, the thumping sound of the slamming sound penetrated into my heart.This kind of smashing sound is extremely dull, and every sound makes me feel an indescribable discomfort in my heart.

I don't know how long it took before the guards picked me up like a chicken, and motioned me to check the degree of cracking of the stone slab after being smashed.Coughing, I fanned the dust in the air with my hands, then walked over with a frown.Before I could see the extent of the rupture of the baffle, a dark coffin came into view.

I am very familiar with coffins. When I was a child digging graves with Yan Qiniang, I often dozed off on the coffin boards. Over time, I developed good eyesight and could identify most of the coffins at a glance. material and age of burial.

Most of the coffins buried by ordinary people are "ten-page tiles" or "ten-page pieces", that is, the entire coffin is made of ten-page wood.But it is also made of twelve pages of wood, which is commonly known as "12 yuan".But the coffin in front of me used eighteen pages of wood, which was extremely thick and firm.Yan Qiniang once taught me that this kind of coffin is called "Eighteen Yin", and it is a sacrificial method for large funerals and burials.

It would be fine if the coffin was only heavy, but it was made of Liuzhou nanmu. Huang Shide's deceased son was simply buried in a rich funeral!As the old saying goes, "Live in Hangzhou, wear clothes in Suzhou, eat in Guangzhou, and die in Liuzhou." From this, we can know the quality of coffins in Liuzhou.Phoebe is also an extremely high-grade wood, which can last for a long time without decay and has a delicate fragrance. Many high-quality ancient buildings are constructed of Phoebe.Although Huang Shide's deceased son died young, it was worth his death to receive such a heavy funeral after death.

After I cleaned up the broken stones on the coffin, I checked it again carefully to make sure that the coffin had no signs of insect bites, rot, or broken boards, so I called Yan Qiniang to drop the rope hanging coffin.Normally, when Yan Qiniang and I were holding people's bones, we usually opened the coffin directly in the grave, but Huang Shide and Mr. Leng repeatedly insisted that the coffin must be hung outside the grave before opening the coffin. Although Yan Qiniang and I didn't know the reason, we also Just follow through.

After Yan Qiniang threw down the rope, several nurses and I tied the coffin tightly, so that it was so firm that it was enough to ensure that there would be no accidents during the coffin being hoisted.Yan Qiniang once said that a bone master drank a little wine while hanging a coffin, and did not check the coffin and ropes carefully. As a result, an accident occurred during the hanging of the coffin, and one side of the coffin It was strangled by the rope, and the bones in the coffin were thrown out.It is said that the bones were smashed to pieces, and some of the broken bones could not be found.Without saying a word, the son of the owner of the coffin took out his knife and killed the bone maker.Seeing that something was wrong, the bone collector wanted to slip away, but he slipped and fell into the grave, hitting his head on the gravel in the grave, and lost his life without saying a word.This person didn't make money, and even took his life, which can be said to have suffered retribution.

After tying the rope, several guards in the tomb crawled out without giving in to each other.As soon as I looked at the virtues of these people, I consciously fell behind.Ordinarily, there is no danger in hanging coffins, but no one can be left in the grave.Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just in case, even if the coffin and the ropes are all right, it's hard to say who is in the coffin.If he is dishonest, then the unlucky things that fall into the coffin will inevitably happen.At this time, if there is an idler in the grave, he will be smashed into a puddle of flesh by the falling coffin.

A round iron wheel is tied to the wooden frame outside the tomb, which is used to wrap the rope. Using this hanging coffin can save a lot of effort.After I crawled out of the grave, Scar Dragon led a group of guards to shake the hanging coffin with iron wheels.Although the coffin weighed several hundred catties, it was not difficult at all for these big and thick nursing homes. Before shaking it a few times, a huge coffin was thrown on the ground with a bang. on the ground.

open coffin

After drinking two bowls of herbal tea, I took a closer look at the hoisted coffin.This coffin was made of high-quality black lacquered nanmu, and it was preserved quite intact, even the colored carvings around the coffin have not faded.If it wasn't for the rotten smell of the earth's yin qi exuding from the coffin, few people would be able to tell if it was sold as a coffin that had never contained a dead person.Among the hundreds of coffins that Yan Qiniang and I have picked up, this one is the most expensive, and I have to secretly sigh the wealth and magnanimity of the Huang Mansion.

There are two snow-white cranes above the glazed tile hall. The hall is lined with vigorous and dense green pines and cypresses. In front of the hall is a fragrant green grass. The stone-step road looks very elegant.The whole picture adorns the head of the coffin like a fairyland, which is completely a quiet villa. The three big characters "Anle Palace" on the top of the head closely connect the picture of the head of the coffin with the coffin itself.On both sides of the coffin are two golden dragons flying through the clouds and chasing orbs. Around the dragons are paintings of weapons used by the Eight Immortals, also known as the "Dark Eight Immortals", as well as Guqin, ancient paintings, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, peach, durian and longevity fruits. There are four big characters "Shoushan Fuhai" written on it.

I work with coffins all day long, and over time, I also know some ways to carve coffins.All the pictures on this coffin are made with techniques such as standing powder and gilding. By mixing pigments and adding the painting style of ancient Tang Sancai, the whole coffin is solemn and generous, with clear layers, gorgeous and orderly colors, and smooth lines.Huang Shide's deceased son was not blessed to enjoy wealth and honor during his lifetime, but after his death, he can be buried in such a magnificent coffin, and he can walk on the road to Huangquan with peace of mind.

Huang Shide's eyes were wet, and he walked slowly around the coffin. While holding the corners of the coffin with his hands, he kept coughing and coughing, and his emotions were beyond words, without any concealment.I have followed Yan Qiniang to open coffins and collect bones for many years, and I have long been used to this kind of sad scene.But at this time, I was infected by Huang Shide, who is more silent than loud, and I felt a kind of unspeakable discomfort in my heart. I only felt that Huang Shide was very pitiful. Destiny and sigh!
Mr. Leng didn't react at all. He glanced at the coffin coldly, then walked quickly to Huang Shide's side, and said softly, "Master Huang, please give me condolences. People are destined to have bad luck and disaster. You are dedicated to continue the Huang family." Xianghuo, I think the young master in this coffin knows well, and will understand your hard work. You should take a short rest and let them open the coffin to collect their bones."

