My mind went blank for a second.
My temples throbbed, and my gaze was fixed on "me" who had frantically rushed into morgue number three.
The sound of the suona horns in the funeral procession suddenly became ethereal and elusive, but my feet seemed to be drawn by an invisible yet powerful force, mechanically following the funeral procession forward.
Fortunately, the scene did not repeat itself, and the funeral procession did not enter morgue number three.
This situation is like two lines of fate that should have intersected, but at a crucial moment, they diverged without warning and extended in completely different directions.
At that moment, I felt like I understood something, like a glimmer of light in the darkness.
But before I could even grasp that glimmer of light, those memories that had finally begun to surface slipped through my fingers like sand.
I tried my best to piece them together, but I just couldn't.
This feeling is like falling into one dream after another, and you just can't wake up.
Every time I think I've woken up from a dream and returned to reality, I find myself still in an even deeper dream.
Time and again, I thought I had truly woken up, but I was still trapped in this dream where I couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion, and I couldn't get out no matter what.
Thinking about this, I had a vague feeling.
Is it possible that the person standing here now is no longer the same person I used to be?
Perhaps I am just a wisp of soul among many "me"s, experiencing all sorts of messy things in this dreamlike world.
Just like the me that Luo Tianhe encountered on the pedestrian street before, I had my own thoughts, but I didn't know that I was just a wisp of soul.
And the "me" who works in my place at the funeral home thinks I'm a real person, completely unaware that I'm actually a soul.
They all think they live in a complete world, but that's all fake. Maybe I'm like that now too.
Think about it again, maybe...
I've been dead for a long time, but I don't even know it yet.
What I'm experiencing now is like a person dying, whose soul hasn't realized it's gone yet, and is still wandering around places it used to visit.
It was as if I was looking for something, yet it was also as if I wasn't looking for anything at all. I was in a daze, at the boundary between Yin and Yang, unable to find a way out, and my mind was full of confusion.
In a daze, I didn't come to my senses until Yuan Ying shouted "Lift the coffin!"
Unbeknownst to them, the funeral procession had already arrived at the Ji family ancestral graves.
Two rows of people dressed in bright red wedding attire stood quietly, holding lanterns.
As for the suona band, they were already in their positions beside the ancestral graves.
However, this time the piece being played was not "Crying at the Fifth Watch," but rather the one played by the Grandma of Changting.
In Hakka culture, the "gongma chui" (公媲吹) has a unique meaning. Originally used to imitate the lives of men and women and to sing about couples spending their lives together, it is used here to symbolize the harmony of yin and yang and to represent finding a perfect resting place for the deceased in the underworld.
Two main musicians were seen, one holding a "gong xiong" (a type of wind instrument), whose tone was deep, rich, and had a wide range.
The other person harmonized with "mah-chui," a soft, mellow, and clear tone, just like a mountain spring.
The two played together, their notes intertwining, sometimes like whispered confessions, sometimes like a passionate song.
Accompanied by the accompaniment of instruments such as the erhu, yangqin, and sanxian, a special "wedding music" was played at this ancestral burial site.
According to Yuan Ying's previous statement, playing "Crying at the Fifth Watch" is used to guide the souls of those who died young or violently before marriage and to comfort their resentment at their unfulfilled marriage in the mortal world when arranging ghost marriages for them.
But now that the ceremony has entered the burial stage, it needs to be accompanied by more solemn and peaceful music.
Sending the departed souls peacefully into the underworld, integrating them into the cycle of reincarnation, and allowing them to find peace in another world, the Changting Gongma Chui dance becomes the best choice at this moment.
At this moment, Ji's relatives also sprang into action.
Just then, Yuan Ying suddenly raised her voice, quickly scanned the crowd, and asked loudly.
"Among those present, who was born in the Year of the Ox, the Year of the Tiger, or the Year of the Rabbit?"
The crowd looked at each other, and after a brief silence, a few people hesitantly raised their hands and whispered their responses.
I was born in the Year of the Ox.
I was born in the Year of the Tiger.
I was born in the Year of the Rabbit.
Yuan Ying nodded slightly, then asked, "Are there any born in the years of the Snake, Horse, or Sheep?"
This time, there were slightly more people responding, and a few more people stepped forward.
Yuan Ying gave each person born in the years of the Snake, Horse, and Sheep a yellow talisman and told them to keep it safe on their person.
“You people born under certain zodiac signs, turn around and get away quickly. Go down the mountain first. What’s going to happen next might offend your zodiac sign and attract unclean things.”
The person whose name was called looked alarmed, dared not ask any more questions, and hurriedly turned around and walked down the mountain.
After confirming that those people had come down the mountain and were not hiding to watch, Yuan Yingcai turned to those born in the years of the Ox, Tiger, and Rabbit.
"Those over sixty, step back. You young men, go over there and help carry the bridal sedan chair!"
Yuan Ying pointed to several strong young men.
The young men exchanged glances, and although a hint of reluctance flashed in their eyes, under Yuan Ying's watchful gaze, they still tacitly walked to the bright red sedan chair with its dragon and phoenix carvings.
The young man at the head of the group gripped the poles of the bridal sedan chair tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Brothers, lift!"
With everyone working together, and accompanied by shouts of "Heave-ho, heave-ho," the bridal sedan chair was lifted steadily.
Seeing the bridal sedan chair being lifted up, Yuan Ying breathed a sigh of relief.
I guessed that she was actually quite nervous, probably afraid that something might go wrong and the bridal sedan chair wouldn't be able to be lifted.
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