Archaeological Notes

Chapter 6 The head is gone
The incident took place at the ancient tombs in Guiyan Ridge in the north of the village. When we arrived there, we found that this ridge was full of ancient tombs, and there were deserted tombs everywhere.After the snow clears, the ground is full of potholes, and you may even suddenly step on the old mud and pull out a skull.There are old and new graves in various colors on the ridge, and they are quite large. It seems that most of the people in the village will be buried here when they die.

There are only about [-] families in the village, and there is nothing to do in the cold winter months, so they all come to this ridge to join in the fun.Dozens of people gathered bustlingly around a tomb that had been dug open by something. The soil spread out in a regular manner, revealing the life coffin full of mud inside.Standing in front of him was an old man in his sixties, with a cane, and some sacrificial items such as wine, meat, paper money, etc. were placed under his feet.

We know the old man. When we collected the waste yesterday, we found out that he is the patriarch of the village. People call him "Master Shuan." The monk said that this grave belonged to the old man's grandfather. The village spread rumors that it was struck by lightning last night. opened.

I slept soundly last night and didn't hear any movement, but this is too far-fetched. Where does the thunder come from in the winter?Although this grave mound looked closely, it did not look like it had been dug up by someone, and the head of the coffin also had burnt marks, so it could be said that it was split open by lightning, which is absolutely impossible.However, if you really want to say yes, unless there is any metal object that is easy to conduct electricity in this coffin.

Master Shuan Zi finished drinking and kowtowed in front of the grave, with a solemn face, and a burst of firecrackers sounded, and he began to lift out the coffin.

A few elders put the iron hooks with ropes into them, and when they were hooked around, the ropes were tied to the bars, and the upper shoulders were evenly exerted, and the coffin with the big head began to be gradually lifted out of the grave.

I thought the coffin would be opened in broad daylight, but Master Shuanzi thought it happened suddenly, but he planned to take it back to the ancestral hall in the village, and wait for the burial at another day after finding a good auspicious place .As soon as these words came out, there was a commotion in the crowd, and there were quite a few criticisms.

At this time, I also saw that Shuanzi's face was a little ugly. He waved his hand, and several strong men stepped forward, trying to carry the coffin back to the village.

Who would have thought that at this time a savage man would walk out of the crowd, he was naked in winter, and he was not afraid of the cold, and his face like a hedgehog and his beard made people daunting.Pushing away the man who was squatting down to carry the coffin, he replaced the pole on his shoulders, squinted his neck and squinted arrogantly and unreasonably: "You guys are doing things against Lu, and this coffin is considered my grandfather in terms of seniority. Lang'er belongs to all of you, so I don't worry about it."

This person is called "Slant Eyes Three", he is an idler in the village, doing nothing all day long, his appearance surprised me a bit, since there are still people vying for the burden of carrying the dead, so I am not afraid of bad luck.As soon as he said this, several people immediately responded in the crowd, and the situation was very puzzling.

With squinting eyes and three steady horses, with a hey, the coffin left the ground, surrounded by a group of people, and staggered down towards Lingzi.Dao Scar detoured to the back of the grave, picked up a pinch of soil and put it under his nose to smell it, and his brows became pimples.

Tian Rui seemed to have noticed something at this time, "Look, there is something on the ground." In my impression, she has always been sneering, and after she reminded me, I saw the coffin parked just now. On the ground, there was a pool of blood-red liquid.

The stuff looked like pus, apparently seeping out of the cracks in the coffin.The monk just laughed: "I bet, the coffin is probably a female corpse. Last night, a thunderstorm exploded, and menstruation came out."

My mind was full of doubts, "Did you hear thunder last night?"

"You are no better than the people on our road. You slept like hell last night, and you were not alert." Scar broke off a dead tree branch and put it in the pool of blood-red liquid. After a while, most of it was melted.He clapped his hands and stood up, "Hurry up, go back to the village right away, or you'll miss the good show, and you won't be able to catch up with the next trip."

After trotting all the way back to the village, Slanting Eyes and the others had already carried the coffin into the ancestral hall. Since we were not from the village, we were strictly forbidden to enter, so we could only look into the house from a distance in front of the hall.