After Master Huang was helped back to his seat, Yan Qiniang and I stuffed incense into the gaps around the coffin.In the old saying, this is called "asking the fragrance of the spirit", and bone collectors will use this trick when opening coffins.

"Wen Lingxiang" pays attention to double four single.The so-called "double four" means inserting four incense sticks on both sides of the coffin, while "single" means inserting one incense stick at the head of the coffin. The folks call this method "Jiujiuwen coffin incense".This was originally a secret method passed down from generation to generation by bone masters, but it was later introduced to the people.Although there are many people who know this method, there are very few who understand its mystery.There are taboos about this method, which is called "three no insertions", which means that there are three types of people who cannot insert incense on the coffin, namely underage men, women who are menstruating and pregnant, and people born on Yangshiyangday.

After lighting the qinxiang, I stood behind Yan Qiniang, keeping my eyes on the qinxiang.Every time I open the coffin and insert incense, I am very nervous, for fear that the incense inserted in the coffin will be ejected.Over the years, I followed Yan Qiniang to collect bones for people, and what I thought most about was not how much money the owner could give, but how dangerous this job was.In Yan Qiniang's words, the life of a bone master is very low, and what he does is dirty things related to the dead, so stability is the capital for a bone master to live and work.

In the past, when Yan Qiniang took me to open the coffin and collect the bones for others, Qinxiang would pop out of the coffin.At that time, I was still young and just knew how to remember things.Under normal circumstances, bone collectors would hide away when encountering such a fierce coffin, and no one wanted to encounter such a bad luck.But it was really difficult to ask for a meal in those years. In desperation, Yan Qiniang had no choice but to bite the bullet and take over the matter for the victim, just trying to get some rewards so that I could fill my stomach.After that incident, Yan Qiniang fell seriously ill, her whole body was black and swollen, and her bones were much weaker. She was especially afraid of the shade, and did not get better until two or three months later.Later, I also asked Yan Qiniang the reason for this, but she didn't explain it.If she got impatient when asked, she would presume that it was caused by the wind and cold, and she would never admit that it was the root cause of the illness left by that time.

The incense sticks in the coffin burned very vigorously, and there were crackling sounds from time to time.The guardians of Huang's mansion knew that the matter of the dead was too bad, and no one wanted to let the bad luck get on them, so they all hid away, only the scarred dragon who had no taboo supported Huang Shide to guard the coffin aside.Mr. Leng is quite interested in this kind of coffin-inserting. While pacing around the coffin, he gently stroked his beard, and kept turning his small eyes, giving people an unfathomable feeling. .

Fortunately, with the blessing of the patriarch, Huang Shide's deceased son was quite honest, there was no abnormality in the coffin, and the nine incense sticks slowly burned out.At this time, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and my heart that was in my throat also fell.But we have to keep working. After all, there are so many people waiting to see the excitement, and it is a serious matter to open the coffin.

I was about to step forward to help Yan Qiniang push the lid of the coffin, but Yan Qiniang waved me back, and then said slowly: "This coffin has been nailed with nails, and it cannot be opened without tools."

After being blocked by Yan Qiniang, I took a closer look at the joint between the coffin lid and the coffin body. Sure enough, the joint was tightly sealed, and it looked like it had been nailed by mother and child.This mother-of-piece nail is also called a rivet nail. The two ends are strong and sharp, with barbs. It is nailed into the wood, as if it is natural, extremely strong, and it is not easy to be found.Ordinary coffins have concave and convex groove buckles, which can ensure the tight connection between the coffin lid and the coffin body, so mother-in-law nails are rarely used, and only coffins with very valuable funeral objects are equipped with mother-in-law nails.Many tomb thieves call the nails of the mother and son the nails of the dead, because the coffins that have been nailed by the nails of the mother and son are the great hatred of the tomb robbers.In order to open this kind of coffin, it must be equipped with a heavy weapon, and there must be a lot of room to use it. This is undoubtedly a huge difficulty for tomb robbers who rely on digging holes to steal ghost weapons.Therefore, when many tomb robbers encounter a coffin that has been nailed by their mother and son, they will look at the coffin and sigh, thinking that they are unlucky, and finally return angrily.

Yan Qiniang knew very well that our orphans, widows and mothers were single and weak, and we would definitely not be able to pry open the coffin in a short time, so she asked Scar Dragon to send some guards with tools to help us pry the coffin.Although these nursing homes are all fat and strong old men, when they heard about the prying of coffins, they all had donkey faces, but they dared not speak, so they had to bite the bullet and work hard.

I saw that these nurses looked distressed, and knowing that they were afraid of getting bad luck, I asked them to rub some ginger juice on their noses.In addition, I asked them to kowtow to the coffin a few times as a sign of apology.The unlucky thin dog was also sent by Scar Dragon to open the coffin. Just in case, he kowtowed three heads at the coffin, and all three kowtowed loudly. His respectful appearance was just like this coffin. The deceased in the picture is like his own father.

Although the nails on the coffin were firmly nailed, the nurses were all from the Lian family, and they had plenty of strength and handy tools, so it was not difficult to open the coffin.It's just that these guards had too many scruples in the process of opening the coffin. They were afraid of bad luck and damage the bones in the coffin with too much force, so it took a long time to pry open the groove of the coffin.Yan Qiniang and I stood aside, although we were a little anxious, but we didn't dare to urge, after all, the dead son of Huang Shide was lying in the coffin, if the bones in the coffin were really damaged, no one would be able to afford this mistake.

