Chapter 56: Lights Go Out, Soul Returns to the Other Shore
On the day of the funeral, the coffin is usually opened only after the deceased's eldest son breaks the basin. People speculated that the old woman was reluctant to leave because her relatives did not come to break the basin to see her off.
After discussion, everyone came up with a solution: let Lu Bubu, who was faster than others, quickly go to the bereaved family, find the old woman's son Zhao Batian, take some of his blood, and then write the old woman's birthday and death anniversary on the prepared soul-guiding banner.
When the spirit leaves the body, Shi Xiaoyin holds a banner and smashes the basin. The blood on the banner carries the scent of the deceased's loved ones, and the old woman might mistakenly think that it is the relatives who have come to see her off, and thus be willing to go on her journey.
"There is no time to lose. Let's go quickly and come back soon." After saying this, Lu Bubu walked towards the door.
Xie Liang was worried that he didn't know where the old woman's eldest son's home was and wasted time, so he hurriedly shouted, "Wait!"
"Brother? What's wrong?"
Xie Liang quickly told him the specific location where he met Li Xiu'e that day.
"I guess Zhao Batian is not here, otherwise Chen Xiu'e and Li Jianguo wouldn't dare to act so blatantly. If they can't find him, they can use the blood of other relatives of the old woman."
Lu Bubu nodded and said, "Okay, brother! Wait for me!" Then he ran away like a flash.
After Lü Bubu left, Xie Liang followed Xu He's instructions and found the fabric for the soul-guiding banner from several baskets. After preparing the necessary materials, the group immediately began making them.
Huang Datong took a look at Wang Li's stiff body next to him, feeling sorry for her, so he took a piece of cloth and covered her up.
By the time Xie Liang and the others finished making the soul-guiding banner, it was already past seven o'clock, and they were waiting for Lu Bubu to come back after collecting blood.
Half an hour later, Lu Bubu came running back with a wound on the corner of his mouth, followed by Li Jianguo.
Lü Bubu panted, pointing at Li Jianguo and said, "Zhao Batian was killed by this guy. We took the blood of the old lady's eldest grandson. Is it okay?"
"Give it to me, and you'll know after trying it." Xu He said.
"What's wrong with the corner of your mouth?" Shi Xiaoyin asked.
"This guy Zhao Xi won't cooperate, so we have to force him." Lu Bubu said as he hurriedly handed the small bottle of blood to Xu He.
"Can he still hurt you?"
Lu Bubu scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Sister, I was chasing him too fast and I fell without paying attention."
Xu He found a thin bamboo pole, dipped it in blood, and quickly began to write on the soul-guiding banner.
He is like an old calligrapher. The bamboo pole in his hand is like a fine brush. He writes with smooth and flowing strokes. The words he writes are vigorous, powerful and natural.
"The handwriting is really good." Xie Liang praised sincerely.
"Otherwise, how can we call him brother? Look at his handwriting, it's comparable to the handwriting of the old man who writes ancestral hall notices in our village. It's top-notch!"
Li Jianguo looked around and asked a few people, "Where's Lili? Why can't I see her?"
Huang Datong laughed coldly: "Oh! You still remember Lili? I thought you only remembered Xiu'e!"
Li Jianguo looked at Wang Zhiqiang in the corner, and Wang Zhiqiang pointed at Wang Li's body covered with black cloth.
Li Jianguo seemed a little bit unbelievable. He quickly stepped forward and lifted the cloth, then staggered back a few steps.
After a while, he covered the body with the black cloth again and squatted on the ground without saying a word.
After writing the soul-guiding banner, Xie Liang lit the brazier again.
Xu He waved the soul-guiding banner over the brazier a few times and walked up to Li Jianguo. "Here, hold the banner and smash the brazier."
Li Jianguo took the soul flag with a sad face and walked to the burning brazier.
Xu He sprinkled the remaining blood from the Soul Writing Banner on Li Jianguo and said, "Follow Shi Xiaoyin after you smash the basin."
Li Jianguo nodded woodenly.
Xu He then said to Shi Xiaoyin, "Put the eternal lamp and the remaining paper money in a windproof bamboo basket. Carry it in front and lead the way. Keep the lamp on the road and scatter a handful of paper money every eight steps."
When Li Jianguo put down the soul flag and was about to smash the fire basin, Xie Liang suddenly remembered the old saying that one should not look back during a funeral, and hurriedly reminded everyone: "Remember, no matter what you hear after the coffin is opened, do not look back."
Everyone nodded with a heavy face.
Xie Liang and the person in charge of carrying the coffin got ready, bent down and carried the coffin poles on his shoulders, waiting for Li Jianguo to smash the basin.
Whether the old woman is willing to go and whether the coffin can be lifted all depends on what happens after the brazier is smashed.
After everyone was ready, Xu He said in a deep voice, "Smash the pot."
Li Jianguo lifted the clay brazier high and threw it heavily to the ground.
With a "clang", the brazier fell to the ground and broke into pieces. The smell of ashes filled the mourning hall.
"Get up." Xu He said.
The people carrying the coffin poles straightened their backs at the same time, and the coffin was finally lifted up!
The coffin was not light, but not heavy either. Xie Liang felt that it should be a normal weight.
Shi Xiaoyin walked out first carrying a bamboo basket, followed by Li Jianguo holding the soul flag, followed by Huang Datong and Wang Zhiqiang, and Xie Liang and others carried the coffin and walked at the end.
The grave was dug in the back mountain of the ancestral hall, not far away.
When they were almost at the cemetery, Li Jianguo suddenly heard Wang Li's sad voice behind him. She kept begging him to wait for her, calling his name over and over again.
Li Jianguo was about to turn back when he suddenly remembered Wang Li's death - those wide-open eyes and Xie Liang's instructions before leaving. He forced himself not to look back and just focused on hurrying on his way.