From the outside, the ancestral hall is quite old, a typical Qing Dynasty building.Several colonnades, each supporting the cornices with beautiful streamlines and commensurate structure, are uneven and contrasting.There are a pair of drum-holding stones on both sides of the gate, which are exquisitely carved.Inside the ancestral hall, there are two coffins enshrined on the shrine in the middle. Because they are embedded inside, only two huge coffin heads can be seen.There are some tributes placed under the shrine, and the incense is in full swing. It seems that people often go in to offer incense.

The clay coffin dug from Guiyan Ridge was placed in the ancestral hall just like that. Because of the distance, I don't know what they were talking about.I didn't understand Scar's intentions, so I asked him: "What are you thinking about the coffin of his ancestors?"

Scar Ruo smiled meaningfully, it was not that simple, "Please wait and see, the good show will be staged soon, I can assure you that the things in the coffin are definitely not simple."

I took a look into the ancestral hall, and I guess they were just discussing where to choose an auspicious day for burial, and the spineless six senses felt quite boring, so I asked the monk for a cigarette and waited and watched.

Sure enough, before a cigarette burned to the buttocks, there was movement in the ancestral hall. There was only a "clang" and the sound of the vase being smashed.Immediately afterwards, there was a quarrel inside, shouting one after another, as if a battle was about to be fought.Not long after, a thin old man came out of the gate and invited us in, saying that he was a notary.

I was not very happy at first, this was beyond the scope of meddling, but Dao Scar gave me a wink, I understood it, called the monk, and the four of them entered the ancestral hall.Today is different from the past, the ancestral hall is not as strictly forbidden as in the old society, and it has only become a show.

As soon as I entered, I felt a strong smell of gunpowder in the air, but I didn't expect that they were divided into two groups, each of them was at war.Slanting Eyes Three had a hole in his head, staring with bull eyes as if he was about to eat people. Master Shuan Zi was also in a bad mood, and he was so angry that he was so angry, but he obviously had an absolute advantage in numbers.

The third squint covered his head and refused to let it go, "Uncle Shuan, you can't lie to me with your conscience, it's not because I'm impatient with you. I just want to pay homage to the old man in the coffin today, and I'm struggling to carry it back , you can’t open the coffin behind someone’s back. If there is any benefit, you have to add two to one. You must know that your lineage is not the only one handed down by the grandfather, and I am also a serious heir. The identity of the patriarch is monopolized, everyone thinks, right?"

As soon as he said this, I guessed all kinds of things, and it was too late to get up early, and I dared to think that there must be a gold bump in the coffin, so I wanted to share a piece of it.

Among the group of people on the left, there was an immediate response. Master Shuan slammed his cane on the ground angrily, and pointed at the squinting three with his finger: "Fuck you, you are a donkey who doesn't hit the south wall with its head and doesn't look back! You just want to see it, don't you?" , well, let's invite an outsider to open it, and I'd like to see what you're doing!"

After that, he tremblingly walked up to the monk, clasped his hands together, "Master, you are a member of the Buddhist sect, and your six sense organs are pure. It would be best if you come to uphold justice. I will trouble you for this matter."

The monk smiled cheerfully, and probably wanted to say that he had returned to vulgarity or something, but Scar pulled his sleeves, swallowed half of the words, just nodded, and Daosheng agreed to open the coffin.Although the coffin has been around for some years, it is fortunate that it is made of high-quality cypress wood and has been varnished several times. Fortunately, it has not rotted.The monk asked Dao Scar to help me, and the villagers found the steel brazing rod. They found the right position and inserted it into the gap under the coffin lid.The scar called "One, two, three!" Press down hard, and the coffin nails were lifted out with a "crackling" sound.

Working together to lift the lid of the coffin, the scene inside the coffin was horrifying, and the people around the coffin immediately took a step back.

Because I was so close, everything in the coffin was within easy reach. I only felt a blockage in my throat, and my heart immediately rose to my throat, and then a sense of fear spread all over my body.

Inside the coffin lies a skinned, headless male corpse!The body was covered in blood and flesh, and even the meridians could be clearly seen. The strong sour smell made my stomach churn.I was busy clutching my nose and backing away in disgust, a concept suddenly appeared in my mind - blood corpse?I never dared to think that the monsters that the tomb robbers saw in the ancient tombs in the legend are now clearly before my eyes.

The mystery inside the coffin was immediately revealed, and everyone present was surprised by it. The appearance of a bloody corpse was already overwhelming, but the head of the corpse was missing, which was even more confusing. .