It took a full half an incense stick before a few clumsy guards pried off the coffin lid.The thin dog thought the coffin lid was too heavy, so he stood aside to hide.If you want to say that this kid is really a little bit memorized, it's fine to work stealthily and play tricks, but he just can't sit still, his pair of small mung bean eyes keep looking around.It doesn't matter if you look at it, you can directly see the bones in the coffin.But after only one glance, he fell to the ground with a "Oh my god", trembling all over his body, pointed at the coffin with a trembling finger, and shouted loudly: "This... the corpse in the coffin... The head... has no head!"

When the nurses heard this, they immediately backed away.Someone didn't hear clearly, and thought the corpse inside the coffin was a fake corpse, and ran around in fright.It wasn't until the scarred dragon roared a few times in anger that the guards who were about to anoint their feet stopped, and then hid away one by one, and no one dared to approach the coffin.

Yan Qiniang and I saw that something was wrong, so we hurried to the coffin to find out.I saw that there were no funerary goods in this huge coffin, only a gray-white skeleton.Due to the good environment of the tomb, there is still a layer of slimy skin on the bones, and there is no sign of decay.Judging from the appearance of the bone, this is a relatively easy to collect burial bone. The bone is neither rotten nor brittle, so it is easy to move.The fly in the ointment is that this skeleton lacks a skull, and at first glance, it looks extremely abrupt and a little scary.

I have played in the pile of dead people since I was a child, and I have seen hundreds of dead people's bones, but I have never seen this kind of headless bones, and I am a little scared.As the saying goes, "Weird things happen every year, but this year has more." Huang Shide's deceased son also came to join in the fun.I don't know if the head of Huang Shide's deceased son was chopped off before he was buried. If so, he must have been kicked away as a ball.Otherwise, with Huang Shide's influence, how could he not leave a whole body for his dead son?Either the tomb robbers had visited the tomb, but the coffin had no trace of being stolen, and the tomb robbers would not only steal the heads of dead people.From this point of view, this matter is really tricky, and I don't know how Huang Shide will react after learning about it.If it's the former guess, then that's fine; but if it's the latter, he will definitely vomit blood from anger.

Yan Qiniang carefully inspected the bones in the coffin, then looked at Huang Shide's face, and said slowly: "May I ask Mr. Huang, when you ordered the young master to be buried, it was a 'coffin with stacked bones'?"

Digging a grave and digging out a golden lump
As soon as I heard "魑魃 stacked bone coffin", I couldn't help shivering, and stared at Huang Shide with wide eyes.Yan Qiniang once taught me that there are evil coffins under the burial earth, one is "Spiritual Broken Bone Coffin", the second is "Mei Kui Scattered Bone Coffin", and the third is "Dragon Stacked Bone Coffin".Folk superstitiously believe that the coffin with broken bones means the continuation of the pulse, the coffin with loose bones means the continuation of official luck, and the coffin with stacked bones means the continuation of wealth.Because these three coffin burial methods are too unnatural and unnatural, they have always been despised by bone masters, and ordinary people can't bear to trample on the bones of their deceased relatives. Therefore, these three coffin burial methods are rarely used by the people. There are very few people with the three coffin burial methods.

The "sprite bone coffin" is to cut off the skin and flesh of the deceased's corpse before burial, and then smash the bones to pieces, and arrange them evenly in the coffin until it is one inch and two minutes long. The "Mei Kui Scattered Bone Coffin" does not need to cut the flesh of the deceased, but the body of the deceased must be dismembered into nineteen sections before it can be buried in the coffin.As for the "stacked bone coffin", the neck of the deceased must be cut off, and the bones are buried in the coffin separately in the upper and lower order, that is, double coffins are buried.

"Ghostface Qiniang is really knowledgeable. It seems that Mr. Huang has found the right person this time. With the help of Grimace Qiniang, a bone-stripping master, the matter of 'deep bones stacking sun' will naturally get twice the result with half the effort. Hehe!" Mr. Leng stroked He stroked his goatee and said with a smile.

Huang Shide coughed twice, sighed again, and said: "When the dead son was buried, Mr. Yin Yang calculated the fortune of my Huang family, and said that this method must be used to continue this wealth from generation to generation. Think of me as the Huang family. Passed down from generation to generation, hereditary wealth, in these years, natural disasters, national calamities, and man-made disasters have never been hurt. In my generation, we can't destroy the ancestral wealth! I just feel sorry for my dead son. It is the regret of my life that my bones become cold."

"Hey, that's not the case." Mr. Leng smiled slightly, pointing to the coffin and said loudly, "Master Huang's guilt is an act of benevolence and righteousness. Death is a sin, what's the use of it? Master Huang's move There is nothing wrong with letting the dead son do something for the ancestral family business. Besides, Mr. Huang gave birth to the dead son and gave him a prosperous life. Although it was only 20 years, it is beyond the reach of ordinary people. I think This dead son has a spirit underground, so he will understand Mr. Huang's hard work."

Listening to Huang Shide and Mr. Leng singing together, my heart is full of contempt.For Huang Shide, who lost his son in his early years, I still had some sympathy. Even when he was mourning in front of the coffin, I was a little moved and almost shed tears, but I never thought that he was such a vicious and ruthless person.As the saying goes, "A whole body and bones will be safe in the ground." Huang Shide was willing to chop off the skull of his dead son so that he could not get the whole body. He really would rather give up his dead relatives for the sake of wealth and honor!This Mr. Leng is even more of a villain. He seems to be a law-abiding person, but he teaches people to do evil, and even uses the bones of dead people as a lure.

Yan Qiniang stared at Mr. Leng for a long time before slowly saying: "Gu Lang, go down to the grave and pick up the skull of Mr. Huang's deceased son. You must remember the rules and etiquette, and you must not damage the coffin and stir up spirits."

I was not surprised by Yan Qiniang's order, because the bone collector also has an ancient precept to follow, that is, men do not loose bones and women do not overlap.That is to say, male bone masters are not allowed to touch loose bone burial coffins, and female bone masters are not allowed to touch stacked bone burial coffins.

Before going down to the grave, Yan Qiniang repeatedly told me that the lower coffin of the "skeletal coffin"—that is, the head coffin—is the most difficult to get.If there is black air coming out of the coffin during the process of moving the coffin, you must hold your breath and concentrate, and you must not throw the coffin away in a panic, let alone let the coffin stick to the soil in the tomb, so as to avoid accidents.