An hour later, everyone finally arrived at their destination.
There was still a lot of rainwater accumulated in the grave, but everyone ignored it and started to lower the coffin.
After a lot of trouble, everyone finally lowered the coffin into the grave.
According to funeral customs, people can speak after the coffin has landed on the ground.
Lu Bubu couldn't hold it in any longer: "Damn! All we could hear along the way was the howling of ghosts and wolves."
"It's all the same." Huang Datong said.
"Bury it with soil." Xu He said.
Upon hearing this, Lu Bubu took off the two iron shovels tied to the coffin poles, and he and Xu He each took one and began to bury the soil.
After a while, the coffin was completely covered with soil. After burying the soil, the two men piled a small mound on top of the coffin.
"Put the soul flags and paper money in front of the tombstone and burn them." Xu He said.
Shi Xiaoyin and Li Jianguo piled the paper money and soul-guiding banners in their hands in front of the erected tombstone.
Xie Liang took out a lighter and walked over to light it.
The last thing left to do was to blow out the soul-guiding lamp. Once the lamp went out, the deceased's soul would completely leave the world.
Whether the vortex gate can appear depends on this step.
Shi Xiaoyin was holding a bamboo basket, waiting for Xu He to speak with a worried look on her face.
Lu Bubu asked, "Brother! Can I blow out the lights now?"
Xu He frowned and said, "Let's try it."
Upon hearing this, Shi Xiaoyin took a deep breath and blew towards the eternal lamp in the basket.
Once, twice... The third time, she realized something was wrong.
Shi Xiaoyin reached into the basket and took out the eternal lamp.
A strange scene appeared. The flame of the eternal lamp swayed in the strong wind, but never went out!
Shi Xiaoyin hurriedly said, "This lamp... this lamp cannot be blown out!"
Huang Datong looked panicked: "Damn! Let me try." After blowing it several times and finding that it couldn't be extinguished, he slumped down on the wet mud with a pale face.
"What's going on?" Lu Bubu asked.
"As long as the light is on and the soul is not gone, who else does she want to see?" Xu He said.
Shi Xiaoyin asked, "Who is it?"
Xie Liang said uncertainly: "Could it be her partner?"
Lu Bubu slapped his thigh and said, "If I had known earlier, I would have tied up that old man as well!"
Shi Xiaoyin looked at him in surprise: "Do you know where her husband is?"
Lu Bubu pointed at Li Jianguo who was standing beside him and said, "I don't know, how could he not know?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jianguo turned his head and looked towards a place, saying excitedly, "Over there! That's her husband."
Xie Liang followed his gaze and saw Chen Xiu'e walking towards them, supporting a white-haired old man on a mountain road covered with reeds.
When Chen Xiu'e saw Li Jianguo, she let go of the old man she was supporting, ran over quickly, and threw herself into Li Jianguo's arms like a moth.
The old man fell to the side of the road after being thrown by her and did not get up for a long time. Xie Liang hurried over and helped the old man over.
The old man was in a daze and obviously had dementia. He groped his way and knelt in front of the old woman's tombstone.
Just as the old man touched the words engraved on the tombstone, he suddenly went crazy.
He gripped both ends of the tombstone tightly with his wrinkled, dry hands, and slammed his head hard on the stone tombstone. Blood instantly flowed down his wrinkled face.
Shi Xiaoyin quickly handed the eternal lamp to Lu Bubu, squatted down and helped the old man onto his knees.
The old man was in a state of confusion, and he kept muttering, "Old woman..."
Xie Liang: "He's dying."
Xu He responded and put his arm around his shoulders: "Wait a little longer."
Chen Xiu'e in Li Jianguo's arms cried non-stop: "The old man was clamoring to find my mother-in-law. I remembered that you said you wanted to come over here to help this morning, so I helped him come over."
"Yeah." Li Jianguo seemed a little absent-minded.
Chen Xiu'e raised her tearful face and asked, "You will take me away, right?" Seeing that Li Jianguo did not respond, she cried even louder.
Seeing this, Li Jianguo caressed the woman crying in his arms with a troubled look on his face and said, "Stop crying."
Huang Datong wanted to make some sarcastic remarks to him, but when he saw the strong wind in the sky, he suddenly lost his mood.
The old man leaned between Shi Xiaoyin's knees, his breathing becoming weaker and weaker, and he passed away not long after.
The moment the old man died, the eternal lamp was blown out by the wind.
“Bang—”
A long and distant bell rang, and the vortex gate slowly appeared in front of the old woman's tombstone.
Huang Datong jumped up excitedly: "Great! I'll go first!" As he said that, he happily walked into the door, and Wang Zhiqiang also rushed towards the door.
Li Jianguo suddenly panicked, threw Chen Xiu'e to the ground, grabbed Lu Bubu's collar, and pointed in the direction where Huang Datong disappeared, asking, "Why... why can't I hear the bell? Where is the door?"
At this time, Chen Xiu'e stood up crying again, twisted her body and pressed against Li Jianguo's back.
Lu Bubu stared at Chen Xiu'e behind him and said, "What did you do?"
Li Jianguo collapsed and covered his head: "I... I..."
Lu Bubu pushed him away and said to Shi Xiaoyin, "Sister, let's go."
Upon hearing this, Shi Xiaoyin walked towards the door with him, and the two of them entered the door one after another.
Li Jianguo shook off Chen Xiu'e again, and rushed to the place where Shi Xiaoyin and the other person disappeared with a look of despair on his face. He knelt on the ground and searched back and forth for the vortex door.
But the door was right in front of him, but he could neither enter nor see it.
While Xie Liang was still wondering why Li Jianguo couldn't see the door, Xu He took his hand and walked towards the vortex door.
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