"This..." Master Shuanzi stood on the spot in disbelief, as if the result in front of him was totally unexpected.The monk was a little puzzled and asked, "Could it be that there was no head when he was buried?"

The matter of Chen Zhima rotten millet, most of the people present are young people, and the oldest Shuanzi is only 60 years old at best, and he has never seen the state of the deceased buried before his death. ).

The squinting Sanyi saw that there was nothing valuable in the coffin except for the blood corpse, so he scolded a few words, "Whoever digs it out will deal with it, I don't care!" Then he left angrily.Scar looked around at the ancestral hall and felt that there was nothing else to do, so he told us to go back to the hotel.

After wandering around the village, after returning, it was already dark, Dao Scar asked us to go to his room, and after Yixiang brought the food, they ate and talked.I could see out of the window that I couldn't see my fingers, and I couldn't see a ray of moonlight. Yixiang said that it might snow heavily tonight, so let's go to bed early after eating, and don't run around in the village.

After Yixiang left, Dao Scar got up and bolted the door, and sat back on the chair.At this time, it was already windy outside, and the window paper was rustling, and an oil lamp was flickering with candlelight, making Scar's face cloudy and uncertain.He took a deep breath, collected his mind, and finally said: "Do you know how deep this muddy water in Shigui Village is?"

As soon as I heard his words, I immediately became vigilant, the monk stopped talking, and the atmosphere was a little chilly. His words, based on his years of experience in the world, were definitely not false. "Is it related to the coffin dug out on Guiyan Ridge today?" I asked.

Dao Scar didn't answer directly, but made a detour: "There are at least a hundred ancient tombs on the Guiyan Ridge in the north of the village. You don't think it's strange that the village has grown to this day, but there are only about twenty families. Is it?"

I nodded, "It's quite strange, but it's not difficult to figure out. Maybe the people in this village settled here a long time ago, and the population has been multiplying in a stable manner, and they became friends with the dead. A certain ratio. Over time, the accumulation of ancient tombs will become a certain amount, which will be quite impressive.”

The monk scratched his bald head, and couldn't figure it out even more, "Could it be that there was family planning hundreds of years ago, and people were so enlightened, why are they tightening their belts so that they have fewer and better births?"

"Also," Dao Scar looked serious and didn't have time to listen to the monk's nonsense, "The patriarch of the village is Master Shuan, named 'Guo Tieshuan'. But as far as I know, the surnames in this village are various, obviously he is not in charge , and even feel very confused, as you can see today, people's hearts are very scattered."

Scar is right, but it doesn't mean it's a bad thing, and sometimes it may be of great benefit to us.Since Scar came to investigate the cause of his father's death, it was not a bad idea to use it as a starting point.I clarified my thoughts, and several people talked to each other, expressing their opinions, and drawing up the next step.

Before I knew it, it was getting late at night. I looked at my watch and it was past eleven o'clock.Scar was obviously in good spirits, and he told us to go back to our room and dress warmly, saying that we had something to do tonight.This is beyond my expectation. If you have to do things at night if you don’t do well in the daytime, there is only one explanation. This action is shady.

He went back to his room and changed into a military overcoat he had brought all the way from Tianjin. After confirming that the mother-in-law and grandson had fallen asleep, he left the hotel with Dao Scar, Monk and Tian Rui.

At this time, snowflakes were already falling in the sky. In order to prevent being discovered, the flashlight was covered with a plastic bag. The range was very limited, and it could only see within a few meters in front.The temperature at night dropped to minus [-] or [-] degrees, and the snot that came out of your nose was frozen into ice edges before you could suck it back. The knife scar led the way one foot deep and one foot shallower in front, and the direction turned out to be towards Guiyan Ridge .

We didn't dare to walk north of the village entrance openly, but walked around the west of the mountains and forests. The cold wind blew on my face like a knife was cutting, and I felt raw pain. I tightened my coat and just walked forward.I don't know how long it has passed, and I have completely lost my sense of direction. At this time, Tian Rui behind me slammed my neck, and her voice sank: "Get down, there is movement in front!"

I didn't expect her to be a girl, but she had great strength. I was pressed down by her, and my body fell to the ground involuntarily.This is a small hillside, and Scar is lying down in the snow, watching ahead vigilantly.I raised my head and looked at the ridge in the distance. In the wind and snow, I saw a few strong men carrying a coffin up.

(End of this chapter)