This was the first time I went to the grave alone to open the coffin. Instead of being afraid, I felt an inexplicable sense of excitement. At the same time, I was also a little nervous, and my palms were sweaty.I was worried that I would make a mistake in the process of digging out the coffin, so I would fail Yan Qiniang's teachings and expectations.Ever since I was a child, the deepest impression in my mind is what Yan Qiniang once said - "Bone collectors do dirty things, earn money from their crafts, and walk on eggshells every time they do errands, so no mistakes can be made." If you miss it once in your life, you will probably be killed. After all, this is a matter of living between yin and yang. Whether it is the living victim or the dead, we have to give others an explanation."

After going down to the grave, I first inserted eight scented candles in the grave.As the saying goes, "the incense in the grave, three short and five long, the funeral bone is auspicious", this is the meaning of worship, and it is also the rule of the bone master.The so-called etiquette is not surprising to many people, no matter the living or the dead, they all follow this set.The bone master digs graves and picks coffins all day long. He cannot do without the filth all his life. He can only rely on his skills to keep him safe. None of these etiquettes can be ignored.

According to Yan Qiniang's guess, the distance between the head coffin and the corpse coffin should not exceed three feet, so I was very light when I shoveled it, for fear of damaging the head coffin.Later, I simply scraped it with a shovel.Although the force of scraping the soil was very light every time, I was still sweating from exhaustion.Maybe it was because I was nervous, so I sweated a lot. The sweat flowed down my face and into my mouth. It was salty and astringent, which made me feel unspeakably uncomfortable.

In desperation, I wiped the sweat with my arm, but my face was covered with dust, and some dust even flew into my eyes, which made me itchy and painful.At this time, I really wanted to climb up and wash it with cold water, but when I stood up and looked up, there was a vague black shadow hovering above the grave, as if looking at me.I took a closer look again and made sure that the person was Yan Qiniang.I knew that Yan Qiniang was concerned about my safety, and I didn't want to disappoint her, so I had to squat down and continue scraping the dirt.

I don't know how long it took to scrape, but I suddenly heard the sound of metal rubbing.I was taken aback, and quickly threw away the shovel and scraped it with my hands.Just scraping it three times and two times, I actually scraped out a piece of gold.I was afraid that my eyes would get into the dirt and I couldn't see clearly, so I rubbed my eyes, took a closer look, and then sat down on the ground, thinking to my mother, this...isn't this a golden bump?

Digging up the grave and collecting the bones unexpectedly uncovered a golden bump. This matter itself is a bit evil, but I was so ecstatic that I never thought of this at all.According to my estimate, such a large piece of gold lump weighs at least one catty. As long as you have it, you can buy a house or land without any problems.When I thought of this, I was so happy that I could not close my mouth from ear to ear, and quickly started to plan.

I quickly dug out this lump of gold, and it looked like tiger head gold, with bright golden color and oval shape, but there was no official mark on it, so it could be regarded as out-and-out wild gold.I don't know if this is the funerary object of the Huangfu's burial.I guess not, because I have never heard of any owner who buried the funeral objects outside the coffin.

I was thinking about showing Yan Qiniang this piece of tiger head gold, but I forgot about Huang Shide's dead son's head coffin.I was afraid that this golden bump was fake, so I bit it with my teeth.This golden lump is really not simple, but it is heavy enough.

I looked over the grave and saw no one was around, so I quickly stuffed the gold bump into my pocket, and then climbed up along the rope.I was still thinking in my heart, this [-]% is a reward from God, it must be because Yan Qiniang and I are having a hard time, so we deliberately let our mother and daughter make this windfall.

In order to prevent Huang Shide and his group from taking advantage of the money, after I climbed out of the grave, I covered my abdomen with both hands and pretended to have a stomachache. After all, this gold lump is too big, and it is very eye-catching in my pocket.But even so, it was still spotted by the sharp-eyed thin dog.Before I got to Yan Qiniang's side, this guy suddenly yelled: "This little thing has something hidden in his pocket!"

Hearing the thin dog's shout, I was immediately frightened into a cold sweat.At this time, the attention of the guards was on me. Although I didn't dare to look up, I could feel the burning eyes.This sudden change made me completely flustered, I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there in a daze, looking pitifully at Yan Qiniang who was not far away.

Just when I was panicked, a sharp machete was placed on my neck, the blade gleamed, and a chill was sent into my body immediately.Before I turned around to see who the owner of the machete was, Scar Dragon's resonant voice rang in my ears: "Little brat, are you getting impatient? Dare to steal things, and dare to steal people? The stuff in the pit! Believe it or not, I chopped you into a blood gourd with one knife?"

"Put down the knife!" Seeing that something was wrong, Yan Qiniang yelled loudly, "I will discipline the children I gave birth to, so I don't need to bother you to do it. Although bone masters are humble, there are also ancestral rules. Seven Mother, I have held bones for people hundreds of times, and I have never touched the owner's family. If this child really did something nasty, I will definitely give everyone an explanation."

"Okay!" Scarred Dragon laughed, swished down the machete on my neck, then glanced at Yan Qiniang, and said, "You bitch is quite kind. I'd like to see, this little bastard is pregnant. What the hell is hiding there?"

Yan Qiniang ignored Scared Dragon, but said coldly to me: "Gu Lang, what the hell are you hiding? I have taught you since you were a child that you can't be short-sighted if you are poor, not to mention that we are the most taboo hands and feet in the bone-hunting industry." Not clean. From your ancestor to your master, from your own father Guxiong to my Yan Qiniang, I have never done anything for money! If you dare to mess with the master's family, I will be the first to forgive you I can't miss you!"

Being reprimanded by Yan Qiniang, my face blushed immediately, and my body shook involuntarily. After faltering for a long time, I whispered: "Qi... Qiniang, I was wrong, I shouldn't be greedy, You shouldn't touch the owner's things..."

The thin dog has been watching with cold eyes all the time, and when he sees that I admit my mistake, he immediately shows a complacent expression.This guy has been brooding since he was taken hostage by Yan Qiniang, and felt that Yan Qiniang had made him lose face.At this time, seeing our orphans and widows in distress, he jumped out immediately, ran to my side, reached out and touched my arms, and cursed repeatedly: "Little bastard, are you looking for death!"

I was only concerned with fear, and even the skinny dog ​​didn't respond when he put his hand into my arms, but just stared blankly at Yan Qiniang.The thin dog was quick, he took something out of my arms, and was about to raise his arm to claim credit from Scar Dragon, but his face changed immediately, and he was like a deflated ball, and he couldn't say anything for a long time. Come on.

The moment the skinny dog ​​stretched out his hand from my arms, I thought it was over, not to mention that I was caught, and Yan Qiniang would be implicated, maybe both of us would die.Thinking of this, I simply became cruel and closed my eyes, but I didn't realize that I had waited for a long time and didn't get the result. Instead, I heard the surrounding nurses screaming "Oh", "Oh" and other surprises.In desperation, I had no choice but to open my eyes and look at the thin dog, and then I trembled all over.It turned out that the thin dog was holding a piece of bluestone in his hand, and the golden bump in my arms had long since disappeared.

Ossuary
Scarred Dragon stepped forward quickly, took a look at the bluestone in the hand of the thin dog, smelled it, and then smacked his lips.He was afraid that he would not know the goods, so he showed it to Mr. Leng for a look.Mr. Leng shook his head and waved his hands as soon as he opened his eyes, indicating that this is an ordinary stone.As a result, Scar Dragon was a little dazed, and felt that this was a bit weird, so he quickly yelled at me fiercely: "Little bastard, why are you hiding such a broken stone in a sneaky way? Could it be that you are deliberately entertaining us men?" ?”

I was also at a loss, and thought to myself that it was really evil. It was obviously a gold lump, but why did it suddenly turn into a broken stone?The scarred dragon looked quite fierce, so I dared not answer, so I could only reply hesitantly: "It was originally a gold nugget! Maybe... maybe my eyes are dazzled!"

Seeing that I was sweating profusely, Yan Qiniang walked over quickly.She knows I never lie, especially to her face.But this matter is rather weird, so she guessed that there must be something strange, and it probably has something to do with the head coffin in the grave.After she checked and made sure there was no abnormality, she said slowly: "This child should be fascinated by the things in the grave. From this point of view, there must be foul smell in the head coffin of Mr. Huang's deceased son, so I refused Let people move the coffin."

When Huang Shide heard this, his face suddenly became gloomy, and he sighed again and again.When his dead son was buried, he ruthlessly buried his own flesh and blood in an ossuary coffin. If there was foul smell in this coffin, it was probably because he resented his ruthlessness.So Yan Qiniang's words, he didn't accept it, and he didn't answer it, he could only turn his attention to Mr. Leng.

Mr. Leng seems to be a man of few words, but he is a thoughtful person, besides, he is the only one who can smooth things over for Huang Shide at this time.He stroked his beard, and said with a nonchalant smile: "Since the matter with this child is a misunderstanding, then there is no need to get to the bottom of it! But the head coffin under this grave still has to be brought up. Grimace Qiniang, how can I ask this ridiculous person?" In a barren world, how many graves can be safe? If these graves are all ordinary, how can you survive as a bone maker? Since you have accepted this job, you have to protect the victim from the disaster, otherwise Mr. Huang What are you orphans and widows doing?"

Yan Qiniang snorted coldly, ignored Mr. Leng, then lightly patted my head, and said, "Concentrate and hold your breath, keep your mind free of distracting thoughts, and don't have bad or bad thoughts. You need to enter the grave again this time." Only when the blood is broken and the bones are broken, can the candle be relit."

I nodded, and then untied the bone chain on my neck, took out the half-crescent collarbone left by the bone hero, and tied it in the middle of my index finger.After soaked in blood, I put this collarbone in my mouth again, turned around and went down the grave.Bone collectors call this method "remains in the coffin".

After going down to the grave again, I still didn't dare to lose my etiquette. I still lit eight scented candles in the grave, and then bowed respectfully.After such a commotion just now, I felt as if I had gone to the gate of hell. If I was fascinated again, it would be really bad luck.

After scraping and digging in the grave for a while, I suddenly came across a hard corner, which looked like wood.Overjoyed, I quickly scraped the floating dirt with my hands, and then a corner of a wooden square coffin was exposed.This coffin is made of black lacquered nanmu, which is the same material as the coffin of Huang Shide's dead son.Judging from the size, these eight achievements are the head coffin of Huang Shide's deceased son.

When I dug up the head coffin, I breathed a sigh of relief, but I still didn't dare to relax. I hurriedly dealt with the stone and soil near the head coffin, preparing to get this pair of head coffins out.But at this moment, there were bursts of mournful and mournful voices in my ears, "Woo... let it go...".The sound was loud and small, far and near, strange and frightening. It penetrated into my ears and made my scalp tingle, with an indescribable discomfort.Several times, I just thought about it, just get out of this grave as soon as possible.

Just when I put down the tools in my hand and was about to give up, I suddenly shivered involuntarily.I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, simply put my blood-soaked collarbone in my mouth, dug out the coffin with a few strokes, and tied it to my body with a rope.As I climbed up the rope, I silently said "offended, offended...".

I have been digging graves with Yan Qiniang since I was a child, playing in the graves all day long, so this rope climbing skill is really good.But right now, after such a commotion, I can't control my hands and feet, and the cold sweat is streaming down my forehead.As the saying goes, "the more you panic, the more chaos you will have", but this pair of head coffins competed with me again.When I carried this head coffin on my back, I didn't feel it was heavy, but after climbing up the rope, I felt very strenuous, as if a mountain was on my back, which made my whole body ache and unspeakable suffering.

I knew that this strange phenomenon must have something to do with the head coffin I was carrying, but I didn't dare to drop it, so I could only bite the bullet and gritted my teeth and carried it.Yan Qiniang had repeatedly explained that the carried coffin should not be allowed to stick to the soil in the grave to avoid accidents.

Since I went down to the grave, Yan Qiniang has been watching my movements closely from the top of the grave.As soon as she saw that I was trembling and on the verge of falling, she knew that there must be something weird in it.But she couldn't do anything for a while, so she had to ask the guards of Huang's mansion to help pull the rope in the grave.

At first, the nurses of the Huang Mansion didn't take this matter to heart, and only two or three people came to help pull it. After all, the child under the rope only weighs a hundred or so catties, and it won't sink anywhere.But this tugging and pulling made the faces of the nurses flush with anger, as if a heavy object was tied to the lower end of the rope.Seeing that the situation was not good, Scar Dragon quickly sent more people to help pull it up.Even so, the speed of the rope's ascent was still very slow.

At this time, I couldn't use any strength to climb up, so I had to wrap the rope tightly around my hand and let the people above pull me down.Although I gritted my teeth and carried it hard without shouting, the cold sweat dripped down my forehead, and my body kept shivering.After all, I am a body of flesh and blood, and my hands are bound between the upward pulling force and the downward force, so the pain can be imagined.I can even feel that the thumb-thick rope has been strangled into my flesh, and is strangling my bones.

Although the nurses in Huang's mansion are not very good people, they have real strength, especially in front of Huang Shide, they are all willing to work hard.In this way, I was pulled up without any risk.But as soon as my feet touched the ground, my whole body went limp and I fell directly to the ground. I lost consciousness in my hands. I saw a red mark where the rope had been entangled and strangled, and blood oozed from time to time. When it got into the flesh, the flesh turned out, bruised and bruised, almost deformed.

After Yan Qiniang took the coffin from my body, she tore off the front of my clothes and bandaged it for me, and asked Scar Dragon for some golden sore medicine to apply on my hands.Huang Shide ordered his servants to bring me a chair.After reluctantly drinking a few sips of water, I waved my hand to signal Yan Qiniang, it's just some skin trauma, it doesn't get in the way, the most urgent thing is to deal with this tricky head coffin as soon as possible, so as to avoid further troubles.

Regarding my injury, Huang Shide and his guards didn't take it seriously, but looked at the coffin rather curiously.Mr. Leng was a little impatient and deliberately coughed a few times to remind Yan Qiniang not to delay things.Yan Qiniang just snorted coldly, then lit nine incense sticks and half stuffed them into the head coffin.

Under normal circumstances, there are only two outcomes for inserting the coffin of "Wen Lingxiang"—either the incense burns out, which is called good luck; or the incense is ejected, which is called bad luck.But the head coffin of Huang Shide's deceased son had a third result. First, the nine incense sticks burned out in unison, and then they popped out like sharp arrows, and then there was a deafening explosion in the head coffin.What's even more strange is that a kind of black mud oozes out from around the head coffin, and the smell is very pungent.

When Yan Qiniang saw how weird the coffin was, she couldn't help trembling and froze in place.After a long while, she waved her hand to signal everyone to move back, then took out a shriveled and severed finger bone from her bosom and inserted it into the black mud near the head coffin.To say that this matter is evil enough, the black mud that looks sticky can't stick to the broken finger bone at all, no matter how the broken finger bone is stirred, the black mud slides by like grease.

Seeing that the severed phalanx in Yan Qiniang's hand could not stick to the black mud, I couldn't help screaming "Oops" in my heart. The severed phalanx Yan Qiniang used was the bone picked out from the corpse of Gu Xiong when he was buried.People in the bone collecting business dig up more than a thousand bones in life, so they are not allowed to bury all the bones after death.Bone masters of all dynasties have formed an unwritten rule, that is, bone masters must take out some broken bones from the bones when they are buried, or crush them into shriveled bones, crush them, or pound them into bone powder.Because the bone master dug hundreds of graves to collect thousands of bones before his death, the descendants of the bone master wear his bones on their bodies as a treasure of protection.

Seeing this scene, Huang Shide couldn't help panting and sighing. He beat the ground repeatedly with the crutch in his hand, but he couldn't speak.The servants around him had no choice but to serve tea and water, beat their backs and squeeze their waists, and kept busy.Mr. Leng was not in a hurry, sometimes stroked his beard, and sometimes took a sip of tea, looking extremely calm.

At this time, Yan Qiniang came to my side, bowed and said to me in a low voice: "The old ancestor left a legacy of 'women don't overlap their bones', so I don't want to touch the head coffin, so as not to cause trouble. For the current plan, we can only Let you take out the skull from the coffin. Gu Lang, are you afraid?"

I nodded subconsciously, and quickly shook my head, cold sweat dripping down my forehead.After I regained my composure, I mustered up the courage to say: "As long as Qiniang is around, Gulang will not be afraid!"

Yan Qiniang stroked my head affectionately, and told me to concentrate and hold my breath when opening the coffin, so as not to be devoured by the filth.After I promised a few words, I walked near the head coffin.The lid of this head coffin is very firm and can only be pried open with a sharp weapon.Seeing that I was a bit embarrassed, the scarred dragon came over and handed me a sharp dagger, and said cursingly: "Little bastard, you have to be careful, if you stab my young master's skull, I will cut you alive! "

I have no time to pay attention to the scar dragon, and I dare not answer the words of this fierce-looking scar dragon.Fortunately, the scarred dragon was very self-conscious. After handing over the dagger, he jumped a long way away, for fear of getting dirty.It was the first time in my life to play with such a small head coffin, so I didn't dare to be careless, I just tentatively inserted the dagger into it, and kept prying it.With the creaking sound, I pried out a gap in the head coffin.

At this moment, a black-gray gas suddenly emerged from the gap in the head coffin, which scared me almost to the point of losing my soul, and I hurriedly held my breath, but a small amount of gas was still inhaled into my body.I felt something was wrong, and then my head swelled up. I only felt that my eyes went dark, my body went limp, and I fell to the ground.

蔑骨
Seeing that I had been tricked, the guardians of the Huang Mansion backed away again and again, knowing that there was something strange in the coffin, so they were afraid of causing trouble to their upper body.Huang Shide and Mr. Leng couldn't help but also took a few steps back. From their point of view, this head coffin was very evil. If they rushed forward to provoke it, they would probably die, so they could only take a step back and stand by.As for whether we orphans and widows can save the day, it all depends on luck.

Yan Qiniang was eager to love her son, and when she saw that I was unconscious, she quickly supported my head.Seeing that I was unconscious, my face was ashen, and the rather strange black air covering my neck was constantly spreading to my face.Yan Qiniang was startled, immediately took out a dagger and cut two small slits on my neck, and shouted at the guards of the Huang Mansion, ordering them to bring a bowl of clean water quickly.

The nurses of Huang's mansion couldn't hide, no one dared to come forward, but they were afraid of spoiling Mr. Huang's event, so in desperation, Scar Dragon had to ask the thin dog to deliver water.When the skinny dog ​​heard this, he almost peed his pants, and immediately, but he couldn't hold back Scared Dragon's kicking and scolding, so he had to bite the bullet and staggered over with a bowl of water.It didn't matter if he shivered, half a bowl of clean water was spilled all over the floor.Even so, the moment he handed the clear water to Yan Qiniang, he still rushed back with his head in his arms.Because he was too flustered, he tripped a few times and looked extremely embarrassed.

Seeing black blood spilling from my neck from time to time, Yan Qiniang took out a paper bag from her bosom.She opened the paper bag carefully, picked some white powder from the paper bag with her fingernails and put it into the water bowl. After a simple adjustment, she pried open my mouth and drank it.This is one of the secret methods of the Bone Collecting Sect. Whenever the bone collector who goes to the grave to collect the bones encounters an accident, he will use this method to save his life.As for the white powder in the paper bag, it was finely ground from the ashes of the deceased bone master.Although my biological father, Gu Xiong, was murdered by an adulterer, he left Yan Qiniang the secret technique of the Bone Collector and his bone offerings.Over the years, Yan Qiniang has kept it close to her body, one is to mourn her husband, and the other is to prepare for emergencies. At this time, my life is hanging by a thread, so it just came in handy.

It took me a while before I woke up. I only felt that my head was swollen, my mouth and nose were dry, and I spit out some green acid water from time to time.At this time, Yan Qiniang had already bandaged the wound on my neck and brought me a large bowl of water.She first rolled my eyelids, then looked at my face, then sighed and said: "Finally, I have survived the catastrophe. Hurry up and drink this bowl of water to refresh yourself."

I vaguely remembered being attacked by the black air from the coffin just now, but I didn't know what was going on, so I had to follow Yan Qiniang's instructions and drink up the clear water in the bowl in one go.This is clear water just drawn from the bottom of the well. It is extremely cool. After drinking it, I couldn't help shivering. I only felt a heart-warming coolness spread all over my body, and I felt refreshed immediately, and my headache disappeared.

The moment I fell down, everyone in Huang's Mansion felt that my little life was [-]% impossible to save, but Yan Qiniang dragged me back from the gate of hell again.Everyone gathered around to watch the excitement, and talked a lot, like a pot that exploded.Scarred Dragon also grinned cheerfully and said: "This bitch really has some skills, she just brought this little brat back to life."

At this time, Mr. Leng came over, rolled his eyes a few times, and said loudly: "Sure enough, he is a member of the Liangumen. Master Huang has spoken, and the reward is 100 taels of silver! Grimace Qiniang, since the child is in good health, then hurry up Squeeze your head. If you delay for a long time, it is easy to cause more disasters."

Yan Qiniang didn't answer Mr. Leng's words, but wiped the cold sweat on my forehead with her sleeve, then sighed, and said in a cold voice: "Gu Lang, go and get the skull out of the coffin, lest people laugh at us. The workmanship of the bone is poor."

I nodded, got up and walked towards the head coffin not far away.To say that the material of this coffin is really strong enough, I dropped the coffin to the ground when I fainted, but even so, it didn't break and deform at all, but the gap that I used to pry open with a dagger seemed to be a little bigger.

When I held up the coffin again, I couldn't help feeling nervous.To say that this coffin is really wicked, it has fascinated me twice in succession in the tomb, and almost killed me when I got out of the tomb.Thinking of this, I quickly said in my heart: "Young Master Huang, you have a right to blame, and you have a debtor. You must not harm others again! I am honored to collect bones for you today, and I will definitely burn incense for you in the future. Please hold your hand high, don't let me go!" Don't embarrass us craftsmen who do errands any more."

I don't know if these words played a role, but this time the coffin was opened very smoothly. After prying and pulling twice, I opened the coffin.In order to prevent the skull from falling to the ground during the prying process, I sat cross-legged in advance, with my head very close to the head coffin in my arms.I have never shy away from dead people's bones, even the most ferocious and ugly skeletons are familiar to me, but I don't admit that, just such a negligence, the moment I opened the head coffin, I was so scared that I almost dropped it.

Ever since I was a child, I have seen hundreds of skulls of dead people, but they are nothing more than white skeletons. The most frightening thing is that there are some rotten skins and rotten flesh attached to the skulls.But the skull inside this head coffin is red, and this red is very gorgeous, there is an indescribable weirdness.The sides of the skull were covered with a layer of bluish bone residue, which looked shiny and sticky, and exuded a disgusting stench.What frightened me the most was the eyes of this pair of skulls. Although there was no flesh in the two hollows, they were extremely deep. After taking a look, a chill involuntarily emerged from the back of my neck, as if the two There are two sharp eyes hidden in the long-rotted eye holes, like sharp knives, they can stab into my heart in an instant.

Being "stared" by this pair of skulls, I couldn't help feeling a little overwhelmed, and quickly looked at Yan Qiniang.Yan Qiniang saw that I was trembling, so she knew something was wrong, she quickly ran to my side, and looked into the coffin.She couldn't help but gasped, and repeatedly motioned me to keep quiet, and repeatedly told me not to touch the skull inside the head coffin, and not to let the sun shine into the head coffin.

Yan Qiniang went to find Huang Shide and Mr. Leng, and my heart was in my throat. It is difficult to describe this anxious feeling in words.The head coffin in my arms seems to have a kind of magical power, which always teases me, making me want to look at it, but the fear makes me weak and weak.In desperation, I had no choice but to tear off a piece of the skirt and put it on the coffin, and then silently warned myself not to think about it, nor to look at it.

Soon, Huang Shide and Mr. Leng rushed over.The moment he saw this strange skull, Mr. Leng was also taken aback, his face was extremely solemn, and he stroked his beard again and again.Huang Shide was so shocked that he couldn't speak, if it wasn't for the sword-scarred dragon, he would probably pass out from fright.And Scar Dragon, known for his boldness, couldn't help trembling when he saw this strange thing.Fortunately, he was born in the Lian family, so his chassis is very stable.If it had been a thin dog, he would have been so frightened that he would have cried for his father and mother.

Huang Shide didn't dare to look at it, he repeatedly waved his hands to signal me to cover the head coffin in his arms, then tremblingly took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped his forehead, sighing from time to time.When I saw Huang Shide frightened into such a virtuous behavior, I felt an indescribable joy in my heart.For the sake of glory and wealth, this old guy can even do things that are against the heavens and the conscience.At the beginning, he cruelly made his son look like this, but now that the retribution has come, he really deserves it.

"Ghost Face Qiniang, what's going on here?" Mr. Leng frowned, asking in a puzzled manner, and glanced at the head coffin in my hand from time to time.

"Human beings have misfortunes and blessings, and bones are rotten and rotten. In the words of our bone collectors, this is called 'bone contempt'. If the bone color turns yellow, it is a sign of sudden death; if the bone color turns green, it is a sign of labor." It is a sign of luck; as for the redness of the bones, it is a sign of evil. I have been collecting bones for nearly 20 years, and this is the first time I have seen red bones in a coffin. So I would like to advise Mr. Huang and Mr. Leng It is the best policy to choose a feng shui cemetery and bury this chaotic bone in a coffin. If you still want to follow the law of "deep bones stacking the sun", I am afraid that everyone will die!" Yan Qiniang ignored Mr. Leng, and Pointing to the head coffin in my arms to dissuade Huang Shide.

Mr. Leng snorted, and before Huang Shide could open his mouth, he said: "Ghost Face Qiniang's words are wrong! 'Deep Bone Overlapping Sun' is a major event in the Huang Mansion, and it is related to the luck of Mr. Huang's family. A slightly weird burial bone will waste all previous efforts? As a craftsman, he should obey the master's orders and receive rewards from the master, so he must do his duty. As for the master's decision, it is his own arrangement, so you don't need to worry about it."

"Hey!" Huang Shide coughed, then waved his hands and said, "This matter is according to Mr. Leng's words. As for the matter of the strange bones in this coffin, no one should say anything about it. First, find a safe place to put my son's bones. At the time of 'the bones of the dead and the sun', they will be buried together with the bones of the girl."

"Since ancient times, the bones excavated from the grave have been stored in the owner's house. This is not a wild bone, so why not return it to the old home! Master Huang, what I do is to serve the dead and treat the collected bones. You will definitely do your best. If you don’t let the young master’s remains return to the house, this is clearly a sign to spoil my grimace Qiniang, and I cannot agree to this matter.” Yan Qiniang rejected Huang Shide’s arrangement with a very blunt attitude, and did not leave Huang Shide at all. Little face.

"This... This corpse is so weird, how can it be brought back to the mansion? If there is a change, wouldn't all the people in my mansion have to suffer? Besides, there is no place to put the bones in the mansion! This is inappropriate, and you must not act like this " Huang Shide shook his head again and again, his expression was a little flustered, he didn't even dare to look at the head coffin in my arms, obviously he was terribly afraid.

Mr. Leng rolled his eyes, and dissuaded him: "Master Huang, this bone collector has the legacy of his ancestors, or he can do as Ghost Face Qiniang said. You can ask Ghost Face Qiniang to bring the young master's remains back to her residence first." If there is any trouble in the wing room, Qiniang's ability to deal with it is enough."

"That's all, that's all!" Huang Shide stomped his feet, sighed again, and said, "Ghostface Qiniang, then I will leave my son's remains to you for safekeeping. I will put my ugly words in front, if it endangers the safety of the mansion , I will take your son to death. You can do it yourself."

Looking at Huang Shide's back, I wished I could rush forward and kick him.This old guy has really lost his humanity, he just trampled on his son's bones, but he is not allowed to take his son's bones back to the mansion, he is like a pig and a dog!
In order to avoid accidents during the Huangfu People's Day, Yan Qiniang and I put the remains of Huang Shide's deceased son into a coffin as if nothing happened.As for Mr. Leng's request to store the coffin in our resting room, Yan Qiniang and I have no objection.After all, what we do is play with the bones of dead people, so we don't think there is any taboo.Besides, over the years, when Yan Qiniang took me to collect bones for others, she often rested in Yizhuang along the way. It has long been a habit to sleep next to the coffin of the dead, so I don't think there is anything wrong with it. .

On the way back to the mansion, the guards of Huang's mansion were unwilling to carry the coffin, for fear of getting bad luck.In desperation, Scar Dragon had no choice but to yell and curse at the top of his voice, and then he gathered four people to lift the coffin.Seeing this scene, I couldn't help sticking out my tongue, thinking that fortunately the guards didn't let the red skulls in the coffin be seen, otherwise even if the scarred dragon kicked and beat them, this group of people might not dare to carry the coffin.

After carrying the coffin to the wing of Huang's mansion, the four nurses all smiled and insisted on asking Yan Qiniang for a way to ward off evil spirits.Yan Qiniang couldn't evade it, so she told them a way.After listening to these guys, they left in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)